October 31st
Eric J. Obmann
(Guest Reviewer - Shirley P. Johnson)
2005 Publishamerica
ISBN: 1413749186

Horror stalks Halloween as whole families die, mysterious costumes kill & teenage hackers know why.

When Justaine Monar, FBI Special Agent, is brought in to help investigate an unusual & bizarre murder before Halloween, he believes it's only to evaluate him for field promotion. However, after meeting Clarion's Detective Thakian & finding out about a certain cyber-group called ‘Trial By Fire’, he figures this investigation can be completed in no time at all.

After more murders occur & speaking with Lucas Grier, a self-made costume-making millionaire who gives Monar the creeps, he is determined to find the connections between the murders, Lucas Grier, & Trial By Fire, a group made up of teenage hackers that is being sought out for their forewarnings of something catastrophic occurring on Halloween.

Clearing the teens of any wrongdoing & noticing Detective Thakian acting strangely towards him, Justaine Monar must unravel the mystery before the whole town of Clarion turns into a city of death!

Guest Reviewer Shirley P. Johnson writes:

The town of Clarion is about to celebrate Halloween; parties are planned & costumes are bought, & evil is lurking in a form these townspeople never see coming, nor believe.

As different families begin to participate in the festivities, murder also begins to manifest at the hands of the most unlikely subjects. Entire families are wiped out by one of their members & the only common denominator is that each killer is wearing a costume made by Wormwood Costumes, run by the demonic Lucas Grier. Something else is odd -- seems the masks these killers wear are somehow fused to their faces, almost as if part of their own flesh. Creepy!

Our three main crime fighters in this chiller thriller are Detective Thakian, FBI Agent Monar & Mayor Delcet, all joining forces to figure out what's going on.

The twist in this story is that a group of teenage hackers are desperately telling Detective Thakian who & what is behind the killings, & why. They speak of an evil event that is to occur on Halloween that will change the world. What could that be?

I have to be careful not to give away any of the plot of this outstanding first segment, but I will tell you this; once I started reading October 31st, I couldn't put it down! True, it was gruesome & weird, but I think that's its appeal. After all, a horror story should be full of horror, right?

There's no shortage of dead bodies, nor blood & gore, & the author does a great job of keeping the storyline flowing & holding your interest. The characters are believable & interesting, & you can identify with them.

You never find out exactly what is supposed to happen on Halloween, but October 31st is to be continued &, of course, you know you'll have to read part two to see what happens.

Great job, Mr. Obmann. Exactly what one would expect in a good horror/mystery read.
(02/26/06)

Guest Reviewer - Shirley P. Johnson
2006©Shirley P. Johnson