Book Review: Summer Son's by Lee Mandelo

 SUMMARY:

Andrew and Eddie did everything together, best friends bonded more deeply than brothers until Eddie left Andrew behind to start his graduate program at Vanderbilt. Six months later, only days before Andrew was to join him in Nashville, Eddie dies of an apparent suicide. He leaves Andrew a horrible inheritance: a roommate he doesn’t know, friends he never asked for, and a gruesome phantom with bleeding wrists that mutters of revenge.

As Andrew searches for the truth of Eddie’s death, he uncovers the lies and secrets left behind by the person he trusted most, discovering a family history soaked in blood and death. Whirling between the backstabbing academic world where Eddie spent his days and the circle of hot boys, fast cars, and hard drugs that ruled Eddie’s nights, the walls Andrew has built against the world begin to crumble, letting in the phantom that hungers for him.

TEE'S THOUGHTS

It is rather scary when you hype up a book before it is released, so many times when you finally get your hands on it and read it, you are let down, disappointed, it is rarely as good as your mind built it up to be.

I spent all summer building up and waiting for Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo. It had become my most anticipated read for the fall season.  It was going to go on my October Spooky Season reading pile, a pile I had been working on since about July, full of thrillers and horror books. But when my husband came home from work and threw a cardboard envelope at me one day in late August with an advanced copy of the book in it, I couldn’t wait. I tried. But I caved, there was no way I could wait to read this book until October.

I knew just by the description  I would love Summer Sons, it has two of my favorite elements to it…it is gothic and it has bits of dark academia thrown in. Win-Win situation.  I have had a love for gothic literature since I first pick up Dracula years ago, and Souther Gothic is in a league of its own, it's somehow creepier, it brings in sprawling crumbling old plantation homes that drip with Spanish moss, and me being Southern, I have stepped on many front porches to be greeted by the familiar haint blue painted ceiling.

The characters in this book are complex and beautifully written. Each one of them brings substance to the story with their unique and nuanced personalities. The sadness that Andrew felt leaked across every page of the book. Riley was easy to like, he was a true friend to Andrew because Eddie had loved Andrew, and Sam, well he was a bit harder to like, he is gruff, but in the end, he showed his worth and won me over.

Lee Mandelo’s words felt and read like poetry, his descriptions of both the places and the people were exquisite. When I wasn’t able to actually read, for instance, while cooking, etc. I listened to the book on audio. The slow Southern drawl of Will Damron was a smooth as a good bourbon feels as it slides down your throat.

This book melds so many genres together, horror, action, and mystery that there is something for everyone, but to warn you… it is a slow burner and a slow read, you will want to take your time reading it. Unknown things will creep in slowly, unexpectedly, and unsettle you. The author leaks out his information slowly and builds suspense and anticipation.

Summer Sons is creepy, it is sad, it is queer, and for a debut book it is fucking brilliant, and I can’t wait to see what tale Mandelo spins for us in his next book.

Watch out Faulker, there is a new writer of Southern Gothic and their name is Lee Mandelo