Review: The Donors

The Donors by Jeffrey Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Dark Fantasy Reading Level: Adult

Disclosure: I received a free ARC in ebook format from Journalstone via the LibraryThing Early Reviewer’s giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: An evil force is at work at the hospital where Nathan is recovering from injuries he received at the hands of his Mom’s abusive ex-boyfriend. Demonic-looking men with pale faces and glowing eyes lurk in the shadows and it appears that someone is harvesting skin and organs from living donors against their will. 

In his dreams, Nathan can see these demons in their true form – evil creatures who feed on the fear and hatred they help create in their victims. Nathan’s only ally is the doctor who cares for him. Bound together by their common legacy, they alone seem to share the ability to see the demons for what they are. 

Together they must find a way to stop these creatures before their own loved ones become the next victims and the demons destroy them-- and much more.

My Thoughts: I’m not a huge fan of “horror novels that feature children”; they’re right up there with “horror novels about animals acting like... umm, animals”. However, this one was quite engaging overall, and actually ended up being more dark fantasy than horror. The sections with Nathan sort of rubbed me raw, because I’m just not that excited to read about things from a young child’s point of view, but at the same time, I felt badly for the little guy. And as a result, I was 100 percent behind the monsters – want to kill abusive jerks painfully and slowly? I’m right behind that, gotta say. Of course, they don’t stop there, and that’s where the trouble starts.

There are a lot of point-of-view shifts in the book, but they’re pretty easily followed, so it doesn’t feel like head hopping. We get the most character development from Nathan and Jason, with a bit from Jenny, while Sherry feels mostly like a filler character. I feel like readers would have had a stronger impact from Steve and Jazz from outside their heads, but that’s just me; I didn’t really feel like their internal dialogue did much for the story other than make them look unsympathetic.

Overall, those who enjoy dark fantasy should enjoy this story. I wouldn’t really define it as horror due to the ending, but those who enjoy lighter horror fare should probably enjoy this story as well. Hard-core horror fans might feel cheated by how it all ends up. If you have a problem with abusive jerks, you will probably like what happens in this book. So, overall, I think there are a lot of people who will enjoy this story. Check it out.



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