The Reading Bud

Book Details:

Author: Adam Fike
Release Date: 19 March, 2021
Series: PEOPLE MAKING DANGER
Genre: Literary Horror, Psychological Horror, Crime-Thriller, Noir, Horror
Format: E-book 
Pages: 66 pages
Publisher: –
Blurb:
SUBURBAN THRILLER. When a young girl goes missing, families fall apart and neighbors grow together with the help of their friendly local serial killer.
PEOPLE MAKING DANGER is a collection of quick, fun, three-act, feature-length stories, full of suspense, surprises and dark humor. All told in the present tense. Like reading a movie.

Review

Adam Fike’s The Quiet Ones is a sinister slice of small-town noir with a macabre twist: neighbors who “grow together” under the shadow of a serial killer. Set in the sleepy but unsettling town of Clearfield Falls, the story layers the ordinary things like funerals, lawn services, and office gossip with the grotesque, where bodies double as fertilizer and everyday people reveal darker impulses. The writing blends dark humor with chilling violence, making the mundane (like mowing lawns or family dinners) feel like it’s always one step away from horror.

What stands out most is the interplay between banality and menace. Characters like Ruth, who hides behind oversized glasses, and Junior, the deceptively gentle gardener, embody the theme that danger doesn’t always roar, sometimes it whispers. Fike’s pacing is cinematic, cutting between suburban kitchens, cemetery burials, and sinister sheds with a rhythm that keeps readers uneasy yet hooked. While the sheer length of descriptive passages and overlapping storylines could overwhelm some readers, the atmosphere is thick, immersive, and undeniably memorable.

Overall, The Quiet Ones succeeds as a dark, satirical portrait of community and complicity. It’s a story that asks unsettling questions about what people are willing to ignore to maintain comfort, and whether monsters are truly outsiders or simply the neighbors we never look at too closely.

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