Call of the Kappa

Horror's Call

by F. Gardner

After a mysterious visitor stops by his martial arts gym, Arnold begins to suspect there's something supernatural about the stranger. Set in July, Call of the Kappa is a horror novel, which is filled with the spirit of the season. Independence Day, and of the terror about to strike.
Part of a series of interconnected horror novels that can be read in any order. Each book serves as a stand alone story, yet builds a greater picture behind a sinister mystery in Chicago.

90 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 28, 2020

Reviews

[Cmadler · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a rare (for me) DNF. Maybe the story is good, but I couldn't tell because the writing is so very bad that I gave up a few chapters in, and it was a struggle just to get that far. Among other issues, this book is in desperate need of a good editor to help fix punctuation errors, grammar issues, and very distracting tense inconsistencies -- the writing changes between present tense and past tense within most paragraphs, with tense changes happening nearly every sentence.

[Trung · Rating 1 out of 5]

Amateurishly written with a plot coming straight out of a direct-to-dvd horror movies: bad twists, bad stereotyped characters, nonsensical third act that doesn't elevate the f. Pacing is all over the place: some unnecessary conversation stretches on far too long, sometimes even longer than the important plot developments. A terrible book all around.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I'm working my way through the Horror's Call series and making YouTube videos on each entry. I'm giving them all a fair chance.

Call of the Kappa is honestly pretty okay. The writing has actually improved a fair bit and the dialogue is getting there. I'm not sure if an editor was called in for this one but if you're reading them in order, you'll see an improvement as you go along.

The story is pretty good but it lacked the fantastic twists that Call of the Crocodile and Call of the Arcade had. There's a great reveal towards the end but it's unfortunately spoilt by foreshadowing. If you've got an interest in martial arts then you might really enjoy this one since it's pretty much the main theme.

The only real downsides would have to be that the ending felt as if it was cut short and that this one felt like it was more of a mystery/thriller than a horror. That said, the author could probably write a pretty good mystery book if this is anything to go by. The monologuing about martial arts goes on for a bit too long but it's not as bad as the monologuing in previous entries.

All in all, this one gets a solid four stars. It was an entertaining read.

Cheers