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Stray Fears is another compelling story from the pen of Gregory Ashe that once again showcases his talent for creating strong, clever plots and engaging but flawed characters who exhibit considerable growth as individuals throughout the course of the story. As in most of his output, we’ve got an intriguing mystery and a central romance, but this time the mystery has a paranormal/horror vibe that focuses on the members of a support group for people with PTSD. It’s an imaginative, fast-moving and perfectly-paced story in which the author creates a real sense of menace that builds from chapter to chapter, making it a difficult book to put down.
Twenty-two-year-old Elien Martel’s life was ripped apart around a year earlier when his parents were shot dead by his older brother who then turned the gun upon himself. Plagued by grief and guilt, Elien is volatile and prone to lashing out, especially at his much older boyfriend, Richard (whom he lives with), a psychiatrist whose Quiet Understanding (Elien’s capitalisation), insistence on Giving Him Space and refusal to have a damn good row irritates Elien no end. It’s Richard who encourages Elien to attend a support group for people with PTSD which is run by one of his colleagues. Even though Elien comes across as a bit of a self-centred prick to start with, he’s really good with the other members of the group, showing them kindness and compassion and offering support when they need it. The group leader even suggests Elien could lead a support group himself – an idea he laughs off – but he agrees to her request that he keep an eye on fellow group member Ray who’s not been doing so well lately.
A day or so after this, Sheriff’s deputy Dag LeBlanc answers the call for a wellness check on Ray Field and arrives at Ray’s building with his partner Mason – who is a member of the same support group as Elien. Mason dislikes Elien intensely – and for no apparent reason – and when he and Dag arrive to find it was Ellen who made the call, Mason tries to persuade Dag the guy is pulling some kind of stunt – but Dag calmly dismisses that idea and accompanies Elien to Ray’s door. Inside, they discover Ray’s dead body, sprawled on his bed, eyes open and dancing with blue fire, and… well, I’m not going to elaborate, so I’ll just say that things take a really creepy turn, and Dag – deciding he can’t possibly have seen what he thinks he saw – escorts a freaked-out Elien outside… only for the guy to accuse him of cowardice when Dag refuses to acknowledge anything out of the ordinary happened.
But Dag isn’t going to be able to stay in denial for much longer. Mason has been behaving increasingly erratically, and he tries to kill Elien – in broad daylight and full view of anyone passing by – after the next meeting of the support group. Dag, who had been waiting to collect Mason and take him home, intervenes quickly – and this time there’s no denying that something weird is going on. Not long after this, a third member of the group is found dead, apparently a suicide… then a fourth. Someone – or something – is picking off the members of the group one by one, and isn’t going to stop until they’re all dead.
The plot moves swiftly as Elien and Dag race to find out who – or what – is responsible for the murders and then work out a way to stop them before they become its latest victims. Mr. Ashe makes good use of local (the story is set just outside New Orleans) mythology to add extra chills, and the pervasive sense of dread grows slowly but inexorably as Elien and Dag get closer to the truth and we head towards a final nail-biting confrontation.
The plot is solid and the locations are vividly described, but once again, the characterisation is where this author truly shines. He excels at creating believable, loveable characters whose flaws make them that much more human, and the two leads here are no exception. Elien and Dag are like chalk and cheese; Dag is quiet, kind and one of the sweetest characters I think the author has ever written, while deeply troubled Elien is all sharp edges, using his caustic tongue to push people away and make self-disparaging marks about his mental health. Deep down however, he’s a genuinely caring person who just wants to feel whole again and to find some closure following the tragedy that ripped his life apart.
The romance between Elien and Dag develops over only a couple of weeks, but it’s a nicely developed slow-burn, and the strong connection between the pair on an emotional level makes their eventual, hard-won HFN/HEA all the more believable.
Despite the heavy subject matter and the grisly deaths, there’s plenty of humour in the book, which comes mainly from the banter between the leads and from Dag’s parents who are wonderfully supportive of him but are perhaps too invested in his love life! Given that so many protagonists in Mr. Ashe’s books have difficult relationships with their parents, it was a welcome change to read about a healthy familial relationship – even if the LeBlancs do go a bit over the top at times!
My only real criticism of the book is with the fact that Elien stumbles across answers a little easily and conveniently, and I admit that caused me to dither over the grade a bit. In the end though, it didn’t really spoil my enjoyment of what is an otherwise well-put together story, and as it’s a book I’ll re-read, onto the keeper shelf it goes. I don’t read horror in general, so I can’t really offer any insights as to how far Stray Fears fits into that genre, but as a paranormal mystery/romance, it offers a gripping, spine-tingling read for the long dark winter nights.
Note: This book contains several violent (off-screen) suicides and a scene of attempted sexual assault.
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Grade: A-
Book Type: Paranormal Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 24/10/20
Publication Date: 10/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
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I finished Stray Fears last night and I’m glad that I took the plunge and read it.
The central relationship is lovely, so I just focused on that and let the horror/paranormal bits happen around it. That way, it was easy to cope with the bits that were outside my usual reading choice.
If/when I reread this book, I’ll just skim through ‘those’ bits!
I think what I’ve just posted sounds a bit glib, so I need to add to it.
I think the ‘horror/paranormal bits’ can be seen as a manifestation of the dark, psychological core of the plot which is actually a lot deeper, and scarier in a different way.
Personally, I find that aspect much more interesting and I think that’s why the book works for me.
I agree with that – I think it works both ways, really. You might be interested in this, from the author’s newsletter:
I hope someday I’ll be able to read the Hazard and Somerset series.I think Ashe is a genius, even if my anxiety issues make him difficult to read. One statement in that quote had him rising in my estimation even more:
“I quickly realized that PTSD was much too complicated for me to deal with the the extent I wanted in Keeper.”
Some authors handle it well, but too often it is handled in a very cliched way. I appreciate that Ashe would rather find a different way to handle his story rather than brush over such an important topic.
I also like how he turned the his knowledge of PTSD into something else for this book. My other thought was this, however: PTSD being a static loop is valid, but the focus is not always one single event, but a series of events and that is what is often overlooked in exploring PTSD in fiction. Sometimes it is a series of events over long periods of time. That is the type of PTSD that is more difficult to diagnose and draws more skepticism, especially by laypeople.
That last bit is just a public service announcement, not a comment on Ashe or his books. I was diagnosed with PTSD 30 years after my verbally abusive first marriage ended, and it was like having a curtain drawn back and revealing why I struggled with so many things in my life, even while mostly functioning “normally.” I now tend to throw PSA’s when I can to help educate people that PTSD does not just affect veterans or people experiencing a single traumatic event.
I’ve said in reviews before that his insight into what makes people tick is incredible. I do agree that sometimes the complexities of PTSD aren’t fully recognised in fiction, and there are SO MANY books out there that use it as little more than a plot device. Thankfully, Mr. Ashe isn’t one of them.
I’m guessing Caz is referring to me when she mentions that someone else asked her about the horror element. I finished this EXCELLENT book earlier this week and I would say the “horror” elements aren’t overwhelming or super scary/frightening (and I don’t watch any horror or anything close to it as a personal preference). More troubling for me was Elien’s backstory and his experiences with his current partner. The note at the end of this review is important; if you have issues with suicide or its idealization or sexual assault, this book may be difficult to read. That aside, Ashe has once again partnered two unlikely to fall in love principal characters, and the attraction and tension between them is perfectly rendered. I loved them as individuals and as a couple and despite this often ugly story, they absolutely light up this novel. I can see how Caz struggled with the grade; it’s hard not to award the love story a straight up A+! And Dag’s parents ARE HILARIOUS AND AWESOME AND SUPER GREAT. I would give this the same grade as Caz.
Meanwhile, if you haven’t tried Ashe yet (why God, why?!), I am about a paragraph away from sending Caz my draft review of They Told Me I Was Everything. Another DIK from this talented author and quite a bit different from the H&S and Borealis books. I had a hard time getting into the social media “influencer” head space of the principal character, but once I did, I could not get enough of his story. So, so, so good.
I’m not sure who mentioned their feelings about Borealis vs. H&S. I also struggled with that series just a bit. It’s probably my least favorite series from Ashe, but I still enjoyed it. I just didn’t connect with the principal characters nearly as well as I have in almost everything else Ashe has written.
I think you will enjoy the references to Louisiana DDD. Ashe seems to work hard to make his book settings authentic to their origins. I’d be curious to know what you think!
