What do you think?
Rate this book
Haven
WINNER OF THE 2016 BRAM STOKER AWARD FOR SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A FIRST NOVEL
In 1961, the small town of Haven thought they'd gotten rid of their monster.
After a series of child killings, Paul Greymore was caught carrying a wounded girl. His face, disfigured from a childhood accident, seemed to confirm he was the monster the community hoped to banish. With Paul in prison, the killings stopped.
For seventeen years, Haven was peaceful again. But Paul served his time and has now returned to Haven--the town where he grew up, and the scene of his alleged crimes. Paul insists he didn't commit those crimes, and several townspeople believe him including the local priest, a young boy named Denny, and his best friend Billy.
Trouble is, now that Paul is back home, the bizarre killings have started again--and the patterns match the deaths from Haven's past . If Paul isn't the killer, who is?
Or WHAT is? An unlikely band of adventurers attempts to uncover the truth, delving into long-hidden tunnels that might actually be inhabited by a strange, predatory creature.
Haven is a compelling horror epic in the spirit of It or Summer of Night, and a stunning debut novel from a gifted author who knows that the darkest horrors lurk inside human beings, even when there is a monster on the loose.
In 1961, the small town of Haven thought they'd gotten rid of their monster.
After a series of child killings, Paul Greymore was caught carrying a wounded girl. His face, disfigured from a childhood accident, seemed to confirm he was the monster the community hoped to banish. With Paul in prison, the killings stopped.
For seventeen years, Haven was peaceful again. But Paul served his time and has now returned to Haven--the town where he grew up, and the scene of his alleged crimes. Paul insists he didn't commit those crimes, and several townspeople believe him including the local priest, a young boy named Denny, and his best friend Billy.
Trouble is, now that Paul is back home, the bizarre killings have started again--and the patterns match the deaths from Haven's past . If Paul isn't the killer, who is?
Or WHAT is? An unlikely band of adventurers attempts to uncover the truth, delving into long-hidden tunnels that might actually be inhabited by a strange, predatory creature.
Haven is a compelling horror epic in the spirit of It or Summer of Night, and a stunning debut novel from a gifted author who knows that the darkest horrors lurk inside human beings, even when there is a monster on the loose.
504 pages, Paperback
First published October 31, 2016
102 people are currently reading
3419 people want to read
About the author
Tom Deady
47 books235 followersTom Deady's first novel, HAVEN, won the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. He has since published several novels and novellas. He has a Master's Degree in English and Creative Writing and is a member of both the Horror Writers Association and the New England Horror Writers Association. He resides in Arizona where he is working on his next novel.
Be sure to follow Tom on BookBub for the latest on sales: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/tom-d...
Be sure to follow Tom on BookBub for the latest on sales: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/tom-d...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
October 18, 2017
3.5/5 stars!
Haven is a coming of age story, set in a small town in Massachusetts. Narrated beautifully by Matt Godfrey, and set in a such a perfect place, how could the story itself not be fabulous? Truth is though, it's just okay.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and as I said the narration was excellent. However, I didn't find that this book added anything original to the genre. 80's horror nostalgia is a big thing now and that may have soured my opinion a little. I recently saw the movie of Stephen King's "It" and I just don't think it's possible to compare the two without having Haven come up short. I'm not sure that it's possible NOT to compare the two- which may be my whole problem.
This is an engaging "coming of age"/"evil in a small town story", it's just that I didn't find the writing or the story itself to be outstanding. Good? Yes, definitely! And who knows? You may enjoy it a lot more than I did. So, if this sounds interesting to you, I say give it a shot.
Recommended!
*I received this audiobook free from the narrator, in exchange for my honest review. This is it.*
Haven is a coming of age story, set in a small town in Massachusetts. Narrated beautifully by Matt Godfrey, and set in a such a perfect place, how could the story itself not be fabulous? Truth is though, it's just okay.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and as I said the narration was excellent. However, I didn't find that this book added anything original to the genre. 80's horror nostalgia is a big thing now and that may have soured my opinion a little. I recently saw the movie of Stephen King's "It" and I just don't think it's possible to compare the two without having Haven come up short. I'm not sure that it's possible NOT to compare the two- which may be my whole problem.
This is an engaging "coming of age"/"evil in a small town story", it's just that I didn't find the writing or the story itself to be outstanding. Good? Yes, definitely! And who knows? You may enjoy it a lot more than I did. So, if this sounds interesting to you, I say give it a shot.
Recommended!
*I received this audiobook free from the narrator, in exchange for my honest review. This is it.*
May 21, 2018
This book was probably my most anticipated read for my Season of Horror reading. I bought it a few months into summer so the excitement had a lot of time to grow. I found Tom Deady, the author, on Twitter-he posted his first novel had won the Bram Stoker award for First Novel! A big achievement in both horror and debut novels, in my opinion.
The blurb on the cover says,
"Haven is a big, generous, Stephen King-like small town boys vs. monster epic." and I also read somewhere that it was compared to IT and Summer of Night (Dan Simmons) both of which are favorite, epic, horror novels for me.
Getting about 100 pages into the book, I was already annoyed with the plot. It was way too similar to my favorite stories. I don't mind if a book is in the same vein or shares a vibe but to have so many of the elements actually featured as a main plot point is just annoying.
We have a sensible priest.
We have a small, seedy town.
We have child (and pet) disappearances.
We have some likable kids who are bullied by unlikable kids.
We have a monster lurking in some tunnels.
Which, to be honest, would have all been okay with me if the writing was pretty special or if I was scared. But the narrating was all over the place-jumping perspectives too much so that I never really invested in any of the characters--and there is a large cast of characters.
I also felt the story was padded to get to that 500+ benchmark of "epic horror" status.
There were chapters of this book and characters introduced that I felt were unnecessary to the story and made the pacing too slow to be scary or suspenseful.
