WHO

WHO'S COMING DOWN YOUR CHIMNEY TONIGHT?




Charles Stross, "Overtime"

2018: CTHULHU FOR CHRISTMAS

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Review: Blood Red Roses

Blood Red Roses Blood Red Roses by Russell James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Prolific horror author Russell James here delivers a period piece novella of "the evil that men do" and how the good and the innocent must endeavor to stand against its outrage. A young boy orphaned by Gettysburg is sent involuntarily to a Mississippi plantation which is an effective stand-in for the torments of Hades.

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Review: Dark Vengeance

Dark Vengeance Dark Vengeance by Russell James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

DARK VENGEANCE is the sequel to DARK INSPIRATION. I enjoyed both, but I think I liked DARK INSPIRATION more, perhaps because it was a more focused kind of evil, primarily confined to Galaxy Farm. In DARK VENGEANCE the evil shoe is on the other foot, so to speak; or more succinctly, on the other gender, with the intended focus far more wide-ranging. I believe DARK VENGEANCE is also more gore-suffused, and likely to upset some sensitive readers as children are a large part of this story line.

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Monday, July 29, 2019

Review: Dark Inspiration

Dark Inspiration Dark Inspiration by Russell James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Almost as soon as I started this novel, I felt I'd come home. I cut my reading teeth on Haunted Houses and Supernatural Horror, but I haven't read enough of those lately. What a treasure to stumble upon DARK INSPIRATION and its sequel DARK VENGEANCE!


Outside a tiny insular Tennessee town sits an eighty-five year-old Victorian and horse barn on its fifteen acres: a lovely residence on a scenic wooden site. Isolated and peaceful--well, not. Horrible evil piled upon tragedy and occult arts have darkened the very atmosphere, and an implacable spirit refuses to rest until its desires are achieved.


Russell James keeps the fear factor burner well-lit and burning brightly. Keep this one for the daylight hours, gentle readers.

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Review: Imaginary Friend

Imaginary Friend Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I first read the description for IMAGINARY FRIEND I became quite excited and developed high expectations. Initially I found the novel compelling, but the farther I read the more unsettling it became. Once I began the "final night" in the ongoing battle of Good vs. Evil, I thought that this section and time period endured too long; perhaps even the last quarter or so, if trimmed, would improve the quality of the novel. Also one particular secondary character's continuing plot thread ended with what I considered unrealistic and highly unlikely character evolution (three characters all unedergoing 180-degree reversals). However, the conclusion of that plot thread seems to dangle the potential of a sequel, starring that particular secondary character.


The two protagonists (five decades apart) are seven-year-olds. However, in no way is this a story for children. Sensitive readers: torture, gore, SERIOUS abuse issues (to adults and to children) are ongoing throughout, and some of the violence is extreme and stomach-churning.

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Sunday, July 28, 2019

Review: Floor 68

Floor 68 Floor 68 by Jack Probyn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

FLOOR 68 is the second novel in the Jake Tanner terror thriller series. Tanner is a rather unusual "hero," vulnerable but determined, suffering from PTSD yet very enclosed about it, fully committed to tracking the evil terrorist responsible for the deaths of his mother-in-law and partners as well as many others. His personality is a nice change from "perfect" protagonists and refreshingly realistic.

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Saturday, July 27, 2019

Review: Trouble at Camp Still Waters

Trouble at Camp Still Waters Trouble at Camp Still Waters by Eddie Generous
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, that was a wild and crazy ride! Stuffed to the brim with over-the-top splattergore, starring a serial killer who thinks Death is Destiny and orchestrates his acts to reflect infamous killers and slasher film "stars" like some Method actor of murder, TROUBLE AT CAMP STILL WATERS also strums a heated ecological chord, with intense fracking fronting all the blame for release of toxic methane, destruction of flora and fauna, and otherworldly killer mutations. Set in British Columbia and penned by a Canadian author, this is also read for the 2019-2020 Canadian Book Challenge.

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Review: Horror Island: Where Nightmares Become Reality

Horror Island: Where Nightmares Become Reality Horror Island: Where Nightmares Become Reality by Ben Hammott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

HORROR ISLAND is a rambunctiously non-stop implacable terror fest. An isolated island, alien parasites, unstoppable monsters: the results aren't pretty. But for over-the-top Splatter and an imaginative premise (Go, Darwin!), HORROR ISLAND is loads of fun. (And for arachnophobic me: Aversion Therapy.)

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Friday, July 26, 2019

Review: My Sister, the Serial Killer

My Sister, the Serial Killer My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really admire the author's grasp of psychology in this fascinating novel. As a psychology major in time past and a long-time autodidact of this subject, I was quickly riveted. Set in an unfamiliar locale (Lagos, Nigeria) with intermittent dialogue in the local vernacular, yet the characters shine with such clarity I would recognize them if we passed on the street, or if they lived next door.


Ayoola is pure egotistical, solipsistic Narcissist. She is literally the queen and only focus of her universe. Child of an unspeakably sadistic sociopathic father and a mother for whom Denial is not just a river in Egypt, Ayoola is the younger sister of a clever and diligent enabler, Korede. Ayoola acts and reacts, unthinking; Korede disposes. The guilt should be Ayoola's; but like the young killer in Poe's "The Telltale Heart," it is Korede who suffers, whose nightmares and waking hours are populated by Ayoola's possibly innocent victims. Ayoola dances through life like a marvelous untouchable butterfly; all who see her are drawn like moths to her fatal flame.

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Review: The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of the special joys I experience as a lifelong avid and voracious reader is discovering authors new to me, especially delightful when the author in question already has published a number of books. Such is the happy case with author Katherine Howe. I read THE DAUGHTERS OF TEMPERANCE HOBB for a book blog tour and loved it, racing gleefully to find other novels by Ms. Howe, including THE PHYSICK BOOK OF DELIVERANCE DANE, which is actually the precursor to the events and characters of THE DAUGHTERS OF TEMPERANCE HOBBS. I am reminded both of Deborah Harkness' A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES Series and of Anne Rice's THE WITCHING HOUR Series. Readers who loved the Magical Realism of those will experience pure unending delight herein.

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Thursday, July 25, 2019

Review: Deadly Flip, A Home Renovator Mystery

Deadly Flip, A Home Renovator Mystery Deadly Flip, A Home Renovator Mystery by M.E. Bakos
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Home Renovation Specialist Katelyn leaps to purchase a lovely Craftsman-style home at auction, at a remarkably low price. Renovation is going smoothly--until she learns what occurred four years earlier, a gross miscarriage of justice. As if guided, she finds the victim's concealed diary. Soon odd events and inexplicable damage plague the job, as well as she and handyman-neighbor Wayne. Is it accidental? Vandals? Malicious trespassers? Or is an innocent victim crying out for Justice from beyond the grave?


DEADLY FLIP is a cozy mystery set in Minneapolis, in the Home Renovator Mystery Series. Home Renovation can be fun, expensive--or deadly.

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Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes!

Something Wicked This Way Comes! Something Wicked This Way Comes! by William Todd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A delight of historical fictipn (late 19th century), combining paranormal, science fiction, and mystery with endearing characters, sharp-edged villains, and a heaping helping of altruism, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES is set on Lake Erie and surrounds in 1888. A debt-ridden steamship owner is tasked to transport secretive cargo across the Lake for a university archaeological expedition. No hint as to the nature of that cargo, but an irresistible triple payment for the crossing. If only!! This story is unexpected and riveting.

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Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Review: The Keeper of the Crows

The Keeper of the Crows The Keeper of the Crows by Kyle Alexander Romines
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just a few days ago I read Kyle Alexander Romines's superb camping horror novel A SOUND IN THE DARK. Now with KEEPER OF THE CROWS, I am blown away. I think Mr. Romines has been studying my mental phobia list (smiling). Where A SOUND IN THE DARK focused on Human Evil plus Supernatural overtones, KEEPER OF THE CROWS (although yes indeed includes Human Evil) is Supernatural Horror par excellence. A tiny nearly isolated town in rural Kentucky (I don't know for sure, but to me this setting seems very much Appalachian Eastern Kentucky) hosts a Supernatural Evil possibly from before time. It also hosts villainous sadistic humans, entitled Narcissists, and some few of the type of citizens about whom 18th century thinker Edmund Burke wrote: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." In 1987, a horrible crime is committed, then concealed for the next two and a half decades. But in a cave in the forest, a timeless Supernatural Evil is waiting, and there WILL BE REVENGE...and worse.

