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Something Wicked This Way Comes!
August 1888. Jericho Mannion is the captain of an old, cash-strapped steamer named the Orion. He's been steadily losing money to his competitors, the railways. When he finds out from his first mate, Tal MacTavish, that the next passage across Lake Erie has only a few passengers, his hope of ever getting out of debt sinks. But Providence has smiled upon him, or so he thinks. Though the passenger list is small, they have almost a full cargo hold, thanks to William Ross and the university he works for. Ross is the team leader of a university archeology dig tasked with retrieving the debris from a meteorite crash in western Ohio. He is quite anxious to get his find back to the university for study and is willing to pay Jericho double the fare for his team and cargo to forego the Orion's other ports of call for a straight shot across Lake Erie from Toledo, Ohio to Buffalo, New York. Jericho becomes suspicious when Ross refuses to divulge the contents of his cargo and the haste in which he wants to cross. Desperately needing money, and with prospects of no fares at his other stops, Jericho reluctantly agrees when Ross finally offers him triple the fare; he will take Ross and his cargo on the nonstop 14-hour trek across the lake. But what few people on the ship know is what was initially thought to be a meteorite crash turned out to be an alien craft. The crates in the cargo area hold the remains of the ship. And what no one knows, not even the university team, is that something in those crates is still alive. Now, in a growing storm, alone in the middle of the lake, people are turning up dead. Their only hope is to scuttle the ship in the deepest part of the lake and try to survive in lifeboats, but that part of the lake is still two hours away. They must do what they can to stay alive. Who will survive the crossing when Something Wicked This Way Comes?
270 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 4, 2019
10 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 29, 2021
My thanks to Books go Social, Netgalley and the Author. Much to my delight, halfway through this book, I went to my library cloud and discovered I had 3 books that I had bought or received for free over the years! I'm just one happy woman, especially when tales take place on a ship. The Great Lakes have always held an odd sort of fascination for me. Something about a lake being so big that it creates its own weather patterns. I've never been to that side of the U.S. I've never felt a need to. But, I'd love to be on a steamer. This book had all the elements of horror that I love. The big bad, a great cast of characters, and location! Also, throw in a Scotsman, and I'm fairly well hooked! The ending was a bit twee, but it was an ending I wanted. So, I can't complain! I'd definitely read more from Mr. Todd!
September 12, 2019
Great book! This will hold your interest if you enjoy a decent little scare!
February 13, 2020
The Story:
All aboard the steamer Orion, tasked with taking archaeological crates across Lake Erie, along side a handful of passengers. What could possible go wrong? A storm hits halfway across the lake and people start dying, the only remains left behind are their skins devoid of fluids or bones. What is doing this is not of this world, I really loved the the whole alien take to this tale. The setting of the story, the characters and the alien make this a brilliant listen, you can't help but get swept up in the story.
The Narration:
I loved the production of this audio book with the ominous sounds, weather effects and various other sound bites relating to what what happening, it really brought the story to life. Not only that Ben Werling really brought the characters to life, from the start I was hooked on his voice listening to this story in the wee small hours of the night whilst a storm coincidentally was raging outside! His Scottish accent was a bit off to start with when he first introduced us to Tal MacTavish but you could hear it change as the story and production progressed - being a Scot myself I always cringe when I hear non-Scottish folks put on our accent, but I give Ben 5 starts for redeeming it as it progressed.
All aboard the steamer Orion, tasked with taking archaeological crates across Lake Erie, along side a handful of passengers. What could possible go wrong? A storm hits halfway across the lake and people start dying, the only remains left behind are their skins devoid of fluids or bones. What is doing this is not of this world, I really loved the the whole alien take to this tale. The setting of the story, the characters and the alien make this a brilliant listen, you can't help but get swept up in the story.
The Narration:
I loved the production of this audio book with the ominous sounds, weather effects and various other sound bites relating to what what happening, it really brought the story to life. Not only that Ben Werling really brought the characters to life, from the start I was hooked on his voice listening to this story in the wee small hours of the night whilst a storm coincidentally was raging outside! His Scottish accent was a bit off to start with when he first introduced us to Tal MacTavish but you could hear it change as the story and production progressed - being a Scot myself I always cringe when I hear non-Scottish folks put on our accent, but I give Ben 5 starts for redeeming it as it progressed.
August 21, 2019
Borrowed via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Books with aliens as antagonists tend to either inspire a suitable level of dread or disbelief from me depending on the writing and the situation. This book had me wryly being pulled along, because I was genuinely curious as to how our valiant heroes would defeat the brutal menace.
