Little Heaven by Nick Cutter

January 9th, 2017 Kimberly Review 63 Comments

9th Jan
Little Heaven by Nick Cutter
Little Heaven
by Nick Cutter
Genres: Horror
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate
Goodreads
Rating: One StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star

From electrifying horror author Nick Cutter comes a haunting new novel, reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and Stephen King’s It, in which a trio of mismatched mercenaries is hired by a young woman for a deceptively simple task: check in on her nephew, who may have been taken against his will to a remote New Mexico backwoods settlement called Little Heaven. Shortly after they arrive, things begin to turn ominous. Stirrings in the woods and over the treetops—the brooding shape of a monolith known as the Black Rock casts its terrible pall. Paranoia and distrust grips the settlement. The escape routes are gradually cut off as events spiral towards madness. Hell—or the closest thing to it—invades Little Heaven. The remaining occupants are forced to take a stand and fight back, but whatever has cast its dark eye on Little Heaven is now marshaling its powers...and it wants them all.

freaky HORRIFIC Monsters Scary warning

Nick Cutter is an author whose books adorn my bookshelf. I devoured The Troop and The Deep and was anxious to begin Little Heaven. While it wasn’t without flaw’s fans of old school horror will find themselves entertained.

Caffeinated Aspects:

“Shall we begin?”

  • The PREMISE!! In the  1960s, three bounty hunter crosshairs during their jobs. Things get crazy when one actively tries to kill another, but they band together when things get tough and end up forming an odd partnership. They end up taking a case to infiltrate a religious cult known as Little Heaven in a remote jungle location in New Mexico. This is when some weird supernatural shit goes down; that will have you squirming, thinking of the Slim Man and calling for your mommy in the middle of the night. Cutter is the king of gore, and this tale includes bugs, animal torture, and religious fanatics. I recommend reading on an empty stomach.
  • The trio of characters Minny, Shug, and Eb, were fascinating themselves. They are a rough bunch as one would expect from bounty hunters, but Cutter does a splendid job of showcasing their strengths and weaknesses. While I wouldn’t want to hang with the lot, I respected them.
  • The tale is told both in the present (1980’s)  and past (1960’s) as we learn about what happened in Little Heaven and why this group is returning there. It is a well-spun tale that keeps you guessing and your palms sweating. The past stories were skillfully woven taking us to the Korean War, Minny’s childhood and more. Three-fourths of the tale is spent in the past before we come to our climatic present.
  • Little Heaven is a settlement established by religious cult leader ‘Prophet’ Reverend Amos Flesher. He and his followers have set up a utopia away from the sins of sixties society. The attention to detail surround the camp, jungle and the strange happens within this camp were brilliantly told.
  • Fans of Lovecraft and old school horror like King’s earlier works will love the edge of your seat fear that Cutter presents. Cutter delivers on the gore, and his tales are not meant for the squeamish.
  • The “Big Bad” evil provided a pied piper horror with religious undertones.
  • Secondary characters from Ellen, Fisher and some children offered insight into twisted events and the main characters.
  • Black and white illustrations in this book added to the horror.

Decaffeinated Aspects:

  • Unlike the Troop and the Deep, I didn’t slip into the story as easily. I finally slipped in at around 40% and as usual, Cutter had me glued to my eReader and panting in horror.
  • The “Big Bad” was hard to formulate and apparently it was for Cutter too. He used language that forced the reader to fill in the blanks. Generally, I like these classic horror tactics, but in his attempts to articulate the sheer unspeakable horror that was witnessed the story suffered from a feeling of repetitiveness.
  • As much as I loved time spent in the past, I would have liked thing shortened up in Little Heaven to allow for more time in the present (the 1980’s) and the climatic ending. The present day story suffered because of this, and while the ending was good I believe it could have been more.

Little Heaven will send chills down your spine. I recommend Nick Cutter to fans of Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clive Barker.

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About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

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63 Responses to “Little Heaven by Nick Cutter”

  1. Olivia Roach

    I saw the cover to this book and it immediately had me curious. But this one does sound like it really gets into the story, and it isn’t afraid to tell things how it is. Hence all the gore included. I haven’t read many books about cults – only one – so it would be intriguing for me to learn more about what they can be like…

  2. Darlene

    I have The Deep sitting on my nightstand, but I haven’t picked it up yet! And he’s a Canadian author, so I really must try him. I love a good scary read, so this is right up my alley!

