Dying Valentine by Calvin Demmer

 

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Three "Vindictive Valentine Woes" Stars

Horrified Valentine's Day 

A small taste of what lies within:

Daniel Hill was a jumble of knots on Valentine's Day as he was going to be meeting his girlfriend's Julia's parents for the first time and he wanted to make a good impression, but when he hit a woman pedestrian in the street with his car, the whole night went to hell in a handbasket quickly especially when he offered to take her home to let her get cleaned up and Julia shows up unannounced!

That is about all I can give on a small taste as this story is very short - around 25 pages but it packs a punch at the end of the book. 

Thoughts:

This was my first time reading this author though I have owned some of his books for awhile, but I am just now stepping into them. The pacing was fast, but the story just seemed to be rushed and it was kind of over before it started. 

The story was really good, but I wish it had been a longer to get more of a feel for the characters. I would have liked to know more about the character Daniel and his girlfriend, Julia, but the story opens up with Daniel driving and there is just no detail on his character as things escalate through the short story all the way to the end of the book. I have a few more books by this author, so I will be stepping into more of his work in the future. 

Attached is the author, Calvin Demmer, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9815686.Calvin_Demmer

Attached is the author, Calvin Demmer, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Calvin-Demmer/e/B00P96CDYQ

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3188288511

Mirror by Graham Masterton

 

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Five "Nightmare Mirror World" Stars

Spooky and Sinister!

A taste of what lies within:

Martin Williams is obsessed with everything and anything that had belonged to a child movie star named Boofuls that was murdered in the 1930's as he has his home decorated with different memorabilia from the actor. So when he has the opportunity to buy a mirror that had hung in the child star's home Martin cannot refuse to buy it as he wants to add it to his collection. 

Though Martin finds out quickly that "something" is not right with the mirror as things seem to be reflected differently in the mirror than in the real world. Martin "thinks" he sees Boofuls in the mirror, but he puts it down to his imagination as how could the child star be in the mirror when he was supposed to have been murdered. 

When Martin tests out the mirror by throwing a tennis ball at the mirror he is shocked when the tennis ball disappears into the mirror and another ball is shot out into his world. Martin begins to wonder if maybe the soul of Boofuls is inside the mirror and he was not imagining things after all. Things go from bad to worse when the landlord's son, Emilio disappears and Martin fears that the mirror snatched Emilio as what else could have happened to him, but his fears are confirmed when another boy steps out into the real world that looks to be an exact replica of "Boofuls". 

That is about all I can give on a taste and if you want to know more about this story then you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This is my first time reading Graham Masterton and I do not know why I haven't stepped into his world yet as I know he has been around a long time. I wish I had stepped into him long before now as this book was awesome and the flow of the story just kept me moving at a fast pace. The story is wrapped up with not only disappearances of things and characters, but the story is also wrapped tight within the occult as well. 

There were some scary parts and there are tons of descriptive details of different things that happen within the story. There is a downside to the story that I wasn't happy about as pets are involved in some descriptive scenes that have to do with the mirror. But other than that the rest of the book kept me on the edge of my seat and I literally read a 400+ page book within 48 hours! 

There was never a dull moment within this book and the author keeps the intrigue of the mirror at an all time high as one thing after another happens to characters that come in contact with the mirror. I literally have more books by this author that I will be stepping into at some point in time as I am now a Masterton fan! 

Attached is the author, Graham Masterton, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10275.Graham_Masterton

Attached is the author, Graham Masterton, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Graham-Masterton/e/B000APAM8K

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4131512428

Ghost Stories by Ron Ripley

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Four "Spooks and Scares" Stars

Chilling Short Stories!

I am not going to do a taste like normal since all the stories within are short stories, but I will set out the story with a cryptic note.

1) Crowe’s Bed and Breakfast: Haunted bed and breakfast is not what it seems. 

2) The Dog Tracker: A ghost girl has a bad temper when it comes to her dog. 

3) The Treasure Hunter: When you rob the dead bad things will happen. 

4) The Rosary: If something is buried in the wall, leave it alone. 

5) Safety: A creature entity appears and it is not happy.

6) Shelter: Breaking into a house turns deadly.

