Jamie's Bad Night
Bruce Von Stiers
I don't read much horror fiction. But I've read some Steven King and a few books by Dean Koontz and a couple by Clive Barker. I have just read a novella by someone who just might possibly rank up there with those authors.
That author is Ruthann Jagge. And the novella I read is The New Girls' Patient.
The main character is Jamie Carver. Having just gotten a nursing certification, Jamie works at a nursing home. She is good with the patients. One patient, Miz Elizabeth, is her favorite, and Jamie is Elizabeth's favorite staff person. Miz Elizabeth dies suddenly and leaves Jamie a bag with some things in it as appreciation. Included in the bag is a book of recipes. That book is central to the last part of the story.
Jamie and two of her co-workers and friends leave the nursing home to go to an exercise class. They are abducted by two men and held captive in the basement of a decrepit mansion.
That is the front end of the story. At first it reads like a human drama piece, fleshing out Jamie's background. Then with the abduction and imprisonment, the book takes a turn towards being an ugly crime story with a sadistic and gory twist.
The later parts of the book deal with betrayal, murder, corpse reanimation and retribution.
I was really impressed by the attention that Ruthann paid to writing Jamie's backstory. She could have just introduced the character and went on. But writing about Jamie's history helped set up the scenarios that played out later in the book. I also really liked the horror aspect, although that didn't appear until very late in the story.
The New Girls' Patient was really, really, good. It this novella is any indication of what Ruthann Jagge is capable of writing, one day she may well be considered among the ranks of King, Koontz and Barker.
The New Girls' Patient is available at book retailers such as amazon.com.
You can find out more about the book, and Ruthann Jagge, on her official website at https://ruthannjagge.com/
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© 2022 Bruce E Von Stiers