Michelle

I received an ARC of this title through Netgalley. These are my thoughts. 

I have a bad habit of thinking early on I can predict my eventual star rating. So much can happen between that first impression and the end. Stories can stumble, or find their footing, and endings can elevate or cast the story down into the bowels of ... somewhere. 

I spent a lot of this story thinking it was for sure at least 4 stories. I found a misspelled word here or a misused word there, but – overall – it read really nicely and I was invested. I wanted an explanation for various intriguing developments and so the pages turned themselves. 

The main character was very likeable and provided autism representation. I welcomed that choice and also thought it added to the story in terms of her having to deal with biases. We had a plot where she was always under the best of circumstances going to be unable to provide evidence for things she knew to be true, and that's before adding people mistrusting her ability to perceive events correctly. I felt that was an honest way to go. 

Unfortunately, the ending didn't hold up or satisfy or, really, work. It's quite possible the author could explain it in a way that would make it hold together, but I don't see how. In the end, at least two conflicting things have to be true, and that makes no sense – severe cognitive dissonance. The alternative is that both these things are false, and with a main character with autism, I'm not liking the implications. 

After I read this book, and felt a general dissatisfaction and sense that the ending didn't hold together, I took a bath and thought about it. And I kept remembering what felt like inconsistencies or a dropped plot line. This is a short book, a novella, and while I like that length that doesn't mean I always think it works. I think this story needed more pages, and so when it feels like there are dropped plot points I think that's wasted real estate. 

Anyhow, I'm thinking about all this, and even though I'm in the tub I think about the rabbit hole of the TV Tropes page, and the trope called Fridge Logic. It's basically where the you finish a story, go about your life, and all of a sudden a thought pops up into your head about how something you accepted in the story makes no sense. 

I think the ending only works at all, a little, if you don't think about it. And if you can reconcile it all, that holds a creepy message. This is disappointing considering I was so very into this story most of the way, to the point of discussing with my husband how I couldn't wait to find out what was going on. 

That this is a 3 star book for me after the ending is a testament to how much pleasure I took in most of it. And how disappointed I was in the end/ending. I would love to read more by the author, but I think I'd read reviews first to make sure the story holds all the way through. 

I like Amazon Singles because I like shorter pieces. In a related matter, I love anthologies. This seems to be not particularly the norm and I heard Stephen King say he thinks people are losing the ability to appreciate short stories. Technically, this is an autobiographical work, but I think the principle remains that people don't seem to know what to do with shorter pieces. For those of us who are fans and for writers, I think these Singles are nice.

That said, this is of course a quick read. I enjoyed it and will talk about it a little, and found it to be very professional, with a lot of depth packed into a shorter work, but I know some Kindle owners who would undoubtedly consider it about a dollar too much. (It's a dollar ninety-nine as I write this.) As always, what someone is willing to pay is an individual decision.

I selected this particular one because I associate the author as being entertaining, at least in the role of actor. Hey, it's more than we know about most writers when reading them for the first time. Anyhow, my instant reaction was interest – “yeah, I want to read that!” – and so I purchased. I think others will be drawn to it based on a podcast and some other autobiographical things that I have not seen.

The anecdotes were arranged around the concept of the wild things we do, particularly concerning sex. Mr. Tobolowsky paints himself rather convincingly as a reasonable and even in some ways old-fashioned guy, who has still stumbled into some adventures – at least two of them involving women who allegedly party for pay or are referred to by others with terms assigned to women in that profession. (Or three, my Google search found him telling an anecdote about ping pong balls.) None of those stories goes in the direction you might think.

I found the stories poignant. There was a moment during the second one where he is asked to essentially have a real life adventure that is a favored coming-of-age movie plot, and he doesn't want it. He finds himself upset and in a quandary as to how to back out of it. The set-up sounds b-movie material, but his place in it is as a human being who is not comfortable in that role. Come to think of it, the third story also shows his ambivalence over engaging in something that doesn't feel right. Still, he isn't judgmental and is humorous and self-deprecating in the telling.

Mr. Tobolowsky tells the stories with a little raunchiness and a lot of heart. Simply really good story telling. He points out that all the crazy things we do in our youth, the embarrassing and even shameful stuff, become what shapes us and where we find wisdom and growth – and laughter.

(Originally published at Red Adept Reviews. Please note author states there is a new edition out since the one I read, and that it clears up errors. I cannot vouch for this.)

I obtained The Fashion Police, by Sibel Hodge, as a Review Copy submitted to “Red Adept Reviews.”

Overall: 3 3/4 Stars

Plot/Storyline: 4 Stars

The story followed Amber Fox - gotta love the name - in her work as an investigator at her ex's insurance company. The primary story here concerned her investigation at a fashion house after designer, Umberto Fandango, disappears.

The story flowed nicely and I kept reading along fairly contentedly. It was a light read, but not so light that it floated away. There were some quite funny moments and lines, with Amber at her best when she's interacting with others. (“Is that how you measure your job satisfaction, by the amount of people who want to kill you?”)

There were a couple coincidences that were way too ... coincidental though. One in particular involving Elvis, the other - well, that would be a spoiler. I'm just saying, there are portions best read with a very willing suspension of disbelief. Some of the names are also eye-rollers - I predict you'll know them when you come to them.

What was really nice was both men in Amber's life tended to trust her to navigate through some very dangerous waters without feeling the need to coddle her unless she specifically expressed a need for T.L.C. I always enjoy when a woman in a story with a lot of action doesn't have to contend with a man, who is probably also in a dangerous job, trying to treat her like she's made out of spun glass.

Characters: 4 Stars

Amber came across as a suitable heroine for this type of breezy book. She was intelligent and independent and capable of a good quip now and again. Her personality made the book. I felt like I knew her pretty well, and had a really good sense of her personality. Secondary characters included her ex, Brad and her current boyfriend, Romeo Lopez. Her conversations with Romeo flowed very nicely, and he cooks, so yay. It took me a while for me to warm up to - or even understand Brad - but by the end of the book I enjoyed him too. I liked the way several of the characters interacted.

Writing style: 3 3/4 Stars

There was a passage in which Ms. Hodge tries to pack exposition in dialogue by characters telling each other things they already know. It always comes across artificial and tends to remind the reader that there is an author there pulling the strings. Better to keep these things out of quotation marks - the single AND the double ones. It only stood out because the author was so competent and better elsewhere. It was also easier to forgive for that reason.

Ms. Hodge seems to me to be a natural story-teller and, issues aside, this seems like a genre that she seems fairly skilled in and her writer's voice works well with the mix of chick-lit, mystery, comedy, and romance.

Editing: 3 1/2 Stars

While the book seemed polished for the most part, there was a persistent enough issue with homophones and close-but-no-cigars words to be an undeniable distraction. Just off the top of my head I recall “to” instead of “too,” “site” instead of “sight,” “tick” instead of “tic.”

*******************

Note: The author is clearly very British and some cultural references were unknown to me, such as the Honey Monster and Loyd (misspelled as Lloyd in the book) Grossman. (A cereal mascot and a gentleman who was born in Boston, lives in England, and speaks with both places giving him a unique dialect.) I didn't mind this at all; I felt like it was part of Amber's voice, but this was a recurrent factor that sent me on mini-lessons.

This was also reflected in the choice to use single quotes as opposed to double quotation marks (` rather than “) – this was valid and not an issue, but I wanted to make note of it.

(Originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)

Overall: 3 stars

Plot/Storyline: 3 stars

The story description above is pretty much the story. Very simple. Dreaming, Not Sleeping was about a woman who cannot wait to go to bed because of a night visitor. A demon? An incubus? While the story deals with sexual longing, I think it's also the story about losing someone you love and being powerless to stop it, as well as falling out of love with one person and in love or lust with someone, er, something else. There is clearly a horror element here, a Hell Raiser vibe.

This is definitely a short story, but even taking that into account, the story seems ... insubstantial. I believe the story was meant to succeed by calling up dream logic, a dream landscape, but because there was nothing else – no contrast or context - something vital seemed missing to anchor it all.

Characters: 2 1/2 stars

There's not a lot of characters. The only two characters, if you don't count the night visitor, are the husband and wife, and then story shifts between the two points of view. We get no hint of their daily lives as the story only concerns her desire to go to sleep and his increasing sense of loss and powerlessness.

The husband seems completely paralyzed. He sees his wife pulling away from him, and he sees something icky in the room, and yet his response is to ask his wife what happened and accept her saying that she doesn't recall. Other than that, he seems to stand by - sleep by? - and presumably hope it all sorts out.

I can't say I bought that. I'm not sure I know anyone, even the most passive person, who would really not say or do more than this character under the circumstances. I don't quibble with the husband feeling in over his head, or where the story ended up, but I don't believe the nearly complete inertia. I do suppose that inertia in a story about sleep has a certain poetry though.

Writing Style: 3 3/4 stars

The language in the story was nicely done. There's something about dreamscapes that brings out the baroque in writers and I love reading stories that capture that feeling. Dreaming, Not Sleeping because of the use of language felt sensual when needed and horrifying when needed. I believe horror is definitely a good match for the author's skills, I just wish that the depth of the story had matched her talent with words and her ability to set a mood.

(Review originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)

I purchased (W)hole, by Ruth Madison, after seeing a discussion about disabled heroes on an Amazon discussion board.

Overall: 2 ?? stars

Plot/Storyline: 3 ?? stars

I knew going in, based on the description, that the heroine is what is called a “devotee,” meaning she has a specific attraction to men who are wheelchair bound or physically impaired in some way. While I don't share this particular fascination, I don't think I need to share it in order to enjoy the book. I also enjoy a romance that is more Beauty and The Beast (with the Beast being anyone society labels different and fears without reason) than Cinderella. Love is predicated on more than prom king or queen looks and attraction that is about more than the bluest eye. So, while I realized going in that I was not the ideal reader, I felt I'd be open to the story.

The plot was fine, really, but the execution felt a little flat. The devotee angle didn't bother me, and it added an extra dimension. However, there were a couple uncomfortable moments. For instance, Elizabeth and Stewart go on a date, and she touched her foot to his foot, knowing he was unaware that she is touching him, and seeming to be excited by it. I can't say that I was comfortable with this, because I think a person has the right to know if you're making physical contact.

The other uncomfortable moment was more of a mixed bag for me. She realizes that she doesn't regret his accident, doesn't wish it didn't happen, because it's what makes him attractive to her. I understand that logically - the heart (and choice parts) wants what the heart (and choice other parts) wants, but it was still one of the few moments that stopped me short. I'm not taking anything away from the rating for his, however, because I think it's an honest feeling this character had, and a brave thing to write.

I acknowledge that, while I think I'm a good audience for this, I'm not the perfect reader, and that this might be an important book for other people to read and know that they're not alone. I know that at some point, past the half-way mark, I began to skim more, because my interest wasn't being sustained.

When I think of plot and storyline, I think of how I would summarize the story for someone who hadn't read it. When I do that with (W)hole, I think it sounds like an interesting story, and so the rest falls to the other categories.

Characters: 2 ?? stars

I think that the author does a pretty good job explaining Elizabeth to the reader. I like her, I get how she swoons over Long John Silver the way some of us swoon over ... (Michelle pauses to consider the name she will type. It is not an unpleasant way to spend some time) ...Tim McGraw in a cowboy hat and a pair of tight jeans, I want her to be happy. However, when I say that I like her, it's a mild “like,” with a period at the end, not an exclamation point. She is a good person, and so I'm on her side. I don't passionately root for her though, and I don't passionately root for the hero either - although I like him too. I should care about both of them a lot - she's had to keep her true self a secret, he's obviously suffered adversity.

I think I know them and understand them, but I don't feel for them. I didn't feel invested in their relationship. I read the end and thought, “Well, that's good.” Because, you know, they're good people.

I understood that she was quite attracted to him, because the author wrote that it was so, but I didn't feel chemistry between the characters. We're told a number of times, that she likes him for more than his paraplegia, but I never felt a true draw between them, not even when he begins to accept her - I'll call it a fetish, since the author does so a number of times. He's the first guy in a wheelchair she got close to, the first man she got close to, and she's the first young woman to show interest since his accident.

Elizabeth is deceptive about her interest in Stewart's disability, but I have to say I see it as an understandable thing, and most people wouldn't have the courage to reveal that, particularly not a shy girl in her first romance.

I don't fault him his reaction either. Perhaps this is where these characters seemed most real for me.

Writing Style: 2 stars

This is the great stumbling block for me. When I question why I didn't care more, why I wasn't invested, it all comes back to the language not moving me, the words not drawing me closer to the characters. I'd read a sentence here and there and feel something, the seed of interest or enthusiasm, but none of it germinated. The language felt repetitious.

For example: “She looked at him with such trusting eyes, so clear and unclouded, with a trust that he ke knew he couldn't live up to.”

While I didn't feel the passion, I felt the passion in the author. This is clearly a very important theme for her. And perhaps that's one of the problems - I felt like she was so busy sending out a beacon to other devotees, so busy trying to make the reader understand, that it felt a bit like an Afterschool Special, if it could be rated PG 13.

Editing/Formatting: 2 1/4 stars

Formatting was off, with paragraphs aligning wrong, correcting, and then repeating the pattern. Punctuation, particularly concerning dialogue, was also problematic. Assorted other errors. While none of the issues were major, they were ubiquitous. Any way that I look at this, I have to label it beneath professional standards, even though the issues would be easily remedied, because it was constantly undermining my experience. (If I had to guess on the wonky formatting, single line paragraphs seemed to set it off, making everything justify too far to the right for a number of paragraphs, and then re-align.)

 I enjoyed Delicate Condition from conception to birth, but the last portion – the epidural most have kicked in – took it from like to love. (I don't even know what I'm saying here.) I am giving it 5 stars, but I know this is extra subjective. It had themes I'm into, and it's the kind of horror I enjoy, but I know this is niche.

This is presented as a modern day version of Rosemary's Baby. I not only love Rosemary's Baby but recently buddy read it again with my husband. I'm glad of the timing, with RB fresh in my mind as I read DC.

The comparison is apt and I'm sure RB was in Danielle Valentine's mind as she wrote. Ira Levin seemed to have an understanding of how sexism plays a role in Rosemary's isolation, in her sense of powerlessness. Danielle Valentine, understandably, has an even better grasp of all the many wants misogyny manifests.

Anna, our main character, is a wealthy and privileged white woman. Rosemary, to a slightly lesser extent, is the same. Danielle Valentine, however, acknowledges something that probably didn't occur to Ira Levin – that childbirth is more perilous for women of color, even wealthy women of color. These women are acknowledged and woven into the narrative.

The author can't fully speak for those women, but she can acknowledge them. Our sisters. Now, publishers have to step up to allow all women to be able to tell their stories, to allow women of color to be in the spotlight, to be the main characters. And obviously society and the medical field also need to step up. For all the people who give birth, or struggle to conceive.

(As an aside, I'm also reading Femina, a book about the forgotten women of the middle ages, all the lost voices.)

To an extent, THAT'S the central question of the book. Who looks out for the women that the patriarchy has failed? Especially women at their most vulnerable. Who helps those most in need?

In terms of horror, it's there and there are some scenes that are impactful – gross or anxiety inducing – but the author pulls some punches. There are some additional scenes in the back of my copy that had been removed that didn't pull those punches. Essentially, the book is big on it was just a dream/hallucination. Objectively, this feels like a cop-out, but given my own sensitivities, I'm also relieved. Heh, if you read you'll know.

I'd also like to say the editing isn't as tight as it could be, with some inconsistencies and some line editing issues. 

But there's a lot of genuine horror moments, many just legitimate pregnancy symptoms and side effects turned up to 11. 

I'm childless by choice, but this didn't stop me from rooting for Anna, for rooting for everyone who wants to have children, who has complications on the way, who has been dismissed by medical professionals. (I've experienced the latter, just not in this circumstance.)

Anna's husband is, by the way, the worst. It was interesting to read that a lot of people thought the author was too harsh. I personally laughed. Like, do it again! But spoilers, Darlings. 

The explanations for what all had been happening tied together surprisingly nicely. I think it's debatable if, um, well – you might have your own take on if everyone's choices and actions were justified. The story created a feeling of absolute paranoia very well. I trusted literally no one. I think again without spoiling, we find out that the paranoia is justified, but that there are also forces working in Anna's favor. 

This was a library borrow for me, which is about due, and I also see it's available on KU. (And the subject of this season of American Horror Story.) I'm going to return the book to the library as soon as I post this – there's a waiting line. However, I plan on purchasing my own copy. So, while I know this story won't be everyone's cup of tea, this is my highest praise. 

I ain't Manon Lescault is a gold digger, but she aint messin' with no broke Chevalier des Grieux.

I read this as part of the Great Courses, er, course called A Day's Read. This thing actually took me a couple years, because I stalled out the first time around, unable to finish, and then I got distracted by life.

It also felt longer than it was because my constant eye rolls slowed down the process.

Essentially, we have this guy from a wealthy family who falls for a lower middle class girl, and runs off with her. She is all he wants. While she might have some love for him, her actions throughout indicate she will choose money and comfort every time. They are constantly losing money, and on each occasion she chooses a suitor who will keep her in a manner she deems appropriate. In her defense, she claims to value fidelity of the heart over fidelity of the body.

This guy, the Chevalier des Grieux, will do anything to keep her in luxury, and the story finds him degrading and embarrassing himself over time. Every time he loses her, or their choices lead to imprisonment for one or both of them, what he will do to be reunited with her becomes more extreme. The thing is that he blames their woes on anything other than poor choices, and never seems to truly get how despicable he has grown.

Even while I read about their various calamities, I think he almost always gets off lighter than he deserves. He calls on assistance from a devoted friend, uses his education and/or demeanor as a gentleman to secure privileges and favors, and when he has money he greases lots of palms. He is imprisoned on multiple occasions, but never experiences prison. He also always has the promise of a future inheritance.

I can enjoy books with unsympathetic main characters, but I kept wondering how much Prevost wanted me to buy into this guy's delusions and privilege, and that made this a slog. Am I supposed to sympathize or root for these two? I do believe if I had to pick between the two, I'd root for Manon. Yeah, she is happy to be a mistress if the price is right, but that's her choice. He claims all he desired was her happiness, but he kept her from the security that might achieve that for her.

Of course, I can project a lot onto Manon's choices, because we don't truly get to know her, and I left the story wondering if her devoted lover knew who the truth of her, if he ever saw the real woman.

3 stars for a classic? Yeah, that might speak poorly of my tastes, but what can you do? As usual, I ended up glad I read this, and the rating reflects that as well as my enjoyment. If it was merely enjoyment, it would lose a star.

(Originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)

Overall: 5 stars.

Plot/Storyline: 5 stars. I was pulled in from the description, which made me purchase it, to the actual execution of the story. There was a lot of suspense here and I had a strong desire to read on and find out what was going to happen next. I felt like I was in the hands of an expert writer who knew his genre. There was all the built-in dread that I could hope for.

A portion of the story is told from the point of view of an author who was a part of these events and who is looking back at it at a distance of twenty years, telling it to an audience as if it's fiction. The events he remembers are current, with mentions of Red Bull and Vodka and the Jodie Foster movie Panic Room as a movie that is not too far in the past for them. Since the author is looking back on this twenty years from now, it's good to know that writers will still be of interest and in demand. This is a promise, right?

Characters: 5 Well-drawn recognizable characters here. The guy who dreams of better things, and who looks at his friends with a barely concealed sense of superiority, the opportunist with questionable morals and get-rich-quick schemes who is destined to fail, the long-time customers of a bar, drinking their drinks and measuring their lives by empty beer bottles and puffs of cigarettes. I felt like I not only knew these types, but also these particular people.

Writing Style: 5 stars. The descriptions and dialogue were so well done that I felt like I was there, a part of the author's world, unable to look away. I was enthusiastic from blurb, and it was great that the actual writing allowed the interesting story to be brought to life and handled expertly.

I had a really interactive experience due to the writing. I wondered what was going to happen. I tried to figure it out. I looked at certain lines and wondered if they were foreshadowing or contained clues. Sometimes I could tell something was a clue and that I tried to decipher the clue. All the time Mr. Menapace doled out just enough to keep me eagerly reading.

Mr. Menapace also wrote this with a great awareness and a sly sense of humor. He switched between first person and third person and I thought, “oh, that's a risky thing to do,” later in the story his author character commented, “It's a risky technique - switching perspective back and forth like that - but if you're careful, it can be a nifty took in the toolbox.” This was not the only time that the author character, talking to people in an auditorium, talks to the reader as well. I'd say more about this aspect, but would prefer readers to discover exactly how it pans out without my spoiling it.

The author sets up the concept of there being something scary behind a locked door, and that's a classic. Stephen King wrote many years ago about how a reader's imagination is bigger than anything an author can produce. When the Bad Thing shows up there is usually a letdown, or at least a release of tension, because the reality, the tangible monster, can never match what the reader - or viewer, in the case of movies - had conjured up in his or her imagination. This story has a door, and the author knows the nature of the story needs the door to be opened and for the characters and the reader to enter in and see what's beyond the door, and in doing so he risks disappointing the reader in the way King wrote about. Whether or not he succeeds is for the reader to decide, but I think he got away with it by focusing on the nature of dread, which is in anticipation, and the idea that any dread the reader felt waiting for the door to open is but a fraction of what someone would feel if they waited decades for the other shoe to drop after surviving the thing in the room.

This is a story meant for people who not only enjoy horror, but who appreciate writing as a craft. Yeah, I liked it a whole lot.

Editing: 5 stars. He left the first “t” out of Fred Flintstone. Inexcusable. Pistols at dawn.

(Added: Red Adept Winner in Horror, 2011)

I like Vera Kurian as an author, and LOVED Never Saw Me Coming. I still hype that book. I saw the author do a panel a couple years ago – Bouchercon 2022? – and she really sold me on Never Saw Me Coming and this lead to my well-annotated and tabbed copy.

I enjoyed so much in A Step Past Darkness, but I found it plagued with pacing issues, and one segment really detracted from the story for me, to the point that I seriously considered DNFing. 

The blurb on the back of the book really buries that there's a strong supernatural thread in this story that moves it more into horror than thriller. I'm cool with this because I read and love horror, and that this book pays homage to It (Stephen King) isn't exactly something I'm going to complain about. Still, if it weren't my thing, I'd feel deceived and possibly annoyed. 

I would love to read more books with a supernatural element from this author. 

The places where this story overlaps or echoes It are the best parts for me. Not because I find it derivative, or because these aspects weren't strong on their own, but because these are some of my favorite tropes of all time. 

I love stories about strong friendships in childhood. I love the idea of having to face childhood fears again in adulthood. I seek out books that understand that not everyone is listened to equally – that some characters have the added complication of being a part of a group or groups with less power, less chance of being believed. 

Children/teens are one of those groups. I'm always going to love when a group comes together to be more than the sum of their parts, and to support one another. 

And I sentimentally love the thought of childhood friends reuniting, even if it's to face danger. I watch the original made-for-TV “It” for those relationships. It's a weird comfort movie, but here we are. 

I cared about these characters, and where they would end up. I initially cared a lot about the central mystery, but a lot of that interest waned with time. Early on, we find out one of the main characters dies. Maddy. Hey, it's in the blurb. I really appreciated the handling of this character. We meet her as a pious Regina George, but she is written in a way that made me root for her. But this author made me root for a psychopath one time. But I hated that she died, in the best way. I think it would have packed a bigger punch if the layout of the ... well, next paragraph, 

The book is dual timelines. The first timeline finds our characters teens in 1995 and the second timeline is them again in 2015. All the main characters get POV chapters in both timelines. The book jumps back and forth between the timelines. 

I'm into the dual timelines, as should be clear, but I think I needed the story to be linear. With the POVs and the jumping back and forth it sometimes made it feel like there was no momentum. in either year. And on occasion we had to cover the same ground twice. In 2015, because we hadn't arrived at the moment in 1995, details were revealed in order to make sense that we eventually have to read in 1995. Again, it messed with the sense of momentum, and added unnecessary pages. (I've read some tomes in my time, but these 502 pages made it the longest book of 2024 so far.)

The part that really detracted for me felt discordant with the rest of the book in a way that my enjoyment never rallied from. The most non-spoilery way I can communicate this is that there's a portion of the story where we find out a lot of the back story about what's going on, but it feels very tonally different. Scripted. Obviously, this is all fiction, but in a novel it felt like for a while we were in a 90s TV show where the characters need to know things fast, so they're for the time of this episode going to stumble upon just what they need, no more because they'll be swept to the next thing they need to know, and be helped to do so in a way that when transferred to another medium reveals the artificiality of it all. 

As much as I become immersed in a novel, I don't quite forget it's a novel, but I suspend disbelief. I invest in that world, and the general underpinnings of novels. This portion asked me to abide by a different set of rules and underpinnings and made me hyper-aware this is all made up. I specify a 90s show because novels, TV, and cinema (why do I hear this in the voice of Lazslo from What We Do in the Shadows?) today are more stylistically similar. 

I hated this shift so much that I put the book aside for a couple days. I saw I had 10 days left on the library loan, silently apologized to the 5 people waiting, and took some time. I didn't DNF because I really did care about these characters, but it was never the same. 

I in no way think this issue is going to be universal. I in no way want to discourage anyone from reading a book that really has a lot going for it because of my issue. I'm truly only sharing my stumbling block. 

The bad guy provided some chills, but he wasn't Pennywise scary, by any means, and I would have liked this amped up, to be honest.  

Spoilers about the ending, various events, and the season 3 finale of Buffy. Honestly, only read this if you've read the book. The ending, if I'm not missing anything, was extremely happy under the circumstances. I realize it would have been stronger if Jia had died, and it feels like a cop out that she didn't, but I can't be mad. I wanted this characters to be okay. I wish Maddy could have been okay. And Milky, who seems to have died of old age, but I still want a miracle.  When the pastor died, it reminded me of how the mayor died on Buffy – with that moment of, “Well, I guess that's that.” That's the type of 90s TV reference I love! I will choose to believe that was intentional.

I'm horrible at summing up. Good book with tropes I like. Pacing was a bit slow. Horror could have been more horrifying. One thing that really bugged me. Would love to see more horror by Vera Kurian, or anything, really. I want to follow these characters forever, but instead will wish them well in all future endeavors. The next person in line for this book at the library is going to wake up to a nice surprise – unless they're like me and have a ridiculous amount of books on hold. 

I don't know why, but I clicked with this series right away, preferring it to other books with tough magically inclined redheads. Maybe it was Giguhl, the mischief demon and Sabina's minion, maybe it was that Sabina was genuinely tough, maybe it was because I loved the idea of her having grew up as a vampire in an, um, less-than-nurturing atmosphere and now having a chance to explore a new side of who she is. Okay, a lot was the demon, but I think that's a common reaction. :)

Seriously, what I've liked and just gets better is that Sabina retains her core personality, assets and flaws, but she also actually learns some things too. Each book has her closer to the idea that she doesn't have to be a loner – that the world seems to want to give her friends and allies and a team – even a good family. (Um, some of that might turn out to be powers greater than herself pulling strings.) I like that the people we care about she is learning to care about them too and that she can draw on that love as a source of power.

Rachel is half-vampire and half-mage. What we discovered in the second book is she is a natural at tapping into her anger and causing damage. What we find out in this book is something readers probably already know if they came this far – that she has a huge capacity to love that she can also tap into in order to heal and that scene is pretty powerful as are the last few scenes.

She makes romantic headway with Adam. I like Adam, but I'm more glad for Sabina's sake than I am Team Sadam – er, no – um, Team Adina? Well, you know.

Book is set in New Orleans – love that, love it, love it! Some new characters are introduced for Sabina to befriend and not befriend. Hey, is she got along with everyone, who would recognize her?

Oh, weird moment. Sabina and Adam threw around a word that I'd only ever heard a derogatory word for physically disabled people. Tossed it around casually. I had to Google and apparently since Pulp Fiction it has a different meaning. I was so glad to know that Jaye Wells was not going all Mel Gibson and her editor didn't stop her. I was glad it was a matter of my lack of attention to Pulp Fiction.

And, with all the cemeteries in N'awlins, I can't say that there are no zombies. There is also a new villain in the wings and he's a biggie!

You know that preview that you probably read at the end of The Mage in Black? Did not occur in the book. There was a line or two, but the author seemed to switch out the significance of a couple characters and went a slightly different way.

So, I loved this one most of all and I really have, to my surprise, come to adore the mage stuff. I want to read more of that – a lot more. Sabina is comfortable in her vampire skin, confident as an assassin, and I just love seeing her explore the other side.

If you have not read the other two, you should do that first – this is a journey. I actually used my Kindle search to great advantage to remind myself of details of the other books when a term or character was mentioned. I think so much would be lost if you jump in here instead of being fulling invested by now and understanding the history.

At the end of Mage in Black I was so eager to read the next book, this one, that the wait seemed endless. Now I have to wait again and that's hard, but the ending was so intense that I probably need recovery time. AND when I got to the end my Kindle helpfully told me there was a short story for pre-order explaining an incident mentioned but not shown in this book – so I suppose I'll have that to bridge the gap.

No real complaints – there were a couple minor editing errors that may or may not be a Kindle edition thing. Nothing major and all I'm feeling is the love and the eagerness for the short story and the next book and more Giguhl/Mr. Giggles/GiGi. I think he needs his own side adventures or something from his point of view.

I selected this book because Victoria Dahl is one of my favorite authors, complete with her own folder on my Kindle. I once one a copy of one of her books and still bought a copy for my Kindle. What this means is that I'm going to be more inclined to like her books, because it's clear her voice appeals to me.

This is, however, my first historical. I'd actually started it a few times and got distracted. I knew I loved her contemporaries, but I was worried that, I dunno, I was worried.

Ended up really loving this after the very beginning. I was concerned after the opening scene that the characters were going to be cardboard. Fast forward to the end when I am sleep-deprived and cannot stop reading it!

What I like about Victoria Dahl is she's not afraid to give her heroines libidos and “pasts” to varying degrees. A lot of romance novels make the heroines virgins with never a tingle down below, until he walks in. Victoria Dahl's women are spirited and fun, and that makes a huge difference. For the edification of people who seek out or avoid these things, there are always at least couple scenes of that spirited fun which are funny, explicit-ish, and pretty steamy.

What was great her is the hero looked at Marissa, saw her inner vixen, and accepted it all kit and kaboodle. When someone seeks to blackmail her, using knowledge of a birthmark as collateral, the heroine has a small – but scandalous for the time – list of suspects. The hero takes it in stride, knows she's curious and high-spirited, and hopes to see the birthmark too some day. Oh, there might have been some jealousy, but he never treated her like she was damaged good for what amounted to playing doctor. There is a pivotal scene where Marissa realized that – that all the men she'd been smitten with took whatever she was willing to give, all the while telling her she really shouldn't allow improprieties, or was – in one case – a notorious ladies man. Jude was the guy to encourage her passion and exploration, the person she knew she could try anything and everything with.

Marissa starts the book as very shallow and unkind to Jude, who in a practical sense is doing her a favor and is steadfastly kind and supportive toward her. A trope a lot of people like is a hero or heroine going into a good grovel when they realize how mistaken and stupid they've been and Marissa provides that.

The is always genuine heat in a Victoria Dahl love story, and this is no exception, but what made the book over-the-top good is the heart there. Marissa grew and learned and had to deal with the possibility it was too little, too late. The author did a terrific job of making me fall in love with Jude and then ache for him when Marissa behaved like a mean little girl instead of a woman. Then, I applauded when she pulled her head out of her rear.

(Originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)

Overall: 3 1/2

Storyline: Simply put, this is Cinderella as told from the point of view of the “evil stepmother” on the eve of her execution. Lady Silvie would object to the evil stepmother description on at least two counts.

Character Development: 3 1/2 I really second guessed myself the whole time I read this, wondering how sympathetic I was meant to be toward Lady Silvie and how unsympathetic I was meant to be toward Elise, the Cinderella character. I wasn't sure if the intention was a Gregory Maguire-esque effort to paint Sylvie as misunderstood and maligned - although I'm sure Silvie would say she's both.

If so, it didn't work for me on that level. Lady Silvie remained incredibly unlikable and Elise still came across as plucky and determined to have a better life, sympathetic, even if Lady Silvie's words were all true. With the exception of Elise being willing to see Silvie dead for being a self-important witch, I remained on her side. Not that that's not a big exception to make.

Elise, depending on how reliable of a narrator Lady Silvie was, might have been a liar and an opportunist, but she also came across as strong and proactive in direct opposition to some of the most well-known versions of the tale.

Writing Style: 3 1/4 I thought some of Lady Silvie's word choices were a little off. The author might have intended, at best, to present her as a well-reared and intelligent woman, and at worst as a pretentious, cold, well, evil stepmother. The language used steered me to the latter explanation.

At various points in the story she calls Elise a scamp and a rapscallion. Both of these words carry the sense of someone mischievous, but in a more fond sense than I think Lady Silvie could have possibly meant it. The oddest word choice was when she remembered at incident when Elise was six and referred to her as a tramp. Really? Unless she means “vagabond” which would still be inaccurate, then I don't see it as apt. Now, the word tramp applied later on would make sense from Silvie's perspective. Applied to a six year old though - and this woman is trying to come across as sympathetic?

I think that sometimes writers when portraying characters in a different time tend to use words that seem old-fashioned, tend to use bigger words, but they still have to be the right words.

There was also a point where Lady Silvie is told that her eldest daughter's dress was ruined “in the wash.” That felt anachronistic to me. Five minutes of crack research - I Googled - indicates the expression “the truth will come out in the wash” dates back to Don Quixote, but the usage here still doesn't sit right with me and sounds too much like the modern sense of a load of wash.

On the other hand, I think several moments were expertly handled. In particular the last line was wonderful and the scene at the ball was also nicely done.

(Review originally appeared at Red Adept Reviews)

Overall: 3 ?? stars

Plot/Storyline: 3 ?? stars

I'm very ambivalent about this one. I enjoyed aspects of it, perhaps even most of it, but a few moments felt false. If someone asked be about it I'd say, “yeah, it wasn't bad, you might like it.” I just find myself without enthusiasm this time around.

Maureen is a woman who secretly lived with spousal abuse for years and now finds herself a widow. While getting down the Halloween ornaments from the attic, she finds a package left for her by her husband. A Ouija GPS. Yes, really. Her husband still thinks he can tell her where to get off.

I felt compassion for her during the moments recounting her abusive marriage. Those moments felt real, right down to how he manipulated her and isolated her from others, and how she learned to accept it as her lot in life. I just don't think the horror element, at least the execution of it, quite meshed. I get why it's there thematically, but I felt that the author didn't quite know how to execute it. There was an issue that was wrapped up vaguely and in a couple sentences, because I think Ms. Weiner knew the point couldn't stand up to any real scrutiny. It felt like she didn't know what to do with it and hoped no one noticed; in truth, the whole horror element felt that way. I don't know and can't know if this was the case, but this is how it felt.

I did find it to be a little bit scary, and I think that's largely due to the built up empathy for the main character, and wanted her to have a better life. I didn't know where the story was going and had a twinge of anxiety at the slight chance that it wouldn't end well. Plus, most GPS systems are very Uncanny Valley - the point at which tech stuff like computers and robots become so human that, instead of being endearing, it's just creepy.

Characters: 3 ?? stars

I obviously cared about Maureen, and I found her believable in many ways, but I can't say any of the characterization blew me away, and I'm someone who is a fan of this writer's characters, like the sisters in In Her Shoes, and Cannie in Good in Bed.

What I do appreciate here, and in her previous efforts, is her respect for characters and heroines over the age of forty.

Writing Style: 3 ?? stars

I know Jennifer Weiner can write, but I just don't think all the elements were written cohesively. While there were moments when the language was lovely and evocative, so much of the time I was just a bit underwhelmed.

(Review originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)

Overall: 3 3/4 Stars

A solid effort that didn't fully work for me. None of the issues were fatal flaws, and I'm sure the things that bothered me will be no big deal to others.

Plot/Storyline: 3 Stars

I enjoyed several elements here, and read along with no desires to “ditch,” but there were still a handful of things which took away from my overall enjoyment. I felt like there were a few needed scenes missing between people, three secondary storylines that aren't wrapped up so much as their resolutions are quickly explained in a conversation, the narrator - unfortunately - was probably my 5th favorite character, until the last ten percent I wasn't particular scared, I don't feel like the myth the story was based around was fully integrated into the overall story, other than I think the house was the embodiment of a mythical spirit. Maybe.

This was a good story with a lot of the elements horror fans will enjoy. There was a YA sensibility so no heavy gore, which I suppose might interest some and lose others. We have a small town, a haunted house, the hell of high school, the bonds of new friendship, a love interest, Indian folklore, and a mystery.

Characters: 4 Stars

As mentioned, Nick - the narrator wasn't really my favorite character. At times, he seemed passive, not acting when he should, not pursuing logical avenues, other times doing things for what seemed to be plot reasons alone. He admits he hasn't cracked a book for years, but is in an AP English class (with his father as the teacher) and seems to have a pretty good vocabulary under the circumstances. Did he pick this up by osmosis? Interestingly enough, some of the words he used I would make the argument were incorrect. He says his father has a diatribe about oral literature and the importance of oral tradition, but a diatribe is against something, not for it. He describes walls as blas?? when that's not something walls are so much as something you feel about them or toward them. I wonder if this is a deliberate character trait. I spent way too long wondering this - I should get a hobby, like reading. (Technically, in this book, it's quite possible the walls could feel any number of emotions. Kidding.) Anyhow, I still rooted for Nick and wanted things to work out and all the feelings that are appropriate to feel toward a protagonist...

However, I was much more interested in his sister, Tabby. I wanted to read more about her, but Nick didn't talk to her even when it was clear she possessed vital information. She had a history of what was diagnosed as mental illness, but what was clearly telepathy and perhaps astral projection. Her brother talks about being protective of her, and he does help her at vital moments, but also leaves her to her own devices most of the time. It felt like there should have been one scene more between the two, at least, but to elaborate would go into spoilers. More than that, I would have loved a couple scenes from her point of view...
Nick's love interest is Sarah, a spirited, intelligent, young woman. I can't help but admit I would have liked some time in her head too. Then there's Gage, one of Nick's two friends, who is fascinated with ghosts because of a loss he suffered and a need to make sense of it all, and Saul, a level-headed sweetheart of a kid.

I thought all these characters could carry a book, or part of one, which says something good about Mr. Polson's ability to write characters. I cared about Tabby and Sarah, in particular, and I believe it was more than I'm a female and relating to the girls, but rather what how well they were crafted.

Nick's parents, while there and part of one of the secondary storylines, felt nearly non-existent in any real sense other than to say “be careful” and to emit the signs of a marriage in distress. They barely had dialogue. Their storyline was one of the ones wrapped up with a couple lines at the end, as if it was something that needed to be handled. Strangely absent, even when they were there, and I'm left with no solid impression of them.

There's the school hottie. Nick foreshadows within paragraphs of introducing her that he thought he'd fall for her, but not so much. She exists to flirt with him and bring about the wrath of her football player on and off again boyfriend. Standard issue. Lastly, there's a friend of the football player who had potential to be interesting, but there wasn't enough time.

I suppose I felt that the relationships in the book were important, could have been powerhouse, but needed a little bit to flesh them out and make me care that extra bit.

Writing Style: 4 Stars

The dialogue did the job and some passages were particularly good. There were moments in the beginning when I felt the descriptions were too predictable, but that clearly got better, and might have been because our narrator, Nick, wasn't familiar with the haunted house genre until Sarah lent him some books! (Did I mention that I love Sarah?) Solid mechanics.

Editing:

I only noticed a few small things, but not enough to be a real distraction.

(Originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)

Overall: 4 stars

Plot/Storyline:

I think the most important phrase in the (Amazon)description might be “literary fiction,” followed by “psychology of the protagonist.” The horror angle in the stories is almost always a metaphor for other things - loneliness, fear, isolation, regret. The word “haunting” really does double duty here. While there were chilling moments, if you're looking for escapist gore I'd suggest you take a pass. However, if you're looking for well-written fiction about what it is to be human and, oh yeah, supernatural stuff happens, then you'll probably be quite pleased.

In fact, the book description is pretty perfect.

I'm not rating characterization as a specific category since there are over a dozen stories here and too many characters to take into account as a whole, I was consistently impressed by the author's ability to make each main character unique and whole in their own right. It's very easy for an author to fall into the same voice for multiple characters, and I didn't feel like any two main characters were alike.

The Other Room: 4 1/2 stars

Hey this would be a good name for the anthology. The first good thing about this story was that it let me know I was going to enjoy this anthology. I read this out in my backyard - er, garden to the Brits - and I think I must have looked fairly slack-jawed to anyone passing by. I simply wanted to know what happened next and I was legitimately concerned for Waits, a man who finds that an adjacent hotel room leads to a different version of his life. My only issue was the ending. The author seems to like a certain ambiguity, and it often works, but I almost felt like maybe he simply didn't know how to make the power of the ending match the rest, and - more so than usual - this is really a subjective opinion, and based on my personal need for fully resolution. The same general type of ending here worked perfectly for me in another story.

Home Time: 5 stars

This is one of the stories that really gets full use out of the word “haunting.” Beautifully written, evocative, masterful. Home Time makes wonderful use of a Philip Larkin poem entitled The Explosion, and the way the author allowed the words of the poem and the words of his story to plait together was ... wow. The main character is from a down on its luck ex-mining town, but I think his point of view resonates with anyone who's entered adulthood sure, on the surface, that they've “escaped,” while secretly terrified that all roads lead back to the past. (There's a scene in a Buffy episode I'm really struggling not to reference right now.)

Some Stories for Escapists #1: The Werewolves: 4 1/4 stars

A little bit of flash. Nicely done. To quote Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein:
Larry Talbot: You don't understand. When the moon rises, I'll turn into a wolf.

Costello: Yeah ... you and about five million other guys.

First Time Buyers: 4 ?? stars

In Danse Macabre, Stephen King discusses the original Amityville Horror movie and says that perhaps the scariest part of it is not the overt supernatural stuff but how the house is ruining these people financially. He suggests that perhaps it should have been called The Horror of The Shrinking Bank Account. I believe the main characters in his story can relate the pressures of a new house, precarious employment, and a bad economy.

Schrodinger's Box: 5 stars. Not actually a horror story though. The first story where the author takes an overt philosophical turn - or at least the first time I noticed it. In Home Time, the author uses a poem that a character is reading to bring home the theme of the story. This time we have the example of Schrodinger's cat to tell the story of a woman who feels boxed in. The ending honors the story title and also provides a pitch perfect ending.

The Watchers: 4 3/4 stars

Okay, we're back to the supernatural as metaphor. The Watchers was about a lot of things, among them the nature of attraction, and – I believe - how some people lose their identity and just become a projection of what their partner needs. How a gaze can feel like an assault. The desire to be honestly seen. There were moments when the story didn't feel as tight as some of the others, but I was still engrossed.

Some Stories for Escapists #2: The Plague: 4 stars

More flash. I wondered if the writer had something more specific in mind than what I could place - if the plague was a parable for disease in general, or a specific malady. What I do know is that it was an astute exploration of the nature of denial and ostracization. (Spell check says that isn't a word, but I think it is.)

The Final Wish: 2 ?? stars

Look, a story I didn't care for! I think I understood what the author wanted and where he was going but the writing felt like a young person's experiments with writing more than a mature effort. I had to struggle to rate this one and make sure I didn't punish it for not being as good as the previous stories. I'd sensed that the author might have a tendency for florid language, but this is the first and last instance where it felt like he gave in to that tendency.

A Writer's Words: 4 stars

This story was scary for me at moments – I find few things as terrifying as the thought of the type of loss of expression that the main character, Liam, suffers, and even as a reader I felt like I was on the brink of a panic attack at moments. I felt a little differently about it at the end of the story though, as this author made me see it in a new way. I don't know if the ending was supposed to be as scary as the rest and I'm just quirky, but the ending felt like a letting go – the feeling you get when the worst happens and you're still standing. Although, it's a little unclear if Liam is still standing anywhere. Hmmm...

One nitpick: the character of Liam says that it was a Twilight Zone with the earwig eating through someone's brain – it was a Night Gallery. Of course, sometimes these errors can be deliberate and the main character was a little distressed.

Some Stories for Escapists #3: The Haunted House: 3 1/2 stars

This is a very short story with layers of meaning, where the “scary” takes back seat to the use of language to draw in a reader and make, in this case, her think. However, this one was not one of my favorites.

Red Route: 4 ?? stars

I think a lot of people will sorta figure it out, but this is still well worth the read. Nicely done.

When The Walls Bend: 4 ?? stars

In some ways, this is the most traditional, purest horror story in the collection. The author brings the same psychological angle that elevate other stories, but there's I was also genuinely frightened of the things going bump in the night and one line made me gasp. This is also another one where the author doesn't spell out everything.

The book contained an author's note at the end in which he discusses the inspirations behind the stories. I wrote the review before reading it, even though I was aware it was there, because I think a story has to stand on its own with no additional help from the author. I loved reading it afterward though, and seeing where I'd misunderstood the writer's intent - and misunderstood it. I had to smile that I'd mentioned that one of the stories reminded me of King's discussion of Amityville Horror in his Danse Macabre, and then the author cited DM as an influence for the Some Stories for Escapists flash pieces. It made me feel like a read smartypants.

Writing Style: 4 ?? stars

I think from my comments it's clear that I'm pretty pleased and pretty impressed by almost all aspects of Mr. Everington's skills. I sense he will not be the reader for everyone, probably not for the horror fan who values gore over the literary, but I see all the tools in place for someone who knows how to tell a good story.

Editing: 4 stars

Periodic issues. For instance, twice “starring” was used when “staring” was the intended word, “eek” instead of “eke” the unintentional misspelling of a character's name, or the wrong tense of a word made it through. I enjoyed this collection so very much and would have liked it even better with an extra pair of eyes making sure it was publishing ready. Perhaps it's even more important since what shines through these stories is the author's love of language.

[Erotic Romance]

I had a surprisingly complex relationship with this book and so I'm giving it a bewildered 4 stars even though I'm going to be expressing confusion a fair amount, This book wanted to be at least three different books, one of them excellent, but story lines and characters were lost during the transition though.

Someone recommended this book to me as part of my quest for a spanking book where the man is not a bully and the relationship comes across as well thought out. It turns out that in many ways and at certain moments, this book is exactly that, but the book had a few genre changes and the heroine had a personality change – not the expected one for a book with spanking – and I don't know what to say.

Let's start there. The first 30ish percent of the book felt like one novel – a really good one. The characters were complex and intelligent, their relationship developed pretty slowly, without the hero dropping the spanking on a virtual stranger for arbitrary reasons, and all the secondary story lines were well done. They worked in an AIDS clinic and the author brought that vividly alive. When there was a medically crisis, it read – to admittedly a non-medical person – realistic and exciting. Too often authors try to fake it through a character's job with all the seeming authenticity of a third graders idea of that job and so I was delighted that all of this felt so real. It was like no book I'd read before that dealt with spanking – so strong across the board. So interesting that I could have liked it as simply a romance or a more grittier story about the clinic. I was a happy reader for reasons I never expected going in.

I also liked, in this first 30%, that the heroine was smart with slight impulse control issues. A character says to her early on, “Don't worry, you'll be back to you usual, competent, unorthodox self.” The line was heavy-handed but accurate to what we saw of the character. She was shown being smart and compassionate, if quirky. She could also stand up to the hero in an argument, even though there was a tendency to become childish. They had friendly competitions to out “vocabulary” the other. Her love for the job was clear. She knew and could use martial arts.

The spanking introduction was also done well and hinted at its own complexity – combining the concepts of erotic spanking and discipline, saying they were separate in the relationship, and it seemed to be something the heroine was suited for and looking for. I felt like, while it had been an interest of his, they were discovery their relationship and that aspect together, with respect and intelligence.

**Perhaps a bit SPOILERY from there on out, but I wouldn't think enough to ruin the book. Still, in discussion the mood/genre shift and dropped plot lines, I do reveal a few specifics. ***

30ish percent, all is right with the world, and then the world changed. The book never stopped holding my interest, but it was a different book – or two – none of them as accomplished as the first one. The competent, if a little rash, heroine began to not be able to go two pages without tantrum or personal injury. The professional who stated she never missed work and who told her friend she loved her job too much to leave it seemed to not be the least bit interested in it after a point and so that great early tone was gone. It can't be a cool insight into an AIDS clinic if the heroine is never there and rarely thinks about being there. Her best friend who she has a mostly non-annoying relationship with – which a lot of authors have trouble handling – all but disappeared other than an occasional reference. Another friendship with an almost boyfriend seemed to be headed somewhere as he dealt with her new relationship, but whoosh.

The nearest explanation I can give is that the book then split off into two other genres – a ghost, maybe even reincarnation novel, and a book that was heavily, obsessively heavily, focused on the spanking and there was no room for that really interesting first book. This was a long work that seemed to evolve into something unrecognizable. There were still good moments, but it was not that really good, consistently good book and not what I'd signed up for based on the description. They writer sold me on a book for spanking was part of a larger relationship and integrated it into a story that appealed on many levels – only to be about, when it was not in ghost mode, her earning spankings due to an bubble-headedness and the grace of an elephant. (This is the martial arts girl.)

At about the point I mentioned, the book abruptly left the clinic and the heroine – who was so competent and able to defend herself – was sort of a mess. The hero hired an assistant at the clinic, which is fortunate because being Lana's keeper became a full time job. Every step she took was another crisis and all impulse control left, so then the spanking that was a nice, intelligent evolution, became a little repetitive and her (Freudian) need for them was a constant until she couldn't remember to buckle her seat belt or – remember she's a nurse – read up on the medication she was taking.

The hero is wealthy and lived in the family home, the heroine starts having vivid dreams/memories of being the hero's great great grandmother who also cannot walk two feet without hurting something or putting herself at risk. This was rather interesting, but jarring next to the first portion of the book. Either she is the reincarnation of the other woman, or the men in this family are genetically prone to a certain type.

We're given to understand the hero's sister is on the crazy side. There is one scene where this is confirmed and there's a feeling this will be dealt with at some point, might even be another source of danger – and that disappears. There is a ton of talk about the Adam's dysfunctional parents and how the heroine will have to deal with it/curb her temper around them – the father has a very brief scene and is atrocious – and it all seems to be working up to a meal that gets canceled repeatedly and never happens.

I read this all through in one long sitting, so there is no denying it kept my interest, even as I was dismayed, or confused as to the tone shift. I definitely wanted to review it and sort out my opinion. I guess I just wish the heroine had kept more of the competence she started the book with, that the clinic didn't get lost. I could have happily also enjoyed the rest of it, but with different characters perhaps, or at least a definitely different book that continued with them. I missed the first story and the skill it took to write it too much to embrace fully what it became. At 30% I was wanting the book not to end, but in some ways that's exactly where it did end.

4 stars for keeping my interest over a fairly long read and for 1 great story and two goodish ones. The first portion of this book is going to be hard for another book to beat, because it was exactly what I wanted and didn't expect to find.

I like the writer quite a bit and this is my second book by her, but Just Like a Dame started out pretty rocky for me. I could try to say I had as issue with the pacing, and that would be true, but even more true is that the beginning butted up against my basic nature.

My basic nature being crazy-assed pet person.

The alleged meet cute involved Angel, the heroine, showing up to her neighbor's house in her nighty. Her neighbor, the veterinarian. Her dog accidentally got into chocolate, and she is seeking help. He things she is confessing to offing her boyfriend or husband.

Now, I know the dog isn't going to die. I know the dog eating chocolate is just a way for DDD to have her hero and heroine meet, but the whole time he's staring at her tits and misunderstanding her, the whole time she is giggling over his dog licking her toes, and the whole time the two of them are sparring, I want to shake them and have them frickin' attend to the dog.

Dog ownership in fiction is often used as a shorthand to get the reader to like a character. So, in theory I should think Angel is pretty swell and probably that the hero is a nice guy for being a vet, and instead I like them less because their hormones, her mood swings, and his temporary denseness is making me think that neither one should have a houseplant. By the time she mentioned that dog had had convulsions and he'd asked her to assist in the treatment, only to have her want to argue about something, I wanted to throw the book across the room.

But it wasn't a book, but my Kindle. And I'm not throwing my Kindle across the room, outraged or not. :)

I continued to read, because I like the author, and because I knew it had to get better. It did, although the heroine's continually flying off the handle was a little tough. Angel was a feminist, and they get a hard enough rap, without her being the worst stereotype of one.

Still, there was fun banter and the author has this quirky sense of humor that tends to liven up sex scenes. A better book by the author, with all of her strengths on display, would be absolutely not, published by Ellora's Cave.

***
I do have to mention that the first time I heard about this book was in a review from one of my favorite blogs. That review was not a complete love letter either, but the best part was the classy and funny response from the author:

http://karenknowsbest.com/2006/05/01/karen-does-daisy-dexter-dobbs/

(Originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)

Overall: 3 stars

Plot/Storyline: 3 1/4 stars

I really liked the idea here. Who hasn't fantasized about what they would do if they hit the lottery? Hasn't discussed it with friends? And it's a great inkblot test about who a person is and what they value. The author did a nice job with that last part - the inkblot test. I can't say though that the story completely fulfilled the promise. For better or worse, the ending - at least to me - felt broadcast not only by the story, but also the description, and the cover. This took away somewhat from my enjoyment. (5/12 – looks like the cover has changed so, yay!)

The details of the story seem to involve the main character winning seventy million and taking the thirty million dollar pay-out, but when he tells of winning he talks of instantly considering what he will do with the thirty million figure he would have yet to been quoted, which lead to one paragraph reading, in part, “When you win thirty million dollars it takes less than a nano-second to start thinking of what you are going to do with the money...” and the next paragraph starting out, “I'd just won over seventy million dollars.” It was jarring.

Characters: 3 3/4 Stars

The main character is the only one fleshed out enough to discuss, but it's a short story and so that's fair. The main character is from the beginning, despite having given large chunks of cash to charity, quite unlikable. Narcissistic. There's evidence it might be intentional, but perhaps he's meant to at least be likable enough to be an antihero. Only the author can say. I feel like even in the small amount of words present that this could have been honed or even, for the sake of plot reasons - is that vague enough? - lessened. Still, the fact that I strongly disliked this man means the author made me care.

The author makes a choice to not have the character reveal a key component of why he makes the choices, one choice in particular, that he makes. He says, essentially, “here's a little, no time to tell you the rest, the perhaps pivotal event in my life.” This can be valid, the concept that sometimes in real life people make choices and people looking in never get that missing puzzle piece, never get to find out that Rosebud is a sled. However, in this case, I do feel this story was a line or two, perhaps a paragraph short, of what was needed for symmetry.

Writing Style: 3 stars

In conjunction with the portion discussed under editing, The Good Life reads as if the author has skill, intelligence, and an idea of what makes for a good story, but perhaps chose not to put his full efforts here. It read a little like a first draft and if it were being judged as a first draft, I'd rate it a 4, but this is the version sent out for purchase, and it doesn't feel ready. This is the version I can see being posted to a blog for fun, or sent out to others to see what they think - beta readers/editors - and enjoyed quite a lot in that context. As a final draft, it's not ready quite yet.

Editing: 2 1/2 stars

Pretty error strewn. The mistakes seem a matter of not having the second careful read through or having someone else look it over rather than not knowing better. The issues came down to typos (for instance, “hansd” instead of “hands”), the almost right words (“every” instead of “ever” at least twice, among others), sentences that didn't make sense (“My was my standard response.”) and assorted odd punctuation. Other portions of the story make clear the author knows how to use a comma, so I attribute this to a lack of editing and not a lack of skill.

