Wayward Son (Monster Squad) by Heath Stallcup

Bang and HS brings you straight back into the action with no time to breathe!

Apollo is still reeling from Sheridan’s disclosure about the love of his life, Maria and the decision he has made after that soon come to haunt him, in fact throughout the whole of this book, I feel so sorry for him, love is possibly the most dangerous emotion on the planet.

We get caught up on Paul and Rufus who after being blown to bits and some nasty dealings from Paul, well actually his normal self! They eventually heal, visit the vampire council to offer them an ultimatum.

And what an ultimatum as something BIG is coming; Lilith is now fully regenerated and calling for her maker, omg!

To the new baby squad there is a new unexpected member and the group is not finished yet! This looks like a great new squad coming together, I just love the gargoyles!

Tufo has changed; after having his guts ripped out all sorts of things are now happening to him! But the relationship he has with everybody is still on the edge of hysterical, love the humour that HS puts into these books. You may be about to have your head chomped off but HS will make one of his characters have a giggle about it.

There is so much crossing and double crossing in this book I was having to write notes to keep up with who was enemies with who! But with Werewolves, Gargoyles, Elves, Gnomes, Vampires and gosh knows what else in the mix who knows what will happen next – but something bad is coming and I am really looking forward to the next instalment. 

Wayward Son

Hallowed Horror Collection

What a fantastic collection this book is, some amazing authors who have supplied some huge novels and brilliant novellas. Everyone should find something they like in here, hopefully a few new authors to try out too.

As for value for money – hells bells its less than a £/$ for NINE stories!

The Spirit Clearing by Mark Tufo:

What a great way to start this amazing anthology of NOVELS and novellas, not short stories but full on, full length reads; such great value, especially when you see the calibre of author included.

I had stayed away from reading this for ages.... as I am so in love with MT in the Zombie Fallout series I did not want to sully my mind (or get confused!)

However, this was just amazing!

MT has a true talent; he is able to weave a complex story bringing in all sorts of emotional, physical, reality and spooky elements. I felt myself sweating away with the characters in their struggles and don’t get me started on the tears that I shed; thankfully no cats were killed in this one!!

All ends are neatly tied up in the final climax, which is great... I do so hate reading a book that finishes ambiguously!

Any fans of MT won’t be disappointed with this.

All the Little Children by Christine Sutton:

This novella sized story seems to bump along, nice happy families etc. then CS blasts the reader with the horror.

What starts out as a bit of ghost story turns into a possession, throw in a few poltergeists and demons and you get all rolled up into one sharp, snappy gore fest.

Death and its vivid descriptions just bolt off the pages at you via CS and her amazing descriptions.

I can’t really explain much about the stories main elements without giving it away other than the ending leaves you with a cold shudder in on a warm sunny day! Although that was my first read of it back last, last summer! On the night before Halloween it still gave me a shocking chill!

A great, quick read for a lunch time scare.

Fangs in Vain by Scott Nicholson:

Sabrina is an Angel and Luke is a Vampire, strange combination of lovers, but SN makes it work in this fascinating novella.

Initially I felt a little out of synch with the story, feeling that maybe I had missed the other parts of the story or that this was a little novella in the middle of a series of novels, but apparently not; it’s a stand-alone or possibly the start of a series.

Whilst this clearly shows off the talent of SN I felt the story lacked a proper start, had a good middle but left me hanging and wanting at the end.

There was a huge amount of humour and I really wanted to find out more about these two brilliant characters, so I hope SN picks them up some other time, maybe when he gets bored writing all his other fabulous novels!

The Unsaintly by Lisa Vasquez:

LV can certainly ping you into a scene, I was so engrossed in the scenes I almost forgot the underlying storyline.

The initial scenes of Demons, God, Angels and Hell were amazing although I felt the eventual fall of Lucifer was a little anti-climactic after all that wonderful build up.

Then the story swapped to a different era and setting and I was a little confused.

