Tag: 1-kindle-loanable-titles • BookLikes

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review 2014-05-23 09:51

	3.5* This started off fantastically, Joe Connors is written with a wonderful noir edge to his character. He is asked to investigate the shooting of an officer that he knows well and ends up at the house where it happened. Unfortunately this is where the story lost me a bit, I felt that his character completely changed when he went to the house. His character seemed so hard boiled to begin with that it was strange for him to go from a sceptic to believer so quickly. For me I didn't feel the relationship between himself and his wife was explained enough to warrant his actions at the house. The ending also felt a little rushed and tied up too neatly. Although I've listed more negative points, I do enjoy Mr Meikles writing and I think he's given a fresh take on the 'haunted house' theme.

3.5*
This started off fantastically, Joe Connors is written with a wonderful noir edge to his character. He is asked to investigate the shooting of an officer that he knows well and ends up at the house where it happened. Unfortunately this is where the story lost me a bit, I felt that his character completely changed when he went to the house. His character seemed so hard boiled to begin with that it was strange for him to go from a sceptic to believer so quickly. For me I didn't feel the relationship between himself and his wife was explained enough to warrant his actions at the house. The ending also felt a little rushed and tied up too neatly. Although I've listed more negative points, I do enjoy Mr Meikles writing and I think he's given a fresh take on the 'haunted house' theme.

1-kindle-loanable-titles 2014 Reading Challenge

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review 2014-04-15 08:40

Kitty Horror

Donna has grown up with her grandmother Lena who can commune with the dead. Now that Donna is an adult, she finds that the dead also seek her out.

Donna is an aspiring artist who decides to start night classes to work on her art. The college used to be a children's hospital for those suffering from tuberculosis. Once there, Donna starts to experience strange sightings and things take a turn for the worse when her friend Andrea goes missing.

Ms Deluca has created some nice atmosphere with this read, there's nothing creepier than children in a horror story and some of the scenes are quite intense. This read made me question what was reality and what was Donna's visions, hallucinations or dreams. Some things in the book, I feel, aren't explained well enough. Such as why certain people died, what the children wanted and how the occult fitted into the storyline. Some things may have been put in there as red herrings, if they were it was very effective but caused this reader a bit of confusion.

Another issue for me was the pacing, there were some really great scenes where atmosphere was built up nicely but then the story would switch to something different and the atmosphere would be lost. Some more info regarding the hospital and the relationship between Donna and her grandmother would have been great to include as well.

All in all, this was a nice read and I would recommend it for those wanting a creepy ghost story. I look forward to reading some more of Ms DeLuca's work.

Read as one of Darkfuse books of the month.

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review 2014-04-14 06:26

Paranormal YA

Kitty Horror

A Life of Death (Episode 1) - Weston Kincade

WHAT IT'S ABOUT

Alex is retelling a story from his youth to his son. During his teenage years, his father has died and he now suffers at the hands of his abusive step-father. Spending more and more time away from home, he begins to experience the violent deaths of others when he touches belongings of the dead.

WHAT I LIKED

-It was an easy story to engage with.

-There was depth given to the main character, Alex was fleshed out nicely.

-The paranormal elements of the story were interesting, just enough to get me hooked on the rest of the series without giving it all away.

NOT SO HOT

-Not much to be honest, the parts with the abusive step-father felt a little heavy handed at times.

This is the first part in the series, it sets up the story nicely and I have high hopes for next part.

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review 2014-04-14 06:12

Wicked Treat.

Kitty Horror

4.5*

WHAT IT'S ABOUT

The Littles move to Morganville to start a new life after a violent incident in New York. However, Morganville is not the sleepy little town they imagined.

WHAT I LOVED

-It was a whole lot of fun to read and reminded me of why I love horror.

-The central characters were fleshed out nicely and I enjoyed the relationship between David and George.

-The fantastic 'aged' front cover, a wonderful throwback to 80's horror novels.

-Excellent pacing that made this a fast and engaging read.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

-Not much really. It would have been great to have had a little bit more info about Moloch to flesh him out as a character but that's just nit picking really.

A great read and well worth picking up.

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review 2014-04-14 05:43

Beautifully written Bizarro.

Kitty Horror

Angel Dust Apocalypse - Jeremy Robert Johnson

I absolutely loved this book. I thought the writing was exceptional, the stories had depth and even the shortest story drew you in with it's character development. Labelling this read as just bizarro would be wrong as it offered far more than bizarro stories.

These are some of my favourites:

Amniotic shock in the last sacred place - Horrifying experimentation.

Precedents - A murder told from the end to the beginning, very clever.

Working at home - Nasty little story with creepy crawlies.

Sparklers burning - loved this. Cleaning tips for a serial killer, I laughed at the mention of glitter on the 'shrine'.

Last thoughts drifting down - I liked how this tied in with a few other stories. Very clever perspective on the nuclear holocaust.

Swimming in the house of the sea - Poignant story about the awful things people do just for the fun of it.

This is a beautifully written short story collection, I would highly recommend picking this up.

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