C. J. Daley

First saw this in the Library section of the SFF Insiders Discord and really liked the cover. A huge thanks to James for the audible code! Liz May Brice did a great job with the narration.

1920s Liverpool delivers a setting both familiar and different. Det. Amelia Dei must fight through gender roles, misogyny, and the supernatural in this murder mystery that feels both historical and fantastical. In a way it reminded me of Shadowseer: London by Morgan Rice in that it feels like a classic mystery meshed with an almost urban fantasy twist. Or Out on a Limb by Luis Paredes with its hints at a supernatural world beyond kind of a la Men in Black (although not alien).

Amelia will stop at nothing to upend Dr. Knight and his string of mysterious coma patient deaths. Her superiors don’t believe in her, and are finding it hard to believe her when she says something suspect is going on, but she refuses to relent. Her partner, Det. Reed, is the only one to have her back as the mystery unfolds into swirling darkness.

This is written well and feels cohesive. I found myself wondering where the two authors blended, becoming this unique voice. The two POVs (Amelia and Dr. Knight) worked well for me as I enjoy a glimpse into the dark and madness. The only hang up I had were the flashback memory scenes with young Knight. I understood their need, as it shows his coming into his power and experiencing his dark reality—the Umbra Mentis, but they also felt like attempting to humanize. As the story opens with him committing SA and reveling in it, I didn’t find him redeemable.

This tackles themes of sexism, gender roles, mental illness, poverty, and sexual orientation rather well. Even in a reality that turns out to have an entirely exterior nightmarish world just beyond it, these things are still present and touched on throughout. The Umbra was creepy, intriguing in what the authors held back, and I wished to know more. The inspector finally backing Amelia, as well as hinting at his awareness of the supernatural, makes me feel like there could be an expansive series even beyond the Umbra!

I really liked the last names of Dei and Knight facing off against each other. I have to imagine it was purposeful, as they even chose spellings that were not so on the nose. As the Umbra is this kind of swirling mass of black and darkness, it really felt like Amelia was the day facing off against the night.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this audio arc.

A concise set of stories meshing monsters with the atrocities of WWII. Vampires, witches, werewolves, dragons, krakens, genetically modified humans and animals, and DNA-altered bears, oh my. I particularly appreciated the generous take on “monster” as well as the shaping of war being the true evil. I don’t tend to enjoy war stuff that alters historical events in any big way as I feel it takes away from the people that paid for the outcome with their lives, and I’m glad to say this one skirted that exceptionally. The editor asked each contributor to ground their story in fact, within real events, but the outcomes were the same and the supernatural elements were simply helping or layered within.

I enjoyed how each story took readers to a new place, a new perspective, a new country even. Including countries I wasn’t even aware took part in the war. We traveled the world and learned of the supernatural just under the surface. We read stories from the beginning of the war, and we read stories from the very bombing that ended the war. The variety within is really what makes this collection so special.

Particular stand outs included a story that acted as almost an unauthorized sequel to Dracula and the Demeter, a werewolf that’s helped by something else, a crazy croctopus taking out strike teams, and the farming bears. I apologize because as I did the audio, which I typically do while driving, I didn’t think to note the names/authors!

Although I own more by the author than I’ve read (can anyone really keep up with him) I naturally had to buy his latest as well.

So this book deals with ringing ears and not much to explain them. Honestly it gave me a lot of anxiety at the start (and I didn’t feel any safer after finishing) as I too have a ringing ear that I went through a bunch of testing for as a teen. Doctors said hearing loss or tinnitus but nothing ever stuck. So, I was the perfect candidate for this to be super eerie.

The beginning of this novel shows multiple peoples perspectives as they all succumb to some kind of natural, or unnatural event. These events continue throughout, and honestly they were pretty rough to get through. Firsthand accounts of terrorist attacks and losing loved ones was not what I expected. But I feel it is a testament to Towse’s writing that as a reader I almost felt like I was there, suffering.

Then there’s Malcolm Turner, a bereaved parent and my ear ringing counterpart, that features as the main character. He’s always felt the ringing, more than just hearing it, almost like it’s alive, but lately it’s gotten worse. These episodes are keeping him from sleep, forcing him further away from coping with the loss and causing his performance at work and as a husband to suffer. If only he could get some rest he’d be better, but the ringing has other plans for him. Now, at the risk of losing both his wife and job, he’s forced to seek help from elsewhere, desperate for someone to understand. A little internet search finds an entire group of people suffering from the same condition, and more, they even claim it’s getting worse for them too.

What follows is perhaps some of Towse’s best yet. A meditation on grief, human nature, and the impact of lack of sleep on the human brain. I especially appreciated how the husband and wife were such polar opposites on grieving. Malcom needs to talk about their daughter, to feel her still there, and his wife can’t handle it, can’t treat it as real. It really goes to show how much of a journey it is and how it takes a lot of forgiveness. I can only imagine the depths the author went to to give us such a visceral and real examination. And such real dialogue during their arguments…

The ending left a lot to the imagination. Not it a bad way, but I did find myself wishing for more. Whether that be more writing or more explanation, I’m not sure. But as it stands this was a very well paced and well developed novel!

The author very kindly sent me an audible code for this one, and my last year being what it was, it took me longer than I expected. I’m so glad I got to it though. “God this was fantastic,” was my mini review as I clicked 5 stars and that pretty much sums up how I felt the entire read.

