Thrall

by Mary SanGiovanni

The last thing Jesse Coaglan ever wanted to do was return to his hometown of Thrall, New Jersey. Tucked away in the wilds of the northwestern corner of the state, Thrall has always been a very strange place to live. The town was a poison that affected people's minds, their souls, their bodies, and their perspectives. So Jesse abandoned his friends and the one woman he loved, and left everything behind. --- Seven years later, Jesse has found a reason to return — a reason that, in spite of his best attempts otherwise, he can't ignore. His old love, Mia Dalianis, has left him a voicemail message begging him to come back, if not for her, then for the daughter Jesse never knew he had. Jesse needs to go back. He's been running for a long time — from relationships, friendships, everything he is afraid of and feels guilty over. He realizes that the nightmares will never stop until he goes to Thrall. With help from Nadia Richards and some old surviving friends from Thrall, Jesse intends to find his daughter or die trying. He goes looking for redemption, but what he discovers about his old hometown may destroy him and everyone he's ever cared about.

Genres: Horror

239 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Mary SanGiovanni is the author of over twenty books in horror and supernatural thrillers. Her fiction has appeared in periodicals and anthologies for the last decade. She has a Masters degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, Pittsburgh, where she studied under genre greats. She is currently a member of The Authors Guild, The International Thriller Writers, and Penn Writers, and was previously an Active member in the Horror Writers Association.

Reviews

[Kenneth McKinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thrall is a very hard one for me to review. I'd never read any of Mary SanGiovanni's stuff before, but the premise seemed interesting, she's the girlfriend of Brian Keene, who's writing I love, and a few of my friends seemed to like this one. So, I downloaded it with modest hopes for an entertaining read. To say that Thrall didn't work for me would be the understatement of the year.

Jesse gets a call from an old girlfriend who he hasn't seen in seven years and begs him to return to their old hometown and rescue the daughter Jesse never knew he ever had. He escaped from the town years ago because it was having a strange effect on its inhabitants and not allowing them to leave. So far so, good right? Wrong. Thrall is so chock full of BS moments that its hard to tally them all up. The town isn't permeated with an evil that holds them. It is actually a living thing. Yes, the town has a set of lungs, heart, liver, brain, etc. It also has a thick red mist fog that overtakes the town every night and has monsters in it. Sound a little like Stephen King's The Mist? I thought so too. Meanwhile, no one outstide of Thrall, which happens to be in New Jersey, doesn't realize anything is wrong with the town. I guess no one happens to drive through it. The characters are wooden and unrealistic. At one point, SanGiovanni was having Jesse and one of his male friends having a discussion and all I could think was that I've never heard two guys ever, EVER talk this way. Nadia, Jesse's female friend that he brings along with him to Thrall, seems to accept all of the monsters and death like its completely normal. Jesse's seven year old daughter, after being terrorized for years in this crazy world, doesn't act like a scared kid with death all around her. At no point could I ever suspend my disbelief and get into the story. It was one guffaw after another and it really is too bad because SanGiovanni's writing style is something I could get into if she had better material. But it pains me to admit that Thrall is the worst thing that I've read in over three years. Do yourself a favor and avoid it like the plague.


2 yawns out of 5, and the only reason it gets a 2 and not a 1 is because Mary actually has a decent writing style




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[Ms. Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesse left the town of Thrall and his girlfriend, Mia, years ago. Strange things happen in Thrall and he got out while he could. He comes home one day to a message on his answering machine from Mia, begging him to come back to Thrall and save her and the daughter he never knew he had. Jesse has never quite opened himself up to anyone, but a girl named Nadia. She is the closest he's come to a real relationship and asks her to go to Thrall with him with only a little bit of an explanation. Nadia has the hots for him, but friends is as far as he can go. Once in Thrall Jesse and Nadia realize how wrong the town is. Nothing is as it seems. Buildings move. People have disappeared. The Raw, a red fog of evil things, appears at night and those that go into the mist don't come back out the same or at all. There are a few people who have managed to survive in Thrall and they all come together to find Mia, the child, and to stop whatever it is that takes the lives of the townsfolk and keeps Thrall alive.