The threat itself felt distinctly cliché, writhing tentacles and merciless murders abound, but what did keep me invested is the fact that it was set on a ship in the middle of a Great Lake (in a storm no less) and I find that sidelined danger more terrifying than any alien. However, my opinion would probably change if I was thrown into this scenario.
What truly holds this book from being a better read though, is the countless typos and errors throughout: 'taught' instead of 'taut' when describing a moustache is a strange adjective to start with, but this moustache apparently being educated did initially confuse me and also completely ruined my immersion
Unfortunately, this did happen several times throughout the novel and with characters having similar names and roles within the books: Billy and Benny- both young boys on-board the ship- it did detract from the reading experience.
The plot itself was mostly enjoyable, if predictable, and whilst I loved the setting, I found the characters and plot lacking to the point where I wondered if maybe even more characters should just be fed straight to the alien just for an extra twist on the genre.
(Also, why did alien-based menaces come to this planet if they don't like water- seems a massive oversight to me...)
Overall, this was an enjoyable, easy creature-feature read, but it needed tighter editing.
Books with aliens as antagonists tend to either inspire a suitable level of dread or disbelief from me depending on the writing and the situation. This book had me wryly being pulled along, because I was genuinely curious as to how our valiant heroes would defeat the brutal menace.
The threat itself felt distinctly cliché, writhing tentacles and merciless murders abound, but what did keep me invested is the fact that it was set on a ship in the middle of a Great Lake (in a storm no less) and I find that sidelined danger more terrifying than any alien. However, my opinion would probably change if I was thrown into this scenario.
What truly holds this book from being a better read though, is the countless typos and errors throughout: 'taught' instead of 'taut' when describing a moustache is a strange adjective to start with, but this moustache apparently being educated did initially confuse me and also completely ruined my immersion
Unfortunately, this did happen several times throughout the novel and with characters having similar names and roles within the books: Billy and Benny- both young boys on-board the ship- it did detract from the reading experience.
The plot itself was mostly enjoyable, if predictable, and whilst I loved the setting, I found the characters and plot lacking to the point where I wondered if maybe even more characters should just be fed straight to the alien just for an extra twist on the genre.
(Also, why did alien-based menaces come to this planet if they don't like water- seems a massive oversight to me...)
Overall, this was an enjoyable, easy creature-feature read, but it needed tighter editing.
August 10, 2019
A farmer in Ohio wakes to a ball of fire falling from the sky into his corn field on a summer night in 1888. What he sees in the hole is make terrifies him. Flash forward a month later and Captain Jerico Manning is counting his blessings as University Archeologist pay him triple to get their cargo across Lake Eerie quickly, money badly needed for his struggling ship The Orion. Jerico and his first mate Tal MacTavish set sail with their mysterious cargo and about 30 passengers for an uneventful crossing. Alas, the crossing does not go as planned.
William Todd Wright has written an enjoyable tale of the mariners of the Great Lakes, known to be some among the most dangerous waters in the world and the graveyard of thousand of ships. He touches on the Great Lakes passenger steamers established by railroads that took profits from many private owners. There are some character plot lines that add nicely to the story and the bits of scottish verbage is a nice touch. The reader will enjoy Jerico, Tal, Charlotte, Billy and will love to hate Ross and then there is the character of the title. I won't spoil the story by saying anything about that character other than, yes...wicked indeed. As wicked as the weather on Lake Eerie in August. When you combine the two, the lake weather and the wicked then you have a classic tale reminiscent of the sea monsters of old...for this one "'tis a hummin' muckle De'il Ye cannae murdurr", as the Scot Mariners Tal or Jerico might've said. #netgalley #SomethingWickedThisWayComes! #reviewathon
William Todd Wright has written an enjoyable tale of the mariners of the Great Lakes, known to be some among the most dangerous waters in the world and the graveyard of thousand of ships. He touches on the Great Lakes passenger steamers established by railroads that took profits from many private owners. There are some character plot lines that add nicely to the story and the bits of scottish verbage is a nice touch. The reader will enjoy Jerico, Tal, Charlotte, Billy and will love to hate Ross and then there is the character of the title. I won't spoil the story by saying anything about that character other than, yes...wicked indeed. As wicked as the weather on Lake Eerie in August. When you combine the two, the lake weather and the wicked then you have a classic tale reminiscent of the sea monsters of old...for this one "'tis a hummin' muckle De'il Ye cannae murdurr", as the Scot Mariners Tal or Jerico might've said. #netgalley #SomethingWickedThisWayComes! #reviewathon
October 1, 2022
A delight of historical fictipn (late 19th century), combining paranormal, science fiction, and mystery with endearing characters, sharp-edged villains, and a heaping helping of altruism, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES is set on Lake Erie and surrounds in 1888. A debt-ridden steamship owner is tasked to transport secretive cargo across the Lake for a university archaeological expedition. No hint as to the nature of that cargo, but an irresistible triple payment for the crossing. If only!! This story is unexpected and riveting.