I finished it though, which is why I rated it three stars instead of one or two. Because it kept me just interested enough to see what happened but it was like being satisfied with a giant bowl of vanilla ice cream and not enjoying something more unique in a smaller portion. Those are my thoughts. It was okay, just not great. And I need to go see what this book beat out in terms of that Bram Stoker award, now I'm curious!
The blurb on the cover says,
"Haven is a big, generous, Stephen King-like small town boys vs. monster epic." and I also read somewhere that it was compared to IT and Summer of Night (Dan Simmons) both of which are favorite, epic, horror novels for me.
Getting about 100 pages into the book, I was already annoyed with the plot. It was way too similar to my favorite stories. I don't mind if a book is in the same vein or shares a vibe but to have so many of the elements actually featured as a main plot point is just annoying.
We have a sensible priest.
We have a small, seedy town.
We have child (and pet) disappearances.
We have some likable kids who are bullied by unlikable kids.
We have a monster lurking in some tunnels.
Which, to be honest, would have all been okay with me if the writing was pretty special or if I was scared. But the narrating was all over the place-jumping perspectives too much so that I never really invested in any of the characters--and there is a large cast of characters.
I also felt the story was padded to get to that 500+ benchmark of "epic horror" status.
There were chapters of this book and characters introduced that I felt were unnecessary to the story and made the pacing too slow to be scary or suspenseful.
I finished it though, which is why I rated it three stars instead of one or two. Because it kept me just interested enough to see what happened but it was like being satisfied with a giant bowl of vanilla ice cream and not enjoying something more unique in a smaller portion. Those are my thoughts. It was okay, just not great. And I need to go see what this book beat out in terms of that Bram Stoker award, now I'm curious!
September 20, 2017
This was a very good audio production. Matt Godfrey did a fantastic job with the narration. The characters, pacing, tone and cadence were all spot on.
The synopsis (which I did not read ahead of time) says “Haven is a compelling horror epic in the spirit of It or Summer of Night…” Damn, those are big shoes to fill. So here’s the deal. While it’s not IT or SoN, it is pretty darn good. A (sort of) coming of age tale and (definitely) a creature feature. The story itself is probably a 3 to 3.5 star story, but since I listened to it on audio and Matt Godfrey nailed the narration, it was easily elevated to a 4 star listen. Nicely done all around.
Dale the douche, road kill analytics, Moses reincarnated, kitties in the lake, government conspiracies and the Butcher is back in town.
*I was given a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Well, I requested it because I really wanted to check it out and I always honestly review what I read/listen to, so it wasn’t that big of a stretch, but since it’s FTC regulations to add a disclaimer, there it is.
The synopsis (which I did not read ahead of time) says “Haven is a compelling horror epic in the spirit of It or Summer of Night…” Damn, those are big shoes to fill. So here’s the deal. While it’s not IT or SoN, it is pretty darn good. A (sort of) coming of age tale and (definitely) a creature feature. The story itself is probably a 3 to 3.5 star story, but since I listened to it on audio and Matt Godfrey nailed the narration, it was easily elevated to a 4 star listen. Nicely done all around.
Dale the douche, road kill analytics, Moses reincarnated, kitties in the lake, government conspiracies and the Butcher is back in town.
*I was given a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Well, I requested it because I really wanted to check it out and I always honestly review what I read/listen to, so it wasn’t that big of a stretch, but since it’s FTC regulations to add a disclaimer, there it is.
January 24, 2017
Review copy
After nearly seventeen years in Braxton State Prison, for a crime he didn't commit, Paul Greymore is a free man. Free to return to the lakeside town of Haven. Greymore may be free from the prison walls, but will he ever be free from his past? Not if Cody Crawford, the local Chief of Police has any say in the matter.,
At it's simplest, Haven is a wonderful coming of age story, filled with excellent characters I grew to love and hate over the course of the 500 pages that make up Tom Deady's debut novel.
Of course there's Paul Greymore, disfigured in a childhood accident involving the spilling of boiling water on his young face. Father Neil McCarthy who believes in Paul's innocence. There's a bevy of teens who provide the story's heart and soul. Denny and his best friend Billy. Billy's slightly older sister, Julie. Julie's bad-boy boyfriend, Dale, who happens to be Sheriff Crawford's son, as well as his cronies.
Deady provides layer after layer of narrative, there's a certain charm in his storytelling with one carefully crafted scene after another. Some writers have a way of making the reader so comfortable with their words that it's like watching a movie in your mind. Haven is like that.
I don't always read the story synopsis before reading a book. Sometimes I'll go into it cold, either because I like the author, trust the publisher, or have heard from others who like the book. This is the way I went into Haven thinking it was just a nice little coming of age tale, and then...bang. Wow.
There are some wonderful moments in Haven. If you're looking for a read that will deliver hours of enjoyment. You can't do much better than Tom Deady's debut novel.
Limited to 750 signed copies and already sold out, Haven is published by Cemetery Dance Publications. Hopefully it will see a wider release down the road so everyone can enjoy this work.
From the author's bio - Tom was born and raised in Malden, Massachusetts, not far from the historic (and spooky) town of Salem. He has endured a career as an IT professional, but his dream has always been to be a writer. A passionate Red Sox fan, Tom and a friend created Surviving Grady at the start of the 2004 season. Ten years and three World Series championships later, he still blogs about the Sox.
After nearly seventeen years in Braxton State Prison, for a crime he didn't commit, Paul Greymore is a free man. Free to return to the lakeside town of Haven. Greymore may be free from the prison walls, but will he ever be free from his past? Not if Cody Crawford, the local Chief of Police has any say in the matter.,
At it's simplest, Haven is a wonderful coming of age story, filled with excellent characters I grew to love and hate over the course of the 500 pages that make up Tom Deady's debut novel.
Of course there's Paul Greymore, disfigured in a childhood accident involving the spilling of boiling water on his young face. Father Neil McCarthy who believes in Paul's innocence. There's a bevy of teens who provide the story's heart and soul. Denny and his best friend Billy. Billy's slightly older sister, Julie. Julie's bad-boy boyfriend, Dale, who happens to be Sheriff Crawford's son, as well as his cronies.
