When eleven-year-old, Marissa Ruiz, first entered foster care she was warned. Don't let them get too close to you. Don't let them get you alone. Don't let them tuck you in at night. She was prepared for anything until the white van pulled up and she met The Shepard who soon taught her the ways of The Church of the Weeping Mary. The Mother gives you life... The Mother gives you hope... The Mother gives you purpose. Some pray for eternal salvation... some simply pray to survive one more day.
I received this book for free from Author Gifted in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Goodreads
So this is technically a short story so I wont be writing a lot because I don’t want to give anything away.
This book, story, novella, whatever freaked me out, I was going along thinking that this poor orphan was picked up less than desirable foster parents. You know the ones, the people who have a lot of foster kids to collect money or whatever the situation may be. Then the author started adding in religion and religious themes, and then it got WEIRD, but in the best possible way when you are talking about a religious based horror story. I mean terrifyingly weird and I enjoyed every second of it. Interestingly enough, I did not know the story of Lilith other than the fact that she was the spider queen of R.A. Salvatore’s Drizzt series. Boy did I learn a lot in this story.
Now, if you are really religious and don’t like blasphemy, this book isn’t for you, and although the religion is not your typical run of the mill religion, it still has some blasphemy, which for me made the story even better. Check it out, it is a good short story that will make you rethink those small church vans.
About John Paul Allan
Born and raised in Michigan, the youngest of five boys, John Paul Allen is described as "Hard to nail down, hard to put down, John Paul Allen's words will envelop your senses and fill your mind with worlds and people too real not to believe." (William Cook - Blood Related). Coming to horror and writing later than most he has quickly become known for his knack of crossing lines in order to tell a story.
His published works include the novella Monkey Love, short story collection Dark Blessings, short stories Weeping Mary and House Guest.
Allen's novel Gifted Trust (originally published in 2002) was recently released as a major revised version and his short, Little Miss is part of the the Fresh Blood Old Bones anthology.