Yep, I did it. *smirking* I gave out 5 stars. This book had it all folks. The characters were fleshed out, each with their own back story. You cared what happened to them. Every man and woman added to this atmospheric read in their own way. When I say atmospheric, I mean, when they were walking down the streets of Thrall looking at all the abandoned buildings, seeking out anything strange, or listening for noises, I was too. I could genuinely picture the places in this story. The actions and reactions were dead on. The writing was on point and the pacing was perfect. Not a dull moment. A wonderfully told tale that starts out as a very creepy haunted town story that turns out to be so much more. Highly recommended~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

After young Jesse Coaglan leaves behind the horrors of his hometown, Thrall, where weird is normal and people disappear inexplicably, he receives a phone call from Mia, the young woman he left behind. She needs his help, but not just for her but for the daughter he didn't realize he had. Now, Jesse returns to the small New Jersey town, accompanied by his best friend, Nadia, but he's frightened and unsure what he will find. Or even if Mia and Caitlyn are even still alive.

Fans of Lovecraftian cosmic horror will totally dig this wild ride to its horrific gut-wrenching conclusion!

Highly recommended!

[Frank Errington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm having a very difficult time writing this review. Overall, I liked the story. I found it original and compelling, but I also found it to be a bit wordy at times, and it seemed the characters kept finding themselves in the same situation in slightly different locations. With that being said...

Thrall, is a small town in New Jersey. A town that Jesse Coaglan was lucky to get away from. In the author's words, "With time and distance, he thought he'd gained a good handle on what was real and what wasn't now...Like the black hole, for instance, that had opened up at the Grocer-Rite! over the dairy aisle, sucking in four shoppers, two cashiers, and a stockroom boy. Or the phenomenon of the bleeding nuns...and then there was the night that blood streamed down Main Street..."

Jesse, figured he'd never be going back there, but a phone call from an ex-girlfriend changes his mind. Jesse must return to Thrall. He needs to save Mia and her young daughter, Caitlyn, from the town he escaped from.

Jesse asks his best friend, Nadia to make the trip from Ohio, to New Jersey where he finds his boyhood friend Tom keeping the monsters at bay. And indeed there are monsters. There is also a mist-like cloud, the people of the town call The Raw. It comes and goes, mostly showing up at night and those that wander into it generally don't come out, at least not in one piece.

Expect the weird in Thrall. Weird, as in an entire apartment complex moving from one part of town to another. Weird, as in a number of statues that seem to pre-date the town's earliest settlers, packed away for a number of years, suddenly back on display and no one knows how they got there.

Thrall is filled with memorable characters who find themselves wanting to get out of town, even if it kills them. And you know what, it just might.

Thrall was originally published as a signed limited edition hardcover, but is now available for the masses as an e-book and is currently available for FREE from the Kindle Lending Library for Amazon Prime members and it's also available as a CD audiobook through AudioRealms’ horror imprint, Dark Realms.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thrall by Mary SanGiovanni is a very good and original monster romp with plenty of interesting characters and back-story. There are things in the Raw that want to rip and tear…to mutilate and devour. The town itself is alive and being protected by monsters. Each of them holds a different key to keeping the town from dying. They must be destroyed one by one in order for a small group of survivors to escape its boundaries…or else be trapped in Thrall…forever.

[Hunter Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love monster books, and Thrall gave me enough monsters and action to keep my appetite satisfied for a long, long time. I can't remember the last book that did that for me.

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fabulous. Very original. Not the same old thing. Well-written, atmospheric - get it while copies last! http://www.thunderstormbooks.com/thra...

[Karl]

This is copy ZM of 136 signed numbered copies.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thrall had a great premise and some fantastic ideas however the execution was a bit lacking. The writing was ok, although the dialogue fell flat and I didn't find the characters particularly compelling. The mysterious plot kept me reading and there were some great scenes but the book felt like it needed a bit more work, although as I was reading I kept thinking that it'd make a great video game!

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

October is here and it is time for as much horror fiction as I can pack into 31 days!

I kicked off my horror-fest with Mary Sangiovanni, about whom I have read some good things on the interwebs. This book caught my eye because it promised monsters. I love monsters, and I love a good monster story. Unfortunately, this was an ok monster story for me. The monsters were great; the characters--and there histories, and their inner thoughts, and their conflicts, and, most especially, their decisions in moments of crisis--were not great.

I will not savage this book. Some people online are really digging it. Give it a shot if you want some freaky monsters.

[Mike Kazmierczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't too sure about what to expect with this book. I've known about Mary SanGiovanni for years, both from her books being sold (Amazon recommendations, Thunderstorm Books emails) and from her regular contributions to the podcast "The Horror Show with Brian Keene." For whatever reason though, I've only read a single chapbook by her. I think that I found her novel covers off-putting: THRALL and The Hollower trilogy had covers with monsters on them which for some reason made me think "I don't want a monster book." I know, a really stupid reason but at the same time a reason that kept me from reading her books. Also I had seen her writing frequently compared to H.P. Lovecraft and I'm not really a Lovecraft fan. I don't hate him but I don't remember being seriously spooked by anything of his that I read. Anyway, THRALL. The book was interesting, enjoyable, gripping at times, frequently weird, and unfortunately a little off. First a summary and then I'll see if I can explain.