In this novel we follow Grahme on his journey to become a druid. Through personality clashes, disagreements and deceptions, as well as some outright tampering, he finds himself filtering through multiple mentors. These clashes get so severe that he is appointed leader of his own quest to prove himself just so the option isn’t taken away from him. He must return with a ghost orchid, a little know flower with heavy implications. Family issues, the druid council on his heels, and a mind-controlling mage in play, this is a multi-layered, coming-of-age, sprawling epic fantasy.

The main character of Grahme was absolutely stellar. His personality feels spot on, and even with all his flaws and mistakes, he still has enough hero built in to carry a story. He shapes up to be a pretty awesome reluctant hero, and as you experience his growth, his power even surprises you. The author gives the reader heavy emotional scenes, tasking revelations and payoffs, and still enough wit and humor to keep the reader grounded. The narration by James Meunier was fantastic, and his portrayal of Grahme gripped me from the jump.

The way the druid magic works felt reminiscent of the Animorphs series, but in a way that tickled nostalgia but also felt like its own thing. It also felt much more adult, and although it’s a fantasy, it felt almost real in its explanation. Grahme and the other druids can take the shape of various animals. All they have to do is know the animal’s shape as well as allowing themselves to truly become them. That’s not to say there aren’t some shocking limitations, but I loved reading through all of their differing choices.

The action sequences are spaced well, with gripping descriptions, and I found that I cared for everyone as I felt for them through Grahme. The scene of the druids holding off the approaching attack until they could escape under the cover of night was so tensely plotted that I had to finish it even though I had made it home…just sat and listened in the parked car. You have to give this one a go

Been meaning to read something from the author for a bit, so I grabbed a paperback to give it a go.

Two new friends are taking a cross-country road trip. They foresee booze, laughs, and some time with the ladies. Unfortunately, they get lost and end up in a small town, one with a bit of a sinister twist. It seems as if everyone is trying to lure them somewhere, and the eerie atmosphere builds. When they try to help someone in need, things take a turn. The chaos that ensues is exactly what you’d expect, oh, except for those things you don’t see coming. And it’s nothing short of your favorite horror classics and horror tropes.

To me this was like an epic amalgamation of horrors. The road trip, getting lost, the fateful warning that goes ignored, the car trouble. It’s The Descent meets Saw meets The Devil’s Rejects meets The Hills Have Eyes meets (very specifically) The Walking Dead S11E6 ‘On the Inside’ where there are feral humans living in the walls. Oh and on top of all that, it’s bringing you right into the heart of the good old 80s satanic panic. This was gruesome and gory, with some killer contraptions and traps, more cannibalism and ritualism. It also features a strong female fighting for survival, and two male best friends that give emotional beats to the piece. And although you hope for all three of them to escape together, they certainly end up having a devil of a time.

This felt like coming home and popping a tape in the old VCR. Like catching an old favorite on cable—I could see myself watching the screen with all its low budget grainy goodness. Like the kind of thing that would be getting its own legacy sequel in theaters right now.

Thanks to Atria/Primero Sueno Press. I absolutely love this cover design so I’m so happy I have one.

People always say that novelists fall in to some common pitfalls in their debuts, and as someone that just released their own debut, it was interesting to really read one and kind of understand that. While I enjoyed the overall plot and vibe of this story, it had some issues. For one, it is repetitious, and for a book so short, that kind of hurt it. The opening of the book had the character flitting back to memories so often I was confused for over fifty pages. Some of these flashbacks/past commentary happened on almost every page. This might have been a chosen voice for the novel, but I felt it truncated the actual story, the length just coming from the past and repeating.

The main characters felt real—emotional, dynamic, traumatized even. I just would have wanted them to open up into their own even more, and as this book reads as standalone, it just doesn’t happen. There is also a scene where Antonia and her love interest are trying to go incognito with masks that cover half their faces. It killed some of the realism for me as the person they didn’t want seeing them knew them both very well. It just felt kind of like pretending you wouldn’t know who Batman was regardless of the jawline? Or maybe I just notice peoples’ features more than others.

Overall, I didn’t dislike the mystery. Finding her mother’s journal entries and sneaking through an abandoned childhood home felt almost like watching a video game play out.

Thanks to Tor Nightfire for a physical arc of this beautiful rerelease!

A unique haunted house story unlike anything else I’ve read. Someone (or something) passing a doorway. A reflection caught out of the corner of the eye. A shadow where there shouldn’t be. We’ve all heard or seen or read stories like these. But what Stephen Graham Jones is offering isn’t a boy haunted by the ghost he thinks he’s seen, but a boy encouraging the ghost it could have been.

After the death of his father, his mother moved him and his brother away from the reservation. But if his father died elsewhere, how could he find them here? Is his father returning to save him? His brother? To make his mother less lonely? To make them whole again? He certainly thinks so, and will waste away the nights just praying for another glimpse of his hero.

As much as this story is gut wrenching, it’s also about the boy’s hope, and regardless of whether or not that can be perceived as naive, that’s what hit me so strongly in this one. A novelette length examination on the lengths in which hope can bind us to the past, to the need of a father, to the almost vampiric nature of holding on.

Huge thanks to Scholastic Press for the physical arc of this one! I was drawn right in with the cover art.

This was fantastic. I expected to like it, as middle grade horror is usually a hit for me, but I really loved this. It’s a novel told in verse, which I did not know until I got it in the mail! It really cuts down on things we usually find necessary and proves that they aren’t always. Really concise, engaging, and moving.

Vee, after getting into trouble at school, is left to spend the summer with her neat-manners-and-all-other-things-freak grandmother, Jojo. As Vee is different, neurodivergent and trying to find her own way, she’s always butted heads with Jojo, so being left feels like torture. Especially when Vee finds out her older cousin, Cat, who also doesn’t get along with Jojo, isn’t allowed over. You see, jojo wants everything perfectly prim, otherwise, what would the neighbors think? Yet Vee just wants to make art and wear silly, fancy socks. Most of all though, Vee wants to be accepted and understood.

So when Vee finds a ghost of a girl living in Jojo’s walls, one who has been stockpiling her grandmother’s secrets, she finds it hard to say no to playing pranks with her. Even when the girl presses for darker and more intense pranks, disagreements between them push Vee toward giving in to the anger. If Jojo thinks so low of Vee, why shouldn’t she get back at her?

Although the ghost ties back into the storyline itself in a ‘history coming back to haunt you’ way, I found that she served as a really good voice for Vee’s fears, angers, anxieties and even darker processing. Because of how in your face her harsh pranks are, she begins to serve more and more as the big meanie for young readers, doubling down on how wrong anger can be. And while the short pay off may feel good, what Vee really wants is her grandmother’s love.

I found myself actually connecting things the grandmother said and did behaviorally to someone I’ve dealt with in the past. Especially the part about appearances. And this was a really unique way to see different sides to someone that maybe I didn’t think possible in real life. Everyone is multifaceted, and everyone has a past that influenced their present. It actually hit home for me, as I wasn’t allowing myself to view them as what they are just like Jojo didn’t view the real Vee. This one is light on the scary/horror side of things and real heavy on the emotional family turmoil side.

Thank you to Angry Robot for the physical review copy!

A group of four have been genetically and surgically modified with traits and scales from our prehistoric apex predators. This is meant to be the next step in warfare, a way to up the ante, but also a way to ultimately protect lives. Naturally, there are so rather strange side effects when you attempt to turn humans into something else.

As the blurb mentions, the novel opens up with a bit of a mishap. Eddie Boka, the poster boy for Project Saurian, has accidentally given into his T-Rex-infused DNA and cannibalized an enemy solider during his first live mission. In the fear of the information leaking, or the project missing its launch date, extreme therapist Addi LaTour is brought in. The hope is that her method of shock therapy will be enough to train Eddie out of it. But Eddie’s upbeat, overcome-it-all attitude has created a spark that transcends typically patient-doctor transference. There’s something more between them, and although romance isn’t the focal point, it does propel this journey.

To be honest, other than the use of dino DNA, I think the “perfect for fans of Jurassic Park” may be a bit out there. It doesn’t go so heavy on the actual science it took to get the dino-humans to the stage their at, so this falls more into the realm of thriller. Although the later fights definitely have the vibe. But also, how do you even classify something like this? It doesn’t even really follow the natural flow of a novel at times either, and yet I found it works. It is intriguing enough that even when it isn’t fast it’s good, and when it took off it didn’t stop until it ended. Fast, brutal, and with intriguing deception I really was not expecting.

A military thriller meets science fiction. A blend of billionaire gone wrong and medical/scientific advancement. I really wondered how the science would make it all work. Like wouldn’t their bodies refuse the foreign changes? Never a bad job when a book intrigues you!

This novel also opened up the debate of cannibalism. The dino-humans started as naturally born human males, but since the transfusions and surgeries, they are kind of classified as something other. That includes in the public eye, with many labeling them as freaks. So it just kept standing out every time I read the word—if they aren’t being considered humans anymore, is it even really cannibalism? While it remains disturbing and unacceptable regardless, I wondered what it would be called otherwise. Where does science take that step past alteration and actual end up making something new?

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Tor Nightfire for the audiobook arc.

Halley, a young woman on the run, takes a job off a sketchy forum. The offer is for far below the established minimum wage, which will force her to work for longer just to scrape up enough for passage somewhere, but at least it’s on a ship that’s so unlikely to be visited that it’s almost a home run. And where her boss is unlikely to come face to face with her, and the people that may or may not be after her are unlikely to find her, there’s no way she can refuse.

The job seems easy, patrol the corridors, keep things need, clean, functional, and press a single button every three hours—every three on the dot. If she doesn’t, a warning alarm will go off and her boss’s superiors may visit to see why HE wasn’t pressing the button. She’s to remain a complete secret. You can sleep for two hours and fifty minutes every three hours, but you’ll never sleep through the night. I guess I didn’t really think about it while reading, but could you imagine the pressure of that? It would start as an annoyance, maybe a small headache or pain behind the eyes, then over time it would change into irritability, outright anger, paranoia—perhaps hallucinations? That sort of aching, growing atmosphere in the background was almost like The Shining to me. Creeping-insanity-esque.

Outside of atmosphere, I really liked how quickly this one got off the ground. Halley’s past is left unresolved enough to be intriguing and her immediate scare on the new ship draws the reader right in. The AI projections are startlingly creepy at times, and although I wouldn’t liken them to M3gan (especially as they aren’t solid) it was a somewhat unique and futuristic addition to the book. I also enjoyed that they were not just thrown in, their inclusion is tied directly to the story.

As for the twist, which I will not ruin, it worked for me. It was eerie and unique and ultimately paid off in a way I found more enjoyable than Ghost Station. I did feel like it could have gone on for a tad longer, but that’s okay. In a story that felt like a creepy haunting or even creature story, the landing was a bit different.

When I saw this was releasing, I was already a couple of books into the series and a big fan. I bought the first book on kindle to get the newly included novella, but something didn’t feel right, and I didn’t end up reading it. Finally, I realized it was because I went with the audio for the series, and the narration from R.C. Bray is simply too good to just switch to reading the text. So I bought the audiobook for this one separately… IYKYK.

While the Hell Divers world is filled with badasses, no one even scrapes the surface to how intense X is. Almost 100 dives, a feat that no diver is even close to, and now he’s survived what the others considered to be certain death. Some may say he’s just too stubborn to die, but even so, he’s my favorite.

So what took place on earth while Tin was growing up? For the first time ever, we finally know! Well, part one of it at least. X survives the fall back down to land, and if that wasn’t harrowing enough, now he has to survive in a wasteland that’s not meant to be survived in. He’ll need batteries for his suit—or at least a charger, medical supplies, ammo, shelter, and most importantly, safe food and water. But how will he find anything safe in a red zone? How will he sleep at night with the monstrosities fighting for flesh? This is something that only X could figure out.

I was a little saddened by how long it took for readers to first meet Miles, but I’m pleased to see that it’s only a part one. And while being stranded can seem like a lot of searching and waiting, this still packed in an awful lot of scifi, post apoc goodness.

“This is commander Xavier Rodriguez, I’m still alive you motherf**kers.”

As always, my infinite thanks to Shortwave Media for the physical arc!

A novel that tackles grief and aging as much as the terrors within the small town of Fairview Acres. Jerry Campbell is a recent widower. He hopes that the sale of his family home for a new and smaller location will help him with accepting the loss. But when his realtor notifies him that his offer was accepted almost simultaneously with a buyer wanting his old place, the strangeness just keeps stacking. Welcoming neighbors, but nightly parties that always seem to start after sundown and last through the night, strange noises across his roof as he tries to sleep, a mid night warning from Katherine Dunnally that may be more than dementia delusions, and worst of all, Arthur Peterson, the association lead, giving off almost Nosferatu-level weird vibes.

This novel falls under what some may call “old people horror.” The lead is elderly, as is a majority of the cast, and it certainly contains the aches and pains of those getting on in years. I don’t have a slew of experience with this (if you’d call it) sub-genre, but it did bring to mind the likes of Mark Towse’s Nana, with its oddly over-aged community members and its cosmic twists. Sundowner’s is imbued with terror and heartfelt moments, like the tenderness that forms between Katherine and Jerry, and disfigured horrors that push cosmic into the realm of creature feature. With fantastic parallels that seamlessly blend the horrific nature of dementia with an alien withdrawal that mimics its memory losing effects.

But what I truly loved the most about the novel was Jerry. A lead that appears to be a grumpy old loner, is actually just a grieving, socially awkward and anxious man. So used to having his wife with him as a salve, he’s unsure of how to tackle this last stage of life. Not only is he dealing with the loss, his aches and pains, his uprooted life, the attempted continuous communication from Arthur, but also the absolute preternatural atmosphere of the Fairview community. And while the novel delivers on the small town feel, there’s much bigger things happening to turn the wheels. I found Jerry to be incredibly grounding throughout the read because you too may be a little grumpy and standoffish if your entire new town was giving off funky vampiric vibes. I really appreciated how he was witty, intelligent, still strong, and a cohesive lead that broke a lot of the conventional elderly tropes.

A first for me from the author, but I truly enjoyed it.

I had the chance to read this for the Indie Ink Awards, which is awesome because it was already on my mountainous TBR and I had a kindle version bought. It’s sequel, Dragon Along, just dropped btw!

A somewhat cozy fantasy, this book is filled to the gills with wit, and I found it to be quite laugh out loud funny to be honest. Which is no small feat for me as reading just does not translate that way usually. There’s humor for all ages and even the supporting cast is rich with callback jokes and witty jabs. Check out my highlights on goodreads/kindle if you want an idea…

Ailis and her brother get sent to the market for eggs, and while they do technically meet the requirement for their assignment, it isn’t exactly what their mother had in mind. You see, the inquisition has outlawed dragons, dragon paraphernalia, even dragon talk (unless you’re talking about how terrible and nasty they were). The kids never really understood why, especially with their uncle saying it was nonsense, but it didn’t matter all that much to them. That is until they brought home Pilib. Who you ask? Oh, just a dragon egg that naturally hatches almost immediately. Their mother is furious, curious, and scared out of her depths as the children don’t seem to understand the severity of the situation. Naturally, as one does, Ailis decides to throw him a birthday party.

The world the reader is presented with is rich and layered in history. I found there to be enough given away while also hinting at how much more there was. It struck me as a talent, as the author has made it accessible to children, while the extra depth can appeal to adults. The characters feel like they inhabit this world, like they’re ingrained in it, and although it’s about a little girl who has a dance recital, it feels like the world couldn’t exist without them. And although it’s unlike any fantasy I’ve ever read, I’m sure she will carve her name in its history in the stories to come all the same.

Also wow, baking? Did this story make me want sweet treats? Yes! (Except for maybe the first pie?). The bread described in the beginning was mouth watering. I could almost imagine the smells like I had stepped into a bakery. The smorgasbord of pies at their uncles, featuring sweet and savory concoctions, made me wonder why we use any other vessel to deliver food other than the pie? I’d yet to read a fantasy that made me want to bake a pie and also pet a baby dragon, but here this is. I can’t wait to get the sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for the audio of this one!

Considering my deep love for all things zombies, I’m actually a bit embarrassed to admit this is my first read from the Father of the Zombie Film. But I do find it to be incredibly cool that Kraus found this half-finished manuscript in the archive and was able to give it public life. That must be a daunting thing, and even though he had already done so with The Living Dead, this was definitely different for both of them.

In the Louisiana bayou, a supernatural entity known as the Piper has been disappearing children for generations. The slayings made me think of my own writing, and yet those delivered here are somehow more gruesome. This definitely made me wish I had included some of the young perspectives in my own novel. I really enjoyed the opening of the story, as I found the less I knew of the Piper made it eerie and almost nightmarish as it filtered through personas coming after a couple people. If those refusing to leave don’t accept the past, they may just end up paying the piper.

Now there was a scene between the Piper, cloaked as the school teacher and the young girl, Pontiac, that I found incredibly uncomfortable. But as a horror scene, it was certainly horrific, I just asked myself why—it did not really tie back into anything making it necessary.

As others have pointed out, I did agree that the ending felt a bit rushed, or maybe that it could have gone a bit deeper. However, I found the buildup to be really strong, and from what I understand, the social commentary was something Romero was known for. Tying the supernatural entity back to the slave trade, the story takes on race and class and carrying the sins of the father. I also found the entire cast to be interesting and engaging, especially how they all interacted and clicked (or didn’t!) together. This one’s different but definitely worth checking out.

I had a copy of this for too long, so apologies, but thanks to the author for the copy! My friend, Richard, really praises this one!

This is a reluctant hero story that is just as lighthearted at times as it is clever. Our lead, Zercian, a teacher, finds himself drafted into the Entervian military through no fault of his own (or is it?). His mind is being commandeered by an ancient legendary hero, and that hero, simply will not leave him alone. But the thing is, over time, Zercian’s fear dissipates, his anticipation rises, and suddenly, he’s not so reluctant anymore. Is this solely because of his being fogbound, or was the inner hero—not the actual legendary being inhabiting his mind—there all along?

This played with the idea of choice in a cool way. While Zercian is most definitely compelled, afraid of the danger, in the middle of teaching, and is in love and hasn’t proposed yet, hasn’t his life become just like the stories he teaches? And surely he won’t miss out on the chance to save kin and country? But still there’s the underlying debate on choice. Not only what would happen if he wasn’t compelled, but while he is, is he even the one steering the wheel anyway? It felt like a very old school trope coming to life. Making me think of Gandalf directing Frodo as they leave Rivendell in the movie, or Eragon telling Brom, "I didn't ask for any of this.” Why do we torture our fantasy folks with such journeys? What I love was the fact that Zercian has so many reasons to stay and so many to go.

The cast of characters has great banter, differing skills, personalities, and connections, and all service the novel in their own unique way. There’s tidbits of intrigue, mentions of the world beyond, and setup galore for the coming series. This is an underrated indie release for sure, bump it up in your TBR if you respect my opinion at all!

Thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for this audiobook arc.

This is my first experience with the author, and I really enjoyed it. This is like a mix between ghost hunting and being a ghost medium, with Olivia having not only the sight, but abilities. She’s like a paranormal detective but also a kind of spirit weaver. The novel opens with her solving a few lesser incidents to get your blood flowing, but they all end up coming back in connection.

When hired to investigate room 904, Olivia is facing far more than just a simple haunting. The room is the place where her sister was last seen alive, before she took her own life, and it’s believed that this is directly linked to the haunting itself. Every year like clockwork a woman checks into the hotel, whether or not they try to lock up room 904 tight, without fail, three weeks later there’s another death. And Olivia’s investigation is hit with another layer of desperation when she finds out her mother has been to the hotel…

The in between is filled with a couple of repetitive beats, where she is struggling back and forth with solving the mystery. There are some shared locations that made it feel like similar things were happening. But I was a really big fan of these small sections at the beginning of chapters that served as little advertisements for different ghost hunting equipment. And as my version was narrated, it added almost a comedic beat to break things up. What was kind of strange to me though, was how much research must have gone into the equipment, when the items themselves take a serious backseat in the story. The author mentions that they are there, or that they are using them, but then it always defaulted to Olivia reaching out with her powers anyway.

The novel deals with indigenous mistreatment and culture erasure, not only in its past plot line of a massacre, but also in the way those around Olivia speak and treat her. There’s this incredibly nasty journalist after her, and she is a great example of the way people speak about American Indians in a way they feel they can claim is not a racial commentary. And I found this not only informational, but a good facsimile for readers of what people actually have to deal with. A solid first read for me.

