The Collector by Daniel I. Russell

• 
  
  File Size: 584 KB
• Print Length: 344 pages
• Publisher: Dark Continents Publishing, Inc. (April 24, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007XGVM1A

Note: e-Version passed on free for review. 

First off, I didn't realize this was a series until now (LOL) as I don't make a habit of reading a series until book two or three is out, especially if the series is interlocked like Game of Thrones. But in saying that this was a good first book. It set up the characters in a fun and interesting way, we learn about the three houses in this Cul-de-sac (is that a British or Kiwi word? Nope, it's a French stolen word. It means small dead end street http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cul-de-sac) and the people that reside there. We have the usual two hoods, teenagers who think they are the coolest and badest mothers in the world, and they love to score decent weed, rob old ladies and do a spot of breaking and entering. We also have the abused wife, husband has a bad day at work as a high school teacher, comes home and pounds the living daylights out of his wife's body, trying not to go for the face (keyword: trying). Then he takes off somewhere and returns the following evening, feeling much better and apologizing. And finally we have the old lady who lives at the end of the street, who has a thousand books, many on magic and hocus pocus. Her grandson worries about her living out here all by herself, and being very rich, he decides to bring granny home to live with him. 

One night an Earthquake happens, but only in the road and a tiny crack appears. It widens and pulling himself out, the Collector shows with his pet, Montgomery. From this point forward the book becomes kick-ass good. 

The start of the book is a tad slow as the characters are introduced and their stories told but even then the writing is crisp and the reader doesn't get bored with the drama slowly unfolding. But when the Collector makes a showing, looking for the Mana, the book kicks into high gear and you won't be able to shut off your eReader. 

This is the first of Daniel's books I've read and I'll be looking for book 2.

  

4 Stars

The Hidden Valley by Leigh M Lane

The Hidden Valley
Leigh M Lane

• File Size: 357 KB
• Print Length: 310 pages
• Publisher: Cerebral Books (August 2, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008S6KDQY

Leigh sent me an email and asked if I could review her latest book, having read and reviewed her others, I was keen to delve into this tale. It's an interesting experiment: A collection of flash stories grouped together to form a whole. 

As with Leigh's work, she seems to like to experiment with her style but one thing remains constant, her story telling skills are always present. And some of scenes in The Hidden Valley are a tad mind blowing (in a good way), I won't say what they are as this reviewer never gives anything away. I don't want to spoil your surprise. 

So what do we have here? In this tale, Leigh has spun a yarn of a family on the brink (or tipping edge) of destruction. The wife (Carrie) has had an affair, the daughter (Jane) has major demons, the son, John is a stoner and was getting into some major trouble and the husband Grant is losing everything he built yet desperate to keep his family as a whole unit and struggling to find the man he was before his wife's threesome. 

So they pack up everything, including the cat and move from Vegas to a small town on the other side of a fog covered mountain. But there's something in the fog. The cat senses the bad thing and tries to communicate this to the owners. Naturally they can't understand his whining and once at their new house, he takes off. I enjoyed Maxwell's (the cat) adventures the most. 

The book is told from five points of view and I feel all these povs are needed to get the full picture. It is a massive story which a host of sub-characters like the Rock Lady, the pregnant girl, the hippy and people who literally vanish from existence never to be mentioned again--as if they'd never been there. 

Leigh's writing is crisp as always and her characters (apart from the parents) are very well drawn. I'm sure I know John and his stoner buddies and Jane is also a person I may have passed in the street. 

Overall, as a novel of horror, it is excellent. As a collection of flash tales combined to make a whole, not so well done. Flash stories must have a beginning, a middle and an end. Several of these did not have an end. As standalone flash tales, a few fail. BUT as a whole novel, the concept works well. 

4 stars

A Christmas to Remember by Matt Shaw

A Christmas to Remember by Matt Shaw
A choose the story book
Kindle Edition

I haven't read one of these kinds of books for a long time, not since I was in high school. so when I discovered this book on Amazon, I grabbed a copy and was rearing to get into it.

These books have always gotten to me, only once had I reached the proper ending of the countless 'Choose your own adventure' books (as they were called in NZ). This book took three reads to reach the happy ending but there are several dead ends along the way. I think there are only three possible endings in this short book. Hats off to Matt Shaw for compiling such a tale.

One of the links was a tad annoying as it was the panic link, from two completely different sections of the tale. This link went directly from the current scene to him standing in the kitchen. A little confusing when he was in the bedroom with the ex wife.

Ah, the ex-wife. He hates her, her boyfriend and he wants revenge. That's the basis of the plot. The BF is already chopped up and baking in the oven. The ex-wife also comments on how great dinner smells (LOL). The kids are staring at the amount of presents under the tree. There is no star on top of the tree, he is saving that for the ex's head.

The writing style is not really to my taste but Matt does write well and a lot of people will enjoy this book. I enjoyed it, I just like more meat in sentences I read.

Speaking of meat, this book is not for you if you are adverse to horror.

3 out of 5 stars

Cold Skies and other tales of fear by Paul McAvoy

Cold Skies and other tales of fear by Paul McAvoy
PDF Kindled Version


Short story collections are difficult to review for me. Sometimes there are stories that shine and other times there aren't. Short stories are usually a mixed bag. This is one of these collections -- almost. Why almost? As a reviewer and a writer myself I can be highly critical of what I read and the words I use to review. I like to find the best in a book and lay it out for the reader, but I don't hold anything back. I believe a reader should be well informed before a purchase.

In this case, Paul McAvoy has over edited his tales leaving only skeletons of what could be great stories. The opening story is one of the best in this collection but it lacks a decent ending and the tale seems rushed. There are also instances where a gerund should have been used and not the plain verb form. This is constant throughout the entire collection. The word 'dead' is spelt as 'led' which can be off-putting and very confusing. Also floor is used when the character is outside 'I was under the car. I got up off the floor and...'. Many writers do this. It is wrong. (I recently had a Facebook discussion about it.)

All the stories in this collection are great ideas (even read one I had done several years ago -- there are no new ideas only new spins) that would have been great just the delivery--the execution--was wrong. There was no meat and no flow to most of the tales and not much of an ending in several of these. Naturally this is just my opinion, several of these tales were previously published.

The fear in these stories did not resonate with me (except the first).

1 star out of 5.

The Concrete Grove by Gary McMahon

The Concrete Grove by Gary McMahon
Publisher: Solaris (2011)
paperback edition 2011

The Concrete Grove starts off by kicking you in the teeth and then dragging you along for a ride through the gloomy lower class society of Concrete Grove where strange things are afoot. Drugs are sold openly on street corners, a loan shark takes repayments in cash, in kind and in soul, and a fourteen years old girl has discovered a doorway to another place between realities and the 'power' of that place liked what it saw. 

Gary has given us a council estate that most of us know well or have seen and he paints it dark, gloomy and inserts supernatural horror of ageless otherworldly entities into the mix.

We have 4 main characters. A solo mum doing her best for her daughter, said daughter is having fainting spells and weird dreams, Tom is an average guy not from the Grove but after helping the daughter (Hailey), he discovers an interest in Lana (Mum). Monty Bright is a loan shark who lent Laura some cash, and now she can't make the repayments and he is sending the 'boys' over to have a chat with her. But Monty is hiding a secret. He has been searching for a special place in the Grove, a place so well hidden it is impossible to find, but he is not giving up and has a feeling Hailey has a special bond with The Grove.

Sound complex? It's not really, McMahon keeps the reader on track and page turning with characters whom act (almost) like a real person would act (there were a few places where I made a face) and the story lines come together creating a climax that explodes from the page in rip-roaring speed.

What's bad: Not much. I feel too much time was spent on Tom and his wife.
What's good: The characters are fleshed out. They are people you may know or have noticed on the street from time to time.The drama and interactions between the characters and the story playing out before them is all engrossing.

Over all, this is an excellent first book in a trilogy, there are a few unanswered questions that may be answered in the coming books. I have Book Two sitting on my desk, Silent Voices, just waiting for my eyes to devour.

4 out of 5 stars

 

  

The Dark Path by Luke Romyn

The Dark Path by Luke Romyn
Kindle version

• Paperback: 310 pages
• Publisher: Author Luke Romyn (January 5, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0987214934
• ISBN-13: 978-0987214935
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches 

I did not know what to expect when I downloaded this onto my phone. I'd never heard of Luke Romyn before apart from the tweets about his book and other tweets saying how great the book was. So, I had to find out for myself.

The story is about Martin Roberts, a cop whose split second inaction causes the death of his best friend. The Russian mob is involved and for revenge, Martin agrees to go to court and put the mobster away for life. The FBI move them to a safe house. The stress naturally gets to them and after a fight, Martin leaves the house to cool down. When he returns the unthinkable happens. On the verge of death himself, a voice in his head tells him to get up, but Martin just wants to die, so the voice in his head takes his place and blocks out all of Martin's Memories. This new man's name is Vain and he becomes an assassin. And a good assassin at that. But he makes a mistake and gets captured, and his path changes from that moment onwards.

This is a rocking thriller that moves fast and hard, where the main character is put through tests of his characters and will. He is pushed beyond his limits but keeps going.

The only thing I didn't like much was the overuse of adjectives but that is easy to skip over, because the story pulls you along and drags you into the pits of Hell and Madness and Revenge.

4 out of 5




 

The Becoming - a novella Allan Leverone

The Becoming -- a novella Allan Leverone

• File Size: 203 KB
• Print Length: 90 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Rock Bottom Books; 1 edition (April 26, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007Y9IFCK

This tale starts off nearly a hundred years in the past and then shoots to modern times. A hundred years ago a coal miner simply disappeared. The mine was closed up after that upon the government discovering that safety rules did not really exist and several miners have gone missing. For the past 90 years no one has set foot in it...until now. 

Enter Tim McKenna, a 12 year old who wants to explore the forbidden mine. He was bored since moving to this town and with few friends he needed some excitement. At school one of the teachers talks about the mine and that gets his heart pounding. But none of his new friends want to go. They are locals, they had heard the whispers about the mine--whispers about creatures or ghosts. And although no one really believes it, everyone avoids the mine.

Tim is determined. He fakes being sick and kicks off from school. He has his bag packed with essentials he thinks he needs and off he goes.

What fate awaits him? It may not be what you think.

This is an interesting and fast paced book. I actually wanted it to be longer, but I feel the author ended it where it needed to end. The writing is smooth to read and the story never goes off track or dwells too long in the back story. It is a novella, after all. And it is a good real.

4 out of 5 stars from me.