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Reflections: A Noir Horror
105 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 31, 2026
About the author
Jim Donohue
17 books53 followersJim Donohue is a New York author, born and bred. He has been writing since he was a teenager in the Bronx, but he decided to go professional at the age of 68 in February of 2025, with the release of his short story, Hard Labor. He has followed those up with other stories, such as Ramona, Repossession, Blood Diamond, and The Turning, along with a novella called Unliving Legends. His debut novel, The Stranger, was released in November of 2025 to great reviews. He has recently released a collection of short stories called Depths of Degradation.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 6, 2026
A Double Shot of Noir
Jim Donohue is always good for a surprise. The prolific writer announced his newest novella mere hours before its release. And if you had bet on the next Donohue book, it would have been a mixture of horror for sure, but Crime Noir was the last thing I expected. Does his Horror Noir novella hold up?
The best things first: Jim is a great prose stylist and able to adapt his writing style to the genre. After reading three of his books, I have a feeling for his voice, but I can also see how the tone differs in each of them. In this case, he is able to paint a black-and-white noir movie, complete with its private detective, desperate (female) victim, and the coolness of being sick of it all.
What he also does is keep his emulation within its limits. He always uses enough tropes to feel familiar, but doesn’t overstretch them. Once the setting is established, he goes right down to the core: the mystery and horror elements. And what’s also a relief: he doesn’t adhere to the more problematic parts of the genres. Yes, he introduces a desperate female victim, but he doesn’t overtly sexualize her and gives her a fully fleshed-out backstory. The noir setting is moderately modernized to avoid the cringe aspects of the genre.
Down to the mystery: I don’t give much away when I tell you it’s about reflections and mirrors. We learn in the first pages — mild spoiler warning — that the reflections in mirrors don’t behave in the ways we would expect. This soon turns into a confrontation with a distorted reality that can be read as psychological horror. And the book is completely focused. It’s a book about two protagonists and one mystery. This works extraordinarily well for a short novella that can be read in an afternoon or two.
It’s still “only” four stars for me. Why? Well, first of all, I don’t believe that everything is about five stars. Secondly, due to the focus, I felt some redundancy. That’s not a big deal for a quick read like this, but while it started very strong, I lost some enthusiasm in the last chapters.
To sum it up: If you want to pour yourself a cheap glass of whiskey, turn up some dark jazz records, and enjoy a great noir read: just go for it. It’s an evening well spent. Jim knows how to deliver, be it the Weird West, a moldy summer town or the streets of an unnamed city covered in rain and neon lights.
Jim Donohue is always good for a surprise. The prolific writer announced his newest novella mere hours before its release. And if you had bet on the next Donohue book, it would have been a mixture of horror for sure, but Crime Noir was the last thing I expected. Does his Horror Noir novella hold up?
The best things first: Jim is a great prose stylist and able to adapt his writing style to the genre. After reading three of his books, I have a feeling for his voice, but I can also see how the tone differs in each of them. In this case, he is able to paint a black-and-white noir movie, complete with its private detective, desperate (female) victim, and the coolness of being sick of it all.
What he also does is keep his emulation within its limits. He always uses enough tropes to feel familiar, but doesn’t overstretch them. Once the setting is established, he goes right down to the core: the mystery and horror elements. And what’s also a relief: he doesn’t adhere to the more problematic parts of the genres. Yes, he introduces a desperate female victim, but he doesn’t overtly sexualize her and gives her a fully fleshed-out backstory. The noir setting is moderately modernized to avoid the cringe aspects of the genre.
Down to the mystery: I don’t give much away when I tell you it’s about reflections and mirrors. We learn in the first pages — mild spoiler warning — that the reflections in mirrors don’t behave in the ways we would expect. This soon turns into a confrontation with a distorted reality that can be read as psychological horror. And the book is completely focused. It’s a book about two protagonists and one mystery. This works extraordinarily well for a short novella that can be read in an afternoon or two.
