Scott
In A Hunter Called Night, Tim Waggoner expertly blends elements of fantasy and the supernatural, then adds healthy amounts of action, violence, and gore to create a wonderfully original, and downright fun story to read.
Thank you Netgalley and Flaming Tree Press for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of this book.
Not a great book, but I wasn't really expecting it to be. I was just looking for a mindless vacation read and it served its purpose. I figured out late in the book that it was a sequel to Dark Hollow, which I haven't read yet, but it still worked fine as a stand-alone book.
Not at all what I was expecting from a Dean Koontz book. More of a science fiction story than horror. I enjoyed it.
I had a blast reading this. It takes place in 1983 or 84 and brought me right back to my childhood with all of the pop culture references. Even though it was written for a younger audience, there were PLENTY of references in there that only adults would understand. Having read the complete Repairman Jack series, it was also fun to see some of the characters earlier influences and the foreshadowing of certain events.
I liked the book, but found it to be a little choppy. It's an interesting story, but the way the chapters are organized, I already knew what became of the characters before reading about the court case. Kinda ruins the mystery. It's still worth reading though and the author makes the history very accessable. Definitely recommend.
By far the best book in the Adversary and Repairman Jack series'. After reading 24 Secret History novels and several novella/short stories over the last decade, I'm pretty sad to know that this is the last book for Jack. I am very happy with the way the Secret Histories ended though. There was even a twist in there that I never saw coming...
I can't say that I read this book so much as I studied it. If you're just going to read it straight through without taking notes, it goes very quickly, otherwise, you may want to give yourself a couple days to really absorb everything. I can't overstate what a great resource it is. I've only owned my copy for two months and since then I've read, reread, and referred back to sections of it so many times that it looks like I've been carrying it around all year.
Some of the most important things you're going to learn from reading this book are: How to know when you're dealing with a BP or NP disorder based on what you've observed of the person, what the differences are between BPD and other similar/easily confused personality disorders, how people with BPD think, what to expect from BPD's during the divorce, how you can protect yourself from lies and false accusations, how to avoid escalations, and more.
Who should read this book? Anyone that suspects their spouse has a BPD and that a divorce may be in their future. It's best to arm yourself with this knowledge as far in advance as you can. I wish I had.
If you end up reading this book because you have to, I wish you the best of luck. Be sure to pace yourself; it's going to be an all out war, not just a “simple” court battle.
I received this book from Goodreads as part of the First Reads program.
It isn't in sequence with the first book in the series, A Warm Place to Call Home, but I found it to be a much stronger and interesting story.
It provides a new twist on the concept of demons. Rather than being some evil creature, the term is used here to describe a wandering soul that can inhabit peoples' bodies temporarily before returning them or choose to live out entire lifetimes.
Samuel Beauchamp is introduced to this world when he is killed as a child. Rather than see his soul or spirit or daemon move on, it continues to be earthbound. He's forced to learn what he is, how to function, and the pros and cons of his new existence as he continues to live on in various forms.
After his life becomes pretty routine, he meets another of his own kind. Then things get really interesting....
I really enjoyed this book. Like all good books, even though it had a clear beginning and end, it left me wanting more.
I feel bad giving any author's work one star, but after 60 pages, I just could not get into this book! His use of writing in the 2nd person is so annoying that I found myself translating everything into 3rd person in my head as I read. Too much effort. I would think that a good editor would have discouraged this.
I'm also bummed because the description of this story sounded really interesting and I would have liked to have read it.
If the book ever gets a rewrite, I'd be happy to pick it up again. Until then, I'm sorry. I can't recommend this book to anyone in its current state.
I received a copy of this title from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Not only does this river run deep; this river runs pretty dark as well.
This is a story of facing one's fears and seeking redemption.
It's a fairly short story—weighing in around 70-something pages or so—and I'd like to avoid giving anything away, so I'll keep this short and sweet.
If you're in the mood for a dark tale, I highly recommend reading this.
Return is by far the best book in the Matt Turner series to date. So if you haven't read The Dig and The Opal yet, get on it. Then you'll be all caught up and ready for this one. It won't disappoint.
Matt's back several years after the events of The Opal and he's learned how to control his abilities. This is a smarter, tougher, and more exciting Matt than we've seen previously and it's great!
In his latest adventure, he's searching for the lost library of Alexandria. Reunited with Joss, he relives the events that led to the demise of the library through the eyes of its protector, Patra, during the 3rd century.
While this is an action book, it's also a very well thought out, character driven story with lots of personality as well. Mr. Siemsen does a great job letting the reader get to know all the players.
If you enjoy action, history, and good writing, I highly recommend this book.
This wasn't at all what I had expected. It was much better. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series, The Rock, which seems to be caught up somewhere in the editing process for the last two years....
Tons of action with plenty of great detail. I have to admit that the conspiracy angle became tiresome after a while, but that didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the book. I was in the mood for a fun read that I didn't have to spend too much time thinking about and this book really hit the spot. I wouldn't put it on a “Favorites” list, but I definitely want to read the next book in the series. If the other books aren't so full of twists and turns and stick to more straight plots now that we know who the main players are, I could easily see them getting four star ratings.
I wouldn't say I read this book so much as picked it up occasionally, studied it for a while, then put it back down. Great parenting tips to be found in here! I'll likely be reading and re-reading this book over the next several years as I need refreshers on the Love and Logic system.
Okay story
I had a hard time getting past the poor editing. Once I was able to ignore it though, I found the story to be interesting if a little trite.
This is a surprisingly GREAT story that you've probably never heard of.
The plot is unique, which is a rarity these days, and it had me guessing the entire time about what was truly going on. I can't really pin it down to one genre since it had healthy doses of science fiction, tons of suspense, some horror, and even posed an important question about morality.
It's unfortunate that the book seems to have slipped under the radar of most readers. Being a fairly quick read, it truly is worth your time and I recommend it.
As with many books published by indie authors, it could have used a little more editing, but the errors are easily overlooked because you'll be too sucked into the story to care. Hopefully, the author will release a new revision with those minor edits and some slight polishing, then find a way to publicize it a little bit better. I think it could be very successful if it were brought to the attention of the proper crowd.
I'm happy that I stumbled across this book and I'm looking forward to reading more from David Kreinberg–especially if this is any indication of how great his imagination is.
I found Blink to be an interesting idea, but it was never able to deliver an entertaining or coherent story.
Thank you, NetGalley and Oni Press for the opportunity to review this advanced reader copy of the book.
It's more a tale of supernatural espionage with horror elements than a straight-up work of horror, which was unexpected and fun. Marc Layton's writing is solid and flows nicely. I'm looking forward to exploring his other works.
I received this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
Stinetinglers 2 is a collection of 10 easily-read short children's stories with last-page plot twists. Much like fairytales, most of the stories also boil down to a morality tale in some way: “be careful what you wish for”, “follow the rules”, “don't seek revenge”, “be kind”, “don't steal”, and “don't cheat”.
It's always a pleasure to read anything by R.L. Stine and purchase his books for my child, but I think Stinetinglers 2 missed the mark on its intended 8 to 12-year-old audience. That age range may be appropriate for a child's reading comprehension level, but most of the plots are a little too simplistic and the twists will likely come across as silly, rather than shocking or spooky, to children in that age group as well.
I would highly recommend reading this book with younger children, but I don't think anyone over the age of nine would find it very entertaining.
Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and provide an unbiased review of the advanced reader copy of Stinetinglers 2 by R.L. Stine.
Christopher Hawkins comes out swinging with his first solo collection of short stories, Suburban Monsters. He touches on everything from creepy children and nature to body horror and evil exes. While all of the stories are entertaining and well-written, I felt that there were two standouts that truly showcased the author's talent: Storms of the Present and Ten and Gone.
Thank you, NetGalley and Coronis Publishing for the opportunity to review this advanced reader copy of the book.
Once I started Downpour, I couldn't put it down. The pacing was great and the challenges the main character, Scott, had to face in order to protect his family from the horrifying changes occurring outside his home were anxiety-inducing, to say the least. I also found the subtext of the story about the power of childhood trauma to shape one's entire life, and how frightening it can be to let go of that trauma in order to move forward when the future is uncertain, to be very moving. All around, this is a fantastic, quick read that I enjoyed very much. Thank you, NetGalley, Coronis Publishing, and Christopher Hawkins for the opportunity to read and review the advanced reader copy of this book.
If you're looking for a straight-up, fun Halloween horror novel to occupy your time for a night or two, The Horror at Pleasant Brook will certainly scratch that itch.
While I did find it a little tedious that some descriptions were used practically word-for-word repeatedly throughout the book, the story and pacing were strong enough to keep it entertaining until the final page.
Thank you, NetGalley, Crystal Lake Publishing, and Kevin Lucia for the opportunity to read and review the advanced reader copy of this book.