“The clock is ticking, the mountains are burning, and those who wish Jace Wilson dead are no longer far behind.” Oooh! that gave me the shivers when I read it on the book jacket.

Michael Korytha is an author I actually stumbled upon while searching for a new book to read by an author I had never read, this author was a lucky find.

I’ve read all of his books to date, and I enjoyed them all. Michael Korytha is an author you absolutely cannot pigeon-hole, at least not with any kind of accuracy, is great for me since I love reading books with two or more elements throughout.

With his books, you’ll find a bit of supernatural, mystery, thriller, and suspense. With this book though it’s all thriller, and I enjoyed it very much. I literally couldn’t put it down, great characters, horrible crimes, and fast-paced action.

In those who wish me dead, we meet Jace Wilson, a 14-year-old boy who was just out having some fun, trying to get his courage up to jump off a cliff into the water below. Unfortunately for him, it turned out not to be too much fun when he inadvertently witnessed a murder, by two men, the Blackwell brothers (Jack and Patrick). He had to make the jump into the water that terrified him in the first place so that he could get away from them, but they already know they’ve been seen and so Jace becomes an instant target of the brothers.

Evil incarnate those two, they are sadistic killers who enjoy wreaking havoc, you know as serial killers do. Jeeze they terrify me. I mean, the two of them just have whole conversations in front of you as if no one else is in the room on basically if you live or die and the reasons why that should be. And boy do they wish Jace Wilson dead because no one ever lives to testify in court against them. They are cutting a swathe through anyone who gets in their way to make sure he dies.

Ian said, “stupid damn thing to do, you know that? Risky. I get one neighbor who watches you dumb bastards letting yourself in here, one neighbor who calls out a patrolman, and we’ve got major issues then. Fucking stupid, that’s what this is.”
Jack Blackwell said, “He lectures a lot.” Patrick Blackwell said, “I’ve noticed. Most times, it’s about intelligence. Lack thereof, rather. You notice that?” “I have indeed.”
This was their routine. Talking to each other as if they were alone in the room. Creepy fuckers.

Jace is put into a kind of witness protection by way of a camp for troubled teens, in order to bury his identity even further from the brothers. Ethan and Alison Serbin is the couple who runs the camp, deep in the Montana wilderness. Well, I feel sorry for Ethan and Alison, they have no idea what they’ve just gotten themselves into, I mean literally.

Well just imagine being in the mountains of Montana, chased by killers who are serious psychopaths. With a raging forest fire set by said psychopaths, wondering if you are going to live or die. The fact that the brothers are not in their natural environment may give those trying to get away from them a small advantage, and I do mean small. Damn bastards are scary good in tracking their prey.

Two of my very favorite books by Korytha are The Cypress House and So Cold The River.

Read Michael Korytha’s latest – Rise The Dark. And Coming soon! How It Happened.
Check out all his books on his website.