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The Brother's Curse' is a novella both sweet and sour, with a great deal of the sourness owed in no small part to the reek of rotting corpses galor. The faint of heart and grammar nazis alike are advised to turn away; this horror story might just be more than their tender hearts can bear.
Set in the town of Lakeview Falls, USA, 'The Brother's Curse' centres around the trials both occult and romantic of 24-year-old college student, Crystal Francois. Previously off attending college in the big city, the grisly murder of both her parents prompts Crystal to return home to Lakeview Falls and her younger sister, Alexandria. She also returns to rejoin a clutch of friends (all of whom range in description from "gorgeous" to "beautiful") who are all keen to welcome her back into the small-town fold by celebrating her 25th birthday. The catch? Crystal's return also coincides with a rash of horrifyingly brutal murders in the Lakeview Falls area, most of which involve the flaying of at least one (male) victim. When Crystal's aunt gifts her a mysterious family heirloom for her birthday, the terrifying chaos around Lakeview seems to fixate its bloodlust directly on and around Crystal. One thing becomes quickly apparent as 'The Brother's Curse' gathers steam; the modelling-agency-escapee residents of this town are in no way prepared for the evil that has made itself at home among them.
One of the strengths of the story is how quickly it throws the reader directly into the rising action. Crystal isn't even home yet when the local sheriff and his team of erstwhile young deputies are dispatched to deal with a clutch of corpses found dangling fleshless from the streetlights. The vivid, grotesque way in which the crime scene - and indeed gore in general throughout the book - is described could make even the most hardened horror consumers queasy. There is also something subtly unsettling about the way in which the residents of Lakeview Falls react to the mounting carnage as the story progresses. They seem to exude a certain nonchalance about the whole affair, as if they are so desensitized to such violence by this point that they can react to one of their friends burning to death in a flaming car with a cavalier "We are all saddened by what happened" (Chapter 18). On that note however, 'The Brother's Curse' does somewhat distract from its promising plot with the heavy amount of focus placed on the myriad of romantic/sexual entanglements surrounding Crystal. At any one point in time she has no less than two similarly "gorgeous" boys literally breaking into her house to be with her. This is largely an element of personal preference though, as relationship-centric paranormal franchises such as 'The Vampire Diaries' and 'Teen Wolf' - which 'The Brother's Curse' harkens to - enjoy enormous success within their respective fan-bases.
From a technical perspective, 'The Brother's Curse' does some things very right, while other things could certainly use a bit more polish. The novella's cover, arguably one of the most important aspects of attracting new readers, is unique and eye-catching. The image of a face (Jason Warwick's?) peering out from beneath taloned fingers is both creepy and aesthetically sharp. Likewise a lot of care is put into the book's lead-up in the form of a detailed copyright, a cast list and a prologue. If 'The Brother's Curse' were to be published tomorrow, pretty much everything is already present and ready for incorporation into the finished product. However, 'The Brother's Curse' would need some fairly heavy-handed grammar editing before it appeared on the shelves in your local Chapters. Reader engagement is also hampered somewhat by the frequent breaking of a cardinal rule of writing: show, don't tell. Although on one hand there is no room for misinterpretation of character interactions and emotions as they unfold, there is also no room for the reader to draw their own conclusions. The core premise of 'The Brother's Curse' is solid though, with a college-horror-esque setting which has been successful time and time again in the horror movie genre. In summary, a thorough grooming by a good editor should be enough to clean up any of the aforementioned issues and let the real meat and bones of the story shine through in all their bloody glory.
