Spectacularly phenomenal
Publisher: Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Publication: Gallery Books (October 10, 2023)
Pages: 448
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1668009161
Jacket design by Anna Dorfman
Jacket illustrations by Adobe Stock
Author photographer: Carly Albright
5 Stars
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| Richard Chizmar |
After reading this sequel to
Chasing the Boogeyman I sat this book down and smiled. I've been telling folks, that the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Richard Chizmar has a dynamite gig going on with his Boogeyman. Or, the fear of
his Boogeyman he had in his youth;
I enjoyed how he took his family, his pups, and close friends on a dangerous ride with his Boogeyman and his followers. And the price he paid for it. All unintentional, of course.
Folks, this highly anticipated horrifying novel from Gallery Books could be a stand-alone read if you have not read Chasing the Boogeyman, but, I do highly suggest that you read them in order to maximize the effect you'll receive when reading the last pages of each.
The 'gig' Chizmar has going on is the epitome of how you can create fictional characters and real-life characters and envelope those characters into real-life events surrounding the narrator's nostalgic childhood memories, his love for true crime stories, his current life as a best-selling author, and fiction.
In Chasing the Boogeyman, Joshua Gallagher was convicted, through DNA, of committing four horrific murders and imprisoned for life. After writing his sensational best-selling novel, Richard Chizmar is getting a taste of what life is like as a celebrity. And all the while, thinking he is helping law enforcement and the public as a whole by conducting interviews with a serial killer that only wants to talk with him. Trying to get Gallagher to open up and quite possibly admit to other victims will be a road Chizmar might not have wanted to travel.
The tale opens up 30-some years after, Joshua Gallagher, a.k.a. The Boogeyman, has been imprisoned for the grisly murders he committed back in the eighties with a copycat killer picking up right where Joshua had left off. Out walking his dog one morning, Richard finds a black garbage bag closed with duct tape.
You guessed it, the bag has a body in it, or parts thereof, now, the front of his house is a crime scene.
And as it begins . . . The crime and the subsequent murders throughout the story are all connected to the first murders, but, then they start pointing to Chizmar. Why is the copycat killer targeting Richard? Or, is he?
Did Chizmar go off the deep end and into the abyss of being a madman? Is he doing the deeds of murder?
As in the first installment of The Boogeyman, this too, is complete with excerpts of media posts from social platforms, message boards, interviews he had with Gallagher, and black-and-white photos of the crime scenes, buildings, and victims all to deepen the enigma of what is actually real from what is fictional.
With sublime writing, Richard takes you on a journey where you cannot decipher real from unreal. Period. You'll be asking yourself throughout the book many questions, and you'll be Googling many addresses and places. Yep, I did.
Loved this format he created: metafiction with a twist. What an enjoyable read.
The conclusion in this second installment is wrapped up satisfyingly with a definite promise of a third book.
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Recommend?
Not only do I recommend, but I also highly suggest ~
I also highly suggest joining our Zoom meeting with Richard on
October 26th at 6:00pm EST
Click the link and join!
Join the Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 897 0733 7922
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Here's where you can get your fingers on Becoming the Boogeyman:
- Amazon ~ Hardback $26.09 ~ Kindle $14.99 ~ Audio CD $39.99 ~ USD
- Barnes & Noble ~ Hardback $28.99 ~ eBook $14.99 ~ Audio CD $39.99 ~ USD
- IndieBound ~ Support your local bookstores
About the author:
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| Game on |
Connect with Richard
(set up by his readers)
RICHARD CHIZMAR is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author.
He is the co-author (with Stephen King) of the bestselling novella, Gwendy’s Button Box, and the founder/publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine and the Cemetery Dance Publications book imprint. He has edited more than 35 anthologies, and his short fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including multiple editions of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustees award.
Chizmar (in collaboration with Johnathon Schaech) has also written screenplays and teleplays for United Artists, Sony Screen Gems, Lions Gate, Showtime, NBC, and many other companies. He has adapted the works of many bestselling authors including Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Bentley Little.
Chizmar is also the creator/writer of the online website, Stephen King Revisited. His fourth short story collection, The Long Way Home, was published in 2019. With Brian Freeman, Chizmar is co-editor of the acclaimed Dark Screams horror anthology series published by Random House imprint, Hydra.
His latest book, The Girl on the Porch, was released in hardcover by Subterranean Press, and Widow’s Point, a chilling novella about a haunted lighthouse written with his son, Billy Chizmar, was recently adapted into a feature film.
Chizmar’s work has been translated into more than fifteen languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.
Before you run off:
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