Book Review: Camp Blaze by Jon Athan

At Camp Blaze—a camp with a history of tragedy and murder—a group of counselors are stalked and slaughtered by a masked killer. Due to the missing bodies, the murders are brushed off as 'disappearances.' Lead senior counselor Regina Park, however, begins to suspect foul play. As the body count rises, Regina and her peers begin to suspect everyone in their fight for survival...

Jon Athan, the author of Butcher Road and Bad Appetites, invites you to spend a horrifying night at Camp Blaze in this brutal throwback to classic slashers...

WARNING: This book contains scenes of graphic violence. This book is not intended for those easily offended or appalled. Please enjoy at your own discretion.

My Review: 
When Regina last sees Taylor and Carol, they are sneaking off into the woods together. The next day they are gone and other camp counsellors are also starting to vanish. The camp owner is concerned and wonders about closing the camp and sending the kids home, and the police can find no trace of any bodies or serial killer. With mistrust rising amongst the remaining staff, night falls and hell is about to be unleashed again on Camp Blaze.

Camp Blaze has a very bloody history, which begs the question WHY would anyone open it up again. 13 years ago, a group of camp counsellors were murdered and nobody was caught. Prior to that, a young boy called Ash was kidnapped and tortured to death in a cult killing. Now a shady figure is lurking in the dark again, sights trained firmly on the counsellors and taking the chance to start picking them off as they stray into the woods alone. First Taylor and Carol are hunted down as they go to the tool shed for some privacy. Another is tracked and killed in broad daylight as he supervises the assault course stragglers and a third vanishes from the archery range. With no bodies, the police are at a loss to explain what is going on.

Things take a surprising turn when Regina witnesses a murder in front of her which nobody else seems to see and the police can't find the body. Some of her co-workers are scared about what might be happening while others suspect that Regina might have something to do with it. Now camp owner Alvin has no choice but to close the camp the next day. The problem is, there might be nobody left by morning to escape alive... 

I liked the Friday the 13th feel to the camp with various people suddenly going missing, and menace stalking through the woods. I thought there was a nice level of tension building up through the book with a satisfying amount of deaths to keep the reader interested. Then the book explodes into a bloody night of fear and death for those remaining which I really liked. The plot was twisting and threw up a nice little surprise or two and it went along at a breakneck pace. It may have taken it's start from Friday the 13th but it certainly went into its own plot in the second half.

I liked the fact that there was never a dull moment in the book and the pacing throughout the book was certainly good. The writing is never going to win any awards but it just told the story and swept me along so I certainly have no complaints. I was happy with the mixture of brutal murder and tension, and I also liked that a real effort was made to develop the main character Regina, through her friendship with a shy teenager. These interactions were a good way to lead in and out of each murder episode. One of the most interesting plot choices was that there was none of the 'counsellors off having sex' trope that appears in these camp horror books. That was actually a refreshing change to see the plot stick to the horror instead of sex!

This was the first book I'd tried by the author and I was pleased to enjoy it. I've now downloaded another pile and hopefully there will be happy horror adventures to come!

Read January 2018
4 stars