Book Review: One Star: A Horror Story by Amy Cross

Title: One Star: A Horror Story
Author: Amy Cross
Genre: Horror
Rating: 3,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon

After slogging his way through a particularly awful horror novel, Harry Jenkins leaves a scathing review. He then moves on to another book, and soon he’s forgotten all about The Haunting of Myrtle Roach.

Six months later, however, a strange woman moves into the cottage opposite.

At first, Harry and his wife Debbie don’t mind their new neighbor. Even when she starts to exhibit a few unusual qualities, Abigail Cain doesn’t exactly seem dangerous, just… slightly weird. But Abigail has a very particular reason for having moved to the small seaside village of Hambledown, and she seems very interested in Harry.

Soon, Harry and Debbie find themselves in a desperate fight for survival. Abigail Cain is out to get them, and her fury knows no limit. All because of a one star review that Harry wrote. Can she be stopped, or will Harry and his wife pay the ultimate price at the hands of a murderous and vengeful author?

As an author myself, I was quite intrigued by the premise of this novel. One night, Harry Jenkins leaves a one-star review on a horror novel he thinks is horrible. The book in question is called The Haunting of Myrtle Roach, and in his opinion, it’s about as imaginative as a rock. His review is rather scatching, but of course, like most readers after leaving such reviews, he soon forgets about the book and moves on with his life.

Six months later, a new neighbour moves into the cottage opposite his home. He and his wife, Debbie, try to welcome the new neighbour, Abigail Cain. But when strange things start happening, Harry begins to wonder if his one-star review might bring forth consequences he never intended for…

Although I found the twist quite predictable, I did enjoy this book. The writing was decent, the plot fast-paced, and while we don’t learn that much about the characters, I didn’t really feel like we needed to either. Kind of like if you’re watching a slasher movie, you don’t care about what the characters did ten years ago either; you just want to know if they can beat the killer or not. I had the same feeling with this book: I didn’t really care about Harry’s background, but I wanted to know if he was getting out of this ordeal alive or not.

Plus, especially as an author / reader, this book really makes one think twice about leaving those bad reviews!