Tom Mock
@tommock.bsky.social
Indie SFF/horror author & editor: proofreading & dev editing (he/him)
THE LONG NIGHTS is a #1 Best Seller in Contemporary Fantasy, Vampire Thriller, and more. SPFBO8 semi-finalist & 2021 Indies Today Awards: Runner-Up in Horror
https://linktr.ee/TomMock
THE LONG NIGHTS is a #1 Best Seller in Contemporary Fantasy, Vampire Thriller, and more. SPFBO8 semi-finalist & 2021 Indies Today Awards: Runner-Up in Horror
https://linktr.ee/TomMock
At least it’s been fun, if often interrupted
February 2, 2026 at 9:28 PM
At least it’s been fun, if often interrupted
Thanks, Steve. This was definitely a stand out.
February 2, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Thanks, Steve. This was definitely a stand out.
I’m so sorry it took so long 🫣 but it was sincerely so good. It seems like an absolute romping treat of a good time.
February 2, 2026 at 8:29 PM
I’m so sorry it took so long 🫣 but it was sincerely so good. It seems like an absolute romping treat of a good time.
Get caught up with all my opening reads or request editing services on my website
tommock.com/blog-posts/
tommock.com/blog-posts/
Tom Mock
Author
tommock.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Get caught up with all my opening reads or request editing services on my website
tommock.com/blog-posts/
tommock.com/blog-posts/
Follow along as I get caught up to SPFBOXI by joining the newsletter: subscribepage.io/wuOG1f
Tom Mock's SPFBO Opening Reads Newsletter
Get weekly emails of my read of the openings of each of SPFBOX's and XI's 300 entries.
subscribepage.io
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Follow along as I get caught up to SPFBOXI by joining the newsletter: subscribepage.io/wuOG1f
I feel like she has surprising depth that the narrative hints at through things she doesn’t do. She’s in a bad situation and she’s making the best of it with a grimace and pretend indifference. I like that. The more I read the more impressed I am. I’m in!
www.goodreads.com/book/show/54...
www.goodreads.com/book/show/54...
Evil's Unlikely Assassin (Alexis Black #1)
"Evil's Unlikely Assassin is a promising urban fantasy …
www.goodreads.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
I feel like she has surprising depth that the narrative hints at through things she doesn’t do. She’s in a bad situation and she’s making the best of it with a grimace and pretend indifference. I like that. The more I read the more impressed I am. I’m in!
www.goodreads.com/book/show/54...
www.goodreads.com/book/show/54...
It’s active, creative, focused, and fun to read. It’s melodramatic. It reads fast. It has a sense of flair, and I’m interested to see how the character of our MC develops.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
It’s active, creative, focused, and fun to read. It’s melodramatic. It reads fast. It has a sense of flair, and I’m interested to see how the character of our MC develops.
Dripping with noiry, urban fantasy style turned up to 11, our powerful female protagonist (who could as easily rip a creeps heart out as tell him to get lost) has a job to do, and she might as well get on with it.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Dripping with noiry, urban fantasy style turned up to 11, our powerful female protagonist (who could as easily rip a creeps heart out as tell him to get lost) has a job to do, and she might as well get on with it.
If only she’d known what it would be like to serve them, she’d have staked her own heart and been done with it. Great stuff.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
If only she’d known what it would be like to serve them, she’d have staked her own heart and been done with it. Great stuff.
A prisoner of her vampiric curse - which manifests itself as a kind of second-self she can hear in her head and has named, delightfully, Eddie. And now a prisoner of this monster hunting organization.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
A prisoner of her vampiric curse - which manifests itself as a kind of second-self she can hear in her head and has named, delightfully, Eddie. And now a prisoner of this monster hunting organization.
She’s signed on to do this to eventually be freed from this vampiric curse she’s under. This creates a perfect, overarching character motive straight away. Shes doubly a prisoner.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
She’s signed on to do this to eventually be freed from this vampiric curse she’s under. This creates a perfect, overarching character motive straight away. Shes doubly a prisoner.
Nothing is explained at length, but we get a very good sense of our MCs situation. She’s being used by some kind of organization with celestial backing. She has a handler. She’s here to take out a vampire.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Nothing is explained at length, but we get a very good sense of our MCs situation. She’s being used by some kind of organization with celestial backing. She has a handler. She’s here to take out a vampire.
