Cale Dietrich

I received and advance copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for a fair and impartial review.

The premise of this book is fantastic and sounds like something designed in a lab specifically for me. Inverting the usual slasher tropes by having a fraternity be the target of a masked killer? Gays in my horror story? Sign me up! The story elements are all there and largely deliver on their promise. Overall this was a neat, if slightly formulaic slasher style book with a compelling twist near the end.

However, The Pledge fails to live up to its potential in a few areas; mainly characterization (so many people were being offed left and right so soon after being introduced and with such little direct portrayal in the story that I found it difficult to keep them straight, even when you have your tried and true archetypes, The Horror Fan, The Murder Podcaster, The Gym Bro, etc.) and the connective tissue of the writing. The plot and action were good but the writing stringing them all together was sometimes dull and prone to leaning on uninspired word choice.

Overall I definitely enjoyed this one and would look forward to reading anything else this author might put out.… (mais)