Donn, TX 1865 by Eric Butler

 

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Five "Sweet Revenge" Stars

Suspense and Intrigue!

A taste of what lies within:

Eli Larkin is finally home from the Civil War and cannot wait to see his wife and children again but when he gets close to home he notices something out in the cornfield as there are crosses with people hanging from them. As he draws near to the crosses he recognizes church members from his hometown including the preacher, but he is horrified when he sees his family on the crosses. 

Eli is made aware of those who were responsible for the heinous crimes against the church members and his family so he goes on a revenge hunt to make the criminals pay for their crimes! 

That is about all I can give on a taste as you will need to read the book if you are intrigued to learn more about this story. 

Thoughts:

I have read a few books by this author and I was pulled right away into the storyline with this book. The pace of the story is fast right away and stays on the steady pace all the way to the end of the book! Revenge is sweet in this story as the character Eli finds within himself how far he will go for the revenge of the ones he loved. 

Another great book by this author and looking forward to reading the rest of the Donn TX books. They can be read as stand alone stories as there are no connections of characters and storylines with these books. The only connection is just the town of Donn, TX. 

Attached is the author, Eric Butler, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19755309.Eric_Butler

Attached is the author, Eric Butler, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Eric-Butler/e/B081FQHVQV

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4389755471

The Summer I Died (Roger Huntington #1) by Ryan C. Thomas

 

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Four "Killer Thriller" Stars

Extreme to the Max!

A small taste of what lies within:

Roger Huntington and his friend, Tooth just want to hang out together and have a good time, but when they stumble onto property where they shouldn't be trespassing they find out quickly that not all property owners are "friendly folk" and the two friends will learn quickly that sometimes it is better not to wander away from home as what lies in wait for them with this property owner is something worse than they could ever have imagined!

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 this book! 

Thoughts:

I have been seeing this book come across my friends reading feeds for awhile and decided to finally step into this book to see what all the fuss was about. I was pleasantly surprised with the way this story grabbed me as it is not only of the horror variety but goes totally into the "extreme horror" realm which made me grab my gore suit as this book is not only intense but it is super extreme.  

I was not expecting so much brutality that lies within this story and I have read lots of extreme horror before but with this book it just seemed the suspense and tension was so tight it was like razor wire through most of the book until that wire is so taut it draws blood and gore! 

I have literally found a new author to explore and I noticed that this book is the first in trilogy so I will be continuing on with the second book at some point. I do have more books by this author on my kindle so I will be checking out those books down the line as well. 

Attached is the author, Ryan C. Thomas, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/457864.Ryan_C_Thomas

Attached is the author, Ryan C. Thomas, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Ryan-C-Thomas/e/B002ZOBAQW

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4241148148

99 Coffins (Laura Caxton #2) by David Wellington

 

⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️⚰️

Five "Bite and Blood" Coffins

Action Packed Vamps!

A taste of what lies within:

An archeological dig in Gettysburg uncovers an unusual cavern that is filled with near 100 coffins and they are not empty as the dead that lays within are not human.....but vampires! 

Jameson Arkeley and Laura Caxton are thrown back together as they try to investigate why there are vampire coffins buried deep under the earth and of all places they are buried in the ground under what was once the bloodiest battle of the Civil War! 

Where did the vampires come from? Why are they buried in Gettysburg? Does Jameson and Laura uncover the secrets of the vampires? No spoilers here as you will need to read this book and series! 

Thoughts:

Stepping back into this series just threw me right back into some mystery and suspense as the characters Jameson Arkeley and Laura Caxton are once again on the hunt and discovery of old vampires. I just love both characters as they seem so real to me as I feel that I am planted right there between them as they try to solve this vampire case. 

The story opens up with lots of mystery when the vampire coffins are found, but once Jameson and Laura get on the scene the story becomes more fast paced as the suspense builds up and then around the half way point of the book there is some vampire action that kept my insomnia fueled! 

Another interesting aspect of the story was the reading of journals by civil war soldiers which gave a glimpse into the past of what happens with the vampires. I literally loved this part of the book as I found myself being wrapped in the past of what transpired back in the civil war days. 

I will be looking forward to reading the third book in the series as this book ended on a major twist and cliff hanger! This book was another great installment to this series and looking forward to reading all the books in the series to see what happens down the line. 

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

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24827.David_Wellington

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

https://www.amazon.com/David-Wellington/e/B001H9U0JY

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2908716350

What Vengeance Comes (John Decker #1) by Anthony M. Strong

 

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Five "Creature Feature Folklore" Stars

Creature Carnage!

A taste of what lies within:

John Decker has come back to his home town and ends up taking the job of town Sheriff as he figures he will be not as busy and will just be dealing with small town crime, but he gets more than he bargained for when town citizens start becoming victims of a wild animal attack. 

When John starts investigating what kind of animal is laying waste to the townsfolk he finds out that "what" it could possibly be is really impossible as this animal shouldn't even exist except in myth and folklore, but he will need to come to terms with the otherworldly creature before it decimates the whole town!

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

Thoughts:

This was a great story that just drew me right in as the author's writing style just slowly pulls you into the storyline and leaves you there wrapped in mystery and suspense. The story moves along at a fast pace as when the creature appears then the story becomes faster as more things start happening with the towns people. 