7) The Shepherd: Be mindful of your neighbor as you do not know "what" they are.

8) The Shortcut: A man gets an education on how to be respectful in a cemetery but it comes at a great price. 

9) The Ghost Hunters: A haunted house that inhabits more than ghosts. 

Thoughts:

It has been long time since I have read stories by this author and it was great to be back in his world as these stories just pulled me straight into the horrors of his mind. All the short stories had some kind of twist but packed a powerful punch which kept me glued to my seat.

Attached is the author, Ron Ripley, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14247932.Ron_Ripley

Attached is the author, Ron Ripley, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Ron-Ripley/e/B014OQ8ZZ2

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2176926300

The Horror Collection (Ruby Red) by Kevin J. Kennedy

 

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Five "Terror Tension" Stars

This collection of 10 short stories took me on one hell of a terror ride filled with thrills and chills! I will be setting out the stories by each author with a cryptic note for each story.

1) Preignition by Steve Stred: Four friends are together till the end of time. 

2) A Campfire Tale by Tom Deady: Will the true killer please stand up.

3) Tanglewood by Ronald Kelly: Sometimes the dead come back.

4) New Skulls for the Old Cemetery by Calvin Demmer: Respect the dead or else.

5) Larry's Guest by Guy N. Smith: Vampire becomes part of the family. 

6) Where the Holly Ceases to Grow by Lex H. Jones: An unexpected being becomes a lifelong friend. 

7) Crabs by Kevin J. Kennedy: No one is able to eat these crabs!

8) Dead Ends and Open Roads by Kyle M. Scott: An abusive husband gets his just desserts.

9) Lifewatch by Christopher Motz: A watch that predicts time of death. 

10) Family Ties by John Kennedy: A heartfelt poem. 

Thoughts:

All the stories were great and all of them had some type of horror/terror that was weaved throughout each story. Once again, the author, Kevin J. Kennedy was able to gather quite a few authors together for these stories. As always with these book anthologies I know of a couple or so authors as I have read them before and find some more authors to explore which within this book I found a few. :)

Attached is the author, Kevin J. Kennedy, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5452895.Kevin_J_Kennedy

Attached is the author, Kevin J. Kennedy, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Kevin-J-Kennedy/e/B016V0NA7M

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4163440747

Dawn Girl (Special Agent Tess Winnett #1) by Leslie Wolfe

 

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Four "Killer Thriller" Stars

Action and Tension!

A taste of what lies within:

FBI Special Agent Tess Winnett becomes involved in a crime case that seems to be the work of maybe a serial killer as a dead woman is found on the beach all trussed up under a life guard station. Though Tess might have to step on a few toes to find out what is going on as she is assigned to work with two police detectives on the case. Whatever she has to do she will do to see the job done and if she has to muddle up something she will to find out where the path takes her. 

The police detectives seem to be out of their depth when Tess becomes more involved in the case as she seems to go above and beyond to find out what kind of trail the killer has left as it seems that this murder is not the first and it is going to be up to Tess to find out who else the killer has murdered. 

Thoughts:

I love this character, Tess Winnett as she seems to take charge and doesn't let anything stand in her way to get the job done. This is my second book by this author and I really enjoyed the writing style along with the fast pace of the story. I have the rest of this series with Tess Winnett on my kindle and will continue with the series in the future. 

Attached is the author, Leslie Wolfe, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7323368.Leslie_Wolfe

Attached is the author, Leslie Wolfe, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Leslie-Wolfe/e/B00KR1QZ0G

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2178122148

Slander Hall by Matthew Tait

 

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Four "Haunted Horror" Spooks

Spook Central!

A taste of what lies within:

Cedar Jarrell who is the only survivor from a massacre that took place at Slander Hall has decided to revisit the place with some friends. They are curious about the rumors they have heard with the place being haunted and they would like to get some documentation of it. 

But things do not go as planned as when they step foot onto the property "something" attacks one of the friends. Cedar and company still push onward as they figure if they do not find what they want with the hauntings that they will never complete their task. Once they enter Slander Hall though the ghosts have other ideas and to survive the haunting the friends will need to stick together through it all.

