Plagued: book 1 by Eden Crowne

Excellent start with a really brief history with a surprising twist. Skylar is the readers narrator and she is also a Negative with “level ups” or enhancements.

This is a world post bird flu in what the survivors call the Plague. What remains of the split are negatives which are immune and positives that don’t seem to last very long, add in the army and some militants and the usual corrupt politics and you soon have an intriguing storyline.

In this new post-apocalyptic world Negatives all have enhanced senses although our little hero/narrator as the usual set of enhancements, Sky has so much more than most and she needs to know why.

When she starts to notice and fall for Hugo the gorgeous Brit’ boy, his appearance in her life starts a strange chain reaction of coincidences and intrigue starts to unfold.

Loved all the British poke at humour. Although the odd vernacular was missed which did start to distract once it stopped being funny. Zucchine is a British yellow courgette not a marrow but hey ho!

The odd spelling mistake or missing word along with the rushed compact and baffling explanation for various things made me feel that things were rushed on the this book and not the usual polished perfection from this (journalist) author.

Whilst the ending left me on a cliff-hanger I’m not sure I liked the story or the (obvious) characters enough to want to read a sequel, I just don’t care about them enough like I usually do in her other storylines or characters.

Also there was a general lack of tongue in cheek humour that I have come to expect. It took me a long time to get into and then to finish, but EC is still an amazing author and her Avenging Angel series is awesome

Plagued

Slasher: the Escape of Richard Heinz by Iain Rob Wright

Richard Heinz is a brutal killer, rapist and psychopath.  Convicted to a life in a mental institution he has managed to escape.

He must be brought to justice but it ends up as a cat and mouse chase through the dark, cursed woods of Redlake at night, in the rain – the atmosphere is so thick it is easy to visualise.

Blake Price, the famous author who once attracted this lunatic to his house, is called upon to help. The trauma that he faces is brutal.

Not as brutal as the rape and murder of Heinz latest victim and that’s not taking into account the law enforcers trying to track and capture him.

A very swift read that fully packs a punch, love the way IRW manages to draw in so many characters from other books and link events and moment.

Slasher

Drive by Mark West

The crux of the story is a couple, who are thrown together, get chased by a car full of thugs and the terror that brings.

It felt like a quick read but I was surprised to see it took over an hour, so lots of bang for your buck, not to mention being absorbed by the story.

Novellas and shorts are a tough gig for authors to let the reader feel anything for the characters as story content has to take prime placement above characterisation, usually. However, MW is one of those special authors that can embed a character’s personality with a few simple lines of dialogue and how they interact with others.

Many other reviewers have commented on MW’s style of emotional writing and I was a bit dubious as this can often be a cover for over gooeyness and fluff, I was very happy to find this not to be true, in fact I found myself thinking of this story for a few hours after, wondering about the characters and feeling a little anxious about my next drive to work in the dark.

I did wonder how MW was going to portray the woman’s feelings/emotions in a potential rape situation, IMO he pulled it off. There was a “good” amount of tension/terror without the female (Nat) going into a jelly like melt down, this would not have stayed true to her previous character. I was pleased MW wrote her with some gumption and fight.

Equally the main male character (David) was not all bravado and kung fu panda, instead he had worries, nerves, doubts and sweaty moments. No get out of jail free Ex Machina here.

Not all high praise from me though; I really wanted a different ending, more guts and blood? Or a massive twist? Just something a bit more…… but actually it’s the slow creep that is now giving me the willies (but several different endings are always welcome in my world!). So overall a 3.5 from me but a definite 4 for potential.

On with the good stuff however, I was impressed with the relentless pace of the story, no let up, no rest for the reader. Yes, there were moments where I relaxed and thought “phew now they are safe” only to have that car and thugs show up again. It reminded me of a childhood hiding behind the sofa waiting for Worzel (Gummidge) to take his head off, I knew it would happen at some point and it was the waiting that terrified me.

I am really looking forward to a longer novel by MW and have my eye on In The Rain With The Dead.

Drive

Lobsters and Landmines by Glen Johnson

Lobster Theodore:

Jim, his girlfriend the chain smoking Tracy and her fat son Theodore; a tantrum prone child.

Jim disagrees with the ADHD diagnosis recently bestowed upon Theodore, he prefers to think of him as just an obnoxious child, but then Jim has very set feelings about child rearing!

