***My thanks to Netgalley, Flame Tree Press and Hunter Shea for this ARC. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.***

This was a great story.

Who doesn't know how it feels to be the misfit?
Even in adulthood, my dark sense of humor makes me feel so lonely sometimes. You know what reaction I got when I the car dealer showed me the trunk and I made the comment:
"Wow, big enough to hold two bodies!"
Hint: He didn't even smile...

But this story is about a group of five friends - misfits, stoners and kids who didn't have an easy life - who didn't conform and fit into the mold society expected from them.
Mick, Marnie, Chuck, Heidi and Vent are a group of friends whose bonds are stronger than sharing some weed and the occasional alcoholic beverage. While they are shunned by the popular kid, they show a maturity beyond their years when they accept one another exactly as they are, and as a group they are function well.

But, as the end of their school career approaches, their lives will be ripped to shreds when a violent act pushes them toward revenge rather than justice.
They will soon learn that there is always a price to pay, regardless of whether the cost is understood or not.

Bring on the Melon Heads - who are very much real and not just a myth created to scare kids.
There will be blood.
Not everyone will survive.

Okay, there are some things that this author did very well. It mostly takes place during the early 90's - and I could relate because I was about the same age at that time. While people like Vanilla Ice impressed the hell out of my best friend, I could never get into it. I liked it heavier. And even though I didn't go full grunge, it was mostly the music I listened to at that time. (I have to remind you that Ozzy was still banned from my country and he had just come onto my radar, which influenced me greatly - I was never a metal-head, either, but I found myself somewhere in between.)
Shea managed to take me back there with this story. He captures a feeling of a world changing around us when we are just beginning to discover some hard and painful truths about real life.

Having said that, though, I also have to point out that the first third of this book created a little too much atmosphere - it felt overwritten and made it feel much longer than it actually is. I must add that it was not done to the point of making me want to quit the story, and I am very glad about that, because the story was really great. The last 30% of the story was perfectly paced.
And I loved that ending, even though I have to wonder if it will be mainstream enough for the masses. In my opinion, it couldn't have ended better.

If I had to give you a feel for this one, it might be a little THE HILLS HAVE EYES meets something like CHASING GHOSTS by Glenn Rolfe, with the children just a little older but not yet adults.

I recommend this to horror fans in general - it is not extreme but it does pack a punch.

Hunter Shea is becoming a new favorite author of mine. Once I picked up this book I couldn't put it down, I had to know what was next.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Flame Tree Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Legends live in small towns. Legends about creatures that live in the shadows, pale, deformed, hungry. They inspire fear and nursery rhymes that hold warnings for those who dare to seek them out on Dracula Drive.

In the 90’s, with Soundgarden playing in the background and the smell of weed in the air, a group of teenagers are just trying to make it through small town life. When one of their group is savagely assaulted, they vow revenge in the most heinous way they can think of—they take the scum sucking offender to Dracula Drive and offer him to the creatures who are rumored to live there. This one act will put this group of friends on a bloody path of no return, where legends become reality, death is a way of life and betrayal knows no bounds. Lives will be lost, sacrifices will be made and nothing will ever be the same again.

My thoughts:

Let me start this by saying, I picked this book up yesterday and ended up reading well into the night because I simply had to know how it all turned out. Hunter Shea gives us a tale, steeped in 90’s nostalgia, that sinks its rotten teeth into you and doesn’t let go. Just like the creatures, Shea wants his pound of flesh, and he most definitely got it from me. Misfits is a helluva ride and I loved every word.

It’s a coming of age story set to grungy soundtrack I could almost hear playing in the background. Serious 90’s feels! I’m going to show my age here, but this book transported me right back to high school. Pay phones, video stores, having friends call school and pretend to be your mom to get you out of class... It’s all here. The setting was so damn solid, perfectly paired with a chilling monster story and clever plot. From stomach churning gore to heartfelt revelations, this book has it all. I felt a bit wrung out when I reached the twisted conclusion.

A word of warning, this books deals with sexual assault. The author gives the act just enough attention to make readers understand the gravity of the situation without it ever feeling gratuitous. He did break my heart though with how he handled the aftermath. Well done Mr. Shea, well done.

If you’re a fan of coming of age horror, this is a must read.