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Evil Runs:A Supernatural Mystery/Thriller By Vince Milam

1/29/2016

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Evil Runs: A Supernatural Mystery Thriller (Evil World Book 1)
By Vince Milam
 
The story of good versus evil is as old as time.  Hollywood has made the battle between the two a part of our popular culture in more films than I can count.  A particular storyline often on the silver-screen is the fight for the life of an innocent person who has been possessed by demons.  In films like the iconic Exorcist, or more recently The Rite, demons are exorcised from the innocent with the backing of the Catholic Church.  Evil Runs by Vince Milam is an impeccably written supernatural/action-adventure piece with a new, super-modern stance on the familiar storyline.  I can tell you now that it was a struggle to put this excellent book down. From almost the very beginning you just have this feeling that you're in for the smoothest ride you can imagine.

Cole Garza, the sheriff of Aransas County, Texas, is no stranger to loss and evil, having lost his wife to murder some time back. But when a crazed killer attacks a nursing home, killing a handful of people and setting the place aflame, evil has a new face. His name is Moloch. Although no one saw this man who oozes evil partake in the murders or fire that ensued, he was on the scene and Cole is certain he has more to do with this horrendous crime than meets the eye.

Enter Father Francois. With the support of the Vatican, Francois shows up in Rockport requesting to be a part of the investigation and search for Moloch without giving reasons beyond that he is on a mission to eradicate evil as a reason why Cole should involve him.  Although Cole is more than hesitant, word comes from quite high up that he should cooperate with the Vatican’s request and work with Francois, who he soon learns is quite the personality.  With his new snakeskin belt and cigarette in hand, the French priest is ready to join the hunt.

Now add in the obsessive/compulsive, socially inept, computer whiz, Nadine May, and you've got an unstoppable crime fighting trio. As Nadine tracks Moloch first to Wales and later Syria, it is quickly realized she is a crucial member of the team, her crush on Cole aside. Nadine is completely ecstatic about the chance to become a field operative as opposed to the operative stuck behind the computer screen.

The three race to track down Moloch, each with their own reasons.  Their personal journeys are just as important as finding Moloch. 
 
Evil Runs was super well written and edited.  The storyline was great.  I enjoyed that it was modern enough to include some of the current events of our time into it. My only criticism would be the ending.  I felt that it was super rushed with very little detail, leaving me feel a bit let down.  Now I realize this was just the first book in the series, but as with many others that are the start of a series I felt that everything was left open for the sake of a reader getting the next book.  I don’t find that all too unreasonable, but I really wanted more for the ending even though I’d like to read the next book in the series as well.
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Within #1 By Christian Edwards

1/29/2016

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Within Part I – A Short Story
By Christian Edwards
 
Within is a short story about Amanda and Jonathan who go on vacation to Victoria Island. After arriving, they meet newlyweds Raymond and Kara, who also chose to vacation on the island. Both couples are in their early twenties and the only tourists on the island so, as you would expect, they end up doing things together.
However, things start to turn weird as they check into the only motel on the island and rapidly get weirder as the two couples have breakfast then meet again on the beach.

Sorry, but like the story, I’m going to leave you hanging because I don’t want to give anything away.
Within bit me by the middle of page two and by the time I got to “To be continued” I was totally hooked. Part I does an excellent job setting the stage for what I believe will be an intriguing supernatural story. I say supernatural but reserve the right to change my mind since I don’t know where Part II will take us! And, yes, I definitely plan to read Part II!    

Edwards is an outstanding storyteller and this story will suck you in. Even though I don’t know where the plot is going it’s still great. The characters are perfectly developed and relatable and Edward’s writing skills are wonderful. Yes, I really like this story!  Definitely a must read that will have you reaching for Part II.  

Robert Boze


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Faerie Tale, Ashen by R'Lee Coffey

1/22/2016

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Faerie Tale, Ashen
By R'Lee Coffey

Faerie Tale, Ashen by R'Lee Coffey, a part of a surprisingly awesome series of paranormal romance books, is gifted with a remarkably great storyline. Packed full of interesting characters-each with depth and their own story to tell-and beautiful imagery at times, it's one of those books you look forward to picking up to read again and again and not put down until it's finished. Unfortunately, that's where my praise ends and the hopefully helpful critique begins.

