I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus Published by Henry Holt & Company on February 25 2020
Genres: Adult, Horror, Science fiction
Pages: 291
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A bloody, scary good time, skillfully written and paced, Bent Heavens kept me flipping pages, even though I had some issues with a few elements.
I’ve seen some fantastic reviews for Bent Heavens, and so I went into it with high hopes, knowing this was a thriller/horror story revolving around aliens. And without spoiling things for you, I will say it was very scary and compulsively readable. BUT I have to admit I was disappointed with the twist at the end when we finally get some answers, which is the main reason for my middle-of-the-road rating. So overall this was a mixed bag read for me, although lots of readers are giving it four and five stars.
I also need to caution readers, particularly those who are triggered by torture scenes, this story is pretty harsh in places and was very difficult to read at times. I’m not opposed at all to graphic violence, but in this case I feel compelled to add a hidden spoiler below as a warning to sensitive readers (see spoiler at the end of this review).
The story takes place during high schooler Liv Fleming’s senior year. The past few years have been rough on Liv and her mother Aggie, after Liv’s father, Lee Fleming, disappeared for four days and returned naked and haunted, insisting that he had been abducted and tortured by aliens. Eight months after his return, Lee disappears again, this time for good. Ever since that day, Liv and her good friend Doug have kept a promise to Lee to check his elaborate traps in the woods, traps Lee set to catch any “skinners” that might come after him (his name for the aliens). So for the past two years, every Sunday morning, Liv faithfully follows Doug into the woods to check the traps, which usually yield nothing more than a careless squirrel or two.
But one day, something else gets caught, a disfigured, humanoid being with lumpy skin and bulging eyes. Doug is convinced it’s a skinner, and he takes it back to Lee’s garden shed and ties it up. Liv is horrified but also feels sorry for the creature, but Doug is ruthless and determined to get justice for Lee at any cost. As Liv begins to spend more and more time with Doug and “A,” as they begin calling the creature, her life becomes tangled up with Doug’s mission of vengeance as her old life slowly slips away.
I want to talk about the elements I loved first. Kraus is such a good writer, and his pacing was excellent. The story is broken up into four distinct sections, and each one ramps up the terror and suspense just a little more—that is until you get to the last section, which dials things up to 100! I loved the way he incorporated a few elements that carried through the entire story. For example, Lee Fleming was a high school English teacher and he used a book of poetry called Resurrection Update by James Galvin to teach his students. An old copy of the book plays a part in Lee’s eventual disappearance, and I thought it was interesting that when I Googled the book, it turned out to be real (and yes, I Google stuff in books all the time!). I love details like this because it shows that the author put a lot of time and thought into his story.
I also loved the character development, especially that of Doug. Doug is the weird kid at school and he doesn’t have many friends. He falls into that nerd/geek category because he spends time designing corn mazes, of all things. But as the story progresses, he completely changes into something nearing evil. His relationship with Liv changes as well, and that might have been the scariest aspect of all. Let’s just say the real monsters in this book are not aliens and leave it at that.
Kraus also knows how to scare the pants off his readers. There were so many creepy elements in this story, and he spreads them out in a way that keeps the mystery going for quite a while. One of the most bizarre things to me was the idea of building and setting alien traps in the woods. Lee Fleming gave each of his traps a horrific name, like the Amputator, Hangman’s Noose and Neckbreaker, for example. Lee’s obsession with building these traps in secret was also unnerving, and as much as I wanted to turn the pages faster to see what would happen, I was also terrified at the same time. The tension was so skillfully done, so if you love that sense of horror and uncertainty that comes with this type of storytelling, you will probably enjoy this book.
Those positives aside, however, I still had a few issues. As I mentioned before, the twist near the end came out of nowhere (at least to me), although looking back there are plenty of clues that I should have picked up on. But the twist still made me mad, I guess because I was hoping the story would go in a certain direction, and then it didn’t.
