Review: Children To The Slaughter

Children To The Slaughter by A.I. Nasser
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: CHILDREN TO THE SLAUGHTER by A. I. Nasser [Slaughter Series Book 1]

This is the first story I've read from A. I. Nasser, and I'm quite impressed. The story is very twisty, tautly plotted, and as the contemporary situation of the town (and a horrible situation it is) is securely founded in history (1826), the historical record is cleverly interwoven. I alternated between "oh no!!!" And "I can't believe these people would stoop to---" which made this story an absorbing one-session read for me. I'm off to read the next in the series.

Caution: Although the story relies on character, an unexpected plot, and subtle horror--there are some instances of outright violence, a few graphic descriptions, and a whole lot of grief and sorrow [plus several characters I wanted to shake senseless). Also, it does focus on the disappearance of multiple children (although not in detail). Just a gentle caution.

View all my reviews

Review: Vicki Beautiful

Vicki Beautiful by Somer Canon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: VICKY BEAUTIFUL by Somer Canon

How far are you willing to go to fulfill the final wishes of your best friend or your spouse? That question is the crux of this debut horror novella. I found the horror extreme, even considering that I read the work of Edward Lee, Matt Shaw, and Bryan D. Smith, so I kept my teeth gritted and my eyes metaphorically shut throughout. [That's my fair warning for the faint of heart and the queasy of stomach.] I can't even say I liked the story; but I rate it 5 stars for writing, characterization, plot, and execution. It's really well-done. Now I have to restring my wrenched heartstrings.

View all my reviews

Review: A Time of Torment

A Time of Torment by John Connolly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: A TIME OF TORMENT by John Connolly

I've never met a novel in John Connolly' s fabulous Charlie Parker series I didn't absolutely adore. A TIME OF TORMENT is no exception. Totally riveting, this mystery thriller unfolds yet more of Parker' s astonishing worlds [I use the plural by design] as he becomes involved in investigating a long-term conspiracy linked to a reclusive solitary community literally in the wilds of West Virginia, a community where both criminality and outright evil have flourished for two centuries. John Connolly is far and away one of the best living authors, and A TIME OF TORMENT should not be missed.

View all my reviews

Review: The Apartment: A Horror Story

The Apartment: A Horror Story by S.L. Grey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: THE APARTMENT by S. L. Grey

This story is non-stop horror. I seem not to have breathed through the duration of the read, and I'm sure its themes will manage to infest my dreams. The author does a marvelous job of balancing on a knife edge not only the protagonists [two, a married couple, alternating well-written first-person narrative], but also the reader. We remain on tenterhooks as we constantly endeavor to determine whether the causes are supernatural in origin, or simply a run of bad circumstances exacerbating the psychological decline of a grieving, troubled, mind. I know my perspectives have changed for having read it.

View all my reviews

Review: The Night Stalker

The Night Stalker by Robert Bryndza
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: THE NIGHT STALKER by Robert Bryndza
DCI Erika Foster #2]

If you haven't begun this series with THE GIRL IN THE ICE, you're really missing out. Both are excellent, penned by an author who Is unafraid to expose his characters' true nature [whether protagonist, villain, or victim] and his grasp of character psychology is sound. His protagonist, Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster, formerly of the Manchester [England] force, more recently of London, is a headstrong individual whose reliance on "instinct" is fast becoming out of control. In my review of THE GIRL IN THE ICE, I offered comparison to Angela Marsons' DI Kim Stone, and I believe this to be true for that book. However, by the finish of THE NIGHT STALKER, Erika is clearly devolving, so is diverging from similarity to other strong but unstable female sleuths. Nonetheless I shall be waiting impatiently for DCI Erika Foster' s next stunning appearance.

View all my reviews

Review: I Am Providence: A Novel

I Am Providence: A Novel by Nick Mamatas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: I AM PROVIDENCE by Nick Mamatas

Author H. P. Lovecraft' s headstone epitaph reads "I am Providence." Certainly he is that for his subset of fans. Come witness the antics, tragedies, and utter sneakiness and ego-posturing on display throughout the "Summer Tentacular," the annual fan convention held in Providence for writers, readers, fanzine publishers, and dealers in Lovecraft Mythos memorabilia. I learned much about Lovecraft' s fiction and life while following the convolutions of the multiple mysteries.

View all my reviews

BOUT OF BOOKS 16_Coming in May.