  3. Melanie Simmons

    This sounds like a really great book. I’ve not read Nick Cutter, but I’ve asked my library to buy the audio version of this book. I can’t wait to tackle it.

  4. Karen Blue

    Currently readig this right this. Sorry to hear you didn’t “love it” good to hear you still liked it. Great review, thanks for keeping it spoiler free!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      You are brave reading reviews as you are reading it. I always wait until my review is written. I am always afraid someone will sway my opinion. I hope you enjoy it.

  5. AngelErin

    I agree Kim. I didn’t like this one as much as The troop or The Deep. It took me almost halfway before I was really into it. I did like the end half when it picked up. It’s so tough because I really wanted to LOVE it like I did the others.

  6. Nicole

    This is the second review I’ve seen for this book today. I’m not much of a horror reader, but this definitely does sound interesting. I love the idea of the illustrations.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      *tackle hugs you* I am such a bad blogger, I haven’t popped in to see you in a while. Between the grandbabies and PR work, I am at tad crazy. I liked the illustrations too 🙂

  8. Trish

    I haven’t read a lot of horror but this is tempting me. I love the 60s/80s setting and the illustrations sound cool too.

  9. lisa thomson

    Hi Kim, Oh, I’ll probably pass on this one. I’m not one for gore. Suspense? Bring it on but gorey scenes—no way. Haha. I’m sorry I’ve missed your Sunday posts. I just realized your posts are not streaming on my bloglovin’ feed. I hate when the algorithms show you their picks and not your own blog favorites!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Oh no, that isn’t good. You can always subscribe to my feed. Yeah, I could not do a steady diet of horror, but a good squeamish read is fun now and again.

  11. Lorna

    You lost me at animal torture. And bugs? No thanks! Sorry it wasn’t as good as the others you liked. 🙂

  13. Ethan

    I love horror movies, but I don’t read as much horror as I’d like to. I’ll definitely be adding this one to my list!

  14. Kim

    You had me curious at “Fans of Lovecraft and old school horror like King’s earlier works.” Although the pace and length of the story suffered some, this sounds like it has many of the classic horror elements I enjoy in these types of read.

  17. Danielle Nolan

    I am unfamiliar with this author but recently read another reviewer’s remarks on this title and they were expressing so of the same thoughts, so it might be that this one just missed the mark? They had also said that it did not resonate with them like The Troop and The Deep. They suggested Troop if I were going to pick one up.

  19. Christy LoveOfBooks

    I haven’t read any of his books, even though I have The Troop and this book. I was going to start with this, but Ive seen a few people (other than you) say it isn’t as good. So now I want to read one of his best first.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      The Troop was creeptastic. Yeah, while I enjoyed aspects I was left wanting here. Sorry, to hear it wasn’t only me that felt that way.

  20. Katherine

    40% is awful long time to not be pulled into the series even though it does sound like it made up for it! I haven’t read much horror and while I’ve been wanting to give a try I’m not sure I’m ready for this one. It sounds intense!

  21. Heidi

    I am tempted but I just don’t think I am up for this right now. I am steering away from dark horror for the time being.

  22. Melissa (Books and Things)

    Hm… not sure about this one. The animal torture really gives me pause…. and although I’ve been reading more horror than before, I’m still a wimp and I’m not sure if this one is for me. I do know who would suit a book like this however. 🙂 Brilly review!

  23. Dragonfly

    I was so curious about this book Kim! Exactly because of that! The premise! Though 3.5 only? hummm….you make me doubt. I’m in a very critical reading slump condition now. Only 4.5 and above. Thought your 3.5 may be a 4 something somewhere else. So I’ll keep it in mind for when I recover. Excellent review, as it’s customary 🙂

  24. Maggie

    Great review Kim – I haven’t read horror in a while. I think it is one of the best genres to read during the winter but I just need to make sure I have people in the house. 🙂

  25. Melliane

    I usually like the mix of the past and present, it’s always intriguing. I have heard a lot about the author but haven’t read any of the books or I don’t think so.

  27. Sophia Rose

    I was not familiar with Lovecraft until this past fall so now that comparison has meaning. Whew, yeah, this one sounds chilling and too much for me, but so glad it grabbed you eventually and kept you riveted for the last part particularly.

  29. kindlemom1

    That’s a lot of reading before you were completely with the story but it does happen. Glad you were still able to really get into once you were there though.

  31. Silvia

    Sounds good, a horror should always send chills down our spines! I promised myself to read more of this genre, so I might add this one to my list 🙂