Jesse Coaglan escaped from his hometown Thrall, New Jersey and was living in Ohio; he planned to never return. That all changed when Mia, his ex-girlfriend, called saying that she needed help to escape along with her young daughter. So Jesse returns, bringing his best friend Nadia, and finds the town much stranger than before. And before included black holes opening up in a grocery store and bleeding nuns and blood flooding down Main Street. Once in town, he gets help from his boyhood best friend and a few others as they hunt for Mia and a way to escape.

In general, I found a lot of positive about the book. The characters all had personalities that were easy to identify and remember; they were also just like people I knew growing up. The events that happened in the story were also easy to follow and picture. There were a couple events that seemed convenient but nothing more so than any other horror book. And I did figure out how to defeat the "big bad" before they came on the scene but that was more luck than anything. I think though that the reason I found the book a bit off is the same reason that I'm not crazy about Lovecraft: even despite all the monsters and spookiness, I wasn't really afraid. I didn't get that chill down my spine, that sense of fear or dread. Sure, if I was a character in the book I would be totally scared but as a reader, that emotion was just missing. Don't get me wrong though; the book is very well-written and enjoyable. I was just left wanting. I think I need a quiet horror novel right now as opposed to monsters or short stories or the inbred hillbilly mutant novel that was next in my "to-read" pile. If you are a Lovecraft fan, you'll probably find THRALL to be excellent! I do plan on reading another book by SanGiovanni and seeing if I can find that missing fear, maybe THE FADING PLACE.

[Austin Hatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thrall is an excellent blend of cosmic horror, fantastical world building, and a smidgeon of romance. Mary did a great job of portraying growing up in a town you just can’t wait to get out of and dread returning to, which is something a lot of us can relate to.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary SanGiovanni’s Thrall takes place in the same occult-heavy universe as her Chills and Behind the Door, but the character of Kathy Ryan is not present.

I’m not fond of the character of Nadia. She whines and pouts, gets jealous of the hold Mia and Caitlyn have on Jesse, and came woefully unprepared. She’s a stereotype, and I’m used to SanGiovanni’s characters having a lot more depth than that. Dealing with her was a bit like hearing nails on a chalkboard.

While Thrall takes place in the same universe as those other two books by SanGiovanni, it’s definitely more alien in aspect. The events in the town are at the apex of their craziness rather than the beginning. The setting and creatures are very alien. While some of the creatures have a certain similarity to those that showed up in the other books, others I found very difficult to picture. It made the book less vivid at times.

The story is very original. I love the explanation for why the town is this way, and the creative contortions Jesse and his friends have to go through in order to find their way out. When the town was founded, the location came with several pre-existing buildings and a handful of unusual statues. The characters do raise the question of how it is they keep finding enough food and supplies to keep going despite the fact that the town has basically been a ghost town for several years, and the answer is intriguing. SanGiovanni manages to subvert a handful of tropes by asking all the right questions.

Thrall might not be quite what you’re expecting if you’ve read Chills and Behind the Door. As long as you don’t mind a crazier story that has little of the normal world left to it, that can be just fine!


Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/02/r...

[John Goodrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a certain amount of Silent Hill in Mary SanGiovanni's Thrall. There's the concealing mist, here called the Raw, there's the town of Thrall itself, isolated and always changing. There are creatures in the Raw, too.

That's not a criticism. I can't think of any other author would could have carried off such a compelling book with that premise. The story is tense all the way through because the author knows how to create tension with expectation. But she also knows how to hit you with it. There are monsters in the creepy pink mist that descends on Thrall, and when they're described, they're no less frightening. That's good writing. And good monsters.

In Thrall, there's always a sense that something is coming. Something big, and something terrible. And the story delivers, the end is pretty damn impressive. Well done. Very well done.

[Christopher Roman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought it was a good book.

Good read if you want something a bit different from the stereotypical horror out there. Worth the read

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

tl;dr: Silent Hill fans, drop everything and read this. Non-SH horror fans, still read this, it's awesome.

I had to take a couple days to savor the flavor on this one before writing a review. Like you do with a fine Scotch, letting it sit on your tongue while you enjoy and experience it. Because this was so, so, SO good.

Those who know me know I'm an unabashed fan-whore for the Silent Hill games. The atmosphere, the reality-warping, the grotesque aesthetic, the surreal tragic fates befalling characters, all of it.

