Review: Jin Village by Vincent Stoia

Jin Village by Vincent Stoia
Synopsis (Goodreads):

Where only terror lives!

For generations, the inhabitants of the remote Jin Village in China had almost no contact with the outside world. Nearby villages whispered of murder and odd disappearances. Then the Jin villagers vanished.

Now, one hundred years later, American historian Malcolm Wang and a team of archaeologists arrive at Jin Village to excavate the ruins. They uncover evidence of a long history of human sacrifice and cannibalism. What Malcolm and his companions don’t know is that Jin Village is still very much alive. There is something out there, a dangerous remnant of a forgotten past…and it has woken up.

My Thoughts: I have a confession to make. Yes, it's a deep dark one that will probably disturb and disgust everyone but IT MUST BE SAID. I get nauseous when people start talking about plastic surgery. Seriously. I end up all queased out with my eyes rolling around in my head. Does anyone remember that episode of The X-Files where the guy was doing plastic surgery and ... Nope, I can't even talk about it (by the by, I've never been able to watch that episode all the way through without cringing behind a finger wall and peeking out to make sure the gross parts are done).

Why am I talking about this? you might be asking yourself. Well, the practice of binding a young girl's feet is discussed at some length and it added this whole new level of horrified terror to the book for me. No joke. I was sitting there all bug-eyed and faint and then people starting dying in an awful, terrible, no-good manner and I was like "AT LEAST THERE'S NO MORE FOOT BINDING!" *fans self*

Here's the thing, this book is already full of spooky goodness. It has a wonderfully creepy setting (abandoned village deep in the heart of nowhere, China) and the type of bad guy that makes your skin feel too small. Mother Chen is a confusing mix of pure evil and a dark product of what was done to her. There were times I felt for her. Sure, those times were quickly overshadowed by her craziness but... well, she had her moments.

Dark and claustrophobic, this book brought the creep factor and kept the tension high. The characters were flawed and likeable and they fought against this insidious evil the only way they knew how. I can't lie, I was hooked early on.

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Jin Village was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.