SYNOPSIS
Willow’s worst nightmare was being canceled. But the shadows in the woods of Camp Castaway might destroy more than her reputation.
After sitcom star Willow tweets herself into infamy and stumbles blind-drunk into a swimming pool, her agent ships her off to Camp Castaway. Nestled deep in upstate New York, Castaway is a summer camp for adults who are desperate to leave their mistakes behind. No real names, no phones . . . no way to call for help.
Willow’s fellow campers seem okay. Her own favorite actress is even here, making a s’more. And did that jaded writer, Dani, just wink at her? But the peaceful vibe is shattered when one of the campers vanishes and Willow finds a mutilated doll in her room with a threatening message rolled up inside its mouth. Terror grips the group, campers begin to lose their heads—literally—and disturbing past deeds come to light.
Is Willow about to get cancelled all over again, this time for good?
REVIEW
A huge thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons and Penguin Random House for sending me an ARC of this book. All opinions are honest and my own.
In a world where we haven’t had a Friday the 13th film in 15 years, I have found the remedy and it is Heads Will Roll by Josh WInning. Winning does a wonderful job of paying a hefty amount of homage while still telling an original story with a unique slasher. But it also has some interesting takes on cancel culture and how it affects people on both sides.
At a camp for celebrities who need to take time away from the limelight, mostly for being cancelled, everyone has secrets and someone wants to expose them. And decapitate them. Willow is a sitcom star who wants to move on from what made her famous as a child but an inappropriate tweet and a relentless blogger drive her to Camp Castaway, where she meets a colorful cast of fellow castaways and celebrities, including her favorite actress who may or may not have been inspired by Pam Grier.
I flew through this book in two sittings. I was immediately immersed into the world, fascinated by the slasher lore and needed to know more about the characters. Why Willow was cancelled isn’t revealed for a while and I was dying (lol) to know why. Winning takes the time for us to get to know these characters and care about them before revealing what’s hidden in their closet of skeletons. It makes for a really unique reading experience and challenges the reader to see things from perspectives they may have otherwise never considered.
The lore behind the mysterious slasher is a perfect addiction to the lexicon of the slasher genre. Original yet familiar, Winning checks all the boxes and adds his own to spice things up. We get the classic campfire story, but that’s not the end of the story as we learn much later on.
The slasher itself is terrifying and looked incredible on the big screen of my mind. My favorite aspect is we don’t really know until the end if we’re dealing with a whodunnit or something supernatural. Is it a vengeful ghost or a vengeful person one of these celebrities wronged? You’ll have to read and find out for yourself.
The action, suspense and kill scenes are written wonderfully, I couldn’t help but imagine Tom McLoughlin of Jason Lives fame directing this in my mind. It’s silly, it’s scary, it’s heartbreaking and it’s so much fucking fun.
If you’re missing ’80’s slashers and the Friday the 13th franchise, this is for you. Scares, gore, laughs, heart and just enough social commentary, fans of Grady Hendrix, Brian McAuley and Stephen Graham Jones unite, there’s a new slasher in town, and yes, HEADS WILL ROLL.
RELEASE DATE: July 30th, 2024
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