Blog Tour Review: The Mesmerized by Rhiannon Frater

Today I have a review of The Mesmerized by Rhiannon Frater, along with a tour wide giveaway for a signed hardcover of the book!

Source: Received in exchange for an honest review
Publisher: Permuted Press
Series: –
Edition: ebook, 244 pages
Genre: Science Fiction Horror
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository *
*I receive a small monetary kickback from Amazon purchases
Rating: 4/5

It is silence, not screams of terror, which proclaims the end of the world…

Minji Nordim is vacationing in Las Vegas with her small family when she witnesses the beginning of a terrifying apocalypse. When humanity is transformed into mindless drones by a terrifying supernatural event only Minji appears to be immune.

Thousands die instantly, but the other affected people are drawn to the Nevada desert. Nothing stands in the way of the mesmerized. Not fire, not heights, not rubble. As the bodies pile in the streets and the relentless wave of the mesmerized plods into the deadly desert, Minji is trapped in a burning city attempting to rescue her affected family.
Can one woman save her family and the world?

Rhiannon Frater is fast becoming one of my favorite authors because her horror novels are on point. Most of the books I’ve read from her are more gothic in nature, and only a few were purely creepy sci-fi so when the opportunity to read this came I jumped on it. I had a taste of what was to come and I couldn’t wait to devour the whole book (which I did in about two days).

The Mesmerized puts a really interesting spin on a ‘zombie’ idea. Inside of dead walking about trying to eat whatever moves, we are treated to the eerily silent Mesmerized who walk with a purpose toward a mysterious goal that they will do anything to reach. I really love the utterly mindless nature of the mesmerized, and I actually loved the final reveal of why the people are acting the way they are. The pacing is a slow increase while the survivors work to figure out what is going on, and the amount of tension is fantastic! The Mesmerized offer some resistance and add that creep factor but true to a post-apocalyptic situation the people who are the biggest problems are the ones who are still ‘normal’. I loved that Rhiannon doesn’t make you work for the next piece of the puzzle, she gives you enough info

Minji is a true heroine in this story. She’s strong and self reliant without being overly distant, and very protective of her family. I love that her bond with her children is one of the main focuses of this story, and how when things get tough she thinks of them. The side characters are also fantastic, but Minji truly shines in this.

Rhiannon is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to horror. She’s capable of making you cringe and wince, but she’s also capable of giving you that slowly creeping feeling that is worse in some ways. The Mesmerized is one of those books that leave you stunned at the end, and it left me wanting more of Frater’s work.