Deady provides layer after layer of narrative, there's a certain charm in his storytelling with one carefully crafted scene after another. Some writers have a way of making the reader so comfortable with their words that it's like watching a movie in your mind. Haven is like that.
I don't always read the story synopsis before reading a book. Sometimes I'll go into it cold, either because I like the author, trust the publisher, or have heard from others who like the book. This is the way I went into Haven thinking it was just a nice little coming of age tale, and then...bang. Wow.
There are some wonderful moments in Haven. If you're looking for a read that will deliver hours of enjoyment. You can't do much better than Tom Deady's debut novel.
Limited to 750 signed copies and already sold out, Haven is published by Cemetery Dance Publications. Hopefully it will see a wider release down the road so everyone can enjoy this work.
From the author's bio - Tom was born and raised in Malden, Massachusetts, not far from the historic (and spooky) town of Salem. He has endured a career as an IT professional, but his dream has always been to be a writer. A passionate Red Sox fan, Tom and a friend created Surviving Grady at the start of the 2004 season. Ten years and three World Series championships later, he still blogs about the Sox.
April 4, 2017
This was such an enjoyable read. A great cast of characters developed by author Tom Deady, some charming and endearing, some despicable.I wanted to take my time and savor this adventure but found myself drawn to opening the pages. A must read!
August 10, 2019
do you curses? do you like mad scientist? how about creatures gone wild? whatever it is you like this book has it! i know what your thinking. gee, that sounds like a mess! it really isn't. Tom pulls all that off so smoothly, you won't even miss a beat in the book. The story is really good, it was just a little bit too long. i loved most of the characters. they are flawed and not perfect by any means but they are human and easy to relate to. this is the first thing i've listened to by Tom Deady and i would definitely listen to or read more of his stuff.
Matt Godfrey narrates this story and he does a great job. 5 stars for him!
Matt Godfrey narrates this story and he does a great job. 5 stars for him!
Want to read
September 19, 2017This hardcover edition is numbered 28 of 600 copies printed and is signed by Tom Deady.
August 31, 2017
When I pick up a book by an author I'm not familiar with, I do it because the story interests me, or I heard something positive about it, or it was on sale.
What I don't do is familiarize myself with the author before reading, and so it was that I found out afterward that Haven is Tom Deady's first novel. It is also the 2017 Bram Stoker Award winner for First Novel.
There are things I enjoyed about the story, an old-fashioned horror novel about a monster lurking in the lake of a small town--and the perhaps more menacing human monsters that work and live around the lake--but I found the story dragged on too long and the melodramatic writing was distracting at best and eye-rolling at worst. I read through to the end but didn't feel much reward for having done so.
Given the reviews and awards, it may be that I'm just not getting the tone Deady was going for. He renders the characters well for the most part, though some of the supporting characters are typical small town stereotypes, and all of them tend to be overly explicit in their thoughts and actions. Subtlety is not merely tossed out the window here, it is packaged up and shipped over to the other side of the world.
In Haven the sheriff is a cartoonishly evil man with an equally cartoonishly evil son. They serve as the primary antagonists while the monster--the design of which brings to mind the car devised by Homer in The Simpsons in how it's a conglomeration of mismatched parts intended to be the ultimate representation of its form--occasionally devours, but more often just weirdly mutilates and kills people who get a bit too close to the lake.
The mystery is slowly revealed over the length of the novel, mostly by having characters remember key details from the past piece-by-piece as their minds struggle with the wicked effects of alcohol, mental trauma or both. Conveniently, everyone remembers everything before the story ends.
The whole thing is hokey and kind of silly and I'm actually okay with that, but the writing ranges from a plain meat-and-potatoes quality to stuff that would have benefited from a more discerning editor. Observe:
And my personal favorite:
Not figuratively shaking, no sir. This ground was literally shaking. It was the real deal, shaking-wise.
The point of these examples (and there are many others) is that any good editor would have stroked out that one word without hesitation and made every sentence better as a result. That this was not done does Tom Deady no favors as a writer.
But I will say this--while I found the ending ultimately unsatisfying and the story overly long, I kept plugging away at it, anyway, so Deady obviously managed to capture enough of that old-fashioned monster horror novel thing to keep me engaged. If he continues to write and gets better help with editing and revision, his workman-like prose can only improve. He can tell a story so I see promise here.
What I don't do is familiarize myself with the author before reading, and so it was that I found out afterward that Haven is Tom Deady's first novel. It is also the 2017 Bram Stoker Award winner for First Novel.
There are things I enjoyed about the story, an old-fashioned horror novel about a monster lurking in the lake of a small town--and the perhaps more menacing human monsters that work and live around the lake--but I found the story dragged on too long and the melodramatic writing was distracting at best and eye-rolling at worst. I read through to the end but didn't feel much reward for having done so.
Given the reviews and awards, it may be that I'm just not getting the tone Deady was going for. He renders the characters well for the most part, though some of the supporting characters are typical small town stereotypes, and all of them tend to be overly explicit in their thoughts and actions. Subtlety is not merely tossed out the window here, it is packaged up and shipped over to the other side of the world.
In Haven the sheriff is a cartoonishly evil man with an equally cartoonishly evil son. They serve as the primary antagonists while the monster--the design of which brings to mind the car devised by Homer in The Simpsons in how it's a conglomeration of mismatched parts intended to be the ultimate representation of its form--occasionally devours, but more often just weirdly mutilates and kills people who get a bit too close to the lake.
The mystery is slowly revealed over the length of the novel, mostly by having characters remember key details from the past piece-by-piece as their minds struggle with the wicked effects of alcohol, mental trauma or both. Conveniently, everyone remembers everything before the story ends.
