Basketful of heads

After spending the summer of 1983 apart, June Branch travels to visit her boyfriend, Liam, on the small, tourist-destination island where he's spent the past few months working as an auxiliary policeman. June is hoping for a romantic, relaxing weekend before the start of the fall semester; instead, she fights for survival when Liam is taken hostage by four escaped criminals during an island-wide blackout caused by a powerful tropical storm. After defending herself with an eighth-century battle-axe from a collection of Viking artifacts in the home where she and Liam are staying, June discovers the decapitated head of her attacker still alive and capable of speech. Carrying the axe in one hand and wicker basket containing a babbling human head in the other, June sets out on a grisly odyssey to rescue the man she loves. VERDICT Hill (Full Throttle: Stories) packs this wildly entertaining debut release from his new horror imprint, Hill House, with plenty of twists and turns, as June's journey results in a dark secret coming to light and many, many more decapitations.