Tag: Louise Worthington

Rosie Shadow by Louise Worthington

Publisher: Red Escape Publishing

Date of publication: March 1st, 2021

Genre: Horror

Purchase Links: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

Whatcha crying for, sissy? Why don’t you grow a pair?’ Rosie says to her mother…‘Send me to school and I’ll rip off your arm! Beat you with the stump.’

Abandoned by her terrorised mother at the age of six, Rosie Shadow will do anything to win the affection of her father Archie, an undead cannibal in charge of Her Majesty’s Prison Shortbury, now operating as a visitor attraction.

Clare is sent reeling into Archie’s arms with the grief of losing her boyfriend in a mysterious car accident when he collides with an ancient yew tree.

The secrets in the Medieval dungeon beneath the prison are under threat when Clare becomes suspicious of Archie’s true identity and his progeny.

Rosie Shadow is Book I in The Black Tongue Series.

First Line:

At dawn, blackbirds and sparrows sing a love song to celebrate life from the top of the yew tree.

Rosie Shadow by Louise Worthington

Rosie Shadow was a different type of zombie/horror book than I have read. Not saying that I didn’t enjoy it (I did), but it wasn’t typical of the genre.

Rosie Shadow has two distinct storylines. The first storyline centers around Clare, the death of her boyfriend Lenny, her job at a prison made tourist attraction, and her relationship with her boss, Archie. The second storyline centers around Rosie, Elly (her mother), and various social workers brought to help Elly with Rosie. Both storylines are somewhat merged by the end of the book. I say somewhat because Rosie never physically meets Clare or Archie (even though she communicates telepathically with him).

Clare had my sympathy for the entire book. She was dealing with the death of her boyfriend, her school studies, and having a not-so-great relationship with her father. I was in awe over how she dealt with everything. I would have been a freaking mess, but she wasn’t. The only thing that showed that she was internally freaking out was her smoking and her relationship with Archie. But, I think her calmness helped her when everything went to crap at the end of the book. She was the one who kept her head. She was the one who was able to think on her feet with Archie. She was the one who was able to help Beth.

Archie’s character was different. Yes, he was an undead cannibal (or a zombie), but he didn’t act like your typical zombie. He held a job at the former prison. He didn’t crave brains. Instead, he needed to eat a young woman’s flesh to stay alive (for lack of a better term). I wish the author had given more background on him, but I did like what was provided. He was a former prison inmate who died (and was resurrected ?) there. While eating flesh kept him alive, sex was better, and he thought he had found a willing partner in Clare. He wasn’t necessarily evil, but he wasn’t good either. If I had to put a finger on it, he was chaotic neutral with leanings toward evil.

Rosie scared me. She was the evilest, twisted 6-year-old that I have read about in a while. She terrorized her mother, ate raw animals (which disgusted me), loved playing with animal corpses, lying in dirt graves, and generally scared people. I didn’t understand why she was the way she was until the connection to Archie was made (the scene where she killed her social worker and fed her to the yew tree to give to Archie). She sent chills up my spine every time she appeared in the book. When she went to the respite fosterer, I knew that a showdown was coming. And the author didn’t disappoint with that.

The author very well wrote the horror angle of Rosie Shadow. I am not easily scared or even disgusted while reading this genre, and the author succeeded in doing both. The last half of the book that detailed the life-or-death fight scenes between Clare and Archie/Rosie and Annie gave me nightmares.

The paranormal aspect of the book was also very well written. I wish the author had given more detail about Archie’s turning (it interested me a lot), but other than that, I was pretty satisfied with what I read.

The end of Rosie Shadow made me wonder if or when Rosie/Archie would reappear. I know this is book 1 of a series, and I am very interested in reading what book two will bring.

I would recommend Rosie Shadow to anyone over 21. This is language, extreme violence, gore, and somewhat graphic sexual situations.

Doctor Glass by Louise Worthington

Publisher: TCK Publishing

Date of publication: April 11th, 2022

Genre: Psychological Suspense, Thriller

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

Goodreads Synopsis:

THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW.