First, the good news…As aforementioned, I truly loved the story Coffey told through the eyes of Ashen Black, a faerie who plays an intricate role in a guild of faeries to which she is the conduit. We meet her as she regains consciousness on a bluff alone with no recollection of how or why she is there other than a note warning her not to trust anyone. To top it off she realizes rather quickly that she remembers next to nothing at all about anything.

Faerie Tale, Ashen-being the first in the series-is not only an introduction to Ashen Black but to the other faeries in the guild. We learn a bit about each of them while Ashen struggles along trying to figure out not only what happened to her but also who she can and cannot trust.  As we learn about the guild from Ashen's often confused POV or observations, a bit of chaos ensues for the reader when trying to comprehend the actual level of experience each of them has with their abilities or knowledge about the past, present and future as it pertains to being a faerie. At one point it seems like the entire guild is inexperienced and need to learn so much, then the next moment they're controlling the elements like old pros. 

Unfortunately we must go on to the not-so-good and bad news. Faerie Tale, Ashen has more errors than I can count on my fingers and toes. Coffey's book is a colossal grammar mess. From incorrect usage of the em dash, to the separation of compound words; it appears to lack any type of proofreading or editing. Careless mistakes such as leaving a word out of a quote by Tony Robbins or the misspelling of one crucial paranormal group of beings; this book is littered with them. 

Typically if the errors don't really impact the flow of a storyline I try to only mention it briefly, but the multitude of obvious errors in this one I couldn't just let go of-especially since I'm in love with the storyline and characters. In this case, I became exasperated with having to read a sentence and then read it again to make sure I understood the meaning. I think with editing Faerie Tale, Ashen could be the beginning of a truly amazing series with limitless possibilities for more books to follow. If I were to rate it based on storyline alone it would receive a perfect score.  But, unfortunately when it comes to the written word, storyline alone isn’t all that counts!


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Sullivan's Secret by Robin Murphy

1/22/2016

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Sullivan's Secret
By Robin Murphy

Sullivan’s Island is an idyllic seaside community with beautiful beaches and historical landmarks that make it a great place to travel but an even greater place to call home.  That’s where Dr. Marie Bartek has settled, becoming the community’s veterinarian.  However, there is more to the doc than most know.  She has gifts that emerged as a child to where she can see spirits; gifts that have been absent for many years but have returned recently for reasons unknown.

One might think in a town as small as hers that having special gifts might make you a pariah; however, on Sullivan’s Island it’s nothing to hide away.  As a matter of fact there is a small group of individuals who are interested in beginning a group of sorts; Sullivan Island Paranormal Society or SIPS for short.
As the group begins to organize, a pair of spirits begins desperately trying to communicate with Marie.  At first it is difficult to understand what they are saying as her gifts are rusty one might say.  However, as their message becomes clearer, she realizes they are trying to communicate with her about a recent rash of murders occurring in her town.  With the help of the SIPS team, can Marie stop the next murder from happening?  Or is there a possibility that the life she could be saving could be her own?

I began the Marie Bartek series by Robin Murphy for the same reason I begin any book, an author's request. In this case I didn't exactly do as requested simply because I was asked to read the two most recent of the series. However, as I began to read the second in a series of three I felt I needed background information that could only be garnered from reading the first. So, that is how I happened upon Sullivan's Secret.   And I’m glad I read the first one because it was a great read.

As far as a storyline goes, I thought Sullivan’s Secret had a slightly abbreviated one.  It’s safe to say I felt it was a bit rushed.  Everything seemed to be in overdrive, not allowing the story to truly develop.  The character development was adequate, but again it was in a full sprint.  Even our primary characters weren’t developed as much as l typically like to see. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the confusion caused by the formatting and changes in POV from Marie to our murderer.  Although told in 3rd person, the storyline would be following Marie and then without notice would switch to our killer. I have to say it became quite confusing and odd for several paragraphs to realize what actually had happened.

