Deadlock

Deadlock by Tim Curran
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When presented with an opportunity to have a $50,000 gambling debt wiped out in exchange for spending the night on an allegedly haunted ship, Charlie Petty jumps at the chance. Will Charlie Petty survive the night or will the violent history of the ship catch up with him?

I got this from DarkFuse via Netgalley.

Every time I read a Tim Curran book, he rises a couple notches in my esteem. Deadlock is no different.

I have to say that I wasn't overly impressed with Deadlock at first. A haunted ship? Big whoop. Then the Curran magic kicked in. Charlie starts getting more and more paranoid as his night goes on and he learns more about the horrible things that happened on the ship in the past. For most of the book, the horror was strictly atmospheric.

Things really took off around the 70% mark and the book was impossible to put down after that. Lots of revolting things happened and I almost gagged a few times. By the end, Tim Curran's talent was affirmed once again. And the last line was one last kick to the groin.

Deadlock is a delightful horror novella that isn't for the squeamish. Four out of five stars.

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