Isolation Review

Isolation by Michelle Garza

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


October was a busy month for Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason, the writing duo known as the sisters of slaughter. The first of two releases, Isolation is a historical horror novella rife with bloodline curses and ghosts.

A widow named Amelia inherits a house on literally on a rock in the ocean. Strapped with no way to pay for the debts her husband left behind, she is forced to leave her home and take residence on the piece of land left to her.

Amelia is no perfect heroine. She suffers from a few crippling phobias and an addiction to Laudanum. Amelia makes her way to her new home, only to find that it’s seemingly inhabited by the dead. Amelia must figure out a way to survive a curse upon the family in order to save the lives of herself and those around her.

I enjoyed Isolation quite a bit. Garza and Lason do an excellent job setting the scenes and the tone within the book. It’s dreary, and like it’s namesake, leaves the reader feeling isolated on the rock with Amelia. The writing is nicely done, the story unfolds quickly and keeps you turning the pages. My only complaint was how often the Laudanum was mentioned. I understand that she faces an addiction, but it seemed like it was being mentioned every other page. In the end, it was a minor annoyance, not really a big deal, you may not even notice it.

This novella is different from other offerings by the sisters, and so far this one has been my favorite piece of work they’ve done.

Walk The Darkness Down Review

Walk the Darkness Down by John Boden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Walk The Darkness Down is a hard beast to explain. Billed as a weird western, this a book that’s quite unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

This is a tale of of evil at work, and the people set on a path of confrontation with said evil. But really, it’s more than that. This is a book about human characters with different strengths and flaws. I found myself reading this fairly slowly. Although I read it in a day, it felt quite different,it was taking me a while to get through the book, but when I realized why, it wasn’t a negative. You have to savor this book plain and simple. The best way to think of it for me was like food. Sometimes you eat something with a bunch of junk calories and no nutrition, so you’re hungry and you keep eating. Other times, you eat something so densely packed with nutrients you feel full the rest of the day. Walk the Darkness Down is that nutrient rich meal. It’s something hard to explain until you experience it yourself. So why did I start talking about food? Frankly, because this is a book you have to read for yourself. Novellas I find tougher to review because of the short length, it’s too easy to spoil. With this book, it’s even more difficult to discuss without spoiling anything. That being said, I will tell you there are some creepy moments in this book. Jubal carries his sisters around on a sling. Let that sit with you for a moment. Levi is an absolute mechanism of evil. Whenever you read a chapter from his point of view, you know you’re in for an unsettling few pages. As the pages turn, the book picks up steam until you’re at the ultimately satisfying conclusion.

If you’re looking for a bloody, weird book. This is it. You’ve got weird (cosmic?) horror, blood, violence, a horrific villain, friendships, and some beautiful writing. I enjoyed Walk the Darkness Down, and I suspect most of you will too.

4/5

Alien: Prototype review

Alien: Prototype by Tim Waggoner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


While I'm not the kind of guy who typically reads media tie-ins, as soon as I saw that this was written by Tim Waggoner I became intrigued. I'm a huge fan of the Alien movies, and seeing Waggoner as the scribe left me with hope that this would be a true to form sci-fi/horror blend.

Those of you who may have similar reservations about this book need not fear, I had a blast reading it, and Waggoner managed to bring something completely new to the table. Alien: Prototype follows Zula Hendricks, Colonial Marine turned security trainer and Tamar Prather, corporate spy for Venture, a Weyland-Yutani competitor. When an ovomorph is brought to a Venture colony, the resident scientist decides they must study it with a human test subject, and it all goes downhill from there.

I enjoyed following Hendricks, she was a strong female lead who's out for one thing, hunting Xenomorphs. Tamar Prather is all about working for herself and whoever will pay her the most. The other characters in this book were written decent enough and Waggoner shows that he knows his Alien stuff. Everything felt like it fit perfectly in the universe. Due to certain circumstances within the book, the Xenomorph here is deadlier than ever before. All I can say without spoiling anything is that it's called a Necromorph, and for good reason. Waggoner does an excellent job switching back and forth between perspectives here, and keeping the story interesting until we can get what we all want, Xenomorph action; There's plenty of that on display here and fans of the series won't be disappointed.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The Necromorph is just as deadly as advertised and brings something new and interesting to a very familiar world. There's enough blood and gore here to satisfy anyone who's into that, even if you aren't necessarily a fan of the franchise.

Skinwrapper Review

Skinwrapper by Stephen Kozeniewski

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Skinwrapper, the latest from Stephen Kozeniewski, is a short novella serving as a prequel to his novel Hematophages. What first struck my interest in this book was the awesome cover. I haven’t read Hematophages yet, but after finishing Skinwrapper, it’s certainly coming off my shelf and onto my TBR pile.

Skinwrapper follows a young girl as she makes her way through the spaceship she lives on. Due to certain events, she may be the only person left aboard.

This book is fast-paced, tense, and atmospheric. The main character is slowly making her way through the ship, trying to avoid the Skinwrappers at all costs. It reads like a game of hide and seek, where the cost of losing is your life. It’s hard to say much about the book without giving it away, due to the length. What I can say is that I really dig the Sci-fi and horror blend, though short in length, Kozeniewski does an excellent job of using the pages to create a constant sense of tension and danger. No need to worry if you aren’t a fan of sci-fi, this book is an excellent fit for anyone looking for a gripping read.

4/5

The Fearing Book 4

The Fearing: Earth and Ember by John F.D. Taff

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The last piece of the epic serial Novel, The Fearing, has arrived. Does John F.D. Taff stick the landing? All you had to do was read book one to know that Taff was going to nail this.

With each of the first 3 installments, I’ve praised how well written The Fearing is. Book 4 is no different, and why would it be? Taff’s prose is excellent. Book 4 begins right where book 3 leaves off. Our heroes must deal with Tim Jacoby, a crazy who fancies himself the only man capable of saving humanity from the encroaching darkness, while making their way to the final showdown with Adam.

Book Four: Earth and Ember answers the final questions readers had. We had suspected a connection between Monday and Adam, but here we learn the truth behind these two. I’ve got to say, I had legitimately no clue about what the reveal for Monday would be. I knew there had to be something, and maybe readers smarter than me figured it out, but I was clueless. Taff puts his characters through the ringer once again. We spend a good portion of the book dealing with Tim Jacoby and the trouble he brings before finally making our way to THE END. As with any novel, it’s always possible that the conclusion could muck things up and end in an unsatisfying way; I’m happy to say that after months of following this serialization, Taff wraps things up perfectly.

Book 4: Earth and Ember is a fitting conclusion to John F.D Taff’s apocalyptic The Fearing. It picks up right where book 3 leaves off, racing to the finish without stopping for a breather. I can’t think of a better way to cap off this truly epic journey.

The Reddening Review

The Reddening by Adam Nevill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Reddening served as my introduction to the work of Adam Nevill. That being said, I hadn’t even finished the book before buying 3 more of his novels, it’s that good.

An ancient cave network dating back to prehistoric times is discovered. Within the network of caves, evidence of cannibalism and barbaric sacrifices occurring throughout history are uncovered. While covering the dig site for a local magazine, Kat meets up with a woman named Helene who has not come to grips with her brother’s suicide. Cave recordings taken by Helene's brother draw her to one of the last places he visited before killing himself. What is discovered turns out to be deeper and more horrible than anyone imagined.

The Reddening is a wonderfully written horror novel. Nevill does an immaculate job of describing the environments within these pages. It was easy for me to close my eyes and envision the cliffs, the paths, the caves of a country that I’ve never been to. The descriptions do a wonderful job of setting the atmosphere and tone while Nevill keeps the tension high for the duration of the book. Barbaric rituals and brutal violence live within these pages, as those who serve the red will go to great lengths to do so. There are enough twists in here to keep the reader intrigued, and the conclusion of the book was well done.

As I mentioned before, The Reddening is the type of book that compels you to buy more from the author. I suspect this is a feeling Nevill fans are already familiar with, and for those who aren’t, prepare to read your new favorite author.

5/5

Ghoster Review

Ghoster by Jason Arnopp

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Just in time for Halloween, Jason Arnold blesses us with his latest supernatural thriller, Ghoster.

Kate Collins is an addict. Looking to fill a void in her, Kate becomes obsessed with social media and her phone. Twitter, Facebook, dating apps. It isn’t until a horrible accident that Kate realizes she has an issue. Fast forward through time, and Kate moves into her boyfriends apartment only to find that the entire flat is cleared out, nothing remaining but his smartphone. Kate clings to the phone like an addict looking for a fix and it’s not long until the dead show up.

I had a blast reading Ghoster. This is my first book by Jason Arnopp, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I read. I absolutely loved how the book deals with societies addiction to technology and social media. Kate Collins was a great character. She is a woman who has issues and knows it. Her self knowledge leads to a lot of funny dialogue within the book, and make for an interesting narrative. I really enjoyed the supernatural aspect of this book, and don’t want to give too much away about it, but I will say that it is another perfect piece of the puzzle that Arnopp has woven into this tale. Where is Kate’s boyfriend? Who are these odd calls coming from? Why are gouges being taken out of the door frame from within the house? These questions and more kept the pages turning. This is a book that i picked up and the next thing I know, a few hundred pages were gone. The ending of the book wasn’t what I expected, I genuinely had no idea what was going on, and for that I loved it even more.

Ghoster is a supernatural thriller for the social media obsessed society we find ourselves in today. It’s a funny, intriguing read filled with spookiness, sarcasm, an an ability to make you question your own technological addictions.

5/5