The Reading Bud

Book Details:

Author: Josh Martin
Release Date: January 27, 2025 
Series: B&G Mystery: We Can’t Tell You (Book 1 of 3)
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Psychological Thriller
Format: E-book 
Pages: 107 pages
Publisher: –
Blurb:
Have you ever awoken from a deep sleep and still feel like you’re dreaming? A few minutes of confusion is certainly common…..
But what about several months?
Not so common, unfortunately.
One day, not quite a year ago, it happened to me. I couldn’t shake the feeling. I could remember, and not remember, all at the same time.

Confused? Yeah, I was too….
Still am, as a matter of fact.
That one morning changed everything. I mean everything. Nothing could have prepared me for the events that followed.
Prepare yourself….
You’re about to see why.

Review

B&G Mystery: We Can’t Tell You by Josh Martin is an ambitious and unsettling thriller that begins in the quiet of a Wisconsin morning but quickly spirals into a labyrinth of déjà vu, cryptic notes, phantom figures, and rules that seem to govern fate itself. Told through the eyes of a seventeen-year-old whose memory and reality keep splintering, the novel places readers in the same disoriented state as its protagonist, never sure whether he is awake, dreaming, or being manipulated by forces beyond comprehension.

The book’s strength lies in its atmosphere. From the very first pages, the story is drenched in dread. The text messages, the mysterious trio in the woods, the near-death experiences at intersections, and the omnipresent feeling of being watched create a constant sense of unease. Symbolism is cleverly threaded throughout, providing narrative cohesion even when the plot itself veers into deliberate chaos.

I must point out that the narrative often undermines itself with repetition. Tension that should build steadily sometimes loops back on itself, making the pacing sag in the middle chapters. Yet when the book works, it works brilliantly. The closing chapters bring together many of the scattered clues and escalate the narrative into cosmic horror, suggesting that the story is not merely about one boy’s fractured reality but about humanity itself being manipulated, collected, and used.

We Can’t Tell You Part 1 is a bold, eerie, and at times brilliant psychological thriller that thrives on atmosphere and symbolism. It is a gripping, confusing, and unforgettable experience that lingers long after the last page, even if the reader is left with more questions than answers.

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