Helloween by Duncan Ralston

 

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Five "Twisted Halloween Terror" Stars

What Happens in Crooks Corner Stays in Crooks Corner!

A small taste of what lies within:

A few high school students are assigned a task of working on a film project that is reminiscent of something like the Blair Witch project and as they get together to work on it things go south with crazy stuff that starts to happen in the town of Crooks Corner on Halloween night! When things go from happy to bad is when you need to look out! 

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:

I had to stay focused on this book quite a bit as so much happens within the storyline that I had to make sure I was able to grasp it all. The book started a little slow for me though but it was mainly because of world/character building but around the 30% mark it busted wide open and there was so much going on that it was off to the races with keeping up with it all! 

The author, Duncan Ralston threw everything into this horror book to keep the reader's attention and it worked as I had a hard time putting this book down! As with anything that Ralston writes you will have graphic blood, gore and crazy twisted stuff going on that will keep you on the edge of your seat and this book was no exception as I was "definitely" on the edge of my seat throughout the book! Another great book by this author and looking forward to more of his twisted mind! 

Attached is the author profile page from Goodreads:

Duncan Ralston

Attached is the author profile page from Amazon:

Duncan Ralston

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

My Review

Fatemarked (The Fatemarked Epic #1) by David Estes

 

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Five "Sword Clashing" Stars

Thoughts:

I am not going to do my traditional taste within as there is just too much involved with this story so I am just going to give out thoughts.

There are four kingdoms that are wanting to rule and a slew of characters that are involved. Main characters are Roan, Bane, Annise, Arch, Tarin the Armored Knight, and they all cross paths within this story. All the characters have their own background and you learn about each one along with how they affect the story as it moves along. There are also tons of supporting characters too which are involved in the story that keeps this book moving at excited speeds! 

This book was a fun and exciting story as there is tons of action that lies within including dragons that make an appearance. I was impressed by how easy the book is to read - the author makes the story simple so that the reader can understand what is going on. Usually with high end fantasy stories it takes lots of concentration to focus on what is happening within the stories but not this book - the author has a simplicity about him that just flows along in the book. The author is also visual meaning everything that happens in the story I could visualize it happening on a movie screen. 

The author also includes maps of the kingdoms and gives detailed info on the kingdoms and the characters. I was impressed by how fast I read this story but I just became caught up in it and had a hard time putting it down! The pace is fast and there are tons of sword clashing and fighting within this book as well. I am looking forward to continuing on with the series at some point as this story has set the tone for the rest of the series I am sure as I want to see what happens next! 

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

David Estes

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

David Estes

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

My Review

Lightkeeper by David Kempf

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Five  "Ghostly Beacon" Stars

Is the Lighthouse Real or Imagined? 

A small taste of what lies within:

A woman has decided that she wants to take the easy way out as there is nothing left to live for but she finds something she doesn't expect when she comes upon an old lighthouse while she is out at sea. 

That is about all I can hand out with a small taste as this story is super short so if you are intrigued then go read this book!

Thoughts:

This was a different type of ghost story and there was a little bit of emotion with it as well as you think about how the woman feels when she sees a beacon of light in the distance. The pace is fast as I read the book within 10 minutes. Another great short story and book by this author. 

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

Tombstones by J.D. Allen

 

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Five "Tombstone Terror" Stars

Curses and Tombstones!

A small taste of what lies within:

Mava Vawn an old witch of the town of Luna Vista has died but with her death has come a curse that she had cast upon the town for them taking her land years ago. 

Now the town is dealing with random tombstones that pop up in the cemetery before the death of the person actually happens and everyone is on pins and needles of who will be next! Can the curse be stopped? 

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

Thoughts:

Another great book by this author as I have read a few of his books in the past. This story has a few different stories of the people that become victims of the curse which gives an great deal of insight into the characters and the town. 

The pace of the story is fast as right away in the book something happens so there is no time to breathe as the story barrels along into the unknown. There is quite a bit of blood splatter that lies within this story as well so in times like that I have to grab my gore suit! Looking forward to more stories by this author as I have a few more on my kindle.

