Sacrifice

In the desert of New Mexico, Benny a struggling film maker is traveling the mountains when he happens upon a brutalized body. When trying to frame the perfect shot Benny notices something about the wounds. These markings are astonishingly similar to those left by the old New Mexican cult that developed after the Pueblo Revolt in 1680. As more bodies are found it is feared that the dark forces of the cult may have been revitalized. What has Benny stumbled upon and what will it cost him?

Andrew Boylan first debut novel is well written and packed with meticulous research. This keeps the reader in suspense and wanting more. The premise of the book had me hooked immediately and hungry for more as I progressed through the narrative. I recommend this read for anyone who needs a late night read that will send shivers down your spine.

Thank you Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for this book in exchange for my honest review

This book was super creepy, but I knew that when I requested it. I thought I could get into it, but it really wasn't for me. I can read scary books, but this one was a little too brutal with lots of bodies piling up. Obviously the author did a lot of research and put time into writing it, which definitely helped, but I found the story a little confusing with too much to keep track of. It wasn't terrible but I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters etc and some of the story line too. Glad I read it but definitely not my favorite genre....

Benny has gone back home. On his way home, he photographs a body that has been attacked and perhaps torture? As he thinks about the body it reminds him of a cult that existed in 1680. Does that cult still exist? He tries to find out more information only to find his motel room has been broken into with his camera destroyed and computer gone. As he further investigate to find answers, he is kidnapped. The cult does exist but it's different now. What is this cult? Why do they want him?

The mystery and suspense of this novel is intense. The writing is good. I enjoyed the plot. I recommend reading it but I must admit that the ending of this novel disappointed me as it appeared not to end.

The Plot:

Struggling filmmaker, Benny Hernandez, returns home to New Mexico to find a story about drugs and related deaths. What he uncovers is much deadlier. As he films and photographs a mutilated body discovered in a car crash, he recognizes signs of something menacing. The bodies begin to pile up and everything leads to the stories he grew up with about an ancient cult from the Pueblo revolt in 1680. Has the cult risen again?

The Review:

"For ten years the people of the pueblos were rid of the priests and soldiers who tormented them with lies that obscured their history. During these years, free of the tyrannical rule of the Church Los Penitent was born. A small band of devout men called themselves the brothers of light, the brothers of blood..."

Sacrifice is a horrifying tale reminding us of what can happen when religious zealotry goes unchecked. This one blurs the line between fiction and fact. Prepare for suspense, horror, and death.

As with any book, there were things I loved and things I didn't. The synopsis drew me in with the promise of horror and an intriguing story line of a mysterious cult. The author kept me reading with the astounding and gruesome imagery of the bodies being found. Sacrifice had that aspect of terror that struck fear in my heart and kept me wanting more!

The beginning of the book had a slow, confusing start for me. It did take me a while to get in to it and I found that I was befuddled by the multiple story lines happening. Though, they did join together for the ending, they were a little hard to follow. I also felt that some of the character flashbacks were a bit too long for the book and did not give me enough detail to develop the characters in my mind. The few things that I did not enjoy were enough to lower my book rating, but were not enough to keep me from enjoying the book or recommending it. 

I enjoyed learning about The Penitents, for it seems that they did exist. I'm not sure how much is fact and how much is fiction in the book's description, but it was certainly intriguing to read in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the horror aspect of the book. I have had many disappointments in the horror genre this year, so it was refreshing to read something that truly portrayed gore and fear. The twist of the plot and the ending were certainly worth reading and made up for the bits that I did not enjoy.

I would give this one a 3.5-4 star rating, or 4 faeries since it is not polite to cut a faerie in half. I would consider re-reading this to see if I can get past the confusion I felt, now that I know how the story ends. The ending had an awesome, gruesome plot twist in regards to the history of the cult, and it definitely added to the nightmare that was brought to life by the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for providing me with this free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

Filmmaker Benny Hernandez discovers body in the mountains. He realizes there is something familiar about the wounds on the body. More bodies appear, and Benny discovers a disturbing cultic pattern. The story is decent, but the author's tendency toward wordiness is a bit cumbersome.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book. I have not really been able to get into it, I don't know if it is down to the writing style or I am unable to give the story my full concentration...My husband died unexpectedly a few weeks ago, and i am grieving. I will probably try to read it again at some point in the future.

If you are a fan of horror mystery books then this one is for you.
The being of the book can get a bit confusing and at times hard to follow but if you preserver it all comes together and makes sense at the end.
It is defiantly gruesome in places and it has the feel of being real, if you found it in the non fiction section this book could be believable, especially when drugs and religion is involved.
Throughout the book I wondered if the background information on the story was really true, did it really happen?
The story starts In the desert of New Mexico where Benny a struggling film maker is traveling the mountains when he finds a brutalised body that appears to have been tortured.
On closer inspection it starts Benny thinking of the similarities between the body and a cult that existed in 1680.
Does that cult still exist?
Seeing the potential for a film Benny decides to investigate the New Mexican cult and their bizarre rituals and to try and find out if the cult is still active all these years later.
As more bodies start to turn up the further Benny becomes involved with the case and it soon becomes detrimental to his safety and well being.
Are the bodies a result of a cult ritual or is there a killer on the loose?
If you start reading this book i honestly advise you to preserver because the book just keeps getting better and better.

I had a difficult time getting into this one. There were parts that kept me intrigued enough to keep reading. This is a different kind of scary, and the characters are enjoyable. There was a lot of switching between the plot and characters, but I was able to follow along just fine. I really wanted to like this more, but I ended up skimming some of it to get to the exciting parts.

Unfortunately I could not enjoy this book. I was unable to connect to the characters and did not find the plot particularly compelling, perhaps as a direct result, though think it may appeal to other readers

This book was hard to get into. Honestly, I felt lost in the beginning - too much name throwing and starting out with a dead body usually does that. It was almost like the book was a rough draft, it had many repetitions and things the author actually wrote twice in different ways.

However, when I got used to the odd writing, the story got somewhat interesting. The mystery wasn't mysterious but the fact that the cult was based on Christ's pain was really interesting.

But the ending bugged me. It felt lazy to simply shoot everyone, the author could have taken a different route. The characters also weren't the greatest, they didn't develop and I honestly can't tell many of them apart, only by name.

Now, if you still want to read this book after everything I have said, keep in mind that it has lots of gore, sometimes it felt as though the author was trying to nauseate me with his descriptions. And before you ask, yes, he also described the smell. Gross.