The beautiful, intricate descriptions continue however as LV now starts a seemingly new story about Isabel, daughter of the King of France, eventually to become a Saint, she links the two stories as Isabel is “tested” with all the horror that befalls her and the terrible nightmares of Hell that she suffers.

There seems to be lots of sub plots going on with Marciel her guardian Angel and Lucifer sending various Demons after her, whilst in the background God and Marciel have random meetings and strange chess matches that LV plots meticulously via sequenced moves – which meant nothing to me!

I did enjoy the humour as the Angels and Demons have petty arguments but also felt that it was almost out of tune with the thrust of the book. I found the jumping around of narratives and storylines very confusing and really distracted from the overall feel of the book.

Will I pick up the other two in this trilogy? Doubtful unless they pop up on a good offer etc. I was not drawn to this author style but her attention to detail was amazing.

Generation Evil by Eric A Shelman:

This novel has a complex setting of past, not so past and present which is articulated very well by EAS.

I felt the characters were realistic, 3D and mostly likeable without being perfect so I developed a bit of bond with them, which is needed as the plot lines are deep, clever and the twists keep coming but EAS was able to keep me focused and not lose me in the broil.

Five witches are burned at the stake in Massachusetts in the late 17th century. Four are good and one is bad, evil, nasty bad! As the flames consume them the evil warlock casts a spell for eternal rebirth to torture mankind, the four good witches join together and cast their own spell for rebirth and chase him through time to protect those he touches and try to destroy him; however they miss that bit of the spell that grants their new bodies pre-knowledge.

Fast forward more than three-hundred years; which is a shame as I think EAS could of given a few snippets of previous lives instead the reader is thrust into a dusty attic in California where a trunk is found by four friends. What they then find inside changes their lives forever, hence why snippets of their previous incarnations would have been good to show an on-going pattern.

I am very tempted to seek out more novels by this author and that’s why I love anthologies so much!

Pride by Chantal Noordeloos:

So I originally read this as a short story, it has since been updated, lengthened and some serious eeew moments added.

Adolf Zakerny is a notorious serial killer, he has no set Modis Operandi he merely seeks to inflict as much pain as possible, and he is a master of his work, giving tribute to his Lord of Lies.

Eventually the time comes when he feels ready to share his true calling and nature with Hell, and as he plummets to his death, you may think the book has started at the wrong end of the story. However, CN excruciatingly makes us witness his rebirth, cell to sinew, bone to muscle. Every little nuance of tension is explained, like reading in slow motion with HiDef.

The road to Hell ala CN is a revolting sounding one, and he witnesses things that make you feel sick to your stomach with expectant glee. It is soon his turn, as Adolf’s sins are “weighed” and a punishment is suggested, he looks forward to meeting his new boss, but soon becomes confused when he steps into a scene from Perfect Houses.

CN has certainly done her homework on Demons and mythology. Demons loiter around Lucifer’s mansion house and she does a brilliant interpretation of making it seem like a normal work place on a regular day.

Adolf is invited to sample Hell and he enters the Redemption Labyrinth and finally finds some of the bliss he seeks. No over the top gore description is required as CN taps into the true horrors of torture and the internal removal of hope, to make your goosebumps rise and the hairs on your neck tingle.

After much discussion and some feather preening (did you see the title?) Lucifer has a room suited exactly for Adolf’s needs.

CN is such an eloquent author, not a word is out of place or written down without thought, this line alone really made me think; "their own preconception of sin, often most find it most difficult to forgive themselves ".

An enjoyable, yet icky, read with some thought provoking issues and images. I do hope that CN is going to expand on this a little….7 deadly sins and all that!

Whispers by Heath Stallcup:

The story starts in 1885 with Sheriff “two guns” and an amazing breakfast that I could almost smell.  This started to feel like a good old fashioned western book; an honest Sheriff and some bad out of towners intent on mayhem and evil.

