I want to start by thanking Tony at Grey Matter Press for providing me with an advance copy of Water & Wind in return for my review.
About the Book
John F.D. Taff’s epic apocalypse of terror, The Fearing, continues in Book Two: Water & Wind when a group of battle-worn seniors pick up the pieces of their ravaged lives and grapple with survival after the end of the world. And for the first time, they begin to notice an ominous pattern in the deluge of fears now roaming the earth.
Teenagers Kyle, Sarah and Carli sift through the devastation of their lost lives to find anything resembling hope for a future. But when Carli goes missing, the stakes get higher as the search for her takes a diabolical turn.
And the enigmatic Adam retains his tight-fisted grip on his submissive minion Jelnik as a series of unspeakable horrors follow in their wake as the two men travel west toward their dark destiny.
You can check out my review of Part 1 – Fire & Rain here
- Paperback: 130 pages
- Publisher: Grey Matter Press (17 Aug. 2019)
- ISBN-10: 1950569012
- ISBN-13: 978-1950569014
Water & Wind was released yesterday get your copy directly from Grey Matter Press or via Amazon
The Publication schedule for the last two parts is:
- Book Three: Air & Dust — 1st Oct 2019
- Book Four: Earth & Ember — 11th Nov 2019
Dark Reads Review
Water & Wind picks up right where fire And Rain’s cliff-hanger ending finished off. We are thrown straight into Hurricane Ezra and introduced to a new character Reverend Mark Hubert as he struggles to survive this category 5 beast, the reverend’s faith is being tested right off the bat and by the end of the first chapter I was completely invested in is character. I would say that Taff is not only the King Of Pain, but also The King Of Characterisation.
We are also introduced to another new character, a teenage girl called Monday who is suffering from amnesia and can only remember her name. She crosses paths with the Reverend and they quickly become comrades. I can’t wait to see where this friendship goes, I just love these two!
We also revisit all of our characters from book 1
Marcia, Rich, Wanda, Charles and Glen who are all on the bus tour and Carli, Kyle and Sarah, the students who are trying to figure out what the hell has happened and where to go next. And of course Adam and Jelnik. I don’t want to go into too much detail here as I don’t want to spoil anything but as the story continues these guys are beginning to have inklings as to why these terrifying things are happening and trying to prepare themselves as best they can for what terrors are in store for them next.
I said this after reading Fire & Rain but I’m going to say it again, I love the fact that The Fearing has been serialised, although I really don’t want to wait for the next part the anticipation of waiting for the next part is brilliant. The concept of the deepest, darkest and most terrifying fears of people manifesting themselves in reality is awesome, I really felt Taff beginning to unleash hell in Wind & Water and I just know there is worse to come. The imagery in this book and fear in the characters is second to none. I like the fact that the characters paths are beginning to cross and I cannot wait to see what happens next!
Water & Wind ends on a cliff-hanger, I actually don’t think I am over the ending of this installment, in time I hope I can forgive you Mr Taff!
I know even after only two of the four installments, The Fearing will be on my favorite books of 2019 list, without a doubt!
About The Author
From The Authors website
John F.D. Taff is a Bram Stoker Award®-Nominated author with more than 30 years experience, 90+ short stories and five novels in print.
His first fiction collection, Little Deaths, was named the best horror collection of 2012 by HorrorTalk. Jack Ketchum called his novella collection, The End in All Beginnings, “one of the best novella collections I’ve read.” His new fiction collection, Little Black Spots, will be available from Grey Matter Press in the Spring of 2018.
Look for more of his work in anthologies such as Cutting Block Book’s Single Slices, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, The Beauty of Death, Shadows Over Main Street 2 and Behold: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders.
Taff lives in the wilds of Illinois with three pugs, two cats and one long-suffering wife.
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