It’s still “only” four stars for me. Why? Well, first of all, I don’t believe that everything is about five stars. Secondly, due to the focus, I felt some redundancy. That’s not a big deal for a quick read like this, but while it started very strong, I lost some enthusiasm in the last chapters.
To sum it up: If you want to pour yourself a cheap glass of whiskey, turn up some dark jazz records, and enjoy a great noir read: just go for it. It’s an evening well spent. Jim knows how to deliver, be it the Weird West, a moldy summer town or the streets of an unnamed city covered in rain and neon lights.
September 4, 2026
This was a surprise release by Jim. As one of my favorite authors, I had to dig in and see what this was all about. For starters, I was taken by the noir setting, so I knew I was in for a pretty bleak story. Jimmy is a man who is morally grey as he's been let down in life and has seen the dark side of what life has to offer.
The idea of mirror and shadows lends itself to a depressing story. After all, mirrors can sometimes be our worst enemy as we don't always like the reflection of who we truly are. The noir style actually blends in very well with this story. The ending is kind of a mix of darkness, but also a small glimmer of hope. I'm not familiar with noir style fiction, so this was a good story to get myself adjusted to the style. The next time you look at a mirror, there might just be a shadow waiting for you.
Another banger by Jim!
The idea of mirror and shadows lends itself to a depressing story. After all, mirrors can sometimes be our worst enemy as we don't always like the reflection of who we truly are. The noir style actually blends in very well with this story. The ending is kind of a mix of darkness, but also a small glimmer of hope. I'm not familiar with noir style fiction, so this was a good story to get myself adjusted to the style. The next time you look at a mirror, there might just be a shadow waiting for you.
Another banger by Jim!
September 4, 2026
The Real Review
Reflections: A Noir Horror
By: Jim Donohue
Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: September 1, 2026
Length: Approximately 14,000 words
Content Warnings: Grief, Death, Violence, Psychological Manipulation, Guilt, Trauma, and Loss of Identity
Some mysteries lead you toward the truth. Others make you question whether the truth was ever yours to begin with.
When it comes to Jim Donohue’s novellas, I honestly believe Reflections is his best work yet.
At the center of the story is Jimmy Hollis, a man hardened by loss and a world that has given him very little reason to believe in justice. What begins as a dark mystery gradually becomes something far more personal and disturbing, pulling him into a psychological nightmare where memories, identities, and intentions can no longer be trusted.
Jim captured the essence of noir almost perfectly. I say almost only because you cannot actually see it. If you could watch this story unfold exactly as it feels on the page, it would be perfect. The shadows, the atmosphere, the mystery, and the feeling that every answer may lead somewhere even darker are all there.
The prose carries the mood of an old black-and-white crime film, but the horror underneath it is far more intimate. This is not a story that depends on blood or brutality to unsettle you. Its greatest weapon is doubt. It slowly gets inside your head and makes you question what is real, who is truly in control, and whether discovering the truth will actually set anyone free.
Through grief, guilt, manipulation, and the gradual loss of identity, Reflections explores what can happen when pain leaves someone vulnerable to a reality they desperately want to believe. The mystery works because it is not separate from Jimmy’s emotional state. Every revelation pushes the plot forward while also stripping away another layer of certainty.
That is my favorite kind of mind-bender. It does not confuse you simply to appear clever. Every doubt serves the story, every unsettling detail has a purpose, and the answers do not erase the questions that came before them. Those questions remain with you long after the final page.
I had the opportunity to work closely on this novella, and the deeper I went into it, the more impressed I became. That gave me a closer look at how deliberately the story was constructed, but it did not diminish the experience of reading it. If anything, it made me appreciate the final result even more.
Jim created something truly special with Reflections. It is atmospheric, psychological, and confidently written, proving that a novella does not need hundreds of pages to pull you into the darkness and leave part of you trapped there.
