Reptile by Jeremy Eads

 

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Five "Silver Claw Action" Stars

A small taste of what lies within:

Mark Branton doesn't know what is happening in his hometown of Summit Valley as there are bodies being murdered savagely. 

Mark thinks he has entered a dream state of some kind as he sees a man that can also enter his thoughts at will but Mark soon learns that whatever is killing people is somehow connected to him as Mark's body has changes going on which will affect those around him as Mark has been chosen to become a creature of myth and the elusive dream state man is a part of it all! 

That is about all I can hand out on a small taste without giving away spoilers so if you are intrigued then go read this book!

Thoughts:

Wow!! This story took me on one hell of a cool ride into not only horror, but also a mythical ride into fantasy as well! The pace of the story was a little slow in the beginning as there was some world building but once the stage was set for the characters and the town the story took off! 

The last half of the book I read in a few short hours as once the momentum of the story kicked in then I had a hard time putting down the book! I was entranced with how the book turned toward a horror/fantasy story as the author delved deep into a creature feature realm that involved mythical creatures. 

The last half of the book I was literally flying through the story as the action picks up to the point that I could not put the book down and wanted to keep reading it to the end as I wanted to see where the author was going to take me! This was my second book by this author and I am looking for more stories that will take me on hell rides of zesty action fun! 

Attached is the author, Jeremy Eads, profile page from Goodreads:

Jeremy Eads

Attached is the author, Jeremy Eads, profile page from Amazon:

Jeremy Eads

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

My Review

A Christmas Warning by David Kempf

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Four "Twisted Scrooge" Stars

A small taste of what lies within:

Ebenezer Scrooge is on a mission to help out a mean miser that is on his way to hell as the Christmas ghosts will do anything to carry out their mission! 

That is about all I can hand out with a small taste as this is a super short story and I don't want to give out spoilers, so if you are intrigued then go read this book!

Thoughts:

The author, David Kempf takes the classic Scrooge story and gives it a hard twist for this short story driving home to the reader that even Scrooge has a soft spot in his heart to help others. 

The pace of the story is fast and I read it all in one sitting. I have come to love stories by this author as he takes classic tales and gives them a slight twist with adding some flair to the tale. 

I have a handful of books on my kindle to read yet by this author and look forward to stepping into a couple more next year. 

Attached is the author, David Kempf, profile page from Goodreads:

David Kempf

Attached is the author, David Kempf, profile page from Amazon:

David Kempf

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

My Review

Tribute to Authors!

I have been thinking about this tribute for a long time and when I mean a long time I am talking about a few years with mulling it over in my head and wanting to make a blog about it but not sure with exactly what to say and getting the thoughts down in a blog post. Here it goes! 😊

I have always believed that authors are the most creative artists out there. To take words and run them all together to form sentences then create characters usually going deep into character creation and then coming up with background settings for the characters has always amazed me.  The time that authors take out of their normal busy lives to write stories and then throw them out there for readers has always been a fascination to me.  

Escaping into books and living fictional lives of the worlds that are created by authors is just pure creativity. I have been reading all my life since a very young age.  I have a bio post on this blog that says this: "Books are an addiction to me as I just love to lose myself in the different worlds that have been created by authors". 

I know that sometimes authors get bad raps and readers do not treat the authors right - I have seen this first hand myself with reviews from readers and what readers will go through to get their point across with opinions they feel that other readers should know.  For me - I just read the books and form my own opinions - I rarely read reviews from other readers before hand as I don't want any kind of influence of what others are saying about the book before going into it.  

Back in the day there were no reviews that were posted from readers - readers just read the books and if they enjoyed the stories enough they would keep the books on their bookshelves for maybe future rereads. 

I feel that if it were not for authors that the world would be a sad place as books are and always have been our escape. When things are meek and bleak in the real world we all know that we can just pick up a book and step into a world created by authors that takes us places unknown for a little while. 

I just want to say to never give up your dreams of being an author - there are readers out there that do care. We might be like "diamonds in the rough" to find but we are out there. 

Keep doing what you are doing to create these fictional worlds as there will always be someone to read them. Never give up hope and keep creating those stories. We all need an escape route and books are the escape as they take us places that we can go without having to leave our home and/or cozy chair. 

Thank you to all authors for all that you do and the worlds you create!

Happy Reading Everyone!

Hotel Chelsea (World's Scariest Places #6) by Jeremy Bates

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Three "Few & Far Between Spooks" Stars

No Jump Scares Here!

A small taste of what lies within:

A journalist has been handed a job of interviewing residents of the Hotel Chelsea to find out if the hotel is really haunted or if is just stories, but what he discovers is far beyond what he expected!

That is about all I can hand out with a small taste so if you want to know more then go read this book!

Thoughts:

This book was interesting and kind of spooky within the first half of the book but it started to meander around some with parts of it dragging here and there. There were quite a few characters within the story to keep track of and even the characters seemed to drag along as well. 

Normally I like to read books by this author but this one just didn't move at a fast enough pace and I was expecting more ghostly stuff throughout the whole book not just a dabble here and there.  The author threw in a twist though at the end of the book which wasn't expected compared to 90% of the story but either way I am glad that I finally read it as I have owned this book for a long time. 

Attached is the author, Jeremy Bates, profile page from Goodreads:

Jeremy Bates

Attached is the author, Jeremy Bates, profile page from Amazon:

Jeremy Bates

My Goodreads Review:

My Review

A Gathering of Ghosts by David Haynes

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Five "Gothic Ghostly" Stars

Spooky Haunting Stories!

A small taste of what lies within:

I am not really going to do a small taste on here as this book held six ghost short stories so I will just give a tiny cryptic note on each one.

The Silent Bell: An invention that doesn't go as planned for the inventor.

The Stonegate Manor Collection: Paintings that are not what they seem no matter what they cost.

The Haunting of Reverend Carson: A psychic that pretends to talk to the dead gets his just rewards when the dead pursue him.

The Last Waltz: An invention called a Zoopraxiscope gives one man a glimpse to seeing his long dead wife once again dancing for him.

The Speaking Tube: A son's hatred for his father has a tube that connects to hell letting his father hear the cries and torment from beyond.

The Ghost Train: One man's journey aboard a ghost train will be unforgettable.



Thoughts:

These short stories were all set in the Gothic times and they all wrapped themselves around me as I scrunched down in my cozy chair. I feel that all the stories were fast paced and I loved all the characters within each one.

I have come to love stories by this author and I was super happy to finally read this collection of short stories as it was perfect for this time of year.

Attached is the author, David Haynes, profile page from Goodreads:

David Haynes

Attached is the author, David Haynes, profile page from Amazon:

David Haynes

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

My Review

Top 25 Reads of 2024

This year was another year of great books and more insomnia nights as I delved deep into the minds of authors. I stayed in the horror realm this year and ventured out into a little true crime, but other than I stayed within the horror genre and horror is what made the list this year. 

It is always hard to try to figure out what books make this list but I do have 25 books that kept me awake quite a bit during the year. I discovered new authors to explore and revisited authors I have read in the past. 

So without further ado here are the 25 books that fueled many a night and kept me glued to my kindle! All authors are listed in no particular order. 

HORROR/HORROR SUSPENSE

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JULIET ROSE

Stitched Together

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

Stitched Together

JONATHAN MABERRY

Bad Moon Rising (Pine Deep #3)

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

Bad Moon Rising (Pine Deep #3)

J.A. KONRATH

Close Your Eyes

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

Close Your Eyes

J.D. ALLEN

Pentagrams

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

Pentagrams

JASON PARENT

What Hides Within

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

What Hides Within

CATHERINE CAVENDISH

Those Who Dwell in Mordenhyrst Hall

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

Those Who Dwell in Mordenhyrst Hall

JENNIFER MCMAHON

The Invited

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

The Invited

JONATHAN AYCLIFFE

A Shadow on the Wall

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

A Shadow on the Wall

BENTLEY LITTLE

The Handyman

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

The Handyman

GRAHAM MASTERTON

Ghost Virus (Patel & Pardoe #1)

