Chuck Wendig is an author I'd read a bit of licensed fiction by, not enjoyed it, and thought I'd never read again. Black River Orchard, however, is a different beast: Small town America, a setting used to great effect many times by Stephen King; apples, so many ruby red apples, and considering what they cause, if you loved the fruit before you may not now... and if you weren't keen before you'll be even less so now; the endless struggle between good and evil; a disparate, and largely likeable, bunch of characters brought together by events; and lots of body horror. Did I mention Stephen King? That's because this has almost all the hallmarks of King at his finest. Do I have any complaints? One or two of the characters are superfluous. Non-binary Esther, for instance, appears in a few scenes, one memorable, and then they (Or should that be she, because they/she vacillates between non-binary and binary.) is quickly dismissed off-page in a sentence. I've read other books recently which have featured LGBTQ+ characters that were well developed and a natural part of the narrative, but Esther just seems like a case of box ticking by the author. All this being said, I think it's safe to say I'll probably be looking out for Wendig's next horror, while still avoiding his licensed fiction. Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for an advanced copy.

Strange but Excellent story. Lots of action and twists and turns.
Great characters well described.
Reminded me of early Stephen King books which is a great compliment to the author.

Makes me worried about trying new apple varieties :)

Looking forward to more from Chuck Wendig
Many thanks to the author and publisher for the ARC and opportunity to enjoy this wonderful book

Chuck Wendig can do no wrong in my eyes but this was a step back from his previous novels. An enjoyable, hurtful ride but it needed to be longer than it was.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for an arc of this book.

I think Chuck Wendig is a wonderful and very talented writer. I love his writing style, and he creates unique and very real characters. He knows his stuff!
What I enjoyed about this book was that the horror was in the actions and desires of people. We see the characters go from mildly problematic to absolutely chaotic, with no regard for how they trample on or hurt anyone else as long as they get what they want. That created some real tension in the book, and made me feel so uneasy reading it at times.
I liked the deterioration of Dan Paxon, but was he always that bad? He’s a typical horror dad, thinking he’s doing what’s best for his family and ignoring the consequences. I enjoyed the dynamic between him and his daughter Calla, and how the relationship portrayed was very realistic.
I liked following the other part of this book which was the friendship between John, Emily, Calla and Joanie. Emily’s relationship with Meg created another horrific atmosphere which was hard to read about at times.
What really made this book difficult for me to read, was the constant info dumping about apples, the history of, the different flavours/ textures etc, and whilst I know it was integral to the overall plot I just found it dragged and made me keep wanting to put the book down.
If you can make it through the first half of the book, which does have some good plot build up mixed in with the info dumping, it’s a fantastic book! I really enjoyed it, and I think Chuck Wendig has a wonderfully creative mind.

Wendig gonna Wendig.

For the initiated; if you’re a fan of Wendig’s last few books you’ll devour this one like a big ol’ juicy apple.

That’s not to say it’s more of the same but that it’s another mammoth story that feels small in scope but grand in execution. He perfectly captures small town America in a way that still feels connected to the world outside.

There’s only a handful of authors that I’d be willing to invest this much time into reading their books and I’m grateful that Wendig continues such quality.

That said - this book isn’t perfect. There’s one or two things that I find difficult to reconcile. Writing teenagers is hard and with their vernacular an ever moving target it’s understandable that it won’t always stick and at times it does feel like it was low key taken from a TikTok…no cap. Awkward, right?