The whole thing is hokey and kind of silly and I'm actually okay with that, but the writing ranges from a plain meat-and-potatoes quality to stuff that would have benefited from a more discerning editor. Observe:
“Shut the hell up. Who the hell do you think you’re talkin’ to, your freak friend, huh, Father?” The last word he literally spit out, spraying the priest with drops of saliva.
Eddie’s body was literally in pieces.
It hadn’t rained all summer, literally.
He was literally doubling over he was laughing so hard.
Women had never been a problem anyway, but after nailing Greymore, they literally threw themselves at him.
Next he stole a glance at his partner in crime—literally.
What if his little sermon had worked, and Jake had gone off half-cocked (literally) to the lake to find the thing himself?
And my personal favorite:
The ground was literally shaking under their feet as rocks rained down.
Not figuratively shaking, no sir. This ground was literally shaking. It was the real deal, shaking-wise.
The point of these examples (and there are many others) is that any good editor would have stroked out that one word without hesitation and made every sentence better as a result. That this was not done does Tom Deady no favors as a writer.
But I will say this--while I found the ending ultimately unsatisfying and the story overly long, I kept plugging away at it, anyway, so Deady obviously managed to capture enough of that old-fashioned monster horror novel thing to keep me engaged. If he continues to write and gets better help with editing and revision, his workman-like prose can only improve. He can tell a story so I see promise here.
November 1, 2016
Tom Deady’s HAVEN hits a note perfect tone of retro-cool horror evoking an early 80s sensibility without reading at all like an imitation. Like Stranger Things—though written before it aired—HAVEN conjures the aesthetic of the time both in content and style in a way that is spot on while being a modern story with an original voice. And while comparisons to Stephen King’s early work are apt, where others often try to copy King and fall flat, Deady knows when to play classic notes and when to take the song in his own direction. If you’re a fan of Stranger Things, like me, this book hits at exactly the right moment. You shouldn’t miss this!
May 15, 2023
I’ve had this book on my shelf for over a year now and still haven’t read it because life started getting busier. When I seen he was doing a give away for the audiobook, I jumped on it since I’ve been able to plow through those more than physical books lately.
I absolutely can see why it won a Bram Stoker Award! I have seen reviews for this book where people have compared it to Stephen Kings It and Dan Simmons Summer of Night. Although it does have similarities, it has many different takes and turns to it which makes it a very unique and solid story!
Reading (or listening) to Coming of Age books in the summertime is my favorite go to. It brings me back to my school years and all the fun summers I had as a kid. Going to the Lake, watching movies, riding bikes, and just being a kid. Times were so different, but simpler than it is now. No cell phones and not coming home until the street lights turned on. I wish my kids could experience those great times, because the newer generations don’t go out and play like we used to.
I would recommend this to any horror fan who loves a great coming of age story. It is a perfect summertime read and just moved into my top 3 books this year!
September 19, 2017
Really didn't think I would like this one as much as I did! Reminiscent of IT and A Boy's Life.
Definitely worth the read.
Definitely worth the read.
March 26, 2017
If I could rank it up here like I wanted it would be 3 1/2 stars. I found that it had a very promising beginning and overall I liked it enough, it just seemed to need a little more editing to tighten up the story more. I would've liked longer chapters delving deeper into character development and story instead of the very short 2 to 3 page chapters that switched perspectives so often.
June 23, 2017
Did you love Stranger Things? Do you love 80s creature features? Do you love Stephen King? If you answered, yes, yes, fuck yes I do, you'll probably like this book. I suggest reading it despite my score, which I will explain.
Tom Deady has been writing for a while and this is his first published novel. It won the Bram Stoker award for best first novel. I'm trying to read my way through the Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson awards, so obviously I had to read this. I feel, I had my expectations set way too high for this novel. Deady is talented, and this book has a lot of good things going for it. I'll highlight both the positives and negatives.
First off, I come from a small town in Massachusetts. I was born in raised in a no name town by the name of East Bridgewater. Deady completely nails the small town Massachusetts feel, the same way Stephen King nails the small Maine town feel. Deady has also made some fantastic characters and characters that you wanted to root for. He also made some awful villains who you want to see punished. This book has a fantastic atmosphere, and most importantly, it's a fun read.
So, what went wrong? Honestly, I think it's me, not the book. The book is good, event great at times, and I can see why people love it. I can also understand how it won and why it won. But, there are many things I dislike about this book. The first, is the constant POV changes. Every chapter is like 2-5 pages long and the pov is constantly changing. For me, this detached me from the characters. I felt like I understood them but I was never able to connect with them, for a horror novel, that's a bad thing for me. I want to care, but if I don't care, I won't feel the tension. Secondly, there are lots of convenient things that happen for the sake of the plot. I won't spoil them, but to give you an example. There's a character who's an alcoholic and is able to give up drinking seemingly overnight. Many of these moments, killed my immersion in the book. Finally, I feel this book is a giant love letter to King. I can tell Deady loves King and is trying to write a King esque novel. But Deady needs to ditch the love letters to King and write something in his own voice.
That being said, this is a good book, I'm not trying to be a stick in the mud. There's just many things here that made it not so good for me. 2.5/5
Tom Deady has been writing for a while and this is his first published novel. It won the Bram Stoker award for best first novel. I'm trying to read my way through the Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson awards, so obviously I had to read this. I feel, I had my expectations set way too high for this novel. Deady is talented, and this book has a lot of good things going for it. I'll highlight both the positives and negatives.
First off, I come from a small town in Massachusetts. I was born in raised in a no name town by the name of East Bridgewater. Deady completely nails the small town Massachusetts feel, the same way Stephen King nails the small Maine town feel. Deady has also made some fantastic characters and characters that you wanted to root for. He also made some awful villains who you want to see punished. This book has a fantastic atmosphere, and most importantly, it's a fun read.
