Haven

By: Tom Deady

Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1961, the small town of Haven thought they'd gotten rid of their monster. After a series of child killings, Paul Greymore was caught carrying a wounded girl. His face, disfigured from a childhood accident, seemed to confirm he was the monster the community hoped to banish. With Paul in prison, the killings stopped.

For 17 years, Haven was peaceful again. But Paul served his time and has now returned to Haven - the town where he grew up, and the scene of his alleged crimes. Paul insists he didn't commit those crimes, and several townspeople believe him including the local priest, a young boy named Denny, and his best friend Billy.

Trouble is, now that Paul is back home, the bizarre killings have started again - and the patterns match the deaths from Haven's past. If Paul isn't the killer, who is?

Or what is? An unlikely band of adventurers attempts to uncover the truth, delving into long-hidden tunnels that might actually be inhabited by a strange, predatory creature.

Haven is a compelling horror epic in the spirit of It or Summer of Night, and a stunning debut novel from a gifted author who knows that the darkest horrors lurk inside human beings, even when there is a monster on the loose.

©2016 Cemetery Dance (Hardcover rights) Tom Deady (Paperback rights) (P)2017 Tom Deady

One of my favorite

I did not know what to expect when purchasing. Story developed quickly. Character development also quick but quite effective. Really enjoyed the listen. Would definitely recommend.

It kept me listening till the end

This is my first book by Tom Deady but will not be the last. I was hooked from the beginning and did not get distracted even though it was about 15 hours long. It was gripping and suspenseful.

The narrator is pretty good.

Hard to put down

My first time listening to this author. The book moved forward at a nice pace after the first 3 chapters. Kept me engaged and wondering what would happen next.
My only complaint; several characters in the book had more than one name, and there are a lot of characters to keep up with already. Example Moses was also Mossy and also sometimes referred to by his last name. There were a few scenes when I became confused and thought, “Who is this?” If each character had one name (first and last) it would have been less confusing. I very much enjoyed this author’s style and will check out his other titles in the future. Definitely worth a credit!

Just.Plain.Wonderful

Truly fantastic book. Thank you thank you for writing it! The narrator was perfection!!! I wish it didn't end!!!

Man Made Monster

I totally liked this book even though it was long and I could not finish in 1 day I still wanted it to continue. It contains guts, gore and hint of King’s Stand by Me. I loved the character development and really enjoyed Greymore, Denny, Mossy, and Father Murphy. This was my 1st Deady book but not my last. Highly recommend if you enjoy horror books like King’s. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. THANK YOU!

Great Characters and a Solid Story That Keeps You Reading.

I’ve had this book on my shelf for over a year now and still haven’t read it because life started getting busier. When I seen he was doing a give away for the audiobook, I jumped on it since I’ve been able to plow through those more than physical books lately.
I absolutely can see why it won a Bram Stoker Award! I have seen reviews for this book where people have compared it to Stephen Kings It and Dan Simmons Summer of Night. Although it does have similarities, it has many different takes and turns to it which makes it a very unique and solid story!
Reading (or listening) to Coming of Age books in the summertime is my favorite go to. It brings me back to my school years and all the fun summers I had as a kid. Going to the Lake, watching movies, riding bikes, and just being a kid. Times were so different, but simpler than it is now. No cell phones and not coming home until the street lights turned on. I wish my kids could experience those great times, because the newer generations don’t go out and play like we used to.
I would recommend this to any horror fan who loves a great coming of age story. It is a perfect summertime read and just moved into my top 3 books this year!

Enjoyable.

After 17 years, Paul Greymore is finally free. He didn't want to come back to Haven but had no choice. 17 years ago children went missing, Paul was found with a wounded girl and was blamed for the killings. People accepted his guilt, even though there was no real evidence and Paul had the same kind of weird marks as the girl had, because for 17 years Haven has been quiet. The butcher was put away! Now though, with Paul back in town, the killings have started back up. They are eerily similar to the ones before. Is Paul the killer?

I bought the eBook of this when it first came out because it sounded like something I'd love, so when the audio came out, I dived right in!! Plot wise, it was entertaining, fast paced and held my attention. I loved how they explained the monster and how it came to be. It was believable! I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptive writing and the level of detail the author went into and I enjoyed the overall story. So why not 5 stars, well simply because it was so similar to It by Stephen King and didn't really add anything new. It followed the same format as It and I couldn't help but compare the two. In and of itself, the book was great, I just felt like it needed something new and fresh in order to stand out more.

Character wise, I loved Billy and Denny. They were well written and developed and I loved seeing them grow throughout the book. They learn, they accept, they grow and they finally stand up for themselves. All the characters grew somewhat during the story, which was nice to see. We have the obligatory bad guys, the Sheriff and his son, Dale. Dale was horrible and I really disliked him!! My favourite was Paul though. He has gone through so much since he was a kid, and it broke my heart for him!

In all, this was a good read. I enjoyed the story and am happy that it was sort of left open! If you enjoy the 80's horror feel, then you will enjoy this!

I was voluntarily provided this audiobook for free from the author, narrator, or publisher. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.

Average at best

It's an okay story. Nothing you haven't read before in creature features and the narrator sounds like he had a sore throat.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!

I recently listened to another book narrated by Matt Godfrey and loved his voice so I looked for more. This one came up and sounded good. Good doesn’t even begin to cover it. It was amazing. Truly Stephen King-ish as advertised. I am now starting on another Tom Deady book with Matt Godfrey as the narrator. I am glad I took a chance on him.

Hope there is another story

This was gripping from the start. Characters are either loved it hated, a must hear