Review: Car Nex: The Evil One (The Car Nex Story Series Book 1) by Terry M. West, E.R. Robin Dover

 Car Nex: The Evil One by Terry M. West, E.R. Robin Dover

 My Rating:

I received a free copy of Car Nex: The Evil One (The Car Nex Story Series Book 1) from the publisher in return for an honest review.

I know I know, I haven't read these in order. My bad!

I'm not so sure about this instalment in the Car Nex series. The writing was fine, there was the violence and gore that I enjoy when reading of the Car Nex, but the story just didn't work for me. I think it didn't feel complete, it felt like parts had been removed in order to thin it down to a short story. Things just seemed to happen without enough explanation for me personally. The dialogue and character interaction felt off also, it didn't come across as natural.

It wasn't an awful read, I feel that it just needed expanding.


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Review: Others & Oddities by Edward Lorn

Others & Oddities by Edward Lorn

My Rating:

 I received a free copy of Others & Oddities in return for an honest review.

Others & Oddities was a great wee collection of shorts. Edward Lorn is one of my fav authors when it comes to short stories, he always manages to pack so much into them and creates the feel of a complete novel condensed down to a few pages. The stories are all very different and full of the wit, scares and characterisation that I have come to really enjoy in this authors work.

If I had to name a favourite from the collection it would have to be Just Short of Paradise. I really liked the message behind this one.

I rated each story as I read it, that way you can get a better idea of the content. No spoilers though!


1 - No Such Thing: This is why you shouldn't mess with mother nature! - 4 stars.

2- Now I've Seen Everything: Lol this guy shoulda been named Walley. - 3 stars.

3 - Cinder Block: Love hurts in more ways than one. - 3 stars.

4 - Blah-Doop: That's one well trained man, flushing even after all that lol. - 4 stars.

5 - The Morning Dew: I enjoyed this one but I wasn't a fan of the latter part. - 2.5 stars.

6 - The Red Door Market Street: Loved this, was very clever and thought provoking. - 5 stars.

7 - Full Moon Over Cedar Hill: I had read this previously and it actually made my favourites of 2014 shelf. Very good werewolf story! - 5 stars.

8 - Got Your Goat: My gran bred goats on her farm so I can assure you that yes, goats will eat almost anything. - 3 stars.

9 - The Scare Rows: I have read this one previously and it's one of my favourite shorts by this author. It tickles my sense of humour for personal reasons. - 5 stars.

10 - On The Rails: This ones too short really to say anything without giving something away. - 3 stars.

11 - Trailer: I really liked the cold atmosphere of this one and how you're thrown immediately into the deep end. - 4 stars.

12 - Just Short of Paradise: I love the message behind this one. Totally fitting with all the judging and hate that's going around right now on certain topics. - 5 stars.

13 - What Comes Around Goes Around: That was horrible to read, granted the ending was great and totally made it worth it, but the sbuject matter is heartbreaking. - 5 stars.

14 - Crawl: That's gotta hurt - 4 stars.


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Review: Wolf Land by Jonathan Janz

Wolf Land by Jonathan Janz

My Rating:


I received a free copy of Wolf Land from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Wolf Land is packed full of violence, gore and action from start to finish and will keep you on the edge of your seat. I particularly liked how the change was linked into each individual character based on their personality traits, that was a nice touch and something I don't recall having come across before. It was also great to see werewolves portrayed as they should be: strong, nasty and violent.

As for characters, there are quite a few in this book and for the most part I enjoyed them all. They each had their own story that developed throughout the book and I enjoyed the character growth as the story progressed. I wasn't much of a fan of Savannah though, she seemed very self absorbed to me, both character wise and in her views.

Wolf Land was a great read, the pacing was consistent and it held my attention easily. Definitely one I would recommend


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Review: CAR NEX by Terry M. West

 CAR NEX by Terry M. West

 My Rating:

This was a great wee story. The Car Nex truly is the stuff of nightmares. A demon when summoned leaves chaos and destruction in it's path everywhere it goes. I can see what inspired other horror authors to write about the Car Nex after reading this one.

Car Nex is the original Car Nex story written by Terry West that inspired the Car Nex story horror shorts series.  The author has collected several Car Nex stories written by other horror authors and released them both as individual shorts, some of which I have read/reviewed already, and in a new released collection Ravenous: Car Nex Collection Book One, which I will be reviewing soon.

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Review: Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories by China Miéville

 Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories by China Miéville

My Rating:


I received a free copy of Three Moments of an Explosion from the publisher in return for an honest review.

You know that feeling you get when you come across something, and despite the fact that it's not fun or pleasant to observe, and you know you're going to regret watching because you'll never be able to wipe the images from your mind, images that will haunt you every time you close your eyes, yet you can't seem to look away? I kinda felt like that about this book.

On finishing the first story in this collection I couldn't have told you what it was about if I had been asked. It felt like a mishmash of different weird ideas all thrown into one short story, then split into three parts. Reading it was like what I would imagine having a bad acid trip would feel like. Nothing made any sense at all. I took me reading the first paragraph three or four times to just understand what the author was trying to say.

I figured OK, don't judge the book by just that one story, so I turned to the next one. Honestly, although it wasn't as weird, it was just as bad. OK, it was a bit weird, the plot was kinda cringe worthy but at least it wasn't as confusing as the first. I had quite a few niggles with it though. We have a women in a black jilbaab, for no other reason than to show she's not white. We have Portuguese cafes and an Islamic bookshop (context: the character runs past them in the story, nothing more), why even point this out instead of just cafe and bookshop. I get that you want to show you have people from different cultures in your story, perhaps? But not this way. Not just randomly thrown in in a way that seems forced or sticks out like a sore thumb as if to say "Look! I am culturally aware and not racist." That's how it came across when I read it.

I went on to read another couple of stories and then decided... I give in. DNF!! I can't read 400 pages of this stuff. I have never before been so confused when trying to read a book. Nothing feels complete or explained and it's a bit all over the place. It was like a form of torture trying to make sense of the words on the pages.



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Review: The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero

The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero

My Rating:


I received a free copy of The Supernatural Enhancements from the publisher in return for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book, so many of my friends enjoyed it but I just couldn't get into the flow of the story. The format just wasn't working for me, it felt like it was jumping all over the place and I kept losing interest. Everything felt muddled and wasn't making much sense and it had me feeling so lost and confused that I eventually gave up.
 

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Review: Seeing Evil by Jason Parent

Seeing Evil by Jason Parent

My Rating:


I received a free copy of Seeing Evil from the publisher in return for an honest review.

I'm pretty fussy when it comes to thrillers, especially when there is some aspect of policing/police procedure involved. But Seeing Evil is no regular thriller. The storyline reveals the very real human side of horror and the psychological torture and abuse that humans are capable of, but at the same time it has a paranormal feel to it as it introduces us to Michael, a child who has psychic visions of the future. It's full of chilling and disturbing scenes and the author has done an excellent job of portraying the darker side of human nature.

I loved the realistic characters, just normal everyday people who despite their flaws and baggage, step up and do something truly brave and heroic. They really appealed to me and were very well developed and memorable. I really hope to read more about them in future.

Usually it's the characterisation that makes a book for me but everything about Seeing Evil was a hit. I was gripped from start to finish. The pacing was perfect, the writing was smooth and a pleasure to read, which resulted in me being up all night reading and finishing the book in one sitting.

I knew upon finishing that it was perhaps going to be one of my favourites of 2015 but it wasn't until I tried to read another book afterwards that I realised just how much I had enjoyed this one. I couldn't settle into another book, I kept finding myself thinking about the characters in this one. It took me trying 3 different books before I could find something where my mind wasn't wandering back to Seeing Evil while reading. Because of this Seeing Evil is definitely going onto my favourites of 2015 shelf.

Highly Recommended!!

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Review: Blood and Rain by Glenn Rolfe

Blood and Rain by Glenn Rolfe

My Rating: 


I received a free copy of Blood and Rain from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Blood and Rain has a great atmosphere and stand out character development. I have read a few of Glenn's books now and characterisation was something that I felt was lacking in his previous works but he has really stepped up to the mark with this one. The characters in Blood and Rain are well fleshed out and likeable, excluding the baddies but then we're not supposed to like them, and I quickly found myself eager to turn the pages to find out what was in store for them next.

The pacing is great and it's full of horror and tension, with plenty of scenes that will have you cringing as you read. It has a very dark atmosphere at times and the forest scenes were done particularly well. I could visualise it easily... dark, rainy, sounds coming from every direction, something lurking close by ready to jump out any second. It really draws you in and keeps you on edge.

This is werewolves as they should be. They're not cute and fluffy, they don't remove their shirt every scene or stick their furry noses in unmentionable places. These are proper werewolves. They're scary, they're mean, they're violent and they're behind you! Only kidding. No, really... they're behind you...



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Review: The Leper Window (A Daniel Gates Novella) by Frazer Lee

The Leper Window (A Daniel Gates Novella) by Frazer Lee

My Rating:


I received a free copy of The Leper Window from the publisher in return for an honest review.

At just 54 pages The Leper Window is a short and fast read. I didn't feel as drawn in as I would have liked and that's due in part to it being short and not having as much substance as I would have liked, it felt like it was part of a larger story, and also in part due to some of the wording. The wording in places put me off and I couldn't take it seriously at times. Especially when the author was referring to the MC and his "Morning warmth"

Don't get me wrong, it's worth a read and the author did a great job of creating the environment and atmosphere but I just felt like I was only skimming the surface of what is a larger and more detailed story, which I guess from the title may be the case. Perhaps if I had read more about Daniel Gates previously I would have enjoyed the context of this one more.

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