Eden Hills, Minnesota, is famous for two things: its lucrative, ‘80s-inspired fashion mall, and a missing-persons epidemic that has plagued the town’s youth and confounded officials for years. High school junior, Penny, has grown skeptical of the town’s official stance on the disappearances, but has so far kept that to herself. See, she just started her first-ever job at one of the mall’s trendiest stores and doesn’t want to sound like a conspiracy nut to her cool friends and the popular guy who might just help her get over the dream girl who broke her heart. But when a late-night party in the mall turns deadly, Penny won’t have the luxury of playing it cool. A killer is on the loose, and the dark history of Eden Hills is about to be revealed.
Dark bleatings, my choppy tribe! I’m starting to think that Angela might just be talented in all the horror. Her novel, Frost Bite, brought us rabid prairie dogs, a potential apocalypse, and a protagonist it was impossible not to love. Her collection, The Dead Spot, was an eclectic mix of female stories. And now I’ve delved into Chopping Spree, which is entirely different again. This one is about a group of teenagers in a mall after hours, hunted by a notorious local serial killer that’s been picking off people their age. But wait, that’s not all there is to this tangled web, there’s much more to unpack!
So, total honesty, initially I wasn’t that into the story. It felt a bit YA (not criticising YA at all, it’s just not my cup of tea). I thought what I was reading was a story about a bunch of teenagers running from a killer. It reminded me of one of those Point Horror books that I loved as a teenager, but probably wouldn’t get as much of a kick out of now. However, I was very much enjoying Angela’s writing, and so I carried on, only to discover that lol this isn’t a YA murderous romp. It gets SO violent!
Additionally, this novel is not at all what it first appears to be – like, not AT ALL. The serial killer part is just the set up but there is a whole load of completely unexpected, subgenre-bending lunacy happening. I hate to acknowledge this as an aspiring author myself but, quite frankly, I could never come up with a plot like this, and if I did, I definitely couldn’t make it this tight. There are a lot of moving parts and one misstep would have plunged it into plot hole territory, but it’s seamless.
And it’s so much fun.
It’s full of surprises and all of them were set up well, and satisfying to uncover. I think it would make an excellent three episode miniseries. Overall, I’d recommend this to general horror fans.
If you’d like to check out the book or the author, I’ve popped some links below for you.
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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