I received an ARC e-book copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I also was a pre-reader and read an earlier draft of the novel prior to publication.

It’s Only Death is noir of the darkest sort. Disfunctional doesn’t even begin to describe the family in this story. Broken. Devastated. Those are more accurate adjectives. Everyone in this story is broken in some way.

Dylan says every man needs redemption and that all men will fall---surely we all fall, but can all men be redeemed; can all men be released from their sins? Are some things so wrong that there can be no forgiveness? Are there some debts that can never be paid?

That is what It’s Only Death is all about. Wrap those questions in a dark and violent story which twists and turns on itself like a snake trying cross a hot tarmac and that is what you have.

Dark. Relentless and compelling. And surprising at times. Well done. ( )

Review copy

Lee Thompson writes Dark Fantasy and Noir fiction under his own name, Coming-of-Age Suspense as Thomas Morgan, and Supernatural Thrillers as Julian Vaughn. If I had to categorize It's Only Death, I'd call it Hard-core Crime Drama. Horror without the monsters.

It's the fourth of July, and the opening line is a killer. "They clubbed me and tossed me into the trunk of a new pink Cadillac shortly after midnight."

From there, the author brings us back a couple of days to see exactly how Elmore James Jackson came to be in this dire situation.

Elmore, or I guess I should say James, since that's the name he prefers to go by, has come home to see his mother one more time, before she dies. After ten years gone, no one is happy to see him, not even his mother. It most likely has something to do with the last thing he did before he took off. No spoiler, but it's bad, very bad, and more than a few people would rather see him dead than see him at all.

I've never met a character with more of a death wish. Others even ask James numerous times if he has a death wish...even James thinks he does.

It's Only Death is filled with characters I felt strongly about. Characters I either liked or disliked. Very little middle ground, but they were all strongly written.

The latest from Darkfuse, It's Only Death, is available now, in the Kindle format, through Amazon.com. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read this one at no additional charge or if you have Amazon Prime you could make it this month's selection from the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

Recommended. ( )