Devils Glen

Bettendorf Tales #1

by Matthew Speak

“Seek the gates and save the boy.”

Welcome to Bettendorf. At first glance, it seems like a typical Midwestern town, but take a closer look and you might be surprised.

High schooler Jack Davies sees the darkness coming; he lives with it. Cold voices call out from the closet door; dead hands reach up from under his bed. Although he doesn't know it, Jack wields a great power.

Now, a smooth-talking preacher has come to town promising freedom and redemption for all who follow his words. But like Jack, this preacher has a secret. Those who heed his call find themselves pawns in his plan to awaken an ancient evil, long ago imprisoned in the dank caves of Devils Glen Park.

With the help of a widowed police officer, a babysitter, and a mysterious spirit called Ava, Jack must find the truth about his hidden power in time to battle the dark forces that have descended upon his town. If he fails, our world will be cast into darkness forever.

Genres: Horror, Ebooks

390 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 4, 2017

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devils Glen (Bettendorf Tales #1) by Matthew Speak is a kindle scout book. It is a teen book and speaks the teen language well. It has creatures, horrors, suspense, all teen age based. The group of kids seem likeable and adventure/action right down the alley for teens. I liked it but I think teens will like it more than an adult. I don't think it is a re-reader for adults. Too many things repeated in spots, I would remove some things. But a pretty good read esp. for teens.

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a free copy of this book via the, now defunct, Kindle Scout program, and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

Darkness descends

I took my time getting around to this book, so long in fact that Kindle Scout has now died and gone. But, no matter, I still own a copy of the book, so I have to read and review it at some point, don’t I…?

Anyway, this book was darker than I normally like to get in to. I was lucky that I didn’t have nightmares afterwards! But, I plodded on.

The beginning almost made me want to throw it at the wall, as it was so so boring!! The chapters were disjointed and unrelated. Some of the prologue material was repeated in the first couple of chapters. But then came glimmers of brilliance, that started to make the story interesting, so I persevered further. Plenty of creepy stuff to be had, but the main gore of the story didn’t happen until towards the end, like it came out of nowhere! Suddenly, blatant blood and gore, like the book is catching up or something for missing out on it sooner!

And, as it so happens, just around the point of the major bloody action is when the book was starting to get really interesting and it started pulling all together. Although there are still a heap of unanswered questions. Maybe the next book will resolve that, but I’m tentative as to whether I should pick it up or not.

My rating for this flew between two and five stars, depending on how the book was running, so I think I’ve chosen a fairly nice middle ground.

Final rating: ★★★★☆ – Really liked

[GracieKat · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off I want to say that I love the cover of Devil's Glen. The art is pretty and magical looking. I also love the feel of it. That might seem like a weird thing to mention but it has a grippy feel to it that makes it easy to hold.

I really liked Devil's Glen. The characters were likable and the dialogue of the teenagers flowed nicely. The author didn't make them sound too adult or go overboard in trying to make them sound trendy. The story of Devil's Glen was a bit of an odd mix but somehow it worked well together. I'm very interested in seeing where the series will go.

There were some characters that I'd like to know better (like Leo) and others that I'd like to see more of. Particularly Opus and Maximus. I'm really hoping they show up again. I also liked that characters weren't brought up and then dropped. Matthew Speak did a great job of keeping track of his characters and relating them to each other in natural way. I really liked the friendship between Jack and Randy. I loved the character of Jack as well. He's very believable as a teenage boy in the situation he's in.

I also liked the chapter titles in Devil's Glen, some of them were pretty funny. I particularly liked 'The Misadventures of Jack's Lap' and 'Lupus Ex Machina'. It shows an awareness of the tropes he's toying with and using to great effect, for the most part.

There were a couple of things, though, that didn't quite make it a 5 star read for me. They were minor and easily fixable. One of the major ones was for as often as the dialogue was great and flowed naturally, there were parts that were very melodramatic. There was an overuse of the 'mystical speeches'. Such as, "You will know when the time is right" kind of thing. A few I don't mind but the book was cluttered with that particular cliche.

There were also a few parts that seemed a little...weird but they were minor.

Received from the author for an honest review

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to pick up this book up because it was by a former Quad Citian writing about my hometown. And the descriptions of the area did not fail to bring a smile as I read of places that I had known growing up.

Jack Davies is a regular high school kid who has a dark secret that makes him not so "regular". In this version of Bettendorf some really hellish forces are gathering and Jack is right in the middle of it what's going to happen.

I enjoyed this book but would have liked more details about Jack's abilities, since this is the first in what is supposed to be a series could have focused on Jack and further books branching out to the other characters. For me it seemed liked the ending was crammed with perhaps too many happenings and Jack was a bit lost in the finale. I am curious to see how this will end.

[carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good smattering of story lines that wove together seamlessly for a book that was impossible to it down!

Excellent story line! Couldn't strop reading, so many interesting characters, so much p!of development. Great reading! Would highly recommend to everyone!

[Chadwick Vogel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new voice in the horror/thriller genre. My friend, Matthew Speak, has written this great novel that combines all the great elements from "The Goonies", "Stand By Me", and "It" - SO. MUCH. FUN.

[Julianne Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read.

An entertaining twist on monster legends. Bit of a slow start, but picks up the pace quickly. I enjoyed it.

[Edward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got this title through Kindle Scout. I really had to force myself to continue to the end.

There were some editing errors, and the dialogue seemed really stilted or clumsy in a lot of places.

If this was a normal library loan, I would have set it aside and moved on to other books, but I felt like I owed the book a full read for nominating it in Scout.

Probably will not keep up with subsequent titles in the series.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story felt like a B-level movie--not always elegant, but meant purely for entertainment. It's wacky, gory, and far-fetched, all at the same time. It's filled with all kinds of creatures imaginable, and sure to please those who enjoy horror stories. There are sections that are a bit repetitious when told from the perspective of different people, and some things were mentioned a few too many times. Other than that, it did what it was supposed to do: entertain.

I received a copy of this book through the Kindle Scout program.

[Christine L · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read approximately 100 books a year and have for many, many years so I feel I can say with absolute certainty that this is one of the worst books (if not THE worst) book I have ever read.

[Clint Heitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated a bit higher seeing as how this is a first novel. Characters were interesting, and there were lots of plot lines skillfully wrangled back together. Dialogue needs a little work, and one key character was left in a cliffhanger, but perhaps that will be resolved in the next book. Great first novel!

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

My Mother-in-law lives in the area of Devils Glen and all the places they talk about I know... it makes this book all the more interesting.... It kept me on the edge of my seat... There was never a dull moment in the book. Awesome book to read, I think people of all ages could enjoy this book...

[Brent Doerzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll start out by saying I'm truly not a horror story kinda guy. But loved this! Been a while since I read a good page turner, can't put down kind of book. Even if I'm a wimp and only ready in the daytime! :) I grew up in Bettendorf, so it was fun to actually know all the locations the story took place in also. Just bought book #2!

[Sharon Sell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devil's Glen by Matthew Speak

An amazingly good paranormal read with a bit of something for everyone. Very well written with strong characters, wicked monsters & dark good folks vs light bad guys all combined. Question is which is which? Lots of twists & unexpected turns leaving you hungry for more! I'd give you a 10 star review if possible Mr. Speak! Well done!

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evil comes to town

Devil's Glen is in Bettendorf, Iowa. The thing is nobody in the town realizes that the Glen was named for the actual devils who dwell their. They are not the only evil that has come into this usually sleepy town. Evil is here to pave the way for the Big Evil to enter our world. Only one person can possibly stop the evil, will he succeed?

[Bookworm52732 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid story, with some gore--hey, I'm saying that because a reader may be a bit too young or on the squeamish side. It's an entertaining read that could use a bit of editing, missing or overuse of some words. I hope to read Crow Creek after I've whipped my TBR list into submission. As if...

[Debbie Hayes]

Very strange book!