Doubleshot Reviews

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A police officer and a serial killer search separately for a missing child while running a malevolent labyrinth populated by creatures they never knew existed.

Former prosecutor William Chandler, disgusted with his past inaction, spills the blood of those who victimize children to correct the ills he sees in the world. A self-admitted serial killer and uncomfortable with his actions, Chandler attends the funerals of those whose lives he has taken in an effort to retain a true understanding of the nature of violence.

The carnage left in his wake is investigated by Detective Kate Broadband, who becomes progressively more comfortable with the corpses left by Chandler. Envying the power she sees in him, she pursues Chandler as each search for Maria Verde, a missing eight-year-old girl.

As Chandler and Broadband draw closer to discovering what happened to Maria they are forced to confront The Devourer, an unnatural being trafficking in stolen children.

Where the Dead Fear to Tread is a tale of hard-boiled macabre, bridging numerous genres to reveal a story of horror, crime and revenge.

Take one part supernatural villianery and one part vigilante justice seeker mixed in with a dash of horror and gore and you have the basic recipe for M.R. Gott’s Where the Dead Fear to Tread. I have no idea if the author took his idea for William Chandler from the recent popularity from the books/tv show Dexter, but I had the image of Dexter in my head as I was reading. Chandler is a character, who takes justice into his own hands and hunts down and kills those who do harm to children. However, he then feels bad about taking a life. Not because of whose life was taken, but because of the families and friends who have to deal with the death of a loved one they only knew as a caring father/husband/friend. I loved this character! Dare I say, I think, the world needs a few people like him? Our other main protagonist is Kate Broadband. You can tell she’s usually a by the books kind of gal, but she slowly becomes a little more open to Chandler’s style of justice. The evil William and Kate are up against is of a supernatural nature in a vampire type creature simply called The Devourer. The opening scene of Where the Dead Fear to Tread gives a horrific visual of just what The Devourer does and how he gets his name. 

Scenes and settings were well done with enough visual description that I could easily imagine the local. Gore was not abundant throughout, yet when it was needed it was given plenty of room to allow the mind to fully grasp the intensity and torturous nature of the scene. The only slight issue I could say that I may have with Where the Dead Fear to Tread deals with 2 characters, a little boy and his social worker, who sort of feel thrown into the story and while it seems that the little boy is to play a very important part in the story things are kind of left hanging. Maybe there is a sequel coming that I am not aware of at the moment.

Overall, a well done thriller/mystery with enough of a horror element to keep you cringing and maybe looking around for a set of eyes watching your every move.

Pick up your electronic copy of Where the Dead Fear to Tread at Amazon for Kindle by clicking the cover image above. Nook owners hit Barnes & Noble by clicking (HERE)

Learn more about the author M.R.Gott at his website M.R.Gott’s Cutis Anserina and keep up to date on what is coming next from this author.

Espresso rating: Triple with a splash of milk