The Flood
"The Flood" is a classic Southern Gothic tale and a great introduction to McDowell's "Blackwater" series.Set in 1919 Perdido, Alabama, the mysterious Elinor seemingly emerges from floodwaters with no past and no proof other than her word of who she is or where she has come from. She establishes herself in the hearts of the Perdido citizenry and becomes an integral part of the Caskey family. All the while, something mysterious and possibly dark is going on in the background.
Odd characters, a dark mystery and Southern charms.
5 STARS
Deceiver
"Deceiver" is a very fast-paced novella. Owen does a great job establishing her characters and building a sense of mystery. The plot twists are enjoyable if not a bit predictable.One hole in the plot though ruined the entire story for me. It struck me in the first couple of pages of the novella that if the police had properly processed evidence that was returned to the victim's husband, then none of this novella would have happened. There are so many things wrong with that little bit of the novella that just nagged me all the way through the rest of the story and completely voided any of the good aspects.
2 STARS
The Rain Dancers
I pretty much read "The Rain Dancers" in a single sitting. The book was that good. Gifune draws you into his story, into his characters and into the haunting mystery that he weaves. And, as the uncomfortable truth begins to unfold there is an unsettling feel to the way the story breaks.Another good story from Gifune!
5 STARS
Elderwood Manor
"Elderwood Manor" is a very fast-paced haunted house story with a classic horror feel. I liked the story. But, I felt like Fulbright and Hawkes rushed things a bit much. They do a great job setting the backdrop of the story only to rush through areas where lingering on their well-written creepiness would have paid off....and, frankly, their description of the ill-lit manor house was quite creepy.3 STARS
Happy Ever After
"Happy Ever After" is an interesting novella told in two points of view, from the point of view of an abductor, who wants nothing more than to have a girlfriend, and from the point of view of his abductee.The novella is listed as the first of three in a series plus two additional books, an epilogue and a finale. Part of me likes where "Happy Ever After" ended. Another part of me wants "the further adventures of...".
4 STARS
Rotters
After the sudden death of his mother, fifteen year old Joey Crouch is sent to live with his estranged father in small-town Iowa where his father's status as "Garbageman" makes Joey a high school pariah. Curious, Joey discovers his father's true employment and embraces it despite its macabre nature.I really had no idea what to expect when I opened "Rotters". What I got was a tale unlike anything I've read to date. I found myself intrigued at points and cringing at others.
The book has been tagged several times as "young adult". I hesitate to place "Rotters" squarely in that genre.
5 STARS
Welcome to Dead House
When the "Goosebumps" books started coming out in the early 1990's, I was too old to read them. Now, twenty some odd years later, I picked up "Welcome to Dead House", the first in the series, as a quick read. I actually really enjoyed the book and wish these had been around when I was a kid.Looking forward to reading a few more of the 61 other titles.
4 STARS
Reaping the Dark
"Reaping the Dark" is the story of a professional getaway driver who gets on the wrong side of some bad people after a job on which he is contracted to drive goes horribly awry.This story had me with the criminal element. The characters are well written and were an engaging element in the story. The early hint at the occult was intriguing. You knew it had to come into play in a bigger and hopefully badder way later. But, when it finally does, the story lost me. The originality of the balance of the book was lost in the cliched ending.
3 STARS
Blackout
Tim Curran's "Blackout" is a solid work of comfort-zone horror/sci-fi. It is Stephen King's "The Mist" meets H.G. Well's "War of the Worlds". Page turner!4 STARS
GRAVEWORM
I almost didn't read this one because I was a bit turned off both by the cover of the book and by the title, thinking it was B-movie type monster horror. Once, I dug into the novel and got past the sudden burst of gore that kicks it off, I realized that the cover and title were metaphoric representations of what was happening, I settled, as much as you can settle, into a disturbing tale of human behavior.Curran follows a thread straight from the tradition of "Psycho" but adds to it layer upon layer of incredibly uncomfortable and disturbing ideas. If "Psycho" was considered the scariest movie ever at the time of its release, "Graveworm" would have caused general apoplexy among its audience.
4 STARS
Known Devil
"Known Devil" is the third book in Gustainis' Occult Crimes Unit Investigation series. Amid a war between crime families and the questionable motives of an upstart political party, a new, highly addictive drug is hitting the streets and the ramifications of its addictive nature are frightening. Detective Stan Markowski and his partner Karl Renfer have to resort to means they never before considered in order to prevent things from spiraling beyond law enforcement control.
While I did enjoy this book, part of me was disappointed when I guessed where it was heading. The first and second books in the series worked well on their own. The third book seemed more of a continuation of issues left open in the previous installments. At times, I had a feeling of "haven't I read this before?".
"Known Devil" is not without merit though. Gustainis continues to show a lot of creativity and hopefully he has left the door open for further adventures of Markowski and Renfer.
3 1/2 STARS
A Gathering of Ghosts
Haynes has a knack for writing dark Victorian horror stories. After reading his "The Macabre Collection", set in Victorian London, and "The Scream of Angels", set in Paris in the same era, I was really looking forward to this collection of short stories. I was not disappointed.Unlike "The Macabre Collection", each of these stories stands alone. The one common thread running through the majority of these stories is Haynes' deployment of some Victorian era device as the centerpiece in his haunting tales. Safety coffins, zoopraxiscopes and speaking tubes take the center stage along with the ghosts from Haynes' imagination.
4 1/2 STARS
Evil Dark: An Occult Crime Unit Investigation (Occult Crimes Unit)
"Evil Dark" is the second book in Gustainis' Occult Crimes Unit Investigation series. Both books so far have been fantastic!A series of snuff films featuring a sadistic demon are appearing in the underground market. Additionally, someone is burning witches in what may be an attempt to start a Helter Skelter-esque race war between humans and supernatural beings. Detective Stan Markowski and his partner Karl Renfer are saddled with both cases and racing against time to prevent a further loss of life, both human and supe.
Gustainis mixes a fair amount of wit, an engaging storyline and a few not so subtle twists to assemble a very impressive and unique novel.
4 STARS
Hard Spell
"Hard Spell" was a great introduction to "new to me" author, Justin Gustainis.Gustainis' detective, Stan Markowski, operates in a world where vampires, ghouls, trolls and werewolves are common place. Markowski's job on the Scranton Police Department's Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit has him investigating crimes that cross into the supernatural (supe) community or often where the supe community and the human world collide. He walks a philosophical tightrope, balancing the intricacies of his personal life, his long-held beliefs and his professional experience while trying to make the streets of Scranton safe for the good guys, regardless of where they fall as a supe or non-supe.
4 STARS
Southern Gods
"Southern Gods" is a Lovecraftian novel set in rural 1950's Arkansas. Jacobs does a great job mixing a hard-boiled-esque detective story with a tale of something much, much older.Good job!
4 1/2 STARS
Heretics
Harry is going home to the town of Virtue, a peaceful tourist destination on the shores of Cape Cod. Virtue is not likely to roll out the welcome mat for Harry since he fled the town years before after his involvement in what was no doubt the most tragic event in the town's history. There are ghosts from Harry's adolescence in Virtue that need to be sated.Gifune put together a very strong story with this one. The line of the story seems clear and then Gifune bends that line a bit here and then a bit there until the story takes a route that has you needing to rethink where you started.
5 STARS