Grey Skies by William Becker is a psychological horror which will have you wondering what’s actually real and what’s not. After Roman tries to burry a nun and takes her home in the rain he finds himself unaware of the torment that God will bestow upon him. I was sent an Ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest review, all opinions are my own and aren’t swayed by this.
The story is loosely held together by seemingly unrelated bad things happening to a man that found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s not until flashbacks are introduced that we can make sense of the narrative and start to piece things together. In some ways this is effective as it adds the level of mystery and idea that this could happen to anyone but I believe it was slightly overused especially as we got towards the middle without any real answers only a string of clues pointing us in different directions. The psychological elements worked wonderfully in partnership with the horror elements making it almost impossible to distinguish between reality with the creepiness through the roof the whole way through. I hate spiders on a good day but they were so well written into the story that I couldn’t help but be even more creeped out by them.
For me Roman was an instantly unlikable character and I found it difficult in parts to feel sympathy for him even before I knew why it was all happening. That being said I was constantly wondering weather he was good or bad and what was causing this all to happen to him which added a new depth to his character and I found it interesting to find new reasons to try and understand or judge his character.
The writing held vivid imagery that made it really easy to imagine exactly what he was going through which in some cases, because of the gross or creepy situations wasn’t as welcome as it would have been. In some parts the writing style become slightly repetitive with the same words or phases being used to describe things but could easily be looked over with the sheer depth of the description.
Throughout I found myself wondering how it all linked back to the nun and wasn’t disappointed in the end when the story came full circle explaining her significance. Everything was wrapped up nicely in the end having everything explained and the story resolved in a way.
Overall I think this was a strong debut from William Becker and can’t wait to see what else he has to offer. I recommend that you give this book a try if you’re a fan of the genre as I believe that in time he will be a name in horror.