Family has always been important to me. I still love them even though they are probably the craziest people alive. You know what I mean. It’s Christmas, and the room is full of people who know your faults better than your good qualities, and you’re sitting in the corner of the living room, watching Aunt Bertha chug her eggnog and trying to remember: why is family so important again? But even though relatives can be the craziest, most stressful and annoying people around, for me, they’re also the ones that will never let me fall without pointing, laughing, then helping me up again.

But what if your family wasn’t just crazy like any normal family is. What if your family had a sordid past, full of supernatural influence, greed, and rape? Maybe Christmas wouldn’t just be awkward, but probably downright hellish.

This is the type of family Greg Dameron has in Justin Behrens’ first novel Bad Paths. Much like Behrens, the character Greg Dameron is a computer programmer who grew up in Iowa. But hopefully unlike Behren, Greg’s mother dragged him from town to town for 18 years, trying to convince him he had no family.

Now, after being away from home for nearly 15 years, Greg hears of his mother’s death and returns to the small town of Lost Haven, Iowa. However, as Greg learns about the family his mother strived to keep him from, he also learns that there is strange power and fear attached to the Dameron name.

Author Justin Behrens’ best quality is his ability to tell a story. Bad Paths hooks readers in the very beginning then takes them through the strange and unusual until the story is horrifyingly disturbing enough that they can’t put it down. And that’s exactly what happened to me. This probably isn’t the type of horror I would pick up and read (and you shouldn’t if you have a queasy stomach), but I’m glad Behrens’ plot pushed me through.

Behrens says in his interview with BookHunters that he is currently working on another horror. I’m still not sure if his style is exactly my taste. But just like the first, I’ll probably end up picking it up, regretting it half-way through, then putting it down with a satisfied smile. I’d encourage you to do the same with Bad Paths. If you like horror, the supernatural, and some disturbing elements along the way, you should read this book. Behrens is a good writer with a lot of promise.