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Hometown
Stu Brennan and his friends are trapped in surroundings horribly familiar and completely alien. Their hometown has become a city of human and inhuman monsters since the suicide of their friend Geri turned her nightmares into flesh. Now Stu and the others must fight their way past cannibals and faceless torturers if they are to have any chance of uncovering the truth behind Geri’s death and escaping her private hell. But while they battle to survive in the endless night, Stu’s wife is desperately searching for him, all the while unaware of the unspeakable horror drawing closer with every moment—a horror eager to turn her last moments into agony. If it finds her, there’ll be no way back for Geri’s old friends and nobody to stop the same depraved evil that destroyed Geri from moving on to its next target.
Stu’s baby daughter.
Stu’s baby daughter.
- GenresHorror
297 pages, Paperback
Published July 21, 2016
3 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Luke Walker
55 books77 followersLuke Walker has been writing horror and dark thrillers for most of his life. His horror titles include the new novel Burn as well as The Ninth Circle, Winter Graves, The Nameless, The Day Of The New Gods, The Mirror Of The Nameless, The Kindred, Pandemonium and The Dead Room and others. Several of his short stories have been published online and in magazines/books. His speculative thriller Terminal State, written under the name Rob Harrison, is out now. Luke's next novels Chaos and The Fall will be published by Baynam Books Press.
Luke's Bluesky page is @lukewalkerwriter.bsky.social
Sign up to his newsletter at
https://substack.com/@lukewalkerwriter
Or find him at https://lukewalkerwriter.wordpress.com
He is forty-eight and lives in England with his wife and cat.
Luke's Bluesky page is @lukewalkerwriter.bsky.social
Sign up to his newsletter at
https://substack.com/@lukewalkerwriter
Or find him at https://lukewalkerwriter.wordpress.com
He is forty-eight and lives in England with his wife and cat.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 12, 2022
3.5 stars!
Hometown is an atmospheric, sometimes surreal tale of horror, revenge and abuse in a small town.
Sometimes there are wrongs that can never be corrected. Even death can't set things straight. In the town of Dalry, something is awry and it's up to a group of old high school chums to figure out what. This proves difficult, due to the influence of a dead childhood friend, who often pulls them out of the hometown they know into some sort of parallel world that looks the same, but...isn't. Terrors live in that parallel world and not everyone will survive.
I loved how the story was told and the direction it took, but I had problems with differentiating the characters and their relationships with each other. It took a fair amount of the story for me to pull everything together as far as who everyone was and what was happening. Once I was able to get the characters straight, I didn't feel I knew them well enough to develop a deep caring for them. I felt more for the characters that were already dead, to be honest.
There were some instances where the writing reeled me right in, but there were also instances where a little more editing or proofreading might have helped. (The use of the word scrapping instead of scraping, for instance, happened more than once.)
Overall, though, this was a heart-wrenching story about a damaged family and how that damage can ripple outwards like a stone tossed into a pond-affecting everyone it touches. This tale does have a lot of heart, it just takes some patience and care to get there. Recommended because your mileage may vary and the issues I had may just be mine and mine alone!
You can get your copy here: Hometown
*I received a free e-copy in exchange for my honest review. This is it!*
Hometown is an atmospheric, sometimes surreal tale of horror, revenge and abuse in a small town.
Sometimes there are wrongs that can never be corrected. Even death can't set things straight. In the town of Dalry, something is awry and it's up to a group of old high school chums to figure out what. This proves difficult, due to the influence of a dead childhood friend, who often pulls them out of the hometown they know into some sort of parallel world that looks the same, but...isn't. Terrors live in that parallel world and not everyone will survive.
I loved how the story was told and the direction it took, but I had problems with differentiating the characters and their relationships with each other. It took a fair amount of the story for me to pull everything together as far as who everyone was and what was happening. Once I was able to get the characters straight, I didn't feel I knew them well enough to develop a deep caring for them. I felt more for the characters that were already dead, to be honest.
There were some instances where the writing reeled me right in, but there were also instances where a little more editing or proofreading might have helped. (The use of the word scrapping instead of scraping, for instance, happened more than once.)
Overall, though, this was a heart-wrenching story about a damaged family and how that damage can ripple outwards like a stone tossed into a pond-affecting everyone it touches. This tale does have a lot of heart, it just takes some patience and care to get there. Recommended because your mileage may vary and the issues I had may just be mine and mine alone!
You can get your copy here: Hometown
*I received a free e-copy in exchange for my honest review. This is it!*
August 24, 2016
Dark and unsettling horror from a new voice in the genre. Luke Walker has written a disturbing slice of horror with well rounded characters you actually care about. Elements of other worldliness ala Silent Hill Hometown has an eerie atmosphere expertly put to page by Walker.
July 29, 2016
Luke Walker sent me a copy of his newest book, HOMETOWN, for my thoughts and hopefully a review. Like all of his books, this was an easy read. The tension builds slowly and one gets to know the characters before their lives begin to crumble. Where? What? How? By the time you find yourself questioning just what the hell is going on it's too lat to stop for your own bodily functions. Hopefully, there's someone at home to help you out there! Hometown is a journey into disaster. It's a speedy, breathless trip that I think you'll enjoy.
September 19, 2019
"Snake Plissken would get us out of this."
I haven't read horror in ages. This was a good return to the genre, and my first read from Luke Walker.
Initially I couldn't avoid comparing it to Stephen King's IT (the book, not filmed adaptations) but it soon diverges into its own thing, and once that happens it is a cracking good read.
The blurb on Amazon reads like it was written from an earlier draft, and it needs a trigger warning for references to child abuse (not the worst I've read, but still discomforting).
Potential trigger aside, recommended.
I haven't read horror in ages. This was a good return to the genre, and my first read from Luke Walker.
Initially I couldn't avoid comparing it to Stephen King's IT (the book, not filmed adaptations) but it soon diverges into its own thing, and once that happens it is a cracking good read.
The blurb on Amazon reads like it was written from an earlier draft, and it needs a trigger warning for references to child abuse (not the worst I've read, but still discomforting).
Potential trigger aside, recommended.
April 10, 2021
A book sent to me by a friend that I believe is set in my home town of Peterborough. If you are also from there, give it a whirl, see what you recognise. If you aren’t, don’t...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews