Tomato Fields

by Tim Moon

The bizarre disappearance and subsequent slaughter of a rural pet launches a small town sheriff, his deputy, and a band of tormented townsfolk, on the daunting task of eliminating an ominous threat posed by a mysterious creature. The terror they face will challenge many of their beliefs about themselves and the world they thought they knew. The more they learn the less they understand, as tension mounts toward a final dramatic collision with destiny. Even in success, closure proves elusive.

230 pages, Paperback

Published January 5, 2023

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF at 58%. 2.5 stars. Sometimes with authors, it takes the first few chapters to weed out grammatical, punctuation, and formatting issues, and to just see them find their flow with a story. Not an uncommon thing. This, unfortunately, had a great deal of all the aforementioned ailments throughout and they were all extremely distracting. Now the story itself wasn’t bad and neither were the characters. Even the writing quality was pretty good, but having robotic and excessive dialogue, a very slow pace, and tons of repetitive situations weighed down any of the positives here. There were also some odd creative decisions, such as dedicating many sections containing a couple of sentences to phone calls between the characters with no importance, that could have just been referenced. And the conversations were just ‘hi…how are you…another attack…I’ll be right there.’ And this just offset the already rocky pacing, in addition to dragging out everything more than it needed to be. And there were a bunch of other similar portions in the book like this, too. I’ve never read this author before, so this may just have been an example of a very early and unpolished work. All authors have been there. But when executing a fairly common horror concept like this, there needs to be something really unique to set it apart from all the others, or it needs to be done so well, that it stands on the same stage. This did not meet either of those criteria.

[Breck Echelberger · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author was one of my past teacher’s so this was a fun read for me. For his first book I thought that Tomato Fields was great. I read this book cover to cover and I did enjoy it.

[Venus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-rated this after some thought

I really liked this story. It was quick, fun, and action packed. The monster was scary enough to be, well, scary, but simple enough to actually imagine, which always helps in my opinion when getting into a book. I originally rated this 3 stars, but felt that maybe that was too harsh. I think this book could have developed into a more enthralling story, but maybe that will be the development we get to read in the possible series. I originally gave such a low rating because the book was a bit hard to read for practical reasons. There were a lot of typos, a lot of inappropriate use of punctuation or lack of appropriate punctuation, grammatical errors, and clunky dialogue that made me have to reread sentences multiple times. These are really small issues especially since the author is a first time writer and likely doesn’t have an editor, but I can’t not bring it up. I love short horror books and if you need some fluff in your list, this is a fun option. Perfect amount of gore if you ask me.

[M.K. McDaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story very much. It was well written, had believable characters, a very scary monster, and kept me guessing how it might all end up to the very last chapter. I was sorry that a better editing job hadn't been done, because the punctuation errors and other mistakes were distracting. I'd suggest the author do a better editing & re-release the book to bring it up to a higher rating that the writing deserves. I hope he keeps writing new stories, too!

[Mary Stenvall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This should be a five star - or six! Great story. However, Mr. Moon, you seriously need an editor. Your rewrites, corrections, are printed in a different size and font. Your tenses change, your punctuation is bad in places as well as extra words where they don't belong. You've got a talent, sir, don't drown it! Please, if you can't afford an editor, ask friends and neighbors.

[Dirk Stansbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to read the next book when it comes out, and i expect to see improvements! This has a lot of typos and could stand to be either shortened up considerably or made more interesting while we're waiting for the end. The description of the monster was well done, and the writing improved as it went on.

[Vowelor Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tomato Fields is a cryptic mystery fiction thriller novel written by Tim Moon and published in January 2023. The story is a powerful combination of fictional elements with reality and real-life scenarios.



The story is set in the lush beautiful tomato fields, the scenic picnic spot of Mason Lake, Mrs. Cole’s house situated in a serene corner of the Union, and the lush green forest cover of Mason County, a small uneventful province, situated in a secluded corner of Washington, turned into the most horrific place totally unlike it natural serene and peaceful characteristic which attracted people towards it.

Sheriff John Buckland and Deputy Paul Brown are the law enforcers of Mason County, who are responsible for ensuring the safety and security of the area, but they are bored and tired of the uneventful and boring life of the county.

Their life turned upside-down when one day they received a complaint about a lost domestic pig that apparently just disappeared from its pigpen in its owner’s backyard.

The next few days turned out to be the most adventurous nightmare of their lives. Mrs. Martha Cole and her Grand-daughter Carly are in danger, and the Sheriff, the deputy, doctor Foster, Joy, Bear, and Tom are compelled to go on the most dangerous expedition of their lives, in order to save everyone living in the county.

This story had me gripped from the very beginning. It made me realize that we are not the only beings on this planet, what we see is just the tip of an iceberg that is yet to be excavated completely.

The thrill, the adventure, and the mystery in the story guarantee to keep you on the edge. It also has a certain emotional appeal that will make you relate to the sensation that you have suppressed and have forgotten about long ago.

Overall it's one complete treat to read this amazing story. Get your copy and decode the mystery of the Tomato Fields now.

⭐ Rating: 5/5
✅ Verdict: A cryptic thriller that will make you question the discovered and the undiscovered in this world.

👉 Read the full review of Tomato Fields by Tim Moon on Vowelor.

[Amber]

I really enjoyed Moon's debut book! I don't normally read thrillers or similar genre, but I'm glad I branched out. Tomato Fields reminds me of a cross between an 80s horror/suspense film and an episode of Supernatural sans Winchesters.  Moon does a good job of creating suspense. I especially enjoyed the elements of creature lore and Native mythology. I would have loved to hear more of a backstory on Bear, maybe with some flashbacks and unresolved trauma.

I believe this was self-published, and as a result, could benefit from a professional editor. I think that would clean up any grammatical errors and improve pacing, especially with dialogue. That aside, the narrative is great. The prose is smooth; I was able to get engrossed in the story.

[Jason Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give this a half star I would. DNF on page 25! Multiple grammatical errors on every page. Quotation marks covering entire sentences or around thoughts. Not a single conjunction made out of “it is” or “I am” and plenty more. It’s like the author had a word count to hit. Wanted to reach for a red pen and start fixing all the mistakes. First novel jitters maybe or maybe get an editor next time.

[Clyde Dewayne Benefield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting and entertaining Mystery

I love this book. It's exciting, interesting, and very entertaining. Tomato Fields has several twists and turns which made it more interesting to read. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I did not want to put it down. It very well written and I look forward to Tim Moon's next book.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tomato Fields

An excellent horror paranormal novel. The author did a fabulous job in his character development. The storyline was intriguing and made the page turning continue past normal bedtime hours. I highly recommend this novel. Best of all, it wasn't Bigfoot who was the monster.

[Julie Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

good story clunky writing

Great storyline. The author has obviously done their Bigfoot research and incorporates all the mythology into the book. The editing could be better and the writing is just awkward in general in a l9t of places…stiff maybe. Worth a read though.

[Tracy L. Mateer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story

The story itself wasn’t bad but the punctuation was terrible, to the point of distraction. Names not capitalized. Would’ve liked a little more backstory on the creature.

[Catherine Mullins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good story

It certainly hit the ground running and never slowed down. Seriously in need of a good editor but that was only a minor distraction. I would not hesitate to read another book by the author.

[Eleanor Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good storyline and great, relatable characters. Loved the ‘Tomato Fields’ backdrop. Some issues with proofing and editing which, for me, are a huge distraction, but will look to read other books by this author.

[MrFuckTheSystem · Rating 5 out of 5]

So yes there were editing mistakes but which book doesn’t have that ? I’ve spotted them in the most well known of authors books. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the Monster ! Although I do wish the “Monster” wasn’t portrayed so murderous. All in all, a very sad book in my opinion.

[Lolapaige · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf a little over halfway through. The storyline wasn't bad but the robotic way it was worded and errors in punctuation drove me to distraction. There was also a lot of "fluff"-Pointless conversations that really didn't need to be included.

[Danielle Podgwaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story!

Will definitely read more from this author. I was very intrigued and drawn into this book.

Love a good, believable story about bigfoot!

[Mitzi Lafitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kudos

The beginning .... You never see it coming. Entertaining. Surprising. Bewilderment. Attachment.
The ending........... You choose.

Thank you for sharing it all.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

I liked this book quite a bit. It was an excellent read. I will look for this authors other books.

[Michelle Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book!

Loved the storyline. Love how everything unfolded in it. I think you did a great job! Will you becwriting more?

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read

I liked this book a lot! It kept me turning the pages to see what happened next! The author did a good job for a first timer!

[Qu1et_C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced Bigfoot action. Liked the native American folklore aspect given to the creature. Surprisingly brutal in a couple spots. A few typos but not a big deal.