The Sorrows

by Jonathan Janz

[zooloo1983]

After a particularly rubbish day yesterday, I picked this book up at 8pm and at 12:30 I had finished! I may have had a little doze in between! Jonathan Janz is fast becoming my go-to author for horror for sure, with such a huge back catalogue I am not going to be bored and a squeal to The Sorrows to read well see you later! As you all know I ADORED The Siren and the Specter (see review here) for the ghost story and where that book chilled me to the bone, The Sorrows was more about the brutality and the gore.


What do both books have in common? Jonathan and a huge slicing of CRAZY TOWN, and not the kind you would see me hanging about in!!

Like his other book, I felt like that this could be on the big screen, Rob Zombie style maybe, or 80’s throwback to the Hammer horror or even my favourite American Horror Story. The gore, abuse, sex, the horror!

Ben, the hero, is a composer with a type of creative block and his partner Eddie, the jock, the arranger, have plans to travel to Castle Island also known as The Sorrows. They need to complete their composition for the infamous Lee Stanley’s new movie. Eva, the hot vixen, also Lee’s “assistant” and Claire, the wholesome heroine, a new intern travel with them to the foreboding island.

There are a few storylines in this novel, all keep you the edge of your seat with bated breath waiting to see what would happen next! We have a diary from the past talking about a mysterious little boy called Gabriel and the wrongdoing and terror that occurred on the island in 1925.

Whilst the foursome are the island, things start off being just a little bit spooky. Strange sightings take place, violent apparitions, voices are heard and take control of people, mirrored walls and secret passages, the brutality of some of the characters, and finally the goat hooved beast of the island.


Then tension builds in the books with little tidbits of supernatural, and I swear when I was reading this in, late at night as I do, I heard music, the sweet haunting of piano music and I don’t have a piano!! Anyway back to the tension, it was palpable as you delve further into the mystery of the island and the past. A couple of things I felt were a bit too inconceivable and unexplained but I think it that it added to the magic of the book, because let us be honest when you watch films the unexpected always happens!

Jonathan knows how to keep his audience hooked. This book too is his debut!! You can tell he is learning the trade in this book but what a belter for a debut. So dark and twisty and my cup of tea. I really cannot stop thinking of this book as a film on the big screen. It would be a combination of some of the fabulous and the cheesy 80s horror films. There would be plenty of spine-chilling scares and the damn right terrifying too.

And what did I love the most, apart from needing to read the next book….there is no respite at the end!

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!!!!!!!