There is a lot of high school drama in the background too, so if you don’t like that sort of thing, beware. And the the drama doesn’t really add much to the story, although it does establish that Liv has a fairly normal life with friends and school activities, that is until the weird stuff starts happening. We also meet a new kid at school named Bruno who becomes a love interest for Liv, but I think the story would have been just as good, if not better, without him. His presence creates a weird love triangle of sorts with Liv and Doug, and he does make an intuitive leap at one point in the story that helps Liv solve the mystery of her father, but it felt blatantly shoehorned in and rather awkwardly done.
The ending went completely off the rails for me, in that ridiculous way that some horror stories do. What could have been an eerily believable tale turns almost laughable with over-the-top action, as if the author was trying desperately to tie up all the loose ends. I know this is horror fiction and it’s not real (or at least I hope it isn’t!), but for me to enjoy a story that’s grounded in reality, I need those speculative elements to make a certain amount of sense.
But overall, I found this to be a compulsive and thrilling read, even if I didn’t enjoy everything about it. Horror fans who aren’t afraid of graphic violence and enjoy over-the-top storytelling are going to love this, but squeamish readers should proceed with caution.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
View Spoiler »
I am sorry this book disappointed your expectations! I hope your next reading would be great!
Thanks Susy:-)
Your review has me torn about whether I want to read this or not. I’m not so worried about not liking the twist (what can I say, I read Stephen King). But, I am worried about the high school drama, the love triangle, the forced feeling intuitive jumps in logic. It sounds really good though. Maybe I’ll add it to the maybe shelf.
Yes, the “maybe” shelf is probably a good choice:-)
Sorry this one was a bit mixed for you! I’m glad there were still some things you liked about it at the end of the day, though. I think it’s not one for me, but! I love that cover.
Yeah, the cover is really well done, and it fits the story perfectly:-)
I can understand your disappointment: when authors do their best to escalate tension and take us readers to the limits of our endurance, we expect the ending to be spectacular, while in this case it would seem that the proverbial mountain gave birth to the equally proverbial mouse…
Sorry this did not hold up to your expectations…
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This is probably not one I’ll go looking for, but it does appear to have some interesting elements. And I really like the cover. Thinking back, it feels like a long time since I’ve read a good horror novel. I may have to look around, see what I’ve got.
I love the cover too:-)
I’ve been really debating on this one! I think this review cements it for me- I’m going to get it- even though I’ll be ready for the ending going off the rails a bit, sounds like. That’s too bad. And some of the unnecessary YA- sounding stuff. Still it sounds like the tension is off the charts!
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It’s really scary! And very suspenseful, I can see you enjoying this:-)
Duuuude … that cover. o.0 I did a double take, because I didn’t notice the skull in the water until I went to look away and caught it out of the corner of my eye and was like … what, now? It’s so disappointing when a great story has a humdrum ending or a lackluster twist. I’m always a bit reluctant going into alien books. This book sounds really interesting, but I guess it’ll probably be a pass for me, because I can’t do graphic violence, especially torture. Thanks for the warning on that one!
Definitely avoid it if you’re not into graphic violence. There’s definitely an audience for it, though!
I’ll have to look into this one. Great review, Tammy!
Thanks Lauren:-)
That’s a shame that the ending was kind of a mess. Aside from that, it sounds like an interesting read.
It had a lot of things I loved, so overall if you like horror it’s worth checking out.
Great review, although it doesn’t sound like a book for me.
It’s definitely not for everyone…
Great review! Seriously, some of the horror parts were just…scary and gross and made me sick. I liked that 😛 But also understand your feelings re: the ending and how it sort of does a bait and switch for readers expecting something else. I kinda predicted the twist so I think I was more tolerant being better prepared emotionally, but yeah otherwise I would feel cheated. Also agree that Bruno was not really needed. He felt like tool used by the author, and wasn’t developed at all beyond that.
I’m still looking forward to reading more by Kraus. I really loved his writing style!
I’ve heard some good things about this one and it does sound pretty good. So I don’t know about the torture scenes. Since you mentioned it felt like animal abuse in a way, I just don’t know. I’ve also always had mixed luck with alien books. If I can convince my library to get a copy of this, I may read it eventually. Great review though!
Yeah, I would say save this for the library.
The twist at the end has me very curious now. I’m going to add this one to my list.
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Thanks for the warning that the twist is disappointing. I’m really looking to try this one to sample Kraus’s writing.