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The Malediction
Stephen King's 'IT' comes head to head with 'Stranger Things' in the debut novel from your favourite new horror author!
Old myths don't die. They wait.
On the surface, the town of Parsons seems like a dream, a quaint mountain community tucked away in Montana, a haven for people seeking the quiet life.
However, with its tumultuous history, scratch the surface and there are dark tales, myths of past traumas and buried secrets.
Reece Henderson is looking forward to his summer break from school, when a new arrival changes everything. As stories swirl and old wounds are reopened, will Reece and his friends enjoy the summer or be fighting to survive it?
Old myths don't die. They wait.
On the surface, the town of Parsons seems like a dream, a quaint mountain community tucked away in Montana, a haven for people seeking the quiet life.
However, with its tumultuous history, scratch the surface and there are dark tales, myths of past traumas and buried secrets.
Reece Henderson is looking forward to his summer break from school, when a new arrival changes everything. As stories swirl and old wounds are reopened, will Reece and his friends enjoy the summer or be fighting to survive it?
287 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 8, 2025
About the author
R.J. Field
1 book1 followerI grew up on horror stories, reading tales of terror feverishly throughout my youth, from the R.L. Stine Gossebumps books in my earlier years, to the Point Horror books as a teen. Finally, as I approached my University years I graduated to the many works of the literary G.O.A.T. Stephen King.
This all means that I have a real penchant for horror, and thrillers. I am most comfortable writing in the areas where the experience of the characters should provide no comfort at all. I'm a proud independant author, and I have released my first full length novel. It's available in Paperback and Kindle E-Reader formats right now.
More stories and books will follow, I hope you enjoy them
This all means that I have a real penchant for horror, and thrillers. I am most comfortable writing in the areas where the experience of the characters should provide no comfort at all. I'm a proud independant author, and I have released my first full length novel. It's available in Paperback and Kindle E-Reader formats right now.
More stories and books will follow, I hope you enjoy them
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 2, 2025
It is an amazing read. It is a gripping thriller where you just can't predict the ending, and it keeps you guessing. A real page-turner and a recommended read 📚
April 6, 2026
Amazing thrilling fast-paced read
Reece 8 years old older brother Kyle 17 years old. (9 years apart approximately)
Will & Abigail are parents at a out of town work party outside of Parsons. They leave the party and get into a bad car accident.
They're on the wrong side of the road and get hit by a trucker. However, their bodies are never found.
I wont go into details as not to ruin the story. This is was the Prologue****
Reece older brother is Kyle
Reece*main characters and his older brother Kyle.
Jason his best friend and baseball player on H.S. team
Evan *is the geek
Chloe is the new girl and she just moved into town from Seattle, Washington with her older brother Noah.
Town is Parsons, Montana where the story takes place.
They discover an old abandoned power plant in the middle of the woods outside of town and discover something strange, an event had happened in the power plant. The teens find dark red stains deep inside the plant on the floor along the walls.
Chloe decides to do some research on the power plant on her laptop when we she gets home, and finds its been evacuated since the power plant had an explosion 20 plus years ago.
The Jenu what creature exactly is it, they sense they're all being followed and run out the power plant and back throughout woods into town. All 4 decide to never talk about what they saw and experienced.
Several weeks go by and then
Evan sees the creature during the night of the bad lightening and rain storm several weeks later.
Chloe also sees the same "creature" lurking outside her bedroom window.
Her older brother, Noah, calls the local cops because his powerbox was cut not by a human being as their claw marks on the wires. Kyle thinks it might have been done by a bear or possibly the strange creature, but tells him it's probably a bear.
The teens go to the retirement home and visit Oliver Renard. He was a worker at the power plant in the early Nineties and they want to find out what if he knows any of the events that took at Power Plant, and if knows anything about the creature that's been following the teens.
All 4 teens go to visit him, he is really old and at first reluctantly states he doesn't really want to talk about it since he signed a NDA agreement. He then changes his mind, and later he reveals details to get things off his chest about the day the power plant exploded. Four of his best friends died the day the turbine exploded. However, their skin was torn to shreds and their clothing was intact? If it was an explosion how was everything including their clothing not burned?
The upper management wants the details of the explosion and how they died kept secret. So we, the readers, don't know what exactly happened. We dont get to find out if its this town's creature or not?
The 4 teens leave the retirement home with more questions than answers and Reece and Chloe are disappointed. Jason and Evan want to return back home.
Throughout the book we are given a shadow type figure with a dark cloak and with claws instead of human fingers. Also, it doesn't have an actual human face? Huh ? I'm confused.
As the reader I couldn't honestly tell you what this creature really was, however it kept me hooked throughout the entire book.
The old man Renard at retirement home then next day is discovered dead in his bed and it looks like it might be suicide but his hands are slashed at the wrists but there's no weapon on the bed or on the floor. The dectective assigned is Lillian and she cannot determine who did this but sees the teenagers visit to the retirement home as suspicious timing.
This book was extremely fast-paced book from beginning to end and I highly recommended it, a very unexpected ending. I'm just sitting here stunned. The last 150 pages I read in the span of a four 1/2 hours.
Shocked and in awe of an ending I did not see from the beginning or the middle of the book.
How can this be compared to any book? I'm not sure because it's not!
R.J. Fields you better write your next novel. I've added you to my favorite list.
