There is a lot to like about this novel. B.P. Smythe knows how to tell an exciting story and proves more than willing to unleash the most horrible and disturbing events upon any and all of his characters. More than once I was compelled to look up from the pages of the book to wonder what could possibly happen next in the dark and forbidding world of the author's imagination. The buildup to the story's conclusion was especially gripping.

One thing is for sure -- if B.P. Smythe ever puts on or sponsors a magic show, I will not be there because I don't think my heart and mind could endure it -- not after experiencing the perfect storm of macabre humor and gleefully dark mayhem that punctuates the performance near the end of this novel. Those pages alone make Sow & You Shall Reap worth reading, in my opinion, as they are jam-packed with suspense and surprises. The whole book is a thrill ride through a land of pervasive evil where really bad things happen to almost everyone, from the most sadistic of criminals to the most innocent of all human beings.

As pervasive as it is, though, the horror isn't as simple and direct as the cover image might lead you to believe.

After serving time for abusing the elderly that were under her care at Gossmoor Park Care Home, Elizabeth Waverly is determined to exact her revenge on the woman she blames for her arrest: Elizabeth Carragher, the cook at Gossmoor. Not only does she, with the help of Norman, her erstwhile partner in crime, murder Carragher and her mother, she then assumes Carragher's identity in order to collect the substantial inheritance coming her way. The plan goes awry, however, when a half-brother turns up out of nowhere and inherits everything himself. Ever the resourceful ones, Elizabeth and Norman make plans to kidnap Victor's young daughter and, by way of insurance, implicate Victor in the real Elizabeth Carragher's murder. Then Victor suddenly buys a restaurant and moves to Majorca -- but he doesn't forget his "sister," offering her a job helping him run the place.

Majorca will be no island paradise for anyone once Elizabeth arrives, as a string of disappearances and violent deaths follow in her wake.

Smythe goes to great lengths to explore the backgrounds of a number of his characters -- even a few who aren't all that important in the grand scheme of things. At times, I felt like this disrupted the flow of the story away from the main characters, particularly Elizabeth. As for Elizabeth's own hardships in the past, I must say that they may help explain why she is the way she is, but they do nothing to inspire compassion in the reader, as this woman is just plain evil. The horror doesn't begin and end with Elizabeth, either, as a couple of the most tragic circumstances play out wholly independent of her evil machinations. Smythe is more than capable of sucker-punching the readers in the gut when they least expect it -- and he has even more surprises in store for the last few chapters.

There are a number of minor mistakes in these pages, but don't let that dissuade you from picking the book up, as you can quickly adapt to Smythe's writing style and lose yourself in what is truly an action-packed series of events. I do think the book should have ended one chapter sooner than it did, but I'm telling you that the buildup to this novel's conclusion offers up some of the most intense and absorbing story-telling I've come across in a long time.