Huge thanks to Shortwave for a physical copy of this one to review. I have to say, it’s simple, but this is one of my favorite covers from them.

A couple gets a little lost, so when they come across a bar, they figure why not stop for a beer? They’re already a bit behind, and it’s just going to be one, right? What follows will go down as one of their worst nights…ever.

This is a first read for me by the author. I have a hardcover of Boys in the Valley, it was on my desired October TBR, but I just didn’t fit it in. As I enjoyed this, this may actually function as a really nice introduction to the author for people. It’s short, concise, spooky, kooky even. There’s humor and ridiculousness thrown in that makes it something you can laugh at, while also sidestepping all jukeboxes for the foreseeable future.

Some well done eeriness in such few pages, and a bit of revenge thrown in there as well. Kind of reminded me of something you could see on The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror, especially in its almost episodic length. Check this one out, and as ever, support Shortwave Media.

Huge thanks to Wild Hunt Books for the review copy!

This is a fresh and unique take on the haunted house story. Right off the bat the reader is put in the know that the house isn’t just an ordinary house…but that doesn’t make it haunted. We get these really interesting chapters from the perspective of the house that serve almost as interludes, and I found them to be really decisive storytelling. The whole story speaks to our ability to inhabit and infect a place with our entirety.

In moves Simon and Priya, a recently bereaved married couple. Not only are they carrying their grief as if it’s literal baggage, they are slowly drifting apart like flotsam at sea. They are indeed the ones who are haunted. Can they come to realize what the other needs? Or will the house do it for them?

This was a quick little novella that packed a hell of a punch. The dialogue and introspection both share an incredible emotional depth, and I was really impressed by the polar opposites in Simon and Priya. This author definitely did a deep dive into his characters’ psyche. They grieve and experience like two entirely different people, and even as a married couple, they stretch and grow as separate people. I don’t know how else to explain how reading them felt other than…real.

The house and ending kind of gave me Nestlings by Nat Cassidy vibes, except like in a benevolent, more caring way. Unless you count the conniving aunt and cousin…

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the audio of this one. The trio that is Eric Lockley, Kristolyn Lloyd, and Zeno Robinson did a really well balanced narration—each taking on a sibling and giving them life.

This novel is a lot of things. It’s a critique on race relations and police involvement, in kind of an à la Jordan Peele-style. It mixes hyper-violence and realism with humor, in a way that I’ve found makes it more palatable for a lot of people that wouldn’t listen/read/watch these types of things otherwise. It’s also a family saga. Dysfunctional as all hell, each jaded in their own way, and each nursing scars they’re too hurt to discuss…even if they claim they have. Calla is broke, forced to take in her younger brother Jamie—who her other brother, Dre, most definitely said he’d help way more than he is with. And most of all she’s tired. Jamie, an aspiring musician, can’t get out of his way enough to realize that he’s way less street than he realizes. And Dre is stuck somewhere in between—too annoyed by Calla to be of much help, and too ‘straight and narrow’ to reach Jamie. And then there’s the nightmares.

On top of tackling all the real world horrors, the author has also blended in nightmarish horrors kind of à la Stranger Things and Love Craft Country (I’m primarily recalling the twin girls scene, but also the idea of shedding skins works well here). Except these strange things are rather more R rated, come from within, and only want to murder the three of them. I struggled with the build up to the climax, wondering if it was about to fumble the twist, and luckily, the author really pulled it off. The explanation of the Calla’s really worked for me, and that unique spin on sacrificing yourself for your siblings, that breaking yourself down into smaller and smaller pieces—or versions of yourself—even when you have nothing more to give, was really powerful.

This book also tackles anger. Being angry with the world, with the hand you’ve been dealt, with not being loved and wanted, with your family, and even with yourself. Jamie can’t get over the way life has treated him. He’s angry, and he’s even angrier that as a black teen, the world isn’t build to accept his anger. It’s raw, it’s real, and I found this novel to be a really strong way to talk about the subject. There’s things to learn here below the surface, and it also works as a functional horror if that’s not your thing.

I received this as a gift, but ended up doing the audio for it due to time.

Strangely enough, I’ve seen handfuls of people talk about this book with the warning “just don’t treat it like scripture!” I’ve had it said to me personally and I’ve seen it said online, and honestly, I’ve not actually seen anyone treat it like that. Could it be because of all of our well meaning warners, or is it just a strange attachment it’s gotten over time?

Anyway, this is a strange little mix of memoir and writing instructional. For someone that claims they don’t really remember their childhood (or maybe he just meant that in relation to the other book he mentioned) this is a pretty detailed recounting. Doctor’s visits, school mishaps, and even somethings with quoted dialogue. I’m not sure I could recount as much! It’s interesting, well paced, and short enough to be entertaining as well as it is informative. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of King, not by any stretch, but it is interesting to learn more about someone that so many consider a master.

Now for the instructions, habits, and necessities of writing, there are some things in this that I took away as fantastic, and there were things I really disagreed with. On one hand, King’s opinions on adjectives, dialogue, and characters were things I will focus and think over in the future. He is another firmly set in the department of “said” being all that’s needed. And he states that your dialogue and characters actions will dictate how they’re speaking, not a simple word attached to said. Are your characters fighting? Readers will assume they may be getting loud. Are you characters hidden in a closet while a madman hunts them? Readers will assume they are whispering. That doesn’t mean that a well placed word can’t help, but to do it often is just fluff.