HS then fast forwarded me to modern day Texas, which strangely feels like it has not changed much!  A collector of Old West antiques  “buys” some naughty items off two drug addicts, Casper and Roger, who have been raiding the Little Hope cemetery, and you just know that no good (or Hope) can come of that! And so begins the story.

The story flicks back and forth between the two eras; you can start to feel the story and tension build up. It is the perfect mix of good, old fashioned justice, twist, turns and things that go bump in the night; something that HS is perfect at (I love his Monster Squad series). The book spans over 100 years and as another reviewer put beautifully this is a story about “a festering vengeance waiting, waiting to have revenge on evil, true evil”.

Whilst this is a long read I really felt hard pushed to find a “put down” moment and ended up with two very, very long days routed to a chair reading – hard work!   I don’t usually do ghost stories but this has so much more to it, so take your time with this novel and savour all the subtle horror and spooks provided by HS.

Shifters by Jaime Johnesee:

This was one of the first ebooks I read when I got my kindle and the first of JJ’s books and I was so blown away I bought everything else that she has published since then!

Loved the myth explosion right at the beginning! and the dead pan delivery was brilliant.   Lots of really great humour moments!

I really hope this is the start of a series as the character and "world" is fantastic!   An FBI werepanther!

There were a few little bits that niggled and could have been written better, such as the partners ignorance of her studying seemed a little off and the "change" would have worked better as a flashback maybe, as thought she would have shared this with her partner long before.....

I have loved rereading this but can also see how JJ has grown as an author and that this little novel needs an update, spit n polish! But I believe this is in the works.

Tool Shed by Armand Rosamilia:

Michael Zaun has arrived on his newly inherited farm and is investigating exploding cows – what a great first line and start to a story; loved the little CSI and music references.

Michael is also 300lbs of blubber and lives in the never, never land of diets which start tomorrow and dreams of living off the land, something he needs to research and finds himself at the local library where he meets Susan; AR plays this meet and relationship really well. Both are characters that you want to like and I really felt myself having feelings for them throughout the story.

Next AR throws in the group of teenagers who are at “play” in the shed with weed and almost-sex. Strangely enough this ends up calling the “monster” aka Dir of the Earth who wants only to live among us, eat cheeseburgers and have sex (don’t all underworld beings?), but this comes at a price, of course, and it soon becomes obvious what happened to the cows.

I found this story really intense as Michael must live up to his families calling and Dir does what Dir does!

Oooh a prequel in 2015!! Yippee!!

Dust to Dust by Eden Crowne:

Well, I have to admit I originally picked this up as part of a free promotion on a FB page. However, I am so glad to have had the opportunity to reread this as I clearly missed some of the little nuances last time, and loved hearing about Tasmin again.

Tasmin has been tricked by Soul Eaters, they befriended her when she was lonely, gained her trust and then split her soul between them like a take away one night. She soon learns how to jump into near death bodies and now seeks out these people to regain the pieces of her soul. 

We first meet her as she chooses a not very nice vampire body to jump into, who is currently ending life by being strangled by Drake, a Fae with issues.

The story is intricate, well thought out, with lots of differing strings attached but so wonderfully written you have NO trouble keeping up.  As Tasmin keeps having to jump bodies to track down her Soul Eating fiends the sense of humour is a great relief amongst the gore; one reincarnation is of a bo-peep/sheep hybrid!

Throughout reading this story (a straight 4hr read, I could NOT put it down) I just kept feeling myself say WOW. I love how EC writes her characters, surroundings and takes you on a fantastic journey.  There is also a touch of raunchy in there.

All the different supernatural beings are in there, I don’t think the EC left one out! but none are gratuitous, all have a place!

What really comes through is the sense of story and how far this could go, as EC is already on her third in this series I am pleased to say I am BIG fan.

Hallowed Horror

Monster Squad 5 by Heath Stallcup

So as is usual for the lovely HS I was thrust straight back into the action, I really enjoy that he manages to catch up new readers to the story fairly quickly but has the sense to realise that faithful readers don't need big long explanations!.

