We Are The Accused – Lucas Mangum

Reviewed By Steve Stred

We Are the Accused is my first dive into a Lucas Mangum release, but it’s not my first go with a Sinister Grin Press release. Sinister Grin has created a nice group of releases and you typically know what you’re getting into when you start one of their books.

This one is no different. We Are the Accused follows the happenings in a small town as a mad, dark god lusts for more darkness and depravity. The eternal plot of ‘wanting it all’ and ‘wanting more power’ is firmly on display here.

The story follows a group of people, who all begin to become connected through horrific events.

The book opens up with a truly horrendous scene where a seemingly happy wife is propelled to murder her family and then walk in front of a vehicle.

From there on out we follow the inhabitants as they start to piece together just what is driving these events and how things are all interconnected.

I struggled mightily with this one from the outset.

This is a quick read, but I found that by 25% in we were still being introduced to more and more characters and I had trouble connecting with any of them. Some of them had intriguing back stories, but even those became light fodder and quickly scanned over.

I think this would have been a great read if the number of people we dealt with was paired down, or the book was expanded by another 150 or so pages, but that’s just me. Others may find it works really well for them.

Overall I was a bit frustrated by the volume of characters but Mangum does an amazing job with the gore and supernatural elements.

Star Rating (out of 5): 3.5*

We Are The Accused

A mad god lusts for power. Two demon lovers lust for death. An ancient man seeks to devour plagues natural and supernatural.

All converge on the small town of Blue Brook, Pennsylvania to wage war unlike any other, yet strangely familiar.

Bianca is an Afghanistan war veteran turned police detective whose ex-con high school sweetheart has just come home. Boone is a boy entrusted with immense power and a mother who’s struggling to hold their family together. Lafferty is a priest with many secrets.

All are caught in the middle of something beyond their understanding. The inner and outer darkness of each doomed soul must be faced. 

And blood will be shed.

You can buy We Are The Accused from Amazon UK & Amazon US

Steve Stred

Steve Stred is an up-an-coming Dark Horror author. Steve is the author of the novel Invisible, the novellas Wagon Buddy, Yuri and Jane: the 816 Chronicles and two collections of short stories; Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick.

Steve also has a number of works on the go and enjoys all this horror, occult, supernatural and paranormal.

Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog Oj.

You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred

You can visit Steve’s Official Website here

The Girl Who Hid In The Trees

Something lurks just beyond.

Centuries ago a heinous act created a ripple that still haunts the residents to this very day.

Now the kids who reside near McConnell’s Forest live forever in fear.

Jason lost his brother when he was young. He left with his friends to ‘debunk’ the urban legend and never came back.

Now Jason and his group of friends are fed up and want to discover what is happening, what is the real cause of the terror holding their small town hostage.

But something is waiting for them. She may look sweet and innocent, but the friends are about to find out that pure evil can exist in the smallest of packages.

She’s out there. And while you may not know her name or what she looks like, the local kids will tell you if you ask, that you should fear for your life from the girl who hid in the trees.

From the dark mind of Steve Stred, the author of Wagon Buddy, YURI and Invisible comes this fast-paced, seat of your pants coming-of-age tale.  A quick, violent, bleak read, The Girl Who Hid In The Trees will make you think twice about those sounds you hear far off in the woods.

You can buy The Girl Who Hid In The Trees from Amazon UK & Amazon US