BOOK TOUR | BORN IN BLOODSHED | A.D. JONES | ZOOLOO’S BOOK TOURS

 

Here we are again on another tour for ZOOLOO’S Book Tours. This time it’ the tour for the new novella by A.D. Jones, Born of Bloodshed. 

Regular folk will recognise the name of A. D. Jones as he has been on the blog a couple of times before with his other books Umbrate & Sacrificial Waters. 

A.D’s Bio

 

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A.D Jones lives in the North of England; where he spends his time favouring books over people and can be found writing or devouring said books to review online. He loves Coca-Cola, Twin Peaks, all things horror, and cult movies. He dislikes the movie ‘The Karate Kid’ with a passion that burns brighter than the sun.

 

His debut novel – Umbrate was released in October 2023 to positive feedback.

 

He also has multiple short stories in print through publishing houses such as Dark Village Publications and January Ember Press.

 

You can find him on Instagram - the_evergrowing_library

ABOUT THE BOOK

Death truly had come to the village...

 

Nothing exciting ever happens in the border towns of Scotland, and the village of Newcastleton, with a population in the hundreds, is no exception to the rule. That is until kids start going missing and turning up dead, and violently mutilated, in the surrounding forests.

 

A group of teens will be forced to put down their NES controllers, walk away from their VHS collections, and try to figure out what has descended upon their quaint, little village.

 

Born of Bloodshed from A.D Jones, author of Sacrificial Waters, will transport you to 1990 Scotland for this terror-filled, coming of age story which promises nostalgia, stomach-churning violence, and a group of teens that you will fall in love with. Perhaps don't get too attached!

REVIEW

Mixing coming of age drama with folklorist horror, Born of Bloodshed tells the story of four teens as they battle and unknown evil.

Turning the clock back to 1990, an archeological dig in Hermitage Castle  unearths a rich vein of history in the town of Newcastleton. However, what they did not bargain for was that they would unearth creatures from the pages of folklore.

After a series of horrific murders a group of teens set about finding the killlers of the children in the village. What they stumble upon will put all their lives in danger as they try to find the killer of their best friend. 

This is the third book that I have read of A.D. Jones and have enjoyed all three of his books that I have read so far. 

Born of Bloodshed is a novella that is set in the 1990’s. It plays equally on the reminiscences of the time period as well as the horror of the time period, particularly those that involved little creatures like Critters and other monsters of such little stature. 

Now whilst the mustering little creatures may be short of stature, A.D. Jones does not shy away from writing big bloody set pieces, and let me tell you they are bloody. If you are at all squeamish then I suggest you skip the gore that is in the book. However, if like me, you aren’t bothered by descriptions of blood and gore then they are so much fun.

And I think that this Is one of the main elements of this book, fun. I had so much fun with this book. 

Some books when including folklore in the book, will tend to tread the lighter or more whimsical side of the genre. However, throughout folklore there has always been stronger darker elements to this and A.D. Jones highlights this darker side well, choosing instead to tread the more bloody elements of lore and not attempting to sanitise the more unpleasant aspects of folklore, and ultimately highlighting the dangers of the more mysterious aspects of this fair isle.

Which ultimately leads me to the one criticism that I have of this book. The chapter art that precedes the narrative! Whilst the character art is bloody lovely, it slightly took the onus away from the mystery that is central to the book and gave away the main mystery of the story, which I would have preferred to have found out as the story unfolds rather than having it transmitted to me from the very first page.

However, this did not spoil the story, but I would just have preferred to find out a little later on in the story what the mystery was instead of right from the very beginning.

Born of Bloodshed is a great mix of 90’s nostalgia and nasty little creatures feature that is sure to delight old gorehounds that recall the horror films of the time. 

 * if you like the sound of this book, click on the book cover to go to Amazon, or you can add it to your GOODREADS.

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