★★★★ out of ★★★★★
By Kealan Patrick Burke
Phil Pendleton’s day was off to a pretty good start. He was in the store stocking up on chocolate for his girlfriend Lori and prepping for a day of “Netflix and chill” when he heard a deafening scream from the other end of the aisle. The source of the scream was a strangely dressed child standing with his haggard-looking mother who shoved fistfuls of sour candies into her mouth as the boy pulled more bags off the rack. When the store management had to come to deal with the situation, the little boy offered Phil a piece of sour candy…
After leaving the store, Phil is involved in a horrific car accident that leaves one person dead, and Phil wishing he was. After being brought home by the police, he discovers the strange little boy from the store living in his house, calling him daddy, and all traces of the life he had known just a few hours earlier erased.
A prisoner in his own house, Phil begins to deteriorate mentally and physically (a steady diet of sugary candy will do that to you) until he gets a glimpse of the sinister secrets the little boy is hiding and has to develop a plan to reclaim his life from dark and ancient forces.
Sour Candy is a bite-sized treat with elements ranging from the ritualistic to the Lovecraftian. From the opening line of the title page, “four months to the day he first encountered the boy at Walmart, the last of Phil Pendleton’s teeth fell out”, I was hooked. You’d be “gjok” not to pick it up (you’ll learn that word when you read it) and I for one can’t wait to check out more by this award-winning author.
Sour Candy is available to purchase as an ebook for Kindle on Amazon.