As I was reading CONFESSIONS OF THE DEAD, I felt like I was taken back in time --- to the 1970s and ’80s --- and it allowed me to experience true small-town horror that had no connection to the modern world or any pandemic. The best comparison I can think of is Dean Koontz’s 1983 novel, PHANTOMS.

The brilliant minds behind this book are James Patterson and J. D. Barker. Their combined efforts have brought us a classic work of horror that harks back to the days when names like Koontz, King and Straub were at their best and most chilling.

"CONFESSIONS OF THE DEAD is a terrifying read that will keep you guessing throughout and has an ending that I never saw coming."

I intend to protect the shroud of secrecy surrounding this outstanding novel as much as possible. To that end, I will provide a cursory rundown of the high-level plot elements that drive the narrative forward like a freight train bound for Hades. It opens with an audio/video recording dated 10/16/2023 between Special Agent Beatrice Sordello and Virgil Matthew (“Matt”) Maro, a sheriff’s deputy from the small town of Hollows Bend, New Hampshire.

We then step back to the initial incident that set off all the fireworks in Hollows Bend. Many of its residents, including Matt, are at the Stairway Diner. Matt's girlfriend, Gabby Sanchez, works there, and it appears to be a typical day. That is, until a naked, mute girl with mud-caked feet appears at the door, and a biblical amount of crows begin to hammer through the diner’s plate-glass windows and start a panic.

What occurs next is truly the stuff of nightmares as most residents seem to have lost their minds and are involved in various homicidal activities. There’s the young mother who drowns her two children and then herself in their bathtub, and the librarian who is set on fire while her colleague chops off his fingers with the paper slicer. There are so many of these incidents throughout the town, in addition to the sheriff’s disappearance, that full-on anarchy has begun. The citizens who are the most heavily armed no longer feel the need to listen to Matt.

At the center of it all is the mute young woman, who has names of the newly deceased residents exuding from the skin on her arms like a crazy sort of brand. An interesting subplot involves Gabby’s daughter, Riley, who takes off with a trio of other youths to determine what is really going on. When they run into the town drunk, he turns out to have all the information they’re looking for.

This is by far the most pure horror that James Patterson has ever been associated with, which I have to lay at the feet of J. D. Barker, who is a master of dark fiction. CONFESSIONS OF THE DEAD is a terrifying read that will keep you guessing throughout and has an ending that I never saw coming.