Sinkhole

Sinkhole: A Horror Story by April A. Taylor

Author, April A. Taylor

I was fortunate enough to be one of the few that was given this book by Ms. Taylor herself.  What’s most interesting about this horror novel is that it is, in my mind, completely and totally relevant.  And anytime a horror story, tv show, film can get into my head and show me that this is something that actually could happen, that’s when it’s the creepiest and scariest to me.
 
[Side Note: Things like IT, Nightmare on Elm Street, Puppet Master, Leprechaun, etc…those movies and stories don’t really scare me.  In fact, fiction RARELY scares me, because well, it’s fiction.  There’s usually some aspect of it that makes it a non-probable scenario.  Take something like Trucks or Maximum Overdrive.  Great stories, and I love Maximum Overdrive.  But, totally not scary.  In fact, almost comical because I have a hard time wrapping my head around inanimate objects coming to life with the sole purpose of wiping out human existence.  To me, since they would need us to survive, it seems a little farfetched.  However, you take this story here, Sinkhole, and it hits a creeped-out chord with me.]
 
I’ll start with sharing the blurb summary I was given that made me want to read the book.
 
“Could you learn to get along with a complete stranger - or even your worst enemy - to save your life?

A sinkhole swallows a girl in Michigan. Fire shoots into the sky in Pennsylvania. Deer attacks leave people hospitalized in West Virginia. And this is all just the beginning of a catastrophic series of global events that will make you question everything you think you know about the planet, nature, and humanity.

From an award-winning, Amazon #1 best-selling author comes this harrowing tale of a world gone mad. Can anyone survive when Mother Nature unleashes her bad side?”
 
Now, here’s what initially got me interested.  There’s an actual sinkhole in my major metro area that the city has refused to fix for over a year.  Then, you add to that the incredible awe factor of Centralia, PA.; a now near ghost-town wrought to desertion and devastation by what is called a coal-seam fire.  That’s when there’s a large coal mine on fire underground.  For a very over simplified example: Imagine a Pac-Man game board.  Now, picture that anywhere dots can be either has been, is now, or will be at a later time burning coal that reaches a temperature of up to 1350 degrees Fahrenheit underground.  At that temperature the asphalt splits and cracks open, sinkholes open up and swallow whatever is in its grasp, the climate in the area is affected, things won’t grow in certain areas, fumes and vapors seeping up through the cracks in the ground can be toxic and unhealthy, sometimes lethal.  And the problem with such a kind of coal fire is there is no way to smother it or put it out.  It’s coal burning in a coal mine.  It just has to burn away all its fuel and then it will be over.  Unfortunately, that can be decades upon decades.  It all depends on how much coal is in the mine below the surface.
 
So, that’s the hook about sinkholes.  But, check this out.  Taylor has truly brought to life an idea that, while in a fictional novel form may seem a little outside the box, I see as something that could actually happen in a sense and most likely will with global warming now on steroids.
 
So, now picture this…
 
You’ve got the sinkholes dropping ground beneath people, places and things all over the nation.  Now imagine that Mother Nature herself is EXTREMELY pissed off, and man do I mean pissed.  I mean, we’re talking a whole new realm of pissed here.  Like Mother Nature took “pissed off” into The Twilight Zone and unleashed a new dimension of hatred, frustration and vengeance upon the human race.  And it’s not just the plants, the grass and the trees, the wind and the rain.  It’s the animals too.  It’s like every deer in the country has turned into Cujo, but without the rabies.
 
Got that situation in your head?  I mean, the world very well could be ending.  Can you see it?
 
Now imagine trying to survive that with your worst enemy, your total and complete nemesis, the one person that, when you see their face, you just want to smash it in with a Mack truck with barbed wire wrapped around it’s grill, covering the nine inch spikes imbedded in the front end at every square quarter inch as well to ensure full disfigurement.  I mean, you have to try to survive all this and the person that you have to try to survive with is the one  person who’s voice makes you cringe, their mere presence makes you want to nauseated and when they talk, you can’t help but vomit from the constant smell of bullshit coming out their mouths.
 
It’s one thing to have to try to survive this kind of ordeal with your significant other or your family, but your enemy?  Hell, all would be difficult.
 
I will tell you this book is a very fast read.  We switch back and forth between locations, which are all real places, by the way.  The chapters are short and most have some kind of action in them.  I will also tell you there is a character named Don who is a horrific poster boy for Donald Trump.  It’s mortifying, terrifying and hysterical all at the same time.  This author, April Taylor, is very good at giving you a variety of characters in this novel.  That coupled with the different locations where many various things are happening simultaneously keeps the story alive, interesting and fast paced.  It also keeps you on the edge of your seat because each next chapter is taking you slightly back to pick up that particular story and then give you more.  Then you stop and move on to the next location and next set of problems.  It keeps your complete attention and definitely gives you a few OMG moments.
 
I loved this book.  Not only because I could relate to parts of the story but also because Taylor chose to use real places, thus making the story feel more real and true to life.  Also, I’ve often wondered what it would be like (or if/when it will happen) if Mother Nature really just gave us all the finger.  A version of that is coming with global warming, as I said earlier.  When climates change, ecosystems change.  That affects farming and the species living in those areas.  All species have to start to adapt, which means that behaviors are going to change.  Eventually, this is all going to trickle down to the human race.  So, what’s Mother Nature gonna do to us for mistreating her all these years.
 
If you’d like to get one person’s very creative and, in my opinion, even possible ideas on what nature would do to us…get this book.  You won’t regret it.
 
RATINGS
5/5 Stars

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Author of:
Alexa Bentley Paranormal Mysteries Series
Midnight Myths and Fairy Tales Series
The Haunting of Cabin Green

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