I’ll start this review by comparing one of my favorite slashers to it.

Don’t Fear The Reaper is Friday the 13th: Part 2 of this series.

I don’t do normal reviews. I’ll cover as much as possible without spoilers, but as this book was released a couple of weeks ago, we should all have read it, right? Right?

Diving in:

This one does a recap throughout the novel for those who didn’t read My Heart Is A Chainsaw. While MHIAC is the setup for a horror trilogy, or if Stephen is willing, longer, Reaper tries to do what all good slashers attempt. A higher body count, a better story, and maybe a bit of comedy was thrown in as well.

It does all of these easily and with great call-back kills from some of the best slashers. It’s more in line with Friday Part 2 than Nightmare Part 2, which I actually enjoyed when I watched it. I didn’t catch everything about it until I was older. It also explains me well.

We see the new killer immediately. They’re hidden as much as they can be. It leaves a lot to the imagination. The descriptions are on point. The bodies, torture, and gore are at a higher level than in Chainsaw, which is as I said, a characteristic of slasher sequels.

Here’s where I’ll divert:

Jade’s struggle with herself, what she went through in the first book, and what she’s gone through in-between Chainsaw and Reaper are there for all of us to witness. At first, she doesn’t want to be called Jade. She’s shirked that name and wants to be Jennifer. She doesn’t want to be known as that girl. When the bodies hit the floor, she comes out.

It’s great to watch…err read. I will skip ahead since I don’t want to make this too long, I definitely could.

Jade finds herself mired in circumstances beyond her control and must pull from the person she was, and maybe she’s stronger. Like Nancy in Dream Warriors. I’ll leave it at that.

My hope is book three is more like Dream Warriors and less like Friday part 3, my least favorite.

As always, Stephen captures the genre so well in this book. If you haven’t read, The Last Final Girl, you should. It’s a great one.

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