Kristy Tallman

Warning - Not for the faint of heart - true horror fans only!


Crows on the Cross is Kristy Tallman's second novel. The story starts with two lovers who are in a car crash together. When they wake up they are each alone. Rainey is in Virginia and Drew is in Florida. The states represent where Rainey and Drew's personal hell began in the days of their youth.

When Rainey wakes up in her pristine 1969 Cadillac, she can't remember how it is she got home, let alone where she has been, or why the car and her clothes smell of smoke. All she does know for certain is that her and her lover Drew had a fight - but over what? Not even she knows why, but unable to find him Rainey's drawn by the disparate need to head south. Without knowing where he is she heads to the only place she knows he might be - in Florida.

Drew is first introduced waking up in Miami, Florida in Rainey's beloved 69 Cadillac staring hard into his childhood church. Why? Only able to remember the horrible accident that took Rainey away from him he's left to wonder how he ended up back in Florida and how he's driving around in a car that wrapped around a tree. Nothing makes sense - who's the shadowy man at the church and how is he going to endure his life after losing Rainey? The stranger at the church sends Drew reeling back in time - the nightmare of his childhood comes slamming back into his memory after all these years of keeping it hidden. Filled with anger and a broken heart he decides he's got to get the hell out of Florida. He's on a mission to Virginia to return the caddie back to Rainey's mother or so he tells himself.

Both Rainey and Drew suffer flash backs into their childhood, where each of them has had to endure the worst kind of evil that can be inflicted upon a helpless child. This novel will send you on a roller coaster ride of emotional trauma, you'll scream in anger one moment then feel like crying the next as you ride with the characters Tallman has created in a car that isn't just any car. The demons she creates in this book are too real, so real it will change the way you look at the common passerby every time you walk out your front door.

Kristy Tallman has done it again! Her ability to turn the pages of a novel into a real to life psychological hell for the reader by showing you that the genuine horror in this world is our very own human race has again been accomplished with an encore for more. Tallman has definitely surpassed the expectations I held after reading "The All-Souls Faire". She managed to shock me to the core and horrify me like no other author has in a long time! Excellent! 5-Stars… (mais)

I was looking forward to reading The All-Soul's Faire because even though I have read more than my fair share of horror novels, I can't remember reading one dealing with the elements of dark magic. I am glad this was the first as I now have something to measure the others against.

Detective Cole Bryant finds himself immersed in his first homicide since becoming a detective for the Alleghany Sheriff's Department. It is not the fact that he has a homicide to deal with that bothers Cole, but the manner in which the body is found - partially petrified with a goat's head staring at him from within her bowels.

Lisa Hicks murder would be the first in a string of unusual homicides - homicides which would lead Cole down a path he never expected, more bodies that were found in the same location and in a similar state but even though they were obviously homicides the ME on the case wrote them off as suicides.

Not only do the homicides bother him, so does the reaction of the townspeople. They seem to go on as if nothing unusual has happened and no one is willing to talk about it - questions about it are avoided at all costs. The only thing that Cole hears are rumors surrounding the Hicks family and their bizarre lifestyle - a lifestyle he gains firsthand knowledge of and even though he knows better has a hard time letting go of.

Let me first say that Kristy Tallman has hit a chord in me that not too many authors do. I literally let the wash sit and the dishes go…if I didn't have 2 little ones I would not have put this down until it was finished. Look out world, the face of horror has a new name and I for one look forward to anything this bright young author brings my way.

Thanks again Kristy for allowing my group to review your book!

Questions for the author:

1. Where did you get your inspiration for the backwoods characters that you portray, they seem so authentic?

My family is originally from the area the book is written about and from time spent visiting in the summers and living there for two years just watching the people you begin to almost transform into the folks you come to love and admire for their true personalities. They seem authentic because many of them are based on people I knew with maybe an added flare here and there.

2. What authors do you feel should get more recognition (present company excluded)?

Wow - that's a good question and one not many have asked me or given me the opportunity to rise to the occasion of saying so! I would have to say many of the authors in the horror industry tend to get the cold shoulder simply because the market is saturated with other genres to the point there is little if any shelf space provided for them in bookstores. Poets too I think truly don't get the attention they deserve but that seems to stem from a political aspect rather than shelf space. To name a few though - Gary Frank is a very talented author as is Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc who began her career self-published and has beat the odds. I met Gaddy Bergmann at the Denver Co, MileHiCon and have been reading his work - outstanding point of view on an over done post apocalyptic world. His work breaks the boundaries of Sci-Fi and runs the gamut of great literary works to be.

3. Do you have any books in the works at the moment?

I just completed Crows on the Cross and it is scheduled to release Jan 1. There are always several books in the works for me but right now the only one I will divulge is the sequel to The All-Soul's Faire due to be released on October 31, 2008.

4. Do you have any hobbies other than writing?

Well I enjoy bowling and hanging out with my family. When you travel so much it tends to become a treat just to stay home and spend time with those you love. I also love riding motorcycles and listening to blues bands on the weekends when I can. I always say though when I tire of writing or find the free time I will get back to my art and my photography work.

A copy of The All-Soul's Faire will be raffled off to a reader the first week of February. Please sign the guestbook under this book at www.uponfurtherreview.org for your chance to win. Your name will automatically be entered in the drawing.

Winners will be announced on the website under Raffle Winners. Good luck and have a great day!

As always, if you have any questions or problems, please don't hesitate to contact me:)… (mais)

Do you want some more? You will when you read the All Souls Faire, by Kristy Tallman.

Kristy Tallman, is going to take you on a road trip to the small town of Covington, Va. Where she is going to bring to life the characters in this small country town. You will feel the fear of Detective Cole Bryant as he is confronted with the mysteries of North mountain. You will fall in love Ms. Ryder, who knows all the stories of the area and of the evil that exists on North Mountain. Then you will feel the hopelessness of Cecil as he tries to full fill his pact with the devil.

Kristy Tallman is an up and coming Psychological Thriller and Horror author. Her work will keep you spellbound and turning the pages. After reading the novel you will want some more. If Ms. Tallman continues to bring us more of this type of work, she is well on her way to becoming a best selling author. So look out Steven King & Dean Koontz. There is a new author to the horror genre and her name is Kristy Tallman - 5 Stars - Michael Timlin - Authors on the Rise Book Reviews… (mais)