Book Review: Best Seller by Timothy B. Sagges

There are stories of horror on the real landscape of our world, and then there are those in the imagination. Fascination with this genre continues to make the strange, scary, and macabre a popular and adrenalin filled escape for many readers.

In Best Seller by Timothy B. Sagges we follow the life of a writer. Richard Rossi is willing to do just about anything to get his book published and in the hand of readers. Or is he? When he stumbles on a party in his apartment complex, he meets a woman who seems very interested in what he has written and what he has to say. She, in return, introduces in to a enigmatic man, a publisher named Seth Volos.

Volos is polished and charismatic and says just the right things to reel Richard in. Richard finds himself signing a document that only gives him a small window to change his mind; he only has further questions. Knowing he has a little time to read the fine print, he moves on his way to celebrate his new found freedom to pursue his dream. However, immediately strange things begin to happen: he is in a accident and unconscious, making him miss the deadline of time to review his contract. He immediately becomes an overnight sensation with the help of Volos and his staff.

He is thrilled and yet unnerved when he begins to see a pattern of youth suicides, many clutching his book as they are found. What is happening, and does he bare any responsibility? Looking for answers only drags him deeper into the mire. Even with his star on the rise, Richard understands there is something bigger going on, but can he get to the bottom of it before it is too late? Or is it already too late?

Sagges has written a horror story reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock. The currents are not along the top where they jump out at you, but wind behind and through the writing causing a creepiness and horror that strikes when you least expect it. As with Hitchcock and his films, I was uncomfortable with the telling of this tale. I thought about it when I was done reading for the day, and as I completed the book. The characters are very true to life and well done, but it is the story and the children that hold you enthralled.

Sagge’s bio says that the story comes from a set of recurring night terrors, and I can only wonder how he was able to put this aside to get any actual sleep. If you enjoy the creepy, or really just like a good solid horror, you will enjoy the scope of this story. It is well done and hard to really see it coming until it is twisted within your mind. A solid mixture of Hitchcock meets the crypt keeper, the horror builds and the characters continue to crumble around the strange circumstances and the processes put in play by Seth Volos.