J. Todd Kingrea

Kit was an abused child, grew up to be a failed musician, and has become an addict, but there's even more to his blackouts than that. His home town, Black Rock, is known for unusual, charred looking black rocks under which a peculiar fungus, "the blight," grows, and he's always joked and fantasized about the town being cursed and his having a blighted touch. In the summer of 2011, when he hits bottom and starts to unbury old memories, he realizes that an ancient evil spirit really lies trapped beneath the black rocks and really has cursed him: each time he's had an unexplained blackout, someone who has touched him has died. And before he remembered this, he touched a friend. He and the people he knows are being stalked by creepy creatures that look like fungus in the shape of zombie children, too. Can he overcome his weaknesses and defeat the three zombies and their "mother" demon?

Horror fiction fans' favorite archetypes do their traditional dance. If you want to chortle at the intensity with which people in the damp Eastern States hate fungi, that's possible; I did it. If you want to be kept up late at night, rehearsing some future battle of your own, this book will do that too.

Students of indigenous languages will recognize a conflation of what might be Cherokee words and what might be Yuchi or some other ancient language, in what Kingrea identifies as Cherokee words in a Cherokee legend. It works because other ethnic groups lived in Tennessee before and alongside the Cherokee. Local Cherokees, and the ancestor of Kit's old school enemies, supposedly buried a demon that was there before they were. The Cherokee Nation is not exploited or slandered by this book.… (more)

To start this off, The Witchfinder by J. Todd Kingrea is a unique, and adventure-seeking glorious book, with amazing world-building and one of a kind imaginary plot. It has everything I could be looking for in a book; it has the action and the passion, with witches as a cherry on top. I must say, the beginning of a book is always a little harder to go through, but it was such an experience getting to know the characters and the plot line.

There were so many good elements in this book. Foremost, the book was well written from third perspective, which I love in most occasion; it really depends on the book. In this case, I loved the third perspective because I got to know different perspectives of the characters. The way the plot and the characters were layered out was so good, and it really brings the story closer to the reader. The beginning of the book started a bit slow, and it kinda got overwhelming for a bit, but then it started to even out and it sorta became more steady and interesting. The story itself really picked up in the last half of the book as it gotten more fast-paced.

Although I loved the relationships that developed throughout the book, I must say that I felt that some relationships went maybe a bit too fast. In some cases, I felt that the characters didn’t get enough feeling with each other for their relationship to be this strong. But that’s my personal opinion, and of course not everyone will agree with me. Although the description says enemies to lovers, I wouldn’t describe it as such myself. I think the main reason why it is labelled as enemies to lovers is the fact that they didn’t get along in the beginning, but they weren’t necessarily real enemies in the sense of the word.

I definitely recommend reading the book, it is an amazing read, and I’m sure fantasy lovers will devour this book. However, if you’re looking for real enemies to lovers, this book may not be the best suited choice for you. Apart from the romance facet, I really, strongly advise everyone to read this book, as it is unique and has one of a kind perspective when it comes to witches and the church. I’m really excited to see what the future brings for this series!… (more)

"With a Blighted Touch" by J.Todd Kingrea is my kind of read! It's a genre-blending supernatural, murder mystery, who-done-it, thriller, tinged with a suspenseful, physiological drama, turned horror story and I thoroughly enjoyed every last page of it! When a down and out musician is called back to his hometown to attend a funeral, he finds this is going to be more than just the obligatory, personal, appearance he was expecting. Murders have been occurring in the town. Lots of bizarre, horrific, murders! What's even more bizarre is that the victims are all from his graduating class! Could these events have something to do with an experience he and a childhood friend had many years ago?
Fortunately, his old friend hasn't become a victim yet so the two of them team up to try and get to the bottom of the horror that's overtaken the town. Before it's over he will become a suspect and will have to solve these crimes to prove his innocence but what he and his buddy learn is more terrible than he could have ever imagined. It seems that the frightful memories of his past are even more vivid in adulthood and that his nightmares have always been real.
I was so hyped all the way through reading this book because I loved the authors method of combining all the styles that keep lovers of the "darker genres" like myself holding their breath up until the very last page! I liked the characters and could visualize the settings as if I'd been there. It was a very worthwhile experience to read this novel and I will eagerly look forward to more works from this author in the future. It's a good 4 and half stars in my humble opinion. If you like paranormal elements, legends, and murder mysteries, I highly recommend "With a Blighted Touch". Thank you to J.Todd Kingrea (author) and to LibraryThing for this awesome ARC!… (more)