Title: Ultimate SacrificeAuthor: S. E. Green
First Published: October 3, 2017
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 226
Genre: Horror, Young Adult
Format: Ebook
Source: Blog Tour
Rating:
A murdered child. A small town. A cult lurking in the shadows…
Vickie has always lived a quiet, ordinary life in an equally quiet and ordinary small town. Yet one fateful night a child turns up dead in the woods behind her house in a ritualistic slaughter.
Vickie and her family are suddenly thrown into a national spotlight.
But as the investigation unfolds, she begins to realize her family isn’t so ordinary after all. Evil is inching closer to those she holds dear and Vickie isn't sure who she can ultimately trust.
A small town and a grisly ritualistic murder followed by whispers of a prophecy and sacrifice – the prospect of this book is terrifying. Ultimate Sacrifice is a young adult novel about a teen girl that finds herself and her family in the middle of a murder investigation with some horrifying implications. The book begins at a running start and keeps up a fast pace for the entirety of the book.
I could sympathize with Vickie and the stress of having her family flooded with hatred and negative press, the pressure of suddenly being in the spotlight and suspected of the most heinous crime imaginable. I liked that the book showed realistically what something like this can do to a family and to a person’s sense of personal safety, making them question everyone and everything around them.
The hints at a cult in their small town were also seriously creepy, and the more that Vickie dug around, the more uneasy I felt at what she was finding. It reminded me of the old slasher films I grew up watching from the 60s, 70s, and 80s with how weird and uncomfortable the town and its inhabitants were. The story definitely takes on a dark and disturbing tone, and it only gets worse and worse, but I loved every minute of it.
Now the version that I had was riddled with errors, missing words, or ones that I can only assume were auto-corrected, and it was a bit off-putting. I was given a copy for a blog tour a few weeks before release, so I can only hope that it has been corrected for the full version. I also have to acknowledge that it’s a tiny bit predictable, but at the same time, I kept telling myself that it couldn’t be what I suspected, I didn’t want it to be, so it did a good job of filling me with dread and making me feel invested in the story and characters.
This has got to be one of the fastest, most fun reads I’ve had in a while. I enjoyed myself thoroughly despite mild issues, and while it deals with some pretty gruesome topics, I think it’s a decent horror thriller for a young adult audience. It’s perfect for the Halloween season and I strongly recommend it.
“How is it possible that any of this even exists and that I’m halfway convinced that it does?”
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
About S. E. Green
Shannon Greenland, or S. E. Green, is the award-winning and best-selling author of Middle Grade, Young Adult, and adult books. She writes action and adventure spy stories, serial killer thrillers, chilling suspense, and adrenaline-packed twisty novels.
Shannon has served as a guest speaker at festivals and conferences around the country to include but not limited to the LA Times Book Festival, American Library Association, Book Expo of America, Bouchercon, Romance Writers of America, South East Young Adult Book Festival, Southern Festival of Books, and many more.
Shannon grew up in Tennessee where she dreaded all things reading and writing. She didn’t even read her first book for enjoyment until she was twenty-five. After that, she was hooked! When she’s not writing, she works as an adjunct math professor and lives on the coast in Florida with a rogue armadillo that frequents her back yard.