Until Summer Comes Around

by Glenn Rolfe

"Rolfe is the real deal, folks, and anything he writes is well worth checking out." - Gord Rollo, author of The Jigsaw Man and The Crucifixion Experiments

When fifteen year old Rocky Zukas meets a mysterious dark-haired girl named November, his world is forever changed. The young couple falls under the spell of summer love, but not everyone approves. November’s brother, Gabriel, is the keeper of the family’s secret, and big brother is always watching, growing more sinister as his bloodlust gets the best of him. Directing his attention to Rocky’s family, Gabriel aims to make sure little sister knows who is in charge. 

FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

• ISBN10: 1787583929
• ISBN13: 9781787583924
• Publish Date: 21 May 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Flame Tree Publishing
• Edition: New edition
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[zooloo1983]

I have to start off by saying I love the 80s setting, this book could be made into an 80s horror film and I would watch it, something in the region of Fright Night Esq (the original not the Colin Farrell trash!). It has blood, a lot of it, things going bump in the night and a nice sweet ole romance during a hot summer, see how that would work!

I did, unfortunately, read a review for this book on Goodreads which gave away part of the plot which made me kick myself for spying this! I mean don’t get me wrong you learn by about page 27 but I wanted to discover it by myself, so from me, you get zilch!

Rocky is our MC and he is such a loveable geek, who happens to fall in love with a young hot thang in the form of November. (See I told you totally 80s movie here!) It is quite a cute little bit to the story, where this is the light and the dark, well it’s dark. November, however, has a brother, Gabriel and he is just a little bit…shall we say…angry all the time!

Bodies are piling up, we know who is doing the killings, how they are doing it but no one else knows…yet. There is an addiction to these murders, someone getting their fix and it’s just pure frenzy. No methodical rhyme nor reason, just poor unsuspecting folk in the wrong place at the wrong time. You can feel the panic from the parents, wanting to keep their children in, but like all the stereotypical characters, they become lax to quickly and hell all breaks loose! What I will say is kudos to Rolfe, he has no qualms with killing people off, it’s a high body count, and I was shocked by two of them. I really didn’t see it coming! A sign of great writing.

To me, and back to the film element, you could imagine it with the cheesy music, the nostalgia, some OTT bits would make you cringe and other bits you would so revel in it! This really does need to be made into a film! It’s everything I adore! Think Fright Night, The Lost Boys, Stranger Things.

Even though I had read the blurb, I still wasn’t sure what to expect, I think I was expecting dark and horrifying. That isn’t this book, as I mentioned there is a lot of blood but it’s not gratuitous, it isn’t scary but it is thrilling and I could not put it down. It is a tale of summer love and woe, blood and guts and a damn good time! I was getting close to the end and I just kept speeding through to see what conclusion I would get. I really liked it, and when I saw the last two words of the novel I was like yes! Although I want to know what happens next! Lol

All in all, I did enjoy this book, defo big-screen material- hello anyone listening! It has temporarily quenched my bloodlust but I will be back for more soon.