Wow. Crone is bleak, gritty and absolutely fucking brutal. Easily the best horror book I've read this year and probably one of the best horror novels I've read in a long time.

We follow Eli Lamp, an ex-detective and recovering addict whose daughter disappeared years ago. He's still obsessed with finding out what happened to her, while making a living as an enforcer for a local drug gang. When the gang's boss gives him a chance to clear his debts by investigating the murder of his son, things naturally get much, much worse.

A grim crime story gradually turns into something much darker and stranger. There's a witch in the woods, supernatural shit, drugs, violence and some absolutely horrific scenes. Rosson does a fantastic job of keeping the supernatural stuff connected to the very real misery of Eli and the people around him. Nothing feels like it's just there because the book needs a monster.

Eli is also a fantastic protagonist. He's not particularly likable, and he's done plenty of terrible things, but you understand why he is the way he is. His grief over Hannah has basically consumed his entire life, and watching him try to find some kind of answer or redemption is what gives all the horrible stuff happening around him so much weight.

I also really liked Avery and Vicki. The different perspectives work extremely well, and together they slowly fill in the story around Hannah's disappearance. There's a lot of grief and guilt here, but Rosson never turns it into some sentimental misery fest.

The horror here is nasty. Some scenes made me genuinely uncomfortable, and Rosson has absolutely no problem getting his hands dirty. But the violence never felt like the whole point. There's always something underneath it, whether it's grief, addiction, guilt, revenge or just people making terrible decisions because they're desperate.

I loved this one. It's dark, violent, weird, beautifully written and completely absorbing. Crone is exactly the kind of horror I want to read, and Keith Rosson has definitely moved into the "I'll read whatever this guy writes" category for me.

Bleak, brutal and genuinely haunting. My favorite horror read of the year so far.