Bad Games by Jeff Menapace

Bad Games is an interesting thrill ride of a book. It has all the themes you'd expect and a nice reference to the original Friday 13th films (namely Pt 2 of the slasher series, not the original scary one where Jason is not the killer). 

A chance meeting. All friendly and shit. 

Follow the family. 

Get the little girl to like him, with a candy trade. 

Go home, tell the brother, and set the game in motion. 

The Lamberts had been looking forward to their vacation for weeks, and the time had finally come. They had booked a small house on the eastern side of Crescent Lake and were eager to get away.

When they arrived, they were pleased to find the property exactly as described. Clean and well-maintained, but without any food. It was time to go shopping. Insert third weird occurrence, a particularly scary one. 

For the rest of their vacation, the Lamberts would experience pain and heartbreak the likes of nightmares only they are real. 

The neighbors were friendly and welcoming. Everyone seemed to take pleasure in the fact that the Lamberts were there and eager to make their stay as pleasant as possible.

On the first evening, the Lamberts took a leisurely walk around the lake. It was peaceful and serene; the calm before the storm. As they walked, they were surprised to find an old stray dog that seemed to be following them.

At first, the Lamberts had no intention of taking the dog with them, but the children immediately fell in love with the animal. They begged and pleaded and eventually, the Lamberts couldn't resist. The dog was suddenly part of the family.

And that's when the nice stuff takes a turn for the worst. Add to that a sheriff who doesn't like townies and thinks they all look down on him as a country bumpkin and you have a mix for a nightmare of a game. 

The face-off at the end is brilliant. 

All up (in book 1), Menapace has done a good job of bringing all the elements together for a lovely Sunday read of horror. On the character's side, the antagonist's side, we had a good backstory that was told throughout the book. Unfortunately, I didn't really get a feel for our heroes.

This horror novel delivers intense action and some gruesome moments. It's important to note that there's an abundance of violence in this book, some of it quite graphic, as well as children in perilous situations. Readers who are uncomfortable with such topics may want to go elsewhere for their thrills. Despite this, I still found the climax of the book particularly enjoyable - having a taste for extreme grindhouse movies as I do.  

3.7 stars to be exact. 

   

The Undead Part 4 (Days 8 and 9) by R. R. Haywood

Part four in this series is a bit weird. It's like a complete change as if R. R. Haywood had a nifty idea to switch things around. And for me, it works. I like the Super Zombie idea and how they can talk. What I didn't like was the change to Darren becoming a zombie. Gone is the idea that a microscopic fleck of infection landed on his hand, and Darren rubbed his eyes, infecting himself. Now, he is taken down by a  horde of them and infected. I didn't like that, also the loss of connection he has with the zombies. Now, only those he infects directly can be controlled by him. And on occasion, another super zombie appears. At first, he is happy as she is hot and they get to do zombie sex (I wouldn't call it lovemaking).

Our heroes are looking for the women and children they sent out in a boat to The Isle of Wight. They encounter trouble from the get-go. This is where I changed from liking the character of Sarah (Howie's sister) to disliking her. I won't say what trouble they get into but what I will say is they met up with a new character. 

There is a lot of running and fighting in this installment, like the others. This edition is good and brings one thread full circle and starts a new thread as well. And the narrator on the audiobook version is as awesome as always. 

Undead Part 3 Day 7 by R. R. Haywood

Day 7.  (Side note: I wrote a review for this when the book was fresh in my mind, but I can’t find it on my computer, which can only mean that I didn’t save it, and just closed the notepad file. I looked everywhere for it, even on my work computer. No go. I have read and reviewed two and a half books since then, so forgive me if there are a few installment errors in this review. I doubt it, but just in case.)

This installment is only one day, but it is a long one. Our heroes make it to the fort and are greeted by the police officers from the previous book. It was good to come across them. 

At the fort we meet a host of other characters, one is arrested for being (basically) a negative person. Dave, Chris, and Howie decide to keep new plans to themselves, they feel they can’t trust anyone, since Darren was infected with a flying zombie particle they fell onto his hand and he rubbed his hand on his eye, giving it access and the zombies knew they were headed to the hospital. 

In this installment, once they reach the fort, they know Darren is headed their way. They also figure he will bring a horde with him, and he does. Thousand upon thousands on the undead. 

Like all of Mr. Haywood’s books, this one is fast-paced and intense. There is a lot of zombie killing here, but there is also a budding love story, an excellent offensive put into place and Howie becomes the default leader of the entire fort as well. Apparently, word of Howie and his small band of men has reached the ears of everyone in the fort. 

Howie still doesn’t consider himself a leader, but everyone is relying on him and feels the weight of this responsibility weighing heavily on his shoulders. As usual, the boys are playing their homophobic jokes. Some reviewers hated this part. However, it doesn’t bother me, I understand why Mr. Haywood is putting these lines in — it’s to break the constant tension that the characters (and readers) are under. And he does it without mentioning any derogatory terminology. As a writer, I understand this. As a writer, I would never do this. I find other ways. But we must remember that these books were written years ago, before SJWs and Wokeness. 

All up, this is a heavy book with a LOT going on. The ending is a tad confusing and brutal as always. It is a fun read and interesting as well.