Bout of Books 16

May 9-16

Books I've Read:  

Monday May 9:

"Pitch," J. D. Horn (short story)

"Table 9," Amy Cross (short story)

THE AXEMAN, Ray Celestin [original title THE AXEMAN'S JAZZ]

THE BLOOD HOUSE, Amy Cross

Tuesday May 10:

WALLEYE JUNCTION, Karen Salavaggio

THE OCCUPIED, Craig Parshall

Wednesday May 11:

"The Lodge," Travis Burrows (short story)

THE STRANGE ATTRACTOR, Desmond Cory

ASH AND BONES, Mike Thomas

GHOST AHEAD, Spike Black

Thursday May 12:

- - -

Friday May 13:

"Mono no Aware," Ken Liu (short story)

A PARISH DARKER,  Rhys Ermire

DEAD MAN WALKING (Ishmael Jones Book 2), Simon Green

Saturday May 14:

OLIVER AND JUMPY, Stories 40-42, Werner Stjeskal [children's series]

HEX PREVIEW EXCERPT CHAPTERS 1-10 By Thomas Olde Heuvelt

HALLOWEEN CANDY, Paul Phillips

THE HOUSE THAT HELL BUILT, Matt Shaw, Michael Bray, Stuart Keane

"Halloween Candy," Lyle Perez-Tinics (short story)

Sunday May 15:

SHERLOCK'S DEMON, Simon Clark

COPPER'S KEEPER, A. I. Nasser

89: A PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER,  Stuart Keane

FINDING HARRY STYLES, G. B. Hope

Total: 16 books, 5 short stories

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I'll be participating--won't you??

Review: A Haunting Is Brewing

A Haunting Is Brewing by Juliet Blackwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: A HAUNTING IS BREWING by Juliet Blackwell

A delightfully spooky California cozy, this Novella set in San Francisco's trendy Mission District combines characters from two of the author's series, Haunted Home Renovation Mysteries, and Witchcraft Mysteries. Talented renovator Mel Turner is in charge of fixing up historic Spooner House. When a young volunteer dies, Mel combines with natural-born witch Lily to free spirits trapped in the house, and identity the killer.

View all my reviews

Review: Little Dead Red

Little Dead Red by Mercedes M. Yardley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: LITTLE DEAD RED by Mercedes M. Yardley

Oh my. SO not for the faint of heart. For the rest of us, first of all, this novella's prose reads like poetry. I would have finished so much faster if I hadn't so frequently stopped to savor images and metaphors. Second, this story is going to rip your heart out--again and again and again--and then, just when you think you can handle it: the eviscerating denouement. I never saw it coming. Couldn't possibly have expected it. Wish it hadn't been as it was. But dear me, what a powerful, potent noir is LITTLE DEAD RED.

3 Goodreads reviewers I respect recommended this title.

View all my reviews

Review: Berkley Street

Berkley Street by Ron Ripley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: BERKLEY STREET by Ron Ripley

I don't know what author Ron Ripley's nightmares are like, but he certainly knows how to bring on the scares, in every single story. BERKLEY STREET is frightening, very much, and I finished unsure which scared me more: the haunts, or the humans [shudder]. BERKLEY STREET is part of the MOVING IN series. Do read this, but not at night and not alone.

View all my reviews

Review: The Forbidden Territory

The Forbidden Territory by Dennis Wheatley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: FORBIDDEN TERRITORY by Dennis Wheatley

The early 20th century was plentiful with prolific authors: Dennis Wheatley, Sax Rohmer, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and many more. Most hold in common intriguing characters, wildly adventurous plots, and writing that is easily accessible, even nearly a century later. I'm so glad to see Dennis Wheatley's work in new publication. At minimum, his novels provide scenic, adventuresome, heart-in-mouth escapism, a perfect comfortable evening's reading entertainment, and maybe, some food for thought too.

View all my reviews

Review: Three Times Removed

Three Times Removed by M.K. Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: THREE TIMES REMOVED by M.K. Jones (Maze Investigations--The Genealogy Detectives Book 1)

I totally enjoyed this novel. Not quite sure what to expect when I started, but I've liked the genealogical cozy mysteries by Steve Robinson, so decided to try this new series and am quite impressed! Excellently written, with well-wrought, empathetic characters, fascinating plot lines, and a neat interweaving of present and past, in a beautifully scenic setting [rural Wales]. All this and an appealing paranormal thread, too. I was quickly drawn into the characters' lives, both contemporary and 19th century, cheering their successes and seconding their dismay, failures, and grief. Eagerly anticipating Book 2!