That is about all I can give on a taste without giving away spoilers and if you want to know more than you will need to read the book! 

Thoughts:

This was my first time reading this author and I was impressed with how quick I was pulled into the story! The story was fast paced and held me in suspense as I wanted to know what was going to happen next. 

The story is really short though and there are two more stories that lie within these pages as well which also was a nice surprising read. I do have a couple or so more kindle books by this author and looking forward to reading more books by him.  

Attached is the author, Matthew Tait, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5073719.Matthew_Tait

Attached is the author, Matthew Tait, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Matthew-Tait/e/B008KXHLRE

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2523143904

Midnight Falls (The Order of Shadows #2) by Kit Hallows

 

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Four "Supernatural Shadows" Stars

Stay to the Shadows!

A taste of what lies within:

Morgan Rook is once again on a mission but it is of his own making as he is not suppose to be running amok as the Organization wanted him to go in low mode for awhile, but he has his own agenda as he is trying to track down the murderer of his wife and it seems the road leads to a place called Copperwood Falls. 

Once Morgan lands in Copperwood Falls he finds out that the woman responsible for his wife's murder just seems to be on the outskirts of his reach. But the more he digs to find this woman the more he seems to land in hot water and this time Morgan might have a hard time extracting himself out of his predicament as the supernatural entities that are protecting the woman will do anything they can to keep Morgan from getting within range!

Thoughts: 

This book just didn't seem to have the non-stop action like the first book as there was more mystery and suspense wrapped within the story. There is still the sorcery though that the character Morgan dishes out to the supernatural beings but the book seemed to slow down in some parts. 

I felt that it was up and down with the action - there would be some and then it was back to being slow. The pacing was not as fast as the first book but the writing style was still smooth. All in all the story was great and the last 30% of the book the action seemed to pick back up and it kept moving till the end of the story. 

Attached is the author, Kit Hallows, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15862965.Kit_Hallows

Attached is the author, Kit Hallows, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Kit-Hallows/e/B01LZ7NXCR

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4505481707

Gloop! by David Brian

 

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Four "The Bog Is My Friend" Stars

Friends Forever!

A small taste of what lies within:

Alice Cluer is out with her family enjoying a day of fun and sun until she retrieves a ball for her brother that ends up in a briar patch with some bog muck. When Alice decides to go after it since she is small enough to grab the ball she ends up meeting a "bog" entity. Years later when she is older the entity is still with her and seems to be a part of her, but having a bog friend is not what all it seems to be as sometimes it will want to show its true power! 

That is about all I can give on a small taste as you will need to read the book for yourself!

Thoughts:

This is a short book - under 50 pages, but it was an engrossing short read which I finished within 45 minutes. The author grabbed me right away and slowly drew me into the story as when the character Alice meets the entity friend in the bog the story breaks wide open when the story is hurled forward into the future to the teenage years of Alice and you see what the entity is in all its glory. 

I have read a few books by this author and I am always surprised at what he comes up with next! At the end of the book though I had to grab my gore suit quickly as there was some bloody parts strewn around the pages of the story! Another great book added to my ever growing collection of books by this author!

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

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1068132.David_Brian

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

https://www.amazon.com/David-Brian/e/B005OKXVVG

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4560662281

The Saga of Dead-Eye Book One: Vampires, Zombies, & Mojo Men by Ronald Kelly

 

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Five "Gun-Toting Zombie" Stars

Wild West Wickedness!

A taste of what lies within:

Joshua Wingade comes home from the civil war as it has been many years since he was gone from his wife and son, but when he finally arrives at the house he finds out that his wife has been turned into a monstrosity and his son has been kidnapped by "things" not of of this world. 

It is hard to wrap his mind around what sort of creatures have taken his son, but he finally comes to terms with it when he meets up with them and sees what they truly are made of. The problem is Joshua doesn't have a chance against otherworldly creatures a/k/a vampires led by Jules Holland and they kill him before he can kill them. 

Holland and his motley crew do not realize that they have made a bad mistake killing Joshua as now Joshua has been given a second chance with the help of a Louisiana Mojo man named Job as he brings Joshua back to life but he is in the form of a zombie and he is no longer considered "Joshua" as Job renamed him "Dead-Eye".  

