THE STREET BETWEEN The PINES by J.J. Alo – Psychological Thriller, Paranormal, Horror

Something strange and terrible stirs in Frank Cavanaugh’s basement, in J.J. Alo’s psychological-thriller, The Street Between the Pines.

The giant hole at the bottom of Frank’s house wasn’t there before. Something so very ugly and dangerous is down there. Something with bright, glowing eyes. Adrenalin pumps through Frank’s aging body as he scrambles for the exit. Behind him, a low gurgling growl.

In suburban Connecticut, Iraqi war veteran Curtis is still fighting to surviving on multiple fronts. Curtis struggles with severe PTSD, visions of the war that continually overwhelm him. Now, after being released from jail after a manslaughter conviction, having caused a fatal auto accident, he struggles to put his life together. All the while, he navigates a shaky relationship with his wife Amy, and a complex connection to his autistic son Wes.

If that weren’t enough, Curtis’s house will soon be condemned for an unspecified government project being built on a nearby piece of land.

These elements whip together into a story that is rich in detail even as it delivers punch after horrific punch. We feel Curtis’ remorse for the accident that cost the life of a young woman, and the weight of being an ex-convict who must cling to a job that keeps him away from his family for weeks at a time. He shows the texture of life in his suburban community as it once was, but strange events are eating away at this social fabric. From unexplained deaths to hordes of cats seemingly guided along the streets by a group intelligence, this once safe and secure life is melting away.

Curtis accidentally finds out more than he should have about the clandestine government laboratory that threatens him and his neighbors with its eminent domain authority. Is it a scientific facility researching how the natural world—animals, insects, fish, even the creation of new species—might provide mankind with groundbreaking medicines and technologies? Or is it a place of terrible experimentation, perhaps even the source of the killings, the unknown thing capable of ripping people to pieces as if they were cellophane?

Can Curtis even trust his own eyes? His traumatic visions invade his nights and his days, leaving him unable to distinguish between what is or isn’t real.

Do not expect to solve all the mysteries of this book until the last line of the last page. And no cheating! This novel will scratch readers’ horror itch like the writing of H.P. Lovecraft or modern-day master Stephen King. If you want a non-stop, spine-tingling thriller, the kind that keeps you up late at night jumping at every unknown noise in your home, then The Street Between the Pines will deliver in spades.