One of the best things about heading towards the end of the year is reading novels that blend Christmas, horror and thriller themes together. This is what made me dive into You Better Watch Out by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth. While it was filled with thrilling moments, it lacked in the holiday department.
Forty-eight hours until Christmas, Jessica Kane wakes up with blurred vision, ears ringing, and in excruciating pain. A gash in her head and blood running down her face, the last thing she remembers is going for a run and something or someone hitting her in the head. It doesn’t take her long to realize she is trapped in an unknown, deserted town with five other strangers who share similar stories of being attacked and stranded there. Unsure why and how they got there, she knows one thing for certain, she has to find a way out.
That becomes nearly impossible when someone is meticulously orchestrating their deaths, one by one, and the only thing Jessica can do is watch the life leave their eyes. The fenced-in town is the killer’s very own playground and there’s nowhere left to hide… she better watch out because she could be next.
This was my first time reading a James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth novel and it was actually much better than I even expected. A locked door horror style tale with a great concept and hopeful narrative. However, the book did lack in overall execution, character development and use of the holiday theme. While that seems like a lot of issues with a book, how could it even be good, that tells you how much a didn’t expect from this book.
The cast of characters are plentiful and all have unique backgrounds, but these backgrounds could’ve use a bit more depth and could use some fleshing out. Additionally, these characters were hard to tell the difference between throughout the book, this is even with outstanding audiobook narration from Barrie Kreinik. Each character should be easy to differentiate but seem to have blend together at moments. Kreinik’s narration helped a bit, but that leads me to believe I likely would’ve been lost when reading the physical book.
Christmas thriller is what hooked me into reading this novel in the first place, but this is where I was disappointed the most. With a title such as You Better Watch Out, a cover which features a wrapped knife as a present and an opening sentence in the solicitation that leads you to believe the novel will focus around the holiday. What we get is a few sentences here and there that let you know Christmas is in the air, but if they left them out of the story, this tale could take place anytime. A let down when you hope for more holiday cheer being taken away.
You Better Watch Out was worth the read and did feature some of my favorite overall themes, such as locked door style thriller. What the book did feature was some brutal kills and is not for the faint of heart.
You Better Watch Out hits bookstores everywhere on October 15, 2024 from St. Martin’s Press. The audiobook, narrated by Barrie Kreinik, can be pre-ordered at Libro.fm!