The main concern is that Job and Dead-Eye might have to go to "hell and back" to rescue Daniel but they are willing to do whatever it takes to grab Daniel and kill the vampires once and for all!

That is about all I can give on a taste without giving away spoilers as you will need to read the book for yourself! 

Thoughts:

Wow! This book just grabbed me from the get-go and transported me back into the wild west! I was just immersed in the storyline and everything around me disappeared as I became involved with reading the story about the character Joshua Wingade/Dead-Eye. The pacing is fast in this story as something is constantly happening which kept me riveted to the story and I could barely put this book down. 

This book is the first in a series of books revolving around the pursuit of the vampires and what Job and Dead-Eye will have to go through to reach their goal of vanquishing the vampires. 

The author, Ronald Kelly is a master storyteller as he brings everything to life on the pages of this book! 

The visuals of this world he created plays out in your mind as if you were watching it on a movie screen. The descriptions of everything you read in the story will be displayed in your mind's eye as you will feel that you are literally in the midst of the action!

Will be looking forward to book number two in this series which is suppose to be out this year to continue on with this storyline and the vampire pursuit! 

Attached is the author, Ronald Kelly, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/783444.Ronald_Kelly

Attached is the author, Ronald Kelly, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Ronald-Kelly/e/B0055Q14YK

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4418122598

They Thirst by Robert R. McCammon

 

🧛🧛🧛🧛🧛

Five "Fatal Fangs" Vamps!

Ancient Evil!

I am not giving my normal backstory so just laying out my thoughts as this tome of a vampire book has quite a few characters that are involved within the story, but I will set out two main characters with thoughts.

Character Thoughts:

Two main characters are:

Prince Conrad Vulcan - Master Vampire of Kronsteen castle. Vulcan wants to take over the city of Los Angeles making the whole city under his rule and eventually to encompass the whole state as he takes in more territory. He wants to show that he is king of the vampires and he will do whatever it takes to see that accomplished.

Andrew "Andy" Palatazin is a homicide detective for the LAPD - there have been a rash of killings that seems to be the work of a serial killer and as he tries to make sense of what is going on with the killings, he is thrown for a loop when he finds out that some cemeteries are missing coffins and then he has an inkling that "something" might be leading him to Kronsteen castle as an ancient evil is no doubt lurking there. 

Book Thoughts:

This was my first time reading this author, Robert McCammon. Not sure why I haven't stepped into him long before now, but he was recommended by a few of my Goodreads friends who has given his work high praises, so I decided to step into his work to see those high praises. 

Writing style was great and I was drawn right away into the storyline. I am always looking for some type of vampire book that has the "old school" vampires within and this book really took me in that direction. 

This book was a slow start with introductions of all the characters that lie within so it took awhile for anything to get going with the master vampire character which led to the first half of the book being a struggle with slow pacing, but there was quite a bit of intrigue and suspense as well which was wrapped up with the serial killings and the detective.  

Normally I like my books where something happens within the first few chapters, but there was definitely a "dread" feeling right away as I could feel that something eventually was about to explode with vampire action!

Attached is the author, Robert R. McCammon, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5244478.Robert_R_McCammon

Attached is the author, Robert R. McCammon, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Robert-R.-McCammon/e/B000AP7UZS

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4541532755

The Lighthouse by Amy Cross

 

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Three "Haunted Haven" Spooks!

Lighthouse Mystery!

A taste of what lies within:

Penny has decided to leave her family and friends behind to take a job out at a lighthouse on a remote island as she doesn't want just a regular job. So against her parents and best friend wishes she takes a boat out to the island as she finds out there are a couple of other people out there as well. 

Once she arrives, Matthew who has been out on the island for years shows her around and introduces her to Colin who also helps take care of the lighthouse. Matthew ends up telling Penny a ghost story about something that happened on the island years before and Penny ends up believing in the ghost story as she has been seeing ghosts before she even left for her adventure on the island. 

Though as time goes on Penny does hear things but Matthew and Colin seem oblivious to the sounds that Penny is hearing and they are both in denial about the ghosts. They haven't actually seen anything of the sort on the island and Matthew tells Penny that the story is just a story - there is no truth in it. But Penny begs to differ as she starts seeing "things" and tries to prove her point that she is not crazy!

Thoughts:

This could have easily been a four to five star read, but I knocked it down to three stars as the story was a major slow burn and nothing with ghost/hauntings happened till near the 60% mark with two major twists at the end of the book. There are quite a few different things that also dragged down the book - the characters just did nothing for me at all including the main character Penny - I could not get invested in the characters at all and Penny just seemed to be a shallow cardboard cutout. The character, Matthew drove me nutso as he "talked" too much and Penny could never get a word in edge wise. The character, Colin just seemed to float along and though he was in the story the book didn't focus on him much.  

Some other things didn't set well with me which was dialogue - lots of words didn't need to be in there and some words didn't make sense either. There was too much talk and not enough haunting till the very end of the book. 

Some books by this author are hit and miss as sometimes her books will shine and sometimes they will just drop off. This to me was one of the "drop off" books and if I hadn't been reading it with a few buddies on Goodreads I would have probably laid it down as a dreaded "dnf" as normally if the book isn't grabbing me by a certain percentage then it will go on the dnf shelf. 

But with it being Amy Cross I just struggled through it as I thought maybe something would happen to make up for all slow burning-odd characters-screw wacky dialogue and though it did end with some twists there were still some unanswered questions. So the only lights to leave on is in the lighthouse - don't worry about the light by your bed or cozy chair as there is nothing scary in this book! 

Attached is the author, Amy Cross, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5344482.Amy_Cross

Attached is the author, Amy Cross, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Amy-Cross/e/B006DE8I6U

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2220656924

THEM by James M. Watts

 

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Four "Creepy Creature" Stars!

Tension Terror!

A taste of what lies within:

Ray Sanders rushes home to the place where he grew up when he finds out that his mother has passed away and he needs to take care of funeral arrangements. When he rolls through the small town memories flood back of his childhood. As Ray tries to come to terms with his mother's death, he decides to stay in his mother's house as he tries to remember some things that happened in the past with the house and property. 

Ray's cousin Roy steps back into his life and they start hanging out together, but weird things start happening out at the property with wildlife and Ray tries to make his memory go back to childhood days when him and Roy use to run around together as back then "something" happened as well which Ray cannot tap into at the moment. 

When a few townspeople start acting strange is when Ray and Roy start to slowly remember things from the past as there is something slowly stirring and taking over the townspeople which turns them into something different than their true selves. But when Ray and Roy's memories come flooding back and they learn more about what has invaded their neighbors and friends both of them will have to fight for their lives before all is said and done!

That is about all I can give on a taste without giving away spoilers, so to know more about this story you will just need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This is my second book by this author and was very impressed with being drawn straight into the story. The writing style is smooth and just flows along which slowly reeled me into what was happening within the story making me stick to it for the last 48 hours! 

This book reminded me of the old 80's creature feature movies that I use to watch when I was younger as the "creatures" in the book have alien type qualities mixed with supernatural creepiness. 

Most of the book remains hidden in mystery with what is happening to the townspeople and what type of creature has invaded their world until the last 30% of the book the author reveals "what" the creature is and what its unique qualities are that take over the characters in this book. 

Looking forward to reading more by this author and will be pursuing anything else he has coming out in the future. 

Attached is the author, James M. Watts, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16871469.James_Watts

Attached is the author, James M. Watts, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/James-M.-Watts/e/B004G8WXIO

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4092495317

Rum Runner (Jack Daniels Mystery #9) by J.A. Konrath

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Five "Chiller Killer" Stars

Firepower Overload!

A taste of what lies within:

Jack needs a vacation and some alone time with Phin so Harry McGlade tells them that they can use his cabin up in the woods of Wisconsin as he has a private place with no one around for miles as Jack and Phin need to work things out in their marriage. After dropping their daughter off to some friends house they head on up there hoping to rekindle their love for each other. 

What neither of them know though is that a killer that Jack put away 20 years before has escaped prison (T-Nail) and all he can think about is revenge and he is willing to bring a war to her door for putting him away years ago. But what T-Nail doesn't know is that the "cabin" is really a fortress that McGlade has fixed up for extra security and it will take all kinds of firepower to bring it down! 

That is about all I can give on a taste as if you want to know more then you will just need to read the book!

Thoughts:

The first half of the book was mostly Jack and Phin heading to the cabin along with a little background on T-Nail and his old gang with them making their way up to the cabin, but the last half of the book is where all the action/guns takes place and where the tension/suspense hits the high notes. 

Jacks friends are once again in this story (Harry and Herb) and there was some more of the humorous quips between Harry and Herb which gave me the chuckles. This time though there is a parrot that talks and though sometimes that was a little bit too much I just overlooked the parrot squawking and kept reading as that was just a minor annoyance. 

The only thing that was a little odd in the book - there is a chapter about mobile gaming and as much as I like gaming stuff I couldn't figure out what the use for it was in this book. Maybe a filler for some reason? Not sure. But I basically just skipped that whole chapter as there was nothing in there that pertained to the actual story so I figured I wasn't missing much. 

Other than that with the parrot and gaming the book actually rocked along with lots of cool weapons and lots of gun fighting. There is even a flame thrower tossed in for good measure! 

I was happy with another "fight to survive" thriller featuring Jack Daniels and as always with this series I was entertained which that is what it is all about anyway. Looking forward to the next installment which is Last Call.  

Attached is the author, J.A. Konrath, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/137270.J_A_Konrath

Attached is the author, J.A. Konrath, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/J-A-Konrath/e/B000BCH4EM

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4467096870

Dark City (The Order of Shadows #1) by Kit Hallows

 

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Five "Supernatural Sorcery" Stars

Action Packed to the Hilt!

A taste of what lies within:

Morgan Rook is a supernatural detective that works for the Organization which is a secret society that cleans up messes made by supernatural entities. They send him out on undercover missions with the hopes that he can go in and check things out, but if it gets too complicated then he is suppose to call them and they have other agents to take care of things quietly, but Morgan is kind of a rebel and goes out on his own sometimes without calling the Organization. 

This is one of those times as he wants to investigate on his own without the Organization as there is a vampire that is killing people and Morgan has been sent to just gather intel, but things do not always go as planned as he ends up in all kinds of trouble which leads him on a merry trip into the supernatural underworld. When one of his friends ends up dead is when Morgan steps outside of the law of the Organization so that he can track down whoever killed his friend. 

That is about all I can give on a taste without giving away spoilers, so if you want to know more about this story then you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This was my first time reading this author, but I have owned this book for a couple of years. I am just now stepping into the series. I now own the rest of the books as I will be continuing to read the rest of the series as now I am hooked. The writing style is great and the author pulled me in to his world quick as once I became involved in the first few chapters things just started happening one right after the other. 

Each chapter there was something happening with supernatural beings which include vampires, werewolves, and demons. The character, Morgan Rook, is a likeable character and he is also able to do magical sorcery as well along with having magical weapons for any situation that he finds himself in. 

I loved this book so much that it will be going on my favorites shelf. What an amazing introduction into the world of this author and will be grabbing whatever else he has out there. 

Attached is the author, Kit Hallows, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15862965.Kit_Hallows

Attached is the author, Kit Hallows, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Kit-Hallows/e/B01LZ7NXCR

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4530557168

Black Diamond Death (Sloane Monroe #1) by Cheryl Bradshaw

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Four "Skiing Sleuth" Stars

Mysterious Tension!

A small taste of what lies within:

Sloane Monroe is a private investigator and when a woman by the name of Audrey hires her to find out what happened to her sister, Charlotte, Sloane thinks it is a closed case as the coroner's report states that Charlotte was in a skiing accident.  Audrey convinces Sloane that it was no accident as Charlotte had plans to meet up with Audrey and Charlotte had information that could break something wide open, but the chance never came for Charlotte to reveal all as she ended up dead on the slopes. 

Sloane is hesitant to even try to investigate a case that looks to be "cut and dried" but Sloane decides that it couldn't hurt to check a few things out so she begins her investigation. She ends up stepping on toes at the police department with the Chief and a couple of other detectives, but she wants to see if there is anything to what Audrey is saying about her sister.

As time goes on, Sloane finds out there is something going on and then she has a prime suspect that could have killed Charlotte, but then he ends up dead, which sends Sloane into a tailspin as if the prime suspect is dead then who killed Charlotte. Sloane is now walking on eggshells trying to discover who it could be and hoping that she does not become a target herself.

That is about all I can give on a taste without giving away spoilers, so if you want to learn more than you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This was my first time reading this author within a crime fiction series. I have read this author before in a paranormal suspense series and really liked her writing style. This book reminded me of the series by author, Sue Grafton as I read her books way back in the middle 80's and early 90's. I was very impressed by how quick I was pulled into the storyline as right away something happens and I didn't have time to breathe as the story started to become a snowball rolling down a hill as the more I read the story the more something else seemed to happen. 

I have found a new crime series to sink my teeth into and I didn't realize it but I own all eight books in the series so I can just go from one to the other as I go along. This book did not end on a cliff hanger so it seems the books could be read out of order, but I think I will read them in order anyway as there might be things that happen with the main character. I will eventually step into book two as I am curious to what kind of situation that Sloane Monroe will find for herself next. 

Attached is the author, Cheryl Bradshaw, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4712744.Cheryl_Bradshaw

Attached is the author, Cheryl Bradshaw, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Cheryl-Bradshaw/e/B004RIU5OW 

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2756480761

The Cabin by Matt Shaw

🌟🌟🌟🌟 

Four "Cabin Fever " Stars

Tension Terror

A taste of what lies within:

Craig decides to go to a cabin that his dad owned years ago to get away from it all so that he can write his novel in peace and quiet. He takes his family with him so that they can all be together and stay in the cabin. The road trip to the cabin though is rippled with all kinds of bad decisions on Craig's part and things seem to go wrong quickly for all of them. 

By the time they get to the cabin - the place is a mess and needs to be cleaned as it looks like there have been squatters hanging out there, so Craig decides to make his family go stay with relatives while he takes care of cleaning up the cabin to make it livable. While they are gone Craig has things happen at the cabin with screams and bangs which makes Craig wonder what is happening and he has to figure out how to solve the problem.

That is about all I can give on a taste without giving away spoilers, so if you want to know more you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

Normally books by Matt Shaw have loads of extreme situations with blood and gore laced throughout the storyline, but this book has none of that - it is more of a psychological horror thriller laced with ghosts/hauntings. The main character, Craig drove me batty as he made all the wrong decisions in the story as things happened on the road trip before they even arrived at the cabin which drives up the tension and suspense. 

This story is short too - topping out at only 90 pages, but there were quite a few twists and turns within the story with a major twist at the end which gave me a shock. There is a second book which I will be moving into today as this book sort of ended on a cliff hanger and I need to see what happens next. 

Attached is the author, Matt Shaw, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1089965.Matt_Shaw

Attached is the author, Matt Shaw, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Matt-Shaw/e/B0034OVM56

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4488790796

The Unwanted by John Saul

 

💀💀💀💀💀

Five "Screaming Terror" Skulls

Chills and Thrills!

A taste of what lies within:

Cassie Winslow lost her mother in a terrible car crash and has to come live with her father, Keith and his family in the town of False Harbor. Cassie is in a deep depression from losing her mother and tries to fit into the household of her step-mom, Rosemary and their young daughter, Jennifer. Cassie has a hard time fitting into the new school and right away she is shunned from some of the teenagers there. Cassie does make friends with a next door neighbor named Eric and they hit it off well, but things become strange for Cassie when she sees a woman in town that seems familiar to her named Miranda Sikes. 

Miranda is known for being the local crazy witch in town and she lives at the end of town out in a cabin that lies within swampland and marshes which borders a beach. Cassie just feels drawn to that area and ends up eventually meeting with Miranda out in the cabin. But things are not what they seem and when things start happening in the town with people that have been giving Cassie and Eric troubles is when crazy crap hits the fan and fingers are pointing along with whispers of Cassie being crazy just like Miranda as the town thinks that Cassie is behind the attacks that start happening to the citizens. 