Thrall is a love letter to Silent Hill. It practically is Silent Hill in literary form in all but name. That said, having already strongly hinted at some of what's to come, I have to say that there be spoilers ahead because I don't think I can realistically express why this work was so great without letting a few cats out of a few bags.

So, now that that's out of the way, let's get down to blood-encrusted brass tacks shoved into bulletin boards in creepy old abandoned museums filled with skeletons of beasts that defy every rule of nature and decency ever thought up by mankind.

Our boy Jesse Coaglan is a Jersey transplant living in Ohio. He gets a call from an old flame named Mia to come back to their hometown of Thrall (Silent Hill 2 anyone?) and help her and his never-yet-met daughter because shit's fucked, yo. So he and his frend Nadia get in the car with their bags and their plans and their massive unresolved sexual tension and hit the road for Jersey. When they get to Thrall...shit's fucked, yo. We quickly learn that the town is populated by far too few people and far too many unearthly things.

Jesse and Nadia meet some friends along the way, some old and some new, some who survive and some who don't, as they plan to find Mia and get the hell out of Dodge (or dodge their way out of hell, it's basically the same thing here).

At this point, Silent Hill fans should already be amped for this. If not, clock tower, police station, tunnel full of diamond-headed things that should already be reminding you of...yep, you got it. Seriously, you won't be disappointed, and no, the diamond-headed things aren't there just to have an analog to him in the story without getting what he was all about. It's different enough to be original.

If you're not a SH fan or not a gamer in general, this is still a fantastic horror read. The pacing is damn near perfect, scenes demonstrating the twisted mechanics of Thrall never overstay their welcome or overplay a given hand (unlike Chbosky's "Imaginary Friend" that beat the power-up-with-love-and-inspiration horse to death), there are times of genuine fright and tesnion which can be hard to do in text, and the horrors of the town of Thrall are genuinely horrific. Bad, bad things happen to good people and are shown in gory detail. When there's a cut away or something happens behind the scenes, it's only ever done to heighten the tension and let the imagination do heavier lifting than the words could manage.

One gripe, and it's a relatively small one but it bugged me and wouldn't leave me alone: There are creatures near the end of the story that are described as somehow having pie-wedge shapes for heads. However, the description doesn't quite land, because I found the text simultaneously suggesting that the shapes were like pies missing wedges (references to an "open end" and "chomping mouths") but also painting a picture of the missing wedge shapes themselves, like the opposite/inverse of Pac-Man. I couldn't discern what the author meant to convey with these descriptions and it took me out of the story for a bit. When you're doing a reality-warper story and crafting monsters that don't conform to any known natural anatomy, description counts for a lot and this was a really confusing description.

I rated this book 4 stars, withholding the fifth because of the pie-head descriptions as well as generally only giving 5 stars to truly out-of-this-world stories to avoid watering down the significance of 5-star ratings. Knowing this, I will absolutely be rereading this book and at that point, if something clicks with the pie monsters that I missed before and if the rest holds up as well as I think it will, I'll happily amend my rating and make this my first 5-star story in quite some time. It would be VERY well earned.

[Иван Величков · Rating 4 out of 5]

Най-популярното мнение тук обвинява СенДжовани, че е направила някакво копие на „Мъглата“ от Кинг. Е, не съм съгласен, ама никак. Макар да се усеща Кинговото влияние (повече от „ТО“), Трал e повлиян по-скоро от „Древния враг“ на Кунц и „Лилавият облак“ на Шиел (както и двете гореспоменати произведения на Кинг впрочем).
Ако оставим на страна този литературен подволотелизъм, който никога не помага да се насладиш на дадено произведение, мога спокойно да препоръчам Мери СенДжовани на феновете на Кинг. Дамата определено е усвоила добрите хватки на Краля – изграждане на плътни герои зьа които ти пука чрез ретроспекции и живи диалози, без да се накъсва динамиката на повествованието; правилните количества хумор, бруталия и човечност на правилните места; никаква милост към героите си. Като бонус имаме жена да пише за женски персонажи, без да се съобразява с матрицата, която е наложена предимно от мъже автори. Тук определено усетих онези хаотичност, нелогичност (според мен) и комбинация от себераздаване и егоизъм, които едновремено ме изкарват извън нерви и ме карат да се усмихвам.
Джеси отдавна е избягал от Трал Ню Джърси и се опитва да забрави всичко свързано с родния си град, докато един ден не получава обаждане от бившата си приятелка, която го моли да измъкне нея и дъщеря им, за която не е знаел, от там. Притеснен, той моли приятелката си Надя да го придружи до там. Оказва се, обаче, че Трал е много по-зле от колкото си го спомня. Улиците са постапокалиптичен пейзаж обитаван от оживели кошмари, малкото останали хора са тотално изперкали и нещо, май самият град желае кръв. Дали ще успеят да открият Миа и Кейтлин? Дали ще намерят помощ от стари познати на Джеси? Дали изобщо ще оцелеят?
Имаше няколко много симпати1ни и новаторски попадания за жанра „Лошо място“ и по-точно за наложеният от Кинг негов прочит с цяло градче, което е живо. Тук даже си имаше орагани, но да не прекалявам с разкриването на сюжета. На места направо звучеше като яка сървайвъл хорър игра тип „Сайлънт хил“ С оживелите страхове на героите, босове и определени време и места на които изкачат гадините. Хваща здраво и държи до края, който е както трябва, но ми дойде малко понагласен.