All in all, I would say that Sullivan’s Secret was a great, quick read.  Although not as developed as I would like, it was interesting to solve to crime with the SIPS team and the help from Marie’s spirits.  I’d definitely recommend this book to not only those who enjoy paranormal pieces, but also those who like a mystery/crime/who-dun-it type of book.  As it stands now there are three books that follow this one; Secret of the Big Easy, Federal City’s Secret, and Secret of Coffin Island.  All three are part of the Marie Bartek and the SIPS Team series.  I’m definitely going to check these out as well and I encourage you to do so too!.
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Wyvern Diary by Dahraan du Toit

1/9/2016

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Wyvern Diary by Dahraan du Toit is the kind of book that sounds really, really cool.  I'd just come off the tail end of another book involving dragons, so I was really eager and excited to get into this one. And the thing is, it has some incredibly great ideas. You can tell when you're reading this one that there's been a lot of creative energy put into it, that the author really knows his stuff and is passionate and interested in the story he's telling.  I love that in a book, I love feeling like the person who's telling me this story is someone who's really feeling the world they've created, because it makes me want to get involved in it too.

That being said, I ended up struggling with this one.  I think there are great ideas in it, but they're buried under a whole lot of action scenes that didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. Everything felt extremely rushed <i>except</i> the action. I had a hard time connecting to characters because I didn't get a chance to get to know them. It felt a lot like what we were doing was reading a novel about fight scenes-- which is great, if that's your thing, because there's tons of action in this book!  I was just not really sure exactly what we were ever fighting for except for the sake of fighting.  I found the plot pretty tough to follow-- mainly, I suppose, because I'm still not exactly sure what the plot was at all. We viewed the story from the eyes of Steve, a teenager who has been thrust into a world that must be reclaimed for humanity. We battle all sorts of creatures, strange hybrids borne of biological warfare, and giant dragons and wyverns and monsters galore.  But I'm still not exactly sure what we were meant to be doing other than fighting those guys for no reason except that they got int he way of some mission that I never quite understood.

Wyvern Diary is the kind of book that could be extraordinary. Like I said, the ideas in it are really great at their bare bones, I think they just need to be fleshed out a little more. The creativity that went into creating all the different creatures is phenomenal and shouldn't be negated. The issue I found, however, is that the emotional content should be expanded on and the action sorta cut down and limited, just so the reader will have a chance to actually care about the outcome.  I think what Dahraan du Toit really needs is just to keep practicing-- work on developing plot exposition and getting information to the reader and our hero without it being so obvious. I could see clearly where certain things happened in order to facilitate plot movement, but they seemed too convenient to really work for me.  But then, writing a novel isn't the kind of thing someone learns to do overnight. I think with more experience and more practice, Dahraan's stuff could be really great, and I'm looking forward to it. 
By Amanda Scott
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Feng Shui + Charlotte Nightingale by Pam Ferderbar

1/9/2016

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Feng Shui + Charlotte Nightingale
By Pam Ferderbar

Feng Shui +Charlotte Nightingale by Pam Ferderbar is a comedy of errors. A riot a minute. Wacky from page to page. A clever twist around each corner with a cast of characters you'd just love to get to know better.
 
Charlotte Nightingale in one word is chaos. She's like the Tasmanian devil and no matter what she touches it seems to turn into a mess. If you think you've ever had a bad day, I beg to differ after spending a few days in Charlotte's world.
 
Although told in 3rd person, the POV switches off between Charlotte and the other main character, Kwan. Kwan works at his father's restaurant, the Emperor's Kitchen, located below Charlotte's apartment in Chinatown. Although Kwan ultimately plays a pretty significant role in the plot, he seems to me to be playing his part in the background-which works really well in my opinion.
 
Ferderbar does a magnificent job in bringing the characters and story to life for readers. We meet people like Charlotte's "perfect" younger sister, Charlene, who is engaged to a doctor, Dr. Dirk - to her parent's delight and her sister's annoyance. The doctor is quite an interesting character all on his own but not the catch he might seem on the surface.
 
