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Kin
On a scorching hot summer day in Elkwood, Alabama, Claire Lambert staggers naked, wounded, and half-blind away from the scene of an atrocity. She is the sole survivor of a nightmare that claimed her friends, and even as she prays for rescue, the killers — a family of cannibalistic lunatics — are closing in.
A soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder returns from Iraq to the news that his brother is among the murdered in Elkwood.
In snowbound Detroit, a waitress trapped in an abusive relationship gets an unexpected visit that will lead to bloodshed and send her back on the road to a past she has spent years trying to outrun.
And Claire, the only survivor of the Elkwood Massacre, haunted by her dead friends, dreams of vengeance... a dream which will be realized as grief and rage turn good people into cold-blooded murderers and force alliances among strangers.
It's time to return to Elkwood.
In the spirit of such iconic horror classics as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Deliverance, Kin begins at the end and studies the possible aftermath for the survivors of such traumas upon their return to the real world — the guilt, the grief, the thirst for revenge — and sets them on an unthinkable journey... back into the heart of darkness.
A soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder returns from Iraq to the news that his brother is among the murdered in Elkwood.
In snowbound Detroit, a waitress trapped in an abusive relationship gets an unexpected visit that will lead to bloodshed and send her back on the road to a past she has spent years trying to outrun.
And Claire, the only survivor of the Elkwood Massacre, haunted by her dead friends, dreams of vengeance... a dream which will be realized as grief and rage turn good people into cold-blooded murderers and force alliances among strangers.
It's time to return to Elkwood.
In the spirit of such iconic horror classics as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Deliverance, Kin begins at the end and studies the possible aftermath for the survivors of such traumas upon their return to the real world — the guilt, the grief, the thirst for revenge — and sets them on an unthinkable journey... back into the heart of darkness.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 25, 2011
458 people are currently reading
16796 people want to read
About the author
Kealan Patrick Burke
194 books2,325 followersHailed by Booklist as “one of the most clever and original talents in contemporary horror,” Kealan Patrick Burke was born and raised in Ireland and emigrated to the United States a few weeks before 9/11.
Since then, he has written six novels, among them the popular southern gothic Kin, and over two hundred short stories and novellas, many of which are in various stages of development for film/TV.
A five-time nominee, Burke won the Bram Stoker Award in 2005 for his coming-of-age novella The Turtle Boy, the first book in the acclaimed Timmy Quinn series.
As editor, he helmed the anthologies Night Visions 12, Taverns of the Dead, and Quietly Now, a tribute anthology to one of Burke’s influences, the late Charles L. Grant.
More recently, he wrote the screenplays for Sour Candy (based on his novella), and the remake of the iconic horror film The Changeling (1980), for producer Joel B. Michaels.
He also adapted Sour Candy as a graphic novel for John Carpenter's Night Terrors.
His most recent release is Cottonmouth, a prequel to Kin. The Widows of Winding Gale, a maritime horror novel set in Ireland, is due for release in October as a signed limited edition from Earthling Publications.
Kealan is represented by Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House.
He lives in Ohio with a Scooby Doo lookalike rescue named Red.
Since then, he has written six novels, among them the popular southern gothic Kin, and over two hundred short stories and novellas, many of which are in various stages of development for film/TV.
A five-time nominee, Burke won the Bram Stoker Award in 2005 for his coming-of-age novella The Turtle Boy, the first book in the acclaimed Timmy Quinn series.
As editor, he helmed the anthologies Night Visions 12, Taverns of the Dead, and Quietly Now, a tribute anthology to one of Burke’s influences, the late Charles L. Grant.
More recently, he wrote the screenplays for Sour Candy (based on his novella), and the remake of the iconic horror film The Changeling (1980), for producer Joel B. Michaels.
He also adapted Sour Candy as a graphic novel for John Carpenter's Night Terrors.
His most recent release is Cottonmouth, a prequel to Kin. The Widows of Winding Gale, a maritime horror novel set in Ireland, is due for release in October as a signed limited edition from Earthling Publications.
Kealan is represented by Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House.
He lives in Ohio with a Scooby Doo lookalike rescue named Red.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,006 reviews
October 10, 2016
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
EDIT 10/10/16: Are you looking for a story that really grabs you by the pussy????? Then this might be the one for you. On sale this week for $.99* (or FREE with Kindle Unlimited).
*Barf bags additional
“All my friends are gone. Everything is dead.”
What if this . . . .
Was only the start of the horror movie???? Such is the case with Kin as Claire stumbles out of the woods half dead from the hands of her captors. Thus begins a finely woven tale of the survivor, a victim’s brother, a lovestruck boy who hopes to win the girl’s heart, and a woman who ran away but was never able to fully escape her past. Oh and dare I forget the other characters - led by “Momma” . . . .
Who have made a life for themselves by . . . errrrrrrrrrr “making use” of whatever ends up on their land . . .
I read Kin at the beginning of the year, but failed to ever write a reviewbecause I suck since I had just read Brother which was similar and I didn’t want to compare apples to . . . well something pretty damn close to apples. Now that I’ve sat on it awhile and even skimmed it again to refresh my memory, I’m comfortable giving Kin 4 Stars rather than the 3 I was initially going to award. This was most definitely a revamped take on a familiar storyline, but one that left me continually saying . . .
Recommended for those with iron stomachs because the descriptions of everything you will see (and smell) are most assuredly over-the-top. And if you aren’t brave enough to go this one alone? Buddy-up with a friend . . .
Just make sure to hide yopizzle kids and hide yo wives first.
EDIT 10/10/16: Are you looking for a story that really grabs you by the pussy????? Then this might be the one for you. On sale this week for $.99* (or FREE with Kindle Unlimited).
*Barf bags additional
“All my friends are gone. Everything is dead.”
What if this . . . .
Was only the start of the horror movie???? Such is the case with Kin as Claire stumbles out of the woods half dead from the hands of her captors. Thus begins a finely woven tale of the survivor, a victim’s brother, a lovestruck boy who hopes to win the girl’s heart, and a woman who ran away but was never able to fully escape her past. Oh and dare I forget the other characters - led by “Momma” . . . .
Who have made a life for themselves by . . . errrrrrrrrrr “making use” of whatever ends up on their land . . .
I read Kin at the beginning of the year, but failed to ever write a review
Recommended for those with iron stomachs because the descriptions of everything you will see (and smell) are most assuredly over-the-top. And if you aren’t brave enough to go this one alone? Buddy-up with a friend . . .
Just make sure to hide yo
March 21, 2019
"It seemed he always had blood on his hands no matter how hard or how often he washed them."
Naked and covered in blood, Claire Lambert emerges from a massacre that has claimed the lives of her friends. As the sole survivor, Claire wants revenge for the cannibalistic family responsible for the hell that she has endured. But she's not the only one, others have been affected by this nightmare and they too want this family of lunatics to pay...
What did I just read?! As a forewarning (I feel like I'm forewarning a lot these days... I've been reading some sick shit it seems), this is not for the faint of heart. It's brutal and visceral and raw... yet oh so AMAZING. I blew through this book in a matter of days - it's pretty much the definition of unputdownable. I love reading books that just hook you from the very first page, or in this instance, the very first sentence.
From the get-go, I felt like I was watching a great horror slasher movie. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibes were overwhelming, but very quickly it became apparent that there was more at stake here than gratuitous blood and gore. There was also really great, well-developed characters that you begin to care about. I appreciate the fact that this book kicks off right after the massacre has occurred - of course there are flashbacks to what happened - but ultimately this story is about what happens next and how those left behind are affected when such atrocities occur. The survivor's guilt, the need for revenge, the urge to make those responsible pay for what they have done.
I'm also very excited to announce that I have a new favourite literary family - the Merrill clan. Holy hell, what a bunch of fucked up individuals. Momma-in-bed (yes, that is her name) was literally in one scene (or two perhaps, without giving anything away), and yet she will probably be what I first think of when I refer to this book in future. Even now, if I concentrate for long enough, I can smell her bedroom... *vomits everywhere*. I loved loved LOVED reading about this family and would implore Mr Burke to consider writing more about the heinous acts of the Merrills some day, because I don't think I would ever tire of it.
When you combine horror and scenes that have me grimacing and closing the book to take a breather WITH great, complex characters that you actually LIKE - then this, my friends, is my favourite kind of book. Definitely one of my very favourite reads from this year. And certain scenes will stay with me forever (if you've read, you KNOW what I'm talking about). Highly recommend to all horror fans. 5 stars from me!
Naked and covered in blood, Claire Lambert emerges from a massacre that has claimed the lives of her friends. As the sole survivor, Claire wants revenge for the cannibalistic family responsible for the hell that she has endured. But she's not the only one, others have been affected by this nightmare and they too want this family of lunatics to pay...
What did I just read?! As a forewarning (I feel like I'm forewarning a lot these days... I've been reading some sick shit it seems), this is not for the faint of heart. It's brutal and visceral and raw... yet oh so AMAZING. I blew through this book in a matter of days - it's pretty much the definition of unputdownable. I love reading books that just hook you from the very first page, or in this instance, the very first sentence.
From the get-go, I felt like I was watching a great horror slasher movie. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibes were overwhelming, but very quickly it became apparent that there was more at stake here than gratuitous blood and gore. There was also really great, well-developed characters that you begin to care about. I appreciate the fact that this book kicks off right after the massacre has occurred - of course there are flashbacks to what happened - but ultimately this story is about what happens next and how those left behind are affected when such atrocities occur. The survivor's guilt, the need for revenge, the urge to make those responsible pay for what they have done.
I'm also very excited to announce that I have a new favourite literary family - the Merrill clan. Holy hell, what a bunch of fucked up individuals. Momma-in-bed (yes, that is her name) was literally in one scene (or two perhaps, without giving anything away), and yet she will probably be what I first think of when I refer to this book in future. Even now, if I concentrate for long enough, I can smell her bedroom... *vomits everywhere*. I loved loved LOVED reading about this family and would implore Mr Burke to consider writing more about the heinous acts of the Merrills some day, because I don't think I would ever tire of it.
When you combine horror and scenes that have me grimacing and closing the book to take a breather WITH great, complex characters that you actually LIKE - then this, my friends, is my favourite kind of book. Definitely one of my very favourite reads from this year. And certain scenes will stay with me forever (if you've read, you KNOW what I'm talking about). Highly recommend to all horror fans. 5 stars from me!
September 8, 2020
Great writing and book!
Side note: This book is not for the squeamish or for readers who have issues with certain trigger warnings.
I will not go into each trigger warning in this review because I feel like they can be spoilers to some readers. If there is a subject matter that is hard for you to read, please reach out through direct messaging and I will let you know.
I’ve loved the writing of Kealan Patrick Burke for some time now and this is another book by him that does not disappoint!
I was planning on rating Kin 4 stars yesterday but I was still thinking about the book last night, along with how it all went down. I’ve got to go with 5 stars since I'm still thinking about the characters and all the memorable moments in the book.
And there are some memorable moments in this book.
Especially with Momma-In-Bed and Luke.
God have mercy, that part will stay with me for awhile. LOL!
Kin is set in Elkwood, Alabama. One afternoon while driving to their farm, Jack and Pete Lowell come across a woman on the side of the road that has been tortured and is dying.
Claire Lambert is the woman and she has just escaped from the Merrill family.
This book is more then just gore, violence and evil. It’s about redemption, revenge and coming to terms with traumatic events.
I loved the characters in this! Each character felt real along with the struggles they were going through.
The Merrill family was just EVIL.
I really don’t know how to describe them better then this. Papa-In-Gray and Momma-In-Bed were some of the best horrific and scary characters that I’ve read in a long time. A few of the moments in this book will stay with me for years.
KPB can write horror!
He can do it in a way that doesn’t lose the purpose of the plot or trying to be shock worthy because it’s in the horror genre.
Oh yes, it's shocking but he brings the book back to the plot and actions of the characters after the horrific beginning with Claire.
And for that, I believe the book has staying power.
I really loved how all the main characters stories progress until the end. I was very satisfied with the ending and the arcs that each character goes through in this book.
Bravo KPB for writing another winner!
Recommend this book to horror fans and anyone that can handle some squeamish material.
Side note: This book is not for the squeamish or for readers who have issues with certain trigger warnings.
I will not go into each trigger warning in this review because I feel like they can be spoilers to some readers. If there is a subject matter that is hard for you to read, please reach out through direct messaging and I will let you know.
I’ve loved the writing of Kealan Patrick Burke for some time now and this is another book by him that does not disappoint!
I was planning on rating Kin 4 stars yesterday but I was still thinking about the book last night, along with how it all went down. I’ve got to go with 5 stars since I'm still thinking about the characters and all the memorable moments in the book.
And there are some memorable moments in this book.
Especially with Momma-In-Bed and Luke.
God have mercy, that part will stay with me for awhile. LOL!
Kin is set in Elkwood, Alabama. One afternoon while driving to their farm, Jack and Pete Lowell come across a woman on the side of the road that has been tortured and is dying.
Claire Lambert is the woman and she has just escaped from the Merrill family.
This book is more then just gore, violence and evil. It’s about redemption, revenge and coming to terms with traumatic events.
I loved the characters in this! Each character felt real along with the struggles they were going through.
The Merrill family was just EVIL.
I really don’t know how to describe them better then this. Papa-In-Gray and Momma-In-Bed were some of the best horrific and scary characters that I’ve read in a long time. A few of the moments in this book will stay with me for years.
KPB can write horror!
He can do it in a way that doesn’t lose the purpose of the plot or trying to be shock worthy because it’s in the horror genre.
Oh yes, it's shocking but he brings the book back to the plot and actions of the characters after the horrific beginning with Claire.
And for that, I believe the book has staying power.
I really loved how all the main characters stories progress until the end. I was very satisfied with the ending and the arcs that each character goes through in this book.
Bravo KPB for writing another winner!
Recommend this book to horror fans and anyone that can handle some squeamish material.
May 2, 2020
for some reason, i thought this was going to be another one of those downtrodden working poor novels i so love. damn that cover: barn, grass, isolated-looking rural atmosphere. i didn't even realize that blob in the foreground was a nude girl. oops.
i knew this had a horror angle; i knew it was going to have some - you know - cannibalism in it, but that's never bothered me any; i just for some reason thought this would have some of the poetic literary language i love from these books - the way everything is expressed so beautifully juxtaposed against the harsh realities of the landscape and the hopelessness of the characters - the diamonds in the rough...i thought it would be like Kings of the Earth, which review i so helpfully floated recently to pave the way for this one. you're welcome.
instead, i got this:
and that sums up my gripe with this book; it lacks subtlety.
it is this:
instead of this:
and that's fine - i don't read horror often, but i have definitely read some fine horror novels in my time. this one is only okay. it did have some wonderful gross-out moments (elizabeth - skip this)
and that is not even the worst of it - let's just say that i will never read the word "rebirth" the same again. shudder.
this book has mostly four- and five-star ratings on goodreads which surprises the crap out of me. am i just being star-stingy? did i miss something? were my expectations just different so that they clouded my appreciation of what this book was? have i just read too many better examples of god-blinded individuals killing in the name of their skewed worldviews?
probably.
it tickles me that one of the tags this book has on here is "military" and yes - two of the characters have spent time overseas, being exposed to and somewhat numbed to violence which definitely shaped their characters, but i highly doubt that fans of tom clancy or larry bond are going to derive the same kind of pleasure from this splatter-book as they are from their helicopter tales. just...be warned.
and this is the book that did it. this is the book that may have convinced me to get one of them newfangled e-readers. because it is out of print, and i had it on my to-read list because lou had recommended it to me, and it sounded like something i would like, but if i had actually tracked down a used copy of it, well then now i would be stuck with this book i thought was okay, but i will never reread. (i read this on a store-borrowed nook) so... maybe. i am considering it. because for 5 bux i could have read this and moved on with my life, without cluttering up this tiny-ass apartment of mine. and as much a i love the thrill of the hunt and the buying of books an abe.com and such, well, the e-readers make things that much easier. nothing to get lost in the mail, nothing to cause book avalanches in the middle of the night, nothing for the cat to throw up on. (well, something very expensive for her to throw up on...) i don't know. just know that i am considering it. and i will reserve my book-hunting for more "guaranteed" good reads.
come to my blog!
i knew this had a horror angle; i knew it was going to have some - you know - cannibalism in it, but that's never bothered me any; i just for some reason thought this would have some of the poetic literary language i love from these books - the way everything is expressed so beautifully juxtaposed against the harsh realities of the landscape and the hopelessness of the characters - the diamonds in the rough...i thought it would be like Kings of the Earth, which review i so helpfully floated recently to pave the way for this one. you're welcome.
instead, i got this:
First, his nose was broken and throbbing like a teenager's pecker at the prom.
and that sums up my gripe with this book; it lacks subtlety.
it is this:
instead of this:
and that's fine - i don't read horror often, but i have definitely read some fine horror novels in my time. this one is only okay. it did have some wonderful gross-out moments (elizabeth - skip this)
There was no momma anymore, he said, not the way they remembered her. Now she was a mass of suppurating bedsores, fused to the mattress where old wounds had healed and the torn flesh and pus had hardened to form a kind of second skin around the material and bedsprings beneath. The mattress, once plump and soft, had been worn down by her weight to almost nothing, a wafer thin slice bent in the middle, pungent, soggy and stained by the fluids that had soaked down from her corpulent body over the years. The boys took turns washing and tending to her wound, grooming her, scooping out the large quantities of fecal matter that gathered between her enormous thighs, then giving the remaining stain a cursory, half-hearted scrub before leaving her to wallow in the vestiges of her own waste.
and that is not even the worst of it - let's just say that i will never read the word "rebirth" the same again. shudder.
this book has mostly four- and five-star ratings on goodreads which surprises the crap out of me. am i just being star-stingy? did i miss something? were my expectations just different so that they clouded my appreciation of what this book was? have i just read too many better examples of god-blinded individuals killing in the name of their skewed worldviews?
probably.
it tickles me that one of the tags this book has on here is "military" and yes - two of the characters have spent time overseas, being exposed to and somewhat numbed to violence which definitely shaped their characters, but i highly doubt that fans of tom clancy or larry bond are going to derive the same kind of pleasure from this splatter-book as they are from their helicopter tales. just...be warned.
and this is the book that did it. this is the book that may have convinced me to get one of them newfangled e-readers. because it is out of print, and i had it on my to-read list because lou had recommended it to me, and it sounded like something i would like, but if i had actually tracked down a used copy of it, well then now i would be stuck with this book i thought was okay, but i will never reread. (i read this on a store-borrowed nook) so... maybe. i am considering it. because for 5 bux i could have read this and moved on with my life, without cluttering up this tiny-ass apartment of mine. and as much a i love the thrill of the hunt and the buying of books an abe.com and such, well, the e-readers make things that much easier. nothing to get lost in the mail, nothing to cause book avalanches in the middle of the night, nothing for the cat to throw up on. (well, something very expensive for her to throw up on...) i don't know. just know that i am considering it. and i will reserve my book-hunting for more "guaranteed" good reads.
come to my blog!
October 17, 2016
When Claire Lambert and her three friends crossed the paths of some murderous cannibal hillbillies while hiking in Alabama, their lives were destroyed forever. Claire lost her friends, her virginity, a few fingers, and her eye. But the Merrill family made one mistake: they let Claire live...
You know, when a book starts with a mutilated woman staggering along the side of the road, you know shit is only going to get worse. And it does.
Kin is a gore-strewn tale of depravity and a twisted notion of family. The Merrills kill and eat any outsider that dares cross their path. When Claire escapes, they go into panic mode looking for her. Meanwhile, people swoop down on the Merrills looking for vengeance. How could anything possibly go wrong?
The Merrills are some of the vilest villains I've ever encountered, kind of like Leatherface's family in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The thing that really makes them scary is that they think God is on their side.
Once Claire gets to the hospital, the book splits into three threads that never quite come together. Thomas Finch and a friend from the army go gunning for the Merrills. Pete goes looking for a place to belong now that his father is dead. And Claire looks for a way to return to Elkwood and get some payback.
Oddly enough, the character I found most interesting was Luke Merrill, one of the villains. While loyal to his family, he has a lot of doubts about things, doubts that escalate after his father does some things to him.
Some of the plotting felt a little too convenient at first, although KPB set me straight on those. The ending wasn't what I expected but I still liked it. It was actually a nice change of pace from where I thought was going to happen, although it wasn't entirely satisfying.
Maybe it was the jet lag but I didn't think this book quite came together in the end for me. I still liked it but I think some parts could have been expanded a bit. I like my horror short but this was a little too short, I think.
At the end of the day, I liked Kin but I don't love it. Still, it should appeal to people who enjoy things like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Cabin Fever, and The Hills Have Eyes. Three out of Five stars.
You know, when a book starts with a mutilated woman staggering along the side of the road, you know shit is only going to get worse. And it does.
Kin is a gore-strewn tale of depravity and a twisted notion of family. The Merrills kill and eat any outsider that dares cross their path. When Claire escapes, they go into panic mode looking for her. Meanwhile, people swoop down on the Merrills looking for vengeance. How could anything possibly go wrong?
The Merrills are some of the vilest villains I've ever encountered, kind of like Leatherface's family in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The thing that really makes them scary is that they think God is on their side.
Once Claire gets to the hospital, the book splits into three threads that never quite come together. Thomas Finch and a friend from the army go gunning for the Merrills. Pete goes looking for a place to belong now that his father is dead. And Claire looks for a way to return to Elkwood and get some payback.
Oddly enough, the character I found most interesting was Luke Merrill, one of the villains. While loyal to his family, he has a lot of doubts about things, doubts that escalate after his father does some things to him.
Some of the plotting felt a little too convenient at first, although KPB set me straight on those. The ending wasn't what I expected but I still liked it. It was actually a nice change of pace from where I thought was going to happen, although it wasn't entirely satisfying.
Maybe it was the jet lag but I didn't think this book quite came together in the end for me. I still liked it but I think some parts could have been expanded a bit. I like my horror short but this was a little too short, I think.
At the end of the day, I liked Kin but I don't love it. Still, it should appeal to people who enjoy things like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Cabin Fever, and The Hills Have Eyes. Three out of Five stars.
January 20, 2016
Kealan Patrick Burke-I love the guy. I'm slowly catching up on everything he has available. I was excited to see he had a new novel out, KIN.
The protagonist of this novel is Claire. Claire survived rape and torture at the hands of a "Deliverance" type family. The story begins with Claire's escape from them, the only one of her group of friends to do so.
From that point on, the story ripples outward to all of the people involved: Claire's friends and family, the antagonist's family, and the families of all those who tried to help her. Never have I seen a novel where the ripple of the violence affected so many...of course most times, this subject is never even mentioned.
This is a harsh novel where no punches are pulled. It is not your typical revenge type story. Do you have the courage to face what Claire faced? Pick up this book and find out!
The protagonist of this novel is Claire. Claire survived rape and torture at the hands of a "Deliverance" type family. The story begins with Claire's escape from them, the only one of her group of friends to do so.
From that point on, the story ripples outward to all of the people involved: Claire's friends and family, the antagonist's family, and the families of all those who tried to help her. Never have I seen a novel where the ripple of the violence affected so many...of course most times, this subject is never even mentioned.
This is a harsh novel where no punches are pulled. It is not your typical revenge type story. Do you have the courage to face what Claire faced? Pick up this book and find out!
November 26, 2017
No spoiler/No plot points review: Just my feelings:
This book is the closest I have come to watching a scary movie I would *never* watch. If you know me, you know that I read all the horror books I can get my hands on but that scary movies are too much for me and I rarely watch them. It has a lot to do with the connection the reader has with the author vs. the director. Authors can *show* me things but the imagery ends with me. A director shows me everything--I have no choices on what I see or don't see.
**
The beginning of KIN is just brutal. The author has this astonishing skill of bringing the reader right down into it with technicolor descriptive language. I admit, I was terrified to keep going. The story is very, very compelling however and there was no way I was going to chicken out in front of my friends that I was buddy reading this with! I'm Mother Horror for fuck's sake! I had read Kealan Patrick Burke's novella, Blanky and also a collection of short stories called Milestone previously and so I trusted him enough to move forward with relish.
Ultimately this story has way more to do with the aftermath of a sadistic tragedy rather than the tragedy itself.
Sure there is the suspense, the cringe-worthy disgusting moments, the nasty characters, the gore, the danger but the main themes for me went way deeper than the entertainment--I was moved to tears a few times as well.
This novel has minted Burke as a favorite author of mine and I'm excited that there is so much out there of his to read! I have Sour Candy coming to me soon and I recommend the other works I mentioned here as well. If you're a fan of horror, you need this author's books in your collection.
This book is the closest I have come to watching a scary movie I would *never* watch. If you know me, you know that I read all the horror books I can get my hands on but that scary movies are too much for me and I rarely watch them. It has a lot to do with the connection the reader has with the author vs. the director. Authors can *show* me things but the imagery ends with me. A director shows me everything--I have no choices on what I see or don't see.
**
The beginning of KIN is just brutal. The author has this astonishing skill of bringing the reader right down into it with technicolor descriptive language. I admit, I was terrified to keep going. The story is very, very compelling however and there was no way I was going to chicken out in front of my friends that I was buddy reading this with! I'm Mother Horror for fuck's sake! I had read Kealan Patrick Burke's novella, Blanky and also a collection of short stories called Milestone previously and so I trusted him enough to move forward with relish.
Ultimately this story has way more to do with the aftermath of a sadistic tragedy rather than the tragedy itself.
Sure there is the suspense, the cringe-worthy disgusting moments, the nasty characters, the gore, the danger but the main themes for me went way deeper than the entertainment--I was moved to tears a few times as well.
This novel has minted Burke as a favorite author of mine and I'm excited that there is so much out there of his to read! I have Sour Candy coming to me soon and I recommend the other works I mentioned here as well. If you're a fan of horror, you need this author's books in your collection.
June 20, 2020
Somewhere between a 1 and 2, but the end was so poor that I trended to the low end of the spectrum. Heavy on the gore. Strangely, the author put a lot of effort into describing and developing the characters, relationships and story introduced in the first 80% of the book, then seemed to breeze through the end. And, based on one aspect of the ending, could there possibly be “Kin2”? Let’s hope not...
February 13, 2021
There is a small warning with this book as some parts are extreme, so tread carefully if you have a queasy stomach and are not able to handle extreme situations. For those of you that love the extreme and want to take a walk on the wild side, then by all means pick up this book!
This was my first time reading author, Kealan Patrick Burke, and I am so happy that I finally read this book as I have had this book for awhile on my kindle waiting to be read. The book starts off with a bang and doesn't let up all the way to the end! What a ride into the backwoods of horror!
With that being said, let us move on to the review!
Place: Elkwood, Alabama (backwoods - out in the country)
A truck rumbling down the road comes across a bloody naked woman laying by the road and she is still alive. A father and son get out of the truck, pick her up, and decided to take her to a doctor. What they don't know at the time of them rescuing her is that they are being watched from the woods.
The other thing that they don't know is that the woman (Claire Lambert) is really an escapee as she was running from captors that live out in the woods. Oh and one more thing they don't know is that by rescuing her, they have just put a bulls-eye on their backs as now what was watching them in the woods will be coming after them.
The "watchers" in the woods are the Merrill family - dangerous, crazy, cannibal, loony tune family that have lived there forever and that own almost the whole county. People in town and neighbors fear them, meaning they also leave them alone as everyone minds their own business.
The Merrill family doesn't like that Claire escaped, so they will do everything in their power to get her back one way or another, even if they have to turn the county upside down, they will get her back.
With Claire escaping it starts a chain of events that no one sees coming and though the Merrill family goes on a hunting spree, they don't realize that the rules of the game have changed as friends of Claire decide to take matters in their own hands as they go on a revenge spree.
What kind of havoc do the Merrills stir up? Is Claire recaptured? What happens between the Merrills and Claire's friends? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!
This book was a wild ride into the torturous unknown as I wasn't quite prepared for the opening scene for one thing and then the book started getting more deeper into the cannibalistic world of the Merrill family.
This book was fast paced and there is no let up from one chapter to the other as you don't have time to come up for air as the book continues with heart pounding excitement, trepidation, and suspenseful dread!
I have found another author that can twist the gore into a bloody mess and throw it against the walls for some decorative splatter! Giving this book five stars.
This was my first time reading author, Kealan Patrick Burke, and I am so happy that I finally read this book as I have had this book for awhile on my kindle waiting to be read. The book starts off with a bang and doesn't let up all the way to the end! What a ride into the backwoods of horror!
With that being said, let us move on to the review!
Place: Elkwood, Alabama (backwoods - out in the country)
A truck rumbling down the road comes across a bloody naked woman laying by the road and she is still alive. A father and son get out of the truck, pick her up, and decided to take her to a doctor. What they don't know at the time of them rescuing her is that they are being watched from the woods.
The other thing that they don't know is that the woman (Claire Lambert) is really an escapee as she was running from captors that live out in the woods. Oh and one more thing they don't know is that by rescuing her, they have just put a bulls-eye on their backs as now what was watching them in the woods will be coming after them.
The "watchers" in the woods are the Merrill family - dangerous, crazy, cannibal, loony tune family that have lived there forever and that own almost the whole county. People in town and neighbors fear them, meaning they also leave them alone as everyone minds their own business.
The Merrill family doesn't like that Claire escaped, so they will do everything in their power to get her back one way or another, even if they have to turn the county upside down, they will get her back.
With Claire escaping it starts a chain of events that no one sees coming and though the Merrill family goes on a hunting spree, they don't realize that the rules of the game have changed as friends of Claire decide to take matters in their own hands as they go on a revenge spree.
What kind of havoc do the Merrills stir up? Is Claire recaptured? What happens between the Merrills and Claire's friends? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!
This book was a wild ride into the torturous unknown as I wasn't quite prepared for the opening scene for one thing and then the book started getting more deeper into the cannibalistic world of the Merrill family.
This book was fast paced and there is no let up from one chapter to the other as you don't have time to come up for air as the book continues with heart pounding excitement, trepidation, and suspenseful dread!
I have found another author that can twist the gore into a bloody mess and throw it against the walls for some decorative splatter! Giving this book five stars.
June 7, 2023
This book was everything I wanted, and more. I’d only ever read, one other book by this author “Sour Candy”, which I thought was really good to begin with, but just found it lacking towards the end. “Kin” was action packed from the very first page and throughout, without letting me catch my breath, until the very last page.
Claire has managed to escape the ‘Merrill’s’ who are a vile, evil, tortuous, murdering, family of cannibals, who tortured her and killed her friends. She has collapsed, half blind and near death, at the side of the road, where “luckily” for her, Pete and his dad, rescue her and take her to their doctor.
Finch who has returned from fighting in Iraq and is suffering from PTSD, is out for revenge, after learning that his brother Dan was also part of the “Elkwood Massacre”.
This was a very articulate and well written book, and I was obsessed from the very beginning, to the point that I didn’t want it to end.
There is so much to this book, and we get to know the backstory of most of the characters, which I find rare in a lot of books. This was a “Buddy Read” with my friend Luna, and during our discussions throughout the book, we both agreed that this was one hell of an awesome read.
This was full of triggers, and was brutal, depraved, vile, and went at 100 mph from beginning to end. If you like movies such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, and “Deliverance”, then this is for YOU.
I highly recommend this amazing book, but only for fans of the extreme kind of horror, as it is SICK!!! 😱🤢😱🤢😱🤢
A very bloody and sinewy
5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Claire has managed to escape the ‘Merrill’s’ who are a vile, evil, tortuous, murdering, family of cannibals, who tortured her and killed her friends. She has collapsed, half blind and near death, at the side of the road, where “luckily” for her, Pete and his dad, rescue her and take her to their doctor.
Finch who has returned from fighting in Iraq and is suffering from PTSD, is out for revenge, after learning that his brother Dan was also part of the “Elkwood Massacre”.
This was a very articulate and well written book, and I was obsessed from the very beginning, to the point that I didn’t want it to end.
There is so much to this book, and we get to know the backstory of most of the characters, which I find rare in a lot of books. This was a “Buddy Read” with my friend Luna, and during our discussions throughout the book, we both agreed that this was one hell of an awesome read.
This was full of triggers, and was brutal, depraved, vile, and went at 100 mph from beginning to end. If you like movies such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, and “Deliverance”, then this is for YOU.
I highly recommend this amazing book, but only for fans of the extreme kind of horror, as it is SICK!!! 😱🤢😱🤢😱🤢
A very bloody and sinewy
5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
November 21, 2021
Been there. Done that! This is exactly as it seems. Even the ending was kinda wha..? Then blah.
May 17, 2025
With horror literature, I mostly read stories about ghosts and demons (or the latest Stephen King offering) so this was a welcome change. I am quite a novice, as horror cinema is where my expertise lies, so this was my introduction to Kealan Patrick Burke.
“Kin” gave me the same feelings that I would experience whilst watching a horror movie, but it somehow feels even more grim reading it and having to visualise those sorts of horrors inside my head. Every part with “Momma-In-Bed” makes me feel SO uneasy and nauseous.
The storyline is very much akin to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Deliverance and Hills Have Eyes. There are some truly gruesome parts that I almost had to skim read past. Some of the more horror filled parts do stick with you after you read them, so if you are sensitive to reading about/imagining gore and violence, I wouldn’t recommend.
Claire Lambert is found wounded; half-blind, half-dead on the side of the road by father and son - Jack and Pete Lowell.
She is the only survivor of a brutal massacre of a group of her friends.
From the second part onwards, the story takes a turn (in my opinion) for the better and becomes something that you initially wouldn’t have expected, as it tonally shifts. The introduction of new characters, such as Finch, Beau and Louise, gives it a fresh perspective and definitely improves the reading experience overall.
Finch, an Iraq war vet suffering from PTSD, returns to the town of Elkwood to find out his brother Danny has been brutally murdered by the Merrill clan. And there is only one thing on his mind, consuming his entire being; revenge.
“Living is hard; death is easy. And there are no answers on either side.”
I am now very much a fan of Burke’s writing style; fast paced and enjoyably easy to read, whilst also being very descriptive, he builds the world well. Have to give it 5 stars for this reason.
Read as part of a September group read - will try to participate more often!
TW:// Graphic Content
“Kin” gave me the same feelings that I would experience whilst watching a horror movie, but it somehow feels even more grim reading it and having to visualise those sorts of horrors inside my head. Every part with “Momma-In-Bed” makes me feel SO uneasy and nauseous.
The storyline is very much akin to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Deliverance and Hills Have Eyes. There are some truly gruesome parts that I almost had to skim read past. Some of the more horror filled parts do stick with you after you read them, so if you are sensitive to reading about/imagining gore and violence, I wouldn’t recommend.
Claire Lambert is found wounded; half-blind, half-dead on the side of the road by father and son - Jack and Pete Lowell.
She is the only survivor of a brutal massacre of a group of her friends.
From the second part onwards, the story takes a turn (in my opinion) for the better and becomes something that you initially wouldn’t have expected, as it tonally shifts. The introduction of new characters, such as Finch, Beau and Louise, gives it a fresh perspective and definitely improves the reading experience overall.
Finch, an Iraq war vet suffering from PTSD, returns to the town of Elkwood to find out his brother Danny has been brutally murdered by the Merrill clan. And there is only one thing on his mind, consuming his entire being; revenge.
“Living is hard; death is easy. And there are no answers on either side.”
I am now very much a fan of Burke’s writing style; fast paced and enjoyably easy to read, whilst also being very descriptive, he builds the world well. Have to give it 5 stars for this reason.
Read as part of a September group read - will try to participate more often!
TW:// Graphic Content
December 18, 2018
Whew, that was dark at points and super suspenseful! This one gets ALL the trigger warnings, but if you've ever wanted Deliverance or Wrong Turn + a revenge story in a novel, this is going to be right up your alley. Not only does it keep you on the edge of your seat, but Kealan manages to craft characters so well. There's a fairly large cast to the story, yet each of them had their own clear motives (good or bad), and it's easy to feel some type of way about them all, whether you're rooting for their success or their imminent dismembering.
I think my favorite thing about Kin (besides the delightfully badass character that is Beau) is the fact that it's so immersive, it genuinely played out in my head like a horror film. It was so easy to imagine every scene (though sometimes, I didn't want to imagine things—looking at you, "rebirth"...) and feel like I was right there watching it all unfold. Seriously, if this novel ever gets optioned into a film or miniseries, I'll be right there on premiere night, soaking it all in.
The only reason this got 4.5 stars instead of 5 from me is that the middle of the story dragged a bit for me; while I appreciated how well we got to know the characters and to see the grief and trauma that had wreaked havoc upon these people's lives, part of me was constantly impatiently awaiting the return to the action. That said, that's totally a personal preference sort of thing, and with that in mind, it makes it such an easy decision to round this up to 5 stars here on Goodreads.
Content warnings for... uh, everything? Explicit violence, sexual assault, kidnapping, death, suicide, torture, racism, homophobia, list goes on. This one is not for the light of heart (or queasy of stomach).
I think my favorite thing about Kin (besides the delightfully badass character that is Beau) is the fact that it's so immersive, it genuinely played out in my head like a horror film. It was so easy to imagine every scene (though sometimes, I didn't want to imagine things—looking at you, "rebirth"...) and feel like I was right there watching it all unfold. Seriously, if this novel ever gets optioned into a film or miniseries, I'll be right there on premiere night, soaking it all in.
The only reason this got 4.5 stars instead of 5 from me is that the middle of the story dragged a bit for me; while I appreciated how well we got to know the characters and to see the grief and trauma that had wreaked havoc upon these people's lives, part of me was constantly impatiently awaiting the return to the action. That said, that's totally a personal preference sort of thing, and with that in mind, it makes it such an easy decision to round this up to 5 stars here on Goodreads.
Content warnings for... uh, everything? Explicit violence, sexual assault, kidnapping, death, suicide, torture, racism, homophobia, list goes on. This one is not for the light of heart (or queasy of stomach).
October 21, 2020
This story is both deeply disturbing and absolutely brilliant.
It's very much a gruesome slasher flick, which begins with a horrific massacre and doesn't get any prettier, but there's also an intelligence to it that contrasts the violence with very real character depth.
This is not horror for horror's sake.
This is horror that allows for a fascinating examination of trauma.
One of the most incredible horror stories I've read in a long time.
I have this rule about only giving 5-star ratings to books I would definitely read again, but I might just be breaking it for this one. Because I don't know that I'd want to re-live this nightmare, but the initial 4-star rating I gave it just wasn't sitting right. It's worthy of 5.
Here's why:
It's unpredictable
You think you know the formula, you think you can guess what's coming ... you are wrong.
It doesn't pull punches
It gets straight into the nastiness, and it does not hold back. There is plenty of suffering to go around and this book is creative with it.
It's intelligent
The violence is not the main feature, it's just another part that comprises the whole. The story takes the titular theme and explores several manifestations of it, all while holding the tension and probing the depths of trauma.
The writing is addictive
From the very first page it's almost impossible to resist the compulsion to read. There are certainly moments that will make you want to pause but it draws you back in soon enough. There's just something about the way it plays out that makes you want to see it through to the end.
A fantastic horror story with fascinating themes, some epic scenes and memorable characters. Cannot recommend it highly enough.
It's very much a gruesome slasher flick, which begins with a horrific massacre and doesn't get any prettier, but there's also an intelligence to it that contrasts the violence with very real character depth.
This is not horror for horror's sake.
This is horror that allows for a fascinating examination of trauma.
One of the most incredible horror stories I've read in a long time.
I have this rule about only giving 5-star ratings to books I would definitely read again, but I might just be breaking it for this one. Because I don't know that I'd want to re-live this nightmare, but the initial 4-star rating I gave it just wasn't sitting right. It's worthy of 5.
Here's why:
It's unpredictable
You think you know the formula, you think you can guess what's coming ... you are wrong.
It doesn't pull punches
It gets straight into the nastiness, and it does not hold back. There is plenty of suffering to go around and this book is creative with it.
It's intelligent
The violence is not the main feature, it's just another part that comprises the whole. The story takes the titular theme and explores several manifestations of it, all while holding the tension and probing the depths of trauma.
The writing is addictive
From the very first page it's almost impossible to resist the compulsion to read. There are certainly moments that will make you want to pause but it draws you back in soon enough. There's just something about the way it plays out that makes you want to see it through to the end.
A fantastic horror story with fascinating themes, some epic scenes and memorable characters. Cannot recommend it highly enough.
September 21, 2020
I’m keeping this short and to the point (for a change) because I’m pretty sure I was one of the last people in the horror community to read this book but that’s nothing new for me. After hearing that it was brutal for YEARS I went in prepared and parts of it (mostly the beginning) were brutal but not as in your face disgusting as I feared. But I’ve read/seen some dreadful things and liked them so you probably can’t trust me on this statement. There is one scene, however, that I swear I could SMELL and you will know it when you read it and you will wish you had never entered that room but you will be helpless to stop yourself. So there’s your warning!
This is a story that begins after a final girl manages to escape what appears to be a run-in with Pinhead (alas, it wasn’t Pinhead but she’s a mess) and it follows the aftermath with some flashbacks to the awful event that set it all off. It’s also about a town filled with cowards and people who look the other way for their own gain and I suppose out of fear for their own safety. It will likely infuriate you. There’s your second warning!
Kin is very well written and its secrets will make you squirm. It is very character focused, which I always appreciate in any work of fiction, but it’s done so well here that you may start to feel a bit of empathy for one of the “Kin”. That’s your final warning! The rest is on you but I’d recommend reading it if you haven’t already.
This is a story that begins after a final girl manages to escape what appears to be a run-in with Pinhead (alas, it wasn’t Pinhead but she’s a mess) and it follows the aftermath with some flashbacks to the awful event that set it all off. It’s also about a town filled with cowards and people who look the other way for their own gain and I suppose out of fear for their own safety. It will likely infuriate you. There’s your second warning!
Kin is very well written and its secrets will make you squirm. It is very character focused, which I always appreciate in any work of fiction, but it’s done so well here that you may start to feel a bit of empathy for one of the “Kin”. That’s your final warning! The rest is on you but I’d recommend reading it if you haven’t already.
June 19, 2023
Captivating/Exhilarating!! From the very first page this book takes you hostage and never lets go. We find our hero Claire who is severely wounded and has managed to escape a family of cannibals. She is found by our other hero Pete and his dad. His dad knows what likely happened to her but is still intent on saving her due to his son Pete.
Now I am not going to spoil things here so TRUST me, the way to go into this book is blind. To not know nothing. I sadly read the back cover prior to reading the book and the back cover spoils things. So yet another reading rule I have given myself. If the book has made it onto my shelf it is for good reason and it was likely the fact that I have read a few reviews and the back cover already so there is no need to reread things again and possibly spoil things. This book sat on my shelf for about two years. It was recently reviewed by someone who gave it high praise. I would thank them but forgot who that person is. My bad. So my good GR friends Leeanne wanted to do a buddy read and I figured she had already read this classic as it is a classic but she had not. Love those buddy reads.
The title itself of this book kind of gives you an idea of what it is all about, the title along with the illsustration. It was my first read by Burke and though the subject matter is a little off his writing is not off in any way. This guy can write. I am definitely reading more of him. So Leeanne posed a question asking me if she thought such families actually existed in the deep south of the states. I replied that behind folklore is some truth and there are just too many of these kinds of stories eg The Chainsaw Massacre, and Deliverance for example that have me convinced they are out there - these type of families. I will never ever go off the beaten path in the deep south of the U.S.
And this clan of cannibals actually thinks it's doing right by God. They are quite religious in their own deviant way. So with Claire having escaped the family knows it has to get to her before she brings down all kinds of authorities who would gladly put a deserved end to the family. As mentioned from the beginning this book has one wicked and torrid pace. I could not put it down as I wanted to know what happened next. Though it has references to cannibalism and sexual assault I do think that the average person could read this. Of course everyone knows what's for them and if you have some doubts maybe stay away. For those who stay away I feel bad in a way as this is just an exciting crazy book. It has been three days since I finished it and I still can picture it. My buddy read Leeanne put it so well when in her review she likened it to watching a movie. That is spot on and it has a lot to do with Burke's great writing. So if you want something different, if you want to go on a roller coaster ride of reading then I so so recommend this one. An easy five stars. ENJOY!! :)
Now I am not going to spoil things here so TRUST me, the way to go into this book is blind. To not know nothing. I sadly read the back cover prior to reading the book and the back cover spoils things. So yet another reading rule I have given myself. If the book has made it onto my shelf it is for good reason and it was likely the fact that I have read a few reviews and the back cover already so there is no need to reread things again and possibly spoil things. This book sat on my shelf for about two years. It was recently reviewed by someone who gave it high praise. I would thank them but forgot who that person is. My bad. So my good GR friends Leeanne wanted to do a buddy read and I figured she had already read this classic as it is a classic but she had not. Love those buddy reads.
The title itself of this book kind of gives you an idea of what it is all about, the title along with the illsustration. It was my first read by Burke and though the subject matter is a little off his writing is not off in any way. This guy can write. I am definitely reading more of him. So Leeanne posed a question asking me if she thought such families actually existed in the deep south of the states. I replied that behind folklore is some truth and there are just too many of these kinds of stories eg The Chainsaw Massacre, and Deliverance for example that have me convinced they are out there - these type of families. I will never ever go off the beaten path in the deep south of the U.S.
And this clan of cannibals actually thinks it's doing right by God. They are quite religious in their own deviant way. So with Claire having escaped the family knows it has to get to her before she brings down all kinds of authorities who would gladly put a deserved end to the family. As mentioned from the beginning this book has one wicked and torrid pace. I could not put it down as I wanted to know what happened next. Though it has references to cannibalism and sexual assault I do think that the average person could read this. Of course everyone knows what's for them and if you have some doubts maybe stay away. For those who stay away I feel bad in a way as this is just an exciting crazy book. It has been three days since I finished it and I still can picture it. My buddy read Leeanne put it so well when in her review she likened it to watching a movie. That is spot on and it has a lot to do with Burke's great writing. So if you want something different, if you want to go on a roller coaster ride of reading then I so so recommend this one. An easy five stars. ENJOY!! :)
February 14, 2020
SO EFFING GOOD
August 13, 2022
Story 5/5
Narration 5/5
I loved KIN by Kealan Patrick Burke.
If you’re looking for a well written extreme horror story, about a family doing atrocious acts to innocent people, read this.
Narration 5/5
I loved KIN by Kealan Patrick Burke.
If you’re looking for a well written extreme horror story, about a family doing atrocious acts to innocent people, read this.
October 30, 2018
I interviewed Kealan Patrick Burke here.
The writer of The Turtle Boy, a Bram stoker award winner, brings to you this tale. This story is dark, not of the paranormal kind but that of the darkness of the heart and the evil that men do.
His story is a taut visceral story of one woman's survival, her pain endured and being the soul left behind from the fallen ones. Nightmares are to haunt her salvation and she is in need of succor, need of embrace and love. There is a need for revenge, vengeance and retribution to take effect, against the brutality and evil that has past and to come.
The evil and the darkness is administered upon the unfortunate via a family, the Merrill clan, a Kin, all this pain takes place in Elkwood, Alabama.
They call themselves the last of the old clan in service of God Almighty's work. They are one of the most brutal families to rise up in a story they have a religious objective a mission to cleanse the world of the corrupted ones and to top it all off those that have fallen their flesh is to be devoured.
There is to be some grace there are a few characters to rise in this story to exact vengeance and retribution, one still haunted by his service in the Iraq battlegrounds.
Upon reading this story my mind shoots back to equally brutal stories of survival and the macabre, Jack Ketchum springs to mind and his story The Woman, On The Gathering Storm by Jason McIntyre and Donald Ray Pollock with Devil all the time.
If you have read either of these and liked them this is just as a taut and visceral read, a well done story, highly recommend. His prose is smooth and disturbing. This is a multi layered story of human endeavour. He really grabs you're attention and instills a promise of more darkness and wonderful storytelling to come.
Excerpt:
"A farmer shoots the crows and sprays the bugs to protect his crop, don't he? Momma had once told him. Shoots wild dogs and foxes and them sonofab****in' coyotes to keep 'em from eatin' his chickens'n killin' his herd, don't he? Well, that's what we do. We're a rare breed, all of us, and what's outside there in the world would love nothin better to destroy us because of what we believe in, because of our closeness to the Almighty God
To kill us outta jealousy because they ain't never gettin' so close to Him. They're the predators, Luke. They're the skulkin' dogs creeping' up on us, trying' to snatch you from my bosom, from God's grace, like they did with your poor ......, filling' her head with sick thoughts and vile dreams, corrupting' her till she was so diseased she went crazy and had to be put to sleep. Don't let them do that to you, boy. Let your Papa show you how to protect yourself, and your kin."
"We're the last of the old clans, boy. We stay together. We hunt and we kill Men of the World. We devour their flesh so they cannot devour us. We hold them off and resist their attempts to convert us to sinful ways. We protect each other in the name of God Almighty, and punish those who trespass, destroy those who would destroy us. We are the beloved, Luke, and once the light has been shown to those who are not of the faith, they must embrace it or be destroyed."
Review also on my webpage here
The writer of The Turtle Boy, a Bram stoker award winner, brings to you this tale. This story is dark, not of the paranormal kind but that of the darkness of the heart and the evil that men do.
His story is a taut visceral story of one woman's survival, her pain endured and being the soul left behind from the fallen ones. Nightmares are to haunt her salvation and she is in need of succor, need of embrace and love. There is a need for revenge, vengeance and retribution to take effect, against the brutality and evil that has past and to come.
The evil and the darkness is administered upon the unfortunate via a family, the Merrill clan, a Kin, all this pain takes place in Elkwood, Alabama.
They call themselves the last of the old clan in service of God Almighty's work. They are one of the most brutal families to rise up in a story they have a religious objective a mission to cleanse the world of the corrupted ones and to top it all off those that have fallen their flesh is to be devoured.
There is to be some grace there are a few characters to rise in this story to exact vengeance and retribution, one still haunted by his service in the Iraq battlegrounds.
Upon reading this story my mind shoots back to equally brutal stories of survival and the macabre, Jack Ketchum springs to mind and his story The Woman, On The Gathering Storm by Jason McIntyre and Donald Ray Pollock with Devil all the time.
If you have read either of these and liked them this is just as a taut and visceral read, a well done story, highly recommend. His prose is smooth and disturbing. This is a multi layered story of human endeavour. He really grabs you're attention and instills a promise of more darkness and wonderful storytelling to come.
Excerpt:
"A farmer shoots the crows and sprays the bugs to protect his crop, don't he? Momma had once told him. Shoots wild dogs and foxes and them sonofab****in' coyotes to keep 'em from eatin' his chickens'n killin' his herd, don't he? Well, that's what we do. We're a rare breed, all of us, and what's outside there in the world would love nothin better to destroy us because of what we believe in, because of our closeness to the Almighty God
To kill us outta jealousy because they ain't never gettin' so close to Him. They're the predators, Luke. They're the skulkin' dogs creeping' up on us, trying' to snatch you from my bosom, from God's grace, like they did with your poor ......, filling' her head with sick thoughts and vile dreams, corrupting' her till she was so diseased she went crazy and had to be put to sleep. Don't let them do that to you, boy. Let your Papa show you how to protect yourself, and your kin."
"We're the last of the old clans, boy. We stay together. We hunt and we kill Men of the World. We devour their flesh so they cannot devour us. We hold them off and resist their attempts to convert us to sinful ways. We protect each other in the name of God Almighty, and punish those who trespass, destroy those who would destroy us. We are the beloved, Luke, and once the light has been shown to those who are not of the faith, they must embrace it or be destroyed."
Review also on my webpage here
September 24, 2021
Absolutely brilliant story and writing! I want to thank my friend Dave Edmunds for helping me move it up my TBR endless list.
September 2, 2016
4 " I RECKON THIS ' ER STORY IS CRAZIER THAN SQUIRREL TURD SUNDAE" STARS
WOW! .. This story was one big cup of redneck fuckery and I loved it. The first 40% had me saying..
...but then around the 43% I thought ...
..... Yeah, my impatient ass was not pleased with the sudden shift in storyline. Thankfully I didn't give up because around the 60% I was back to this..
..... Friends, this is NOT for the faint of heart. I've read some pretty fucked up shit yet my stomach required 1/2 a bottle of pepto to get through the story . I literally skipped dinner 2 nights in a row because my appetite ran away... this book is better than weight watchers! ............ Okay folks, It's your turn to meet mama & her lovely scent , ask her where's your pizzle ? & when do you get to be reborn? .........YUCK!
WOW! .. This story was one big cup of redneck fuckery and I loved it. The first 40% had me saying..
...but then around the 43% I thought ...
..... Yeah, my impatient ass was not pleased with the sudden shift in storyline. Thankfully I didn't give up because around the 60% I was back to this..
..... Friends, this is NOT for the faint of heart. I've read some pretty fucked up shit yet my stomach required 1/2 a bottle of pepto to get through the story . I literally skipped dinner 2 nights in a row because my appetite ran away... this book is better than weight watchers! ............ Okay folks, It's your turn to meet mama & her lovely scent , ask her where's your pizzle ? & when do you get to be reborn? .........YUCK!
September 13, 2020
He would wait a while for the bleeding to cease, before he sewed her up again.
Until then, he would pray.
And when he was done, he would take the girl to his car and head for
Mason City.
We'll get you home, he promised.
Kealan Patrick Burke's Kin is an original three acts take about slasher tropes and clichès, answering to the questions about what happens to the Final Girl after surviving from the masked killer or, like in this case, from your friendly backwoods cannibal hillibillies family...
First act starts with a bloody blast where many tales of this genre end with naked, mutilated, half-blind Claire, last survivor of a butchered teenagers group, escaping from her tormentors with lots of gory flashbacks about her harrowing experience.
Deep night came and with it long shadows that crept inexorably toward the Lowell farm.
The Merrill clan was among them.
Second act slows down the pace, fleshing for good Claire and other characters relatives of the victims, haunted by grief and dreams of vengeance and slowly turning into cold-blooded avenging murderers.
You can easily imagine what is going to happen in third and final act when it's time to return to Elkwood.
Finch drained his glass. "I'm not
letting it go," he said. "What they
did to the kids. I'm not letting it die."
"Is that so?"
"It is."
"What are you going to do?"
Finch told him.
Not bad at all if you are into iconic horror classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and wanna read an original well written take about its tropes and introducing new ones, with well developed characters, and bloody buckets of gore, but better stay away from these pages if extreme horror is not your cup of tea.
You've been warned.
September 18, 2020
I'm going with 4.5/5.0, rounded up. Despite the tough subject matter (and there is some for sure), this book is just so well written that it made it a really enjoyable and easy read. If there is one thing that I think most of us want, it's to read impactful scenes, the type you don't forget and remember long after. I can think of at least three scenes I'll not soon be forgetting from this read, and I chalk that up to the great writing and the great characters. I look forward to reading more books by this author in the near future.
November 26, 2017
This is the first full length novel I have read by Burke, and I was really excited to start it since I loved his novella Sour Candy so much.
A few days ago I posted some pics of Sour Candy and Kin on Instagram, and I was delighted to find that the next day Mr. Burke himself had liked my pics and commented on them! I have never had a writer actually thank me for reading his works, so needless to say I was flabbergasted and thrilled to actually interact with such a fantastic novelist.
Kin has some familiar themes, but Burke takes the story to some really unexpected places. The first part of the novel is horrific and devastating. Claire and her friends are hiking through the woods in Elkwood, Alabama when they are attack by a backwoods family of religious lunatics who systematically torture and rape her before she manages to escape. Naked and catatonic, Claire is found stumbling along the road by a man and his son, who quickly take her to the local doctor for help. The only problem is, everyone in Elkwood is terrified of the family who killed her friends, and they know where Claire has been taken. There is no safety for Claire in Elkwood, and she barely manages to escape alive. She may have survived, but she is haunted by guilt and the memories of what happened to her and her friends.
This is where the novel shifts a bit, and we get quite a lot of backstory on all of the key characters. I really liked that Burke slowed down the action in order to explore each character and their motivations. There are tons of stories where a young group of people fall prey to hillbilly cannibalistic psychopaths, but Burke takes all of those tropes and makes a really well written and unique story from them. This is like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the literary set, and it works really well. As a reader we get to really know Burke's characters, and that makes them much more relatable, and the pain they are dealing with more visceral.
I cannot recommend Kin, or Kealan Patrick Burke enough.
A few days ago I posted some pics of Sour Candy and Kin on Instagram, and I was delighted to find that the next day Mr. Burke himself had liked my pics and commented on them! I have never had a writer actually thank me for reading his works, so needless to say I was flabbergasted and thrilled to actually interact with such a fantastic novelist.
Kin has some familiar themes, but Burke takes the story to some really unexpected places. The first part of the novel is horrific and devastating. Claire and her friends are hiking through the woods in Elkwood, Alabama when they are attack by a backwoods family of religious lunatics who systematically torture and rape her before she manages to escape. Naked and catatonic, Claire is found stumbling along the road by a man and his son, who quickly take her to the local doctor for help. The only problem is, everyone in Elkwood is terrified of the family who killed her friends, and they know where Claire has been taken. There is no safety for Claire in Elkwood, and she barely manages to escape alive. She may have survived, but she is haunted by guilt and the memories of what happened to her and her friends.
This is where the novel shifts a bit, and we get quite a lot of backstory on all of the key characters. I really liked that Burke slowed down the action in order to explore each character and their motivations. There are tons of stories where a young group of people fall prey to hillbilly cannibalistic psychopaths, but Burke takes all of those tropes and makes a really well written and unique story from them. This is like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the literary set, and it works really well. As a reader we get to really know Burke's characters, and that makes them much more relatable, and the pain they are dealing with more visceral.
I cannot recommend Kin, or Kealan Patrick Burke enough.
January 25, 2018
Brutal but not unnecessarily so, this is first rate writing as well as a superb horror novel. Great characters, cleverly plotted and satisfying. Loved it.
April 22, 2021
"Living is hard; Death is easy. And there are no answers on either side."
Who said horror novels arn't what they used to be? Not me...not after Kealan Patrick Burke's Kin.
I had the pleasure of sharing a few words with the author, after emailing him upon finishing the book. I was informed that this book was a response to criticism he received that he could only write "quiet, subtle ghost stories". Well Kin is anything but quiet and subtle so Kealan has fully succeeded in answering those critics with aplomb.
This book takes the concept of the aftermath of one of those hellacious incidents witnessed in movies like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Deliverance or Wrong Turn and pushes it as far as it can go. Claire Lambert is the survivor who gets away from a crazed and deranged family of killers and it's here our novel picks up. This completely flips the script of starting where almost every slasher movie finishes, giving us the emotional fallout that ensues.
It's done fantastically, with great writing and some brilliant, well developed characters that really work to make this story unforgettable, in a brutality horrifying kind of way. There's sometimes a problem amongst pulp slasher novels that they can come across as trashy with poorly written characters. Kin is not trashy in the slightest and gives us a very mature interpretation of such a sadistic event.
"Without proof of an afterlife, they were intimately aware of their mortality and the limitations of it."
It also contains one of the most disturbing scenes in all of horror. I really appreciated that lol Honestly, it's such a horrifyingly unique and original situation that had me cringing as I read it.
I don't like to make these reviews too long, just give you a taste of what's in these blood soaked pages. In this case barbecued human flesh! What I will say is that if you like horror, then you'll love Kin. Five stars, ten stars, whatever you want to call it. Read it now, read it quickly. Before Papa in Gray comes knocking at your door.
Kealan Patrick Burke
January 8, 2012
KIN is an incredible, trailblazing novel by an author at the top of his game. It begins where every other book and movie in the subgenre ends and tells the tale that always needed to be told. How evil does not exist in a vacuum. That an act of violence creates a series of ripples that can do more damage than the initial act itself. How real people, flawed or not, react in the aftermath. Pushing the boundaries of the entire genre and pulsing with raw, visceral emotional power, KIN is sure to become a classic that will raise the standard by which horror is judged.
August 13, 2013
Kin kind of begins with motifs stereotypical of the inbred redneck serial killer genre (sub-sub-genre?). But as one reads further, the title, and with it the depth of the novel, becomes more meaningful. Kin tells the story not only of the victims of one atrocity, but of their surviving kin and the kin of all others impacted by it. Some fill with misdirected hate, others fear and loss, still others with thoughts geared toward vengeance. Only then do we see as readers that Kin means so much more than being part of our favorite redneck family, and that family and kinship can be found in the most unlikely places.
While my favorite characters are the "poisoned"-by-a-dash-of-morality hillbilly Luke, the I'll-follow-you-into-Hell loyal friend Beau (silent tribute to the Dukes of Hazard?), and the vigilante-lost-cause Finch, there's a hero and villain for all walks of life in Kin. Claire and Pete appeal to our more noble ambitions, while Luke and Finch our baser. We find ourselves cheering for good to prevail and, at the same time, for bad men to do evil things to worse people.
Burke makes us feel these emotions, while telling a great story to boot - with a death count that makes my heart sing. Classic horror combined with fresh storytelling, Kin is one to be treasured. Read it with the family. Just don't try to eat them.
While my favorite characters are the "poisoned"-by-a-dash-of-morality hillbilly Luke, the I'll-follow-you-into-Hell loyal friend Beau (silent tribute to the Dukes of Hazard?), and the vigilante-lost-cause Finch, there's a hero and villain for all walks of life in Kin. Claire and Pete appeal to our more noble ambitions, while Luke and Finch our baser. We find ourselves cheering for good to prevail and, at the same time, for bad men to do evil things to worse people.
Burke makes us feel these emotions, while telling a great story to boot - with a death count that makes my heart sing. Classic horror combined with fresh storytelling, Kin is one to be treasured. Read it with the family. Just don't try to eat them.
September 8, 2021
This was a group read from last year and I still pretty vividly remember a lot of it.
I saw the “RTC” and thought… let’s fix that.
First let me assure you that this is labeled correctly as horror for it is indeed horrifying. If I could liken it to something it would be like watching what should be one of the most normal things you can think of (think of something mundanely normal and comforting) morph into the most disgusting thing you can think of and square it.
These are the type of folks you have after you if you are mixed up in this.
Uhhuh ! It starts out a bit slow and steadily gains speed as the chapters go by. It builds up tension between your shoulders. It crawls, creeps, and inches its way while building in intensity.
Yes, and it is not for the faint of stomach. Let me just slap a few warnings on here for that.
Slap, slap, SLAP!
But this book is what it promises to be!
The book snared me and it felt like I was reading while peaking out of a little tiny blind I left in my blanket. Probably because I was doing that - some.
The guy can write.
I saw the “RTC” and thought… let’s fix that.
First let me assure you that this is labeled correctly as horror for it is indeed horrifying. If I could liken it to something it would be like watching what should be one of the most normal things you can think of (think of something mundanely normal and comforting) morph into the most disgusting thing you can think of and square it.
These are the type of folks you have after you if you are mixed up in this.
Uhhuh ! It starts out a bit slow and steadily gains speed as the chapters go by. It builds up tension between your shoulders. It crawls, creeps, and inches its way while building in intensity.
Yes, and it is not for the faint of stomach. Let me just slap a few warnings on here for that.
Slap, slap, SLAP!
But this book is what it promises to be!
The book snared me and it felt like I was reading while peaking out of a little tiny blind I left in my blanket. Probably because I was doing that - some.
The guy can write.
June 21, 2024
A deeply multilayered tale of woe and strife, ignorance and evil, and all their attendant trifles. Brutal and gruesome in equal measures, it tells the story of humanity when the humane has been subtracted and the remnants ground to ivory white dust beneath life's ever uncaring embrace. Visceral and heartrending, literally. An excellent work that somehow seems to drag for me, so, I'm picking me self another read. Might continue with the book later on, but it's a dnf for now.
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