My Thoughts on The Stone Serpent by Nicholas Kaufmann

Nick Kaufmann’s one of those writers who I’ve always thought deserved a larger audience. I really enjoyed Chasing the Dragon, Dying Is My Business, Die and Stay Dead, In the Shadow of the Axe, and Hunt at World’s End. With that sort of track record, I was really looking forward to reading the ARC for The Stone Serpent he and publisher David Naill Wilson sent me for review. I should point out, The Stone Serpent is book two in the Dr. Laura Powell series and I have not read the predecessor, The Hungry Earth.

Before I continue, here’s the blurb from Crossroad Press:

“Nicholas Kaufmann offers up an unputdownable blend of gruesome body horror and fast-paced suspense.” – Ray Garton, author of Live Girls and Ravenous

Medical Examiner Dr. Laura Powell didn’t think anything could be more frightening than what she uncovered in an autopsy a year ago. Yet, in this chilling sequel to Nicholas Kaufmann’s bestselling The Hungry Earth, the cause of death is literally petrifying.

When a completely petrified corpse ends up on her autopsy table, Laura is convinced it must be a fossil, but the evidence says otherwise. Impossibly, the man on her table died in a car crash earlier that day. But what could cause a human body to transform so quickly from flesh to a hard stonelike substance?

Laura’s investigation takes her out of her hometown of Sakima, New York, and into dangerous new territory. From the streets of Valley Grove, home to a fundamentalist religious sect under the thumb of a brutal, vindictive leader, to the bowels of Thurmond Biotech, a secretive pharmaceutical company hellbent on developing the first anti-aging miracle drug, what she unearths is far more terrifying than she could have imagined.

Vicious, deadly creatures are preying on the people of Valley Grove, killing them with a highly toxic venom that ravages and transforms their bodies in horrifying ways. As the creatures claim more victims, striking from out of the darkness with lightning-fast speed, Laura must find a way to stop them before they spread to the rest of the Hudson Valley. But will her search for answers put her in even more danger by sending her into the heart of the creatures’ den?

With The Stone Serpent, multiple award-nominated author Nicholas Kaufmann delivers another gripping thriller in the Dr. Laura Powell series.

Let’s get this out of the way first. You definitely do not need to read The Hungry Earth before tackling The Stone Serpent. Kaufmann tells you everything you need to know throughout. That said, I now want to read The Hungry Earth because Dr. Powell is a terrific protagonist.

Nick navigates pacing like a pro. The Stone Serpent is suspenseful without ever becoming bogged down by plot. It’s a roller coaster ride from the outset, with a unique body horror twist that keeps you glued to the page. While I think some of the subplots fall a little flat, the characters all make up for it. Powell and Booker are a great team and there are some truly despicable bad guys they find themselves up against.

The real winner here is the amount of research the author did to keep the book moving and not bury the reader under an avalanche of info-dumps. He juggles this perfectly, keeping the information flowing organically. That’s a neat trick I wish more authors could wrap their heads around.

The Stone Serpent is solid FOUR out of FIVE STARS Horror. I highly recommend it. Hell, I’ve not even read the first one and I’ll go ahead and recommend it too. Laura Powell is a great character. I hope to read more of her in the future.

The Stone Serpent by Nicholas Kaufmann is published by Macabre Ink, an imprint of Crossroad Press, and available via AMAZON.

And, while I have your attention, as an occult detective fan, I recommend the two Trent novels — Dying is My Business and Die and Stay Dead. You won’t be disappointed except to learn there are only the two.