Attached is the author, J.D. Allen, profile page from Goodreads:

J D Allen

Attached is the author, J.D.Allen, profile page from Amazon:

J D Allen

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

My Review

Night Creepers by David Irons

 

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Five "Creepy Critter" Stars

Exploring Underground Might Not Be A Good Thing! 

A small taste of what lies within:

Seven people that were connected to a man named Gregory Blitzer end up at his funeral but things don't go as planned when they find out that Blitzer is not in his coffin and that underneath his coffin is a giant hole that leads to subterranean catacombs. They could not leave by the way they got in so they have to take the underground route, however that ends up being a mistake as what lies below is far worse than anything they could have ever imagined! 

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

Thoughts:

This was my first time reading this author and I was drawn right into the storyline as not too far in I was grabbed by the flow of the story. One thing leads to another and the author introduces a little bit of background on each of the seven characters. The story picked up pace more when the seven characters get to the funeral and then this book turns into a "twisted wild ride of insanity" after the characters end up underground! 

The story picks up speed at that point in the book and it was off to the races as this book fueled my insomnia with so much action that I could barely put the book down! I read the last half of the book within about four to five hours as I just could not let it go. Another author added to my ever growing list of discovered horror authors! Looking forward to reading more books by this author in the future!

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

David Irons

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

David Irons

My review from Goodreads:

My Review

Authors I Have Discovered - Part XIII

 

This is my next list of 10 authors discovered within the last five years. The authors with their books are listed in no particular order. 

M.J. Mars (Horror)

Goodreads Author Profile:

MJ Mars

Amazon Author Profile:

M.J. Mars

Book Read:

The Suffering

Thoughts:

This book I had been seeing circling around on Facebook so the cover drew me in and then after reading the synopsis of the story it sounded great so I dived into reading it. I was not disappointed as it was the most intriguing and unique ghost story I have read in awhile. I am planning on reading more work by this author in the future. 

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Raven Dane (Horror/Dark Fantasy)

Goodreads Author Profile:

Raven Dane

Amazon Author Profile:

Raven Dane

Book Read:

Drwg Stones

Thoughts:

This book I saw circulating around on Facebook and it kept popping up in my feed so I checked it out. It has a little bit of horror mixed with fantasy and science fiction which I love. This author has some more books out there that I am going to step into in the future. 

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Jeremy Eads (Horror/Thriller)

Goodreads Author Profile:

Jeremy Eads

Amazon Author Profile:

Jeremy Eads

Book(s) Read:

The Lodge 

Reptile

Thoughts:

The book, The Lodge kept popping up in my feed on facebook so I decided to check it out and I wasn't disappointed as it kept my attention span affixed on the story. I loved the book so much that I read another book by this author called Reptile which was an unique horror/fantasy story. Looking forward to reading more by this author in the future. 

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D.E. McCluskey (Horror/Thriller)

Goodreads Author Profile:

D.E. McCluskey

Amazon Author Profile:

D.E. McCluskey

Book Read:

The Twelve: A Ghost Story

Thoughts:

This book I have had in my kindle for a long time until I decided to step into it last year as I was looking for a ghost story and this one sounded great. I loved it so much that I am planning on reading more books by this author in the future. 

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George Adamczyk (Horror/Fantasy/Science Fiction)

Goodreads Author Profile:

George Adamczyk

Amazon Author Profile:

George Adamczyk

Book Read:

Lost Minds, Wandering Souls (A Collection of Short Horror Fantasy Stories)

Thoughts:

I had been seeing this book and others making their way around on Facebook a couple of years ago and so I decided to check one of the books out and really liked it. I have other books by this author that I will be stepping into sometime this year. 

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Jed Kent (Horror/Thriller)

Goodreads Author Profile:

Jed Kent

Amazon Author Profile:

Jed Kent

Book Read:

Behind These Walls

Thoughts:

I had been seeing this book making its way around social media sites and the synopsis sounded good so I checked it out. Really enjoyed the book and now I am going to read more of this author in the future. 