His day job is as a lobster boat man and he is struggling with his “familys” wants and his lack of buyers, thankfully he has Tracy’s benefit money to keep the business afloat.

Even the rest of his street are demanding of him, poor Jim, but then he does something that makes the lobsters happy!

GJ is a master at making characters appear real and with huge histories within moments of you reading about them, love or hate them you are involved in their lives.

Little Prick:

Jasmine is wasting away and watching her mother care for her 24/7 also waste away. She has all manner of skin and internal ailments all brought on by one deadly disease, HIV, but she has a plan.

Her story is heart-breaking but the plan she and her doting mother have hatched to end all their suffering is a poetic one.

I really enjoyed the ending, but it had so much sadness in this story I had to “walk” away from the book for a few weeks.

Man’s Best Friend:

Lennie is revolting individual that left the Army less of a human, if that’s possible, than when he went in thanks to an IED.

Now living in Thailand he is able to keep slave women, pigs and dogs with a side-line of child kidnapping into the bargain. The pigs and dogs are sold for meat the women fair much worse.

Whilst Lennie is living the life those around him are not, but Karma is a Bitch, literally as it turns out for Lennie.

I was sad to learn of the landmines that still pepper this beautiful country still causing death and destruction so long after the war.

GJ does such a wonderful job of describing the land and areas of beauty.

Towers of Fear:

Kerrie has lost her best friend and possibly her reason to live. 

She continues to relive the day that planes crashed into the Twin Towers destroying so many lives and changing the way we all now live our lives.

Whilst most of us will remember what we were doing, where we were, who we were with and some, many, more who we lost, seeing this close up personal view was very harrowing. Not all horror is gore, some if just pure fear.

Best for the Job:

Jenny is an air hostess with the mostess! Tall, beautiful and blonde she has fallen in love with Luciano and followed him to his native Brazil, again such beautiful descriptions of country and people by GJ.

But being a kept woman is not her idea of fun and there are only so many museums you can visit. So she sets off to find another job and lands a perfect role in a small new company doing charter flights.

She is aware of the bad safety record of flights in and around Brazil and takes care to ensure all her passengers are aware of the onboard safety instructions, not that it really matters in what is about to happen to them all.   Eeeeeewwww!

The Last Cake:

Grace is off to her final days work as a midwife and tomorrow she plans to bake her final award winning cake, she just needs to gather a few final secret ingredients.

Just revolting, but also very funny.

Lockdown:

Don is a doomsday prepper and not just any old scenario he is prepared for everything! From economic collapse to volcanic eruptions he has it all planned for, or does he?

He has a daily routine of wandering his complex with its multidue of hidey holes, animals, windmills and plant growing sets ups. In his bunker at night he inventories his food and ammo leaving nothing to chance.

When the earth starts to shake he knows something has happened and goes into lockdown mode. His lack of compassion for animals and even his 14 year old companion dog made what occurs next make me smile. That lovely Karma again, plus can you really plan for everything?

I did a little giggle/snort when we find out what the rumbles and earth shakes were.

Nosey Parker:

Tim has survived his two days training at the new computer care job despite his over fussy mum and very cold ex-army father.

His new company uses a super computer that analyses chemicals to such a degree that no animal testing is required – perfect.

Perfect is also what Tim’s job is; go to work, pursue your hobbies, surf online, read books, eat free food, sleep or whatever you want – just don’t ask questions and get paid lots of money.

But Tim is a Nosey Parker and soon discovers first-hand what the company are actually upto.

Personally I loved the whole set and am filling in an application form!

Regrets:

Nicholas hates flying, he is also missing his sons football games, hugging his daughter and after a nasty fight with his much loved wife he is feeling guilty too.

A distraction at the cockpit soon distracts him. Such a sad ending, another 9/11 little glimpse.

I found the whole book more sad than horror, and overall,  whilst there were some humorous moments they were overshadowed by the sad bits, plus the odd missing letter/or misspelling and this is not GJ best work - a relook would do it some favours BUT he is still an amazing author with some serious skills!

