Now to be fair, my own upbringing was from a father that had witnessed (and rebelled against) violence at home. My father was (and still remains) the total opposite. A bear of a man who had done a stint in the army to better control and understand his own strength, my father’s relationship to his kids and his wife was always loving. I don’t remember him ever even shouting at my mum, but he had his own personal hang-ups. He did and said some of the things written in this book, the ties to what a “man” had to be and how a “man” should act were ingrained deep in him from his own childhood, I believe. So, this story – let’s just say there’s a lot of integral themes in the shorts that struck a chord in this reader. 

It’s beautifully observed psychological drama. I can’t say this is horror, it’s a father/son relationship story, but it plays wonderfully to the horror crowd, there are a lot of things in here that play to the open-minded horror reader – and leave you in no doubt that what you just read will stay with you for a long time. 

The ramp-up of detail in the last few chapters leave you in no doubt that something terrible will occur, and the play of it is well-executed, the last father pov chapter exceptional. And leaves us all in no doubt that at least this father, in his own, warped, maladjusted, narrow-minded way, loved his son. And that’s just heartbreaking. 

Ross’ writing just keeps getting stronger, the observational-emotional content of this book knocks everything out of the park.