King is a big reader, and he spent a lot of his time growing up writing. But he then says that he firmly believes that a bad writer cannot become good, and a good writer cannot become great. And it feels as if we’re just supposed to believe that by him writing and reading as a teen that he was just miraculously chosen as one of the greats (of the three options given, I figured this one is the one people would label him as, he certainly does not do so himself)? I do believe in natural talent, but with something so obviously learned like writing skills, I can’t believe someone like him could believe that these people are simply made, or somehow chosen? Furthermore, when he goes into his best “practices” (his daily routines) he mentions needing to continually write, always working on the craft, and to read voraciously. Both things I’d personally consider to be PRACTICE. It almost seems like what he said and what he does are at odds there…

Regardless of if you agree with him or me, this is short on being a masterclass in writing technique, and frankly, he wasn’t trying to make it one. He remarks on how many of these exist, what he could possibly add, and who is he to even do so. And in that sense, as well as the personal tidbits, this remains an informative, enjoyable and grounded read. I am getting into more reads by the author, and I can see he’s a fantastic writer, so it was also nice to see that he doesn’t have a big head. And the narration by the author is always a nice touch.

Thanks to the publisher for this one! This is an Antarctic contagion thriller that was actually written on the continent! That’s so sick.

A team of scientists and engineers have begun to hunker down for the winter season on the ice of Antarctica. The author does a good job of letting the reader know right off the bat that these two groups don’t really get along, foreshadowing future tensions. He also does an incredible job of juggling quite a large cast of characters, which was something I initially worried about—but no need.

When a trio of Chinese scientists make an incredible trek across the frozen wasteland, with quite a heinous scene on display in the back of the truck, you know this is not your normal winter on the ice. One of their team had been brutalized, completely unrecognizable, and no one knows why. And even worse, the station’s Dr. Wei now thinks that all those that stepped foot on the truck after may now be infected.

What follows is a truly high octane, nightmare fueled battle from start to finish. Where the author brings us scientific reasoning just as often as shockingly brutal violence. This is a well paced, and intricately organized thriller, and the author does not let off the pedal until it’s over. It’s a unique take, where the infestation is fighting just as hard (if not harder) for its survival as the humans.

The novel takes place during WWIII, where its near-future take on politics extrapolated to their almost inevitable conclusion, is almost more frightening than the violence itself. But it also gives the novel this truly grounded feeling, that even without stepping foot on that ice, you can know it’s actually happening.

To touch on this quick, the back cover says Contagion meets The Walking Dead. While I have not seen Contagion, this really is nothing like TWD, and while there are some zombie-ish descriptions it’s more like a rage-fueled illness. It felt kind of like they grabbed the biggest IP they could think of and rolled with it, even though it’s not a perfect fit. Maybe to further itself from The Thing? Now, this really in no way marred my enjoyment of this novel, I was definitely looking for it though because they put it there. Maybe more I Am Legend, fresh-turned Z Nation zombies, Days Gone even. Coincidentally the use of worms and infestation did go hand in hand with Angela Sylvaine’s Frost Bite, which I read right after, or even The Troop by Nick Cutter and Infected by Scott Sigler. 

Thanks to Wild Hunt Books for this review copy!

This one really delivered on the small town vibes for me. As the train journey gets further and further away from London, I realized at one point that their journey was still short enough to entirely take place in New York. Really goes to show for folks that have never been. The older train, its technical (and perhaps supernatural) difficulties, as well as its infrequent stops, really sold that achingly far, removed town for me.

What didn’t exactly work for me was that the story spends its time building, creating what would be truly atmospheric, but then the ending kind of hits flat as it’s simply too short for its own good. I was creeped out, I was wondering, I was waiting, and it just didn’t exactly pay out the way it could have.

Still worth checking out as it’s a quick one and you may completely disagree!

I have a physical copy of this somewhere, so I know I was already interested, but as I’m mostly doing audio lately, and had the chance to listen to judge for the Indie Ink Awards, I couldn’t resist.

I’m sure you’ve seen this around the internet. The author is just a real nice guy, talking about his clean and classic fantasy series, and showing off a nice green library. It’s probably on your TBR, and I’m here now to tell you you should read it. The narration by Peter Leppard is real solid too!

This has the classical feel he’s aiming for. It’s clean, with nothing gratuitous in its fighting or language. There’s emotion, understanding, and heart, with loving parents and displays of affection. It felt almost like the cast of The Lord of the Rings thrown into the earlier, lighter world of The Hobbit, but the orcs have been fleshed out and they’re not mindless, evil things. And while there is originality within for sure, I do warn you of the similarities. If that’s a feel you know and love, but are open to something new, this is exactly for you.

Earlier in the story I struggled slightly with conflict. The author is telling you why things are important, why the characters must do something, but I just didn’t feel it yet. I struggled with being drawn into their tale past just the words spoken, and while I understand the choice with the author showing both sides of the conflict, it made it hard to feel pull to side with someone. Later, this gets entirely erased though, as the author does an incredible job of building a climax with action that doesn’t even need violence to feel in your face. He somehow balances stakes while keeping it clean for readers. I cared for the survival of the characters, and each of them is well balanced with their own skills and areas of expertise. This emotional connection ensured I was ready for anything, and hoping for everyone’s survival.