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David Wellington (Horror/Science Fiction)

Goodreads Author Profile:

David Wellington

Amazon Author Profile:

David Wellington

Book(s) Read:

13 Bullets (Laura Caxton #1)

99 Coffins (Laura Caxton #2)

Thoughts:

This vampire series of books I started reading a couple or so years ago and really enjoyed them. So I added this author to my discovered list and I plan on finishing the series soon plus add his other books to my tbr. 

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Glen Frost (Horror/Extreme Horror)

Goodreads Author Profile:

Glen Frost

Amazon Author Profile:

Glen Frost

Book Read:

Devil Board

Thoughts:

This book had popped up over on Goodreads a few years back as a horror comparison to some other horror books I was reading at the time. The book synopsis looked great so I decided to check it out to see how I liked it and it was a great spooky story. Looking forward to checking out more books by this author. 

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Sergio Gomez (Horror/Suspense)

Goodreads Author Profile:

Sergio Gomez

Amazon Author Profile:

Sergio Gomez

Book Read:

Camp Slaughter

Thoughts:

This book was making its rounds over on Goodreads about three years ago and it looked really good so I decided to dive into it as well. I liked it so much that I grabbed the second book as well. I plan on reading the sequel here soon. Looking forward to anything else this author has coming out in the future.

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Jonathan Ayecliff (Horror/Science Fiction)

Goodreads Author Profile:

Jonathan Aycliffe

Amazon Author Profile:

Jonathan Aycliffe

Book Read:

A Shadow on the Wall

Thoughts:

This book, A Shadow on the Wall came up as a ghost horror comparison over on Goodreads a few years back so I grabbed it at that time. Just decided to step into last year and I was not disappointed. Loved it so much that I am planning on reading more by this author in the future. 

Final Thoughts

So that is my wrap up of "Authors I Have Discovered" this time around. I will put up another ten authors within my "Authors Discovered Series" soon. 

Till next time - Happy Reading folks!

Behind These Walls by Jed Kent

 

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Four "Twisted Terror" Stars

What Kind of Entity Has Invaded the House?

A small taste of what lies within:

Matthew Weiss along with his son Andrew are trying to go through the grieving process of losing part of their family - Matthew's wife, Hannah and son, Elijah. Both Matthew and Andrew are steeped so much in grief that they do not know how they will make it through. Matthew decides that he is going to renovate the house and starts working in the bathroom. He finds an old antique picture of a man that is standing in a coffin behind the wall in his bathroom. This picture becomes something more than just a picture as there is something that slowly worms its way into the lives of Matthew and Andrew, but how far will it go to destroy their lives? 

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:

This book has a little bit of everything - a haunting, an entity, and it has some graphic details with blood and splatter, but it also has quite a bit of an emotional upheaval as well with the grieving process that the characters, Matthew and Andrew endure. This was my first time reading this author and I was drawn into the story quickly as the pace of the story just rolls right along. 

There is quite a bit to process with everything that happens in the story but I was able to stay on top of reading it as I kept wanting to see what was going to happen next. I have found another author to add to my horror author list and am looking forward to reading more books by this author in the future. 

Attached is the author, Jed Kent, profile page from Goodreads:

Jed Kent

Attached is the author, Jed Kent, profile page from Amazon:

Jed Kent

My review from Goodreads:

My Review

Book Nook Retreat - In Depth Bio

 

I thought I would do an in depth bio about me and my passion for books along with why I decided to do a book blog. 

I will start out by saying that I have been reading books since I was little. My parents would buy me books all the time and I started out with Nancy Drew which I ended up with tons of those books. Then they bought me the Black Stallion book series so I read those. The only reason they bought me those books was because at the time my dad had horses and we would go riding quite a bit so I guess he thought it was fitting for me to read a book series about them. 

The spookiness though of the Nancy Drew series is what turned me toward reading horror but it was more light ghost stories - nothing graphic. But my first real taste of horror came when one of my brothers let me borrow a book called "Cujo" by Stephen King.  If I remember correctly I think I cried some with reading that book as what happens to Cujo turning rabid. But it instilled in me my love for horror from that book. After reading Cujo I was on the hunt for books by King and I found out that my library had quite a few of his books which I devoured. I read so many of his early stuff that I would have to wait till a new one would come out to read more by him. King wasn't the only one though - I would ask the librarians what other books are out there compared to King and that is when I found John Saul plus some other different horror authors. This was all back in the late 80's and early 90's. So from that point of reading Cujo I was stuck in the horror realm. 

