Everything about The 5: A Parnormal Thriller by Richard Freeland spoke to me and spoke loudly. With the horror season upon us, this seemed like a perfect read to share.

Richard Freeland enjoys a good margarita around a warm fire and so do I, so let’s get comfortable…for now.

Look at the creepy cover and tell me what you think the young lady has on her mind.

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Everything about The 5: A Paranormal Thriller by Richard Freeland has everything it takes to stop me in my tracks and check it out further. The fantastic cover is creepy and drew me in and I love paranormal thrillers, and the title finished me off. THEN, OMG, we have a serial killer. I know that may sound bad, but I LOVE serial killers.

Ben is a young boy with a vivid imagination and a penchant for writing. When Sarah comes to visit him from the spectral world, no one will believe him, but she keeps asking him to…

“Find me.”

Richard lulled me into a sense of complacency, then jerked me awake. The 5 was written in such a way that the surprises burst forth like a rose opening its bloom, unfolding each petal slowly, showing me its thorns as I grabbed ahold of the story. The horror kept coming and the ugliness of the killers made me sick as they laughed with glee. They are written perfectly. Camouflaged as ordinary people, the evil is hidden right in front of me.

I never suspected the killers, but I don’t think there were enough clues for me to find out ahead of time. Normally, I don’t like surprises, but Richard, I’ll take these kind of surprises any day of the week. I WANT MORE!

I received a copy of The 5: A Paranormal Thriller from Richard Freeland in return for an honest review.

5 Stars

To see my full review, an interview with Richard, and find out more about The 5, come on by fundinmental.

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Things are not going well for the Bureau of Paranormal Investigations in Chicago.  Not only are young people being kidnapped by a Shade (read: Vampire), several agents have lost their lives trying to fight them.  The government has only been studying vampires for two years and so far they really aren't equipped to deal with them. Alex McKenna takes the job no one wants and becomes Special Agent in charge of the Chicago bureau. Now that he has the job, he has to figure out a new strategy for dealing with the Shades and this might just involve finding himself someone on the inside.

Nightshades is clearly a novella and meant to start off a new series.  I've never been a fan of beginning a series that way because I don't feel that novellas offer enough room for character or world building.  I'm sorry to say that Nightshades didn't buck the trend on this, though it was a fairly good attempt.

Nightshades is as much a police procedural as it is a a vampire story.  In the last ten years, vampire stories have been so widely produced and distributed, I for one have given up on the idea of anything new being added to this particular supernatural lore.  Olson does include a few differences from traditional vampire lore in that her vampires can go into the sun and are said to by symbiotic with humans because their saliva can heal.  Vampires do need human blood to survive but the feeding of a vampire benefits a human because it boosts the immune system. Granted, it's not the first time we've seen vampires heal but for me at least, it's the first time it was described as symbiotic and explained that the reason we are having so many problems with diseases is because the vampire population is too low to counteract it.

One of the things I like about Alex is that he fought for his new position to prove himself.  I like that Olson had him trying to escape his mother's legacy as the first head of the FBI.  That's a bit of a gender bender there.  None of this however stops Alex from pulling rank and hiding vital information from his team.  Alex reminded me of Picard and Kirk in the sense that he damn well should have stayed with the ship but then came up with a B.S. excuse to put himself in the line of danger. Like any good captain, it looks like he's going to get the girl at the end of the day.

Lindy is a 1000 year old vampire and she actually reads like one in many respects.  Lindy speaks multiple languages and constantly has to work to make sure that she keeps up with things like human slang.  She studies her coworkers to learn about how to be more human.  When she learns that her coworker has a cat for instance, Lindy adopts one.  She even goes as far as to stain tupperware and leave it in the office to give the impression that she consumes food. Lindy is both smart and capable.


In terms of inclusion, there really isn't any significant amount to speak of.  Noelle Liang is a star engineer for the Chicago FBI office and she's a lesbian.  When Alex has a tech question or task, this is Noelle is who he turns to.  Unfortunately, Noelle didn't really rise to a lever of a character because she didn't have a significant role in the story and beyond her race, sexuality and job, we know virtually nothing about her.  Because Nightshades is a novella, I'm very tempted to give Olson a pass on this because there wasn't really a lot of room for character development.

In terms of people of colour, aside of Noelle, there's also Stella and Diaz.  Stella is a hematologist and a captive of the head Shade.  Stella is being controlled against her will and lives her life in fear. We lean nothing about Stella except that she works for the King, that she's Black and is afraid.  Stella is a tool; she's not a character.  Then there's Diaz, whose attack began this story.  Diaz is a tough no nonsense man whom Giselle becomes fascinated with.  Diaz's main contribution is to be attacked and then glamoured into helping the Shades.

Read More

Aaron Pilan’s life is forever changed when he’s shot trying to rescue a drop-dead gorgeous woman on the streets of New York. Aaron is thrust into the shocking world of vampiric slavery when Michelle shares her blood to save his life.

Michelle's existence as a solitary vampire is also altered when she accepts this naive young man into her life. Bound by her blood, Aaron is subject to her authority. He walks a tightrope of strictly controlled feeding regiments and intense sexual adventures while catering to the neurotic control-freak tendencies of his new master. She vows to eliminate him if he proves too difficult to control.

This story is bold and evocative, infusing blood, sex, love and turmoil in an urban drama about two vampires battling evil outside and within themselves.

My Review:

I love this cover. I really love this cover.  Luedke always has the best covers every time. How gorgeous is it? Have you looked at the cover? Seriously.  I love this cover. Have I said how much I love this cover?

New York is the best installment of the Nightlife. I absolutely love Michelle, I love her spunk, I love her depth... Every cast member in these books stands out as bright individuals as well as really fantastic support players. I love the plot, and intensity, I love the thrilling excitement, I love it all. I love everything about this book.

I can't get enough of these books Luedke pens wonderful well detailed worlds and cast members that pull you in from page one. New York is fun, its sexy, and its a thrill ride of hot romance and a fun discovery on how to stand in their world and be a part of it both on their own and together. Its fun, its beautiful, and its unique above other supernatural thriller romances I read. Luedke is fantastic.

My Rating:

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Disclaimer:
Krissys Bookshelf Reviews received a digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, comments and ratings are my own.

Source:
Received a digital copy in exchange for an honest review from the Author.

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“The mind of man is capable of anything.”  ― Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

“And all we feared inside the night
shows true in morning’s biased light.” ― Garth von Buchholz

I give Abby Greenwood kudos for trying. The idea is solid for her book, “Dark Hearts,” and could easily be transformed to any situation where people fight and kill one another simply because they are “different.” Well, and to turn a profit, of course. Native Americans slaughtered by the whites who came to this land. Religious difference, skin color differences, the list goes on and on.

The thing is, there were too many issues with the book to allow me to completely enjoy it. First, I was expecting a tense, suspenseful crime thriller. What is here is a mild police procedural with a romantic bent, based around a serial killer, race tensions in LA, and two officers who are doing their best to track down who is murdering people and stirring up said race tensions, and why. The “bad guys” were easily spotted, however, and their reasoning was fairly blatant early on in the book. The story arc was also damaged by lack of continuity – first one, then the other, and it was irritating that there was no editing for continuity. It shows up very early in the book and threw me off. There is also a ‘dropped’ story line that disappointed me.

Then we come to the ‘police procedural’ backbone of the book, and the lack of procedural and logistical knowledge of the author had me crossing my eyes. If you are going to write about a profession, whether it be police work, firefighting, or computer hacking, you have to research – something that was lacking here.

Overall, if you are just looking for an easy read, this is quick, and as I said the idea is good. I wish I could have enjoyed it more than I did. Great cover though.

*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.

When Jonathan Roche, a past threat to Jade, shows up at the current dig site claiming to have hired her for this site and trusts her, things twist around for Jade and Professor. They learn about Phantom Time in the calendar conversions before Jade's intern turns on them, killing Roche then running. Speaking with Roche on his secrets lands Jade on an extremists hit list. Running for her life, Jade is also determined to figure out what it was that got Roche killed. Seeing through the haze the Changelings have put in place, Jade finds her way to Archimedes's vault that's to hold secret weapons. What it really holds is more, and could be what

Oh! Jeffrey does an Australian accent for Norris. We also get a Scottish accent quick when Jade visits Scotland. There are a few accents that Jeffrey slips into with ease as we listen to the story. I do find his voice ever so easy to listen to. And I find that even though his voice is easy to listen to, it does not distract from the story. The story has my attention and my curiosity. I love that Jeffrey doesn't give hints away as he's narrating.

Jade is on 'the' list of a few different organizations. Jade has now made it to another list calling for her death, because of what she is working on and who she's talked to. Then, when the first attempt on her life is botched it draws the leader into the fray, more determined to see her dead. She must be on to what they want kept secret and that they are after her. But there is more to the drive than both Jade and Atash Shah know. But with the mention of Archimedes vault, Jade's attention is focused and her curiosity piqued. She's determined to find it.

Jade and Professor. I do love them together. They both have strong personalities that could clash, but they work well together too. Jade and Professor know themselves, and accept who they are. They also know how the other is and work with that knowledge. They make a great team! I realized that more so in this book as they separate for a bit, same mission but different avenues to search. However, when they come back together I found I enjoy the spark they have as they work together. They have no problem telling each other the way it is and being honest; in doing so, there is a caring there too. Do I want them as a couple? Hmm. Yes and no. I love what they have now but the potential is there for more. If they keep their personalities and stubbornness, then maybe.

The theory behind it all... There is so much background and support created to endorse the theories. The story is written nice and tight with the information. We reflect on the same pieces a few times, adding to the information each time to see how it actually fits with the story. The story leads to the pieces we need, and the pieces lead the story. I did take my time in listening, noting and reflecting on each piece of information we learn. I was determined to follow their paths.

This book takes the twist on the calendar and all that people have done to make the passing of time easy for us to understand and live by and uses it to create a mystery of old. There is so much we have done to create the calendar we use now that it's a wonderful secret to time, lost time each year. There is also mention of suspension that there are a fake 300 years added to history. This is where some in the world could get upset as what happened in those years would be false and what they believe then... false. People would kill for their beliefs. Add to that a secret vault created and filled, with secret weapons, by Archimedes. It's been hidden and protected all these years by what could be the Changelings, so no one has access to it when it opens every 1,000 years.

The story had me curious as to what was really going on. The authors kept me guessing throughout the book. The Changelings and the vault. What is the ultimate end game for it all? I was not let down in how it all came together. It never fails, these authors and stories give us an adventure with danger at every turn of solving the mystical mystery.