Commander Tufo has managed to bring his bulldog Hank onto base and this makes for all sorts of humour, but as is the norm’ its Tufo who brings all the laughs. I think the HALO joke was the best.  That said, since the first book all the other characters seem to have lost their sense of humour, which is a real shame as I find horror and comedy the best combination.

HS is a master at skipping you along in the story with short bursts of info that don’t detract from the present tense.  The story is yet again full of intrigue and back stories, complex yet simple to follow, he leads you on wild goose chases that somehow lead back to the main story.

However I was a little concerned that some of the characters were not really going in an expected direction based on their previous actions, but they are at least not one dimensional or boring! 

Again enough ammonerd info to keep you happy if you love the military thing but it was too much for me and I ended up skipping little chunks of the story.

One of the main stories is focused on Damian and Lilith/Rachel as they continue to try and find her body, managing to come across as the bad ass vamps that they are. But there is a twist in the tail, of course! But I want to know just why is Rachel so scared of becoming Lilith again? 

Finally I got to find out what the "Wolf on Ice" was all about! I so loved this little love story, but I felt that some of the original erotica was missing and it left a damp patch rather than a hot spot.

I love that all his female characters are strong and lead their own lives etc but also have that feminine side. Their story lines are not just add ons or fillers but genuinely part of the plot.

My only real complaint is that once you start reading HS you tend to lose time. He blends in so much intrigue and skullduggery that you cant put the book down, and I lost many hours sleep because of him, also its not a book you can finish in a day, it is way to bulky for that, you certainly get your moneys worth with a HS book.

However, I did have a couple of  Gripes: just cos you got a saying right doesn’t mean that’s what all the rest of us idiots actually say! “and you have another thinK not thing coming!

What drew me into this series of books was the amazing monsters that HS dreams up and its not until halfway through the book, again, that we get a new monster; a frog with teeth!? but only one new monster!

Keep them coming Mr HS!! but more monsters and humour pls, a bit of bump and grind would be good too - i liked the way you made me blush in book no.1.

Monster Squad: 5

Epic Apocalypse: Apocalyptic Horror Bundle

Zombie Fallout by Mark Tufo

If you like horror or zombies then you will LURVE this book/series.

When reading the Amazon reviews I loved this comment from one fan "I get a sneaky suspicion that in 20 years' time we'll all be talking Romero vs. Tufo"; the fact that in the UK alone he has 140+ and USA is 575+  tells you what a great book this is.

Mr Tufo introduces you to a family struggling to survive during the apocalypse, the love shown amongst them really marks this out as a "more than horror book", and it also has SO many other elements to it.

It is written from Mike Talbots PoV, with some other diary entries thrown in for good fun, his wife, Tracey, especially makes me giggle. It is not purely a diary/journal though, so don't be put off.

The humour is a large part of the story; the Talbotisms really guide you through some of the most horrific descriptions of the start of ZomPoc that I have ever read.

The scares and horror scenes are, unfortunately, all too believable and the route of initial infection is personally terrifying.

Many times you are left on tender hooks as the Tufo family seems to get/put themselves into some very butt clenching scenarios.  As others join the group this seems to multiply as Talbot has a way of antagonising people!

The climax to this first book is pantwettingly scary; Eliza is in a realm of her own.

It's hard to say more without giving the story away, particularly as I know how it progresses through the next 6 books, and onto Lycan Fallout.

As a side note, Mark Tufo is very involved with his fans and enables you to comment and ask questions on Facebook his page, often having random Unfair Competitions of the day to win all sorts of stuff you never knew you REALLY wanted. I also believe that a new trend has been started, if you become a fan you are called a Tal-BOT!

Return of the Phoenix: Monster Squad by Heath Stallcup

Ok, it is hard to believe that this is the first book from this author, I'm sure (and hoping!) he has many hidden away, ready to launch.  It is simply AMAZING!