I feel a certain frustration here, knowing that most of the things that lessened the story for me were for want of a proper edit and one solid rewrite.

(Please note that the author has stated the errors have been corrected. The review is based on the copy I read and I cannot vouch for the new version.)

I appreciate this book, but have to confess I didn't enjoy it all too much. I liked the premise of the book, and yet I rarely felt engaged. I, predictably, liked the portions that reminded me of books like [b:Moxie 33163378 Moxie Jennifer Mathieu https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494950979s/33163378.jpg 46824140] and [b:The Nowhere Girls 28096541 The Nowhere Girls Amy Reed https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507458184s/28096541.jpg 48100738] – where students start underground movements to create change in their schools, and face the danger of discovery. However, I came away feeling like the author felt the best response to injustice was a strongly worded petition. This could be a misread, but the group's efforts seemed to be portrayed as too radical based on a chance that the wrong person might be blamed through circumstantial evidence for an underground paper and some graffiti. I guess I just don't want to see a book targeted to younger readers that encourages them to follow the rules and only work within a broken system, and that's what this felt like – point out injustices up until their might be repercussions. The relationships, other than the romantic relationship, could have used more attention, making the portrayals a bit superficial. Of course, this is just me, others might enjoy HA more, and get more out of it, but this book had a lot of hype behind it which, upon reading, I'm not sure it earned.

There are worlds built on rainbows and worlds built on rain. There are worlds of pure mathematics, where every number chimes like crystal as it rolls into reality. There are worlds of light and worlds of darkness, worlds of rhyme and worlds of reason, and worlds where the only thing that matters is the goodness in a hero???s heart. The Moors are none of those things.

We are the children of our parents, even if who become is a result of rebelling against who they are, their choices and teachings shape us.

Jacqueline and Jillian are twin sisters who we are first to in [b:Every Heart a Doorway|25526296|Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1)|Seanan McGuire|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1431438555s/25526296.jpg|45313140]. The premise of the series is that children sometimes, if things are aligned just right, find doorways to other worlds. Sometimes they find their ways home, and sometimes this is a blessing, and sometimes it's a curse because the stumbled upon place is where they truly feel they belong.

You don't have to read Every Heart a Doorway first, but if you read Down Among the Sticks and Stones, then Every Heart a Doorway will explain what happened next. Even though it was written first.

Anyhow, Jacqueline and Jillian are born to really bad parents who believe they are really good parents. Each one molds one of the daughters into what they want them to be, with no regard to who they are, and in doing so drive a wedge between the sisters.

They find a door/stairway to a place that includes an area called The Moors. If you're a fan of novels like Bram Stoker's [b:Dracula|17245|Dracula|Bram Stoker|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387151694s/17245.jpg|3165724], Mary Shelley's [b:Frankenstein|18490|Frankenstein|Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1381512375s/18490.jpg|4836639], Emily Bronte's [b:Wuthering Heights|6185|Wuthering Heights|Emily Bront??|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388212715s/6185.jpg|1565818], Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's [b:Carmilla|48037|Carmilla|J. Sheridan Le Fanu|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386923594s/48037.jpg|47015], and seen the old, really atmospheric movie adaptions of these works, you should have an idea about the mood and nature of The Moors. It's England, but it's also Carpathia. It's untamed wilderness as a metaphor for the human heart. It's young love. It's the death of youth. It's peasant fearing and being reliant on the mysterious brutal man in the castle, knowing who and what he is, but not daring to speak of it. It's the mad scientist playing God. It's sad ballads about tragic love stories. It's a bad moon on the rise. It's villagers with torches and pitchforks.

Jack and Jill, as they're eventually known, have a choice between 2 guardians/foster fathers. One is a very pale man known as The Master, with, ahem, a fondness for blood, the other is a doctor with an ability to resurrect the dead. Which they choose shapes who they become. (Again, parents shaping children.)

Someone with sharp enough eyes might see the instant where one wounded heart begins to rot while the other starts to heal. Time marches on.

???Not everyone hates Iranians,??? she assures me, putting down the paper. ???People who hate just happen to be the loudest.???

I loved, loved, loved this book, and this author. Highly recommend this laugh-out-funny and moving story of Zomorod (Cindy) Yousefzadeh, a girl from Iran who has spent several years, here and there, in America due to her father's engineering job.

The time period is the late 70s, when a lot of people in America were hearing about Iran for the first time due to political strife and the taking of American hostages. I was exactly the same age as Zomorod during the period of time the story takes place. In Catholic School, we would turn toward the window, say the Pledge of Allegiance, and then take turns on who would lead the prayer for the hostages.

Zomorod, like any kid, seeks to fit in, and is embarrassed by her parents. She has the added pressure of good English, but not knowing all the idioms, as well as parents who are different culturally from the other adults.

I found myself chuckling at several opportunities at Zomorod's observations and wit, and at her mix of love and embarrassment in regard to her parents.

Americans are written as essentially good people, albeit a bit ignorant on world events. The most villainous character is still seen with some sympathy. Because the story takes place over a couple years, the younger characters get an opportunity to mature.

In fact, one of the details that impressed me most is how the Zomorod at the beginning of the story and at the end are clearly the same girl, but each version think and behave appropriate to her age. She has gained wisdom and confidence and lasting friendship. (I adored her circle of friends.)

If there is one flaw, it's that the author imparts a lot of info on the Iran, which is both interesting and vital to the story, but the information is often imparted in a less-than-natural fashion. The best method is Zomorod's best friend asking questions out of interests, concern, and her plan to become a journalist. But then there is the neighbor who stops periodically to ask to have events explained to him.

I hope that there will be more books in these series, because I would love to stay in touch.

What was a strong marriage? What was a good marriage? She knew terrible people who had wonderful marriages, glued together somehow in their terribleness. And she knew fine, fine people who???d stood before God and all their friends to profess their undying love to each other only to toss that love on a slag heap a few years later. In the end, no matter how good they were???or thought they were???usually all that remained of the love they???d so publicly professed was vitriol, regret, and a kind of awed dismay at how dark the roads they???d ventured down became by the end.

Dennis Lehane is probably one of my favorite authors. If not, he is definitely Top 3. I like the way he turns a phrase, his ability to deliver a plot twist, his general world view, his love of the average man/woman.

It had happened before she was born, this wholesale discarding of American industry, this switch from a culture that made things of value to a culture that consumed things of dubious merit. She???d grown up in the absence, in other people???s memory of a dream so fragile it had probably been doomed from the moment of conception. If there had ever been a social contract between the country and its citizens, it was long gone now, save the Hobbesian agreement that had been in play since our ancestors had first stumbled from caves in search of food: Once I get mine, you???re on your own.

(Review originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)

Overall: 4 1/4 stars

Plot/Storyline: 4 1/4 stars

I genuinely liked it, but Bedbugs is definitely a slow burn, er, itch. There are no really big scary moments to be had, at least not for the vast majority of the book, and Mr. Winters took his time in ratcheting up the psychological tensions as opposed to the showy terror.

What we have is the story of a woman who, like most people, has reasonable fears and flickering moments of paranoia. As the book goes on, the reasonable fears grow and what was a flicker - the babysitter is probably a bit of a skank - becomes a steady light - the babysitter's skankiness makes her dirty and a danger to my home, the babysitter's skankiness makes her dirty and a danger to my home.

The question becomes if Susan is a reliable narrator and what, if anything, she observes is the truth, and what is her descent into madness? This is the level at which Bedbugs succeeds. Is she the sane? Is she insane? In either case, what will her beliefs make her do next?

Verdict: Don't read if you want big time scares, but if you like your horrors to build slowly, this bedbug should bite.

Characters: 4 stars

Susan is an interesting character and we spend a lot of time in her head, but other characters - like her husband - remain rather unformed. Some of this is probably about Susan's growing suspicions, but I still was left ambivalent toward him, and feeling like he was more a vaguely drawn figure than a fully realized person.

I never had any great warmth for Susan, but the author did a wonderful job of showing who she was at the beginning and then slowly taking her to a dark place. I enjoyed how a few thoughts that seemed so fleeting came back to become obsessions, as if the initial thoughts had deeper roots than first imagined.

Verdict: While I felt that some of the characters were given too little detail, the author did such a beautiful job with the main character and so I have to rate this pretty high.

Writing style: 4 ?? stars

Nicely done. Smart and capable! I felt like this writer knew what he wanted to do and just how to do it. While I wasn't dazzled, I was impressed. More than anything else, I want to feel the storyteller knows what the hell he's doing!

(Originally published at Red Adept Reviews.)

Overall: 4 1/4 Stars

Plot/Storyline: 4 Stars

The story is firmly in the category of mystery cozy, meaning there???s a murder, but no overt violence and it???s meant to be a more of a simple who-dunnit/light read. I love dogs and so I occasionally like the subcategory of cozy featuring them ??? there might be more than you think.

Because I???m such a dog freak, my favorite part involved a subplot with Raine???s collie. For the rest of you, the non canine obsessed, the mystery was interesting enough and satisfying enough to keep me comfortably entertained. Nothing here will tax a reader???s brain and sometimes that???s the perfect read.

The resolution to the mystery was pretty straightforward and I imagine most readers will figure out at least a piece of it. The shorter the work, the less chance for false leads and red herrings, and that???s to be expected.

As mentioned in the description, this ties in with a book series by the author. I haven???t read the other books and still felt like I could follow along and like this stood alone. I think a reader could enjoy it as a quick one time read or the beginning of a new series to explore. My understanding is that other books in the series focus more on search and rescue. I think the writer had just the right amount of ???sell??? for her other books.

