The Ridge Paperback – April 25, 2017

No spoilers:Having lived unhappily in a gated complex known as Willow Ridge, I just had to read this novel. The story begins with Megan and Tyler Stokes already ensconced in the cookie-cutter Community of Willow Ridge...Megan, for some reason not entirely explained, is angry at her neighbor Rachel for her attentions toward Tyler so she gets drunk and goes nextdoor to confront her...Rachel is in her garage, up on a ladder, when Megan begins her tirade against her. She picks up a ceramic lawn gnome and throws it at Rachel causing her to fall from the ladder and break her neck. Megan watches her die then runs from the scene...A few days later Rachel is back at home and very much alive...While trying to spy on Rachel, Megan sees a dead rabbit in the gutter. While she is staring at the rabbit, another neighbor, an old man called Mercer, tells her "Don't worry, the sweepers come at night. "...I would classify this novel as a sci-fi, not horror. The story is very similar to AMERICAN ELSEWHERE by Robert Jackson Bennet, but not as good by far. This was a predictable, mediocre story with an ending that went on far too long. Try THE GROVE by this author if you want a better story.

another great one from John Rector. with a prose that almost turns the pages for you, he delivers story that you cannot stop reading. was glued to the screen of my kindle and could not put it down. one of the things i enjoy about John's books is the fact that he can tell a very compelling story without using alot of extra words. just straight to the point, nothing off topic in this one. and for me thats what makes a great book, i have no time to read about filler some authors throw in, i just want the story and John's slim prose delivers that every time. Loved it from start to finish.

This is one of those books that upon finishing I just kinda said "oohhhhhh kaaaaaayyy" and shook my head. It's not the typical psychological thriller that you are expecting, not at all. Quite the opposite in my opinion. I can honestly say that if the back cover gave more of a clue as to the premise of this book, I probably wouldn't have read it. Nevertheless I gave it 4 stars. Why?? Because it was quite gripping. Once you get involved after the first two chapters, it's all over for you right there......no putting this one down until you figure out what the hell is going on here. I consumed it in a day. I applaud the author in the ability to keep me constantly wanting more, not being able to get through the pages quick enough on such a bizarre unexpected topic.I would classify this as a quick beach read, and I do recommend it to my fellow readers. Not your typical psychological thriller, that's for sure. ----review by Gina Pelz

When I started "The Ridge" I thought " Oh no. If this is a rewrite of 'The Grove,' I am going to be so disappointed."I was not disappointed. "The Ridge" is not a rewrite of anything. It plays with hints of popular horror memes in order to fool the reader into thinking it's just another example of one of the overused memes. Each false expectation heightened my surprise and unease as I realised I was entering uncharted territory.The author's use of the color blue both as a character in and of itself, and as a twisted roadmap, adds to the suspense and increasingly disquieting atmosphere. Blue is probably most people's favorite color. It's naturally calming as the color of the sky. However, just as the color of the sky is an illusion caused by refraction of light, blue becomes more mystical and ultimately as far from calming as a tornado is from comforting.The reoccurring use of carnivals adds to the sense that something is not quite as it seems. Carnivals, with their carousels of fake wooden horses, their distorted and fake human clowns, and their entire disturbingly fake reality, are a perfect metaphor for the heart of Willow Ridge.Kudos to the author for using familiar threads to reweave a story that gradually leads to the discovery of an entirely new color of horror fiction.

I've read everything that John Rector has published and I must say that The Ridge is his finest work. I couldn't put it down and finished reading in one sitting.I really enjoyed the different genres all mixed into one wild story. Crime, suspense, mystery, tech, and science fiction all in one. It's a wild ride and I really didn't want it to end. Give this one a shot and I promise you'll want to read John's entire collection of stellar books.

This is the first book by John Rector that I’ve read, but it certainly won’t be the last. I started reading The Ridge at a particularly busy period in my life, a time when I really didn’t have time to read it. Subsequently, I had to put it down often to work on other things, but the darn story kept running around in my head and I had to know what happened next, so I went without getting much sleep for a couple of nights to finish it. I suppose that’s about the best thing I can say about it, it kept my interest and made me make time for it. Don’t get me wrong, in my humble opinion, it isn’t a great piece of literature, but it’s a riveting story, and very professionally written (I dig the author’s brevity, he doesn’t write two paragraphs about what can be said in two sentences). I look forward to reading other books by this author. BTW, I purchased this book because of a bad review that I read about it. As I was reading the review, I thought, this reviewer’s obviously a hater, it’s probably a good book. So, I bought it and I’m glad I did.

The plot is quite interesting, although could be made even more interesting by explicitly posing it as a moral dilemma, especially at the end. The writing, however, is cliched and often hurried - as a result, the book looks much more like a movie outline than a novel, but with all that, it is an easy read and not artificially long. Whoever takes it to the beach or an airplane, will not regret this decision. On that level, I think it deserves three stars, no more and no less

Not as good as I thought it was going to be. It started off really well but there was too much of the Stepford Wives theme about it.. Sorry I don't normally give bad reviews but this was a bit disappointing.

Enjoyed this book, unusual story and well plotted, author kept the momentum and suspense going and I read it over an evening and part of the next day as I had to know what was going to happen. I have just ordered another book by this writer and am glad to find him as I am always looking for good thrillers and new authors (to me) - would recommend.

Giving this book one star because it really wasn't my cup of tea. Was really far fetched . Didn't pick up on it from the synopsis. If you like all that weird sci-to sort of stuff you might like it

Very predictable plot, nothing original or exciting. Did not like it and would not recommend at all. Very boring read

Not the Thriller I expected! More of a sci fi which I am not a fan of, I did think of abandoning it when I realised, but ploughed on, wish I hadn't