Reece 8 years old older brother Kyle 17 years old. (9 years apart approximately)
Will & Abigail are parents at a out of town work party outside of Parsons. They leave the party and get into a bad car accident.
They're on the wrong side of the road and get hit by a trucker. However, their bodies are never found.
I wont go into details as not to ruin the story. This is was the Prologue****
Reece older brother is Kyle
Reece*main characters and his older brother Kyle.
Jason his best friend and baseball player on H.S. team
Evan *is the geek
Chloe is the new girl and she just moved into town from Seattle, Washington with her older brother Noah.
Town is Parsons, Montana where the story takes place.
They discover an old abandoned power plant in the middle of the woods outside of town and discover something strange, an event had happened in the power plant. The teens find dark red stains deep inside the plant on the floor along the walls.
Chloe decides to do some research on the power plant on her laptop when we she gets home, and finds its been evacuated since the power plant had an explosion 20 plus years ago.
The Jenu what creature exactly is it, they sense they're all being followed and run out the power plant and back throughout woods into town. All 4 decide to never talk about what they saw and experienced.
Several weeks go by and then
Evan sees the creature during the night of the bad lightening and rain storm several weeks later.
Chloe also sees the same "creature" lurking outside her bedroom window.
Her older brother, Noah, calls the local cops because his powerbox was cut not by a human being as their claw marks on the wires. Kyle thinks it might have been done by a bear or possibly the strange creature, but tells him it's probably a bear.
The teens go to the retirement home and visit Oliver Renard. He was a worker at the power plant in the early Nineties and they want to find out what if he knows any of the events that took at Power Plant, and if knows anything about the creature that's been following the teens.
All 4 teens go to visit him, he is really old and at first reluctantly states he doesn't really want to talk about it since he signed a NDA agreement. He then changes his mind, and later he reveals details to get things off his chest about the day the power plant exploded. Four of his best friends died the day the turbine exploded. However, their skin was torn to shreds and their clothing was intact? If it was an explosion how was everything including their clothing not burned?
The upper management wants the details of the explosion and how they died kept secret. So we, the readers, don't know what exactly happened. We dont get to find out if its this town's creature or not?
The 4 teens leave the retirement home with more questions than answers and Reece and Chloe are disappointed. Jason and Evan want to return back home.
Throughout the book we are given a shadow type figure with a dark cloak and with claws instead of human fingers. Also, it doesn't have an actual human face? Huh ? I'm confused.
As the reader I couldn't honestly tell you what this creature really was, however it kept me hooked throughout the entire book.
The old man Renard at retirement home then next day is discovered dead in his bed and it looks like it might be suicide but his hands are slashed at the wrists but there's no weapon on the bed or on the floor. The dectective assigned is Lillian and she cannot determine who did this but sees the teenagers visit to the retirement home as suspicious timing.
This book was extremely fast-paced book from beginning to end and I highly recommended it, a very unexpected ending. I'm just sitting here stunned. The last 150 pages I read in the span of a four 1/2 hours.
Shocked and in awe of an ending I did not see from the beginning or the middle of the book.
How can this be compared to any book? I'm not sure because it's not!
R.J. Fields you better write your next novel. I've added you to my favorite list.
May 13, 2026
Guessing until the end
Throughout the entire book I kept trying to figure out who the real killer was. A myth, the jock, a loner? Just when I thought I knew who it was, I was so sure I knew , I found out I was wrong.
The writing is phenomenal. Definitely a read again.
Throughout the entire book I kept trying to figure out who the real killer was. A myth, the jock, a loner? Just when I thought I knew who it was, I was so sure I knew , I found out I was wrong.
The writing is phenomenal. Definitely a read again.
Did Not Finish
March 13, 2026sadly, i picked this book because it was placed in a fictional town in Montana. the grammar, punctuation and spelling errors are too much for me. had to quit shortly after starting.
January 22, 2026
The Malediction
Okayyyy, this was better than I expected. I started this expecting just a fun horror story, but the town, the mystery, and the slow build of suspense drew me in right away. The setting feels very real, the friendships are believable, and the tension keeps you wanting to read more. It mixes creepy moments with adventure in a way that works, and the twists genuinely caught me off guard. If you enjoy small-town horror with both heart and a dark side, I think you’ll like this one.
Okayyyy, this was better than I expected. I started this expecting just a fun horror story, but the town, the mystery, and the slow build of suspense drew me in right away. The setting feels very real, the friendships are believable, and the tension keeps you wanting to read more. It mixes creepy moments with adventure in a way that works, and the twists genuinely caught me off guard. If you enjoy small-town horror with both heart and a dark side, I think you’ll like this one.
May 10, 2026
I recieved this book free and I am giving my honest review.
The book in a whole was good there were quite a few things I did notice that was bugging me abit. To start there were grammatical errors and misspellings quite often. The plot was good, there was quite a bit of repeated information that wasnt needed. I liked the character build up throughout, made me really like and dislike characters. The ending was good as well. This book definitely kept me guessing all the way through on what was really happening.
The book in a whole was good there were quite a few things I did notice that was bugging me abit. To start there were grammatical errors and misspellings quite often. The plot was good, there was quite a bit of repeated information that wasnt needed. I liked the character build up throughout, made me really like and dislike characters. The ending was good as well. This book definitely kept me guessing all the way through on what was really happening.
February 3, 2026
A good small town urban legend story about a group of teens searching for a legendary monster and the towns myth. fast paced with twist and turns. will they survive or not you will have to see!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews