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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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



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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.

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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+

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Review: Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the Btk Killer

Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the Btk Killer by Katherine Ramsland
My rating: 0 of 5 stars



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Review: The Black Magic Series

The Black Magic Series by Dennis Wheatley
My rating: 0 of 5 stars



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BLOOD SACRIFICES by Brian Moreland_Tour

Blood Sacrifices houses four tales of terror by one of the masters of horror, Brian Moreland. Previously only available in digital format, these stories are compiled into one book and can now be ordered in print!

Follow along the tour with the hashtags: #BloodSacrifices #4TalesofTerror #BrianMoreland

Synopsis for Blood Sacrifices: Four Tales of Terror

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Publication Date: April 5, 2016

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Publisher: Samhain

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Publication Length: 282 pages

Some evils require sacrifices.

From the author of Dead of Winter and The Devil’s Woods come four tales of blood-tingling horror:

The Girl from the Blood Coven

In this short prequel to The Witching House, when Abigail Blackwood claims her hippy commune family has been massacred, Sheriff Travis Keagan and his deputies investigate. They discover there’s more than weed smoking going on at Blevins House. Much more.

The Witching House

Sarah Donovan is scared of just about everything, but she helps her adventurous boyfriend investigate the old, abandoned Blevins House, scene of a forty-year-old unsolved massacre. Little do they know the house is hungry for fresh prey…

Darkness Rising

When Marty Weaver encounters three killers who like to play sadistic games with their victims,his own scarred past is unearthed. And when his pain is triggered, blood will flow…and hell will rise.

The Vagrants

Beneath the city of Boston, evil is gathering. While living under a bridge with the homeless, journalist Daniel Finley witnessed something that nearly cost him his sanity. Now, with a book published about the experience, he’s caught between the Irish mafia and a deranged cult preparing to shed blood on the street.

This is a collection of books previously published in digital format.

Purchase Links

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Samhain

 

Brian’s Audio Books at Audio Realms

 

Brian Moreland, Biography

Brian Moreland is a best-selling and award-winning author of novels and short stories in the horror and supernatural suspense genre. In 2007, his novel Shadows in the Mist, a Nazi occult thriller set during World War II, won a gold medal for Best Horror Novel in an international contest. The novel went on to be published in Austria and Germany under the title Schattenkrieger.

Shadows in the Mist, Dead of Winter, and The Devil's Woods are his currently available novels, as well as his Kindle short-story The Girl from the Blood Coven and the novella it led into called The Witching House.  Now, he has released the full-length The Devil’s Woods. His novella, The Vagrants, was released in 2014, and another, Darkness Rising, in 2015.

He loves hiking, kayaking, watching sports, dancing, and making guacamole. Brian lives in Dallas, Texas where he is diligently writing his next horror novel.  When not working on his books or books for other writers, Brian edits documentaries and TV commercials around the globe. He produced a World War II documentary in Normandy, France, and worked at two military bases in Iraq with a film crew.

Brian lives in Dallas, Texas. You can communicate with him online at www.brianmoreland.com, his Dark Lucidity blog, Twitter, or .

Praise for Brian Moreland

"For horror fans wanting a healthy dose of the small-town stuff a la Stephen King, be sure to pick up a copy of this (The Girl from the Blood Coven) memorable and frightening short story, a wonderful teaser that will whet your appetite for the main course, The Witching House, where the twisted story continues." -DarkEva/Hellnotes

" Very much in the tradition of HELL HOUSE, THE WITCHING HOUSE is a creepy, modern turn on the haunted house story." -Tim Potter 

"Far and away the best new piece of fiction I've read this year. With Darkness Rising, Brian Moreland reminded me why he's one of my two favorite (not King, Laymon, Ketchum...etc.) authors out there (the other being Ronald Malfi). I'm a huge fan of his novel, Shadows in the Mist, but I think this novella rivals it." -Glenn Rolfe, author of Blood and Rain, on Darkness Rising

"Brian Moreland writes a blend of survival horror and occult mystery that I find impossible to resist. I know, when I've got one of his books in my hands, that I'm going to be lost to the world for hours on end. He's just that good." -Joe McKinney, author of Dead City and Flesh Eaters

"A thrilling, wholly-engrossing read that masterfully crosses multiple genres and leaves the reader breathless. Moreland weaves one hell of a history lesson, rich with brilliant characters and incredible plot twists. Highly recommended!" -Brian Keene, bestselling author of The Last Zombie and Ghoul, on Dead of Winter

“Dead of Winter is an exceptionally well crafted horror novel that tells a gripping story of dark religious doings, a horrific serial killer, and a sympathetic Inspector, in a dark and fascinating historical setting of 19th century Canada. The atmospherics are outstanding and the story offersplenty of surprises right up to its shocking and violent conclusion. Highly recommended.” 
- Douglas Preston,  New York Times bestselling co-author of The Monster of Florence and Cold Vengeance

“Brian Moreland’s fiction is taut and spellbinding, often blending varied themes to form a dark genre very much his own.  From his WWII occult thriller Shadows in the Mist, to the haunting chiller The Devil’s Woods, Brian’s work is at once versatile, original, and deeply engaging.” -Greg F. Gifune, author of The Bleeding Season

"The Devil's Woods is an awesome horror novel, filled with nerve-wracking suspense and thrilling action!” - Jeff Strand, author of Wolf Hunt

Want to Feature Brian Moreland?

If you would like a copy of the book for review or to conduct an interview with Brian Moreland, please contact Erin Al-Mehairi, Publicist, at Hook of a Book Media: hookofabook@hotmail.comkofabook@hotmail.com

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Review: Blood Sacrifices

Blood Sacrifices by Brian Moreland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars 

Review: BLOOD SACRIFICES by Brian Moreland

A delectable selection of 4 horror stories from Brian Moreland, the author noted for "thinking person's horror. Mr. Moreland, who can squelch 'em out with the best of them, is also a powerful intellect. Not for him is the simple slice-and-dice. He makes readers think, and expands their imaginative horizons.

Included here are "The Girl from the Blood Coven," "The Witching House," "Darkness Rising," and "The Vagrants."

Review: Mammoth

Mammoth by Douglas Perry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: MAMMOTH By Douglas Perry

From the first page, I felt a heavy dark cloud hanging over my left shoulder, the type that promises severe electrical storms and tornadoes. Only this cloud promises imminence of destruction, for the town of Mammoth View, and for the girls' camp on the mountain-the only runner's camp for adolescent girls in the nation. The cloud doesn't identify its form of destruction; but the reader will labor under a breath-suppressing dread nonetheless.

This perception carried throughout the book, but the numerous characters so engaged me that my attention remained riveted. Both writing and character are excellent. As for plot: after several decades of mystery reading, guessing at villains and outcomes, MAMMOTH fooled me, totally, and more than once! I had the thrill of discovery, because "I sure didn't see THAT coming!!"

Definitely a Best of 2016!

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Review: The Guilty

The Guilty by Gabriel Boutros
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Review: THE GUILTY by Gabriel Boutros

In an ironic example of life imitating art, the day prior to reading THE GUILTY, I pondered the description of "The Devil's Defender," the autobiography of John Henry Browne, the defense attorney who represented Ted Bundy and many others accused of heinous crimes. As I considered the ramifications of defending such individuals, I read THE GUILTY, in which a Montreal defense attorney finds himself pondering similarly. A man who self-admittedly cared nothing about witnesses (they're the prosecution's lookout) and lived only for triumph, yet eventually he enters into circumstances which impel him to reconsider his profession and his [lack of] principles.

Robert Bratt is not a character for whom I could develop any empathy. An arrogant egotist, he defended accused to acquittal, freeing some to reoffend. Of course, for Bratt, those clients (white-collar crime as well as rape and murder) paid him well "to do what he loved to do," which I guess made his clients only well-paying tools.

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Review: Longreave

Longreave by Daniel Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: LONGREAVE by Daniel Barnett

If you've read Daniel Barnett's THE SAFE, you will find yourself impelled to read LONGREAVE, an equally astounding yet very different novel. (If you haven't yet read THE SAFE, why haven't you?) THE SAFE focused on a man already deemed mad. LONGREAVE chronicles a perfectly ordinary man's descent into madness. In one day, Mark Currier loses his childhood home, his wife, his employment, and his lifelong "home away from home," the Longreave Hotel, a late 19th century icon on the Atlantic, where his father had been employed, and where Mark works.

Upended to the point of homelessness, virtually abandoned, adrift Mark sinks his sizable severance payment into a brand-new obsession: restoring the foundation of the Longreave, which has suffered erosion damage from winters and salt-water breezes.

No one knows Mark remains in the hotel--not his wife, her odd brother, nor the former owner. Only his deceased child, whatever hides in the unused boiler, and Mark's escalating madness know...

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Review: Blood Sacrifices

Blood Sacrifices by Brian Moreland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: BLOOD SACRIFICES by Brian Moreland

A delectable selection of 4 horror stories from Brian Moreland, the author noted for "thinking person's horror. Mr. Moreland, who can squelch 'em out with the best of them, is also a powerful intellect. Not for him is the simple slice-and-dice. He makes readers think, and expands their imaginative horizons.

Included here are "The Girl from the Blood Coven," "The Witching House," "Darkness Rising," and "The Vagrants."



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