The whole layout of the story is brilliant, he slowly gives you background on every member of the "squad" and the main outer characters, without detracting from the story line, each little nugget of information really blends in and allows the character to become real; I am already missing them.

There is some seriously hard core military stuff for those of you that like it, but nothing that bores us non gun toting fans silly.

The humour is subtle but grin worthy. The erotica was fantastic, not gratuitous and very much needed in such a hard hitting novel, plus it’s done with love. Now for the monsters!

Well from vamps to werewolves to trolls and everything else that goes bump in the night.... what can you say! HS even manages to have back stories on these guys! I am sort of expecting a troll to turn up in my back garden any minute now and will be most disappointed if it doesn't!

The little blurb at the end promises at least three more in the series... I will be booking the release date day off as Holiday to fully enjoy it.....bring it on!

This new author is one to WATCH!!!

Darlene Bobich: Zombie Killer by Armand Rosamilia

Aha! at last a full novella full of Darlene! I love this girl!  Thong obsessed! What a butt kicking woman!

She can even stop in the middle of Zompoc to shave her legs!

Lots of true to life moments, people will probably be horrible and not all jolly friendship types when Armageddon begins but Mr R manages to bring some dark humour into that future.

I was a bit confused at the ending (I can’t do spoilers) but am looking forward to more from this great girl, with some real insecurities....

Chaos: A New World by John O’Brien

My Hubby attended the World Horror Convention in Portland Oregon, with me and among others met this author, who very kindly gave me a signed copy of this book.

As Horror is not  his my usual bedtime reading the fact that it was a gift in no way influenced my opinion of this story. He grabbed it off me and this was the result!

As an ex-serviceman details of the weapons and the plane were as food and drink to me.

On receiving the book I explained to John that I have a 20 page rule i.e. if I am not hooked by then I will not waste my time trying to continue, needless to say I had no difficulty passing that barrier

The book is set on a premise that could actually happen if we (society) are not careful and drives forward at a good pace.

The characters are well rounded and in most cases likeable with the odd clusterf*** to provide contrast.

There are quite a few twists and turns throughout the plot.

The lead character is Jack Taylor an ex-USAF and Special Forces veteran, who faced with the collapse of society and the evidence of an epidemic decides to try to secure his family and then set out to rescue his girlfriend Lynn, who is based in Kuwait.

He has, because of circumstance, been able to take his children and his son’s girlfriend with him, to leave them behind would have placed them in obvious jeopardy.

The action is based initially on his collecting his children and the girlfriend, the drive to collect them through eerily quiet streets gives no real hint as to what is yet to come; only that it is not going to be a picnic in the park.

Jack then begins preparing/planning to get an aircraft, that hopefully Jack is able to fly, if not initially, at least after reading the manuals.

They proceed to put the plan into action.

It progresses through their locating and acquiring a C130 and then their cross country/cross continent travel to locate Lynn.

With stops and confrontations on the way not least with authority,

The action involving the people affected by the epidemic is fast paced and because of the way it is written, you can almost feel them outside and hear them in you nightmares, you certainly do not want to open the door to check.

The characters of the children and the girlfriend are quickly established and they mature throughout in response to the circumstances and trials that they are forced to face.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and read it at one sitting interspersed by breaks for food and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre and likes the military angle that John puts on it.

I would rate this 3 – 4 and am already reading the next book in the series and looking forward to not only meeting all the current characters again but new ones along the way.

Having never read this type of story before, I am now a fan.

The Dead Wait (preview) by Joe McKinney

Great comments to readers and loved the “ground rules”.

The bug-out bag list is now on my shopping radar although so many pages of it did seem excessive.

I’m glad JM explained the zompoc was quite slow in coming or it would have felt very unreal even for fiction.  I loved the premise though and have put the book on pre-order.

My favourite bit was the drunk bear story.

This little sampler has allowed me to see why so many people rave about JM writing and I look forward to a start of a new series from him.

Trudge: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse by Shawn Chesser

I fell in love with this family. However, the initial attack scene was totally off for me and the inner dialogue could have been so much better.

This sort of sticky but bland writing continued but the actual story and characters were brilliant.

Around chapter six it seems that SC slides into some awesome author mode and the book/writing steps up several gears. The beginning needs some more kick and condiments to it (IMO) to draw in new readers.

The main characters are Cade, his wife Brook and daughter Raven. As they are on opposite sides of the country the dual settings and storylines really give good, but non distracting, tension.

I really enjoyed all the news caster feed, back histories of the family and even the political rhetoric. The military element is there but again, it is non distracting to us less interested readers.

As each group gathers and loses members no character is safe. There are occasional humour moments which really bring home the realism of the people and the horrors they are facing.

The White House situation was a shock but brilliantly done, it also allowed for the “why” to occur.  SC left the book hanging on a fantastic note, no shocking cliffhanger but I have to know what happens next.

Surviving the Dead Vol.1 by James N. Cook

Gabe & Eric have bonded hard and fast over beers, martial art fights and grief. 

The start of this book really drew me in but then swung me back to sometime before the apocalypse.  I was slowly informed how they got set up so well, plausibly believable.

JNC does a spectacular job of starting the zompoc with a unique way of describing the ground rules regarding infection and how to kill a zombie.

Both men are 3D and I worried about them from the start.

As I was led to follow Eric on his cross country trek to get to Gabe I lived all the detailed descriptions of the houses and places he visits.

There is a lot of gun chatter and strapping on of weapons, which for non ammo-nerd this gets a little tedious.

When he stumbles upon a group sheltering in a warehouse it’s nice to see JNC does not go down the “only the bad survive” route.   A plot is soon hatched amongst them to raid the nearest town as Eric brings valuable information about the undead.

The planning does get a bit repetitive after a while and I wanted to skip on past to get to the action. However, I really enjoyed all the people interaction and I did enjoy the way JNC incorporated the back story of everyone in the group in a different way for each.

One niggle in the continuity is in the first chapter where it states that Eric is not a good shot due to being rusty, but then as the story travels backwards you are shown how much practice he gets and how often he is told how good he is!

As JNC brought me full circle I have to say I really enjoyed the hope given and not just the misery.

I am supposed to be going to Atlanta for the next WHC (2015) after reading this I am not so keen.

EpicApocalypse: Apocalyptic Horror Bundle

Lets scare cancer to death – anthology

All the author dedications are heart breaking, so many people’s lives are touched by the dreaded big C. Here is to finding a cure, fast.

Z Children by Eli Constant: It is the start of the zompoc and Suz, Dad and the twins must make it out of town to their boat whilst dodging the zombies who are primarily children.

The reasons for the start of the zompoc are really well laid out, the back story made me care for this little family so the ending was a real shock.

I really enjoyed this writing style so another author to be on the lookout for.

Of the Dead by Alyn Day:  a toughened foraging unit comes across a child “zed”; or is she just a wild child trying to survive?

As many of the unit are mourning fathers the emotions brought to the surface on the trip back to base and the scientists are really well played out by the author.

I love the twisted endings, so not expected. Another fantastic writer.

Memories by Heath Stallcup: the author physically brings you along for the ride on this tale as he drags you around a research facility whilst he unloads his story upon you.

The sordid tale carried on around me and I was so absorbed that the ending, again, gave me a real thump to the heart.

HS has managed to pull off a spectacular PoV perspective with not even the slightest error. Not surprisingly he is already one of my favourite authors.

Project Arizona by Greg Carrico: poor Henry, he is a sad and misplaced man in a long line of hidden experiments, of which the author keeps us in the dark about.

But the telltale zombie theme is there, along with a strange flensing obsession.

A strange little late that has an even weirder ending. Not sure what I read but I really liked it!

Just Life by T.Fox Dunham:  “dragging its colon behind like a dead snake” – has to be my favourite line from the whole book, it made me feel a little nauseous and smile at the same time.