Lobsters & Landmines

The Bear Who Wouldn't Leave by JH Moncrieff

I have to comment on the cover, it’s one of the scariest things I have seen in a long time. It was cruel of JHM and her cover artist Scott Carpenter to do this to a much loved childhood item, 43years later I still have my Grey Ted, the magic bear. If I thought he might grow teeth or do some of the horrific things that Edgar does I would be devastated.

Josh is the narrator of this particular childhood fears book, in what promises to be a superb series from Samhain publishers. 

Still deeply grieving the sudden death of his Father Josh is reluctant to take the ugly bear that Michael, the new man in the house, new husband and very unwanted stepfather, has given him.  

Edgar is an ugly, evil looking bear, and far to childish for the nearly grown up ten year old Josh to play with.  Edgar is soon banished to the closet, but he is a bear who wants to play whether you want to or not. 

Had to love Sean the substitute best friend and his strange swearing combinations, what a fabulous character.

Soon Edgar the Ugly is up to no good and Josh gets the blame and subsequent severe punishments.

I often felt that the real monster was clearly the step father who does some seriously grotesque and torturous things to a young boy, clearly still grieving the loss of his beloved father. A father who is still very present in Josh’s life via dreams and fear induced hazes.

Initially I felt all the hocus pocus was in Josh’s imagination but things soon take a real turn for reality, or supernatural!  A brilliant little scare tactic.

As Josh and Sean hatch plans to murder the bear in several ways I could not help but find the humour in it, JHM has a clever way of writing that makes even the serious have an edge of humour.

Murdering an evil bear though is not that simple, each attempt seems to come back with added extras for poor Josh.  The ending is left ambiguous – usually I hate when that happens but this has been written in such a way that to tidy the end would have taken some of the eeek out!

This is a first novella for JHM and I hope its not the last, her writing is very clean with great characters and a clear story line, attention to detail has clearly been taken.

The Bear Who Wouldn't Leave

                                                                                                                           

Devil's Island by CM Saunders

Davon Rice is an ex-military squaddie, now job hunting back in the real world which is grinding him down; apparently trained killers are surprisingly hard to find jobs for.

When a random pop up appears on his search log for a job looks promising he soon sends off his application, a reply is swift and so begins the process of attaining his “for the moment” dream job.

Soon Davon finds himself transported to Devils Island, a place he cannot find on any map. This is a remote island with a survival unit on site, but for surviving what?

His role is to guard the unit with regular patrols and whilst the building is fully stocked with basic life support it has no real entertainment and the solitude soon becomes paranoia inducing.

The mysterious agent Venke keeps popping up throughout this story and lends a little bit of spook to the whole thing, as if mysterious eyes in the woods and strange shadows on camera are not freaky enough.

Whilst I understood the paranoia element I would have liked CMS to have had more time to build this up, the length of time it took for it all to happen was too fast for my liking, and can you have red emerald eyes??

The ending was original from my perspective as not read anything similar before and I enjoyed the whole concept but feel that this short story could really benefit from some expansion, flashbacks, more background on the island etc. 

Loved the UK setting.

CSM has an exaggerated way of describing things, each element of any “thing” is given his full attention, at first I found this annoying but then realised it actually drew me deep into the story, like being sucked through the pages.

Devils Island

A-Z of Horror (A,B & C) By Iain Rob Wright

Issac is 16 and ready to become a man, with the party of a life time especially with his parents out of the house!

At first the party is a bust but as soon as some prohibited alcohol surfaces it starts to go a bit crazy, only odd things start to occur around Issac.

As the teenagers slowly get more drunk, Issacs every wish, desire and comment appear to be coming true, a bit worrying in some cases, smirk worthy in some but slowly building scray tension overall.

The finale has some very gory mental images but the ending was flat and rushed IMO.

There was no conclusion, after thought or reasoning.

If this is the start of a series of shorts then I hope they get more involved and hopefully they will be inter-linked, as IRW is
I liked the reference to the horror movie, that was clever. so clever at that in his longer novels.

A is for Antichrist

Dean & Wendell seem to be enjoying a burger with a side order of burps!

They soon settle down to some video games, enjoying their sleep over together.

IRW takes time in this short story to fill out the lives of the two boys and allude to some sadness in their pasts.

As the both settle down to sleep Dean starts to get the heebeejeebees!

Between random fingernails, old dead women and glowing red eyes under the bed IRW really starts the readers tummy rolling with tension.

The ending was a sort of surprise and sort of expected, but well written.

This second installment was much more satisfying, with a clear structure and ending, it felt much more complete and unrushed.

Looking forward to seeing how much more IRW can push himself in this shorts.

B is for Bogeywoman

Stacey is baby sitting little Harry. As she settles down to a film and fantasising about Mr Murray she notices the clown statue standing in the corner of the room.

I found the film choices amusing and enjoyed how IRW intertwined them into the story flow. As poor Harry has trouble sleeping and the clown continues to freak Stacey out I really felt a little spooked myself. Clowns, who doesn't get weirded out by clowns!

Ok, so IRW is definitely turning this into a series as he has now called this the A-Z of horror! 

Horah is all I can say as they are certainly getting better as he goes along, although I though the ending could have been better.

C is for Clown

From the Deep by Michael Bray

If you are into deep sea critters, government skulduggery, deep interesting characters; then you will like this book.

There are a many aspects in this story; tension, gore, fantasy, whatifs, horror, I could go on, and just what is that thing lurking in the ocean!?

The story begins with a shift in the Ross ice shelf and something being awoken and set free. 

Switch to a family run crabbing vessel that is dramatically sunk by a "sea monster", killing several on board.  Rainwater and Mackay, the only survivors, get a fleeting glimpse, enough to send the pre-troubled Rainwater on a Moby Dick style hunt for the creature that killed his family.  

MB then throws into the mix scientists and the “government” who are out on the ocean searching for the elusive “blip” and wish to capture this critter for some villainous use. They enlist, well threaten and kidnap really, a marine biologist, queue possible love interest, Clara and her assistant Dexter get involved, but soon wished that they shouldn't have.

The creature that MB describes is one of gargantuan size and is on the hunt for food having laid dormant for a long, unknown, period of time. Size, tentacles, teeth and a serious ability for speed make for a very scary fish.

The government characters Andrews and Russo, are a little cliché in their fit but work well in this monster book. Andrews wants to do right but can’t help being bad! Russo is one step away from gangster, readily willing to sacrifice all who get in his way. In fact if you think of Bond villain you are not far off; most enjoyable in a tongue in cheek way. 

Rainwater and Mackay are your usual sea/life hardened men but I really liked how MB brought them to life with some softer edges.  I just want to be Clara.

Plot holes, yup a few. I did wonder how something so huge could evolve with no previous knowledge, how had it survived all this time and why, if so hungry, did it only half eat things so they could conveniently wash ashore to shock and awe us humans!  And apart from a brief description at the start the behemoth is only vaguely described later in the book – I wanted more tentacles and teeth!

Unsure if totally intended by I viewed this book as an upmarket B-movie style story, yes some cliché, yes big leaps of believability, yes some huge impossible creature from the depth, yes lots of grotesque killing, blood, gore, but wow what a ride! 

I understand that this intended to be a trilogy so really looking forward to where the author takes me on the next thrill ride!

From the Deep

The Pleasure Games by Karma Leah

Poor Kelly, stumbles into the real world of "no experience" when trying to enter the job market with her English Degree.

Whilst trudging around on the wrong end of the job interview list she comes to her final appointment of the day and is propositioned in a most unusual way.

There is some serious hot and heavy action going on in here, no shying away and no stupid analogies. The ending was very satisfying!

For an erotica book this has a surprisingly good pace, some tongue in cheek (thankfully other places too!) humour, literacy and a passable story line, not a plumber or vampire in site.

The Pleasure Games

The Picture Frame by Iain Rob Wright

Blake and his over exuberant son are treasure hunting with a metal detector, when they come across the ancient and dirty picture frame, Ricky is overjoyed at the find/adventure, which is something  but from the moment they find it you can feel the vibe that something is wrong.

The inner dialogue and history of Blake is so akin to my own childhood I was instantly his “friend” and could have been a “fan” – hopefully not a crazed one though; like slasher Heinz who nearly broke his family, broke them to the point of having to move from his lush, millionaire lifestyle funded by his award winning books, to a secluded cottage at Redlake.

Both photo frame and cottage have a history, full of blood, death, demons and gods.

The first death broke my heart and really set the grief up within the family. IRW does well to portray the emotions and general bitter banter that often appears in family dynamics, this serves well to focus the reader in on the story. Furthermore IRW loves his trapped in themes and utilised it well to ratchet up the tension.

