BOOK REVIEW | BREATHE IN, BLEED OUT | BRIAN McCAULEY

ABOUT THE BOOK

It's a Midsommar night's Scream in this blood-soaked thriller set at a remote healing retreat from horror author Brian McAuley.

 Hannah has been running from her demons ever since she emerged from a harrowing wilderness trip without her fiancé. No one knows exactly what happened the day Ben died, and Hannah would like to keep it that way... even if his ghost still haunts her with vivid waking nightmares that are ruining her life. So when her friend group gets an exclusive invitation to a restorative spiritual retreat in Joshua Tree, Hannah reluctantly agrees in search of a fresh start.

 Despite her skepticism of the strange Guru Pax and his belief in the supernatural world, Hannah soon finds healing through all the yoga, sound baths, and hot springs offered at the tech-free haven. But this peaceful journey of self-discovery quickly descends into a violent fight for self-preservation when a mysterious killer starts picking off retreat attendees in increasingly gruesome ways. As the body count rises and Hannah’s sanity frays, she’ll have to confront her dark past and uncover the true nature of a ruthless monster hellbent on killing her vibe for good.

REVIEW

Hannah’s fiancée has recently died whilst out on a wilderness survival trip that they undertook. It was meant to be a special time for Hannah, but it soon turned into a nightmare.

Now almost a year later, she is struggling with PTSD and the visions of her dead fiancée won’t stop haunting her.

In a bid to cheer her up, her best friend has got the old gang back together and planned to take her to a wellness clinic somewhere in the desert.

Mixing Nine Perfect Strangers with My Bloody Valentine, Breathe in, Breathe Out is an enjoyable slasher set in a wellness clinic with a protagonist who you are never quite sure is the killer or not.

The slasher has had a rejuvenation of late, what with Stephen Graham Jones’s The Indian Lake Trilogy, or the film In a Violent Nature have shown that there is life in the old dog yet.

However, Brian McCauley gone for the more traditional route and gone for an out and out slasher. And this makes for an entertaining romp.

Don’t get me wrong. There are elements that are non-traditional, such as having a damaged and questionable protagonist.

The book keeps up the mystery element of the genre brilliantly and the reader is always trying to figure out who done it with plenty of misdirection and red herrings.

The deaths are suitably gory and imaginative.

Breathe In, Bleed Out is a fun ride that will have any fan of the genre well and truly satisfied