🎯 Recommended for:
• Readers who love noir mysteries with supernatural horror
• Fans of psychological stories that challenge their perception
• Anyone drawn to unreliable realities, fractured identities, and carefully constructed twists
• Readers who prefer unsettling atmosphere over excessive gore
🚫 Not for:
• Readers looking for straightforward answers from the beginning
• Anyone who dislikes stories that blur memory, identity, and reality
• Readers expecting action-driven or extreme horror
• Anyone who needs every mystery tied into a perfectly comfortable bow
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ REAL – Dark, intelligent, and dripping with noir atmosphere, Reflections is Jim Donohue’s finest novella yet.
— Angel R. Sanchez
Author. Reader. Creator of The Real Review.
Reflections: A Noir Horror
By: Jim Donohue
Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: September 1, 2026
Length: Approximately 14,000 words
Content Warnings: Grief, Death, Violence, Psychological Manipulation, Guilt, Trauma, and Loss of Identity
Some mysteries lead you toward the truth. Others make you question whether the truth was ever yours to begin with.
When it comes to Jim Donohue’s novellas, I honestly believe Reflections is his best work yet.
At the center of the story is Jimmy Hollis, a man hardened by loss and a world that has given him very little reason to believe in justice. What begins as a dark mystery gradually becomes something far more personal and disturbing, pulling him into a psychological nightmare where memories, identities, and intentions can no longer be trusted.
Jim captured the essence of noir almost perfectly. I say almost only because you cannot actually see it. If you could watch this story unfold exactly as it feels on the page, it would be perfect. The shadows, the atmosphere, the mystery, and the feeling that every answer may lead somewhere even darker are all there.
The prose carries the mood of an old black-and-white crime film, but the horror underneath it is far more intimate. This is not a story that depends on blood or brutality to unsettle you. Its greatest weapon is doubt. It slowly gets inside your head and makes you question what is real, who is truly in control, and whether discovering the truth will actually set anyone free.
Through grief, guilt, manipulation, and the gradual loss of identity, Reflections explores what can happen when pain leaves someone vulnerable to a reality they desperately want to believe. The mystery works because it is not separate from Jimmy’s emotional state. Every revelation pushes the plot forward while also stripping away another layer of certainty.
That is my favorite kind of mind-bender. It does not confuse you simply to appear clever. Every doubt serves the story, every unsettling detail has a purpose, and the answers do not erase the questions that came before them. Those questions remain with you long after the final page.
I had the opportunity to work closely on this novella, and the deeper I went into it, the more impressed I became. That gave me a closer look at how deliberately the story was constructed, but it did not diminish the experience of reading it. If anything, it made me appreciate the final result even more.
Jim created something truly special with Reflections. It is atmospheric, psychological, and confidently written, proving that a novella does not need hundreds of pages to pull you into the darkness and leave part of you trapped there.
🎯 Recommended for:
• Readers who love noir mysteries with supernatural horror
• Fans of psychological stories that challenge their perception
• Anyone drawn to unreliable realities, fractured identities, and carefully constructed twists
• Readers who prefer unsettling atmosphere over excessive gore
🚫 Not for:
• Readers looking for straightforward answers from the beginning
• Anyone who dislikes stories that blur memory, identity, and reality
• Readers expecting action-driven or extreme horror
• Anyone who needs every mystery tied into a perfectly comfortable bow
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✅ REAL – Dark, intelligent, and dripping with noir atmosphere, Reflections is Jim Donohue’s finest novella yet.
— Angel R. Sanchez
Author. Reader. Creator of The Real Review.
October 6, 2026
★★★★★
This book is an absolute gem for fans of dark fiction. Jim Donohue has masterfully blended the gritty atmosphere of classic noir with genuinely unsettling supernatural horror. Jimmy Hollis is a wonderfully weary and cynical detective, and Lena's terrifying ordeal with a reflection that wants to be her is both original and deeply creepy. The writing is sharp, evocative, and dripping with atmosphere. The moment Hollis crosses through the glass, the rules of reality shift in ways that kept me on the edge of my seat.
To the author, I offer my sincere admiration for crafting such a bold and memorable story. This is a must read for anyone who loves noir, horror, or tales that blur the line between the real and the unreal. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews