Michael McBride (1)

4.5 stars!

This audiobook was brutal! Seriously, when I say that, you know it's brutal.

Setting that aside for a moment, this book was extremely well written. There were a few times I wished that I could highlight certain passages. I also thought the narrator was good, though I was not fond of the voice he used for the first villain. Other than that I enjoyed his performance.

Back to the brutality, it's not torture porn, (because I mostly avoid that type of thing), but brutal as far as show more children are concerned. Violence towards children is very hard to read about and, as it turns out, it's even harder to listen to. A few times I was extremely surprised that the scenes turned out the way they did. Seriously, there were some jaw dropping moments.

In spite of the sometimes difficult scenes, the narrative was fantastic. As far as villains go, this book contains the best I've seen in quite some time.

To summarize, this audiobook was very, very good. It's brutal, but well written and fast paced. The author deftly handles a few different viewpoints and the reader is compelled to finish the book and finish it NOW. I think this book would work well in print or as I "read" it, in audio.

Highly recommended to horror readers that can handle this type of violence.

*Michael McBride provided a free copy of the audiobook through Audible in exchange for an honest review. This is it.*
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The New York Times reports that in 2013, the Pima County (Arizona) Medical Examiner’s office unveiled a computerized mapping database bearing the records of 1,826 migrants who died in the desert, listing GPS coordinates for where they were found and, if known, their sex, age and cause of death. There were 463 deaths in fiscal year 2012 alone.

NPR interviewed Border Patrol Agent Mario Escalante who blames the increases on human smugglers who lure naive crossers into dangerous show more situations.

"They weren't told that they were going to have to walk for days. They weren't told that they were going to have to go over mountain ranges. They weren't told that they were going to have to sleep in the hot desert or maybe the cold desert," Escalante says.

Mike McBride does much more than tell a supernatural story in Sunblind—although he does that masterfully well. He brings into light the horror suffered by a small group of people, each from different walks of life, that chose to roll the dice and try to cross to what they hoped would be a better life. Some moved to help relatives, others to escape their past, but they all had one thing in common. They had no idea of what was in store for them.

Plotwise, the story deftly shifts between the perspective of one of the immigrants and a group of three border control agents who have just rescued her and are now looking for other members of her party, and getting increasingly horrific evidence of a terrible series of events. Slowly insinuated into the story, creeping around at the edges, a flicker of reflection from eyes watching from the distance, is a second threat. Because not only is the straggling band of travelers dying slowly with each step in the merciless desert, they are also being hunted.

An amazing story. Powerful for the human element. You care about this group of travelers. They are not saints. Far from it. But they feel real. Real stories, real people. The Border Control Agents are fearless in their efforts to track down the remainder of the party and rescue or at least find out what happened to them. McBride could have written the story without the supernatural element and it still would have been riveting.

The Supernatural element is also extremely well done. Slow reveal really ramps up the tension and when we finally know what we are dealing with, it is so much worse than we could have imagined. This is my fourth book by McBride and far away my favorite (although I also really enjoyed Snowblind—which strangely has no relation to this story).

In the end, you can dismiss the supernatural element as being make-believe, but you cannot deny the ---existence of those monstrous human smugglers who today dropped off groups of people in the desert with no concern for their welfare. We can only hope for their safety.

5 Stars. Great horror story. Great story period. You won’t forget this one. show less

I love the way Michael McBride has left the door of this brilliant short novel open (even though that door is cold and there is snow coming in!!) for a sequel. I also found his notes informative and very useful for the enjoyment and progression of the story, in particular the subtleties in the naming of the “Alferd Packer Grill”

The use of landscape blended with unexpected and extreme weather conditions is a very powerful tool in the hands of an accomplished author. Who can ever forget show more Jack Torrance newly appointed caretaker at the isolated and snowbound Overlook Hotel and the sad events that followed.
4 friends Coburn, Baumann, Shore and Vigil are once again embarking on their yearly elk hunting expedition to the aptly named and snowbound Mt Isolation. They are forced to seek refuge when Vigil suffers severe trauma and injury in a fall and are now along surrounded by the harsh elements of nature and something evil and unknown....the scene is set! “Someone or something was still out there. Watching them. Waiting”...

A horror story (to appreciate the full effects!) is best enjoyed alone and possibly with the aid of an alcoholic beverage as the silence and tension can be unbearable. I sometimes read very early in the morning and approaching winter, here in the UK, the wind may be howling accompanied by a little rain....and then I read the following....

“Coburn crept closer, prepared to grab the branch, toss it away from the house, and sprint back toward the open window. He had already loosened his grip on the rifle when his brain caught up with his eyes. It wasn’t a branch. It was a hand. A human hand at the end of a severed forearm.Tied to a bent, rusted nail in the door by a tendon. Swinging gently back and forth at the behest of the wind. The curled fingers raking the wood.Scratch.....Scratch....Scratch...”

An important element I use to judge a good story is....Do I think about it the following day? Where is the author going? Are the characters real? Can I sympathize with them?....more importantly in a horror story....does it scare the hell out of me?? Let me tell you dear readers of my review that I cycle to and from work each day (ok you say what has that got to do with it....hold on I will tell you!) My 12 mile route home in the evenings is dark and lonely with only me my bike and my little light for company...the mind plays funny things and “Snowblind” became my mental companion this week as I struggled through the darkness....what was that I began to see to my left and right....????

“A lone silhouette separated from the shadows. Large and hunched. Low to the ground. Was it a bear? He couldn’t....couldn’t quite tell. He tried to zero in on it through the scope- Another silhouette materialized from the woods to the right of the first...another to its left...”

Michael McBride has written a novel that blends all the elements of good horror writing to produce a masterpiece of tension and fear and one I will remember for a very long time. Highly recommended! show less

The first thing I'll note upon finishing Michael McBride's SUNBLIND is how utterly exhausted I am. The descriptions of atmosphere and human suffering are so well done that reading them is better than any resistance training currently on the market. I was tense throughout the entire novel, which leads me to the fact that you do not read this book, you experience it. More than once, I found myself sweating, as if I were the one broiling under the unflagging sun of the Sonoran desert. Not to show more mention, I was perpetually thirsty, and actually felt bad whenever I broke down and grabbed a bottle of water because the characters didn't have that option.

As stated above, SUNBLIND takes place in the unforgiving climate of one of America's hottest deserts. The location is a character unto itself, so much so that I'm reminded of the arctic tundra of John Carpenter's THE THING and the jungle in PREDATOR. The most terrifying monster in this book is the oppressive, soul-crushing heat of the locale, which is saying something, indeed, because the night-dwelling threats of SUNBLIND are no joke either.

I love a good creature feature, and have been hunting for one for the past few months. As most of you already know, I don't read synopses 99% of the time, and I think that worked out even better for me this time around than it has in the past. The title led me to believe this was about some unfortunate soul getting lost in the desert after sunburning their peepers, which would have been a rad tale, but that's not the case here. Luckily, what goes down in McBride's newest DarkFuse release is an even cooler premise.

The story hops back and forth in time, telling the tale from two POVs: Mayra, a young Mexican woman whose on a journey to enter America illegally after the death of her sister, has her story told in first person past tense, so we get an in depth feel for her and her struggle. Fantastic decision by the author, if you ask me, as we're privy to just how bad the situation is. I don't know what it feels like to slowly die from heat exposure, dehydration, and hunger, but McBride sold me on never travelling to Arizona by way of Mexico without a case of sunblock, a pack mule loaded down with Dasani, and three or four dozen cheeseburgers. Mayra is a damn strong character, too. No Mary Sues here. The second POV covers Border Patrol Agent Rivera, and occurs in third person present tense, which added a sense of urgency to the situation at hand. Both of these combined proved the perfect story-telling device, because I didn't see the ending coming. McBride made me comfortable in my assumptions then expertly yanked the rug out from under me.

All throughout SUNBLIND, I felt like I was reading a Preston and Child book. This is by no means a complaint, only letting you know that, if you like P&C's books, you will love this one. The monsters are cool, and McBride manages to make them believable. Their motivations are understandable, as is how the author justifies why they haven't been found and how they've sustained themselves in such a harsh climate. As with P&C's books, RELIC and RELIQUARY, I'm left feeling thankful that things like this most likely do not exist and never will. Dear Evolution, let's keep it that way, 'kay? Thanks bunches.

This book is also nearly impossible to put down. It seemed as if every chapter ended on a cliffhanger.

In summation: SUNBLIND is a terrifying hike through an unyielding location populated by some of the most believable monsters in recent memory. There's plenty of viscera for gorehounds, location description that's far from boring, as well as some of the best character writing I've read. I'll be delving into McBride's catalog again real soon. My highest recommendation.

*I received this book in return for my honest review, which you have just read. Many thanks to DarkFuse and Netgalley for the chance to give my opinion of the material.* show less