Kate’s Review: “Shallow Ends”

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Book: “Shallow Ends” by David James Keaton

Publishing Info: Podium Publishing, September 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from the author.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: An innocent celebration takes a twisted turn when thirteen unlucky people find themselves trapped on a party bus with an inscrutable driver at the wheel.

It was just supposed to be a birthday party, a mobile celebration with a group of college friends on a modified fire truck. But at some point, things take a dark detour. As the pulsating beats of dance music reverberate over an endless stretch of asphalt, the temperature suddenly plummets, and the reality of the situation becomes chillingly clear. The driver will not stop. After frantically attempting contact, the passengers begin to suspect this party may never end. Desperation mounts as the trapped revelers hatch a plan to halt the rolling nightmare themselves. While they continue to drink and argue, shifting narrators peel back the layers of their past lives, exposing the disturbing secrets that bind them all together. Alliances shift, old grudges resurface, and battles erupt as the terrified passengers turn on one another in a struggle for survival as they careen through the night.

The Twilight Zone meets Speed in Shallow Ends, a harrowing exploration of the human psyche set on a desolate highway, where the line between what’s real and unreal blurs. Brace yourself for a psychological thrill ride that will leave you questioning the boundaries of perception—and confronting the darkness that lurks beneath the placid surface of our lives.

Review: Thank you to David James Keaton for sending me an eARC of this novel!

Halloween Season keeps on keeping on, and I am trying to showcase a variety of sub genres this year for Horrorpalooza. Heck, I’m trying to expand my horror reading experiences all year round, really. So when David James Keaton reached out with his new horror novel “Shallow Ends”, and I saw it described as “The Twilight Zone” meets “Speed”, I thought that it sounded out there enough that I HAD to check it out. And I’m happy that I took a chance on it, because “Shallow Ends” was bizarre in the best way.

I didn’t really know what to expect with this story but it was a high tension roller coaster for the most part. While the comparisons to “The Twilight Zone” and “Speed” are definitely on point, I was also thinking of the anthology horror film “Night Train to Terror” as I read this as this party firetruck of people hurtles towards who knows what. Keaton definitely knows how to up the suspense as our party goers start to realize that their party firetruck isn’t stopping, and may NOT stop unless they can figure out a way to do so. It’s creative and weird, and I did find myself wondering just how this was all going to shake out for our cast of characters as the night continues on, they start to turn on each other, and the booze keeps on flowing. I will admit that the huge cast of characters made it a bit tricky for me to keep them all straight, but characterization for every player isn’t really the point, even as we start to delve more and more into their backstories (more on that in a bit). I think that for me the biggest success was the oddball strangeness of a party firetruck with a pool and bar a volatile group of revelers getting stuck in a time loop or something of the sort and their journey never ends as as they get more desperate. It’s SO weird but because of that it utterly charmed me.

And yes, as we see character backstories or memories as told through separate short stories, it also has a bit of a “Canterbury Tales” vibe to it. Which is ALSO so oddball, but executed in a way that I found to be interesting and unique. At first I was a little thrown, but once I figured out what was going on I got on board. I will say that sometimes it kind of threw the momentum off to be going from something so frenetic as an out of control party firetruck to a total change in scenery, but it was, again, an oddity to what I have come to expect from the genre. And yes, there were plenty of things in this book that actually had me laughing out loud. There are a lot of characters who are just awful, but have some really funny lines, both in the moment on the party truck, but also within the stories that are representing themselves beyond the chaotic moments in the pool.

“Shallow Ends” is a strange brew, and I found it entertaining and suspenseful. If you like weird horror, this is one to look out for!

Rating 7: Frenetic and strange with an ever building tension, “Shallow Ends” is breakneck and suspenseful, and one of the more unique horror books I’ve read this year.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Shallow Ends” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Best Weird Fiction Books”.