Book Review: My Heart is a Chainsaw

 My Heart is a Chainsaw

Written by Stephen Graham Jones

Fans of slasher movies will enjoy My Heart is a Chainsaw, written by Stephe Graham Jones and set in the lakeside mountain town of Proofrock, Idaho.

As the story opens, we witness an unexpected attack on two tourists in the middle of the night by the lake. This events sets the stage for the horror yet to come. 

Our heroine is 17 year old Jade, a rebel who has an encyclopedic knowledge of every slasher film ever made. She is convinced that the town will eventually become the site of a slasher type massacre, and has done her best to warn everyone but nobody believes her.

Sentenced to community service for “Unauthorized Use of the Town Canoe”, Jade finds herself in the middle of an uncanny set of events that leads her to believe that her prophecy is about to come true and everyone in the town is about to be murdered by someone. But who? One of the rich founders from across the lake? The sheriff with a grudge? The beautiful new girl in school?

The story is interspersed with papers that Jade writes for a school assignment that describe the slasher film genre and also drop very subtle hints about the murderer. Filled with red herrings, the plot offers enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

One warning: If you are squeamish about blood or violence, this is not the book for you.

A note from me:

I felt there were several loose ends that I would love to have seen tied up at the end of the story, but overall this was a good read and well worth the time I put into reading the book.