Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons

TL;DR: A bit long and drawn out, this read very episodic and fairly disconnected.
Source: Netgalley! Thank you to the publisher!

Plot: Divided into three parts we follow post robbery, with a cult, and running/back to the cult. It felt a little drawn out to be honest.
Characters: I didn’t end up very connected to anyone, and most were fairly unlikable.
Setting: We jumped between a few different settings and they were well drawn and established.
Horror: There is quite a bit of horror, but it’s more seen than creeping so there is little tension.

Thoughts:

I love a good scary book, I do. Unfortunately lately the horror has missed several times, this one being one of those. Mask of Flies follows a bank robber after her latest heist has gone wrong. Not only has it gone wrong but she ends up with an injured friend and cop kidnapped in the trunk. What’s a girl to do but obviously run to the old run down cabin where she watched a monster attack and kill her mother?

This… was something. I liked a lot of the parts of this, a lot of them. But then things would happen that would lead me with very real questions, either missing information or stupid decisions that pulled me so far out it was jarring. The story also felt very episodic. Perhaps if this had been broken into novellas? That could have worked for sure, but in one large book I wasn’t a fan. Our horror starts fast and by the end feels very ‘Oh there goes the monster again, what a gal’ and the cult twists were very clear and obvious to me early.

Overall not one for me. I can definitely see this working for others though, truly. I just was not the audience for this. I like for there to be more tension, fewer plot holes, and more character to the characters.

2.5 (rounded up) to 3 flies swarms out of 5