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review 2020-06-25 21:37
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
The Only Good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones

I kept hearing whispers about this book. People were SO excited and wanted it so badly and those whispers stuck in my head but I hadn’t read the author and I REFUSED to visit Netgalley because I have absolutely zero willpower when it comes to their offerings. But then a few super early reviews came in and naturally I had a weak moment and hit up NetGalley and I am not at all sorry. Well, perhaps a wee bit because there was some animal stuff in here that was hard to read (prepare thyself) but trust me when I say this book is an experience that has the power to take your damn breath away. I don’t say that about a lot of books, hardly any at all actually, but this one managed to do it several times.

It’s about a horrifically bleak and terrible dark deed done by a few over-zealous young punks on a part of the reservation that did not belong to them. This memory will follow and haunt them (as well it should if you ask me). This book is painful to read but truly hard to put down at the same time. Whenever I had to put it aside to return to reality it lingered at the edges of my brain.

“When the whole world hurts, you bite it, don’t you?”

I struggled with this review. I kept starting it and stopping it fearing I’d never be able to do any kind of justice to it without spoiling the hell out of it and I am not going to do that. This book shocked me even though I was warned that it was going to do just that. I figured, “Nah it’s not going to get ME” but I was wrong. The writing is engaging and harrowing, the characters flawed and hard to look away from and it’s simply a beautifully tragic masterpiece of horror on so many levels with anguish so strong you can feel it stain your soul. Read it if you want your heart ripped out of your chest, chewed up, spit out, rubbed in the bloody dirt, and then super glued back together with your tears.

Brilliantly breath-stealing. Just go read it if this is at all something that you think you’re into. I'm giving this one a rare five star because it is deserving and this book is the reason why I am so miserly with my five stars!

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review 2020-06-09 21:28
Whispers In The Dark by Laurel HIghtower
Whispers In The Dark - Laurel HIghtower

I’m going to be honest here and say that I’m not a major fan of police procedural type books, movies or tv but I’ll always make an exception when several someones tell me I need to pay attention to something and that’s why I decided to read Whispers In The Dark. People on my Twitter feed would not shut up about it and now that I’ve read it I can understand the positive buzz.

Rose is a sniper with a painful past and when the book begins she is in a standoff with an irrational man. The scene is intense and shows Rose is calm, cool and knows what she’s doing but this event is more than it seems. Rose is also more than she seems and soon after finds herself and her family embroiled in a battle for their lives. The stakes are high and the revelations are chilling. You’ll have to read the book to discover them though because I am not a spoiler of books.

The best thing about this story, besides the history and the creep-factor and the ever-lurking dread, were the characters and their very complicated relationships with each other. They’re flawed, realistic, relatable - all of those things, and I really enjoyed reading their stories and reactions to events. Life is often messy, imperfect, frustrating, and disappointing and this book felt real to me because of the character’s interactions with each other and the realism and emotion written into the scenes. I still find it difficult to believe this novel was a debut. That sort of blows my mind.

I’m glad I listened to my horror people and gave this book a chance. I can easily recommend it to anyone looking to escape reality for a while and fall into a tension-filled novel with unforgettable characters.

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review 2020-06-05 00:24
THe Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires: A Novel - Grady Hendrix

I’m a little late to this one so I’ll only add my one cent instead of my usual two. You’re welcome, lol. Also, everyone else has already said all the things and said them better than I ever could at this point.

 

So I'll start off with my complaint because, sorry for those who don’t know, I’m kind of a jerk. This book about proper southern housewives and the possible pasty-ass vampire in their midst is set in the ’90s and I continually felt as if I were reading a book set in the ’70s. It might be because the whole housewife under the thumb of her man is rather foreign to me and it feels  outdated in the ’90s but I could probably chalk this up to different life experiences. Anyhow, I pretended it was set in the late ’70s and it was easier to swallow the fact that these ladies were feeling so beholden to their menfolk. And, argggghhh, these men. They are all so TERRIBLE. Terrible, horrible, evil, selfish creatures who were rude and condescending and infuriating whenever they were on the page.  I’m not even talking about the vampiric one either. He’s even worse but at least he has a bit of an excuse. He IS a monster. He is expected to behave like a monster (and damn does he ever!) The rest of these dudes are simply vile humans and I’m so glad all men weren’t like this in the ’90s and that’s all I have to say about that.

 

Whew, sorry about that. The rest of the book is fantastic. It’s full of dark humor and takes its time with the horror. The opening chapters set the scene and bring the characters and their daily struggles to life but when the horror happens hold on tight because things get creepy, disturbing, and gross. These ladies are smart and when no one will listen to them (see above) after children start disappearing and other horrible things happen, they have to take matters into their own hands and things get gloriously grisly. 

 

“Let me tell you something there’s nothing nice about Southern Ladies.”

 

I’d like to see a sequel where the husbands are taken care of properly in the end. And when I say taken care of properly, I mean served up on a platter instead of being waited on by their ladies. Sorry, but I can only speaketh the truth.

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review 2020-05-11 21:16
You Are Not Alone
You Are Not Alone - Greer Hendricks,Sarah Pekkanen
I've read both THE WIFE BETWEEN US (5 stars) & AN ANONYMOUS GIRL (4 stars) and love/liked them but this one didn't manage to hit as hard with me. The secrets didn't thrill or disturb me very much but that doesn't mean you won't love it. I also listened on audio which comes with its own set of challenges.

Things start off when a young woman named Shay witnesses a woman jump to her death right before her eyes. Shay decides to look into this lovely mysterious woman and it leads her to more lovely mysterious women and eventually she believes she's become one of these lovely mysterious women but nothing is as it seems. And that's all I'll say. This is a mystery, after all, and I am not a spoiler or books.

I should've been a blurb writer with this talent, right?

My problem with the story is the lead character of Shay. I've glanced at a few reviews and I do believe this is a matter of taste and probably mood because no one has mentioned this but me. So I will be the jerk today. What else is new? Anyhow, I'm just going to come right out and say it. Shay was a bit of a sad sack. I found it difficult to understand her or to empathize with her. She makes many poor choices and sometimes comes across as impossibly naive when it comes to the "mysterious women" as well as other things in her life. To be completely honest, she drove me a little nuts.

There's another thing too. I listened to this book as an unabridged audio and it features many female characters and none of them were fleshed out enough for my liking so I continually mixed them up. The timeline also switches around and there was a time or ten when I found myself confused. Who is this person? What is her deal? What year is this? Who am I again? I'd recommend reading this one as a paperback if you are as easily befuddled as myself.

I sound so negative. Maybe this one should be more of a 2 3/4's star? I don't know. This is why I despise numeric ratings But I do know that I didn't hate it or "not like it". The revelations were not earth-shattering but it was entertaining enough to keep me going so I'm sticking with the three. A low three but a three nonetheless. Perhaps I have finally died inside and you should probably listen to the other reviews instead! That's my recommendation anyway.
 

 

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review 2020-05-02 02:34
On The Night Border by James Chambers
On The Night Border - James Chambers
On The Night Border is a collection of dark stories that has a little something for everyone fond of horror fiction. Oftentimes a collection like this can feel repetitive and fatigue me so much that I need a break from it but that didn’t happen here. I never knew quite what I was getting into with each story and that’s the best feeling!

I’m not going to summarize every story because we are currently in an apocalypse and who has the time to read all that when you could be reading the book?! Also? Still lazy over here.

There were no badly written stories here nor were there any duds. There was only one story, the last one actually, that didn’t thrill me because it was about infectious disease and quarantine camps and death and this is all something I’m trying my best to avoid reading about right now. Totally not the story’s fault though.
 
My favorite stories are these:

Marco Polo: This one was pure grisly fun and I loved it. It reminded me of that old show Tales from the Darkside. Anyone but me remember that show with its wonderfully ghastly tagline: ‘there is, unseen by most, an Underworld, a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit, a Dark side. The Dark Side is always there, waiting for us to enter, waiting to enter us.’? Mwahaha. This story and many of the stories in this book would fit right in on that show. If someone rich and famous is reading my dumb reviews PLEASE REBOOT TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE. This story, in particular, is dark and twisty and a little manic. The perfect type of story to escape into.

Sum’bitch and the Arakadile This story is a tale of monsters and monstrous mothers and it made me sad for a few reasons I will not spoil. It’s short and to the point and might just poke you in the heart if you have one.

Mnemonicide: My notes say only YIKES! Haha, so I’m going on memory here. This one is about the purging of memories. We’ve all likely said and/or done things, maybe seen a few things, or met some people that we’d like removed from our brains. One dude decides to go for it in the most selfish way possible. This one BOTHERED me so much! You must read it and get bothered too!

What’s in the Bag, Dad? The setting is a traveling circus and ever since falling in absolute love with Katherine Dunn’s GEEK LOVE, I have a huge soft spot for those. There’s magic and pain and again some sadness here. It also kept me guessing which kept me reading because I am nosy and had to know what the hell was in the bag!

The Driver, Under A Cheshire Moon: Well, this sucker packs a punch. It’s dark but it is the best kind of dark. It lulls you into thinking one thing and then it sideswipes you with the truth of the situation. I ♥ it.

Living Dead: is a lighter-hearted story about the lovelorn and the living dead. This is my kind of story. And if you like this one you should also read Terry Maggert’s COOL TO THE TOUCH as a nice little companion piece. You will thank me later, haha.

I’ll stop here before I end up carrying on about all of the stories. Do yourself a favor and read this one if you need some fiction that’ll transport you to another world for a little bit. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
 
 
 

 

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