Saturday, June 1, 2019

THE STRANGER by Steve Stred


THE STRANGER by Steve Stred

Published June 1st 2019

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(from the book description)

The Stranger is the second novel from Steve Stred and 9th release overall. The Stranger is another offering following in the footsteps of similar books Invisible, YURI and The Girl Who Hid in the Trees. As Steve describes his works; “dark, bleak horror.”

With this release, Steve has decided to look deeper into what makes humans tick. He confronts two key elements of mankind; bigotry and our environmental footprint.

Featuring stunning cover art by Chadwick St. John (www.inkshadows.com), The Stranger will be a story that will leave you feeling uneasy and have you looking at the trees differently.

Maybe it’s not the wind making the branches sway…

Maybe…

It’s…

The Stranger. 
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Steve Stred is what I would consider a prolific writer. In just under 2 years he has released 2 novels, 4 novellas and 3 collections. He has been a very busy writer. If you are a regular here you will have seen Steve's name pop up before. I have had the pleasure of reading several of his books and have yet to find one disappointing. THE STRANGER is the authors 2nd full length novel and is one of the best stories he has written yet.

Malcolm and his family are enjoying a late season get-away at their favorite cabin in the woods. But the idealic vacation starts taking a dark turn as strange events start to occur and effect Malcolm and the family. Fierce wolves, ominous signs and frightening shadows moving in the trees threaten the family and lead them down a path from which they might not return.

The author not only gives us a terrifying story, but also touches on some very important topics such as bigotry and ecological issues. All wrapped up a "creation tale" story that pulls heavily from North American Indian lore.

Once again the author shows us his talent of creating believable/real world characters. Malcolm and his family are just your typical family. The main character Malcolm is really the focal point of the story. He is one of those characters that you want to sympathize with as he suffers loss and battles forces beyond his control, but you just can't. Because Malcolm is a bigot, his hate, especially toward Native people is horrible. Just when you think you can side with the character he says or does something that makes you look at him as a total P.O.S. His actions not only effect him, but his family and ultimately the outcome of the story.

The true heart of this story belongs not to the doomed family, but to the character of Wandering River, a North American Indiana who is gruff, and throughout the story does everything he can to try and save the family, tho fought at every turn by Malcolm. He knows what is happening and even though he knows the inevitable outcome he tries to help.

One last thing to touch on is "mythos" creation. When an author starts to make a world that all his stories somehow tie into and effect each other. Readers will notice subtle connections between some of the Steve's stories. I have always been a big fan of this style of writing. Seeing a new world built and grow is a wonderful thing. The creation tale that has been created in THE STRANGER has spawned some unique and fearsome entities and I am excited to see where the author takes them next.

Steve Stred has once again shown us that it is not safe to be in the woods. Every shadow, every blowing branch could be THE STRANGER coming for you.


You can purchase THE STRANGER in ebook and print on AMAZON.

You can learn more about the author Steve Stred by visiting his site HERE.