‘Bloodstone’ by Nate Kenyon

  Evil lives in the small town of White Falls, Maine, and the dead don’t seem to stay buried.
  Billy Smith, a recovering alcoholic running from his demons, is drawn to White Falls through the urging of voices in his head. He kidnaps a prostitute, Angel, who also hears the voices and is haunted by bad dreams, as is Billy.
  Though the locals look at the pair with suspicion, Billy and Angel try to figure out why they have been pulled to the town, which they soon discover, has a dark past. A past to which they seem to have a connection.
  One local boy, Jeb Taylor, also hears the voices. Jeb, whose father murdered his mother and died in prison, seems to be under the control of a sinister force. He begins to see his dead father and ponders violent acts of revenge. Jeb is not the only local preoccupied with disturbing thoughts, and while the townsfolk seem to be losing their minds, the dead begin to claw their way out of their graves.
  “The dead are dangerous. They are hungry, and they are reaching out for us. ... One of them has found a way to return to this world. A portal. You must find it and destroy it, or the dead will rise and claim us. This town and everyone in it will be lost. We will see hell on earth.”
  “Bloodstone” has some scary parts, but for the most part I found it sort of, well, slow. Kenyon does a good job developing the character of Billy Smith, but Angel not so much, at least not in any way that made me care about her. Some of the supporting characters are interesting, but there just wasn’t enough there to keep me that entertained.
  All that said, "Bloodstone" was good enough to make me give Nate Kenyon another shot — "The Reach" is due out in November.