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

Ghost Virus (Patel & Pardoe #1)

RAVEN DANE

Drwg Stones

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

Drwg Stones

GLENN ROLFE

When the Night Falls

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

When the Night Falls

M.J. MARS

The Suffering

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

The Suffering

RONALD MCGILLVRAY

The Candy Witch: Sweet Dreams

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

The Candy Witch: Sweet Dreams

TAMARA THORNE

Moonfall

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

Moonfall

BRIAN MORELAND

Tomb of Gods

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

Tomb of Gods

RONALD KELLY

The Saga of Dead-Eye Book Two: Werewolves, Swamp Critters, and Hellacious Haunts

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

The Saga of Dead-Eye Book Two: Werewolves, Swamp Critters, and Hellacious Haunts

DEBBIE IOANNA

Abberton House

My Rating:  💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

Abberton House

D.E. MCCLUSKEY

The Twelve: A Ghost Story

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

The Twelve: A Ghost Story

JONAS SAUL

The Woman in the Woods

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

The Woman in the Woods

DAVID KEMPF

The Picture of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

The Picture of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

NICK ROBERTS

The Exorcist's House: Genesis

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

The Exorcist's House: Genesis

JEREMY EADS

The Lodge 

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

The Lodge

TOM LEWIS

The Covenant: A Tale of the Antichrist

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

The Covenant: A Tale of the Antichrist

HUNTER SHEA

Tortures of the Damned

My Rating: 💀💀💀💀

My Blog Review Link:

Tortures of the Damned

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New to me authors:

Jennifer McMahon

Jonathan Ayecliff

Raven Dane

M.J. Mars

Debbie Ioana

D.E. McCluskey

Jonas Saul

Jeremy Eads

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Final Thoughts:

This was a horror year for me and with it being my favorite genre I decided to focus more on horror as I have thousands of ebooks stuck in the cloud so I decided to delve deep into them this year.  Normally I read fantasy, dark fantasy and some science fiction but I kept my horror blinders on this year and wanted to roar through some horror books that have been simmering on my kindle with knocking down my tbr a little. 

I feel that by doing it that way I was able to discover new to me authors and then I would sit here wondering why I didn't jump into those books sooner. I love discovering new to me authors and I love to find new stories to explore. 

Looking forward to 2025 with reader happiness as I still have thousands of books to check out from my cloud and I will probably find the next "diamond in the rough" authors that I am always eager to read. 😊 

Till next year! Happy Reading! 

The Woman in the Woods by Jonas Saul

 

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Five "Supernatural Mystery" Stars

Backwoods Horror!

A small taste of what lies within:

Anna Valentina along with three men end up on the wrong train so the conductor takes them all to a sub-station out in the wilderness of Oregon to wait for their train that will get them to their destinations but when the train never arrives the four of them start to explore the backwoods along the train tracks and what they find is beyond belief as what lies deep in the woods will be life changing for all of them! 

That is about all I can hand out with a small taste without giving away spoilers so if you want to know more then go read this book!

Thoughts:

This was my first time reading this author and I have owned this book since it came out last year. The mystery of what happens to the characters as they explore the backwoods of Oregon stays a mystery throughout the book till almost the end which I love because the book gave me something to think about throughout the story and the reveal of what was taking place never arose within the early and middle parts of the book. 

The author kept the mystery covered deep till the end of the book which drove the suspense into high gear as I kept trying to figure out what was going on. Loved all the characters in this story along with supporting characters. Normally within stories there will be that one character that you just cannot stand but with this book I really didn't see that with these characters - they were all unique in their own way and they were all shrouded in some kind of mystery. 

The story was almost a slow burn but the author made the story interesting as I kept wanting to know what secret the Oregon woods held for these characters. 

All in all I truly enjoyed this story and look forward to reading more books by this author. 

Attached is the author, Jonas Saul, profile page from Goodreads:

Jonas Saul

Attached is the author, Jonas Saul profile page from Amazon:

Jonas Saul

My Goodreads Review:

My Review