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Faithless
How do you survive hearing your family being brutally murdered over the phone? For Father Raul Figeuroa, all faith and hope are lost. Turning away from the priesthood behind, he retreats to his aunt's empty farmhouse in upstate New York, hoping to drink himself to oblivion. But he's not alone in the house. Something is trying to reach out to him. Or is he losing his grip on reality? When his childhood friend Felix comes to visit, things take a darker turn. The deeper they dig into the mystery, the closer they get to hell literally breaking loose
256 pages, Hardcover
Published October 21, 2021
9 people are currently reading
240 people want to read
About the author
Hunter Shea
66 books1,009 followersHunter Shea is the author of over 25 books, with a specialization in cryptozoological horror that includes The Jersey Devil, The Dover Demon, Loch Ness Revenge and many others. As part of the new horror line at Flame Tree Press, his novel Creature has gained critical acclaim. His novel, The Montauk Monster, was named one of the best reads of the summer by Publishers Weekly. A trip to the International Cryptozoology Museum will find several of his cryptid books among the fascinating displays. Living in a true haunted house inspired his Jessica Backman: Death in the Afterlife series (Forest of Shadows, Sinister Entity and Island of the Forbidden). In 2011, he was selected to be a part of the launch of Samhain Publishing’s new horror line alongside legendary author Ramsey Campbell. When he’s not writing thrillers and horror, he also spins tall tales for middle grade readers on Amazon’s highly regarded Rapids reading app.
An avid podcaster, he can be seen and heard on Monster Men, one of the longest running video horror podcasts in the world, and Final Guys, focusing on weekly movie and book reviews. His nostalgic column about the magic of 80s horror, Video Visions, is featured monthly at Cemetery Dance Online. You can find his short stories in a number of anthologies, including Chopping Block Party, The Body Horror Book and Fearful Fathoms II.
A lifetime New Yorker, Hunter is supported by his loving wife and two beautiful daughters. When he’s not studying up on cryptozoology, he’s an avid explorer of the unknown, having spent a night alone on the Queen Mary, searching for the Warren’s famous White Lady of the Union Cemetery and other mysterious places.
You can follow his travails at www.huntershea.com.
An avid podcaster, he can be seen and heard on Monster Men, one of the longest running video horror podcasts in the world, and Final Guys, focusing on weekly movie and book reviews. His nostalgic column about the magic of 80s horror, Video Visions, is featured monthly at Cemetery Dance Online. You can find his short stories in a number of anthologies, including Chopping Block Party, The Body Horror Book and Fearful Fathoms II.
A lifetime New Yorker, Hunter is supported by his loving wife and two beautiful daughters. When he’s not studying up on cryptozoology, he’s an avid explorer of the unknown, having spent a night alone on the Queen Mary, searching for the Warren’s famous White Lady of the Union Cemetery and other mysterious places.
You can follow his travails at www.huntershea.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
October 26, 2021
A Nightmare Of A Book (In The Best Way)
Father Raul Figueroa, an Episcopalian priest is driving home in a blinding rainstorm one night and while having a conversation with his wife and children on speakerphone (Bluetooth), he suddenly hears a thunderous crash and his children are screaming and his wife is pleading (with who) and Father Raul is praying, begging God for their safety and then then the phone goes silent. Raul is numb, more than devastated, his grief is beyond words and his faith is lost, he is lost. Raul decides to move into his beloved, deceased Aunt Ida's house where he spent every summer as a boy growing up since it is secluded out in the country completely isolated from just about everyone. Raul plans to slowly drink and drug (prescription) himself to death so he may join his family wherever they might be in the netherworld but he never expected he would find himself being haunted by unseen intruders. Raul doesn't believe in ghosts but he continually finds himself being terrorized, so he just keeps drinking his mind and body into oblivion most of the time until unfortunately it only makes his hauntings worsen. Is Raul really being haunted by ghostly entities or are are they delusional demons of his almost completely, demented mind?
One day an old friend (Felix) from his prior priesthood days who Raul thought was long dead shows up out of the blue determined to help and save his friend from whatever is taking place in this house and to find out who savagely murdered Raul's family and why. Felix had seen and dealt with just about every thug or killer in his unsavory past but he never dreamed he would be caught up in something so obsurely evil that he could not wrap his head around the facts but he is determined not to give up while also putting his own life in danger and do everything humanly possible to save Raul's life and hopefully his soul.
This was a story of a battle between good and evil. The first chapter was an unexpected jaw-dropper and continuously builds slowly and spookily yet consistently until the halfway point of the book and then BAM! There was non-stop action and all kinds of a creepy spookfest that I didn't see coming. There were some excellent, unforeseeable twists that are terrifyingly unimaginable and made to work because they are derived only from the wildly creative and talented mind of horror writer "Hunter Shea". Be prepared for many horrifying and hard to imagine scenarios that will play out until the very end the book. I highly recommend this story to all horror readers and anyone who wants to read about your worst nightmare coming true!
I want to thank the publisher "Flame Tree Press" who continue to publish wonderful horror books and also Netgalley for the opportunity to read this scary novel and any thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!
I have given this frightening novel a rating of 4 1/2 HORRIFYINGLY DELICIOUS 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌠 STARS!!
Author: Hunter Shea
Publisher: Flame Tree Press
Publishing Date: October 26
Father Raul Figueroa, an Episcopalian priest is driving home in a blinding rainstorm one night and while having a conversation with his wife and children on speakerphone (Bluetooth), he suddenly hears a thunderous crash and his children are screaming and his wife is pleading (with who) and Father Raul is praying, begging God for their safety and then then the phone goes silent. Raul is numb, more than devastated, his grief is beyond words and his faith is lost, he is lost. Raul decides to move into his beloved, deceased Aunt Ida's house where he spent every summer as a boy growing up since it is secluded out in the country completely isolated from just about everyone. Raul plans to slowly drink and drug (prescription) himself to death so he may join his family wherever they might be in the netherworld but he never expected he would find himself being haunted by unseen intruders. Raul doesn't believe in ghosts but he continually finds himself being terrorized, so he just keeps drinking his mind and body into oblivion most of the time until unfortunately it only makes his hauntings worsen. Is Raul really being haunted by ghostly entities or are are they delusional demons of his almost completely, demented mind?
One day an old friend (Felix) from his prior priesthood days who Raul thought was long dead shows up out of the blue determined to help and save his friend from whatever is taking place in this house and to find out who savagely murdered Raul's family and why. Felix had seen and dealt with just about every thug or killer in his unsavory past but he never dreamed he would be caught up in something so obsurely evil that he could not wrap his head around the facts but he is determined not to give up while also putting his own life in danger and do everything humanly possible to save Raul's life and hopefully his soul.
This was a story of a battle between good and evil. The first chapter was an unexpected jaw-dropper and continuously builds slowly and spookily yet consistently until the halfway point of the book and then BAM! There was non-stop action and all kinds of a creepy spookfest that I didn't see coming. There were some excellent, unforeseeable twists that are terrifyingly unimaginable and made to work because they are derived only from the wildly creative and talented mind of horror writer "Hunter Shea". Be prepared for many horrifying and hard to imagine scenarios that will play out until the very end the book. I highly recommend this story to all horror readers and anyone who wants to read about your worst nightmare coming true!
I want to thank the publisher "Flame Tree Press" who continue to publish wonderful horror books and also Netgalley for the opportunity to read this scary novel and any thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!
I have given this frightening novel a rating of 4 1/2 HORRIFYINGLY DELICIOUS 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌠 STARS!!
Author: Hunter Shea
Publisher: Flame Tree Press
Publishing Date: October 26
November 27, 2021
Pain and loss have always been great fodder for horror stories and this one is no exception. Hunter Shea pulled on my heartstrings so hard they snapped like the strings on a ravaged guitar.
Father Luis Figueroa is stuck on the side of the road and on the phone with his wife, when their home is invaded. He listens as strangers attack his family. Raul abandons his dead vehicle and runs home, only to find his house surrounded by police. His family is gone. His faith is gone. And that's just the start of the story. Will Raul be able to get through this tragedy? You'll have to read this to find out!
I thought I was immune to all the feels where Hunter Shea is concerned-after reading CREATURE, I thought there was no way for him to get to me again. I was wrong. So very, very wrong. I felt what Raul was feeling, I was there, in his head. The loss of his faith, the loss of his will to live, I felt it all. But it wasn't only Raul. His friend Felix also carved out a special place in my heart. The bad guy who needs to redeem himself-needs to accomplish one great "right" to balance out all of his little wrongs. I loved these men.
I haven't spoken too much about the plot because I don't want to ruin it, but there were some genuinely scary portions in this book. I'm talking "maybe I shouldn't read this in my dark house all alone" type scares. I don't scare easy, but I was tense the entire time Raul was under attack. (Again, you'll have to read this to find out!)
I'll just wrap this up by saying that this book was marvelous. It has all the things lovers of dark fiction enjoy: grief, horror, scares, redemption, darkness and light. FAITHLESS is a prime example of modern day horror at its best and Hunter Shea shines as one of the best horror authors out there. Don't miss this one!
My highest recommendation!
*I received an e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
Father Luis Figueroa is stuck on the side of the road and on the phone with his wife, when their home is invaded. He listens as strangers attack his family. Raul abandons his dead vehicle and runs home, only to find his house surrounded by police. His family is gone. His faith is gone. And that's just the start of the story. Will Raul be able to get through this tragedy? You'll have to read this to find out!
I thought I was immune to all the feels where Hunter Shea is concerned-after reading CREATURE, I thought there was no way for him to get to me again. I was wrong. So very, very wrong. I felt what Raul was feeling, I was there, in his head. The loss of his faith, the loss of his will to live, I felt it all. But it wasn't only Raul. His friend Felix also carved out a special place in my heart. The bad guy who needs to redeem himself-needs to accomplish one great "right" to balance out all of his little wrongs. I loved these men.
I haven't spoken too much about the plot because I don't want to ruin it, but there were some genuinely scary portions in this book. I'm talking "maybe I shouldn't read this in my dark house all alone" type scares. I don't scare easy, but I was tense the entire time Raul was under attack. (Again, you'll have to read this to find out!)
I'll just wrap this up by saying that this book was marvelous. It has all the things lovers of dark fiction enjoy: grief, horror, scares, redemption, darkness and light. FAITHLESS is a prime example of modern day horror at its best and Hunter Shea shines as one of the best horror authors out there. Don't miss this one!
My highest recommendation!
*I received an e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
July 23, 2021
I tend to have two reactions to Hunter Shea’s books.
1) Tears mixed with dread
2) Popcorn munching joy at the simple entertainment of it all
Warning – this isn’t the simple popcorn read!
In Faithless, Shea brings on the feels. There is just so much despair in Raul’s story. It’s clear from the beginning that this man and his family are going to go through the very worst things – and Shea puts the reader square in the middle of all the heartbreak. And after the heartbreak? The chills and dread and the feeling that, as bad as things have been? It’s just going to get worse.
Despite the heaviness, it’s still an entertaining horror read. It’s got shades of the golden age of horror (1970’s – 1980’s), yet still feels modern and new. And the ending may just have killed me a little.
I loved this. Read it.
*ARC via Net Galley
1) Tears mixed with dread
2) Popcorn munching joy at the simple entertainment of it all
Warning – this isn’t the simple popcorn read!
In Faithless, Shea brings on the feels. There is just so much despair in Raul’s story. It’s clear from the beginning that this man and his family are going to go through the very worst things – and Shea puts the reader square in the middle of all the heartbreak. And after the heartbreak? The chills and dread and the feeling that, as bad as things have been? It’s just going to get worse.
Despite the heaviness, it’s still an entertaining horror read. It’s got shades of the golden age of horror (1970’s – 1980’s), yet still feels modern and new. And the ending may just have killed me a little.
I loved this. Read it.
*ARC via Net Galley
November 7, 2021
FAITHLESS, by Hunter Shea, is not one of his cryptid features. Rather, this is a brutal, emotional, and haunting story that will not let your mind rest after you turn that final page. It's one that lingers, causing you to second guess everything you once thought.
Father Raul Figeuroa, an Episcopalian priest, is driving home in a downpour. He puts the speakerphone on to hear his wife Bella, and children Axel and Lizzy, in an attempt to calm his panicked nerves. When the sound of violent breaking, screaming, and crying come through over the phone, he rushes home on foot--only to find the scene of anyone's worst nightmare.... His entire family slaughtered. (Not a spoiler, just the setting for the book).
Raul is lost after this, leaving the parish to go to the country property left to him by his Aunt Ida. His faith in shambles, he begins to hear the voices of his dead family around him.
This is a character study in the best (worst?) possible sense. We see first hand how his mind begins to deteriorate with the help of alcohol and anti-anxiety medications. He exists, but barely so. You can't help but feel his raw pain, loss, and question the meaning of everything in this novel.
And then, things get bad .
To say any more would ruin the tale--this is one you need to experience for yourself, through Raul's eyes. A haunting, horrific novel that you won't forget....
(Love the Bruiser! ;) )
Recommended!
Father Raul Figeuroa, an Episcopalian priest, is driving home in a downpour. He puts the speakerphone on to hear his wife Bella, and children Axel and Lizzy, in an attempt to calm his panicked nerves. When the sound of violent breaking, screaming, and crying come through over the phone, he rushes home on foot--only to find the scene of anyone's worst nightmare.... His entire family slaughtered. (Not a spoiler, just the setting for the book).
Raul is lost after this, leaving the parish to go to the country property left to him by his Aunt Ida. His faith in shambles, he begins to hear the voices of his dead family around him.
This is a character study in the best (worst?) possible sense. We see first hand how his mind begins to deteriorate with the help of alcohol and anti-anxiety medications. He exists, but barely so. You can't help but feel his raw pain, loss, and question the meaning of everything in this novel.
And then, things get bad .
To say any more would ruin the tale--this is one you need to experience for yourself, through Raul's eyes. A haunting, horrific novel that you won't forget....
(Love the Bruiser! ;) )
Recommended!
October 14, 2021
I think if I were handed an untitled ARC with no author name, I would still immediately recognize a Hunter Shea. He is never repetitive, but his writing possesses a certain identifiable aura, which signals his authorship.
And speaking of Possession...Mr. Shea dives in with a seriously disturbing reader's hook, and since he excels at delivering implacable terror, of course he never relents. Rev. Raul Figueroa is an Episcopal priest with a delightful family: a devoted wife, son, and daughter. But one night on the way home from supervising a prayer meeting, Raul drives into a tremendous rainstorm, and a nightmare he could never have imagined. His faith is destroyed, and he leaves the priesthood and moves to his late aunt's farmhouse, where he expects to drink himself into eventual oblivion in the grave.
But the deceased, although gone, are not forgotten; nor have they forgotten him. Possibly the dead are not really absent at all...
And speaking of Possession...Mr. Shea dives in with a seriously disturbing reader's hook, and since he excels at delivering implacable terror, of course he never relents. Rev. Raul Figueroa is an Episcopal priest with a delightful family: a devoted wife, son, and daughter. But one night on the way home from supervising a prayer meeting, Raul drives into a tremendous rainstorm, and a nightmare he could never have imagined. His faith is destroyed, and he leaves the priesthood and moves to his late aunt's farmhouse, where he expects to drink himself into eventual oblivion in the grave.
But the deceased, although gone, are not forgotten; nor have they forgotten him. Possibly the dead are not really absent at all...