I would still read other books from other genres - mystery, etc. but I always came back to horror. The next place for grabbing horror books was thrift stores as they would have one whole wall of nothing but horror books and they were usually cheap like $.25 or $.50 a book. Not a lot of people read horror books it seems back then so I would just load up. 

So I have read tons of books in my lifetime - more horror than anything. Later years I started reading some other genres like fantasy, science fiction, mystery, etc. I have even read romance and western stories back in the late 80's and 90's. I just wanted to try different genres to see what they all were like but my true love was and always has been horror. 

About the middle 2000's one of my friends that I have known for many years got me hooked into the website Goodreads. Once I got on there and started finding different books - that opened up a new world for me as I could look up other books and see what they were about. Also I could see what friends were reading and what they thought were good books. I have found tons through that website. Which then I started joining horror groups and getting involved with other readers that were into the same likes as me. 

That is when I discovered more books that I could sink my teeth into and then I became friends with authors through those groups. That was cool to me as back in the day authors were elusive in the book world - you only saw them on the back of book cover jackets. lol   But chatting with them and reading their books opened up a whole different world. 

As time went on over on the Goodreads website I learned how to do book reviews. I would read reviews from friends to see how they would do their reviews so I tried to see if I could do them too as at first I would just rate the books and not do actual reviews as I didn't know really how to do them.  But I learned eventually how to write reviews that would give the readers a peek into the books I read without giving away spoilers and then give some thoughts on how the book made me feel.

When 2020 rolled around I was itching to maybe try my hand at creating a book blog as I was wanting to share my passion for the books I read. I hemmed-hawed around with it for about a year before trying to figure out if I really wanted to dive into doing a book blog. I didn't really know how much time and energy it would take to create one and keep up with it.  Two of my author friends kind of talked me into it - lol.  Kept encouraging me and supporting me on starting one. I am thankful to them both as they helped me get moving on it and stop circling the mulberry bush trying to decide what to do.  

So I chatted with two of my friends from Goodreads that was actually doing book blogs at that time. One of them was a moderator for a horror group over there (if you know who you are then you know who you are as I am not name dropping here - lol) and I found out some info about book blogging. Actually joined a website that was for blogs (my friend was on there too) but the website just didn't work for me really. Then I found Blogger and started chatting with my other Goodreads friend who used Blogger for their book blogs. This person helped me tremendously as they had been on Blogger a few years and knew the "ins and outs" of the website.  I had to start from scratch on this website as it was kind of easy to work with but then there were some things that were a pain. I spent lots of energy corresponding with my friend to figure out how to do things and I am eternally grateful for all their help, support and all the messages back and forth for months! :) (If you know who you are then you know who are - lol - I know I drove you crazy my friend! - lol) 

So 2020 this book blog was born and it took me near a year to get everything set up right and to understand how everything worked - formatting blogs, etc.  

Also in 2020 I had another friend on Goodreads that was doing background artwork for her book reviews. She taught me how to get the book covers on the backgrounds. For awhile I helped her with her website on finding her backgrounds for the book covers so she could put them on her blog website and in her reviews on Goodreads.  So that is how I came to do my own for the books I read. All my background artwork is the free public domain artwork and I just add the book covers on there to spice up the book blog. I saw that my friend had her own gallery on her blog website for all the books she had read and the artwork she used so that is when I decided to do the same thing. 

All in all I am happy to say that I love doing the book blogs - I love reading books and then sharing my passion of what I read with the world. I love getting on here and creating the blog along with creating reviews that help other readers want to go out and grab the book. 

So that is a little bit about me and what I am about. My thanks to everyone I have come in contact with through reading books. I want to thank everyone that has supported my blog and thank you to everyone that has stayed with me all these years. Thank you all for sharing this blog and the reviews I do. It is much appreciated. Without books, without authors, without friends this book blog would not exist. Thank You All!!!