Bunny's Reviews: Zipline Review Spotlight

Welcome to the book tour for Zipline by P. Anthony Michael. Read on for more details!

Zipline is the first book in P. Anthony Michael’s new thriller/suspense series. A group of friends are looking to have one last hurrah before they all go their separate ways. They’ve chosen the mountain as their destination because of the thrill ride that it promises. A multi-day hike to a certain point on the mountain and then a 20-minute zipline ride back down. Should be a breeze right? Well, things don’t go as planned as the stories that Gail and her boyfriend were told start to prove that they were all too true.

Zipline is an intriguing short novel that piques your interest at the beginning and keeps pulling you back in to find out how it’s all going to play out. There aren’t any chapter breakdowns in this book, so you get the feel that the story just flows along with minor breaks here and there.

The story plays out in a few areas how one would imagine things in a horror movie. The friends getting together, they see something strange, but of course, they dismiss it. Leave most of their phones back in the vehicle? Check (and a bad idea. LOL!). Ignore signs of trouble ahead? Double check!

The author works to build intrigue in the story and does a decent job at doing so overall. If this book is the final edit it could have used with some finessing to make it more polished. There are smattering of editorial issues that seemed determined to make it into the final cut so that they could say that they existed.

When it comes to the thrills...the book needed more. What readers get – it’s mild at best. The thrills fail to really pull one to the edge of their seat and have them wondering – “What’s going to happen next?!” “Are the characters going to make it?” There are a couple scenes that do lead to a couple of these questions, but there needed to be more.

The final elements of the story left some to be desired. This story flirts with the horror aspect of things, but never fully commits to the dance. Instead, the author chooses to play things safe and keep the characters...happy, more or less. Avid readers of horror will find this disappointing, however, that is more than likely why the story is categorized more so as thriller/suspense than horror.

The ending is will leave you with questions, however, it’s not a cliffhanger per se. There’s more than meets the eye about the uncle and the entire situation. It would have been nice if there had been more detail and even a backstory to it all. One can only hope that in the next installment of this series, readers will get exactly that.

4 out of 5 stars

Thank you to the author, P. Anthony Michael, and R&R Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book. I look forward to what comes next!

Zipline

Publication Date: June 2022

Genre: Thriller/ Suspense

If Gail knew Uncle Perkins’ stories were true, she wouldn’t have taken her friends up that mountain.

The plan was simple. Hike, camp, and ride the zipline back down the mountain. But Uncle Perkins’ stories are true, and the horrors are real. Now the simple plan is the only plan they have to get off that mountain or disappear, remaining there forever.

Zipline is an immediately gripping, fast-paced, unique story that will keep you entertained until the last sent

Available on Amazon

About the Author

Michael received a creative writing certificate from the University of West Virginia in the late 90s. He’s been running a successful writer’s group called For The Love Of Words for almost two decades. When he has time, he teaches in the local library Story 101 – How to create a story. He has won in every category over a five-year period in a state-funded wordsmith competition in Poetry, Essay, Short Story, and One-Act Play.

P. Anthony Potter