Marty Young

Marty Young creates a fantastic novel of suspense anticipation and fear in 809 Jacob Street, and with illustrations that seem to look through you the story is a slow descent to madness.

Following two people, a tramp named Joey Blue and a young new lad in town Byron together their fate is met in the house on Jacob Street.

While Byron questions what exists in the monster house and doubts all the stories of the country bumpkin folk, Joey knows what awaits him as the voices call him back where he desperately tried to forget.

Chilling and exciting 809 Jacob Street is a book easily devoured. In need of a good editing otherwise a well written piece!… (altro)

Byron has just moved to the small town of Parkton from the big city and its like entering a new world. Parkton is a place filled with dark secrets and strange people. At the heart of it all is an old house on Jacob Street. For the most part people don’t like to talk about the house, when Byron asks about it in the library he gets yelled at and people seem to avoid the area all together. The only ones that have an interest in the house are two boys at Byron’s school named Lain and Hammish. They seem to have an unhealthy interest in monsters and they want to take Byron to find the monsters that live at 809 Jacob Street.

Byron is not sure he believes in monsters but something weird is going on in Parkton. One of its residents is Joey Blue, an alcoholic blues singer who is homeless and sees ghosts. Joey gets a shock one night when an old friend comes to him for help and he finds that the only way he can help him is by entering the house at 809 Jacob Street. Something sinister lives in that house and it is calling to Joey and Byron and when they enter the house they may never return.

809 Jacob Street by Marty Young is an atmospheric haunted house story that is like a painting put to words. Everything in this story is described in vivid detail from the ghosts in Parkton, the house on Jacob Street and the character’s emotions about what was going on. There is not a lot of action in this story but it makes up for it by giving you vivid descriptions on a town haunted by ghosts and monsters.

The characters in 809 Jacob Street were a mixed bag for me. I liked how Byron and his friends are doing what normal kids do by being curious about the haunted house that no one wants to talk about. Then its made obvious how their interest is not as normal as it appears. The other kids in school seem to avoid Hammish and Lain and Byron realizes that no one in this town acts like they did in his old hometown. Lain and Hammish are not normal kids and everyone seems to know it. I liked how Byron is given a choice on whether to go along with the monster hunters or be accepted by the other kids. I also liked the dynamic of the group and how Lain’s agenda is revealed.

The other main character in the book is Joey. I didn’t like Joey’s character and didn’t quite understand his role in the book. I found myself not liking him and it bothered me that he talked about how he loved his wife and daughter but he also talks about how he abandoned them and never went back. I didn’t see Joey as a sympathetic character and didn’t care about what happened to him. His role until the very end confused me but I did like the payoff and his involvement in the end of the book. 809 Jacob Street is a great haunted house story, It’s very visual and I can see it making a good spooky movie.… (altro)

Review copy

In his debut novel Marty Young has created a creepy little town named Parkton, Oregon. One of those towns with a past it would like to keep quiet. No need for a nosey, fourteen year-old, newcomer trying to learn what happened at 809 Jacob Street.

The rumors of mass murder and disappearing kids vary greatly and Byron James just wants to know the truth. Byron's not the only one drawn to the house, there are his new friends Iain and Hamish and a disturbed former bluesman, Joey Blue, all destined to find themselves at Parkton' s darkest address.

809 Jacob Street may be Marty Young's first published novel, but he's certainly paid his dues, both as an award winning editor and as the founding President of the Australian Horror Writers Association and one of the creative minds behind Midnight Echo Magazine.

Young' s talent is is clear, particularly his keen eye for descriptive text. "Byron James glanced up from his contemplations and stared at his new friend. Iain Cluson' tangled mop of hair and thick eyebrows made him look like a crazy cartoon character, a mad scientist in shorts and a Darth Vader t-shirt. He was the oldest amongst them, closing in on fifteen. Four months older than Byron and five months more than the third member of their gang, Hamish Aidenson, who was a head taller than Iain and a whole world more silent than anyone Byron had met before. Hamish was thin, too, so thin that a good gust of wind would fill his clothes like sails and take him far away from here. His brown hair was long and shaggy, reminding Byron of Beaker, that poor muppet who had a perpetual look of fright on his face. Guess that meant Iain was Dr. Bunsen Honeydew."

This is the first time in a long time that I actually got chills while reading a book. The author managed to build tension slowly and brought it all to a brutal crescendo.

I also liked the cover design and beautiful interior illustrations from David Schembri.

All told, 809 Jacob Street is a wonderful first novel for Marty Young and first release for new Publisher, Black Beacon Books

As I'm finishing this review, I noticed 809 Jacob Street is available for FREE if you are an Amazon Prime member,as a part of the Kindle Lending Library. Sweet deal.

Highly recommended.… (altro)