August 9, 2019
Real edge of the seat stuff! Set in the Victorian era on a steamship you cannot help but feel sorry and terrified for the poor souls on board. Great writing and believable characters you can root for. Well done, Mr Todd. More please!
February 9, 2020
I found Something Wicked This Way Comes to be a fun and thrilling ride. I was entertained throughout the book, especially listening to Ben Werling narration. I believe he brought perfectly brought this tale to life and portrayed the characters just the way the author had intended them to be. The story is full of action, adventure, and suspense filled. I never knew what would happen next. I enjoyed the author's writing style. It was unique and refreshing.
I am giving Something Wicked This Way Comes four stars. I would love to read more by this author in the future.
I received the audio version of this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
I am giving Something Wicked This Way Comes four stars. I would love to read more by this author in the future.
I received the audio version of this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
April 2, 2020
I decided to read this book based on how much I have enjoyed other books by William Todd; I didn’t even bother to read the book blurb. And I was not disappointed. This is another great bit of fiction from William Todd.
We start off with a mysterious meteorite that hits a small farm. The POV then switches to a ship navigating across Lake Eire on a dark and stormy day-turned-night. The tale is a slow, delicious burn as the suspense is built and the characters fleshed out. Then, a tentacle! Argh!
OK, so I didn’t freak out over one tentacle. No, the freak out came later as we learn just how deadly the owner of that tentacle is.
Anyhoo, my favorite characters were Charlotte, Tal, and Billy. There are few ladies in this story and for the most part, they don’t get to do anything. But Charlotte almost makes up for that weakness in the story-telling. She’s got a full personality, is independent, and has some very useful skills. I quite liked her. Tal is capable in his own right and also a little bit of a rogue. I liked how he took charge when it was necessary, and without raising the hackles of the captain. Admittedly, Billy’s character arc is a bit cliched. However, I still liked him and I was very pleased with how things turned out for him.
Back to the creature – it’s unlike anything the characters have ever encountered before. Professor Ross is dead set on trying to communicate with the creature, seeing an opportunity for humanity to grab the stars by prying technological knowledge out of this deadly being. I did wonder though if this creature is the equivalent of some deadly pet that got loose on the spaceship and caused the crash and therefore, wouldn’t be able to divulge technological advances in the first place.
The pacing keeps ramping up the tension as one person after another disappears. Finally, all the remaining characters are on high alert, but few have any clue what they are on alert for. The ending is properly dramatic and satisfying. A tiny epilogue left me with a good feeling for the remaining characters. I secretly hope William Todd gives us a sequel. I think Lake Erie’s reputation would get a boost for being a source of a tentacular invasion! 4.75/5 stars.
The Narration: Ben Werling gives a great performance. I particularly loved his Scottish accent for Tal and his steady and sometimes-cheeky voice for Charlotte. Werling’s little boy voice for Benny was good too. All characters had distinct voices and the ladies sounded like ladies. Werling captured the determined arrogance of Professor Ross quite well also. The pacing was perfect and there were tech issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by William Todd. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
We start off with a mysterious meteorite that hits a small farm. The POV then switches to a ship navigating across Lake Eire on a dark and stormy day-turned-night. The tale is a slow, delicious burn as the suspense is built and the characters fleshed out. Then, a tentacle! Argh!
OK, so I didn’t freak out over one tentacle. No, the freak out came later as we learn just how deadly the owner of that tentacle is.
Anyhoo, my favorite characters were Charlotte, Tal, and Billy. There are few ladies in this story and for the most part, they don’t get to do anything. But Charlotte almost makes up for that weakness in the story-telling. She’s got a full personality, is independent, and has some very useful skills. I quite liked her. Tal is capable in his own right and also a little bit of a rogue. I liked how he took charge when it was necessary, and without raising the hackles of the captain. Admittedly, Billy’s character arc is a bit cliched. However, I still liked him and I was very pleased with how things turned out for him.
Back to the creature – it’s unlike anything the characters have ever encountered before. Professor Ross is dead set on trying to communicate with the creature, seeing an opportunity for humanity to grab the stars by prying technological knowledge out of this deadly being. I did wonder though if this creature is the equivalent of some deadly pet that got loose on the spaceship and caused the crash and therefore, wouldn’t be able to divulge technological advances in the first place.
