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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: "Dismantling Vindictiveness" by Lillian R. Melendez

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After reading Auditory Viewpoint, I eagerly dove into Dismantiling Vindictiveness, by Lillian Melendez. It's quite difficult to find a good crime novel now. I still read Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
But Ms. Melendez succeeded in writing great, quick fiction that leaves the reader wondering, "What will happen next?"

In Dismantiling Vindictiveness we meet a very involved cast of characters who work at, respectively, two different architechture firms, a local paper and a gift shop.
Both firms are having disparate troubles and the CEOs decide to merge...even though it didn't work out well years before.

But slanderous stories start appearing in the paper about one of the firms, and the CEO's ex goes undercover to investigate those, which center around missing money, and the mysteriously deliberate hit-and-run murder committed on an employee.
All while one young employee receives mysterious letters warning him about something untoward happening.

This is a classic whodunnit with a story so involved it seems like Agatha Christie decided to write an episode of General Hospital (and I mean that as a compliment!).Check this book out as soon as you can if you enjoy crime novels. It's a fast, fun, head-scratching read!

4/5--great!

Purchase Dismantling Vindictiveness via:

Amazon

Goodreads

YouTube (trailer)

Barnes And Noble

Google Books

Monday, December 30, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: "Beg Me To Slay" by Lisa Kessler

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Lisa Kessler has given us vampires, werewolves and jaguar shifters. Now, in her latest book Beg Me To Slay, she brings us demons, slayers and witches.Tegan was attacked by a demon four years ago, but she didn't know what be was at the time, and when she sees he followed her to San Diego, she knows that she needs to do something to stop him from finishing her off, so she hires a private investigator/paranormal investigator.
Gabe is sexy as Hell, but the truth he reveals to her sends her world into a tailspin: demons are real, they're looking for her and his real occupation is as a demon slayer, keeping humans safe from the evil tgat inhabited the Earth.
But WHY is Tegan so important to the demons? And does her father's Welsh bloodline hold the key to saving them all or destroying the human plane?

I've read every single book Mrs. Kessler has released, and I can say with utter confidence that this is her best work yet! Perhaps it's because I've always enjoyed stories about demons and demon hunters, or perhaps it's her colorful demonic cast, but I think it is because in Tegan and Gabe she created two of the most intense, realistic and emotional characters yet.
Aside from a good amount of violence and steamy sex, this is a story about survival, and never letting your past dictate your future. It's about fighting for your life, your love and your world.For fans of her previous works, horror television/film and stories with great meaning.

5/5--magnificent!

Purchase Beg Me To Slay visas the following:

Amazon (US)

Barnes And Noble

Goodreads

Amazon (UK)

Google Books

iBooks

COVET RELEASE DAY BLAST: 12/30/13















Covets have all the sexiness, emotion, and happily ever after that readers have come to expect and love from Entangled. They are firmly grounded in the contemporary world, but each novel brings in supernatural twists, breaking the contemporary and paranormal rules, alike. To find out more about their titles, chat with authors, participate in special events, and to find out what books you’ll be coveting next, visit the Entangled website, follow them on Twitter, LIKE their Facebook page, and join the Book Club.





Today I'm happy to be featuring Covet's December releases:

























Beg Me to Slay by Lisa Kessler







He’ll slay her demons, but it may cost her heart…




Four years ago Tegan Ashton was attacked. Determined never to be a victim again, she devotes her life to martial arts and self-defense. When her assailant returns to finish what he started, only one person can help her.




Gabe is a private investigator by day and demon slayer by night. After losing loved ones, he vows to defend people from a threat they don’t realize exists.




The relationship is supposed to be strictly business, but fighting demons together stirs up emotions they never expected. Turns out demon slaying is a breeze compared to facing their scarred pasts and even worse - hearts.











































Ashes by Sarah Gilman




Journalist Ambrosia Pellerin accepts an assignment involving the legendary phoenix, expecting, if nothing else, a little entertainment. Instead, she winds up pregnant—by a surprisingly human-looking firebird, Reece Bennu.




As the Phoenix prince, Reece is next in line to the throne and expected to marry a purebred royal. A common human such as Ambrosia is not in the cards. He swears, though, he’ll never be an absentee father.




As Ambrosia’s due date grows closer, so do the soon-to-be parents. But will their tentative love survive the prejudice of Reece’s grandmother, who will stop at nothing to tear the two apart?





