Psychotherapist Emma-Jane Glass has prioritized work over leisure for far too long. She does whatever it takes to help her clients, and it’s bordering on professional obsession. When she publishes a controversial article about unstable mothers murdering their children, an anonymous letter arrives on her doorstep:

I will expose you.
Then, I will mutilate you…
Wait for me.

After she is abducted into the night, Doctor Glass finds herself at the mercy of a dangerous sociopath. But being a relentless doctor of the mind, she feels an urge to help her fragile captor, even if it might shatter her sanity-and her life. It becomes a game of survival, and only one mind can win.

For fans of deeply layered thrillers by Ruth Ware, Tana French, and Alex Michaelides comes the newest voice in psychological fiction.

CONTENT GUIDANCE: This novel explores aspects of psychology and mental health and contains depictions of self-harm, alcohol abuse, eating disorders, and suicide. Please read with care.

First Line:

Under the canopy of a sycamore tree, the world is a kinder place.

doctor glass by louise worthington

When I received the invite to review Doctor Glass, I was immediately intrigued by the synopsis. I am a massive fan of psychological thrillers and read any/all of that genre that I can get my hands on. So, I knew that I had to read this book between the synopsis and my love of psychological thrillers.

Doctor Glass had an engaging storyline. Emma-Jane Glass is a psychologist who had published a paper that made her very unpopular with her colleagues and clients. Doctor Glass starts receiving death threats, and very shortly after, she is kidnapped by the author of the notes. Being held captive, Doctor Glass uses her training to try and understand her captor. But that is dangerous, as Doctor Glass forms an attachment to her captor. Will she escape her captor? Will she become damaged?

I do want to warn everyone about trigger warnings. The author does mention it in the blurb so I will repeat that here along with a couple of my own. Her’s are self-harm, alcohol abuse, eating disorders, and suicide. I want to add maternal filicide and emotional abuse to the mix also. If any of these triggers you, I suggest you not read this book.

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, I am a massive fan of psychological thrillers. I love the rush that I get from reading them. I expected that from Doctor Glass, but I didn’t get it. Instead, I got more insight into grief, mental illness, and Stockholm Syndrome.

I did have a hard time following some of the secondary storylines in Doctor Glass. The couple had kinky sexual fetishes (fat fetish and smothering), the woman whose daughter died of an asthma attack, Lucy’s forays into dating, Kat’s disturbing obsession with Drew, and AJ’s relationship with Heather and Drew. They meandered around the main storyline, and honestly, only Lucy (to an extent), Kat, and AJ’s storylines added anything to the main storyline. The other two seemed like fillers to me and took away from what was happening.

Drew horrified and saddened me. I was horrified at how his actions contributed to what happened with his wife and son. I couldn’t even begin to fathom his guilt along with his grief. Emma-Jane’s paper did send him over the edge. When they were at the farmhouse, his scenes with Emma-Jane were some of the saddest that I have read. I did feel that Emma-Jane did get through to him by the end of her kidnapping, but we’ll never know.

I didn’t know how to feel about Emma-Jane. I did want to like her, and I was definitely in her court when she was kidnapped. But she came across as bland and sometimes unlikable. I also wish that the author had given more of Emma-Jane’s backstory. That way, I could have understood her a little better.

The secondary characters (as with the storylines) didn’t do anything for me. The only one that I was genuinely interested in was Kat. I was interested in her because of what came up halfway through the book. The others added nothing to the book.

The thriller angle was a little meh to me until Emma-Jane got kidnapped. At that point, it did pick up some steam but died once Lucy rescued her. I wish that the author had kept it up for a bit longer.

I mentioned above that the book gave me insight into mental illness, grief, and Stockholm Syndrome. I did enjoy those parts of the book because that is when it came alive for me. I felt that the author very well wrote the mental illness angle of the book and the grief angle almost took my breath away. I shed tears along with that character.

There was a twist in the plot that I didn’t see coming. That twist also tied together Emma-Jane and Drew’s plotline together. I will say that Kat is an evil person, and I hope she gets what she deserves!!!

The end of Doctor Glass was more introspective than anything. I’m not going to get into it, but it was almost soothing to see how Emma-Jane dealt with everything.

I would recommend Doctor Glass to anyone over 21. There is language, moderate violence, and moderate sexual scenes.