[Guilherme · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it until the end? That means I am basically okay with it? I guess?

Thrall is a city where things in various flavors of Spooky happen. These Spooky things aren't very thematically related, they're kind of a mash of various horror tropes reminiscent of a Netflix series. Jesse is going in to face his old demons, with a shotgun.

[Jorge Palacios Kindelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My sexond Mary Sangiovanni book and my first book of the year, Thrall is like a badass John Carpenter action movie with an almost apocalyptic setting, frightening monsters and a whole town that might be the monster itself, with great characters and a dynamic pace that keeps things going. This is excellent kickass cosmic horror #horrorbooks #horrorbookstagram #marysangiovanni #cosmichorror

[Michael McGlinsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very interesting ride like an episode of the Twilight Zone with monsters. I had fun reading it.

[A~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice story of a corrupted town.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a really good time with this book. Small towns with big problems is one of my favorite horror tropes. This one has a slight twist on that variation that I enjoyed. 3.75 stars

[Adam Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book review- Thrall by @marysangiovanni128 I love a book about a messed up town, and I believe I have now found the most f*ck€] up town of them all. I loved every moment of this book, from the dread of the opening pages as the characters make their way back to the town of Thrall, to the almost immediately escalation once they get there. The cover of this book gives you the smallest taste of the nightmares that await Jesse, Nadia, and the rest of the group that wander through this horrific place. Scene after scene in this book will live in my head for a very long time. Truly original creatures, characters that become like friends, and I couldn’t help but ask myself what lengths I would go for a loved one. Because I like to think I’d do anything for them, but if some of these things popped out…I don’t know… Action packed until the final page, I couldn’t tear myself away from this one!

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book that I've read from Sangiovanni. I picked it up honestly because she is dating Brian Keene, who is a respected horror novelist that I have conversed with several times. Not really a ringing endorsement, but having not read a horror novel in some times I decided to give it a try and was really surprised.

The story is really perfect for this type of book, if a little derivative. Jesse Coaglin gets a call from an ex girlfriend who is from the same mysterious small town as Jesse. (Silent Hill 2?) She's trapped...and she reveals that she has Jesse's daughter. Overcoming the shock of finding he has a daughter, he does the inexplicable and takes his best female friend (who has been friendzoned by him) to go back to the town of his youth to save them both.

The town of Thrall isn't like other towns. Its populated by all sorts of monsters. There is a pink mist that rolls in at night that is filled with shapechangers taking the form of people you know in an effort to get you to come outside. The town itself even shifts and reforms itself to prevent you from getting away.

This all seems like Stephen King's "The Mist" redone if handled poorly, but Sangiovanni takes it to places unexpected.

My only complaint is through the first 200 or so pages, you are following three characters. These are fully realized, rounded characters. Anyone who comes after this seems to lack this characterization. They have backstories, but often they don't have a particular voice of their own.

The story has its share of tense spots, which overshadows the obvious questions (how people survived years in the town). Its enjoyable pulp, written very well for the genre.

[Greg Gbur · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first encounter with the work of Mary SanGiovanni was her dark and elegant chapbook No Songs for the Stars, and it left me intrigued and interested in reading more. Fortunately, I had a short vacation to Mexico a few weeks ago and it was a perfect opportunity to sit on the beach and do nothing but read. During the trip, I was able to read quite a few books, in fact, and among them were two of SanGiovanni’s more recent novels, Thrall (2013) and Chaos (2014).

Both books are best categorized as supernatural or unnatural horror, though they are quite different in their plots and overall pacing. Both are compelling reads, and I found it difficult to put either of them down.

Read the whole review.

[Shawn Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best horror novels I've read in a long time. There are echoes of Ghost Story and Salem's Lot. I look forward to reading more by Ms. Sangiovanni

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mist meets Silent Hill with a little bit of cenobite. Good book.