Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones by Micah Dean Hicks
Swine Hill was full of the dead. Their ghosts were thickest near the abandoned downtown, where so many of the town’s hopes had died generation by generation. They lingered in the places that mattered to them, and people avoided those streets, locked those doors, stopped going into those rooms… They could hurt you. Worse, they could change you.
Jane is haunted. Since she was a child, she has carried a ghost girl that feeds on the secrets and fears of everyone around her, whispering to Jane what they are thinking and feeling, even when she doesn’t want to know. Henry, Jane’s brother, is ridden by a genius ghost that forces him to build strange and dangerous machines. Their mother is possessed by a lonely spirit that burns anyone she touches. In Swine Hill, a place of defeat and depletion, there are more dead than living.
When new arrivals begin scoring precious jobs at the last factory in town, both the living and the dead are furious. This insult on the end of a long economic decline sparks a conflagration. Buffeted by rage on all sides, Jane must find a way to save her haunted family and escape the town before it kills them.
Amazon Barnes and Noble Goodreads
About the Author
Author of fantasy, fabulism, and fairy tale retellings. Occasional essayist. Teaches at University of Central Florida.
My Review
5 Stars
In this world ghosts can haunt the living but living within them. Jane, Henry and their mother are haunted. Jane’s ghost tells her the thoughts and plans of everyone around them. Henry has a mad scientist that is forcing him to create horrific creatures and machine. Their mother has a ghost that so desires attention that she can burn people that she touches.
In Swine Hill is a slaughterhouse where we find Henry creating human like pig creatures that are phasing out human workers. But this is just the beginning. As the people get upset at the loss of jobs, the pigmen, and more the little town gets closer and closer to the breaking point.
This book was not what I was thinking it was going to be. It’s a great, creepy story that drew me in from the first line and left me off balance. I was not expecting and just when I was kind of getting my mind wrapped around the idea it was off again.
But this book is not just a horror story. There is so much more in regards to character development and attitudes towards the immigrants and creatures working the only place with limited jobs.
This was a great story although some may not like it. I would say if you liked horror you will enjoy this book. This was the first book I have read from Micah Hicks but it won’t be the last one.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
I would like to thank Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the opportunity to read and share this book.
jbronderbookreviews 