Book Review: Below by Laurel Hightower

Laurel Hightower's book Below from Ghoulish Books starts with a jump scare and keeps going from there. After nearly running into a stopped van on the road, Addy stops for a break for her road trip at a truck stop. There she meets a trucker who is willing to convoy with her to make sure she doesn't get lost on the snowy roads. When the trucker crashes through the railing of a bridge, though, Addy's world crashes right down with it. She attempts to rescue the driver but instead becomes lost in a cave system, hunted by something that is other than human.

This is a super quick read. Want a scary story for an afternoon at the beach or snuggled up on the couch? Pick this book up. It’s not just about jump scares and scary cave predators, though. It has a deeper theme about learning to live independently. By the end, it reads like an allegory. Addy is recently divorced, and for most of the book, the voice in her head telling her what to do is that of her ex-husband. Addy’s growth as a character is marked by her perceptions of this and other voices and how those perceptions change.

A bit of a spoiler here: If you want a book that wraps up with answering “Why?” in the narrative, this is not the book for you. Is it a dream? Is it a psychotic break? Was there a cover-up? The answers to those questions won’t be given in the story, but does it really matter?

This book releases on March 29. Definitely check it out if you want a satisfying read with a poignant underlying theme. Buy it straight from the small press:

https://perpetualpublishing.com/product/below/

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher, but this is my honest review.