The pacing keeps ramping up the tension as one person after another disappears. Finally, all the remaining characters are on high alert, but few have any clue what they are on alert for. The ending is properly dramatic and satisfying. A tiny epilogue left me with a good feeling for the remaining characters. I secretly hope William Todd gives us a sequel. I think Lake Erie’s reputation would get a boost for being a source of a tentacular invasion! 4.75/5 stars.
The Narration: Ben Werling gives a great performance. I particularly loved his Scottish accent for Tal and his steady and sometimes-cheeky voice for Charlotte. Werling’s little boy voice for Benny was good too. All characters had distinct voices and the ladies sounded like ladies. Werling captured the determined arrogance of Professor Ross quite well also. The pacing was perfect and there were tech issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by William Todd. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
August 5, 2019
3.5 stars, though the story is at least a 4.
I really enjoyed this tale of suspense, horror, and survival. The characters were interesting, and the plot was quite engrossing. Overall, I also enjoyed the author's writing style and he definitely had me on the seat of my pants trying to figure out how they were going to survive this voyage without endangering the world. There was one part of the ending that I predicted and that was particularly satisfying (no spoilers!). The only downside I had with reading this ARC is that it suffers from poor/incomplete editing. There are typos and formatting issues throughout, and there are at least two instances where it felt like they either started a scene, abruptly started another scene, then went back to the first scene and then ended the second scene. I don't know if that was a deliberate tactic by the author to imply the two scenes were happening at the same time or if it was an editing error. If it was a deliberate tactic, then I think it would be simple enough to use a separator to imply you're jumping to another scene ("meanwhile..."). There were also places where they used the wrong word (peaked vs. peeked). But despite these issues, I still found the story very riveting and I didn't want to put it down. I think it's a very strong story and I'm hoping these editing issues will be addressed before the final release. If so, I may bump up my rating.
Thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher, and the Author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this tale of suspense, horror, and survival. The characters were interesting, and the plot was quite engrossing. Overall, I also enjoyed the author's writing style and he definitely had me on the seat of my pants trying to figure out how they were going to survive this voyage without endangering the world. There was one part of the ending that I predicted and that was particularly satisfying (no spoilers!). The only downside I had with reading this ARC is that it suffers from poor/incomplete editing. There are typos and formatting issues throughout, and there are at least two instances where it felt like they either started a scene, abruptly started another scene, then went back to the first scene and then ended the second scene. I don't know if that was a deliberate tactic by the author to imply the two scenes were happening at the same time or if it was an editing error. If it was a deliberate tactic, then I think it would be simple enough to use a separator to imply you're jumping to another scene ("meanwhile..."). There were also places where they used the wrong word (peaked vs. peeked). But despite these issues, I still found the story very riveting and I didn't want to put it down. I think it's a very strong story and I'm hoping these editing issues will be addressed before the final release. If so, I may bump up my rating.
Thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher, and the Author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 11, 2019
I was looking for something scary to read, and found this book through NetGalley, who were kind enough to give me a copy in exchange for a review, which I am happy to provide. The description sounded great and the book did not disappoint, it had a great plot line, likable characters and some not so nice ones but you need them in a book like that. It had me at the edge of my seat and I read way passed my bedtime and then had trouble sleeping, perhaps not the best book nighttime reading. The only negative thing about it for me was when you write in a dialect of the main characters, I had trouble figuring out what they were saying, but overall great fun and very entertaining if you like that kind of book. Be warned there will be gore and plenty of people will perish in not the nicest way.
September 23, 2019
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Why did the author use the same title as the Ray Bradbury book? Very confusing. This is one of those books that is more enjoyable as you get further into it. The description of life aboard a lake steamer in the late 19th century was very good. When the alien is introduced the action became a little awkward. It probably could been more subtle, a la Steven King, but nevertheless was intriguing.
February 4, 2020
This is your traditional horror story: isolated people, and a monster threatening them. A thrilling survival story, with interesting characters. Yes, some of them are predictable (the obsessive Uni's professor, for example), but they are interesting, nevertheless.
The story is well-paced and I enjoyed the author's style, from whom I most certainly will be reading more.
Ben Werling does an astounding job with the narration, particularly with the different accents =D
The story is well-paced and I enjoyed the author's style, from whom I most certainly will be reading more.
Ben Werling does an astounding job with the narration, particularly with the different accents =D
July 29, 2019
Really enjoyed this gothic tale. Lovecraftian in style, there is something to tickle most readers' fancy - a bit horror, a bit sci-fi, part thriller and set in a Victorian time period on a steamboat. What's not to love? An exciting race to escape a murderous and elusive stowaway against all odds. Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews