The Butcher's Boy [Kindle Edition]

Michael Robb Mathias (Author)

Book Description

The Butcher's Boy

Winner of the 2011 Readers Favorite Award 'Silver Medal' in Horror - Fiction
                 

Thirty-one years ago, Buxly the Butcher went to trial for killing his entire family. He was found guilty, and sentenced to die for those crimes. Now, Janet Hale, a recently divorced nurse, has purchased the house unaware of the brutal murders that took place there so long ago. 
 
From the moment she, her eleven-year-old son, and his overprotective Rottweiler move in, bad things start to happen. A strange man is caught lurking in the back yard, and the only neighbor turns out to be a crazy old widow. But not everything is going wrong. During the move, Janet meets a handsome charmer. She likes him enough to start dating again, leaving a sitter to watch over her son. 
 
When Michael, and his dog, Lucy-Fur, learn firsthand that their home is haunted by one of the victims of the Butcher's grisly act, Michael scours the internet and the local library to find out what happened back then. Maggie, the sitter, brings over a Ouija board and they soon find out that there is more than one dark spirit on the haunt.  
 
Can Lucy-Fur protect her boy from the angry ghost that wants to possess him? Can Michael fight through the madness and terror to find out what really happened? If he does, maybe the tormented souls can be put to rest and his mom can keep the house that she seems to love. If he fails, he just might become one of them. With the help of Maggie, and a burned out house painter, Michael is going to try. The problem is, not everyone is who they seem...            even the dead.  
 This isn't your average haunted house novel. 
 
The Butcher's Boy by Michael Robb...      Take a slow ride into terror!
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Editorial Reviews

Review

This book is not your typical horror story. The author's work can be compared to Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Like their books, this plot takes you to unexpected places. There are twists and turns that keep the reader guessing: ghosts slipping in and out of bodies both living and dead, shadows and bumps in the night are the least of the main characters' worries in this book. Fans of horror will not want to miss this creepy story. -- Readers Favorite 2011 International Book Award Contest Review

The Butcher's Boy is not a book of immediate horror and gore, but a slow building up of the terror. However, it isn't your classic scary home ghost novel. Twists in the story pleasantly surprised. Overall, its excellent. --Michelle Goodreads Review

Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Possession, murder, kidnapping, and redemption...well thought out plot that builds to a crescendo. I highly recommend this. Full Review: books-treasureortrash.com --Books-Treasure or Trash

The novel is a suspenseful page-turner with well-developed characters. Even Lucy the Rottweiler is a round character. The specters, too, have solid personalities... renders them even scarier. 4 of 5 stars. --ForeWord Magazine

From the Author

The Bucther's Boy was recently announced as a 2011 Readers Favorite Novel Contest Finalist for Horror Fiction (Winners announced Sept.1 2011) -see their review below-

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 459 KB
• Print Length: 242 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1456536850
• Publisher: Michael Robb Mathias Jr. (December 8, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004FPYWKU
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #330,511 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Didn't want to put it down! July 6, 2011

By The Book Keeper

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

You know from the beginning that ghosts haunt Janet's new house. You may, like me, identify the killer early in the book. But you won't expect the frightening, twisty path the author takes you on in this mystery/horror/thriller.

I'm always a little amazed at myself when an author makes his characters so real, I empathize with them. I loved Michael, liked Janet and Howell, loathed the villains, and sympathized enormously with one caught in between, Oliver, a flawed individual trying to turn his life around against the odds. The ghosts were a surprise because, in the end, they did not act as I expected them to.

The author pulls no punches in excellent scenes so descriptive you can almost feel the victims' terror and pain. Not that it's a blood bath, there is terrible violence but also horror built as much on suspense as on the portrayal of brutality. Simple events like a thunder storm were so graphic, I felt the electricity in the air.

The farther I got into The Butcher's Boy, the harder it was to put down at the end of the day. You'll want to read it carefully, because the smallest details turn out to be clues. Very cleverly done. Highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining To a Point July 16, 2011

By C. Irish TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I would have given this book three and a half stars but I rounded it up to four. It's obvious from Butcher's Boy, that this author has a vivid imagination and talent for writing a gripping novel. The first half of this book does not justly prepare you for what is to come in the second half. The first half is filled with a tantalizing amount of spookiness: a ghostly piano playing in the distance, unexpected chills experienced by the characters who just moved in to an old house, their dog Lucy acting strange for no reason, a crazy old woman who lives next door that relentlessly searches for her missing son (who went missing 30 years ago). This was good stuff, and very readable.

