The Night Screams by Devon McCormack

Devon McCormack - The Night Screams Cover sTitle: The Night Screams

Series: N/A

Author: Devon McCormack

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Teen Fiction

Length: Novel (220 pages)

Publisher: Harmony Ink Press (July 28, 2016)

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Blurb: A Harmony Ink Press Title

After Cal escapes a deranged kidnapper who tortured him, he doesn’t even have the clothes on his back. Desperate and afraid, he breaks into a convenience store. But Jake, a clerk at the store, confronts what to him is little more than a petty thief. After a violent tussle, he knocks Cal out.

Jake encourages his Uncle Gary, the owner of the store, to report Cal to the police, but Gary can’t bring himself to report a kid who was just looking to steal food. When Cal wakes, Gary asks him if he’s okay. But Cal’s trauma has left him mute. Instead, he has to write his experiences down, relaying the horrifying events that led him to the store. The police track down the sick man who held Cal captive, and when he confronts them with a gun, he’s shot dead. However, Cal discovers that even with his captor gone, he is far from free of the nightmare he endured.

Gary and his wife welcome Cal into their home, determined to help him heal. Jake doesn’t trust Cal, and he isn’t afraid to say so. But buried beneath Jake’s disapproval might be the person who can help Cal recover from the terrifying experience that continues to haunt him.

ISBN: 978-1-63476-998-3

Product Link: https://www.harmonyinkpress.com/books/the-night-screams-by-devon-mccormack-401-b | https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/the-night-screams-by-devon-mccormack-7219-b

Reviewer: Shorty 

Review: Cal escapes a deranged man after being kidnapped and tortured. He finds Gary, a store owner, to be his savior. His son Jake is complicated. I realize this is a young adult book but I felt with Cal after he starts having feelings for Jake and acting on them it seemed a bit unreal to me. Why? I’ve known both males and females who were abused and none of them wanted to be touched for years afterwards let alone start a relationship and have sex with someone.

The details of exactly how the sadistic man was caught and how they proved one hundred percent he was the guilty party were sketchy at best. However I did enjoy the story of Cal’s recovery and his struggle to overcome the events that transpired. Jake I had mixed feelings about. He ran hot and cold so I felt disconnected to him.

It broke my heart to learn of both Jake and Cal’s past. It confuses me how any parent could do the things that were mentioned to any child let alone their own.

Full of drama, this story is about a young man who tries to overcome and conquer tragic events and learn to live again without fear.

Great read.