The Hell Season

by Ray Wallace

THE HELL SEASON
Thomas Wright awakens to discover that his family has vanished. None of their possessions are missing. The clothes that they slept in are still in their beds. All too soon it becomes apparent that nearly everyone in town has disappeared, that only he and a few select others remain.

Then the sky starts to rain blood.

Genres: Horror, Zombies, Apocalyptic

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2012

About the author

Ray Wallace hails from the Tampa, FL area and is the author of THE NAMELESS, THE HELL SEASON, the YEAR OF THE DEAD series, the short story collection LETTING THE DEMONS OUT, the novella DAYS OF RAIN, and the One Way Out novels ESCAPE FROM ZOMBIE CITY, ESCAPE FROM ZOMBIE ISLAND, and ESCAPE FROM ZOMBIE PLANET.

"For a first novel, THE NAMELESS is outstanding..."
-- HORROR WORLD

"ESCAPE FROM ZOMBIE CITY is a really fun read and welcome addition to zombie literature."
-- SHROUD MAGAZINE

"DAYS OF RAIN... marks the emergence of a major talent and should not be missed."
-- HORROR AFTER DARK

Reviews

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having recently read Nameless, I wanted to read this to see if the author delivers on the promise of his debut novel (which I liked for style more so than story) and he certainly does. This story has the same quality writing and strong pacing as its predecessor and all the originality, mature character development and terrifying imagery that Nameless lacked. Disturbing, dark, occasionally bizarre and always interesting, this post apocalyptic tale is a must for any genre fan.

[Michael Brookes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this a lot. It tells of a man who wakes up to find his family and everyone else has vanished. It then starts raining blood. From that promising start it continues to build. I liked the story, it deals which a subject matter that I enjoy, namely the Apocalypse and while the sequence of events may be familiar the take on it is refreshing and stands alone well.

The author uses an interesting mechanic of mixing first and third person. A risky strategy but he pulls it off well, it provides a nice blend of the events as well as more introspective thoughts.

I found it very much a story of two halves. The start and the build up is excellently done. There's a real sense of mystery about the horrors that are happening. Unfortunately the reveal felt a little flat. That's not to say that it's bad, far from it, it just doesn't stand up as well as what preceeded it.

Overall this is a very good read, if you like reading about the apocalypse then should you should give this a try.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had trouble getting through a lot of this book because it has so much narrative and a lot of long paragraphs full of background info. I put it down once intending to delete it off my Kindle. I picked it back up determined to read it and I'm glad I did. It was definitely a ride through a weird world. I have to agree with another review I saw, the ending was a little bit of a let down for me. I like things all tied up with a pretty bow. I hope there's a sequel so I can find out where the characters went and what happened to them.

[Iamthez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The mystery was intriguing, I liked the characters, and I really did want to see how it ended.

That's where the problems happened. It felt like the writer didn't know how to end it exactly and/or he was running out of steam. I don't know if this is going to be a series or not, but the ending just didn't satisfy.

I also found the change between third person and first person to be interesting. I don't know if it was really necessary because I didn't feel it added anything. Otherwise though, I did enjoy it, and I'll be recommending it.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heaven & Hell...

Well, don't know how I feel about this book...very well written, fleshed out characters, kinda like a stephen king novel..you have to figure out yourself what it all means. Did not like the ending...maybe we're being set up for another book.. all in all a good read..

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The happenings in this book were nightmarish to say the least, totally bizarre.
Did they happen? Yes, in this book they did.
Could they happen? Maybe, but lets hope beyond hope they never do.

[Bl · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, this is my favorite book by Ray Wallace. Hoping for a sequel.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good read though I sat here staring at the screen for a few minutes before starting this review. Still not sure how to describe what I felt about the story. Here goes: I did enjoy this one a bit, though I didn't love it. This type of "end of times" story has been done many, many times. The author brought some unique ideas into it - lots of weird, creepy stuff, which I really like. Loved the giant worm! I wish there had been more! I didn't care about the characters though; more could have been done to draw me to them. Quite a lot of information was given about Thomas, the main character, but that was partly because he was telling the story (this was told in first and third person) so I knew his thoughts. He kind of rambled though. And the end! Or, rather, there is no ending. The reader is left to his or her own conclusions as to what happened to the characters in the aftermath. Sometimes I'm okay with that. This time I was not - maybe there will be a second book? The author also reused a phrase too many times so that now I cringe when I read it anywhere else. For that, I am not grateful. ;)