So, what went wrong? Honestly, I think it's me, not the book. The book is good, event great at times, and I can see why people love it. I can also understand how it won and why it won. But, there are many things I dislike about this book. The first, is the constant POV changes. Every chapter is like 2-5 pages long and the pov is constantly changing. For me, this detached me from the characters. I felt like I understood them but I was never able to connect with them, for a horror novel, that's a bad thing for me. I want to care, but if I don't care, I won't feel the tension. Secondly, there are lots of convenient things that happen for the sake of the plot. I won't spoil them, but to give you an example. There's a character who's an alcoholic and is able to give up drinking seemingly overnight. Many of these moments, killed my immersion in the book. Finally, I feel this book is a giant love letter to King. I can tell Deady loves King and is trying to write a King esque novel. But Deady needs to ditch the love letters to King and write something in his own voice.
That being said, this is a good book, I'm not trying to be a stick in the mud. There's just many things here that made it not so good for me. 2.5/5
January 9, 2019
I was about 60% through the book and prepared to give a 4-star rating for a story that was reminiscent of IT and Summer of Night. But as I continued to read, and started to feel the book was beginning to drag, it finally hit a wall for me, and I realized a number of issues I had with it.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
*YE HAVE BEEN WARNED*
1. While it was in the vein of the books I mentioned above, after awhile it felt like instead of emulating them, it was following a formula for these coming of age horror books. Plot-wise, it stopped feeling like its own animal.
2. The villains in the story, the Crawfords, were way TOO villainous, had too much of a hard-on for their victims. When every 3 chapters Dale Crawford is trying to beat Denny to death or Cody Crawford is threatening to kill Paul once an for all, they go from being burdens the protags need to overome to being ridiculously unbelievable caricatures.
3. What really bottomed out this book for me was the creature. Bad enough it wasn't just say some two-animal hybrid that had other characteristics, but was instead like a jigsaw puzzle. But when Mossy explained it's desire for human blood was due to blood saved from the infamous Tsavo man-eating lions what had been a pretty solid, enjoyable book just lost all credibility with me. Deady was obviously obsessed with that story to not just mention it a lot, but to add such a b-movie ridiculous plot element into the story. From that point on I just skimmed to the end so I could be rid of this book.
First 60% - 4 stars
Last 40% - 1.5 stars
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
*YE HAVE BEEN WARNED*
1. While it was in the vein of the books I mentioned above, after awhile it felt like instead of emulating them, it was following a formula for these coming of age horror books. Plot-wise, it stopped feeling like its own animal.
2. The villains in the story, the Crawfords, were way TOO villainous, had too much of a hard-on for their victims. When every 3 chapters Dale Crawford is trying to beat Denny to death or Cody Crawford is threatening to kill Paul once an for all, they go from being burdens the protags need to overome to being ridiculously unbelievable caricatures.
3. What really bottomed out this book for me was the creature. Bad enough it wasn't just say some two-animal hybrid that had other characteristics, but was instead like a jigsaw puzzle. But when Mossy explained it's desire for human blood was due to blood saved from the infamous Tsavo man-eating lions what had been a pretty solid, enjoyable book just lost all credibility with me. Deady was obviously obsessed with that story to not just mention it a lot, but to add such a b-movie ridiculous plot element into the story. From that point on I just skimmed to the end so I could be rid of this book.
First 60% - 4 stars
Last 40% - 1.5 stars
April 20, 2017
I saw this book advertised and waited for it, watching until Amazon got it, then bought it
I was not disappointed. what a great book. the book, characters, action, the telling of it. All wonderful. I will be putting this book on my keeper shelf on my kindle, and be looking for more by this author. I'm heading for amazon now to see if he has anymore and buy those.
Do yourself a favor and read this book
I was not disappointed. what a great book. the book, characters, action, the telling of it. All wonderful. I will be putting this book on my keeper shelf on my kindle, and be looking for more by this author. I'm heading for amazon now to see if he has anymore and buy those.
Do yourself a favor and read this book
December 31, 2018
This was a fantastic book, I loved it from the beginning. It had a great group of characters, both protagonist and antagonists. The story telling was excellent and the town of Haven couldn't have felt more real if I'd been there myself. This was the kind of story that pulled me in, and left me missing Denny and his friends when the last page was read. I highly recommend this one. It was on my shelf far too long. I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.
September 14, 2017
Review to follow. I'm way behind in my group reading, so I will have to review it later. This one is just not for me.
August 10, 2019
An exceptional coming of age horror novel. Weighty, but never boring, this is exactly MY kind of book.
A young man, disfigured and shamed, is sent to prison for 17 years in 1961 for murders he claims he never committed. Now free, he comes back to his hometown of Haven, Massachusetts to start his life over with the help of his friend and mentor, Catholic Priest, Father McCarthy. The chief of police Crawford put this guy away in 1961, and immediately wants to put him back, while his own son terrorizes some younger boys in town. But is something more afoot in Haven? And why do there never seem to be any roadkill left near the lake?
That's more than enough of a taste for this terrific tour-de-force of a novel. The characters in this book ALL ring true and cause you to fall in love with them or despise them from your very core, depending on which one it is. The writing is very natural, not over the top, and straight forward. The prose is gentle, but effective, the dialogue never fails to come across as authentic, and the tension starts on page one and doesn't stop building until the final one. I've read plenty of terrific books over the years, and I've come to adore the coming of age horror sub-genre. Stephen King's IT is often what I consider the standard bearer, along with Boy's Life by Robert McCammon (though not horror), and HAVEN takes its place amongst the titans of the genre and is clearly comfortable there. The novel never tries too hard to impress, but does so anyway page after page.
I really enjoyed the straight-forward storytelling here. As I said before, Deady never goes over the top, never abandons the naturalistic style he employs, and this is one of the books greatest strengths. Deady has no need to impress you. He's already done it with this masterful work. The story is both simple, yet deep, spanning decades while still feeling intimate and immediate. The stakes are high, but they are presented in such a way that only a handful of characters are aware of what's happening, keeping that intimacy I described front and center throughout.
