This is my post during the blog tour for Shadowdays by Polly Schattel. In Shadowdays a nurse with a troubled past becomes ensnared in a clash with a violent gang.
This blog tour is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours and the tour runs from 2 till 15 May. You can see the tour schedule here.
Shadowdays
By Polly Schattel
Genre: Psychological Horror
Age category: Adult
Release Date: 28 January 2022
Blurb:
On the dark side of town, what’s past is never really past. And what’s buried is never really dead.Melissa Sweet is in a delicate state. She’s a clinical nurse in a small town who, after a career-ending accident and the accusations of foul play that followed, is just now starting to put her life back together. She’s got her mom, her troubled brother, and her fiancé Jack to keep her grounded, and right now she’s taking life one uneasy day at a time. But tormented by a harrowing act of violence, she makes an impulsive move that changes her life—and the lives of those she loves—forever. This unleashes a disorienting cycle of brutality and revelation as she reckons with the blood of her own past and the blood of those who transgressed against her.
And it will force Melissa to confront the fiercest, most unrelenting monster of all: herself.
Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
Praise for Shadowdays:
“… a tale that will leave readers squirming in discomfort but unable to stop turning the pages” –Booklist.
“Shadowdays will have you walking a razor’s edge between what’s real and what’s not. Either will break your heart. Schattel teaches you the meaning of guilt, and of grief, at a pace that leaves you breathless. This is pulp horror soaked in empathy, and it will cut you.” –Sarah Read, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Bone Weaver’s Orchard.
“Shadowdays has a gutpunch of an ending. You’ll see it starting to move in that direction in the novel’s climax, but it will hit you like a runaway freight train when it does. As dark as this one was—perhaps because of that—Shadowdays was a lot of fun. Recommended.” –Andrew Byers, Uncanny Books
About the Author:
Polly Schattel a writer and filmmaker who has written and directed three award-winning, internationally distributed feature films. Her first novel, “The Occultists,” was published by JournalStone in 2020. She’s taught Film Directing, Screenwriting and Film Editing in the NC University system, New York City and elsewhere. Proudly and passionately transgender, she lives in the mountains of Asheville, NC with her wife and three wild, vicious animals who love people food.
Author links:
– Website
– Facebook
Before I begin my review I quickly have to thank Lola’s Blog Tours for allowing me to be a part of this amazing tour and for graciously providing a copy of the book for me to read and review for my tour stop today.
I have to state right away that I stepped out of my comfy comfort zone with Shadowdays. As a reader of my blog, you know that I don’t read or review horror books on my blog and that’s because it’s really not a genre I tend to read because let’s be honest I have an overactive imagination when it comes to certain books. So I made it a point to read this during the day so that by the time I went to bed it would be out of sight out of mind if you know what I mean.
I was instantly hooked and could not put the book down. It was a fairly quick and intense read. I didn’t realize that this was only about 232 pages because I was reading the ebook version.
The main character is Melissa who is a nurse. Three years ago she accidentally killed an infant who was in her care. She accidentally gave the infant the wrong dose of a medication. She was acquitted of the charge but since then she has never really been the same. She lost her job and from that point on she spiraled into a deep depression.
Things are starting to look up for Melissa, she no longer lives in her mother’s house and has a wonderful fiance, Jack. Years later she feels like she is able to return to work and gain some control over her life once again. Melissa decides that she will work at a clinic that deals with treating drug addicts.
Just when you think things are moving in the right direction bam life hits you for a curveball and that is exactly what happens to poor Melissa. How will Melissa cope?
I don’t want to go much further only because I feel like I will give the book away. If you like horror books then I think this is right up your alley.
This is Polly’s second book. Her debut was called The Occultist. I might actually pick this up to see what that one is about. I definitely would read other books by Polly in the future.
Giveaway
There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Shadowdays. 10 winners will each win an ecopy of Shadowdays by Polly Schattel.
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