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Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Review: People of the Lake

People of the Lake People of the Lake by Nick Scorza
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A cleverly imagined horror novel with Lovecraftian resonances, PEOPLE OF THE LAKE will delight conspiracy theorists and inspire horror fans. A tiny town in far upstate New York, Redmarch Lake, is unusually inbred and unusually close-mouthed--with excellent reasons. Clara Morris comes to summer with her divorced dad Tom, unaware of the dangers, because in this town, "Don't Talk, Don't Tell" is more than a way of life: it's life or death.

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Monday, July 22, 2019

Review: The Caine File

The Caine File The Caine File by Angela Ciccolo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Simply expressed: WOW! THE CAINE FILE is an electrifying contemporary suspenseful horror with a welcome plethora of supernatural elements and implacable horror. Father Robert Malveaux, a black priest, is the irresistible force colliding with the entrenched immovable object of the global Roman Catholic Church. Malveaux, also an attorney and professor, is tasked with investigation of clergy abuse. What he is not prepared to encounter is demonic possession, a vastly ancient demon, and exorcism.

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Review: KEEP CALM AND KILL YOUR WIFE

KEEP CALM AND KILL YOUR WIFE KEEP CALM AND KILL YOUR WIFE by Lucky Stevens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Certainly not the recommended procedure! But KEEP CALM AND KILL YOUR WIFE is a fast-paced suspenseful mystery with a surprising amount of character evolution (and devolution). Hart Smith, a trucker, is a feckless character, but no hero. Selfish, Narcissistic, greedy: think of the self-centeredness of a three-month old infant. Hart wants his cake and everybody else's cake too. He's determined, and he will accomplish his goals with (as he views it) his customary "dramatic flair"....or die trying. The author must have had tongue plugged in cheek throughout. Quite an enjoyable read.

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Sunday, July 21, 2019

Review: A Sound In The Dark

A Sound In The Dark A Sound In The Dark by Kyle Alexander Romines
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An exceptionally terrifying novel which re-illustrates for me the perfect reason I don't camp: not Bear, not Mountain Lion, not Wolf, not Rabid Possum. The fear is of Human Evil, so excruciatingly defined in A SOUND IN THE DARK.


But that's not all: in addition to the rampages of human evil, this wonderful author gives up plenty of both character evolution and devolution, finely delineated to the degree that I as reader was totally emotionally involved in the story.


One more point: I resonated with that which I perceive as Lovecraftian influences. Without detail to spoil the plot, there exist distinct otherworldly resonances....or is it mania or schizophrenia after all? This reader thinks not.

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Saturday, July 20, 2019

Review: The Asylum

The Asylum The Asylum by Nathan Dylan Goodwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Forensic genealogist Morton Farrier is a bulldog when it comes to his research. Once he scents a traul, he's indefatigable. In THE ASYLUM he turns over rocks to find hidden nuggets of truth, upending the client's personal history, but providing readers with an intriguing and satisfying read.

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Review: Ten Mile Creek

Ten Mile Creek Ten Mile Creek by Cain Macbeth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TEN MILE CREEK is a rather frightening tale, with a historical mystery, genealogy, and a trio of contemporary characters who are endearing and eliciting of our empathy. I found the historical human "monster" much more frightening than the Supernatural element, and indeed, pondering that element and turning it over and over in my mind along with the final chapter and the epilogue, kept me awake during the night after reading it. The aspect I did not like was the author's intermittent telegraphing of future events, which seemed to be disruptive. I don't expect to find happy endings in Horror; still I like to hope that all good guys survive, if not flourish.

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Friday, July 19, 2019

Review: In the Woods

In the Woods In the Woods by Carrie Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

IN THE WOODS is awesome! I totally adored this reading. Sure I'm in the Senior category, but I can still enjoy an exquisitely- written YA and IN THE WOODS certainly qualifies.


Level-headed adolescent Chrystal is dragged along on her cryptozoologist Dad's sudden trip to Eastern Oklahoma, in the Ozarks, following a supposed Bigfoot sighting. A seventeen-year-old farm boy/poet spotted the creature, which proves to be a far more dangerous predator. In the midst of grave danger and multiple fataties, young love blooms, several experience coming of age, and the importance of family-of one's tribe by birth or choice--becomes apparent.

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Thursday, July 18, 2019

Review: A March from Innocence: A C.T. Ferguson Crime Novel (The C.T. Ferguson Mystery Novels Book 6

A March from Innocence: A C.T. Ferguson Crime Novel (The C.T. Ferguson Mystery Novels Book 6 A March from Innocence: A C.T. Ferguson Crime Novel (The C.T. Ferguson Mystery Novels Book 6 by Tom Fowler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've totally enjoyed all the C. T. Ferguson titles. C.T. is a great guy with a hugely generous heart (he always works pro bono, after all), and he's an amazing private investigator and consummate hacker. I found A MARCH FROM INNOCENCE a whole lot edgier than usual, undoubtedly due to the difficult (read: horrendous) subject matter. Caution: C.T. turns over really ugly rocks in the current mission, so easily triggered readers please beware. He also seems to me much more prone to responses of violence than usual; unsurprising because these evildoers and their enablers will quicken a "Death Wish" vigilante-justice response in many.

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Review: Parakeets & Pentagrams: Paranormal Cozy Mystery

Parakeets & Pentagrams: Paranormal Cozy Mystery Parakeets & Pentagrams: Paranormal Cozy Mystery by Hazel Reed
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

PARAKEETS AND PENTAGRAMS is a magically delightful cozy mystery, first in the new paranormal cozy series, TABITHA TAPSCOTT MYSTERIES. Tabitha is an immortal witch and wildlife rehabilitator near historic Dove's Cove. When she discovers the body of a newly-divorced local human on the same days she encounters a griffin, and notices strange magic at the corpse, she enlists fellow witch Nellie, the veterinarian, to discover the culprit before the Griffin is trapped and executed.

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Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Review: The Malevolent

The Malevolent The Malevolent by Kirk Kilgrave
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Take a small group of strangers who for the most part don't know why they are there, confined by an abundant, impassable, unearthly snowstorm to an empty hotel scheduled for repair and renovation. No food, a handful of blankets, interior cooling down. Invisible implacable death-dealing horror.


That's the focus of THE MALEVOLENT, and believe me the horror is implacable. The author also gives a teasing suggestion that a sequel may follow.

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Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Review: Silo Boys

Silo Boys Silo Boys by Amy-Brooke Odell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love a mystery that's engrossing from the beginning, that keeps me guessing, and maintains the fascination, then knocks me out with a killer denouement so unexpected as to blow me away. If you liked ULTIMATE SACRIFICE by S. E. Green, you'll enjoy THE SILO BOYS. I read it in a couple hours, glued to the page, and still find my mind enwrapped and enrapt. It's a "Wow!!"

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Review: Silo Boys

Silo Boys Silo Boys by Amy-Brooke Odell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love a mystery that's engrossing from the beginning, that keeps me guessing, and maintains the fascination, then knocks me out with a killer denouement so unexpected as to blow me away. If you liked ULTIMATE SACRIFICE by S. E. Green, you'll enjoy THE SILO BOYS. I read it in a couple hours, glued to the page, and still find my mind enwrapped and enrapt. It's a "Wow!!"

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Monday, July 15, 2019

Review: Four Tombstones

Four Tombstones Four Tombstones by Jennifer L. Hotes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This YA-focused suspenseful novel is spooky, heartwarming, and compelling, and I totally enjoyed it. Josie and her much-younger brother Owen lost their mother six years ago, and to keep memories alive, Josie sets up a tombstone-rubbing evening on Halloween. Her mother doesn't appear, but each of the four friends is inexplicably drawn to a grave, and each becomes involved in the past of that person. Josie finds herself in a spooky older cemetery known as "Ghost Forest," at the grave of a woman stoned for witchcraft--in the 19th century!


The author masterfully blends paranormal elements, grief, and adolescent angst and coming-of-age into a riveting story.

