Dead of Winter

**I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest

**I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review**

The year is 1878 and we're in the Ontario wilderness at Fort Pendleton, owned by a fur trading company. In the midst of winter, a small child rides into the main fort from an outpost, near death, with a priest's journal in her possession. Tom Hatcher, sent there to help solve some grizzly murders, soon learn that there is a shape shifting demon in their midst, one that he has faced before as the Cannery Cannibal. Hatcher and Father Xavier, an exorcist, must then find a way to get rid of the demon before it kills the entire colony, including themselves.

Let me start off by saying that there aren't very many authors that have made me afraid of sleeping with my back to the door, but that's how I felt when I was reading this! While I was reading I kept looking back, expecting one of the creatures out of this book to be staring me in the face. That being said, I really liked this book!

It is obvious that Moreland did a lot of research for this novel. There was a lot of research that must have been done on Catholicism as well as some of the Native American tribes that appear in this book. That's something that I could really appreciate. There are a lot of authors that don't take the time to research as they should.
With that, Moreland spends a lot of time giving his characters a lot of depth. From Father Xavier to Anika, all of the major characters, you really got a sense of who they were and why they were that way. You could relate to them and like them (in most cases). And then he makes the villain so despicable that you have so much hate for him, but he still scares the hell out of you.
My favorite part though, were the demons. He describes these creatures so vividly that I actually dreamed about them. And they're scary. Not to mention that there is a fair amount of gore sprinkled throughout this book, which I thought was fantastically executed.

Moreland does a fantastic job introducing the characters, making the reader connect with them while going through the story with them and making you just as scared as they are. There's also a level of suspense as you wait to find out where these creatures are coming from and how they are going to be stopped.
Overall, fantastic book and it was a fantastic read for October! If you love horror and don't mind gore, I highly recommend that you check this book out! I give it 4 out of 5 stars!

Great read

This book was fantastic. I cant wait to read this authors next novel.

Not for the faint of heart

A very well done horror with believable plot twists, loss, betrayal and redemption. The main characters are those that have lost the groundings of their lives, usually through the actions of others. These are people that could easily have given in to despair and surrendered to the evil that had already tried to destroy their lives but manage to make it through the hardships for a chance to rebuild their lives. Ultimately, in the end, this is a tale about justice and a fresh chance.
Taking place during the colonial days with the northern fur trade and involving evil spirits, deals with the devil and cannibalism. Definitely not for the faint of heart. © Night Owl Reviews

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