This is not an extreme horror novel that revels in buckets of gore and depravity. This is about real-to-life small town folks facing down something far more powerful than themselves. And that's part of its beauty. What would YOU do if you found yourself face to face with the horror this book presents? I think for most of us, Tom Deady has shown precisely how the average Joe would react.
This novel has a very mainstream appeal, while still feeling like very much its own thing. It isn't trying to be something it isn't, not trying to copy anything else. There are elements here that pay homage to the greats of this sub-genre, yet it manages to be completely its own, unique story. And while there IS a monster (along with some human monsters as well), nothing supernatural is present here. I like supernatural, and think this kind of story is a fine fit for such an approach, but by avoiding the supernatural, Deady manages to wed this tale to reality in such a way that even the unnamable beast within the pages seems frightfully plausible. And I was never quite able to shake that. This speaks to magnificent, understated writing.
If you like horror in the vein of Stephen King at his best when writing about children, you're in for a treat here. AND you're in for something Mr. King hasn't given us already. At no point did I feel like I was reading a riff on anything else, but still appreciated its sense of knowing whom its peers are, respecting them, and doing its own thing.
If you're not a horror fan, you'll likely still have a great time with this book. It isn't overly gory, though it is suspenseful throughout, and the characters are drawn in such a way that you'd want to follow and know more about them even if this were a cozy, romantic mystery. But never fear, horror lovers, there's still plenty here to get your hackles up.
There's nothing to consider here, other than the format you want to read this book in. Print, digital, audio, all are available, so there's literally ZERO excuse to skip this one. And if you do, you're the lesser for it.
A young man, disfigured and shamed, is sent to prison for 17 years in 1961 for murders he claims he never committed. Now free, he comes back to his hometown of Haven, Massachusetts to start his life over with the help of his friend and mentor, Catholic Priest, Father McCarthy. The chief of police Crawford put this guy away in 1961, and immediately wants to put him back, while his own son terrorizes some younger boys in town. But is something more afoot in Haven? And why do there never seem to be any roadkill left near the lake?
That's more than enough of a taste for this terrific tour-de-force of a novel. The characters in this book ALL ring true and cause you to fall in love with them or despise them from your very core, depending on which one it is. The writing is very natural, not over the top, and straight forward. The prose is gentle, but effective, the dialogue never fails to come across as authentic, and the tension starts on page one and doesn't stop building until the final one. I've read plenty of terrific books over the years, and I've come to adore the coming of age horror sub-genre. Stephen King's IT is often what I consider the standard bearer, along with Boy's Life by Robert McCammon (though not horror), and HAVEN takes its place amongst the titans of the genre and is clearly comfortable there. The novel never tries too hard to impress, but does so anyway page after page.
I really enjoyed the straight-forward storytelling here. As I said before, Deady never goes over the top, never abandons the naturalistic style he employs, and this is one of the books greatest strengths. Deady has no need to impress you. He's already done it with this masterful work. The story is both simple, yet deep, spanning decades while still feeling intimate and immediate. The stakes are high, but they are presented in such a way that only a handful of characters are aware of what's happening, keeping that intimacy I described front and center throughout.
This is not an extreme horror novel that revels in buckets of gore and depravity. This is about real-to-life small town folks facing down something far more powerful than themselves. And that's part of its beauty. What would YOU do if you found yourself face to face with the horror this book presents? I think for most of us, Tom Deady has shown precisely how the average Joe would react.
This novel has a very mainstream appeal, while still feeling like very much its own thing. It isn't trying to be something it isn't, not trying to copy anything else. There are elements here that pay homage to the greats of this sub-genre, yet it manages to be completely its own, unique story. And while there IS a monster (along with some human monsters as well), nothing supernatural is present here. I like supernatural, and think this kind of story is a fine fit for such an approach, but by avoiding the supernatural, Deady manages to wed this tale to reality in such a way that even the unnamable beast within the pages seems frightfully plausible. And I was never quite able to shake that. This speaks to magnificent, understated writing.
If you like horror in the vein of Stephen King at his best when writing about children, you're in for a treat here. AND you're in for something Mr. King hasn't given us already. At no point did I feel like I was reading a riff on anything else, but still appreciated its sense of knowing whom its peers are, respecting them, and doing its own thing.
If you're not a horror fan, you'll likely still have a great time with this book. It isn't overly gory, though it is suspenseful throughout, and the characters are drawn in such a way that you'd want to follow and know more about them even if this were a cozy, romantic mystery. But never fear, horror lovers, there's still plenty here to get your hackles up.
There's nothing to consider here, other than the format you want to read this book in. Print, digital, audio, all are available, so there's literally ZERO excuse to skip this one. And if you do, you're the lesser for it.
September 27, 2017
This is a serviceable horror novel with a fun, if not familiar, theme: A creature awakens from hibernation and begins preying on the residents of a small town. It's the kind of story that is right up my alley, normally.
But I don't feel like there was enough story in "Haven" to warrant 500 pages. It felt "stretched" to the point of being too thin in places, filled with slow-witted characters, and pacing that was too tedious for the ending to make it worthwhile. (i.e., When all the characters accept there is a monster and they need to kill it, then they stop for pie, I don't care how delicious the f'n pie was.)
That is not to say I won't check out more of the author's work, but this one wasn't very satisfying to me.
But I don't feel like there was enough story in "Haven" to warrant 500 pages. It felt "stretched" to the point of being too thin in places, filled with slow-witted characters, and pacing that was too tedious for the ending to make it worthwhile. (i.e., When all the characters accept there is a monster and they need to kill it, then they stop for pie, I don't care how delicious the f'n pie was.)
That is not to say I won't check out more of the author's work, but this one wasn't very satisfying to me.
July 18, 2017
This is a damn good, must read story. When my full review goes up on Hellnotes/Horror World, I'll post an excerpt and links here, but by all means, don't wait for my babble. Read. This. Book.
