Seed by Ania Ahlborn

"With nothing but the clothes on his back—and something horrific snapping at his heels—Jack Winter fled his rural Georgia home when he was still just a boy. Watching the world he knew vanish in a trucker’s rearview mirror, he thought he was leaving an unspeakable nightmare behind forever. But years later, the bright new future he’s built suddenly turns pitch black, as something fiendishly familiar looms dead ahead.

When Jack, his wife Aimee, and their two small children survive a violent car crash, it seems like a miracle. But Jack knows what he saw on the road that night, and it wasn’t divine intervention. The profound evil from his past won’t let them die…at least not quickly. It’s back, and it’s hungry; ready to make Jack pay for running, to work its malignant magic on his angelic youngest daughter, and to whisper a chilling promise: I’ve always been here, and I’ll never leave.

Country comfort is no match for spine-tingling Southern gothic suspense in Ania Ahlborn’s tale of an ordinary man with a demon on his back. Seed plants its page-turning terror deep in your soul, and lets it grow wild." ~ Publisher's Description. Publication Date 2012.

I chose this as my first book to review because it is still fresh in my mind. I read it about four days ago and it was utterly terrifying. Don't let the cover fool you, when I drove home that night in the dark, it was all I could do not to scream whenever I saw anything, even a car, moving. 

The books begins well and is completely unnerving to read. The idea and the story isn't new, but the telling is crisp and full of deep southern flavor. While I didn't love the main character (as I was reading his perspective, much of my thoughts ran along the lines of "what is WRONG with you?!"), I empathized with his deep terror and inability to ask for help in almost any situation. He is just stuck and when he can't talk about what is going on with anyone, he can't do anything to remedy the situation. I found the scenes with his daughters deeply disturbing and his revelations of his past were horrifying. While the character is easy to empathize with, I'd be willing to bet that his situation is not something that is seen every day. 

The only real issue I had with it was the pacing. There were times where things got very slow. Not enough to lose interest but enough that I was a little annoyed at least twice. 

This is an exceptionally dark book. If you are looking for a fairy tale, skip this one. Familiar horrors (demonic possession, evil children) are twisted in new and exciting ways, however it is not for the faint of heart. I enjoyed it. It was gruesome at times, and horrifying the whole time. Eat up and don't look out the window, because who knows what might be staring at you from across the street?

4 stars.