As aforementioned, Charlotte is a ball of chaos. She seems to thrive on it. The only person who seems aware of it and with any idea as to how it might be changed is Kwan, her complete opposite, a calming force. He is certain a little Feng Shui could go a long way for her. How he goes about it and all the events surrounding his attempts are quite entertaining.
 
Although some mild language and sexual content, I would say this book is okay for the YA to read, but of course that should be left to a parent to decide based on the maturity of their teen. 
 
In conclusion, I’d encourage you to check this riot of a book out.  Feng Shui + Charlotte Nightingale is a book I’d read it again if I had time.  It is truly a good book!  I can see it being one of those relaxed weekend books where you curl up and just read the day away.I hope my review has done it justice.


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From a Killer's Mind by Jason Helford

1/9/2016

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From a Killer's Mind
By Jason Helford
 
To be honest I truly don't even know where to begin with From a Killer's Mind by Jason Helford other than to say HOLY COW!! I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have NEVER EVER read or seen on TV - or in the movies for that matter - anything quite like this; however, i must say I'm perplexed still as to whether that's a negative or positive reaction. 

John is the center of this psychological thriller - leaning more towards a piece of horror fiction at times. The victim of the most extreme physical and verbal abuse at the hands of not just his father but his mother as well. It's safe to say his chances at a normal adulthood would've been slim to none. As you may have guessed, John is the killer the title speaks of - a serial killer to be exact. Readers may not initially be aware of this or what's actually going on until about a quarter of the way into the book but you are so enamored with trying to figure out what’s going on in his head that you keep reading.
 
 As the storyline progresses from there it becomes apparent that time in John's mind is going to be anything but a smooth ride or close to the likes of any serial killer known thus far; to the extent that I honestly question the mind that wrote this book! Helford definitely transports us to a place I personally have never ventured before, nor am I sure I want to go back there any time in the near future. 
 
From a sociological and psychological standpoint Helford's work challenges the notion of nature versus nurture. Are killers born or raised? I have to wonder after reading this book. It's certainly an interesting question especially when you can't often differentiate as to whether what's taking place is only occurring in his mind, really happening, or is some sort of paranormal thing.
 
I must admit that although I don't regret reading From a Killer's Mind, it did make me uncomfortable at times to put it mildly. There is a plentitude of adult content in general. In fact I'd say this book would be difficult for an adult to read, much less anyone younger. Sexual content is present, of which is not always consensual. As aforementioned, there is plenty of violence including child abuse. 
 
I think the only way to conclude this review is to say that the title, From a Killer's Mind, speaks for itself. You spend time in the mind of a killer and it’s up to each of us to figure out if that’s something you can handle.  Do I recommend picking it up? I truly don't know how to answer that. I, personally, couldn't put it down but it was more like that car accident you drive past and just can't stop watching. 
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Tamara by Jeffrey Reddick and J.D Matthews

1/9/2016

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Tamara
By Jeffrey Reddick; JD Matthews

Reminiscent of the classic Stephen King work, Carrie, Tamara by Jeffrey Reddick takes high school bullying to another level completely. .Although similar to King's cult classic movie/book, Reddick gives readers a tale that most certainly surpasses its predecessor when it comes to a tale about a crazy, mistreated, vengeful teenage girl.
 
Tamara is your stereotypical loner, or outsider. She's praised by her teachers for her academic ability and ridiculed by her peers for everything. Tamara lives in deplorable conditions with her widowed, alcoholic father.
 
As if life wasn't hard enough her peers continue to find ways to shame and humiliate Tamara. But this time the joke was deadly and those responsible will not walk away laughing.
 
Tamara was a quick and easy read. Although not my favorite book ever, it was entertaining. Although slightly predictable, Tamara struggled for some sort of surprise for readers - which I feel it achieved slightly.
 
Reddick does tangle some touchy subject matter but not in too grave detail. The most concerning is sexual content that some might find difficult to read. In addition the overall cruelty Tamara was treated with could cause readers to have an uncomfortable feeling in one's gut.
 
I feel Tamara is a decent read that will tickle anyone's paranormal/horror fancy. If you were a Carrie fan, the similarities are enough you'd most likely enjoy this. If you weren't a Carrie fan the differences are substantial enough that I'd recommend giving Tamara a try.
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