Still Water Paperback – April 9, 2014

My first book by Justin Macumber . . . and what a delicious one at that. Quite refreshing to be consumed in an unique-horror-creature tail such as this ! I am thrilled to read stories containing monsters and over-the top creepiness - - - that terrifies and thrills me to no end !An "oooh and ouch" read of terror that sent tingles and shivers down my spine. Characters that I rooted for with such passion ! Only certain books are able to reach me in such a manner - - becoming one with some of the characters - including "the beast" was delightful. "Still Water " grabbed and entered my thoughts in an unforgettable way.I believe I would have survived this attack in the cursed hills of West Virginia. Since the all too human characters had intense dedication, preservation, mental and physical strength, and no choice but to have an open mind on "what" they were dealing with - - - they were able to learn the "beast's" ways and fight 'the good fight' as ferociously as possibly - - - to survive.Excellent read, especially from one whom has just delved into writing horror. His next release will be sucked-up by me in no time - I'm counting on that Justin R. Macumber ! Congratulations for the nightmares - I am a lover of your book, and I am sure to enjoy what is next.I strongly recommend "Still Water" to horror/monster/creepy/scary/thrilling seeking bookworms - I believe you will thoroughly enjoy this read . . even those whom do not "typically" read horror, this tail will impress you.5 golden stars for you Justin --- You Rock !

A very enjoyable, good old-fashioned horror novel with a quick pace, interesting characters / setting and some new twists on old tropes. Think "The Coal Miner's Daughter" as written by HP Lovecraft.Macumber captures the setting of dying coal town in West Virgina very effectively and that sets the tone of decay for much of the work.The first few chapters are among some of the best I've read this year and he keeps the pace up during the course of the work.Another observation is the author's refusal to dance around less savory aspects of small town life such as economic inequity, LGBT issues and racism. Macumber pulls no punches and tells it like it (unfortunately) is. A bold risk which I appreciated.There are a number of "schticks" common to such horror works in "Still Water" but the author uses clever methods of using a reader's assumptions against them to add more impact to the reveals. I appreciated the twists and the "reader expectation judo" he pulls off in the book.Another point is the value of the book. Absolutely worth the price and I can't say that about every book I read nowadays.My only nitpicks were;- excessive use of several words during the story. Uncommon words like "rancid" and "pallor" kept appearing in chapter after chapter.- Some easy edit misses which detracted from the reading overall; "your =/ you're" and so on.- Epilogue was a bit too sweet and perfunctory for my taste- While the primary characters were vivid and substantial, a few of the side characters were blurry placeholders with only names to differentiate them.

Let me preface this by admitting bias. I have been listening to Justin on DRS for a bit now, and was enticed to try this book when he and his co-hosts brainstormed this story on the show.PLOT: The main idea behind the story is phenomenal. Like I said above, it's what made me want to read the story. I've never heard an idea like it. The actual procession of the plot itself is fine, if not a touch formulaic. It uses a pretty standard progression, which is fine, it works to move the plot along. I just wanted maybe a few more twists, for such an original base idea. Justin says that he wanted to give the main big bad an avatar in the plot, to give a face to an otherwise mostly unseen adversary. This was a saving grace, I think, because it kept the danger immediate and 'real', as opposed to just something slumbering under the water that we don't see. My only want, with regards to the avatar, is that we didn't see more of him in action. He was pretty cool, but for most of the story he stands and stares at the water, thinking.TONE: This is where I feel the work could be improved the most. The feel, the tension of the book was just a bit thin. It's hard to recommend specific ways it could have been different, because a thick atmosphere is a hard thing to craft. It reminded me a little of Wayward Pines, though, in that things that were off or unusual, were REALLY OBVIOUSLY off or unusual (There's a character in Wayward pines that almost literally out loud says they're crazy and evil in the first episode.) Maybe just a bit more build up. Like with Kyle's mom, maybe there's only a little bit of anger there at first, and it's out-of-place yes, but Kyle maybe thinks it's nothing at first. Then she becomes constantly irritated. And then so on from there. I felt like there was some tension in the town of Stillwater, but it built up in jerky steps, instead of a smooth slope. The rain was a nice touch though.CHARACTERSI'm a huge stickler for deep, well developed characters. So that said, I was left feeling a little unsatisfied with our Stillwater friends. Nice touches were Taylor's big surprise, the way Maya rationalized what happened at the graveyard ("It's just a ghost, nothing more" lol) and more. But I feel like there was missed opportunities with almost all the characters. The flattest were the townsfolk. I know they were being affected and weren't wholly themselves (or I guess, were MORE themselves) but it seemed like they lost all personality once they were affected. The only glimpse we see of any personality is the miners' groveling towards the Big Bad's avatar. But once they get affected, they may as well be robots. The story is about our heroes however, so our main focus should be on them. I feel okay with Maya, she seemed well developed and believable. Kyle, though, I don't know enough about by the end of the story. What was he like as a kid? What did him and the other kids do near the mine vent back in the day? Did he get good grades in school? Have any girlfriends? I don't want his life story but just a few hints at the kind of guy he is. He ran away from Stillwater, but to be honest, I think most of us would have.TECHNICALI unfortunately have to agree with the reviews on this page that mention the editing. I don't know who Justin used to edit the manuscript, and in all fairness no manuscript is perfect, editors and beta readers will miss things. But there's a lot. No mispellings, though. The word choice the author uses to describe people and situations is fine most of the time, with a few bizarre images thrown in ("Bodies strewn about like empty fast food containers" being one). It could have used one more editing pass.OVERALLI liked it. I don't think it deserves 1 or 2 stars, but at the same time it is reflective of a writer still learning the craft and I can't give it 5 or 4. It was 2.99, which I think was an appropriate price. There's indie authors that charge a lot more for stories with a lot less polish, and this story obviously had some work put into it. This story had a lot of potential and a lot of good chunks. But what really held it back was the technical issues and the atmosphere and characters.