That is about all I can give on a taste without giving away spoilers and if you would like to know more then you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

I had read this book way back in the early 90's as I use to read this author a lot back then, but I have decided to start revisiting John Saul's books as it has been many years since I read a lot of his work. This story started out a little slow due to some world building of the town of False Harbor plus there was some character building as well, but about the 25% mark things started kicking in a little more with some creepy vibes rolling off the pages that surrounded Miranda Sikes and her remote cabin out in the swamplands. 

Around the 40% mark things were happening more and I literally could not put this book down as so much was happening with all the characters that I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. I literally read the last 30% of the book in a couple of hours as the crap hit the fan and there were tons of twists and turns which drove this book into overdrive! 

There are some creepy moments, but there is also some gore stuff within these pages as when the book went into overdrive I was reaching for my "gore suit" as I am thinking to myself "I don't remember Saul books being gory" but there it was right before me on the pages of this book - some gore parts dotted here and there throughout the book. 

Very happy with rereading this book as though it has been over 30 years since I read it the book brought back memories of being amazed by the works of this author. I plan on rereading more of his books so I can step back into that time of old school horror as that is how I feel about reading Saul's books. 

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

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4387.John_Saul

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

https://www.amazon.com/John-Saul/e/B000APGALI

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1787950108

Cunning Folk by Adam L. G. Nevill

 

🌟🌟🌟🌟

Four "Frightening Folklore" Stars

Creepy Folklore Vibes!

A taste of what lies within:

Tom and his wife, Fiona along with their little girl, Gracey move into a new home that borders the woods. The only sign of life is their next door neighbors - the Moots. When they first move into the home, Tom and Fiona are never approached by the neighbors nor does it seem that the neighbors even want to make friends as they stay to themselves. 

As Tom and Fiona get settled into their new home, they tell Gracey not to go into the woods, but kids will be kids and she ends up running through there. Things become heated when the neighbors get onto Gracey for going into the woods and Tom becomes more suspicious of the Moots as things just seem "off" about them, but he cannot put his finger on what it could be. 

As time goes on, Tom butts heads with the Moots about different things regarding property boundaries and even tree limbs hanging over into Tom's yard, but things take a 360 degree turn when Tom's anger goes into overdrive and he does something that sends heat waves radiating with the Moots. Once he crosses the neighbor boundary line of "try to be a good neighbor" is when he sees the "true colors" of his neighbors which sends Tom into protective mode of his family. 

That is about all I can say about this story without giving away spoilers so I will say no more as you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This was only my second book by this author but it was the first time reading as far as it being a novel. I read a book by him that was a collection of short stories a few years back. This story was suspenseful, intriguing, filled with tension, and lots of horror aspects of living next door to neighbors. 

Though as much as I liked the book, I had a hard time with the detailed descriptions of what the author was trying to get across as a lot of the writing style is just minute details but those details are described in such a way that I got lost in what he was trying to say as off and on throughout the book I would find my thoughts wandering. The story and plot itself was great but telling the story of it just felt like I was down the rabbit hole of Alice in Wonderland somewhere. 

Speaking of Alice in Wonderland - lol - there are things in this book that reminds me of that story, but the setting is in the horror realm so if you can image the story of Alice in Wonderland then just add some twisted horror to it you would have a very strange story but with moments of creepy horror elements. 

The characters were great but I really didn't like the neighbors the Moots and was hoping for something to happen to them as they drove me crazy through this book and I felt for Tom and his family as he had to endure what they were dishing out. 

All in all the story kept me interested as I wanted to see what was going to happen to all parties involved in this story and I thought at times that this book kind of went off into the twilight zone as things happened in this book that took this story in that type of direction. 

So there is fantasy, sci-fi and horror elements all weaved together in this book which makes this story very twisted. I own some other books by this author, but I think I need to recoup from this strange tale of twists and turns before stepping into anything else by him. 

Attached is the author, Adam Nevill, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3381686.Adam_Nevill

Attached is the author, Adam Nevill, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Adam-Nevill/e/B0034PH9HA

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4491875380