September 5, 2017
Excellent first novel by this author. Edge of your seat horror/suspense coming of age story with interesting characters, interwoven with compelling plot lines. A disfigured man, missing children, and something or someone lurking in the ruins of an old army installation at the edge of a lake. I highly recommend this gem from Cemetery Dance Publications.
December 4, 2018
A solid pastiche of early Stephen King tropes, from kids fighting monsters all the way to memories of Red Sox games.
September 5, 2019
This is a perfect coming-of-age horror homage to the eighties novels I devoured in my youth, and therefore reading this book felt like a nostalgic trip back in time. 'Haven' follows the recipe to the dot (the boy and his dog, the bullies, the outsider, the idyllic small town stalked by a monstrous evil) which makes it almost too perfect - like the author didn't want to take any risk here. But that also leaves it missing some individuality, some unique twist of its own. At the end, the book left me with an ambivalent impression: on the one hand, it delivered everything I love in a good horror novel, on the other hand it failed to surprise, as every next step was easy to anticipate. Still, I enjoyed reading Haven very much and I appreciate the author's successful effort to revive the good old days of great horror 'doorstoppers'.
October 30, 2016
Tom Deady's "Haven" is one great big page-turner of a novel! Reminiscent, to me, of early Stephen King (most notably "It" and "Salem's Lot"), Deady weaves a tale of small town New England beset by monsters, both of the human and inhuman sort.
The story starts when Paul Greymore is released from prison. Greymore, whose face is badly scarred from an accident when he was a child, was convicted seventeen years earlier of a string of brutal child murders. He maintains his innocence and is persuaded by the local priest (Father McCarthy) to return to Haven, the town he grew up in and scene of the crimes. Unfortunately for Greymore, almost as soon as he sets foot in his old hometown, the murders begin again.
For twelve-year-old Dennis O'Brien (Denny) and his friend, Billy, Greymore is, at first, a villain to be feared, but Paul's gentle demeanor wins them over and they begin to believe in his innocence. All the while, strange things are happening in Haven. An unusual heat wave, a missing dog, and, of course, missing children, strike fear and anger in the hearts of its inhabitants.
I won't say more about the plot here except that it involves caves (this was really frightening), an underground cavern, and an abandoned military base! As for the characters, they are complex, realistic, and so well drawn, you will find it hard not to become invested in their fates.
Like I said at the beginning, this is a big old book and I found myself on numerous occasions, awake in the wee smalls, losing much-needed sleep, because I was unable to put it down.
In "Haven" Deady has constructed a truly exceptional novel of horror, dread, and small town life. I recommend it to fans of the genre most highly and without hesitation. Can't wait to see what Tom comes up with next!
The story starts when Paul Greymore is released from prison. Greymore, whose face is badly scarred from an accident when he was a child, was convicted seventeen years earlier of a string of brutal child murders. He maintains his innocence and is persuaded by the local priest (Father McCarthy) to return to Haven, the town he grew up in and scene of the crimes. Unfortunately for Greymore, almost as soon as he sets foot in his old hometown, the murders begin again.
For twelve-year-old Dennis O'Brien (Denny) and his friend, Billy, Greymore is, at first, a villain to be feared, but Paul's gentle demeanor wins them over and they begin to believe in his innocence. All the while, strange things are happening in Haven. An unusual heat wave, a missing dog, and, of course, missing children, strike fear and anger in the hearts of its inhabitants.
I won't say more about the plot here except that it involves caves (this was really frightening), an underground cavern, and an abandoned military base! As for the characters, they are complex, realistic, and so well drawn, you will find it hard not to become invested in their fates.
Like I said at the beginning, this is a big old book and I found myself on numerous occasions, awake in the wee smalls, losing much-needed sleep, because I was unable to put it down.
In "Haven" Deady has constructed a truly exceptional novel of horror, dread, and small town life. I recommend it to fans of the genre most highly and without hesitation. Can't wait to see what Tom comes up with next!
November 12, 2018
It's rare for me to give a review below three stars, but this book had so many problems, and such a wide variety of them, that I couldn't quite justify more than two. If I could give half-stars, I'd tack another one on.
I stumbled upon this book by looking up Bram Stoker Award winners. I wanted horror, specifically of the type where something regularly jumps out of the shadows and eats people. This book should've delivered. At its core, Haven's a nice little monster story set in nostalgia-drenched small-town northern Massachusetts. It has all the trappings of a Stephen King novel: tons of characters, small-town politics and interactions, a giant monster living in a lake and murdering the crap out of a bunch of people ...
I've been a big fan of Stephen King for most of my life, so that's right up my alley, but Haven didn't work for me. It feels like it never received any significant content or copy editing passes. I couldn't ever get into the flow of the book (which also meant it never scared me at all), because every few lines something dragged me back out, whether it was a typo, a cliché description or plot point, or a bit of stilted dialog.
I finished the book because there's a decent story buried in there. It's like a gemstone that's still half-trapped in regular rock. Not a diamond, I don't think, but maybe jade or turquoise. A couple of good editing passes would've made a huge difference, cutting down both the book's length and its issues and helping to bring more of what's good about the story to the surface. I'm startled that a publisher like Cemetery Dance released this book in this condition.
I stumbled upon this book by looking up Bram Stoker Award winners. I wanted horror, specifically of the type where something regularly jumps out of the shadows and eats people. This book should've delivered. At its core, Haven's a nice little monster story set in nostalgia-drenched small-town northern Massachusetts. It has all the trappings of a Stephen King novel: tons of characters, small-town politics and interactions, a giant monster living in a lake and murdering the crap out of a bunch of people ...
I've been a big fan of Stephen King for most of my life, so that's right up my alley, but Haven didn't work for me. It feels like it never received any significant content or copy editing passes. I couldn't ever get into the flow of the book (which also meant it never scared me at all), because every few lines something dragged me back out, whether it was a typo, a cliché description or plot point, or a bit of stilted dialog.