This is a great example of an over-the-top style that doesn’t sacrifice anything in terms of clarity or focus. We learn a lot of small details about the world we’re in within the first few pages.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
This is a great example of an over-the-top style that doesn’t sacrifice anything in terms of clarity or focus. We learn a lot of small details about the world we’re in within the first few pages.
The text is intentional in its overbearing style. The colors are bold. The sleaze is very sleazy. The stink is caked on. The creeps do be creeping. And then a vampire Don Juan walks in and our MC feels it through her whole body. It’s fun.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
The text is intentional in its overbearing style. The colors are bold. The sleaze is very sleazy. The stink is caked on. The creeps do be creeping. And then a vampire Don Juan walks in and our MC feels it through her whole body. It’s fun.
This voice-heavy, 1st person urban fantasy is off to a sleazy, gloriously over-written start. It’s a lot. Too much even, but in a good way.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
This voice-heavy, 1st person urban fantasy is off to a sleazy, gloriously over-written start. It’s a lot. Too much even, but in a good way.
171)
Jenn Windrow @jennwindrowauthor.bsky.social , Evil’s Unlikely Assassin
A badass vampire vampire-hunter with angelic handlers deals with gross men and even grosser monsters.
Jenn Windrow @jennwindrowauthor.bsky.social , Evil’s Unlikely Assassin
A badass vampire vampire-hunter with angelic handlers deals with gross men and even grosser monsters.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
171)
Jenn Windrow @jennwindrowauthor.bsky.social , Evil’s Unlikely Assassin
A badass vampire vampire-hunter with angelic handlers deals with gross men and even grosser monsters.
Jenn Windrow @jennwindrowauthor.bsky.social , Evil’s Unlikely Assassin
A badass vampire vampire-hunter with angelic handlers deals with gross men and even grosser monsters.
It’s done just enough to make me want to know how the story will develop in chapter 2. What’s the lore gonna be about these wolf-dog-things and who saved our MC? I’m in.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/56...
www.goodreads.com/book/show/56...
Moon Bitten (Fur 'n' Fang Academy, #1)
She didn’t believe werewolves were real… …until she was…
www.goodreads.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
It’s done just enough to make me want to know how the story will develop in chapter 2. What’s the lore gonna be about these wolf-dog-things and who saved our MC? I’m in.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/56...
www.goodreads.com/book/show/56...
Our MC has no sooner arrived than she has been thrust/dragged into the story. If you’re interested in a fun, campy, werewolf read with a good narrative voice, this may be just the thing.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Our MC has no sooner arrived than she has been thrust/dragged into the story. If you’re interested in a fun, campy, werewolf read with a good narrative voice, this may be just the thing.
There’s little build up to the surprise of the attack. No eeriness or sense of unease - or almost none. But I don’t think this is that kind of story. This is a story where things happen.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
There’s little build up to the surprise of the attack. No eeriness or sense of unease - or almost none. But I don’t think this is that kind of story. This is a story where things happen.
Her being dragged by the beast is a bit dragged out. I found all the establishing writing of the first half of ch1 much more compelling then the sudden monstrous attack and equally sudden salvation of the 2nd half.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Her being dragged by the beast is a bit dragged out. I found all the establishing writing of the first half of ch1 much more compelling then the sudden monstrous attack and equally sudden salvation of the 2nd half.
The opening doesn’t waste any time getting our MC into danger as a beast stalks up on her after dark and attacks.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
The opening doesn’t waste any time getting our MC into danger as a beast stalks up on her after dark and attacks.
Can she really take living like this? Maybe after a few weeks to clean the place up. She’ll have to see. Living in the city has changed her standards, but she can get used to it.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Can she really take living like this? Maybe after a few weeks to clean the place up. She’ll have to see. Living in the city has changed her standards, but she can get used to it.
The dilapidated home she returns to is filthy, grimy, almost a ruin. But when you haven’t got enough money to go to school and live, you’ll take what you can get.
February 2, 2026 at 8:08 PM
The dilapidated home she returns to is filthy, grimy, almost a ruin. But when you haven’t got enough money to go to school and live, you’ll take what you can get.