Robert, the main character, has just recovered from a strange surgery where his tumour went wild and attacked a surgeon!

Now Retribution has begun which looks suspiciously like a George Romero film set.

Essentially this is a beautiful love story another really fantastic ending.

Choices by Claire C. Riley: Adam had completed his cancer treatment but now all Hell has broken loose and he is unable to find out his final test results.

He risks life and limb to try and find his medical notes but thankfully there is Old Yella to help him out.

The moral of the story seems a little undone at the end but wow I really enjoyed the characters in this one.

Dying Days Mortality by Armand Rosamila: two good men are trying to do right by their dying wives.

A dilemma is set before one of them and a decision is made.

The emotions run really high in this book and AR does not shy away from rubbing your face right in there.

Gift Wrapped Box by Catie Rhodes: Kathleen just keeps getting more Hell heaped upon her as she falls for some mumbo jumbo about a cure for her terminal cancer, which actually turns out to be soul eaters!

Not to mention her wicked neighbor is trying to kill her kitten.

A blast from the past and she has a chance to put all things right and as she faces down a massive demon she gets more than she hoped for.

A sad but brilliant ending, really enjoyed the complexity of the story and certainly nothing run of the mill.

Tunnel by J. Thorn:  not sure about this story as I really disliked one of the three characters and the other two were just meh for me. Plus the story never really went anywhere IMO.

One Lonely Night by Chantal Boudreaux: Quinn is dying from cancer, but all he desires is death by zombie.

With all the pain surrounding him he is set on his mission and CB does nothing to shy you away from being witness to this painfully honest tale.

Sweet Release by Mark Tufo: Ted’s life is over; his body just needs to catch up.

Kindness seems to be lacking all around him and just one small  moment is all he wants.

The tenderness with which this tale is written really made my heart ache.

Uncle by Michael James Macfarland: crippled Uncle has a secret that he brought back from the war.

His constant care is sucking the life from those around him.

The slow but steady build up gives a good indication of what the end will be but it’s still a cracker.

The Legacy by Julianne Snow: they say when you get a terminal diagnosis you begin the grieving process for your own loss of life, one stage of that is anger.

This is the tale of a chap who gets stuck at that stage. Of all these little stories, this one really scared me.

The Judas Contingent by Blaze McRob: my heart bleeds for this wonderfully strong and brave man (the author not the fiction – of all the dedications and bios this one really touched me).

Revenge is the main drive for this story, a well written piece that left me wondering just who are the good guys.

My Name is Charles by TW Brown: what’s worse than dying cancer in the zompoc? Adding dementia into the mix.

Poor fella, having to relive the intial horror over and over again. Fantastic idea with some great writing.

Survival by Rhonda Hopkins: from a bad start where they are captured for who knows what reason Dana and her twin, Sarah, manage a dramatic escape with the help of Meredith. Shame the poor girl is suffering the after effects of chemo treatment.

 

As the struggle to survive in this new world of horrors occurs the relationship and animosity of work colleagues surfaces adding that emotional twist to the story.

Whilst gore and horror is not lacking in this well written tale it is the emotions that play front and center.

The whole book has a well put together feel to it. I do hope this continues to raise lots of money so that “we” really can Scare Cancer to Death.

Lets Scare Cancer to Death

Blood Apocalypse: Monster Squad by Heath Stallcup

So, this is the fourth chapter of the Monster Squad series, in this Heath Stallcup brings us to the finale of the Big Battle with the Sicarri, the oldest, scariest vampire. There will be some spoilers in this review and there is  going to be quite a bit of moaning too. 

The buildup was great as all the MS personnel are slowing bringing different “good” monsters into the fold, the strategy in planning the big battle is pretty awesome, even for a non military lay person like myself, HS does well to explain the technicalities without boring me stupid, but has enough guns, ammo and “shop” talk  please most hardcore nuts.