I finished the book because there's a decent story buried in there. It's like a gemstone that's still half-trapped in regular rock. Not a diamond, I don't think, but maybe jade or turquoise. A couple of good editing passes would've made a huge difference, cutting down both the book's length and its issues and helping to bring more of what's good about the story to the surface. I'm startled that a publisher like Cemetery Dance released this book in this condition.
May 25, 2017
It's a nice and easy read, but not without flaws, especially for a winner of Bram Stoker Award for First Novel - I probably set my expectations a little too high. Some of the plot twists and explanations weren't quite convincing and I thought characters could use some more in-depth exploration, but hey, it's not supposed to be a psychological horror. It was interesting to read, even if the emphasis is on action, mystery and plot, and the language is not as important - it's definitely not literary fiction, but pulp, and as such, it works quite well, but in the end I'm not the target audience of this novel.
January 31, 2017
Could not stop reading. The blurb on the front does so much disservice to the story; wonderfully flawed but decent characters - including the weather. I love a good story that makes the weather a formidable character (and it pulls that off very well).
Read
February 4, 2017Tom Deady has created characters you care about while weaving a dark, monstrous tale. I'm usually a fairly fast reader but purposely took this one slowly so I could be sure to take it all in. Enjoyed every minute of it!
March 7, 2018
My original Haven audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
Paul Greymore has been convicted of brutally killing more than a dozen children in the quiet town of Haven. Now 17 years later he is released from prison and the killings begin again. The police chief is convinced it is Greymore and will go to whatever lengths necessary to stop him. Greymore, friendless and disfigured, must prove his innocence while simultaneously protecting the victims.
Nothing is what it seems in the little town of Haven. A corrupt police chief, his bullying son and something mysterious in the lake. Two boys find themselves in the center of violence, mystery, and strange friends as they try to protect themselves and the residents of Haven. The setting is in the late 1970s, which is well defined and described, but kind of makes the science portion of the novel a little farfetched, stretching the listener's belief.
While the town’s people try to solve the mystery of the killings, the listener is never really surprised by who actually is the culprit. It is more about discovering how the injustices will be solved, rather than the mystery of the killing themselves. For an idyllic town, there is a lot of violence and corruption; it is contradictory on its surface. Still, it is entertaining to listen to and the characters are interesting with a good amount of action. Kind of a Spielberg story of kids saving the day for the hapless adults, though quite a bit more violent.
The story is performed by Matt Godfrey who does a good job. His character voices feel true and are easily discernible. A generally competent performance without getting in the way of the story. He is a good choice and enjoyable to listen to. The production quality is excellent throughout without flaws.
Haven is a who-done-it that the listener is sure of pretty early on. It is about how the characters will solve their own abuses, rather than who is actually doing the killings. The action is entertaining and keeps the listener involved, though there is some redundancy throughout, and you may find yourself kind of thinking, “OK, let’s move forward.” But still well worth a listen. It straddles the line of the young adult category and might be a good listen for older teen listeners too.
Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.
Paul Greymore has been convicted of brutally killing more than a dozen children in the quiet town of Haven. Now 17 years later he is released from prison and the killings begin again. The police chief is convinced it is Greymore and will go to whatever lengths necessary to stop him. Greymore, friendless and disfigured, must prove his innocence while simultaneously protecting the victims.
Nothing is what it seems in the little town of Haven. A corrupt police chief, his bullying son and something mysterious in the lake. Two boys find themselves in the center of violence, mystery, and strange friends as they try to protect themselves and the residents of Haven. The setting is in the late 1970s, which is well defined and described, but kind of makes the science portion of the novel a little farfetched, stretching the listener's belief.
While the town’s people try to solve the mystery of the killings, the listener is never really surprised by who actually is the culprit. It is more about discovering how the injustices will be solved, rather than the mystery of the killing themselves. For an idyllic town, there is a lot of violence and corruption; it is contradictory on its surface. Still, it is entertaining to listen to and the characters are interesting with a good amount of action. Kind of a Spielberg story of kids saving the day for the hapless adults, though quite a bit more violent.
The story is performed by Matt Godfrey who does a good job. His character voices feel true and are easily discernible. A generally competent performance without getting in the way of the story. He is a good choice and enjoyable to listen to. The production quality is excellent throughout without flaws.
Haven is a who-done-it that the listener is sure of pretty early on. It is about how the characters will solve their own abuses, rather than who is actually doing the killings. The action is entertaining and keeps the listener involved, though there is some redundancy throughout, and you may find yourself kind of thinking, “OK, let’s move forward.” But still well worth a listen. It straddles the line of the young adult category and might be a good listen for older teen listeners too.
Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.
January 5, 2018
It took me awhile to read , but it wasn't because it was slow reading, it was because I had a lot of things going at once.
This was one of those books that has you turning the pages and going from one chapter to the next
without caring what time it's getting to be or how much you want to close your eyes and go to sleep.
The characters are so real that you may feel you've met them at sometime in your life. I can see the lake as though it's somewhere I use to go. The story is very believable (we all know the military and our government experiment on all kinds of things).
The story has it's hero's Denny, Bill, Paul, and Mossy The bullies Dale Buddy and Costa, Police Chief Crawford who is so set on one thing and one thing only getting rid of Paul. If you want to find out more about these people, and the horror of the lake please read the book. It's a stunning 1st novel.
I'm a big Stephen King fan and this book goes on the same shelf as my favorite King books.
This was one of those books that has you turning the pages and going from one chapter to the next
without caring what time it's getting to be or how much you want to close your eyes and go to sleep.
The characters are so real that you may feel you've met them at sometime in your life. I can see the lake as though it's somewhere I use to go. The story is very believable (we all know the military and our government experiment on all kinds of things).
The story has it's hero's Denny, Bill, Paul, and Mossy The bullies Dale Buddy and Costa, Police Chief Crawford who is so set on one thing and one thing only getting rid of Paul. If you want to find out more about these people, and the horror of the lake please read the book. It's a stunning 1st novel.
I'm a big Stephen King fan and this book goes on the same shelf as my favorite King books.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews