Consumed

by Rena Marin

It’s been a year since Tessa witnessed the horrific events in the Escape mountains that claimed the lives of her friends and the man she loved. Grief, anger, and vengeance has been growing inside her. Each day the creature who devoured the love of her life lives, the angrier she becomes. Finally sharing her story on the internet gives her the chance to warn others of the dangers in the mountains, but not everyone listens. When a team of adventure hunters come to Escape determined to find the monster that took Clay from her, how can she refuse them? Armed with video cameras to track their every move, Tessa leads them back to the familiar trails in search of the monster that destroyed her life. Will they come face to face with the Devourer, or will Tessa’s need for revenge consume them all?

85 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2020

About the author

Rena Marin was born in a small town in East Tennessee where she, her husband Daniel, and two children—Cody and Amber—still reside today.
Growing up, reading and writing her own stories was Rena’s favorite pastime. Her once-unreachable dream of becoming a published writer came true when she was in high school and found herself with many writing awards and accolades, including a short story in Reader's Digest.
After starting her own business, Rena continued writing shorts online before moving on to freelance work. Taking a chance, she and a friend submitted a novel to their first publishing company and were delighted to be accepted.
As a member of Crazy Ink Publishing, Rena now has several co-written series underway, including the Dead Oak Terrors Series. Halloween Nightmare, the first book in that series, recently won the Reality Bites Best Horror Book of 2018. Rena also has her own solo series called The Witches of Dark Hollow Ridge. She looks forward to bringing readers with her into a world of magic and adventure.
Keeping close to her short story roots, Rena is part of several anthologies with many more in the works.
A lover of all forms of entertainment, Rena enjoys horror and fantasy movies new and old. When she isn't writing or working, she often finds herself cuddled on the couch with her family—including their five fur babies—and lost in a fantasy world or hoping to be scared.

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was teetering between 4.5 and 5 stars, but this was crafted too well to lose any points. Tessa is a really fantastic lead and Rena Marin does the deepest of dives into her entire ordeal, tackling the trauma, fear, love, betrayal, and all other relevant plot points. You felt every bit of her angst and couldn’t pull yourself out. Not since Hunter Shea’s Creature have I seen such a beautifully written story like this. Most of these cryptid stories have similar concepts but this strayed from the pack and nailed it. And, somehow, it made a tremendous impact on me, even as it was under a hundred pages. Short, powerful, and a really great horror experience, this gets the rare blessing of being Topsider approved.

[Shelby W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew, this story was riveting. The author's style of writing allows the reader to step into the characters' world and become consumed by it all. This horror short was so good to me. I enjoyed reading every sentence and the ending came with a shocker.

I highly suggest reading Devoured, first because Consumed is a continuation of that story.

Author Marin is definitely a favorite of mine, I love all of her words.