We All Fall Before The Harvest: C.M. Forest
Reviewed By Steve Stred
So, I will readily admit, I’m not always the sharpest tool in the shed. I’m educated, sure, and do a good job of staying up to date on most topics, yeah, but every once in a while something slips past me and we can all have a good laugh at Steve.
Case in point – recently I was contacted by Eerie River to see if I’d be interested in reading and reviewing an upcoming novel by C.M. Forest. So, before replying, I did what I normally do and went to social media to see what it was about and couldn’t find C.M. Forest. Ok, no biggie.
Then my buddy, Christian Laforet DM’d me to see if I’d be up to reviewing his upcoming novella, ‘We All Fall Before the Harvest.’ Released with his publishing name. C.M. Forest. Insert like a bazillion laughing emojis, I’m dead. Man alive, I’m such a knob.
So, yes, absolutely I’d be up to reviewing both and now I’ve read one of them and happy to say that C.M. Forest is an author worth reading!
What I liked: The story is a fast-paced action piece where we follow our main character, Owen. He’s a hired knock-around guy, the guy to get money owed, break some bones, do what it takes for his boss. This time, he gets hired to steal a painting from an out of the way farmhouse. Simples. But the painting is different and once it’s in his possession, things begin to happen and transform.
Forest does a great job of writing what I’d describe as the movie CRANK but if it was a cosmic horror story. Thugs keep coming, the painting keeps changing and things go from bad to worse.
I really enjoyed seeing how all things converged and we get this really great story about a painter and what they created. It was fascinating and had me glued to my Kindle.
What I didn’t like: We get a bit of backstory surrounding Owen, his wife and kid, and frankly, it offered nothing to the story. There’s a specific purpose for it and it occurs at a climactic moment, but for this reader it was meh and didn’t affect the story one way or the other for me.
Why you should buy this: I preordered this once it was announced, and now having read an early copy, I’ll say that if you’re looking for a fast-paced cosmic horror novella, this will be right up your alley. Think Alan Baxter’s Eli Carver series but with a portal painting and crazy things waiting on the other side.
Really had a blast with this one.
We All Fall Before The Harvest
In the guts of a nameless city, career criminal Owen fights for his sanity and his life. After stealing a morbid piece of artwork at the behest of his boss, Owen discovers the original owners of the grotesque painting are part of a twisted cult known as The Family—and they’ll stop at nothing to get it back.
The longer Owen possesses the painting, the more it warps his mind and alters the very world around him. Between those that want him dead, his own dark past, and his crumbling grip on reality, the walls are closing in. Unstable but determined, Owen is the only thing standing between our world and the coming Harvest.
You can buy We All Fall Before The Harvest from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Steve Stred
Steve Stred is the Splatterpunk Nominated Author of ‘Sacrament’ and ‘Mastodon.’
Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Steve has released over a dozen novels and novellas as well as a number of collections. He has appeared alongside some of horror’s biggest names within some truly excellent anthologies.
He is a proud co-founder of the LOHF Writer’s Grant and an Active Member of the HWA.
Website: stevestredauthor.wordpress.com
Twitter: @stevestred
Instagram: @stevestred
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16356875.Steve_Stred
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/steve-stred
Amazon: amazon.com/author/stevestred
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