A First Review!
17h
When a book has you simultaneously wanting to devour every page AND hide under the covers 🫣📖
I'm literally three pages from finishing Monsterland: Orcus Rising and my heart is STILL racing. Gregory Warren Burgess, where have you been hiding?! This man took everything I thought I knew about creature horror and absolutely shredded it. Fair warning: if you're planning to read this alone at night, maybe... don't? 🌙💀
What absolutely floors me is how Burgess weaves his incredible life experiences into pure nightmare fuel. Here's an author who sailed around the world, taught in Indonesia, spent a decade in special education, worked at the CDC, AND helped develop iPhone surgical technology—and somehow channeled ALL of that into the most authentically terrifying monster story I've read in years. You can feel his understanding of human psychology, crisis response, and survival instincts bleeding through every page. When characters make split-second decisions, they feel REAL because this guy has probably seen real people in real crises. 🌊⚡
The pacing is absolutely relentless—I started this thinking it would be a quick weekend read and ended up in a white-knuckled marathon session because I physically cannot put it down. Burgess doesn't just write monsters; he crafts an entire mythology that feels both ancient and terrifyingly plausible. The way he builds tension through character relationships before unleashing hell? Chef's kiss 👌
About to turn this final page and I'm genuinely sad it's ending. Also slightly relieved because my nervous system needs a BREAK. If you're looking for horror that respects your intelligence while absolutely destroying your peace of mind, this is IT. Gregory Warren Burgess just earned a permanent spot on my auto-buy list! 🔥
Monsterland: Orcus Rising by Gregory Warren Burgess (@greg.burgess1965)
Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4jReeA6
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