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Saturday, December 28, 2013

"The Struggle Anthology" Interviews

Great Big Jar Blog

Above is the link to read the interviews of so many of the talented contributors of The Struggle Anthology, a collection of today's best indie authors & poets.

The blog talks about the process each author had in his/her part of the book.
Included in the blog are links to each author's websites and, , I have included purchase links courtesy of Lily Luchesi .

Purchase The Struggle Anthology via:

Amazon (UK)

Amazon (US)

Goodreads

Facebook

Blogspot

Monday, December 23, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: "Weird War One" by Mat Devine

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"EVERYONE'S life is a gift."

That's just one of the many quotes from Mat Devine.
Some of you may know him from his popular band Kill Hannah (known for their songs "Lips Like Morphine" & "From Now On", amongst others), which he has led since his days at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1994.

If you don't know him, here is your chance to get inside the mind of this talented man.

For years Mr. Devine has run an online blog/community called The Raccoon Society (he explains why in the book), a place where his fans can gather, talk to each other & talk with him as well.

It started because of a blog he did with FUSE TV and grew & grew into a place where he gives us advice, talks about his experiences on the road with KH and in life.

This book is not just for his fans: this is a book for anyone who needs to smile, laugh & remember that they are worth more then they know.

Filled with advice, questions previously submitted by fans (my mother and I are in there, as well, under an old Twitter handle), photos and stories, this short book is a must-read for anyone who has been bullied, ostracized, and felt left out.

With The Raccoon Society, Mr. Devine created a place where we all belong, its essence captured in Weird War One: Antihero's Guide to Surviving Everyday Life.

5/5--inspiring!

Purchase Weird War One via:

iTunes

Raccoon Society

Thought Catalog

Amazon

Google Books

BOOK REVIEW: "Auditory Viewpoint" by Lillian R. Melendez

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Lillian R. Melendez's novel about a blind woman trying to solve a crime is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read in a while. Its writing is different; doesn't read like a typical crime novel.

Gloria is a popular radio-show host whose most recent interview is with an IT professional named Benjamin.
What you realize about Gloria is that she is blind, and that sets the tone for the entire novel.

Gloria's sister, Anna, has her identity stolen, but it goes deeper than that: people want her dead. Bodies show up at Anna's apartment and, when someone tries to warn her about an impending attack, be gets stabbed as well.

The police do the best they can, but it isn't enough. Gloria knows she must take charge the only way she knows how: by using her other four senses to "get" things people with sight don't.

With Benjamin's help, can she help save her sister? Or is Benjamin an enemy, too?

In Auditory Viewpoint, the reader gets an inside look at what it's like living without sight and always having people doubt you. Anna constantly makes Gloria seem,t just blind, but stupid as well, which is obviously not the case at all.This look inside their relationship (Anna is younger but has always had to be the older-acting sibling) is also unusual in a suspense novel, but it is welcome. It gives it a much more personal effect.

I also loved the intense detail Ms. Melendez put in when Gloria was training Anna to use her other senses. It went beyond what others might put, and, as a gal with an eye for detail, it was more than appreciated that she took the time to add in the little things.

You won't know you are reading a novel that is about 150 pages until you finish it and say, "I want more".

Great story, unique ciscumstances and excellently portrayed emotions. Give it a read, you'll agree!

4/5--great!

Purchase Auditory Viewpoint via:

Amazon

Goodreads

Barnes And Noble

Smashwords

Sony Ebook store

Find Malena PR online:

Official Site

Twitter

Facebook

Monday, December 16, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: "Touched By Fire" by Catherine Spangler

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Touched By Fire is the second book in Catherine Spangler's Sentinel series, published by Berkeley Sensation.

In the first book, Touched By Darkness, we were introduced to the residents of Atlantis, who now inhabit human bodies to defeat the Belians, who are evil Atlantian spirits that possess humans.

In Touched By Fire, we learn more about that secretive world and meet new Sentinels: the sexy Luke Paxton and his "boss", Aaron Masters, as well as get reacquainted with Damien and Kara, the main characters in Touched By Darkness.

We also meet sisters Marla and Julia Reynolds, conductors who are empaths and precognitives, respectively...and also "matches" for Luke and Adam. But it isn't easy for them to trust the men, as both sisters were brutally attacked and Julia was raped eleven years prior.

Marla, a curvy 30-year-old, must fight her fear, post traumatic stress disorder and repressed desire in order to help Luke track down a Belian who bombed a full school bus, and now plans to hit churches in Dallas.

