Friday, May 19, 2023

Book Review: "Black River Orchard" by Chuck Wendig

 

A small town is transformed by dark magic when seven strange trees begin bearing magical apples in this new masterpiece of horror from the bestselling author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents.

It’s autumn in the town of Harrow, but something besides the season is changing there.

Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: strange, beautiful, with skin so red it’s nearly black.

Take a bite of one of these apples, and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing—and become darker.

This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples . . . and what’s the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful?

Even if something else is buried in the orchard besides the seeds of these extraordinary trees: a bloody history whose roots reach back to the very origins of the town.

But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. It’s harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown. -from Netgalley.com

I received this eARC through Netgalley.com and am providing an unbiased review.

Only Wendig can take the love of apples on such a dark route that one will think twice before eating another one. This is the 'apple of all stories' and so superbly written. Each time I have read one of Wendig's novels, his writing seems to get better and better, though it is not bad at all in any of his books. This was definitely a good read of a genre I enjoy, and would recommend for any older reader.

No comments: