SKULLS by Tim Marquitz

Life held little interest for Jacob…until he found death.

Abused and neglected, Jacob’s only solace comes when he is alone in the woods or in the arms of his new girlfriend. But when he stumbles across a hidden bunker filled with human skulls, he learns what true suffering is. Drawn to examine the skulls, he finds there is more than just empty blackness behind their lifeless stares. Through their eyes he watches them die.

With every glance, he witnesses another murder, the memories of the dead playing out inside his mind until reality becomes a blur. A primal cruelty awakening, Jacob returns to the morbid comfort of the skulls, over and over again. But when he happens upon a fresh skull, a victim tortured and slain for his amusement alone, he knows his time has come. Face to face with death, Jacob must choose whether to resist the darkness that dwells inside or condemn himself forever, murdering his innocence on the edge of an axe.

I was intrigued by the concept of this story, and the cover's super creepy too. I also found myself totally engrossed in Skulls, as soon as I got started.

Jacob doesn't live a very happy or caring life. His father and stepmother don't have any time for him. The only things they care about are drinking, spending time at the bar, and making a mess of their trailer home so they can make Jacob clean it up. That's pretty much all his life involves--cleaning after his parents, waiting to find out what other chores he's expected to do, and then putting up with his father's punishments.

At least he's got Cass. The girl he likes to spend time with. At least, at the end of the day, he can sneak out and visit her. Even if they seem to be from two different worlds, they enjoy being together and spending time with each other. Being with Cass helps Jacob get through the other crap in his life.

Until he stumbles on a bunker in the woods. A bunker filled with shiny, human skulls. Each with their own frightening tale of misery, fear, and death. After witnessing what one of these skulls can show him, Jacob becomes obsessed. Now, instead of sneaking out to see Cass, he longs to sneak out to the bunker so he can spy on another dead soul's last moments of life. It becomes so all-consuming that his life starts to spin out of control. All of a sudden he's paranoid about everyone, his friends think he's on something, Cass can't understand what's changing in him, and his father's had just about enough of him.

The skulls eventually become his only concern, leading him closer to a killer still lurking in the woods, and the loss of his sanity...

Skulls is a very creepy book that kept me guessing. The tension is wound so tight I kept expecting the worse case scenario at every step. And that's the awesome thing about this book, just when you think things can't get any worse for Jacob, they do. There's a very surprising conclusion to Jacob's obsessive behaviour over the skulls, and the path he decides to take.

I had a great time reading this story, and really enjoyed it!

H&UFRC books read: 18/24

Posted in: Damnation Books,great book,horror,reading 2011,reading challenge,YA