Can they all work together and stop him before it's too late?

This book was a joy to read. I loved that Luke is attracted to Marla not in spite of her weight but because of it, reconfirming to us ladies who don't look like "Barbies" that we don't have to: people will love us for being simply who we are.

The story was a total mystery and you really don't know what's coming next, from beginning to end. It was great that Damien and Kara were not forgotten about entirely and that there was a large cast of distinctive characters to learn about.

PTSD, as I've mentioned, is a very debilitating disease and I'm glad it was used in an educational and informed way in this book. The characters don't come off as victims to be pitied, but as strong women to be cheered on.

There was one thing, however, I must mention. I do not know if it was meant as an anti-LGBT statement or just a poorly put way of saying Sentinels and conductors are always "balanced" sexually, but it is repeated an uncertain amount of times that sex is only between man and woman.

While I respect everyone's individual opinions, as a bisexual, I found its decisively stated way a bit unseemly. It made me feel as if I and others were abnormal.

As I said, I'm not in Ms. Spangler's mind, so I don't know how it was actually meant. It's my job as a review to give an honest review, and I'm letting readers of the LGBT community know that they may also feel as if they were slighted. I don't think that "successful sex" only occurs in heterosexual relationships. If, however, it was meant as "only males & females can have conductions", I understand completely.

That aside, I find Ms. Spangler to be a superb author and the Sentinel series is one of the best I've come across in a while.

4/5--great!

Purchase Touched By Fire via:

Goodreads

Amazon (ebook & print)

Barnes and Noble (ebook & print)

Thursday, December 12, 2013

GUEST BLOG: "The Horror" From Author David Dean

If you've heard of the prestigious Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, (referenced, most famously, in the film Secret Window, starring Johnny Depp and based on the novella by Stephen King on joss collection For Past ) then ours highly likely you'll have heard of David Dean, whose stories have graced their pages for over four years, most recently in their latest issue, just released in December.
Mr. Dean wrote his first full-length novel, The Thirteenth Child, earlier this year, published by Genius Books.
You'll read my review of the book on January, song with an exclusive interview with Mr. Dean, but here you'll read a short history of the horror genre in literature and in film, including a look behind the workings of Mr. Dean's own monster, Gabriel.
Enjoy, readers!

The Horror!  The Horror!

When the renegade and terrifying Kurtz, of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, utters the famous words I’ve borrowed as a title to this piece, we are left pondering his true meaning.
Is he speaking of the unpredictable nature of the world, the sudden and bewildering twists and turns that transform us against our will?
Or is he, instead, bewailing the weak nature of man, that despite his best intentions, is so easily warped and corrupted, reveling in evil for its own sake, exalting his own black heart while sinking ever lower into the pit?
Though his classic tale of slavery, madness, and power is a far cry from the traditional horror story, Conrad has crystalized for us the existential horror that haunts us all, as well as having utilized a literary convention that very many horror stories contain regardless of the setting, time, or place—the seduction of terror.
In that granddaddy of horror literature, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s optimistic hero discovers (with all best intentions) the secret to creating life from death.
A young scientist born to a world at the cusp of the industrial age, an age of enlightenment and science, he is unable to resist following his intellect to its logical goal—a new, and therefore, better man—Prometheus unbound!

Of course, everyone remotely interested in the horror genre knows what follows.
Even if you’ve not read the book, you can hardly have escaped the numerous retellings in both literature and film.
Poor Frankenstein unleashes a monster that preys not so much on the greater world as on Frankenstein himself.
And in the end, after having lost his reputation, wife, and home, he pursues the shambling horror to the vast Artic reaches where he also sacrifices his life to rid the world, and himself, of his creation.      In that other touchstone of horror, Dracula, we find that it is the supernatural being at the heart of the novel that provides the seduction.
Though the title character is anything but attractive in Bram Stoker’s description of him, he nonetheless exercises a fascination on all that he encounters.
The hapless Jonathan Harker falls into his clutches through a financial arrangement brought on, in part, by his own desire for advancement within his firm—the seduction of success and money. Later, the beautiful heiress, Lucy Westenra, succumbs to what one senses is a far more carnal desire during Dracula’s secret visits to her bedchambers.
Even the lunatic, Renfield, responds to Dracula’s siren call, with its promise of overwhelming power and terror for all those opposed to his will, and by implication, all those that would confine and restrain Renfield—vengeance and justification!
And yet what temptations do the protagonists of today’s horror literature and film scene face?
Confronted by hordes of decomposing corpses intent only on making a meal of them, and not much else in the way of conversation happening, what, other than fleeing, would they be tempted by?
The same thing poor Robert Neville, Richard Matheson’s hapless hero of his ground-breaking sci-fi novel, I Am Legend, faces day after lonely day—the temptation to cease the endless, and soul-crushing, fight against these creatures that were once his fellow human beings, and simply join them.
Of course, in Matheson’s classic tale from the 1950’s, the threat was a world populated by vampires, not zombies, but vampires entirely unlike the intelligent, and actively malevolent, Dracula.
These horrors were once neighbors, family, and friends, now somehow resurrected by the same mysterious plague that has killed them; resurrected and sent forth in a restless nightly search for the blood of any left living; failing that they turn on the weak amongst themselves. George Romero’s seminal zombie film, The Night of the Living Dead, owes much to the first film version of Matheson’s novel titled The Last Man on Earth, a movie that still remains the best of the three films made of it, in my opinion.
Romero’s contribution was to turn the shamblers in the darkness into gory, rotting, cannibals, more suited perhaps to an age in which savage serial killers were edging their way into the public’s awareness and nightmares. Their staying power suggests they continue to occupy a psychic niche.
In the current era of terrorism and suicide bombers, zombies are not such a far cry from the hordes of fanatics willing to stagger into the midst of shopping malls and village bazaars in order to slaughter perfectly innocent men, women, and even children, though it cost them their own lives—that’s a truly ravenous appetite for blood and flesh. Another temptation that the living dead and their ilk provide is to respond in kind, trading violence for violence, blow for bloody blow; a downwardly spiraling cycle that risks one of the greatest horrors—becoming that which you fear and loathe the most—a killing machine much like your entrails-eating enemies.
Yet to acquiesce is to become one of them—to join their ranks.
The balance between maintaining one’s humanity, while at the same time surviving the maelstrom, becomes the ultimate challenge, and a metaphor for man’s brief and brutal time on this earth. In my own book, The Thirteenth Child, which Kelly was kind enough to review [that post will be up early January--Kelly], the horror of temptation is also a theme.
In this case, Preston Howard, a former professor of English literature and now the arrogant, if intellectual, town drunk, is tempted by the creature he has chanced upon in the autumn woods of Wessex Township.
“Gabriel,” as he has dubbed him, is neither zombie, supernatural, or man-created, but a product of millions of years of evolution—a predatory counter-point to man himself.
The last of a line of hominids that have shadowed man since his earliest days, preying on him and snatching his children.
Just human-looking enough to pass for man in the dim light of dusk, he is able to close and strike; he is the source of dozens of legends and myths around the world, a hundred fairy tales.
He is the troll under the bridge, the brownie who snatches the baby, the pied piper of Hamlin; Rumpelstiltskin.
He is the reality of that faint ancestral memory shared by peoples and cultures around the world—a shadowy figure at the edge of the campfire that, at first, we mistake for one of us.
Gabriel possesses no supernatural powers—he cannot fly, change shape, or walk through walls.
He is, however, uniquely adapted to his purpose—his own continued existence and survival at the expense of man. Preston’s greatest desire is to redeem his broken, shattered status within the community by revealing, and “owning,” the mystery and revelation that is Gabriel.
As in most horror stories, this is not to be; Gabriel has his own plans, and exposure is certainly not one them.
Though he lacks the more developed reasoning of a fully human being, he senses Preston’s weakness very keenly and uses his pride to blind him to Gabriel’s own plans for the children of Wessex Township.
It is only after a heart-wrenching encounter with Gabriel’s handiwork that Preston is able to slough off the blinders he has placed on himself, and begin to rediscover his own humanity, an epiphany shared by most of us at one time or another, though hopefully, under less horrific conditions.

GUEST BLOG: "The Horror" From Author David Dean

If you've heard of the prestigious Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, (referenced, most famously, in the film Secret Window, starring Johnny Depp and based on the novella by Stephen King in his collection Four Past Midnight) then ours highly likely you'll have heard of David Dean, whose stories have graced their pages for years, most recently in their latest issue, just released in December.
Mr. Dean wrote his first full-length novel, The Thirteenth Child, in October 2012, published by Genius Books.
You'll read my review of the book on January, song with an exclusive interview with Mr. Dean, but here you'll read a short history of the horror genre in literature and in film, including a look behind the workings of Mr. Dean's own monster, Gabriel.
Enjoy, readers!

image





“The Horror!  The Horror!”

When the renegade and terrifying Kurtz, of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, utters the famous words I’ve borrowed as a title to this piece, we are left pondering his true meaning.
Is he speaking of the unpredictable nature of the world, the sudden and bewildering twists and turns that transform us against our will?
Or is he, instead, bewailing the weak nature of man, that despite his best intentions, is so easily warped and corrupted, reveling in evil for its own sake, exalting his own black heart while sinking ever lower into the pit?
Though his classic tale of slavery, madness, and power is a far cry from the traditional horror story, Conrad has crystalized for us the existential horror that haunts us all, as well as having utilized a literary convention that very many horror stories contain regardless of the setting, time, or place—the seduction of terror.
In that granddaddy of horror literature, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s optimistic hero discovers (with all best intentions) the secret to creating life from death.
A young scientist born to a world at the cusp of the industrial age, an age of enlightenment and science, he is unable to resist following his intellect to its logical goal—a new, and therefore, better man—Prometheus unbound!

Of course, everyone remotely interested in the horror genre knows what follows.
Even if you’ve not read the book, you can hardly have escaped the numerous retellings in both literature and film.
Poor Frankenstein unleashes a monster that preys not so much on the greater world as on Frankenstein himself.
And in the end, after having lost his reputation, wife, and home, he pursues the shambling horror to the vast Artic reaches where he also sacrifices his life to rid the world, and himself, of his creation.      In that other touchstone of horror, Dracula, we find that it is the supernatural being at the heart of the novel that provides the seduction.
Though the title character is anything but attractive in Bram Stoker’s description of him, he nonetheless exercises a fascination on all that he encounters.
The hapless Jonathan Harker falls into his clutches through a financial arrangement brought on, in part, by his own desire for advancement within his firm—the seduction of success and money. Later, the beautiful heiress, Lucy Westenra, succumbs to what one senses is a far more carnal desire during Dracula’s secret visits to her bedchambers.
Even the lunatic, Renfield, responds to Dracula’s siren call, with its promise of overwhelming power and terror for all those opposed to his will, and by implication, all those that would confine and restrain Renfield—vengeance and justification!
And yet what temptations do the protagonists of today’s horror literature and film scene face?
Confronted by hordes of decomposing corpses intent only on making a meal of them, and not much else in the way of conversation happening, what, other than fleeing, would they be tempted by?
The same thing poor Robert Neville, Richard Matheson’s hapless hero of his ground-breaking sci-fi novel, I Am Legend, faces day after lonely day—the temptation to cease the endless, and soul-crushing, fight against these creatures that were once his fellow human beings, and simply join them.
Of course, in Matheson’s classic tale from the 1950’s, the threat was a world populated by vampires, not zombies, but vampires entirely unlike the intelligent, and actively malevolent, Dracula.
These horrors were once neighbors, family, and friends, now somehow resurrected by the same mysterious plague that has killed them; resurrected and sent forth in a restless nightly search for the blood of any left living; failing that they turn on the weak amongst themselves. George Romero’s seminal zombie film, The Night of the Living Dead, owes much to the first film version of Matheson’s novel titled The Last Man on Earth, a movie that still remains the best of the three films made of it, in my opinion.
Romero’s contribution was to turn the shamblers in the darkness into gory, rotting, cannibals, more suited perhaps to an age in which savage serial killers were edging their way into the public’s awareness and nightmares. Their staying power suggests they continue to occupy a psychic niche.
In the current era of terrorism and suicide bombers, zombies are not such a far cry from the hordes of fanatics willing to stagger into the midst of shopping malls and village bazaars in order to slaughter perfectly innocent men, women, and even children, though it cost them their own lives—that’s a truly ravenous appetite for blood and flesh. Another temptation that the living dead and their ilk provide is to respond in kind, trading violence for violence, blow for bloody blow; a downwardly spiraling cycle that risks one of the greatest horrors—becoming that which you fear and loathe the most—a killing machine much like your entrails-eating enemies.
Yet to acquiesce is to become one of them—to join their ranks.
The balance between maintaining one’s humanity, while at the same time surviving the maelstrom, becomes the ultimate challenge, and a metaphor for man’s brief and brutal time on this earth. In my own book, The Thirteenth Child, which Kelly was kind enough to review [that post will be up early January--Kelly], the horror of temptation is also a theme.
In this case, Preston Howard, a former professor of English literature and now the arrogant, if intellectual, town drunk, is tempted by the creature he has chanced upon in the autumn woods of Wessex Township.
“Gabriel,” as he has dubbed him, is neither zombie, supernatural, or man-created, but a product of millions of years of evolution—a predatory counter-point to man himself.
The last of a line of hominids that have shadowed man since his earliest days, preying on him and snatching his children.
Just human-looking enough to pass for man in the dim light of dusk, he is able to close and strike; he is the source of dozens of legends and myths around the world, a hundred fairy tales.
He is the troll under the bridge, the brownie who snatches the baby, the pied piper of Hamlin; Rumpelstiltskin.
He is the reality of that faint ancestral memory shared by peoples and cultures around the world—a shadowy figure at the edge of the campfire that, at first, we mistake for one of us.
Gabriel possesses no supernatural powers—he cannot fly, change shape, or walk through walls.
He is, however, uniquely adapted to his purpose—his own continued existence and survival at the expense of man. Preston’s greatest desire is to redeem his broken, shattered status within the community by revealing, and “owning,” the mystery and revelation that is Gabriel.
As in most horror stories, this is not to be; Gabriel has his own plans, and exposure is certainly not one them.
Though he lacks the more developed reasoning of a fully human being, he senses Preston’s weakness very keenly and uses his pride to blind him to Gabriel’s own plans for the children of Wessex Township.
It is only after a heart-wrenching encounter with Gabriel’s handiwork that Preston is able to slough off the blinders he has placed on himself, and begin to rediscover his own humanity, an epiphany shared by most of us at one time or another, though hopefully, under less horrific conditions.