September 12, 2021
Holy cow! or should I say Unholy moly! This is a gut wrenching story that swept me away from the start. A man of the cloth with a dark past is nervously navigating his way home in a rain storm. He's always been uneasy driving in the rain but this downpour is worse than usual. He calls his wife, hoping that it will help calm his nerves. Hearing her voice, and his children in the background is just what he needs. Suddenly the playful voices of his children turn to shrieks of terror. He is utterly helpless to do anything but listen to the brutal murders of his family. Their loss and his grief turn him into a shell of his former self and he locks himself away from anyone wanting to offer sympathy or help.
This is a step away from Hunter Shea's usual light hearted creature feature horror. although he has done it before with the equally serious novel Creature which I highly recommended to you a while back. Raul's grief is palpable and my heart was heavy with his pain. Felix, the former best friend with the criminal past and fierce loyal streak helped propel the story towards it's shocking climax. As the murders go unsolved by the police, Felix sets out to bring the killers to his own brand of justice, but what he uncovers is more horrifying than I could have imagined.
I received an advance copy for review.
This is a step away from Hunter Shea's usual light hearted creature feature horror. although he has done it before with the equally serious novel Creature which I highly recommended to you a while back. Raul's grief is palpable and my heart was heavy with his pain. Felix, the former best friend with the criminal past and fierce loyal streak helped propel the story towards it's shocking climax. As the murders go unsolved by the police, Felix sets out to bring the killers to his own brand of justice, but what he uncovers is more horrifying than I could have imagined.
I received an advance copy for review.
Want to read
July 9, 2021ARC received. Thank you, Flame Tree Press!!
There's nothing like a new Hunter Shea to kick off the Spooky Season!
There's nothing like a new Hunter Shea to kick off the Spooky Season!
July 19, 2021
Father Raul Figeuroa, an Episcopalian priest, had it all. Bella, his loving wife. Abel, his son. Lizzy, his daughter. A happy life. Until his family are brutally murdered.
Except Raul’s not alone on the farm.
This was a different book than what I was expecting. Hunter Shea has made an urban legend come to life. He’s shown me what New York rats are capable of. He’s even given me a final girl to hang out with. I thought I knew where this book was going. I was so wrong.
I loved Raul’s childhood friend, Felix, and was ready to adopt Bruiser, the Maine Coon that scratched its way into my heart. I really enjoyed getting to know Raul and Felix and following them down some pretty dark paths.
I didn’t completely buy into the explanation for what was really going on and the ending raised some theological question marks in my brain but I was still hooked for the entire ride.
I can’t wait to find out what will be causing the bloodshed in the author’s next book.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the opportunity to read this book.
Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com
“It’s better you don’t go in there.”Raul’s faith dies with his family. He gives up the priesthood, planning to live out his days in seclusion on his aunt’s farm. His only company will be the alcohol and pills which, if he does it right, will reunite him with his family soon.
Except Raul’s not alone on the farm.
This was a different book than what I was expecting. Hunter Shea has made an urban legend come to life. He’s shown me what New York rats are capable of. He’s even given me a final girl to hang out with. I thought I knew where this book was going. I was so wrong.
Prayers would not be answered here.Much of this book highlights the way grief haunts you and some of the ways we self destruct in our attempts to numb pain, but because it’s a Hunter Shea book there’s more to the story than that.
I loved Raul’s childhood friend, Felix, and was ready to adopt Bruiser, the Maine Coon that scratched its way into my heart. I really enjoyed getting to know Raul and Felix and following them down some pretty dark paths.
I didn’t completely buy into the explanation for what was really going on and the ending raised some theological question marks in my brain but I was still hooked for the entire ride.
I can’t wait to find out what will be causing the bloodshed in the author’s next book.
It was time to poke around the dark places.Content warnings include .
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the opportunity to read this book.
Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com
August 10, 2021
I had the pleasure of receiving an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Its my first book by Hunter Shea and in no way will it be my last!!
The brutal opening chapter left me breathless. This story was extremely well written, the characters were totally believable and I got quite attached to them.
The story itself was fast paced, brutal, heart breaking, creepy and I felt chilled throughout.
There was a great twist, which I was not expecting, and once revealed, the story ramped up even more!!
An awesome tale which I can't elaborate much more on without giving the game away!! 😉
I absolutely loved it! 🖤
5 out of 5 evil faces from me 😈😈😈😈😈
The brutal opening chapter left me breathless. This story was extremely well written, the characters were totally believable and I got quite attached to them.
The story itself was fast paced, brutal, heart breaking, creepy and I felt chilled throughout.
There was a great twist, which I was not expecting, and once revealed, the story ramped up even more!!
An awesome tale which I can't elaborate much more on without giving the game away!! 😉
I absolutely loved it! 🖤
5 out of 5 evil faces from me 😈😈😈😈😈
September 13, 2021
review coming for Cemetery Dance
October 25, 2021
Another brilliant book by the great Hunter Shea, this is the sort of book that makes a person fall in love with the horror genre, I got the same feeling as when I first started reading Stephen King all those years ago. There is that perfectly balanced blend of shock, violence, gore, tension and fear that makes reading a horror book so much fun. When you pick up a book by Shea you are guaranteed one of two things, full on B movie monster fun or a tear jerker of a plot that will leave you an emotional wreck…Faithless is right in the latter box.
The story starts with a priest stuck in a storm and hearing his family being murdered over the phone whilst he sits there helplessly listening, you’ve never met this family but already Shea is pulling at your heart-strings and making you feel the priest’s pain. The book then heads to a secluded farm house and a good old fashioned haunting. There are a lot of elements to this story, the investigation into who committed the deed, so many plot twists there, and then there are the events at the house, the tension gradually builds as events get more and more violent, you have Felix’s past and him coming to terms with having to do the right thing…and then you have the big reveal at the end, the sort of thing you stand no chance of guessing. One of the reasons why I loved this book so much was how I would hazard a guess at what was going on and Shea would laugh in my face and say I was way off before showing me just how wrong I was…My theory about bruiser was a good’un but I wasn’t even close.
There are only a few characters in the book but what we get are fantastic, Father Raul and his battles with his faith over what he has lost were really well written and Felix brought such a strong presence to scenes where the main character was falling apart and then there is Bruiser, Man! Bruiser rocked!
This is one fine horror novel by a writer who should be a household name, if you haven’t read anything by this guy then get off your butt and check out this book now.
Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2021...
The story starts with a priest stuck in a storm and hearing his family being murdered over the phone whilst he sits there helplessly listening, you’ve never met this family but already Shea is pulling at your heart-strings and making you feel the priest’s pain. The book then heads to a secluded farm house and a good old fashioned haunting. There are a lot of elements to this story, the investigation into who committed the deed, so many plot twists there, and then there are the events at the house, the tension gradually builds as events get more and more violent, you have Felix’s past and him coming to terms with having to do the right thing…and then you have the big reveal at the end, the sort of thing you stand no chance of guessing. One of the reasons why I loved this book so much was how I would hazard a guess at what was going on and Shea would laugh in my face and say I was way off before showing me just how wrong I was…My theory about bruiser was a good’un but I wasn’t even close.
There are only a few characters in the book but what we get are fantastic, Father Raul and his battles with his faith over what he has lost were really well written and Felix brought such a strong presence to scenes where the main character was falling apart and then there is Bruiser, Man! Bruiser rocked!
This is one fine horror novel by a writer who should be a household name, if you haven’t read anything by this guy then get off your butt and check out this book now.
Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2021...
October 19, 2021
One of the more tiresome aspects of ghost stories in popular American horror fiction is its reliance on Christianity to save the day. Too often, the Church is presented as some megalithic, supernaturally endowed savior that runs completely contrary to the historic record rife with Crusades, witch hunts, torture, enslavement, child rape, the covering up of child rapes and protection of pedophile priests, mass murder, and the GOP. God, the invisible man with magic powers who lives in the sky, and who was, according to mythology, responsible for mankind's first holocaust via drowning in a global flood and championed child murder as an exhibition of one's faith, is cast as the super-saccharine Good Guy who just wants peace and love.
What initially makes Hunter Shea's Faithless so compelling is that its central character, Father Raul Figeuroa, discovers just how weak and meaningless his faith truly is following the absolutely brutal murder of his wife and two children. As a man of the cloth, he's supremely jolted to discover that his reality and his beliefs no longer jive, and that he's been living a lie. In the aftermath of his tragedy, and having abandoned both the church and God, Raul escapes to his deceased aunt's farmhouse to drink and drug himself to death. Unfortunately, the house is not as empty as Raul thought and he begins hearing voices and sounds that could only be coming from his dead family.
Faithless strikes a strong note in its premise, and maintains that strength for roughly two-thirds of the book, giving us a slow, somber, character-driven potboiler in the vein of Shea's Creature and We Are Always Watching. As the ghosts accompanying Raul's drunken days and nights grow progressively bolder, Shea delivers several legitimately chilling and superbly creepy moments, not to mention a few glorious wrinkles to the plot.
Unfortunately, it's an all too common trope that when a central character loses their faith, it will be magically restored by book's end and all their rightful questioning and justified condemnation of their comfortable, and false, beliefs will be forgotten in light of the fictional evidence of God's work. Such revelations are typically laughable at best, but Shea's climax may take the cake as Raul is plunged through one ludicrous scenario and ridiculous revelation after another.
For all of the nifty hooks Faithless's plot hangs on, and the exciting hairpin turns the narrative takes, the third act is absolutely impossible to take seriously as it revels in one messy, nonsensical, and goofy reveal after the next, destroying whatever goodwill the preceding acts had built up. How silly? Well, spoiler alert but, . It's so harebrained and daffy, not to mention tonally skewed with its ever escalating foolishness, from all that came before that it feels like the finale of an entirely different book from a completely different author altogether. Shea cobbles together so many outlandish absurdities that this ending requires not just the willful suspension of disbelief, but the suspension of all brain activity whatsoever. It's the kind of insane, whacky dreck you half-expect Nicolas Cage to walk in on to start chewing up the scenery. And then, after all is said and done, Shea shifts the tone one last time to end the book on a grossly misogynistic zinger, just in case everything hadn't already been completely soured. I suppose, at least, the casual sexism is perfectly in keeping with Biblical teachings.
Faithless is at its best when its exploring its themes of religious faith as a man-made sham, but descends into vapid silliness as Shea pulls a 180 on readers and characters alike, taking what could have been a serious and original look at interesting concepts in a fresh way and contorts them into a cliched and stupid mishmash of whackadoo Christian Fiction trash.
What initially makes Hunter Shea's Faithless so compelling is that its central character, Father Raul Figeuroa, discovers just how weak and meaningless his faith truly is following the absolutely brutal murder of his wife and two children. As a man of the cloth, he's supremely jolted to discover that his reality and his beliefs no longer jive, and that he's been living a lie. In the aftermath of his tragedy, and having abandoned both the church and God, Raul escapes to his deceased aunt's farmhouse to drink and drug himself to death. Unfortunately, the house is not as empty as Raul thought and he begins hearing voices and sounds that could only be coming from his dead family.
Faithless strikes a strong note in its premise, and maintains that strength for roughly two-thirds of the book, giving us a slow, somber, character-driven potboiler in the vein of Shea's Creature and We Are Always Watching. As the ghosts accompanying Raul's drunken days and nights grow progressively bolder, Shea delivers several legitimately chilling and superbly creepy moments, not to mention a few glorious wrinkles to the plot.
Unfortunately, it's an all too common trope that when a central character loses their faith, it will be magically restored by book's end and all their rightful questioning and justified condemnation of their comfortable, and false, beliefs will be forgotten in light of the fictional evidence of God's work. Such revelations are typically laughable at best, but Shea's climax may take the cake as Raul is plunged through one ludicrous scenario and ridiculous revelation after another.
For all of the nifty hooks Faithless's plot hangs on, and the exciting hairpin turns the narrative takes, the third act is absolutely impossible to take seriously as it revels in one messy, nonsensical, and goofy reveal after the next, destroying whatever goodwill the preceding acts had built up. How silly? Well, spoiler alert but, . It's so harebrained and daffy, not to mention tonally skewed with its ever escalating foolishness, from all that came before that it feels like the finale of an entirely different book from a completely different author altogether. Shea cobbles together so many outlandish absurdities that this ending requires not just the willful suspension of disbelief, but the suspension of all brain activity whatsoever. It's the kind of insane, whacky dreck you half-expect Nicolas Cage to walk in on to start chewing up the scenery. And then, after all is said and done, Shea shifts the tone one last time to end the book on a grossly misogynistic zinger, just in case everything hadn't already been completely soured. I suppose, at least, the casual sexism is perfectly in keeping with Biblical teachings.
Faithless is at its best when its exploring its themes of religious faith as a man-made sham, but descends into vapid silliness as Shea pulls a 180 on readers and characters alike, taking what could have been a serious and original look at interesting concepts in a fresh way and contorts them into a cliched and stupid mishmash of whackadoo Christian Fiction trash.
August 25, 2021
4.5 stars, rounding up
My favorite Hunter Shea novel to date! Review coming soon...
My favorite Hunter Shea novel to date! Review coming soon...
September 1, 2022
Hold onto your hats, folks! This one is nuts!
Father Raul Figeuroa is on the phone with his wife when intruders break in and murder her and their children. Police have no leads, only being able to confirm that there were multiple assailants. Raul is lost, and decides to give up his church and move to his deceased Aunt Ida's house in the country. He slowly begins to drink and drug himself to death, making sure not to overdo it too much so he can suffer for not being present to save his family. But then strange things start to happen. He hears little footsteps running around upstairs and voices coming from the basement. Is the alcohol and drug combo causing him to hallucinate? Or are his dead wife and children haunting him? Raul's old friend, Felix, comes to visit when he learns of the tragedy that has befallen him. What Felix finds is a shell of a man. But is Raul losing his mind, or is something else going on in the old house?
What a total emotional roller coaster! You can't help but feel Raul's devastation and heartbreak. But when Felix arrives and subsequently leaves... things go nuts.
I can't say more without spoiling, but trust me when I say this tale is well worth the price of admission.
Father Raul Figeuroa is on the phone with his wife when intruders break in and murder her and their children. Police have no leads, only being able to confirm that there were multiple assailants. Raul is lost, and decides to give up his church and move to his deceased Aunt Ida's house in the country. He slowly begins to drink and drug himself to death, making sure not to overdo it too much so he can suffer for not being present to save his family. But then strange things start to happen. He hears little footsteps running around upstairs and voices coming from the basement. Is the alcohol and drug combo causing him to hallucinate? Or are his dead wife and children haunting him? Raul's old friend, Felix, comes to visit when he learns of the tragedy that has befallen him. What Felix finds is a shell of a man. But is Raul losing his mind, or is something else going on in the old house?
What a total emotional roller coaster! You can't help but feel Raul's devastation and heartbreak. But when Felix arrives and subsequently leaves... things go nuts.
I can't say more without spoiling, but trust me when I say this tale is well worth the price of admission.
September 29, 2021
Oh no. The first Hunter Shea book that I didn’t enjoy too much.
The spiel makes it sound really interesting and it does start off at a pace as a priest on his way home to wife and kids hears them being murdered over the phone and the grief and trauma leads to him losing his faith.
Using alcohol and drugs to try and dampen the pain, he moves to his late aunts house in the middle of nowhere, a place where he intends to slowly drink himself to death.
But all is not as it seems in the house as he starts believing that his dead wife and children are contacting and haunting him. Can this really be happening or is he so lost and so messed up from alcohol, drugs and lack of sleep that he is imagining things?
The set up in this is really good. It all starts to fall apart a bit when the story moves to the house. It all becomes a bit repetitive as it moves along very slowly. Then a rather awkwardly written in storyline of an old friend turning up out of the blue. I really had to suspend my disbelief to go along with this story arc.
After that it becomes a real mess. The occasional bright spark for a page or two but the further it goes the sillier it gets.
The final third of the book feels absolutely ludicrous and to top it all off, in the middle of all the violent silliness we have some massively corny, teeth rattling sugarly sweet things happening. I mean, come on. Give the read some credit.
I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Shea. I knew the gist of this going in to it and expected a horror/supernatural book but I’m sorry to say this was just a poor effort and laughably bad at the end.
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.
The spiel makes it sound really interesting and it does start off at a pace as a priest on his way home to wife and kids hears them being murdered over the phone and the grief and trauma leads to him losing his faith.
Using alcohol and drugs to try and dampen the pain, he moves to his late aunts house in the middle of nowhere, a place where he intends to slowly drink himself to death.
But all is not as it seems in the house as he starts believing that his dead wife and children are contacting and haunting him. Can this really be happening or is he so lost and so messed up from alcohol, drugs and lack of sleep that he is imagining things?
The set up in this is really good. It all starts to fall apart a bit when the story moves to the house. It all becomes a bit repetitive as it moves along very slowly. Then a rather awkwardly written in storyline of an old friend turning up out of the blue. I really had to suspend my disbelief to go along with this story arc.
After that it becomes a real mess. The occasional bright spark for a page or two but the further it goes the sillier it gets.
The final third of the book feels absolutely ludicrous and to top it all off, in the middle of all the violent silliness we have some massively corny, teeth rattling sugarly sweet things happening. I mean, come on. Give the read some credit.
I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Shea. I knew the gist of this going in to it and expected a horror/supernatural book but I’m sorry to say this was just a poor effort and laughably bad at the end.
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.
October 2, 2021
3.5 Stars
ARC provided by NetGalley for an Honest Review
This book is going to be a real struggle for me to rate because while it was a decent book and the writing is very well done it also was very dry at times as well as overly & unnecessarily descriptive. It doesn’t help the book is about This is a personal preference, I just don’t like the subject matter so bear that in mind. The book starts with an absolute bang as readers silently bear witness to Father Raul’s worst kind of nightmare. It’s extremely brutal and while not new to the genre it is something to note for anyone with trigger towards children being hurt. However the momentum tapers right off and doesn’t pick up again until about 60% which was a huge downer. All the while the MC is also going through a complete downward spiral. His life is spinning out of control and grief is his closest friend along with the bottle. It was pretty depressing honestly and the day to day monotonous descriptions were a bit of a drag. That being said there were minor creepy moments thrown in-possible spirit encounters: voices, furniture moving, shadows etc. So the good and the bad do kind of even themselves out. The end was in a typical horror fashion a bit bittersweet, wild and very fitting for the characters as well. The book is not overly heavy on religion as the MC gives up the priesthood after the ‘incident’ but it does overshadow the book and play a role in the climax FYI. I will say the book did have me on my toes few times, unsure what was real, questioning Raul’s sanity and the narrators honesty. The character of Raul also copycats the stereotypical male character in many horror films and books if only you replace his being a priest with any number of professions, which didn’t make the book didn’t feel overly unique. It’s crazy how many stories are based on grieving widows & parents going through a number of otherworldly events. The book read like pieces of 13 Ghosts minus the strange house meets any number of films where the mc is haunted by his lost family and something sinister is afoot. I’ll definitely check out the authors other works in hopes they’ll be a little less culty, religious and depressing.
ARC provided by NetGalley for an Honest Review
This book is going to be a real struggle for me to rate because while it was a decent book and the writing is very well done it also was very dry at times as well as overly & unnecessarily descriptive. It doesn’t help the book is about This is a personal preference, I just don’t like the subject matter so bear that in mind. The book starts with an absolute bang as readers silently bear witness to Father Raul’s worst kind of nightmare. It’s extremely brutal and while not new to the genre it is something to note for anyone with trigger towards children being hurt. However the momentum tapers right off and doesn’t pick up again until about 60% which was a huge downer. All the while the MC is also going through a complete downward spiral. His life is spinning out of control and grief is his closest friend along with the bottle. It was pretty depressing honestly and the day to day monotonous descriptions were a bit of a drag. That being said there were minor creepy moments thrown in-possible spirit encounters: voices, furniture moving, shadows etc. So the good and the bad do kind of even themselves out. The end was in a typical horror fashion a bit bittersweet, wild and very fitting for the characters as well. The book is not overly heavy on religion as the MC gives up the priesthood after the ‘incident’ but it does overshadow the book and play a role in the climax FYI. I will say the book did have me on my toes few times, unsure what was real, questioning Raul’s sanity and the narrators honesty. The character of Raul also copycats the stereotypical male character in many horror films and books if only you replace his being a priest with any number of professions, which didn’t make the book didn’t feel overly unique. It’s crazy how many stories are based on grieving widows & parents going through a number of otherworldly events. The book read like pieces of 13 Ghosts minus the strange house meets any number of films where the mc is haunted by his lost family and something sinister is afoot. I’ll definitely check out the authors other works in hopes they’ll be a little less culty, religious and depressing.
July 28, 2021
How do you survive hearing your family being brutally murdered over the phone? For Father Raul Figeuroa, all faith and hope are lost. Turning away from the priesthood behind, he retreats to his aunt's empty farmhouse in upstate New York, hoping to drink himself to oblivion. But he's not alone in the house. Something is trying to reach out to him. Or is he losing his grip on reality? When his childhood friend Felix comes to visit, things take a darker turn. The deeper they dig into the mystery, the closer they get to hell literally breaking loose.
Hunter Shea has done it again, another strong horror novel from the brilliant author. The publisher Flame Tree Press is one of my go to's when I need a good read.
This is a book about grief and how it haunts you and self destructive behaviour.
Thank you to Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Hunter Shea has done it again, another strong horror novel from the brilliant author. The publisher Flame Tree Press is one of my go to's when I need a good read.
This is a book about grief and how it haunts you and self destructive behaviour.
Thank you to Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
April 11, 2022
One phone call changed his entire life. His wife. His children. Gone in one act of extreme violence. His faith, his church, his one sanctuary is gone because what god could be so cruel? The only way to overcome his extreme grief is drinking himself to unconsciousness.
As a last ditch effort to regain a life he no longer cares about, Raul moves to a desolate cabin in the woods. But his family follows. Haunting him from within the walls. Sure he's going crazy an old childhood friend tries to show him that this is just a manifestation of his extreme pain over the loss of his family.
But the longer he stays at the cabin, the more he learns about a dark history and the voices may not just be inside his head.
This book oozes grief from every page. It's a painful read, but a great story with a twist I didn't see coming.
Thank you to FlameTree Press for and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.
As a last ditch effort to regain a life he no longer cares about, Raul moves to a desolate cabin in the woods. But his family follows. Haunting him from within the walls. Sure he's going crazy an old childhood friend tries to show him that this is just a manifestation of his extreme pain over the loss of his family.
But the longer he stays at the cabin, the more he learns about a dark history and the voices may not just be inside his head.
This book oozes grief from every page. It's a painful read, but a great story with a twist I didn't see coming.
Thank you to FlameTree Press for and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.
February 13, 2022
What this book has:
The most brutal, gut-wrenching, heart-breaking opening chapter I think I've ever read.
An exploration of grief.
A haunted house and a haunted man.
A crisis of faith.
A horrifying twist.
A final scene which makes this slow crawl of a story suddenly burst forth in flames and kaleidoscopic colors, going completely over the top in a 1980s special effects kind of way, which somehow manages to be kind of cheesy while simultaneously giving the reader goosebumps and maybe bringing a tear or two to the eye.
I haven't read all of Hunter Shea's works but I have thoroughly enjoyed - in a twisted horror-loving way - everything I have read so far.
The most brutal, gut-wrenching, heart-breaking opening chapter I think I've ever read.
An exploration of grief.
A haunted house and a haunted man.
A crisis of faith.
A horrifying twist.
A final scene which makes this slow crawl of a story suddenly burst forth in flames and kaleidoscopic colors, going completely over the top in a 1980s special effects kind of way, which somehow manages to be kind of cheesy while simultaneously giving the reader goosebumps and maybe bringing a tear or two to the eye.
I haven't read all of Hunter Shea's works but I have thoroughly enjoyed - in a twisted horror-loving way - everything I have read so far.
July 14, 2021
256 pages
5 stars
I had a little difficulty in determining how I wanted to talk about this book and what rating I wanted to give it. While basically, it is a horror novel, it also made me think a great deal: about how well we can ever know other people, the nature of religion and the supernatural experiences of ghosts and near death experiences.
Father Raul is an Episcopalian priest. He is on his way home in the driving rain when he calls his wife. They chat and then suddenly, sounds of violence are echoed over the phone. His car quits, so he exits the car and runs almost six miles home. The police are already there. With the aid of neighbors, he bullies his way into the house. His wife Bella and children Lizzy and Abel are dead. Horribly stabbed to death.
Raul is in a deep dive. He quits the priesthood and moves to an isolated cabin that was owned by his grandmother Ida. She bequeathed it to him in her will. He also develops a huge alcohol and pill problem.
A cat he names Bruiser adopts him and he/she (?) feels right at home.
Strange happenings start to occur. He hears Lizzie and Abel’s voices. He hears Bella’s voice. She seems angry at him. It makes him feel worse - even more guilty for not protecting them.
His childhood friend Felix drops in on his Harley. He and Raul commiserate, they argue and Felix witnesses the voices and strange happenings too. Felix decides that his mission is to track down the scum that murdered Raul’s family - and kill them.
Felix goes on a journey that finally results in astounding information. He and Raul’s friend Sampson head to the cabin to tell Raul what they found out.
This lead results in a dramatic and revealing confrontation with pure evil. While the story did not end as I had hoped, I believe it was appropriate.
This book is written and plotted with Mr. Shea’s usual competence. The transitions are wonderfully done and smooth. I really like Raul. I just wish he didn’t have a drinking problem. I really liked Felix. And Bruiser was a winner, too. I have read nearly all of Mr. Shea’s novels and I will continue to do so. He is a wonderful author.
I want to thank NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for forwarding to me the wonderful book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
5 stars
I had a little difficulty in determining how I wanted to talk about this book and what rating I wanted to give it. While basically, it is a horror novel, it also made me think a great deal: about how well we can ever know other people, the nature of religion and the supernatural experiences of ghosts and near death experiences.
Father Raul is an Episcopalian priest. He is on his way home in the driving rain when he calls his wife. They chat and then suddenly, sounds of violence are echoed over the phone. His car quits, so he exits the car and runs almost six miles home. The police are already there. With the aid of neighbors, he bullies his way into the house. His wife Bella and children Lizzy and Abel are dead. Horribly stabbed to death.
Raul is in a deep dive. He quits the priesthood and moves to an isolated cabin that was owned by his grandmother Ida. She bequeathed it to him in her will. He also develops a huge alcohol and pill problem.
A cat he names Bruiser adopts him and he/she (?) feels right at home.
Strange happenings start to occur. He hears Lizzie and Abel’s voices. He hears Bella’s voice. She seems angry at him. It makes him feel worse - even more guilty for not protecting them.
His childhood friend Felix drops in on his Harley. He and Raul commiserate, they argue and Felix witnesses the voices and strange happenings too. Felix decides that his mission is to track down the scum that murdered Raul’s family - and kill them.
Felix goes on a journey that finally results in astounding information. He and Raul’s friend Sampson head to the cabin to tell Raul what they found out.
This lead results in a dramatic and revealing confrontation with pure evil. While the story did not end as I had hoped, I believe it was appropriate.
This book is written and plotted with Mr. Shea’s usual competence. The transitions are wonderfully done and smooth. I really like Raul. I just wish he didn’t have a drinking problem. I really liked Felix. And Bruiser was a winner, too. I have read nearly all of Mr. Shea’s novels and I will continue to do so. He is a wonderful author.
I want to thank NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for forwarding to me the wonderful book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
September 2, 2021
I’ve often thought about what it would be like to be on the phone with a loved one when they were murdered or died violently, and in the opening scenes of Faithless, Shea depicts such a scenario.
There was a lot about this book that I really liked. Raul’s grief is realistic and relatable. His friend, Felix, is entertaining. I loved the moments of mystery and the high octane scenes of horror when they arrived.
Unfortunately, the different strands of this story didn’t amount to a satisfying, cohesive whole. I was disappointed in the explorations of faith, or lack there of, and I didn’t like the ending.
A slower paced Shea than the other books of his I’ve read, it has moments of greatness.
Thank you to the author and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
There was a lot about this book that I really liked. Raul’s grief is realistic and relatable. His friend, Felix, is entertaining. I loved the moments of mystery and the high octane scenes of horror when they arrived.
Unfortunately, the different strands of this story didn’t amount to a satisfying, cohesive whole. I was disappointed in the explorations of faith, or lack there of, and I didn’t like the ending.
A slower paced Shea than the other books of his I’ve read, it has moments of greatness.
Thank you to the author and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
January 10, 2022
What's not to love about Hunter Shea's latest, FAITHLESS? This one has a brutally heartbreaking beginning, before settling into a bit of a slow-burn ghost story.... or is it?
I had a blast reading this one. The last act is awesome.
Recommended reading!
I had a blast reading this one. The last act is awesome.
Recommended reading!
July 15, 2021
Hunter Shea has once again a great book if fiction. This dystopian novel is like nothing I've read from him before. I will be rereading it.
I received a copy of this book from #NetGalley.
I received a copy of this book from #NetGalley.
November 6, 2021
Faithless is one of those stories that keeps delivering. It begins with a tragedy. Raul, an Episcopalian priest, is driving home in atrocious conditions. All he wants is to be safely back with his beloved wife and two young children. He speaks to his wife on the phone. He's going to be delayed because he's managed to flood the engine thanks to deep water on the road. In the middle of their conversation, what he hears next is appalling. Terror, screams, crashes. His family is being murdered and there is nothing he can do to stop it. When he eventually manages to struggle home, the scene of utter carnage rips him apart.
His faith deserts him and he leaves the church, opting to move to his late Aunt Ida's house where he fully intends to drink himself to death but then, one day, along comes Felix, an old friend from the past. Fresh out of prison, Felix is appalled at his old friend's deterioration - coupled with his insistence that there are ghosts in the house who talk to him. Also keeping Raul company - but very much alive - is a persistent and massive Maine Coon stray he names Bruiser.
Felix is determined to hunt down the killers of Raul's family and thereby give his friend vengeance. But when he begins his quest, the answers are more incredible and dangerous than he could possibly imagine. As for Raul - things keep getting stranger and scarier in Aunt Ida's isolated farmhouse.
This is a book to sink into and absorb. It has all the ingredients any horror reader could wish for, more twists and turns than most, and keeps you guessing right up to the end. Hunter Shea has scored another massive winner here.
His faith deserts him and he leaves the church, opting to move to his late Aunt Ida's house where he fully intends to drink himself to death but then, one day, along comes Felix, an old friend from the past. Fresh out of prison, Felix is appalled at his old friend's deterioration - coupled with his insistence that there are ghosts in the house who talk to him. Also keeping Raul company - but very much alive - is a persistent and massive Maine Coon stray he names Bruiser.
Felix is determined to hunt down the killers of Raul's family and thereby give his friend vengeance. But when he begins his quest, the answers are more incredible and dangerous than he could possibly imagine. As for Raul - things keep getting stranger and scarier in Aunt Ida's isolated farmhouse.
This is a book to sink into and absorb. It has all the ingredients any horror reader could wish for, more twists and turns than most, and keeps you guessing right up to the end. Hunter Shea has scored another massive winner here.
October 17, 2021
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
First, a disclaimer of sorts, I am a BIG Hunter Shea fan. His books covering various cryptozoological subjects are sublime in the category. That's why I was so excited to read "Faithless" which ventures far away from that topic.
I wasn't disappointed and neither will be Shea's legion of Hellion fans.
"Faithless" starts with one of the most gut-wrenching beginnings of any book I've read this year as Episcopalian priest Raul Figeruroa's wife and children are violently murdered as he's talking with them on the phone while driving back from a trip. Raul's helplessness and guilt carry over long past their funerals and the unsuccessful attempt by the police to solve the killings. Raul determines that the only way he can deal with these feelings is to leave his home and move to the unoccupied farm of his deceased aunt, Ida, far from the city, his church, and the death of his family.
Determined to drink and drug himself into a never-ending stupor, Raul goes about doing just that over the next few months as he falls deeper into despondency and depression. Not only that, but during these periods of incoherency, Raul is sure that he's hearing the voices of his wife and children. Is the house haunted or is he slowly losing his mind? Possibly, the only thing that keeps him from completely going over the edge is the appearance of a feral cat, Bruiser, who "adopts" Raul. That, and a surprise visit from his old friend Felix, who's determined not only to save Raul but find the killers.
Author Shea does a great job describing Raul's despair and hopelessness as he's unable to process the loss of his family, not to mention the supernatural overtones of Ida's farmhouse. Once Felix arrives on the scene, the plot really takes off in a different direction filled with a variety of surprises and plot twists that will keep even the most inveterate mystery/thriller readers guessing to the end.
Highly recommended!
First, a disclaimer of sorts, I am a BIG Hunter Shea fan. His books covering various cryptozoological subjects are sublime in the category. That's why I was so excited to read "Faithless" which ventures far away from that topic.
I wasn't disappointed and neither will be Shea's legion of Hellion fans.
"Faithless" starts with one of the most gut-wrenching beginnings of any book I've read this year as Episcopalian priest Raul Figeruroa's wife and children are violently murdered as he's talking with them on the phone while driving back from a trip. Raul's helplessness and guilt carry over long past their funerals and the unsuccessful attempt by the police to solve the killings. Raul determines that the only way he can deal with these feelings is to leave his home and move to the unoccupied farm of his deceased aunt, Ida, far from the city, his church, and the death of his family.
Determined to drink and drug himself into a never-ending stupor, Raul goes about doing just that over the next few months as he falls deeper into despondency and depression. Not only that, but during these periods of incoherency, Raul is sure that he's hearing the voices of his wife and children. Is the house haunted or is he slowly losing his mind? Possibly, the only thing that keeps him from completely going over the edge is the appearance of a feral cat, Bruiser, who "adopts" Raul. That, and a surprise visit from his old friend Felix, who's determined not only to save Raul but find the killers.
Author Shea does a great job describing Raul's despair and hopelessness as he's unable to process the loss of his family, not to mention the supernatural overtones of Ida's farmhouse. Once Felix arrives on the scene, the plot really takes off in a different direction filled with a variety of surprises and plot twists that will keep even the most inveterate mystery/thriller readers guessing to the end.
Highly recommended!
September 30, 2021
“This was either the beginning of righteous retribution, or the moment his soul was damned.”
Father Raul is a priest with a good parish and a great family. Everything was wonderful, until it wasn’t. Life steers off course in the blink of an eye and beliefs change. What kind of God would allow such things to happen?Raul renounces his priesthood and moves in to his aunts abandoned home where he used to spend summers as a child. Something follows him.
Raul spirals down into despair fuels by grief, guilt and alcohol. He just wants to die. He starts hearing noises-hallucinations that sound like his wife and children- are they a blessing or a curse?
It is hard not to give any spoilers but Raul is a true human. He makes realistic choices after what happened to him as well as when the tense, and creepy paranormal kicks in.
With the help of a childhood friend, will Raul face his demons? find the guilty party? and get revenge?
More importantly-should he?
Will he find a way to be with his family again?
Good choice for those that love the paranormal, religious questions, and cults.
Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for a copy of the eARC for an honest review.
Father Raul is a priest with a good parish and a great family. Everything was wonderful, until it wasn’t. Life steers off course in the blink of an eye and beliefs change. What kind of God would allow such things to happen?Raul renounces his priesthood and moves in to his aunts abandoned home where he used to spend summers as a child. Something follows him.
Raul spirals down into despair fuels by grief, guilt and alcohol. He just wants to die. He starts hearing noises-hallucinations that sound like his wife and children- are they a blessing or a curse?
It is hard not to give any spoilers but Raul is a true human. He makes realistic choices after what happened to him as well as when the tense, and creepy paranormal kicks in.
With the help of a childhood friend, will Raul face his demons? find the guilty party? and get revenge?
More importantly-should he?
Will he find a way to be with his family again?
Good choice for those that love the paranormal, religious questions, and cults.
Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for a copy of the eARC for an honest review.
September 19, 2021
I loved this book! I have loved all the Hunter Shea books I have read but, that's a different story for a different time.
This book we are taken on the ride of grief. I mean this book probably weighs 20 pounds just for the grief the main character feels.
One of my favorite things about this book is he throws a fun little twist in and at the time you are just like "this isn't gonna work" and let me tell you it does. It works and it's fantastic.
The characters are excellent and well written. You really want to pour yourself a drink and just be sad right along with everyone else.
I definitely recommend any book with Hunter Shea's name on it.
This book we are taken on the ride of grief. I mean this book probably weighs 20 pounds just for the grief the main character feels.
One of my favorite things about this book is he throws a fun little twist in and at the time you are just like "this isn't gonna work" and let me tell you it does. It works and it's fantastic.
The characters are excellent and well written. You really want to pour yourself a drink and just be sad right along with everyone else.
I definitely recommend any book with Hunter Shea's name on it.
November 2, 2021
I am a huge Hunter Shea fan but there does come along a book now and then that I am just not a huge fan of and I am afraid this one was one of them.
Father Raul, a episcopal priest, was on his way home from a nearby parish when he calls his wife and while talking to her he hears someone break into their home and murder his family while he was driving home. I am sure like a lot of people he has a hard time dealing with this, and quits being a priest and gets drunk a lot. He decides to move to his aunt’s house because he inherited after she died.
While at his aunts home he drinks a lot and pops a lot of pills. He is on anxiety and depression medicine that your are not suppose to mix with alcohol but he doesn’t really care. It’s just him and he is grieving and wondering why this happened. A cat seems to want to befriend him even if he doesn’t want it around.
Then he starts hearing things, voices, thumps, giggles and he starts to believe that he is hearing his family. So he drinks some more and pops more pills and so forth. This happens a lot then his old friend Felix shows up one day out of the blue, a friend he actually thought was dead. Felix got the information for where he was from Raul’s inlaws as he had heard what happened while he was in jail. He can tell that Raul is very messed up and stays with him a while and is kind of freaked out by how his friend is acting. He offers to go find those who killed his friends family.
Once he leaves to go see what he can find out that is when the book takes a bit of a turn into what seems like a totally different book.
So it starts out pretty interesting and I get that Raul is falling apart and grieving but it gets real boring real quick for me when I have to read over and over about him drinking and popping pills. It makes him a very unreliable narrator and you don’t know if he is hearing things or if it’s just his drunken state of mind and I don’t like that. And then for it to go for page and page. It wasn’t till about 60% into the book when Felix leaves to find things out that it starts to get interesting. I very much enjoyed the 40% or so of the book when things just ramp up and go but by then I was so tired of the book. It had a great ending but it was only enough to bump the rating from 2 to 3 stars. If the whole book would have been as cool as that last part it would have gotten a higher rating.
I felt bad for Raul but as a character I wasn’t his biggest fan. I liked his friend Felix better and thought it was pretty cool of him to go and try to find those who killed his friends family. I also really liked the cat!! I kept wondering about that cat through the whole thing as it seemed strange and the cat is a big part of the book. 🙂
I do think there are people that will enjoy this way more than I did so I would say if you think it sound good give it a try.
