The “whodunit” facet of Legacy helps reshape the brutal visage of Red Riding Hood into the modern day. Lacing throughout this vicious mystery are secrets, a sense of duty, and the spice of betrayal demanding sacrifice and change.
The life of unsuspecting pregnant workaholic and afraid to fail Rebecca “Rose” Healy starts to unravel ferociously when unknown creatures savagely murder two friends. Rose’s life completely derails as she accidentally witnesses her father killed by a werewolf that has set a trap for him and his team, and she loses her baby. The family secret of werewolf hunting kept from her on the wishes of her dead mother is now out.
With many bloody clues left behind the authorities hone in on Rose, her aunt and the butler. The hunters have become the hunted. Rose’s aunt suspects a werewolf has infiltrated their ranks. Rose’s strong-willed aunt uses her sense of duty, family obligation and Rose’s fear of failure and disappointment to manipulate Rose into the family business. While Rose vigorously trains, and the family desperately try to identify the spy authorities grow more suspicious of their involvement in the gruesome murders.
As authorities close in, the family finds evidence against someone close to them and the final battle reveals a betrayal and the darkest secret of all forcing a gut wrenching choice.
Legacy is a chilling and thrilling read which is sure to make you cringe in horror as the story unfolds. I highly recommend it for a multitude of audiences. Whether you enjoy a good old horror story or if you’re a fan of the more fantastical, this book will cater to your thrill-seeking needs.
I look forward to seeing more work emerge from Marc W. Johnson and I can only hope it is as exciting as this read. This review has been tough to write as I really don’t want to spoil the story for anyone. Just pick it up, get reading and get enthralled by it! (Richard Binnington)
About the author
My love of horror and science fiction in both the written word and movie began with my mother who loved them as well. It was instilled in my fragile psyche at the tender age of five although, I did not know it at the time.
She took me in our Black Ford Fairlane to see Romero’s Night of the Living Dead at the local drive-in. To this day I remember cowering in the backseat asking “is it day yet, is it day yet?” Mom and I had some belly laughs about that for many years before the bell tolled and called her home.
The nightmares eventually subsided and as my childhood moved on I found myself drawn to all things scary and scifi. Luckily, she had books by Phillip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov and Harlan Ellison among many others just hanging around the house. I soon found the depraved minds of King and Koontz to my liking and of course other writers as well.
It wasn’t long that I became a fan of Hammer Studios and actors like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and the lists could go on. Suffice to say, I was hooked. In my teens I began to write short stories and poems, some of which I had updated and you can find in my first book “A Collection of Dark Short Stories and Poetry.”
However, life happens and I had to put away such dreams, until after mom passed and found an old stained and tattered story of mine in a box in her garage, it was then that I felt the barest little warmth begin to surge within me.
It took a while for me to understand what it was, it was mom letting me know I could still have my dream. So, I decided to combine my loves and write a screenplay, it’s harder than one would think.
I wrote a full length feature, and for every not so very nice person looking to take advantage of a beginner, there are two who truly want to help, after some sage advice, and many contest fails, agent and manager rejections, and since I am not one to stay down when beaten, I continued to get up and I wrote a short screenplay. I entered a contest for a small cash prize and screen credit.
A copy of the check now hangs on my wall. This encouraged me to go full tilt and try another full length feature, which has placed respectably in quarter and semifinals over the years. One of these two scripts is now the novel – Legacy. I continue to write both screenplays and books, because in the dank, dark room in that corner of my mind where the large thick oak door has a wrought iron bar with a padlock heaves with visions of horror trying to burst forth. I would hate to see what happens if I ignore it…again.
[bctt tweet=”‘In the dark room in that corner of my mind where the large thick oak door has a wrought iron bar with a padlock heaves with visions of horror trying to burst forth. I would hate to see what happens if I ignore it…again.’ @woordman” username=”theboldmom”]
Find him on