The author’s take on elves had me thinking of Adam R. Bishop’s A Sea of Cinders, though of course with less violence. I really enjoyed this, and I’m still feeling somewhat concerned for anyone making me feel for an orc.

Had the perfect opportunity line up where I had just started this as an audio arc and I had the chance to grab a category for the Indie Ink Awards as well. I was so excited to get into this one.

You may not know this, but I am a huge zombie fan. Since Shaun of the Dead and Dawn of the Dead (Snyder), I’ve been a fan of both the more comedic and the serious iterations. As a TWD Universe stan, I just finished a rewatch and a full watch through of all the spinoffs. So I was definitely ready to go when it came to picking this up. And while I’ve been a part of the reviewing community since 2020, there does seem to be a bit of a distance between zombies and readers—not necessarily in the sense of looking down on the genre, but there’s definitely a disconnect—especially when it comes to novel form. Luckily, the author grips you with compelling characterizations, making the zombies an obstacle in the story, rather than the whole plot.

Now I will say there was some mild apprehension behind starting. Mostly as I am in the plotting/early writing phase of working on my own zombie thriller and I was worried about infecting (see what I did there) my own plot with things I loved from this one. And honestly, I know for a fact I’m not capable of being this concise. The prose are sharp and everything is to the point without appearing rushed in any way. So not only am I far too longwinded to appear like I’m pulling from this one, the author also went and made their own unique twist on the genre to take them a step further. These creatures, these infected, can laugh maniacally, can scheme, and when they turn without injury, they can remain awfully fast.

The author is certainly playing within the tropes I know and love here, which for me made this a compulsive read. Although I will say, woah! zombie novel where they say zombie!! Each scene end is a chapter, whether short or long, and that made for a continuous “one more chapter” pull to every break away. Kate and Nick find each other through unusual means, in rather unusual times, and that makes them connect all the more immediately. They’ve both got loads of baggage to deal with, making them complex and compelling in a relatable way. While this novel touches on the depravity that humanity would sink to after the world’s ending, this is more about the idea of hope. Both characters have already seen the dark side of man, and unfortunately it came for them before the world turned over. Therefore they’ve come into the apocalypse already doing what it takes to carry on—surviving. They both could have given up, could have stopped, but they didn’t, and you know what, they found each other! A person can be a safe place even when the world is not one.

Huge notes of abuse and mental health issues, as well as their coping mechanisms or lackthere of. This is a story about survival, but be warned it does not shy away from the reality that causes these issues. It’s deep and real and engaging, and it will leave you thinking when it’s done. And even though it’s dark, you’ll want even more.

I received an audiobook arc of this, sorry if I’m a little late, I lost my BookFunnel library and had to go through a couple hoops!

So to start, I want to admit that I did myself a bit of a disservice. And that’s due to the fact that I read almost double the horror novels to fantasy last year. Fantasy has always been my top genre, but that’s just how it landed with arcs and stuff going on. So with some time away, jumping right into not only a large fantasy (19+hrs), but doing so in audio, left me kind of struggling. The sheer amount of names in this novel had me so confused. Every chapter for a while (longer than I care to admit) I thought it was always someone new, and I actually re-listened to quite a lot. It also has a lot of politics going on, with clandestine meetings, as well as parties featuring the elites, so dialogue when you’re confused is also way harder. With all of that being said, these are troubles based on my decision, not the author’s faults in any way.

This is a dark fantasy, where magic is mostly held by the elite (or black market if you can afford it), and it slowly kills the wielder. This should make the magic finite, funneling users into a less powerful role, however those on top are pulling strings far deeper than anyone would imagine. The Crimson Court, a set of seemingly immortal elites, kind of a la Assassin’s Creed’s Templars, have unwittingly set themselves against a dangerous adversary. When Kasia’s father is murdered, she vows to avenge him, if only she can uncover the identity of those hiding in shadows. And although this is in part a revenge story, it is pulling at political strings as she tries to gather allies before making a move in a kind of slow burn build up.

I enjoyed Kasia, as her death wielding allows for those she’s killed to haunt her, making her a complex character juggling guilt, frustration, and constant reminders of her shortcomings. This in a way allows for you to root for her to persevere, as the author has done well to make her struggle multifaceted. The other main POV, which ends up kind of allying themselves with her, I found to be less engaging, both the character and their side story. Although the idea of tainted spirits coming back as mindless enemies, kind of like spirit-zombies is awesome, so a more fleshed out group of fighters trained to stop them could be incredibly awesome (and there is a book two!). The glass swords that stop the spirits are a unique idea, and I kept wondering how many I would break!

I enjoyed the novel, and I just felt myself wanting more. More immersion into the world, more understanding. There are flintlock pistols and rifles, which usually sets fantasy stories apart for me, but I felt like this was a fantasy world with guns, not a true flintlock fantasy world. Not necessarily a negative at all either, as it’s definitely a cool fantasy world! I also spent most of the novel wondering why the king would have a dragon coiled around his throne but only really use it as a giant-sized gavel, shutting up his meeting room. No spoilers though! The narration by Ellie Gossage is well done, and very fitting for the character of Kasia too.