Characters: 4 1/4 stars

I liked Raine well enough, but Raine liked dogs, so that???s a no-brainer. Like Raine, I live in a small town and love dogs. I don???t think I???d be quite as calm of one of mine trotted up with a leg bone. Raine???s first interest and concern seemed to be how much this would hold up getting her kennel built, which I think would be on someone???s mind, but I???m not sure it would be the most pressing thought for a couple days. I laughed because the author actually had the character make a comment about 25% in about not really being as cavalier about it as she seems, which seems like a nice bit of awareness on the part of Raine and Raine???s Maker!

Presuming we can include dogs as characters ??? aren???t they all? ??? they were terrific. This isn???t the first mystery I???ve read with a dog trainer, and I find it funny how the heroine needs to seem good at what she does, but the plot often needs the dogs to break training.

Writing Style: 4 1/2 Stars

I keep on coming back to a word I???d already used: comfortable. I???d add to that the word ???professional.??? The writer did a solid job here and provided me with a good read.

Editing/Formatting: 4 stars

Overall, this was solid. The exception is a recurring spacing issue. Sometimes a space would be missing and sometimes there would be an extra space. The issue was particularly noticeable when periods and commas were in play. It was noticeable enough to be slightly distracting, but I don???t see it as being a deal-breaker for most readers.

My mind is a-whir with all the points I want to make here, and all the disclaimers I have as well. Ultimately, this book is dated, which means some of the issues I have are a result of societal evolution. Still, my making allowances for this, as I routinely do, did not help me to enjoy this book more. Before I get into the main focus of my issues – but the image above is a preview – I'd like to say almost nothing worked for me in the story. I found all the characters either creepy or strange in their reactions, down to choices and to dialogue. There is a character that is supposed to be a creepy relative, and he was only slightly more off than anyone else. The good guys and the bad guy seemed to be a bit similar. The Kindle edition I read is also very poorly done, filled with formatting issues. Anyhow, there are 2 POV characters, one a 16-year-old girl with a sexually predatory murderer on her trail, and the other is the sexually predatory murderer. Fair enough when stated that way. Jody, the girl, spends the majority of the book in night shirts or missing her pants. She has a short night shirt, she has a short and tight night shirt, and she has a loose night shirt that – oopsies – falls off her shoulders and allows people to see down it. Her narration is obsessed with what her night shirts are doing at any given moment, what the hem line is doing, what parts of her body are being revealed. The thinness of the material. Even when she is being chased, she is conscious of these details. At one point, she is wearing shorts, but sustains an injury high on the thigh, and so off with the shorts. She also takes a really long shower at one point in which she thinks of the boy she likes. It doesn't completely go masturbatory on her part, but the whole thing seems designed with the intent of the rest of her narration – to remind us she is an attractive (but in many ways innocent and untouched) 16 year old. I don't think Laymon is trying to say this girl is obsessed with her own body, but I think he is obsessed with her body, and doing the thing some male authors do of thinking women are constantly in thought and deed catering to the male libido. He isn't in her head so much as watching her and making his fixations her thoughts. Which the other POV character – the sexually predatory murderer – is going to cover just fine. He has a purpose in being obsessed with her body and her, er, sexy innocence. Her POV should be a reprieve from that, even a rebuke of that as we know her as a full human being. In that way, authors get their cake and etcetera, etcetera. They can be creepy and empathetic, and you can't extrapolate what messed up thoughts they share with the bad guy. But everyone is obsessed all the time with the female body. There's a 12 year old boy who has his whole family slaughtered – first couple chapters – but never loses his fascination with copping a feel or catching a glimpse of Jody or a female cop character. I'll return to the female cop character.This kid is just creepy, and combined with everything and everyone else, seems to imply all men are capable of assaults on women they deem attractive. Or people? There are a couple sexually predatory murderers mentioned who like boys. The kid's erection becomes a plot point. There are moments when Jody also seems to give in a little to his advances. She says he's like a creepy little brother, but she also lets him stick his nose in her crotch for comfort – not making that up – or kisses him on the mouth since he's upset. She's worried her father might come in and get the wrong idea. Jody packs at one point to leave to evade the bad guy, and she thinks her father will be upset that she didn't pack a skirt or dress, not that there are any plans to go anywhere that would specifically need those items, just that it's somehow wrong for her not to have access to these items. The bad guy on more than one occasion wonders why women don't wear skirts and dresses anymore since pants and culottes impede access to ... stuff. With the exception of an old woman, I do believe every other female given a name is sexualized to some extent. The only other female character of any note, other than victims of the central gang, is a female police officer. Upon meeting Jody, she helps bandage her upper thigh injury – the one that forces Jody to remove her shorts – and Jody makes note of seeing down the woman's blouse, and reveals the cop has a thing for black sexy lingerie. God, what's her name? Bonnie, I think. We'll roll with it. Like Jody, Bonnie's character is mostly a hot body in revealing clothes, with just a subtle whiff of actual characterization that is not about her hot body. Jody and Bonnie are both good with guns and fighters, which I still think is presented as being hot. Jody's father makes clear he is attracted to Bonnie, and Jody understands it since Bonnie has big breasts that bounce when she shoots a gun. Dad wasn???t watching the target. His eyes were on Sharon. Jody checked; that???s where Andy was staring, too. Watching her there, NRA cap turned backward so its bill stuck out behind her, the rifle jumping with each shot and throwing out flashes of brass as its muzzle spat fire and white smoke, her whole body absorbing the recoils that hit her with quick hard jolts and shook her shirt and made her thighs vibrate even though Jody knew her legs must be almost as solid as wood. She does look great, Jody thought. No wonder the guys are staring like a couple of nuts. They???re probably wishing they were on the other side so they could watch what the recoils are doing to her boobs.Oh, Sharon. Bonnie is Sharon. Sharbonnie has packed – for the trip that is off-duty, but not unrelated to her job – a flimsy robe. In case anyone is wondering, she shares with the 12-year-old erection and Jody's dad (and Jody) she is naked under the robe, and let's head to the vending machine. She also shares over lunch that she has a tattoo in a mystery location. Because ever and always, the author wants to make sure the reader has something about the bodies of his female caricatures, er, characters, to imagine. Jody's father, btw, has “had kept his chivalry in spite of feminism,” and specifically worries that the condom will fall off inside Jody if she sleeps with a boy. Not just general failure rate of condoms so much as wanting to mention specifically what might happen if someone is INSIDE his daughter. His daughter who should wear dresses and skirts more. He slapped her on the rear once, which is not in isolation a problem for me. It just happens to be partnered with everything else. A whole lot of night shirts and testosterone. Which reminds me that Jody has no connection to any other female character, other than the big-boobed cop. She starts the book with a friend who doesn't make it to page 10, I don't think. No other friends that I recall are mentioned, or call her to see how she's doing. No friend she wishes to call and talk about the friend they just lost. Her mother is dead. Her world is entirely males who objectify females or one female written to be objectified. There is a love interest who has no substance, maybe because Laymon realized the limits to how many people Jody actually seemed to know. I like good, twisted villains. I do. But I'm wired to care about Jody, maybe even more in this case than the author cares about Jody. And I'm of an age where it irritates me that she is spends the book as T and A. That even that strong, capable part of her – or Sharbonnie's – nature seems to be given as just another reason she is sexy and pursued by the bad guy. I read this, and I feel both like Jody and Jody's mom, which makes me feel so sad to see her portrayal. And I realize how spoiled I've become as women authors get a voice, and many male authors are writing women with more empathy and complexity. Endless Night is the book version of slasher films. Jody is a final girl. 1980s me, coming of age, wouldn't know to be sad or offended. The author clearly wasn't aiming to be a sexist. Jody is scrappy, after all, which is why the bad guy – Simon – can't leave her alone. It???s more than just how she looks. She has ... a quality. A freshness. Maybe it also has to do partly with how spunky she was when we were after her.Anyhow, Simon's POV is super gross, but I think it should be. The author really pushes the envelope with describing Simon and his cohorts raping and torturing people. And I get it – horror novel, not Sunday brunch – but my issues with the Jody POV make me unable to go along. Because there are similarities, right? Everybody objectifies women, even the good guys. Simon, hand to God, even objectifies himself as he spends a lot of the novel disguised as a woman. I can't even untangle this plot point. Is the author saying Simon's enjoyment of dressing this way cements him as a sick puppy? Is (was, sorry) the author incapable of writing someone dressed this way, and describing one's self, without making it about level of attractiveness? Oh, look, the male villain put on a dress and now he's breasting boobily too. I mean, how could one not? ;)Anyhow, there were moments of horror and suspense. Those happened. This is why I upgraded to 2 stars. But I never want to read a Laymon book again. I have better choices in horror, in authors, in life, than to read books that gross me out in a bad way. And I know you know there are good gross outs and bad ones. It's not Laymon's fault that time has moved on. That's what time does. It's not his fault that we live in a time with increasing book options. It's not his fault that many female readers expect a different portrayal of female characters that aren't about how many boners they cause, and even when they are cognizant of that, they're also quite possibly addressing and critiquing that. Anyhow, a recent horror novel I really enjoyed was: [bc:Violets are Red 40530821 Violets are Red Mylo Carbia https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1529021360s/40530821.jpg 62918160]But if you think you'll enjoy Endless Night, have at it. I just couldn't stop thinking, “Oh, THIS is what people mean when they say torture porn.”