Father Raul, a episcopal priest, was on his way home from a nearby parish when he calls his wife and while talking to her he hears someone break into their home and murder his family while he was driving home. I am sure like a lot of people he has a hard time dealing with this, and quits being a priest and gets drunk a lot. He decides to move to his aunt’s house because he inherited after she died.
While at his aunts home he drinks a lot and pops a lot of pills. He is on anxiety and depression medicine that your are not suppose to mix with alcohol but he doesn’t really care. It’s just him and he is grieving and wondering why this happened. A cat seems to want to befriend him even if he doesn’t want it around.
Then he starts hearing things, voices, thumps, giggles and he starts to believe that he is hearing his family. So he drinks some more and pops more pills and so forth. This happens a lot then his old friend Felix shows up one day out of the blue, a friend he actually thought was dead. Felix got the information for where he was from Raul’s inlaws as he had heard what happened while he was in jail. He can tell that Raul is very messed up and stays with him a while and is kind of freaked out by how his friend is acting. He offers to go find those who killed his friends family.
Once he leaves to go see what he can find out that is when the book takes a bit of a turn into what seems like a totally different book.
So it starts out pretty interesting and I get that Raul is falling apart and grieving but it gets real boring real quick for me when I have to read over and over about him drinking and popping pills. It makes him a very unreliable narrator and you don’t know if he is hearing things or if it’s just his drunken state of mind and I don’t like that. And then for it to go for page and page. It wasn’t till about 60% into the book when Felix leaves to find things out that it starts to get interesting. I very much enjoyed the 40% or so of the book when things just ramp up and go but by then I was so tired of the book. It had a great ending but it was only enough to bump the rating from 2 to 3 stars. If the whole book would have been as cool as that last part it would have gotten a higher rating.
I felt bad for Raul but as a character I wasn’t his biggest fan. I liked his friend Felix better and thought it was pretty cool of him to go and try to find those who killed his friends family. I also really liked the cat!! I kept wondering about that cat through the whole thing as it seemed strange and the cat is a big part of the book. 🙂
I do think there are people that will enjoy this way more than I did so I would say if you think it sound good give it a try.
October 19, 2021
Time taken to read - 3.5 days
Pages - 256
Publisher - FlameTreePress
Source - ARC
Blurb from Goodreads
How do you survive hearing your family being brutally murdered over the phone? For Father Raul Figeuroa, all faith and hope are lost. Turning away from the priesthood behind, he retreats to his aunt's empty farmhouse in upstate New York, hoping to drink himself to oblivion. But he's not alone in the house. Something is trying to reach out to him. Or is he losing his grip on reality? When his childhood friend Felix comes to visit, things take a darker turn. The deeper they dig into the mystery, the closer they get to hell literally breaking loose.
My Review
Aw man poor Father Raul, horrendous drive home in the rain, car trouble, on the phone to his wife and kids when he hears them brutally attacked. Sprints for home, car abandoned, it is too late and life for Raul will never be the same. Lost faith, lost the will to live he heads to his aunt's farmhouse on a mission of self destruction. In a haze of booze, self pity and medication Raul starts to notice things happening in the house. He can't blame his new house crasher, a cat that seems to know the place well but he can't remember his aunt having one. Things start to go "bump in the night" which you could blame on the drink/drugs.......until he starts to hear his family. Why would they follow him to the farm and what do they want from him?
I feel so so sorry for Raul, hearing your family being killed on the phone and being able to do nothing about it. That would break anyone but a man of the cloth, ooft. The story starts with the murder then we have a descent into addiction/oblivion, loss of reality and then the presence of his loved ones. On one hand you would be happy to know they are there but also freaked out especially being Raul, a priest so devout then losing all faith. Poor guy is emotionally wrought, then torn over the thought he failed them, he is a bit of a wee scone.
The book builds up slowly, setting the scene, a wee character here and there and just when you think you have it worked out Shea yanks the rug. It is different and the pace changes, it has its spooky moments, tension, shady characters and no surprised but I LOVED the cat!
I am struggling to read just now, concentration is all over the place but short chapters and a story that took me out of my own woes and into Raul's horror, 4/5 for me this time.
Pages - 256
Publisher - FlameTreePress
Source - ARC
Blurb from Goodreads
How do you survive hearing your family being brutally murdered over the phone? For Father Raul Figeuroa, all faith and hope are lost. Turning away from the priesthood behind, he retreats to his aunt's empty farmhouse in upstate New York, hoping to drink himself to oblivion. But he's not alone in the house. Something is trying to reach out to him. Or is he losing his grip on reality? When his childhood friend Felix comes to visit, things take a darker turn. The deeper they dig into the mystery, the closer they get to hell literally breaking loose.
My Review
Aw man poor Father Raul, horrendous drive home in the rain, car trouble, on the phone to his wife and kids when he hears them brutally attacked. Sprints for home, car abandoned, it is too late and life for Raul will never be the same. Lost faith, lost the will to live he heads to his aunt's farmhouse on a mission of self destruction. In a haze of booze, self pity and medication Raul starts to notice things happening in the house. He can't blame his new house crasher, a cat that seems to know the place well but he can't remember his aunt having one. Things start to go "bump in the night" which you could blame on the drink/drugs.......until he starts to hear his family. Why would they follow him to the farm and what do they want from him?
I feel so so sorry for Raul, hearing your family being killed on the phone and being able to do nothing about it. That would break anyone but a man of the cloth, ooft. The story starts with the murder then we have a descent into addiction/oblivion, loss of reality and then the presence of his loved ones. On one hand you would be happy to know they are there but also freaked out especially being Raul, a priest so devout then losing all faith. Poor guy is emotionally wrought, then torn over the thought he failed them, he is a bit of a wee scone.
The book builds up slowly, setting the scene, a wee character here and there and just when you think you have it worked out Shea yanks the rug. It is different and the pace changes, it has its spooky moments, tension, shady characters and no surprised but I LOVED the cat!
I am struggling to read just now, concentration is all over the place but short chapters and a story that took me out of my own woes and into Raul's horror, 4/5 for me this time.
September 30, 2021
This was either the beginning of righteous retribution, or the moment his soul was damned.”
FAITHLESS by Hunter Shea drops on October 19th. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Father Raul is a priest with a good parish and a great family. Everything was wonderful, until it wasn’t. Life steers off course in the blink of an eye and beliefs change. What kind of God would allow such things to happen?Raul renounces his priesthood and moves in to his aunts abandoned home where he used to spend summers as a child. Something follows him.
Raul spirals down into despair fuels by grief, guilt and alcohol. He just wants to die. He starts hearing noises-hallucinations that sound like his wife and children- are they a blessing or a curse?
It is hard not to give any spoilers but Raul is a true human. He makes realistic choices after what happened to him as well as when the tense, and creepy paranormal kicks in.
With the help of a childhood friend, will Raul face his demons? find the guilty party? and get revenge?
More importantly-should he?
Will he find a way to be with his family again?
Good choice for those that love the paranormal, religious questions, and cults.
Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for a copy of the eARC for an honest review
FAITHLESS by Hunter Shea drops on October 19th. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Father Raul is a priest with a good parish and a great family. Everything was wonderful, until it wasn’t. Life steers off course in the blink of an eye and beliefs change. What kind of God would allow such things to happen?Raul renounces his priesthood and moves in to his aunts abandoned home where he used to spend summers as a child. Something follows him.
Raul spirals down into despair fuels by grief, guilt and alcohol. He just wants to die. He starts hearing noises-hallucinations that sound like his wife and children- are they a blessing or a curse?
It is hard not to give any spoilers but Raul is a true human. He makes realistic choices after what happened to him as well as when the tense, and creepy paranormal kicks in.
With the help of a childhood friend, will Raul face his demons? find the guilty party? and get revenge?
More importantly-should he?
Will he find a way to be with his family again?
Good choice for those that love the paranormal, religious questions, and cults.
Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for a copy of the eARC for an honest review
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