PRINCE OF NIGHTMARES BY JOHN MCNEE

By John Boden 

 
Victor Teversham is one of the world's richest men. He is not a bad man, necessarily, but a man who has done some bad things, or more accurately a man who has allowed bad things to be done to further his ventures and investments.  While on the phone one night, his wife commits suicide in the bathroom.  It is this event that starts the troubling tale squirming.

The late Josephine Teversham made a reservation for her husband at Ballador Country House Hotel in Scotland.  So, Victor is compelled to honor the request with no knowledge of why .  Research informs him and Harry (his right-hand man) that the Ballador is like no other hotel. Guests are guaranteed terrifying dreams and horrific nightmares., as well as gorgeous rooms and gourmet food.   They are proud of their "Haunted Hotel" shtick and  play it to a T...except when they aren't playing at all.  You see, something evil lives at the Ballador. It's been living there a very long time and it has a plan to get out and see the world.  A violent plan that is writ in sweat and blood and draped in dreams and grief and despair.   A plan that needs Victor Teversham.

Prince of Nightmares by John McNee is a firecracker of a novel.  Fast paced and wonderfully grim.  I would describe the imagery and tone as Hell House meets Thirteen Ghosts  as recounted by Clive Barker but with a sliver of Wall Street.  It's the fine characterization that cements it. Victor's almost humble denial of the fact that he has allowed very dark deeds to transpire in his name, his despair over the loss of his wife.  The frets of his advanced age and mortality.  There is so much going on here.  And the climax that it builds to is ferocious and not easily forgotten.
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Prince Of Nightmares is available from Blood Bound Books.

Welcome to the Ballador Country House Hotel. Nestled in the highlands of Scotland, it is unlike any other lodging. Guests can expect wonderful scenery, gourmet food, and horrifying nightmares—guaranteed. Daring travelers pay thousands to stay within the Ballador’s infamous rooms because of the vivid and frightening dreams the accommodations inspire.

Before Josephine Teversham committed suicide, she made a reservation at the hotel for her husband, Australian magnate Victor Teversham. Once he arrives at the hotel, Victor finds himself the target of malevolent forces, revealing the nightmares—and their purpose—to be more strange, personal, and deadly than anyone could have guessed.

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