There are some authors that write so well that you are instantly transported to another place when you pick up their books. Their writing flows from the page, and it’s less reading a book and more of an experience you live through. These authors are few and far between, but when you find one, you follow their careers with zest, anxiously awaiting their next novel so you can consume it. You immediately drop whatever else you are reading to read something of theirs, and you are never, ever disappointed.

Ronald Malfi is one of those authors.

About a week ago, an advanced reader’s copy of his latest, BONE WHITE, appeared in my mailbox. Despite being in the middle of two other projects, another book, and a deadline for something else, it didn’t matter; I read it cover to cover in two days.

The book follows Paul Gallo, a university professor whose twin brother went missing a year ago in Dread’s Hand Alaska. When bodies are found deep in the woods there, Paul is convinced that his brother is going to be one of them. He travels to the wilderness town on the edge of nowhere, but he discovers that the mystery, and the horror, are just beginning.

Let me just get his way right off the bat: this book is good. Damn good.

Malfi is a masterful storyteller, crafting his tales in such a way that, even with a supernatural bend to it, grounds them in reality. And to me, that makes them even more terrifying. In BONE WHITE, the mystery deepens with every page turn. Sure, you can tell that something ominous is on the horizon, and that everything is not what it seems from the get go. But Malfi has a way of building the tension so well that you don’t even realize you are on the edge of your seat until you see your knuckles have turned white from gripping the book so tightly.

While other authors are prone to through the horror in your face, Malfi has mastered this subtle approach over the years with his other novels, and that skill comes out full force in BONE WHITE. Living up to its name, the town of Dread’s Hand has the dread slowly exposed over time, with Malfi never letting it go full bore until he is ready to reveal it all.

Books like this often wind up with one fully fleshed out character, with a bunch of one dimensional people making up the surrounding landscape. That isn’t the case at all here. Paul Gallo, along the rest of the characters in BONE WHITE, seem like real people to me. Everyone has something, be it a motivation, a nervous tick, or a standout moment, that just makes them come alive in my mind. They are fully thought out, living breathing people that you’d met on the street (or, in a remote town in Alaska). The way they are written, you feel for their triumphs and hurt for their losses. And that makes what happens to them all the scarier.

As with most of his books, Malfi doesn’t have the supernatural presence  at the forefront in BONE WHITE. Instead, it lurks in the background, building up as time goes on. He almost makes you question whether or not there IS some sort of evil entity at times, much like the characters themselves.

There really is a lot more I want to say, but can’t, for fear of spoiling something. I honestly loved the hell out of this book, and it quickly shot up to one of my favorite of Malfi’s novels. He is a fantastic writer and really knows how to tell a great story.

If you’re looking for a chilling read during the hot summer months, BONE WHITE is right up your alley.