Andrew Van Wey

“𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥? 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦?”

Whoa. This book was unexpectedly revolting and twisted in all of the best ways. If I had to compare it to something, I would say it read like a mix of Stranger Things and American Horror Story. It is gruesome, descriptive, bizarre, otherworldly, and creative. Honestly, show more as repulsive and strange as this book was, I absolutely loved it.

This is a beautifully sick and disturbed story that includes multiple POVs and bounces back between the past and present. The majority of the story takes place in the mid-90s in New England. The author includes tons of nostalgic references, which worked well for me as a reader born in the late 80s. I enjoyed the time hopping and multiple perspectives. It was easy to follow, but you cannot ever trust the narrator. Or can you? I still don’t know.

It is a story of five friends with too many secrets to count. There is murder, fire, memory loss, art, unexplainable creatures, and an investigation.

I truly believe it is best to go in blind like I did, but please, please DM or check the content warnings. Because there are many. Not for the faint of heart (or stomach).

👏🏼👏🏼𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙 to those who enjoy horror with sci-fi components.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre🎭: Horror
Pace🏃🏼‍♀️: Fast
Reminds me of: Stranger Things + American Horror Story
⚠️CW⚠️: 𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐒 – please DM or check with author

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯. show less

Andrew contacted me through email and asked me if I would like to review his book. I, of course, said "yes". I didn't know Andrew and hadn't heard of his book, but this is not unusual. There are so many books out there and so little time to read. What I have to say is-- if you only have time to read one book-- read this one. It's worth it.

The Synopsis: For art professor Daniel Rineheart, life's a dream. His children's laughter fills the halls of his home, and his wife's embrace lulls him to show more sleep. But summer's end heralds the arrival of three disturbing omens. A lost bird, thousands of miles from home. A beautiful student with whom he shares an insidious past.

...and a mysterious painting, dripping with malignant secrets.

It wasn't the strangest creation he'd ever seen, but close. A girl with a wounded, sack-like face; a boy with pinhole eyes and a cruel sneer; and a distant shadow peering out from behind a dying tree, all stared back at him from that perfect painted canvas.

Yet it wasn't only the subjects that challenged him, but the riddle that came with it.

"Here in Art, Denial."

Four words shrouding a secret that awakens a surreal nightmare. Where objects from his past manifest in canvas and oil. Where painted clocks tick-tock away in the dark hours before dawn, and a missing dog whimpers from between the walls. Where the painted children leave the canvas to stalk the halls of his once quiet and happy home.

And where all answers lead back to a blind artist and an impossible creation, one that threatens to destroy his family and devour his sanity.



Forsaken lives up to all of the potential of the synopsis. The prologue sets the mood for the rest of the story, dark and tragic. What follows is a dark and scary story with all the creepiness one expects from a good horror novel. We follow Daniel down into the darkness beyond the painting and watch as his family is swallowed up too.

The reader is left wondering whether the painting is really supernatural or if Daniel's starting the long spiral into madness or both. The plot spirals in an effective manner that keeps you guessing until the end. The end wraps up the package with a satisfying bow.

Honestly, I was a little creeped out reading it at night, before bed, as is my custom. After the lights were out, I experienced some trepidation. Normally, I pass out without a second thought. To me, that screams success on the part of the writer. If you can make me lose sleep because I'm still thinking about the book- you win- and so do I.

I've seen lots of authors claim that their work is for fans of King, Koontz and Straub. This is the first time I've agreed. show less

An invisible killer is murdering people in the most ghastly way possible, tearing them apart from the inside. A neuro-divergent investigator from the Foundation (a classified organization which doesn’t officially exist) teams up with a female FBI agent on the cusp of retirement and a blind woman who can leave her body at will in order to stop the slaughter.

Blind Site is a fantastic story, very original in this era of thriller-overload. I was captivated from the beginning, completely hooked show more by the plot and characters that leap from the page. Point of view switches between Michaels, the Foundation representative with an unnamed neurological disorder; Denise Carruthers, a middle-aged FBI agent who is separating from her wife and struggling to let her college-age daughter choose her own future; and Caitlyn Grey, a young blind woman with agoraphobia who makes a living by ‘blinking:’ stepping out of her body to travel to remote places, searching out specialized getaways for her wealthy clients. In addition, several secondary characters get their own time on the page and stage, but Van Wey handles this so deftly that I never once got confused as to whose head we were in.

In addition to the storyline, the actual writing is top-notch. Use of language and metaphor and specific descriptive details give color and nuance to what is already a good read. In some places I found the prose to be a bit distracting, because it is so good it calls attention to itself rather than the story, but not so much that I found it bothersome.

I did have a couple of brain-niggles that wanted explanation for things that didn’t quite add up (why an immaterial being should leave footprints, for example) but I was able for the most part to suspend my disbelief, because Van Wey has done such thorough research for every bit of his story that his knowledge and authority shine through at every point without becoming pedantic.

The story changes vectors about halfway through, transforming from an investigation to a more action-oriented damage control operation. I found the second half less interesting then the first, although definitely still worth reading. There’s a very long and detailed car chase which I could have done without, but I am someone who is usually bored by car chases in movies, so this might just be a personal tic.

All in all, highly recommended.

(I received a free ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.) show less

Head Like A Hole was a fever dream fueled with body horror, gore, violence, 90s nostalgia, slight of hand cosmic horror and then ricochets violently into sci-fi.

One thing to note because I do feel this is a deal breaker for some readers is the use of pop culture references to imbue the 90s grunge dual timeline. It gave me the warm fuzzies albeit it is sometimes heavy handed but I lived the era so it just made the story that much better.

This book is filled with misty New England sea side show more atmosphere and plenty of brow furrowing because it’s absolute madness of not knowing what the hell is going on. Sentient head in a crab trap? Roll with it because it only gets weirder from there. And bloodier. Answers are to be had at the end, no matter how bizarre, but it’s definitely worth it having your eyeballs whirl around in confusion while waiting. Superb and unique body horror.

Truly a fun read ! show less