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Sunday, July 14, 2019

Review: Small Spaces

Small Spaces Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I adore this novel! It's nonstop wonderful, exciting, suspenseful, heartwrenching, and spooky! The villain is so otherworldly evil I certainly would never wish to encounter: a trickster in disguise, sneaky and cunning. Young Ollie is as strong and brave and determined a heroine as a reader could ask. I so anticipate the sequel: DEAD VOICES.

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Saturday, July 13, 2019

Review: Wanderers

Wanderers Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was enrapt with this novel from Page 1, and throughout the 800 pages (ebook) and three days of engrossed reading, my interest never flagged. Science fiction (near future to contemporary), science, politics, anthropology, sociology, human evil: you can find it all here. Author Wendig paints on a vast canvas and does so enthralling. WANDERERS is a book not to be forgotten.

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Friday, July 12, 2019

Review: Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection

Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection by Gail Z. Martin
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

CONVICTS AND EXILES is an exciting and entertaining collection from fascinating author Gail Z. Martin which backstops and backstories her fantasy character Blaine McFadden of ICE FORGED (ASCENDANT KINGDOMS SAGA). Readers always want to know "more" about favoured characters. There's plenty new to learn here about Blaine and his entertaining friends.

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Review: Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection

Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection by Gail Z. Martin
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

CONVICTS AND EXILES is an exciting and entertaining collection from fascinating author Gail Z. Martin which backstops and backstories her fantasy character Blaine McFadden of ICE FORGED (ASCENDANT KINGDOMS SAGA). Readers always want to know "more" about favoured characters. There's plenty new to learn here about Blaine and his entertaining friends.

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Review: Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection

Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection by Gail Z. Martin
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

CONVICTS AND EXILES is an exciting and entertaining collection from fascinating author Gail Z. Martin which backstops and backstories her fantasy character Blaine McFadden of ICE FORGED (ASCENDANT KINGDOMS SAGA). Readers always want to know "more" about favoured characters. There's plenty new to learn here about Blaine and his entertaining friends.

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Review: Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection

Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection Convicts and Exiles: A Blaine McFadden Adventures Collection by Gail Z. Martin
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

CONVICTS AND EXILES is an exciting and entertaining collection from fascinating author Gail Z. Martin which backstops and backstories her fantasy character Blaine McFadden of ICE FORGED (ASCENDANT KINGDOMS SAGA). Readers always want to know "more" about favoured characters. There's plenty new to learn here about Blaine and his entertaining friends.

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Review: My Friend Shtumpy

My Friend Shtumpy My Friend Shtumpy by Jennifer Nicely
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A delightful children's chapter book exploring the myriad positive potentials of living with a "monster" under one's bed, a "monster" who quickly morphs into a beloved friend and companion.

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Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Review: Dreams Before the Start of Time

Dreams Before the Start of Time Dreams Before the Start of Time by Anne Charnock
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fertility in the Future: what will humans in the future--near and far--make of child-rearing, of genetic screening, of paired or solo conception? In 2034, 2084-2085, 2120: several individuals and their descendants make those irrevocable decisions and live with the consequences, good, bad, or ugly. The author's clarity of insight and forthtelling create a gem. DREAMS BEFORE THE START OF TIME won the Arthur C. Clarke Award.

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Review: American Dreams

American Dreams American Dreams by Kenneth Bromberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A generational saga which begins in horrifying genocidal tragedy in Czarist Russia and continues in "The Land of Dreams," America. After the brutal murder of his mother, 4-year-old Max emigrates to America with his father, only to discover this Promised Land also contains an ugly underbelly, in the form of organized crime. I am reminded of the generational sagas of Cynthia Freeman.

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Review: The Whispered Tales of Graves Grove

The Whispered Tales of Graves Grove The Whispered Tales of Graves Grove by J.S. Bailey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This wonderful Canadian Horror anthology I read in a one-sitting, "I can't stop now," session. Seamlessly interwoven by multiple authors, the anthology relates the life and times of a small inbred community in the Canadian Rockies, in a forested rural valley in rural British Columbia. Founded in 1880 by one Samuel Madsen Graves, the community revolves around the sycamore he planted. The setting and stories I found delightfully Lovecraftian. Certainly every single story is a winner, and the conclusion is incredibly powerful. I highly recommend this anthology.

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Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Review: The Ghost Collector

The Ghost Collector The Ghost Collector by Allison Mills
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A glorious story, simultaneously heartwarming and heartwrenching, about 3 generations of an indigenous Canadian family (Cree) living an embittering life in a city. Grandma and granddaughter Shelley see and communicate with ghosts, helping them to move on. Shelley's mother wants no part of that. But unexpected tragedy impels Shelley to use her gift overtime, collecting ghosts to herself to ease their loneliness--and hers. THE GHOST COLLECTOR is a truly beautiful novel.

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Review: In The Scrape

In The Scrape In The Scrape by James Newman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every time I read about child abuse or domestic violence, I'm thankful that my particular admittedly trying life didn't include whatever brand of abusive horror I'm reading. This is true of IN THE SCRAPE, a powerfully impacting novella of which Poetic Justice eventually overcomes. A generational study would be fascinating of both of these families, to discover in which generation the abuse commenced, and how life will play out in the future: will Jake and Matthew fall into that pattern, or will they overcome? We don't know, but we do have a story that will tear at your heart and leave you pondering most deeply.

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Monday, July 8, 2019

Review: Survive the Chaos

Survive the Chaos Survive the Chaos by Grace Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: The Possession

The Possession The Possession by Michael Rutger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you thought as I did that the first book in this series was a wild ride, then buckle in and hold your breath: THE POSSESSION is even wilder. Witchcraft, ancient mysteries, dimensional crossings; and what as children we recognize as danger in the dark but as adults we pretend to ignore: the things unseen, which bear humans ill will.


All of that lives here: hold your breath and dive deep...but remember, you were warned.

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Sunday, July 7, 2019

Review: Mosquito Man

Mosquito Man Mosquito Man by Jeremy Bates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Implacable Horror is the absolute best, in my opinion: an entity or person or thing or event that's unavoidable. THE MOSQUITO MAN is full of that. Not only an entity that boggles the mind, but one that is grossly unstoppable, long-lasting, and recurring. Frightening!

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Saturday, July 6, 2019

Review: The Anomaly

The Anomaly The Anomaly by Michael Rutger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I only wish this novel had been scarier. I enjoyed it--quite a bit--and found it engrossing. The archaeological/science fiction/prehistoric elements really stretched the Fortean caverns of my imagination. So did claustrophobia and caving and climbing. The novel is full of shocks and secrets and revelations. We're given a lot of deep character background and Southern California backstory--quite understandable as the author is both an accomplished author and a screenwriter. I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel novel, THE POSSESSION.

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Friday, July 5, 2019

Review: The Hunger

The Hunger The Hunger by Alma Katsu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THE HUNGER is an absolutely stunning narrative fiction of the misguided and tragic Donner Party Expedition to California of Summer 1846 - Spring 1847. Although not nonfiction, nonetheless the lives, backstories, and fates of those intrepid (or not) pioneers spring to vivid life. It would be a frozen hearted reader indeed who could not resound with these characters, thrill to the adventures, weep for the losses, fear the constant supernatural overtones. THE HUNGER is a novel no Thinking Reader can afford to overlook.

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Thursday, July 4, 2019

Review: See No More

See No More See No More by W.B. Dineen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An immensely engrossing, winning combination of "women's fiction," science fiction, romantic suspense, abandonment issues, family, conspiracy theory, and the pure drive of science and knowledge, SEE NO MORE is a don't-miss, I-can't-get-enough read. Excellently written, and I want more of these characters!

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Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Review: Sarah Killian 2: The Mullets of Madness

Sarah Killian 2: The Mullets of Madness Sarah Killian 2: The Mullets of Madness by Mark Sheldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There's nothing remotely funny about thr depredations of serial killers, who wreak tragic havoc for both victims and their loved ones. Nonetheless, author Mark Sheldon wrings his own thread of black noir gallows humour from the adventures of competent yet feckless Sarah Killian, "Professional Serial Killer," and her unwanted sidekick Mary Sue. Under threat from a former "colleague" (now pathological lunatic and prison escapee), Sarah and Mary Sue head to central Tennessee to take out a clan of white supremacists--all in the family, don't you know. But super-Nemesis Nick Jin is suddenly several steps ahead, there's a new seemingly supernatural overtone to his attacks, and Sarah and Mary Sue may not be "last man standing" this time around.

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