Eye for an Eye
B. D. Prince
Ghastly Press (October 8, 2024)
Reviewed by Carson Buckingham
Eye for an Eye by B. D. Prince is a collection of two novellas, and though the book is slim, there is nothing thin about either of the stories—they both pack a punch. I read it in one evening because I couldn’t put it down.
The first one is entitled, “Committed.” It is about an overly possessive housewife and the husband who is gaslighting her. The way he ultimately solves the problem of the wife he no longer wants is nothing short of chilling when you realize how easy this would be to do to someone. But, as the title of the book suggests, he gets his.
The other novella, entitled, “Eye for an Eye,” employs two horror tropes—two college students driving cross-country and running out of gas in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, and small-town law quick to arrest and jail. The girls’ California sensibilities don’t fly in this town, but rather, dig them in deeper. My hat is off to Mr. Prince for wringing every last drop of horrific goodness from these cliched tropes— the story could easily have been a yawner, but the author breathes new life into them with a deftness that was nothing short of astonishing. I just couldn’t read it fast enough and I even held my breath for some of it. My takeaway from this story? Never, ever take a long road trip without $100 in cash in your pocket.
Stephen King would be proud to have written these stories. This book is a beautifully penned page-turner that you will want to read again…and again.