I love the character, Decker as he just does what needs doing to get the job done. There was more of a body count though in this book and there was quite a bit of graphic gore descriptions as well which makes having a gore suit very handy. 

Looking forward to continuing the series to see what other situations Decker lands in and what he has to do to keep things under control. 

Attached is the author, Anthony M. Strong, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14779336.Anthony_M_Strong

Attached is the author, Anthony M. Strong, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Anthony-M-Strong/e/B019L8RBBC

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2178090939

The Exorcist's House by Nick Roberts

 

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Five "Scary Demonic" Stars

Spooky Chiller!

A taste of what lies within:

Daniel Hills along with his wife, Nora and their daughter Alice decide to leave Ohio and move to rural West Virginia where Daniel buys an old farmhouse.  They love the peacefulness of the farm and the quiet of being out in the country. 

When they start exploring the house they find some "interesting" things within the old farmhouse including a secret room that has an old well that is covered and has crosses around it. Daniel also finds trunks that are locked and pushed back into the corner of the basement. When opened they find a lot of old clothing but one trunk holds something entirely different - old vhs tapes and tons of journals which the family finds out belonged to an Exorcist that had once lived in the house. 

When Daniel becomes too curious with the well room and decides to open the well is when the crap hits the fan as what lies within the well has been longing to get out and now that it is set free there will be hell to pay! 

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

Thoughts:

This book was one of the scariest books I have read in a long time! First time reading this author and I was impressed with the pace of the story. It literally kept my insomnia fueled as I made my way through the story. 

I loved the slow buildup with the story but something does happen right away to give a taste of what is to come but then the suspense is built up slowly to give just enough taste to keep you reading.  From the moment with the discovery of the well and the old trunks belonging to an Exorcist, I knew then that I was going to be seeing some series stuff and it was coming as I could feel it picking up speed within the story as things go from peaceful and serene to chaos and hellfire!

This book definitely kept me on my toes and also kept me so wrapped up within the story that everything disappeared around me. There are quite a few "jump scares" in this book too and one night when my cat darted past my chair it spooked me so bad that I about came up out of the chair as I thought it was shadows moving in my room. 😆  That is what I get for reading a scary book in the dark plus for even better atmosphere reading the book after midnight on my kindle. 

So if you want to be scared out of your wits and you want a book that will keep you encased in fear then go grab this book as you will not be disappointed. I truly think that this book would make an awesome horror movie as the fear and the scares of this story would be perfect up on the big screen.  Another horror author added to my list of discovered authors! Looking forward to reading more books by this author. 

Attached is the author, Nick Roberts, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22378485.Nick_Roberts

Attached is the author, Nick Roberts, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Roberts/e/B084QG2HB4

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4785383941

At Your Service by Caleb C.W.

 

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Four "Snack Attack" Stars

A small taste of what lies within without giving away spoilers:

Private Investigator Leremy is sent out to a small town to find out what happened to someone that was last seen in the town but Leremy crosses paths with something he doesn't expect and it will be all he can do to survive becoming snack bait! 

Thoughts:

This was an interesting short story that is a cross between extreme horror with a twisted fantasy theme. I literally read the story in one sitting and really thought the story was creative though it was really twilight zone twisted. Something different from a debut author and I will be curious to see what else he puts out in the writing world. 

Attached is the author, Caleb C.W., profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22564883.Caleb_C_W_

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4863765654

Combustion by Justin Boote

💥💥💥💥💥

Five "Burning Demon" Stars

Occult Horror!

A taste of what lies within:

Detective Ronald Henderson arrives on a scene that is baffling as a well known firefighter is dead in his house burnt to ashes. No one seems to know what happened or what would have caused his ashy demise especially when nothing else around him is burned. But then another man (a firefighter) is found dead the same way and the detective wonders if maybe they have an arson serial killer on their hands except this time there was a witness - the man's young son, Sam saw what happened. 

Detective Henderson is not able to retrieve much from the boy and the more he digs trying to find out what is happened the more he seems to become stalled with finding answers. Then another body is found at the school - a student who is known for being a bully and Detective Henderson has a bad inkling that maybe it could be the boy, Sam. 

When all evidence finally points to Sam, Detective Henderson is at his wit's end because Sam is no longer Sam as a demon has invaded the boy's body and it plans on bring hellfire down literally to anyone who gets in its way! 

Thoughts:

This was my second reread of this book as I have Justin over in my Goodreads group, Castle Terror this month (March 2024) and I loved this book as much the second time around as the first time I read it! 

This is an excellent book as I was once again propelled forward into this story at the speed of light as right away something happens which drew me into the book! The story pace is fast and the deep mystery of what is happening with the "why it is happening" just becomes the focal point of the story until it is revealed that there is a demon involved. 

From the point in the story when the demon is revealed the book moves at even a faster pace and I once again I was reading this book quickly it seems as things go into overdrive where I am reading "chunks of pages at a time" as everything is happening at once! 

Keep an eye out on Justin Boote as he is up and coming - I have read a few of his books already and he does not disappoint! 

Attached is the author, Justin Boote, profile page from Goodreads:

Justin Boote

Attached is the author, Justin Boote, profile page from Amazon:

Justin Boote

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

My Review