The second death was a shock and well-staged to bringing in the cursed frame, I loved the clichés of the Priest, misty glass and splashes of blood.

With alcoholic brothers, rabid foxes, strange accidents, thunder and lightning IRW delivers another fast read thriller that kept me engrossed, unable to put the book down until I had finished. 

The finale is rather sudden and I felt that IRW could have stretched this book out much further, maybe played on the local folk lore more, given some more flashbacks etc.

I always enjoy the British setting and IRW always manages to interject as much of it in to his writing as possible, it’s almost palate cleansing from all the American authors.

 (Spoilers) Niggles: 

How was the metal detector able to “find” the photo frame when it was made of glass and wood?

They can’t use their phones in the house but get internet, surely they could have emailed for help rather than google search!?

Bonus content - Reminiscing by Matt Shaw

Valerie didn’t want a birthday party, but she got one anyway and she got her bestest birthday present, Brian.

Brian currently has a pink Mohawk, but that’s ok it’s his “thing”; he is her life, her love, her Sparkle. 

Something has happened to Valerie but she can’t remember what, she remembers the family cinema trips, loving three cats, even the Taekwondo classes her son takes…… but what can’t she remember? And why is she on the floor.

A sad little story full of love, grief and pain.

The Picture Frame

Eyes Deep: A Clandestine Daze novella by Tim Marquitz

When the first few lines include a gross out murder followed by some sort of eyeball eating ritual I could not help but be hooked. But this is no out and out horror novel, more a supernatural, dark urban thriller.

Our main “man” is simply named Z but goes by so many other personas and skins!

After he has consumed said eyeball he is now able to become that person, a doppelganger, this allows him to do his day job of finding a piece of stolen equipment and ascertaining why it was even being built as this seems to be a machine designed to pull energy from another plane/world/dimension, and so the fun begins.

I wasn’t too fussed with Jace the other main character simply because her personality was kept so closed and in the dark, although she clearly has “something” for our main man Z to be so enthralled. I really enjoyed the sexual undercurrent, even if it was all one sided!  Maybe TM will expand her character in the next book, she obviously has a “history” to be the cold, feisty, uber killer that she is.

The pace is edgy and face and I really enjoyed the new world that TM is building done, which is leaked out slowly  as the story progresses, you can’t afford to take your eye of the page for a second or you will miss something. 

There was a great fight scene early on before Z and Jace resort to guns and all the chatter that goes along with that! But there were some very visual shape shifting moments too that really cheered me up.

I found less humour in this novella than what I used to from TM, his other major characters all have a sharp, sarcastic wit to them, Z not so much more of a sad underlying story to him, but then this was an intense story line and apart from the odd one liner there was not much room for humour.

I am really looking forward to seeing how this world/plane/dimension and the characters develop, judging by TMs other “worlds” this should prove to be brilliant!

Eyes Deep

Hyde by Vince Churchill

Hyde is a dark, erotic thriller that is most definitely twisted, tortured and a great read. Vince Churchill has many titles published but this is my first read by him and I have to say I am impressed. 

I do enjoy erotica, but don't read it often because a lot of those stories tend to get boring, repetitive or have no real plot line, not so with Hyde. 

We are first introduced to Sam, the main character, at the gym and its obvious she can take care of herself; so she should, she is a Detective in a  Major Crimes unit, her personality is a little cliché but works well due to VC writing skills.  

Cut to Simone and VC launches straight into some mind boggling rough sex, finished with a sms text.  Not sure about this as an opening chapter, that much in my face was a little hard to take and took me several attempts to get into, I was also a little confused. However, all becomes clear when we find out how the two are related and Hyde or The Keeper, as the police like to call him, has his next victim.

But The Keeper is not your usual kidnapper, he is on a mission, Hyde is sexy, thrilling, and just weird enough to almost believe, to almost want to  be kidnapped yourself, almost.

The hunt and the game are soon on and it makes for riveting reading.  Naively I thought I understood the plot line and how this would soon pan out along the usual lines and become obvious but VC soon twisted that on its head! 

VC's imagery is creative, making reading Hyde an almost visceral experience; fear and sex are given equal attention and the writing of each is powerfully effective and emotive. 

The story, in my opinion, lends itself to being longer, it could have been expanded and still not felt drawn out, it was almost the clipped and edited version, like editors used to do to SK; put your foot down Mr Churchill.

HYDE

Shifter Wars: Mind Sweeper by AE Jones

The prologue is heart breaking – are Dalton and Kyle together? Or is Dalton truly gone from her life?   

AEJ is clever to catch up the reader in a few quick sentences, even if the beginning is a little disorientating to start with. 

Kyle has tried to move on with her life after the horrific ending to book one and is now in Nevada post quitting the Supe Squad and an unmentioned but well hinted at row with Nicholas her ex-boss. 

She is now a casino security person and this is how she soon runs into trouble in the shape of Kevin Doyle the Dalmot Demon, who is back and he seems to have a nice character fix! But he remains a demon; slimy and a thief!  

Kyle is still trying to deal with the new added bonus of absorbing people’s memories after her mind sweeping which is playing havoc with her emotions regarding Dalton and showing her all sorts of weird memories which she is trying to piece together.

When Griffin the super sexy leader of the Pack calls out to her for help to solve the current mystery, she is soon back into the swing of things with her old team and I was pleased to be back in the world of Misha and Jean Luc.  

So who or what is plotting against his leadership? Who is Thomas Wilson? And is she now half of the prophesied “Key of Knowledge”? 

Some great new characters too, I totally loved Beatrice, Griffins kick ass sister and little Trina is becoming a major player in this series. Glad to see that Booger/Mathew is back and playing a pivotal role as he is also able to give some light comic relief to some of the darker elements of this story.

Marie the ghostly Grandma of Dalton seems to now be Kyles “Guardian Angel” and boy oh boy does she need one, floating in and out of Kyle’s life with the hint of roses, she is a brilliant character with some great one-liners.

The brilliant TV references are still there and afford little smiles amongst the tension.

Loved the idea that despite being in a “pack” not all shifters are the same type of animal, which of course lends itself to some fantastic storylines.

All of AEJ characters have flaws, they have emotions, they do unpredictable yet normal human things (and some demon ones too!) which makes the story easily readable and not too farfetched, this has to be a believable world to be able to fully immerse yourself in and I just sunk to the bottom of the pool. I can easily get lost in these books, AEJ has such an easy way of writing and there are no errors to distract and her continuity line appears to be perfect, outstanding for such a new author.

So happy to read that books 4 and 5 are on their way!

Shifter Wars

Three brilliant short stories by Stacy Turner

Nicky was dead and Natalie knew this he was taken away in a black plastic bag, he had screamed a lot and for that she was glad.

Nicky was mean to her, torturing both her and threatening her beloved Mr Bear.

Beloved until he starts speaking to her that is, and Mama starts to wallow in her grief of her favourite child dying.

Thank goodness for Aunt Ellen and her lavender baths and trips to the zoo.

I just loved the way ST managed to capture the honesty that is child logic; so wonderfully blunt and truthful.

The twist in the ending is just amazing!

Dead Nicky

Captain Roberts and his squad are in battle and whilst many of them are seriously injured none appear to be in severe pain or bleeding, then there is the fog, oh and the giant marbles that fall out of the sky and not forgetting the amnesia….. Yes, that was a joke!

I really laughed at the MRE joke.  This story was really getting a bit farcical up until the final paragraph when all is made clear and my oh, my it was a brilliant ending!

In the Zone

Jeb, his mother and Cassie are trying to make their way in the new world of Good vs. Evil since the clouds came and blocked out the sun, the whole world appears to have taken sides.

When Jeb finds a stray young girl in the fields he brings her home to love and care for, like he did with Cassie, only she is not happy about it.

The child is strange, in many ways, non-communicative being only one thing. Hugging the newly pregnant Cassie each morning and growling at visiting Pastor others. 

There is a strong Godly element and feel to the story which lends itself to some foreboding of what’s really going on and intensifies the tension when Cassie starts to give birth.

When the battle scene arrives it may have been predictable in coming but what follows is not.

ST does well to cram so much life into such a few pages.  Whilst the overall story is chilling in an apocalyptic Omen type of way the real horror was poor Cassie and the first aid kit for 

me!

See, now you HAVE to read it!!

Born of Darkness