Close Your Eyes by J.A. Konrath

 

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Five "Bug Horror Invasion" Stars

Bug Bites Galore!

A small taste of what lies within:

Duncan VanCamp along with his buddies Stu and Chuck want to go fishing out on the lake where Duncan had been when he was a kid. By the time they get out there Duncan sees a small clearing out in the marshy area that looks like a good spot so he takes the boat in through the reeds.  

One thing after another starts happening that involves bugs of all kinds and when the bugs start attacking the friends is when everything goes to hell in a handbasket quick as the bugs are wanting more than blood from the friends they are wanting to literally eat them alive! 

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

Thoughts:

This was a wild ride into the horror recesses of Konrath's mind! I wasn't quite prepared for some icky and gross stuff that happens in this novel even though the author gives a warning in the first part of the book about what is coming but yet I thought to myself "how bad can it be as this is Konrath"  - well I was in for a rude awakening! lol   This book goes deep into body horror with all the graphic details that I was itching and scratching through most of this book!

I won't be looking at bugs quite the same way now after reading this book and I think I probably should have kept some bug spray on hand while reading as maybe I could have sprayed away the images in my head after reading this story! 

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

J A Konrath

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J A Konrath

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My Review

Brady by D.W. Hitz

 

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Four "Otherworldly Terror" Stars

Sci-Fi Action!

A small taste of what lies within:

Karl has to do the unthinkable and put down his dog Brady who was his best buddy, but after putting him down things start happening in Karl's home. Weird stuff that doesn't make sense and Karl feels that maybe the spirit of Brady is still around but when something appears from another world is when Karl gets really worried as what caused the appearance of something to manifest as soon as Brady is gone? 

No spoilers here as you will need to read the book to find out! 

Thoughts: 

This was my first time reading this author though I have owned this book for awhile. I was impressed about how fast I became involved in the story and with this book being a short novella I sped through it fast as so much happens in the story that it was hard to put it down!

This story is science fiction horror and it took me for a spin as I wasn't prepared for where this story was going but it was a great ride! Looking forward to reading more books by this author.

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D.W. Hitz

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D.W. Hitz

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My Review

Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs by John Bloom and Jim Atkinson

 

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Four "Horrific Crime" Stars

Thoughts:

I am not doing a small taste on this book so I am just giving out my thoughts. 

This story I had never heard of before as it happened in the early 80's and I wasn't watching the news much back then as I had my head buried in books. This was a horrific crime between two friends (Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore). Candy was accused of killing her friend Betty and it was all wrapped around an affair between Candy and Betty's husband Alan.

This story goes into lots of details of what took place up to the point of the murder and I felt the author did a good job on getting all the details of not only what happened but how it all came together along with what took place at the trial. This is a big book - near 400 pages - there is tons of information of everything that happened and everyone's lives that are involved. I thought that the pace of the book was slow and fast as some parts of it dragged along with all the information whereas other parts of the book moved fast. 

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John Bloom

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John Bloom

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Jim Atkinson

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Jim Atkinson

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My Review

By The Dimming Light by Juliet Rose

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Five "Spooky Supernatural Creature" Stars

Creepy Mystery!

A small taste of what lies within:

Caleb Lache has been going through depression after his girlfriend, Shannon was murdered and now he is starting to see things in the woods. He thinks he sees what could possibly be something that resembles bigfoot but not sure if his eyes are playing tricks on him or not however he knows that Shannon was found in the woods and whatever is out there could be responsible. In the meantime, Caleb is thrust into some life choices where he needs to become more responsible to the point of having to take care of a young boy that is handed into his care. 

Between the mystery of his murdered girlfriend, a supernatural creature that might or might not exist and the possibility of seeing the ghost of his dead girlfriend, Caleb is going to need to find the strength within himself to conquer all that is being handed to him on life's plate!

Is there something wandering in the woods? What really happened to his girlfriend, Shannon? Was she murdered by whatever is in the woods? Is Caleb seeing her ghost?

No spoilers here as if you want to know more then go read this book! 

Thoughts:

This book jumps right into a spooky mystery and the creepy atmosphere starts to slowly unfold with the characters involved in the book. I love the shivers that were racing up and down my arms as the story started to take off into the unknown terror of the supernatural! 

The story slowly picks up speed and then goes into a fast pace of wondering mystery as the story becomes more involved with the spookiness surrounding the character, Caleb. As the mystery unfolded more into what happened to the character Shannon the book speeds off into overdrive as more things start happening! 

Another great book by this author and I own a few more of her books that I need to step into soon. 

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Juliet Rose

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Juliet Rose

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My Review

The Vatican Children (World of Shadows #2) by Lincoln Cole

 

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Five "Frightening Demonic Action" Stars

Spooky and Creepy!

A small taste of what lies within:

Arthur along with Father Niccolo Paladina are on the hunt for the Bishop as he escaped their clutches when they were in Everett Washington but this time they might be in way over their heads as children are involved in the Bishop's plan. As the both of them race against time to hunt down the Bishop, the Vatican church seems to be in the shadows as someone else wants to hunt down the Bishop and they send a man that cleans up messes. But how far will anyone go to capture the Bishop and his well laid plans?  

No spoilers here as you will need to read the first book in the series and step into this horror filled journey!