Michael is the son of Janet Hale, they get a great deal on an old house and move in right away. Things seem a little off in the old house. It already had a couple of bums who practically came with the house, but live in the nearby Hope House, a place where addicts can recover and get their lives back on track. Janet hires Oliver, an ex-meth addict who seems very sweet and lets him stay in their garage apartment while he helps them work on the house.

Michael, who is visited by a spirit, learns of the grisly murders that happened in the house years ago. With the help of his babysitter, they get a Ouija board and try to contact the spirits of the dead.

This goes along very well and is a page turner. It's written tensely with a lot of creepy chills.

All of a sudden the book takes a dastardly turn and personally, I was not prepared for the horrific crimes, rapes, and murders that take place. The first half of the book certainly had me hooked, but then some of the rape scenes had me skimming. The book took a shocking turn.... In addition to the haunted house, there is a serial killer on the loose responsible for raping and beheading local girls.

While it is still very readable, and I wanted to find out who the culprit was, but the suspension of belief grows toward the end of the book. The killer ends up killing some characters that you'd not expect to be killed off, but it's just part of the surprise of reading this book.

I started off loving this book, but it turned quite gruesome. I would recommend this book if you really like horror. The spine tingling wore off and blood and guts sort of took over after a point in the book.

It is a good mystery, but I don't feel it needed the ransacking the author gave it. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying October 6, 2012

By J. Hollister TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

After reading all of the positive reviews I took a chance on this book and wow is it a nailbiter. Once you pick up this book you simply won't be able to put it down. The story is always moving, always changing, and you never know what is going to happen next. All of the characters are so completely believable and complex that you can really relate to them. I loved the subject matter and the overall feel of the book, just a warning: this thing is terrifying. If you are a fan of thrillers or into the paranormal you really don't want to miss this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book April 17, 2013

By Judy Clowney

Format:Kindle Edition

I wasn't sure what was going on. Then after reading a little further I realized who the killer was. But the book kept me reading

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great horror book October 15, 2012

By Big Arnie

Format:Kindle Edition

This is definitely a book in the horror/thriller genre. If I had to come up with something negative to say, I would say that it goes too far with some of the brutality. But the way the author builds the characters, makes you fall in love with the good ones, and hate the bad seeds, makes the rough scenes make sense and not overpower the rest of the book. I loved the way the story built, and had twists and turns before coming to an end. The mystery element to the story added an extra element. After finishing the story, I ended up going back through the book, and finding the clues that foretold the end.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Smooth Horror July 14, 2012

By michael

Format:Paperback

This was quite an interesting Horror story, from an author who has written a chain of epic fantasy books. It starts out in a court room where William Buxly is on trial for killing his whole family, found guilty, he gets the death penalty. Many years later a lady called Janet buys the Buxly house for herself and her son Michael, totally unaware of the horrors of the killings that once happened within the house. It doesn't take long for the ghosts inside to make themselves known, first through sounds, then strange experiences. With a thrust of enthusiasm, Michael and his babysitter Maggie delve into the world of séances and Ouija boards to try and make contact with the dead son of William, known as Billy.

I found that Mathias' way of writing in suspense existed in this book just as much as in his other books, it's a style that I really like, jumping from one dilemma to the next, keeping you wanting more and more, pulling you deeply into the story. Soon Michael and Maggie discover that Billy had never been killed, and that the ghost boy that they had been seeing was in fact the dead neighbour's boy called Tommy. Now knowing at least some of the truths of the past, Michael must find a way to keep the ghosts of the house in control, but more importantly to try and find out what happened to Billy Buxly.

You know, a while ago I started reading a Stephen King book and I got bored very quickly, but here with this horror book I loved it. I could easily imagine this book being made into a film that would leave young people around the world screaming at the horror and suspense parts of the story. If you're looking for a well-flowing horror book packed with the paranormal and with suspense, then this is definitely for you!!