Find Mr. Dean online:

Genius Books Publishing

Facebook

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: "Doctor Sleep" by Stephen King

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Heeeeere's...Danny?

The Overlook Hotel may have blown up, but its malevolent essence has haunted Dan Torrance since be was a little boy who was almost murdered there by his drunken father, John, in Stephen King's 1977 epic horror novel The Shining.

Danny learned how to control his unusual powers with the help of the Overlook's chef, but it proves too much to bear and he goes down the old road of Alcoholism. He is a drifter, working when be can and drinking all the time. His "bottom" comes when he does cocaine with a woman while he was too drunk to remember. He then steals the woman's money after trying to get her toddler away from the leftover coke, which the kid thinks is candy.

It haunts him until he finally settles into a small New Hampshire town and works as an orderly, helping old people pass away as "Doctor Sleep". But, a few miles away, a little girl named Abra is born, who will take Dan for the ride of his live.

Abra has "the shining", very strongly. So strong, a group of nomads wants her for her "steam", which is her shining taken form after she is tortured to death. These people, the True Knot, have been living on steam for centuries, but supplies are short. They need Abra, but they have no idea what tge little girl and her family have in store for them...

I have been a King fan since I was a young teen, and remember my first time reading The Shining. As much as I love his work, I didn't think much of a sequel to this epic novel, but I bought the book because he is my favorite author.

I should've known better than to underestimate the Master!

Doctor Sleep starts out strong and gets stronger page by page. While admittedly not as frightening as its predecessor, I found this novel to be better! As Mr. King himself says in the author's note, he is not the same person who wrote The Shining, and I, as a Constant Reader, wouldn't want it any other way!

This is a psychological thriller filled with murder, magic and spirits, with some of King's strongest characters and deepest emotions. Just when you think that you know what's going on and maybe even what's going to happen next, King throws you a curveball that will leave you speechless.

Brava, Mr. King, you did it again and still hold fast to your title as the Master of Horror, though you are so much more!

5/5--literary perfection!

Purchase Doctor Sleep wherever books and ebooks are sold!

Monday, December 9, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: "Tuned To A Dead Channel" (Anthology published by Dagda Publishing)

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Dagda Publishing may be a relatively new name coming from the UK, but I think that readers will do best not to forget it.

They asked me to review their "dystopian anthology", a roughly 200 page book featuring 15 amazing stories from thirteen very talented UK-based writers.

Dystopian sci-fi is a difficult genre to write about as a novel, but as a short story, the difficulty doubles. It hasn't been overdone, but its basic themes have been used in novels and films time and time again, so what I went into this looking for was, above all, originality; a fresh take on a popular and, seemingly limitless, theme.

I received more than orginality, I received a masterful collection featuring stories that ran the gamut from simply intriguing (a living city that will coddle its residents) to disturbing (a boy murders his bully by forcing him to breathe futuristic toxic air) and even touching (a teen girl trying to save her grandfather from being murdered because be can't afford to buy more years to live).

Each author brought a unique voice to all of his/her characters and almost all of the stories have a frightening sense of reality; we could very well end up run by a popular department store or have our air poisoned by dirty manufacturing companies.

Though these stories are entertaining pieces of fiction, I think readers will find a lot of appeal in their theme of corporate self-destruction. I know I did!

Collections by various authors so often contain a few duds. Tuned To A Dead Channel does not. It is a full-running battery of powerful stories that could stand alone if tried.

For fans of dystopian, steampunk or just a good story, pick this one up. You won't be disappointed!

5/5--excellent!

Purchase Tuned To A Dead Channel via:

Amazon

Amazon UK

Dagda Publishing Official Site

Thursday, December 5, 2013

BOOK TEASER: "Reconnected" by Lisa Calell (Teaser #3)

Here is the final EXCLUSIVE teaser for Lisa Calell's upcoming book Reconnected, the sequel to her bestseller Disconnected, which I reviewed.
To learn a but more about tots book, visit my previous posts featuring Ms. Calell's exclusive interview with me and two previous teasers.
As soon as more information on the book's release is made available, you can be sure that I will post it here, so check back soon!

Not surprisingly, "Orphan" became a best seller, Danielle had been right, it appealed to both adults and children and suddenly I was globally famous. My life was in a whirlwind of travel and interviews, always with the question "How did you come up this book, what inspired you?". I wasn't about to tell them that my heart had been ripped out and left in the street to be trampled on daily by crowds of people. No, I always used the same reply "Everyone experiences loss in their lives, everyone feels empty and lonely from time to time. I just wanted to take that pain from them and put it in writing. Something the reader could understand and relate to but it be someone else with the sorrow instead of them. At the same time giving them something to cry over to release their agony." Each time I said this, the interviewer would nod, having experienced the loss I described - the emptiness and loneliness. They could feel my pain - it would seem the whole world could now feel it.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Regina Puckett Talks Horror!

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In October I reviewed a beautiful romance novel titled Concealed In My Heart. Yesterday, I reviewed a horror collection by that same author, Regina Puckett.
She talks here about going from romance to horror so effortlessly and reveals the inspiration behind her chilling stories!

1. What made you want to pen a horror collection?

I never planned on writing an entire collection of horror stories. In 2012, I decided to try my hand at writing a short horror story. I wanted to try something different from romance and horror seemed to be just about as different as I could get from writing about love. My oldest daughter loves ghost hunting and has been investigating a deserted hospital for the last couple of years. That seemed like a good backdrop for a horror story so that was how my short story, "Mine", was born. The second story came about when I was searching to buy a picture to use for the cover of "Mine". My co-worker was looking over my shoulder and saw a creepy picture with dolls in it and told me I should write a story about dolls. My first thought was that theme had already been done to death, but the longer I thought about it, the more I became convinced I could put a new spin on an old theme. Before I knew it, "Crying Through Plastic Eyes" was written. One thing lead to the next and then to the next, and I soon had enough short stories to put together as a collection.

2. Out of all the stories, do you have a favorite?

I had the most fun writing "Will Work for Food". I laughed when I wrote the ending to it even though it’s in such bad taste. I never knew black humor was my thing but it still cracks me up every time I think about its ending. I always let the ladies at work read my short stories before I publish them, and I knew exactly when each one of them had finished reading that story. There would be a loud groan echoing down the hallway that would quickly be followed with a, “Regina!”

3. Can you tell readers about the inspiration behind some of the individual stories?

My inspiration for "Paying the Hitchhiker" came to me while my husband and I were driving from Tennessee to Myrtle Beach. I didn’t actually see anyone hitchhiking but a thought came to me about how I could put an interesting twist on the tale of a woman hitchhiking and finding trouble in doing so.
I saw a group of college age kids on the side of the road begging one day, and that is how "Will Work for Food" came about being written. I had a totally different ending in mind when I first started writing, but out of the blue, it hit me what needed to done to make it into a really twisted finale.
"Pieces" came to me one Sunday morning, while I was on my way to church. I was thinking about using the storyline of an abused woman finding true love, but right in the middle of church service it came to me how I could make the story into a tale of horror instead. Of all the stories in my horror book, this is the one that brings a few tears, whenever I hear it being read on the audiobook. It’s horrifyingly touching in a strange way.

4. Will you ever write an entire horror novel?

I joined forces with my youngest daughter, Charity Parkerson, to write a three book horror/erotic series for Ellora’s Cave.  The first story, "Bedroom Games", is a short story but the next two are full length books.
In Bedroom Games we introduce the demon named Septem. He is the ruler of the seventh level of hell and a collector of souls. While I enjoyed writing these books, I’m not certain I’ll ever write another full length horror book again. I’m not saying I won’t, but I never know from one day to next, if I’m ever going to write another story of any genre again until another idea strikes out of the blue.
I’m not even going to pretend to be Stephen King, but if the right storyline came to me, I would definitely try to make it into something that sends grown men screaming out into the night.

5. Would you like to see any of the stories made into short films, as so many have been in the past?

I don’t know of an author alive who wouldn’t want their book made into a film. I was approached last year by a German film student who wanted to film "Paying the Hitchhiker" for a class. I don’t know if he ever did or not but I would have loved to see how it turned out.
If you ever meet Steven Spielberg, be certain to tell him that Regina Puckett’s Short Tales of Horror would make six great movies.

Visit Regina Puckett on her website , where you will find all of her books and links to her social networks!
Enjoy!

Monday, December 2, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: "Regina Puckett's Short Tales of Horror" by Regina Puckett

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Allow me to say something pertaining to my review: when it comes to horror, I am case-hardened. I watched Scooby-Doo and was angry when the monsters turned out to be humans in masks when I was in preschool. I used to draw vampires eating people alive when I was seven. I've been reading Stephen King since I was about fourteen.

I know horror. I love horror.

Regina Puckett asked me if I'd read her collection of short horror stories, and I readily agreed. I was already a fan after reading her sweet romance novel Concealed In My Heart.

The book opens with a story called "Mine", a modern ghost story about ghost-hunting gone awry. That one was enjoyable, as I know paranormal investigators and have had some ghost encounters myself. Not as scary, but it kept you wondering "what will this crazy ghost do now?", which is A+ in my book.

A story called "Pieces" was by far my favorite, about an abused wife murdering her husband. The ending of that...I honestly don't think anyone could've expected it.

I have one word to tell you about "Crying Through Plastic Eyes": dolls. I have been terrified of dolls since I watched The Twilight Zone when I was a kid. Oh, yes, and this story features a clown doll. The best descriotion I can give you is "Talky Tina" meets Stephen King's It. I wouldn't call this scary, I'd call it spine-tingling. Don't read it before you go to bed!

"Paying The Hitchhiker" seemed to me like a new version of "The Ghostly Hitchhiker". This hitchhiker is alive and dangerous. I found it innovative and could see a novel detailing Susan's "adventures".

The final story, "Inheritance", reminds me of a plot TV horror show Supernatural. Crazy old lady dies after locking her granddaughter up in the basement, telling her of a family inheritance and curse. What's the inheritance? Perhaps you don't want to know...

But the best is titled "Will Work For Food". It intrigued me, it interested me and it succeeded in shocking and disgusting me. I thank Regina Puckett for this story for those reasons. If there is more furniture like this inside her mind, I truly look forward to reading it some day...hopefully soon!

There is something for everyone, from ghost-lovers to gore-seekers. I think you will be very happy with this collection reader. Just remember, if you read it with the lights out before bed...don't say I didn't warn you!

4/5--chilling!

Purchase Regina Puckett's Short Tales of Horror at:

Amazon

Goodreads

Google Books

Audible (audiobook)

Author's website

Sunday, December 1, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: "Those Devils" by James DeSantis

In between the first and second books in James DeSantis' Exterminators series, he has decided to give us all a taste of what else is rattling around that creative mind of his, and that is the short story Those Devils.

In this narrative we meet a man who claims to be fighting "devils" who have been hunting him for years. It switches off between his point of view and third person to go amongst the group of "devils" hunting him.

I can't say much because I don't care to spoil the story for you, reader, but this story transcends genres to go from horror, to theological and even slightly to sociological. Mr. DeSantis writes (in just 32 pages!) about God, gods, demons, angels, racial profiling and mental illness (not to mention murder) and takes the reader on a quick, enjoyable roller coaster ride.

If you already love any form of horror or if you're just testing the waters, so to speak, download Those Devils from Amazon todayand have at it!

Also, be sure to be on the lookout for the next book in the Exterminators series, due out January 14th, which I wool be reviewing!

5/5--great!

Purchase Those Devils on:

Amazon

View it on:

YouTube