Thoughts:

This sequel to the first book, The Everett Exorcism, basically picks up right where the first book left off and it is off to the races as things start happening quick. There is a little more corruption within this story as more things are revealed about the character the Bishop - he seems to be more evil in this book and the other characters of Arthur and the priest Niccolo are also more well rounded as more things are revealed about them as well. 

The author is slowly bringing the puzzle pieces together for this story and slowly interlocking the pieces as things become more clear within the story. I am loving this series and looking forward to reading book three to see how it all ends. 

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Lincoln Cole

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Lincoln Cole

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My Review

The Everett Exorcism (World of Shadows #1) by Lincoln Cole

 

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Five "Demonic Danger" Stars

Demonic Vibes!

A small taste of what lies within:

The town of Everett, Washington is overrun with demons as they have invaded the townspeople to the point of Father Niccolo Paladina (an exorcist) coming from the Vatican to investigate what is happening in the town. Father Paladina along with Father Jackson Reynolds who is the priest of the catholic church in the town try to delve into why the demons have taken over the town.

There are a mix of characters in the book including a demon hunter named Arthur who knows all about demons and wants to help the priests with exorcising them from the town. Even though Father Paladina is an exorcist, he has never performed an actual exorcism before, so he is a little wobbly in his faith of actually believing demons exist until things spiral out of control in the town and he has to come to terms with his faith to proceed with doing what needs to be done to exorcising the demons!

That is about all I can give 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 second time reading the book as there are more books in the series now so will be continuing on with book two as book one was left sort of on a cliff hanger so I need to see what happens next to continue on with the story.

This was a very spooky read and tons of demonic vibes are pulsing throughout this story. At times it seemed that the book could be compared to a true demonic non-fiction book as the author just grabbed every aspect of that "real" feeling that you get when reading the true demonic stories. The pace is fast once things start happening in the story as the more I read of the book the faster the pace becomes. Will be continuing on with the series as there are two more books to go. 

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Lincoln Cole

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Lincoln Cole

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My Review

Wolf Hunt by Jeff Strand

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Four "Wicked & Wild Werewolf" Stars

Flying Fur Fun!

A small taste of what lies within:

George and Lou do odd jobs as criminals, so picking up a cage with a wild animal inside is just another job, however when they both learn that the animal is maybe a werewolf named Ivan they hesitate slightly as they do not know what is in store for them. They know that all they have to do is deliver the cage to a crime lord and they are not supposed to tamper with anything. Get in the van and transport the cage - that is it - how hard can it be? 

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 story was crazy wild right off the bat as the story moves fast in the first chapter and keeps on building up speed throughout the rest of the book! There were tons of funny quips throughout this story as the author is known for writing horror comedy and I was laughing out loud along with some chuckles too with all the things that were happening in this book. 

The things that the characters George and Lou go through with the werewolf Ivan was just hilarious and I had a hard time putting this book down! There are three books in this series and I am looking forward to reading the other two books soon! 

Attached is the author, Jeff Strand, profile page from Goodreads:

Jeff Strand

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Jeff Strand

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My Review

Disappointed and Sad

Well I don't even know where to begin with these thoughts and this is not a rant blog - this blog is for showing my disappointment in what I try to do to help promote the indie author community.

So it seems that I have author friends who don't seem to care about getting their books noticed as I had one of them skip my featured author group read for the entire month of February in one of my groups. I am not name-dropping in here but I think my friends will be able to figure it out.

Though this isn't the first time it has happened either - I have had a couple of author friends in the past not show up. Maybe it is becoming a trend of some kind. I have also had a couple just stick around for a couple or so days and then disappear off the thread.

It becomes embarrassing for those of us who are hosting the group read as members will show up, read the book and ask questions. However, there would be no author to answer them and it would fall on the moderators to either try and answer the questions or side-step them with some excuse as to why the author is not there.

Not sure what is going on but it would be nice to see the author friends at least make an effort to be there for the group readings since we are helping to promote their books and show our support.

I know the authors are busy people - they have work lives, home lives and writing lives. It might not seem like much to set up the author appearances but I do take time to get them set up. I expect the authors to show some courtesy and actually join in and interact with the members of my Goodreads groups.

It shows, in my opinion, a lack of courtesy from the authors when they fail to appear for the group read. It is not only a bad reflection on the author but it shows that they care less about the group moderators and the members who show up to read the book and support them.

Sometimes I think it might be the amount of readers showing up but it shouldn't matter whether it’s one reader or hundreds. It may take just one reader who loves the book and recommends it to hundreds of their friends.

When I first started these author reads back in 2020 I felt that it was a good opportunity to promote authors and spread the word about their books to the larger community of book lovers.

Maybe these authors feel that Goodreads is not the platform to share their work. However, I disagree. Goodreads might not seem like much to some authors but it is one of the biggest book lovers website out there, with millions of readers on one platform.

Remember - it just takes that one person - that one audience to buy a book and read it. It might not come right away which is one of the reasons that I have these author reads every month - they help believe it or not. I might not have hundreds of members joining but you do not need hundreds. 

One voice - one reader - one recommendation can set the tone and even one person can change the world.

So those are my feelings and thoughts and again, this was not a rant but I had to express my disappointment over what I have encountered while trying to help the indie author community (along with other authors as well). I am trying to do my part in getting the word out there for the authors and I believe that the least these authors can do is show up for the group reads.

To the authors who have actively participated in past group reads - thank you for your time and for interacting with the moderators and group members. You are appreciated!