Some of the new inventions were pretty amazing and well thought out.

The mixture of monsters was good and I really loved the introduction of some critters like the Gargoyles, I do hope that Grimlock makes another appearance soon, but feel they could have been explained more in this book too, not just literally popped up out of the ground, do something very minor then fly away.

The Laura Youngblood storyline did not feel true or well thought out to me, would she be able to leave so suddenly? And I saw no evidence of the burn out she claimed to have. I can understand that the Tufo character needed to have a place in the chain of command but surely a squad of this size and nature could have had a hands on CO and a more background caretaker role which is all she seemed to have for me anyway.  

That said, all the humour comes from Tufo,  and his facial hair and the dead squirrel piece had me giggling for ages.

There was an immense love story wrapped up in the middle of all this with some really intense sex scenes, but to end it so suddenly also felt rushed, and I felt cheated out of a good showdown between two amazing characters.

The final battle, hmmmm…what happened? It just sort of went pop with no bang. I would have loved this section of the book to be so much bigger, all that build up to such a damp squib.

The Sicarri was supposed to be some major player, some intense bad guy. So surely he had his own Generals, if so where were they? where was all his planning?  He just came across as a broody old man with no actual power. At the pinnacle of the battle the vamps were just allowed to just basically charge into a (excuse the pun) bloodbath annihilation. There was no sense of drama for me, no suspense element, so seat of my chair edge to the battle, it seemed very one sided.

The only element of danger seemed to come from the (rolls eyes) “Jolly Hockey Sticks British Bloke” trying to kill someone on the good side.

Then there is poor Dominic who spends 99% of this book trying to remember something, when he finally does a) it was not fully explained why it’s so important b) it was destroyed as an afterthought c) did not appear to be that important to start with.

Lots of little threads of future stories were strung out but I felt that this main one, that started in book 2, just went nowhere.

The writing is, as always, flawless in my opinion and I really enjoyed reading it, I just felt that it was rushed out to quick with not enough beta reading feedback (for those of you unsure of what this is – basically a  small group of people that give their opinion on the book before it gets published, to iron out any inconsistencies, timeline or story errors).

So, am I still a Monster Squad fan… yes of course I am, 100%. The monsters are still there, the squad is basically hubba hubba, the humour is brilliant and the scope for great stories and spin offs is immense. 

Heath Stallcup is a phenomenal author and has some amazing ideas, just in my opinion he needs to slow down a little, make use of his skills and not disappoint his fan base, maybe even utilize them more.  Even the great SK has had his duds, and yes I would put HS up there with him.

Final, overall opinion; well worth a read but remember that HS is still learning his art and that all reviews are good reviews!

Blood Apocalypse

Coalition of the Damned: Monster Squad by Heath Stallcupp

A few clever paragraphs and you are taken straight back in to the story, its like you never put the last book down.

Ohmergawd, so funny that Zombie Fallout author Mark Tufo, an awesome new character introduced in the last book, caught a woodland sprite! a bit like you would catch a cold! Oh and the things he has to do to get rid of her can be barely read without giggling like a mad woman!

The story is moved along with great pace, and as the vampires seek pieces of The Cross the werewolves are hunting down the mythical figure of the roman solider; all great parts of the Christ story, I love it when authors play with myths and legends adding their own twists and turns.

The “human” teams go on the hunt for allies and manage to find themselves some Elves, oh! and other unmentionable critters.

Poor Dominic is left with the Sicarii and you get a true sense of terror with his mental torture and the Sicarri’s boasts for world domination.

The weapons cache is impressive! It really felt like the apocalypse was coming.

Robert and Barbara – the best love story ever! HS has such a gore filled heart, but it such a big heart with all the love and romance (not the sickly kind) that he crams into his books.

With some political shuffling the MS team find a new home and all the pieces of war start to fall into position. Which of course, in true HS style, leaves you on such a massive cliff hanger that I am left hoping that the next installment is not too far behind!

Coalition of the Damned