Did you men you struggled with the Borealis books? I can see that.I couldn’t do the H&S series right now due to the content–white supremacy and militia, etc. I can’t read about it. I’ve stopped a couple of other series for that reason, too. Too close to home right now.
Yep. But “struggled” isn’t the right word. I was frustrated by both principal characters – I just didn’t get Shaw. I couldn’t picture him at all. I still couldn’t put any of the books down and had to know how the series ended, but it’s not my favorite Ashe pairing. Although I do love their cameos in the H&S stories. Hazard’s reactions to both of them fill me with glee.
Oh, I LOVE Shaw! I love how he comes across as this spacy new-age type (and he is) but how he’s also got a mind like a steel trap. I really like their dynamic and them as characters – maybe they’ll grow on you! (And also, we had 6 H&S books by that point and only 3 Borealis ones, so I think we’ve got some more “getting-to-know-you” to do with North and Shaw.)
I was, indeed :) The relationship in this one – and especially considering it’s a single title – is brilliantly done and really is a light in the dark of the story. The ratio of scary:funny:quiet moments is just right, and I just loved Elien and Dag as a couple. Even though their romance develops over only a couple of weeks, you can tell by the end that they’ve got what it takes to make it work long term.
I saved the episodes of They Told Me I Was Everything and read them all in one sitting. I love Auggie and am really looking forward to seeing how he develops as a character.
As I’m now hooked on their story, I’m reading the installments each day this time – he is currently being very bratty, but I trust GA to redeem him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hah. Auggie’s being bratty, Theo’s being a dick and I just want to bang their heads together!
I live in Louisiana, on the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain, about 30 miles north of New Orleans. I’m wondering if this will enhance or diminish my reading experience? I usually have difficulty with books set here because there’s often so much emphasis on voodoo and gris-gris and everyone eating jambalaya and beignets and talking with weird French accents. Also, although I have Ashe on my tbr, I haven’t read anything by him yet. Would this be a place to start?
It’s a standalone so it’s definitely a good place to start with his work – or you could try The Same Breath, which is book one in a new series (book two is out next month) and is more in his usual vein of mystery/suspense with a central romance running throughout. I don’t think the things you mention are overdone (if they’re mentioned at all and the supernatural element is based on local folklore, but it’s not voodoo. The Lake does get a few mentions :) and there’s not a French accent in sight!
I’d held off buying this after I saw that GA had called it a horror/paranormal – neither of which are my ‘thing’.
But I’m not sure now……………….
Someone asked me about the horror element, and I said that if you’ve read KJ Charles’ Simon Feximal stories then I don’t think anything in this will freak you out. In fact I’d say some of those stories are scarier! This is still a mystery, albeit not one of GA’s usual level of complexity, but it’s still a good yarn!
This book sounds very different. Great review. How would you compare the horror elements to the last Charm of Magpies book, Flight of Magpies? I was fine with that level, but wouldn’t want much more than that.
Also, I read a good chunk of Pretty Pretty Boys before setting it aside for now, and I’ve read Orientation. PPB had a fairly standard linear feel to it as far as plot and pacing, but Orientation felt a little frenetic, like I couldn’t quite hang on to everything that was going on, and I felt I was missing something at times. I wondered how North figured out certain things given the scene Ashe describes. So,would you compare the pacing to PPB, or Orientation?
I have a pretty high tolerance for this sort of thing… I wouldn’t say the horror elements are any more horrific (!) than what you’d find in KJC, although there might be a bit more on-page gore. It’s a wholly linear story (there are some flashbacks, but as Elien is suffering from PTSD, I think that’s to be expected, and they’re not lengthy). As I said to Wendy above, the plotline feels less complex than usual, but there’s still plenty going on – and as is the norm with his novels, the characters and their interactions are what really MAKE the book.
Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed Orientation. I just felt a little lost a couple of times. This book sounds interesting,though, so I’ll add it to my TBR pile.
Oh, no, I didn’t think you meant you disliked it. (And a reliable source tells me there is North and Shaw underway ;).
Of all KJC’s books, the Feximal stories are the ones that I’ve liked least but I’ve started reading Stray Fears this morning. I’ve got to the end of the episode at Ray’s house and am enjoying it.
I have a bit of a problem with Dag’s name though – I’m just waiting for someone to call him Deputy Dag!