Book Review: American Coven by Amy Cross

Title: American Coven
Author: Amy Cross
Genre: Horror, Paranormal
Rating: 3 stars
Purchase: Amazon

After being snatched from the street near her home, Holly Carter wakes up in the basement of a mysterious rural house. She’s not alone: two other women are also in the basement, and they quickly start to tell her about the strange ritual she’s going to endure. Soon, her kidnapper will take her upstairs and submerge her in the ice bath.

Many years later, having long since escaped from the house, Holly tries to put her experiences in the past. When someone starts digging into the story, however, Holly starts to realize that the truth is going to come out. After all, no-one has ever found out exactly how the three women escaped from that strange basement. If the truth ever emerges, Holly’s life – and the lives of her two fellow captives – will be ruined forever.

American Coven is a horror novel about three women who make a startling discovery while they’re being held captive, and about a deadly entity that lurks in the darkest recesses of an old building. This is the 2022 edition of the original 2013 book.

I read a lot of books by Amy Cross. If you’re a fan of horror, then I definitely recommend reading her books. She has a lot of imagination, and the books are usually fast-paced and most of them also have an original twist. Having read so many books by this author, though, I definitely have a few favourites, a few I didn’t enjoy that much, and a few I thought were okay but not the best. American Coven falls in the latter category. It’s a fun read, the plot keeps you guessing, but it’s not as mind-shattering or jaw-dropping as some of Amy Cross’s other work.

The book flips between one timeline and another. In one timeline (the past), Holly Carter ends up in the basement of a madman, trapped with two other women who tell her about a sickening ritual she’ll be forced to endure at the hands of her captor: an ice bath. The second timeline (set in the present day), follows Holly fifteen years later as she is confronted with the events of the past again.

The main reason why I didn’t rate this book higher, is that I found the evil to be too vaguely described. There was a mystery-behind-the-mystery, and that wasn’t fully explored, in my opinion, leaving me with some remaining questions, hwich was a little frustrating.

Still, it’s a decent horror read, and certainly has some unexpected twists, so I definitely recommend this to horror fans.