Under the Blade

By: Matt Serafini

Narrated by: Chloe Cannon

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Some campfire stories are real.

It’s been 25 years since Cyrus Hoyt’s infamous killing spree at Camp Forest Grove. A quarter-century since teenage counselor Melanie Holden left him mortally wounded and escaped with her life.

Today, Melanie’s teaching career has bottomed out and left her with no choice but to return to the scene of the crime. Motivated by a lucrative publishing offer, as well as a desire to free herself from recurring nightmares, Melanie’s research into the murderer’s life brings resistance from all directions as she uncovers skeletons in Forest Grove’s past.

Because of Melanie, a long-held secret is about to be revealed - one that somebody is willing to kill for in order to protect. And Melanie is going to discover she has a lot more to lose than just her mind. The stalk-and-slash suspense of Friday the 13th meets the small town mystery of Sharp Objects in this white-knuckle horror story of a final girl’s revenge.

©2018 Matt Serafini (P)2019 Matt Serafini

Critic reviews

"Echoes of horror's paperback glory days, but spills new blood with a modern protagonist and style. I loved it!." (Brian Keene, author of The Rising and The Complex)

“A great book.” (Shock Waves Podcast)

“It takes you on one hell of a ride. I could go into more details, but it would be a shame to know more before you read it, and read it you should. This book gets a strong recommendation.” (Scream Magazine)

Good but not what I wanted

I wanted Friday the 13th and it seemed at first like I was going to get just that. But then the book took a different turn. I won’t say which movie it takes a turn after but you should be able to spot it rather quickly.

I enjoyed the book though. Narrator was good.

I would recommend this title.

An exciting tale with lots of twists and turns!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

The first part of the book will lead you to believe that it will be a slasher in the vein of Friday the 13th but this story will take you on a roller coaster and leave lots of twists and turns! This book is not your typical serial killer/final girl story. It's very unique and the farther along I got the more intrigued I was, desperately wanting to know what happened next. I highly recommend this book!

Fantastic Slasher. Or is it?

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

With a title like Under the Blade, you have to expect some kind of slasher type story. Right? Well, you might be right and you might be wrong. I am becoming a big fan of Matt Serafini. He always seems to take some traditional horror tropes and put some new spins on them or in this case mashes them up with some other tropes. Chloe Cannon is fantastic as the narrator as well. She really makes the character come alive. Very well done on all fronts.

I never really know how much to reveal about the storyline, because I don't ever want to spoil anything or give anything away. There's a final girl going back to the town where she was almost killed to do a biographical story on how she survived. The problem is that when she arrives, things are not as they seem. It appears her killer from before is still around somehow, but now there is so much more going on. I loved how this story began to unfold in ways I did not expect. You hit a point in the story and, as you might expect, everything blows up in chaos, but not the chaos you might expect. So good. Loved every bit of it. Read Matt Serafini now. On to the next Serafini book.

Not What I was Expecting

It starts out like a murder mystery thriller until the last 1/3 of the book then becomes horror. Felt so bad for Melanie from beginning to end which is surprising with many twists and turns. I enjoyed it and 1st listen by author. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. THANK YOU

solid!

I definitely enjoyed this story and didn't anticipate the turn it took! I thought the narrator did a good job as well but in an average way. definitely recommend if you love a slasher story that goes differently than you'd anticipate.

Entertaining mix of mystery and slasher theme

I received a free copy of this book for an honest review and I honestly went into it thinking it would be cheesy or trying too hard to be 'horror-like', but the execution of the story and narration was extremely entertaining! I highly recommend.

Loved it

This starts out as a slasher but ends up being so much more
The perfect blend of mystery and horror to keep you on edge
Excellent narration from chloe she really enhanced the story
A Pleasant surprise I highly recommend
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

An okay story with an interesting twist on the slasher genre

Serafini has writing chops for days but the book lost me a few times when skipping around to different characters and not talking about the plot at hand. This could be because of listening to the audiobook version and me not paying attention at times, but the author does have an expository style of writing. It’s a good story at its core with some brutal death scenes and a great “twist” ending and explanation of why the slasher is the way he is. Overall though, It just failed to grab me and hang on to me the way I feel a slasher story should.

Slasher with a twist

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

I Need a Sequel!

So good, I love the ending. I absolutely did not see the plot twist in the book coming, but at the same time it didn't feel like it was coming out of left field. I want a book about before the story started, after the story started, and about every other part of this book we didn't see. Serafini does a great job of making a believable world with a history so compelling that it leaves you hungry to see all the parts that were left out!