View all my reviews

Review: Medea's Curse

Medea's Curse by Anne Buist
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: MEDEA' S CURSE by Anne Buist

One of my favorite themes in mysteries and psychological thrillers is the "difficult" female protagonist. You know who I mean: edgy, self-centered, often narcissistic, selfish, rough upbringing, but highly intuitive and with intense determination and drive. Take, for example, Angela Marsons' DI Kim Stone; Robert Bryndza' s DCI Erika Foster; Celina Grace' s DS Kate Redman. All women on the edge, carving their own paths.

Enter Natalie King, not a criminologist, but a forensic psychiatrist, specializing in women who are either victims or perpetrators of violence (often both). Natalie gets a category all her own in the "edgy" niche, but she well deserves it. In terms of psychological evolution, if evolution is a mutable response to the collapse of society and culture, Natalie King is the next stage.

View all my reviews

Review: For Dead Men Only

For Dead Men Only by Paula Paul
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Review: FOR DEAD MEN ONLY by Paula Paul

This fourth in the Alexandra Gladstone mysteries sees Dr. Gladstone pitting herself and her knowledge and training once again in opposition to patriarchal, insular, small-town society. Often we forget that women have only been an Integral component of the workforce for three-quarters of a century. In the late 19th century in rural England, Dr. Gladstone cannot term herself a physician, cannot use the honorific "Doctor," cannot perform autopsies! Nevertheless, she is a talented investigator, very much needed when the local Freemasons begin to fall prey, their deaths unexplained, and a mysterious figure appearing to be a Templar is seen on horseback.

View all my reviews

Review: The Girl In The Ice

The Girl In The Ice by Robert Bryndza
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: THE GIRL IN THE ICE by Robert Bryndza

Not a debut novel, but the mystery debut, and first of a series, THE GIRL IN THE ICE introduces us to an unusual protagonist, Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster [her return appearance will be "The Night Stalker," upcoming in 2016]. DCI Foster is, at the risk of triteness, a "lone wolf." In some ways she is somewhat comparable to DI Kim Stone of Angela Marsons' series: both are empowered women in jobs for two centuries considered the province of men; both are "loners," live alone, don't socialize; are incredibly self-determined to the extent of flying in the face of authority. Both have strong, efficient, intuition. They are not alike nor derivative, though.

The mystery here is complex and strongly founded in abnormal psychology. The author excellently does not telegraph the villain' s identity, instead offering readers several possibilities (not red herrings, but.actual contenders). I recommend THE GIRL IN THE ICE and anticipate further encounters with the intrepid and nearly fearless DCI Erika Foster.

View all my reviews

SPRING INTO HORROR Readathon

http://seasonsreading.blogspot.com/2016/03/spring-into-horror-read-thon-sign-up.html?showComment=1459775541613#c804029058947711801

#SpringIntoHorrorRAT

April 18: read Fred Harrison, BRADY AND HINDLEY: GENESIS OF THE MOOR MURDERS [2016 reissue] [True Crime, Britain]

April 18: read Haydn Jones, THE DEVIL AND THE UNICORN. [Horrir, Fic]

April 19: read Emilie Elkin Khair, KUDZU FOR CHRISTMAS [children's, fic]

April 19:  read Brooks Olbrys,THE ADVENTURES OF BLUE OCEAN BOB: INTO THE LEAD [children!s, fic]

April 18-19: read  Robert Bryndza, THE GIRL IN THE ICE [British crime, police procedural]

April 19-20: read Annie Buist, MEDEA'S CURSE [mystery, forensic psychiatrist, female sleuth,  Australia]

April 20: read Paula Paul, FOR DEAD MEN ONLY [mystery, historical]

April 20:  read M. K. Jones, THREE TIMES REMOVED (MAZE INVESTIGATIONS--THE GENEALOGY DETECTIVES BOOK 1) [contemporary & historical, mystery & family drama, Wales]

April 21: Dennis Wheatley, THE FORBIDDEN TERRITORY [suspense, adventure, historical]

April 21: Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, BEYOND THE ICE LIMIT--EXTENDED FREE PREVIEW

April 22: Ron Ripkey,  BERKLEY STREET [New England contemporary/historical Horror!]

Note: When possible, I like to devote Friday afternoon through Sunday night reading to "reading for myself."  This weekend, in honor of the Spring into Horror Read-a-Thon, it's an all-horror weekend. In addition to yesterday's read of BERKLEY STREET, I'm reading I AM PROVIDENCE [because anything Lovecraftian ROCKS!], LITTLE DEAD RED [highly recommended by Goodreads reviewers I trust], UNIT 731, THE LOVE OF THE DEAD, BLACK DOG. Rock on!!

April 23: Mercedes M. Yardley, LITTLE DEAD RED

April 23: Kevin Lucia, THE WAY OF AH-TZENUL: A CLIFTON HEIGHTS TALE

April 23: Craig Saunders, UNIT 731

April 23-24: Nick Mamatas, I AM PROVIDENCE [mystery, Lovecraft, horror]

Total: read 15!

            

Review: Brady and Hindley: Genesis of the Moors Murders

Brady and Hindley: Genesis of the Moors Murders by Fred Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: BRADY AND HINDLEY: GENESIS OF THE MOOR MURDERS by Fred Harrison

More than six decades ago, a young man of Scottish birth, exiled to Manchester, in whom sociopathic tendencies already flowered, met a girl from Gorton at his workplace. He couldn't love her (forever after he referred to her as "the girl"), but he did perceive a kindred soul. She chauffeured him, he introduced her to pantheism and to the force he selfishly served, "The Face of Death."

They were Ian Stewart Brady and Myra Hindley, and they were killers. They are also icons of evil.

Author Fred Harrison, a journalist and economist, repeatedly interviewed Brady in the 1980's. His account, originally published in 1986, is here updated with a new introduction. This book is not pleasure reading, but I think its narrative is significant in terms of history and criminal psychology.

View all my reviews

Review: Die of Shame

Die of Shame by Mark Billingham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: DIE OF SHAME by Mark Billingham

Another fascinating novel by a can't-miss author, DIE OF SHAME is exactly what the characters undergo, metaphorically or literally. Like a game of "Clue," my insistence on the identity of the villain bounced from one character to another, adding to the intrigue. Although there is plot--a strong one--I see the novel as character-driven. What the therapist calls 'here and now" is cleverly, consistently, intertwined with the past of various characters, and their backstory. Additionally, the female Detective Inspector is strong, empowered, determined, and evolving. London also is a character, by its presence.

View all my reviews

Review: Brady and Hindley: Genesis of the Moors Murders

Brady and Hindley: Genesis of the Moors Murders by Fred Harrison
My rating: 0 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Review: The Black Magic Series

The Black Magic Series by Dennis Wheatley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: THE BLACK MAGIC SERIES STARTER by Dennis Wheatley

Sorry, this is not a treatise on performing the Dark Arts. Instead, this volume collects the first three novels in the Black Magic series by Dennis Wheatley, a prolific British author of the 20th century, who penned more than 70 suspense and thriller titles. I had known of this author since childhood, but these are the first of his books I've read.

Surprisingly easy to read, these stories are literate, literary, simultaneously horrifying in their range. Mr. Wheatley is very opposed to practice of the Left Hand Path, and the paradigm of good vs. evil is the foundation throughout. Like near-contemporary H. P. Lovecraft, Wheatley is rather insular in his ethnic bigotry: the "dark races" are presented as of lower vibration than Caucasians, although more spiritually oriented (whereas Europeans are focused toward materialism and so conquered the world. Nevertheless these are exciting stories, perhaps in the vein of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Sax Rohmer [a personal favorite], or Robert E. Howard.

View all my reviews

Review: When the Music's Over: An Inspector Banks Novel

When the Music's Over: An Inspector Banks Novel by Peter Robinson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: WHEN THE MUSIC'S OVER: AN INSPECTOR BANKS NOVEL by Peter Robinson

I was very tardy discovering the mysteries/police procedural of Peter Robinson. I read ABBATOIR BLUES in July 2015, and immediately realized this is a series I want to consume. WHEN THE MUSIC'S OVER is his newest (releasing August 9).

Wow. Mr. Robinson is unafraid to tackle serious topics, in-depth, and here the locus is the British police drive to identify and prosecute "historic sexual abuse," offenses against minors dating back to the 1960's, possibly earlier. The villain is a former long-time celebrity, in similar status to several real-life celebrities successfully prosecuted in Britain.

A second focus revolves on the assimilation in Britain of descendants of immigrants, and the unfortunately all too prevalent bigotry [on both sides], not found in all cases but still too frequent.

A third focus is the ugly practice of "grooming," which in the US is a familiar urban failing. In Britain, the practice seems to often consist of older males targeting minor females, the more vulnerable or those feeling bullied, or abandoned by family. Providing attention and gifts, the victims are tenderized emotionally and psychologically. Next follows the violence and pimping.

Mr. Robinson presents several strongly-developed.characters, victims, police, villains. Inspector Banks, delightful as he is, is not left to carry the story on his own. Several strong female characters also propel the plot and lend depth and richness.

18+

View all my reviews