Halloween: Scary, but Fun
Posted: October 31, 2018 Filed under: Dark Fantasy, Dystopian, Fiction, Gothic, Horror, Paranormal, Reading, Speculative Fiction, Stories, Thriller | Tags: Dead Man's PArty, Facebook event, Ghost Stories, Halloween, horror, marketing, Scary stories, Short Fiction Leave a comment
People love to be scared, especially within a safe environment. That’s why the horror genre will always be popular. Sitting around trying to scare one another by telling ghost stories or urban legends is a passtime enjoyed and induldged by young and old alike. It’s one of the reasons Hallowen is a favorite holiday for many, with haunted houses and ghost stories and a monster around every corner.
But telling ghost stories to pass the time on a stormy night isn’t any type of new passtime. In fact, two hundred years ago, on a damp and dreary night, Mary Shelly’s Frankenstien was created on just such an occassion, when a challenge was issued to see who could invent the best scary story. Today’s monsters may be digitally enhanced, but we still enjoy sharing their stories, searching for an inkling of fear or a rush of adrenaline to get our hearts pumping.
That’s why I hope you’ll all drop in and join in the fun at the Sonoran Dawn’s Dead Man’s Party today on Facebook, where myself and other authors will be reading scary stories, playing games and holding giveaways. Many of the authors from the Dark Visions anthology, which I reviewed this past month, including Writng to be Read team member Jordan Elizabeth, and AtA panel member, Dan Alatorre, who compiled and produced the anthology which climbed up the ratings for best horror anthology rapidly following its release. I gave the anthology five quills and it is well worth the read. I’m excited to be reading a few of their stories for them, as well as my own The Haunting of Carrol’s Woods, and can’t wait to hear the audio recordings of the other’s stories, too. I hope you will join us. It may be scary, but it will be fun.
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“Lost Girl”: A paranormal thriller mystery just in time for Halloween
Posted: October 26, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction, Mystery, Paranormal, Suspense | Tags: Ann Francis Scott, Book Review, Lost Girl, mystery, Paranormal, Parnormal Mystery, Suspense 4 Comments
Lost Girl, by Anne Francis Scott keeps the suspense ratched up to high, with more twists and turns that a serpentine spiral. This paranormal suspense mystery is crafted with skill that keeps readers guessing, but in a good way. Her search for her past draws Alison to Dawson Mills, where some very strange things occur. She is haunted by a past that she can’t quite remember, one just as disturbing as the ghost children she sees in the woods around the large Victorian she intends to make her home. But, does the danger lie in the ghost children, or is there a greater menace lurking in the shadows?
Ghosts, suspense and questions galore, Lost Girl has all the elements of a good scary story. I give it five quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“Webs of Perception”:The Final Chapter of a Saga
Posted: October 19, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Commercial Fiction, Fiction, Suspense | Tags: Book Review, Darlene Quinn, Webs of Perception Leave a comment
Webs of Perception is the final novel in Darlene Quinn’s Webs series – the saga of a high profile family in the high-end retail industry, the Taylors, who meet with more than their share of adversity, but always stand tall and come out stronger for it.
In this final novel, disaster strikes once again, in the form of a gigantic rogue wave, which blindsides an ocean liner, with the two Taylor twins on board, and it appears one was swept overboard and the other has developed amnesia from the impact, leaving open many questions and few answers. The reader is caught up in the mystery almost from the moment they open the front cover.
The use of multiple POVs and multiple voices is daring and inovative – creative way to get around the question of how to refer to an amnesia vicim, whose identity hasn’t been established. Short chapters keep the story moving at the perfect pace. This book is a relaxed read which never falters in tone, and is a smooth, easy read.
As the last book in the series, I can see how Webs of Perception might not work as a stand alone novel. I believe there are too many characters, as well as too much background to read this novel without the knowledge from earlier books in the series. I’ve read and reviewed two, (Twisted Webs and Unpredictable Webs), and still I had difficulty keeping track of the who’s who among the secondary players. But, as a wrap-up novel for the series, which it was crafted to be, I felt it was absolutely perfect.
I give Webs of Perception five quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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Dark Visions: A Horror Anthology You Won’t Want to Miss
Posted: October 12, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Dark Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Speculative Fiction, Stories | Tags: Book Review, Dan Alatorre, Dark Visions, horror, Short Fiction 27 Comments
October is the month for scary things, and a horror anthology filled with spine chilling short stories from over thirty authors is the perfect read for the season. The release of Dan Alatorre’s compilation of Dark Visions anthology is October 15th, and you won’t want to miss it. In addition to a wonderfully original and entertaining prologue, and his own story, “The Corner Shop”, Dan has lined up a slew of writing talent to include in this tomb of short horror tales.
Not only does this anthology have a very cool cover, (Check it out above), but it also has some very well crafted short fiction, some that will stay with you in times to come. These shorts cover a wide spectrum of horrors; nightmares, voodoo, vampires, apparitions and spirits, and even demons. The stories found here prey upon your inner fears, making brief little ditties from the stuff of nightmares.
None of the stories I read from this collection would rate less than three quills, meaning even the mediocre stories are pretty good. Among my favorites are “The Devil’s Hollow”, by Adele Marie Park; “Road Kill”, by Ernesto San Giacomo; “Behind the Leather Apron”, by Alana Turner; “The Bloody Dagwood Tree”, by Dabry Farmer; and “Ice Cream”, by Geoff LePard.
Not to say that other stories in this volume are not noteworthy. Many of these stories will keep you awake at night, including: “The Haunting of William”, by Robbie Cheadle; “Nightmare”, by Lori Micken; “Swimming”, by Frank Parker; “Lucifer’s Revenge”, by Christine Valentor; “What If”, by Geoff LePard; “Ghosts of Tupelo” by Sharon Cathcart; “Where the Black Tree Grows”, by M.D. Walker; “The Right Time to Move”, by Jennifer Ruff; “The Stranger”, by Allison Maruska; “The Storm”, by J.A. Allen; and “Spirit Lake”, by Sharron Connell.
I may be difficult to please when it comes to short fiction, because I like my stories to feel complete and often short fiction fails on those lines, but most of the tales in this collection did not fail to satisfy. Most of them were also a little creepy, which is essential when it comes to horror. And, did I mention it has a really cool cover? Put all of that together, and I give Dark Visions five quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“Doomed to Repeat”: A Mystery in History
Posted: October 5, 2018 Filed under: Action/Adventure, Book Review, Books, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller | Tags: Action, Book Review, mystery, Tim Baker, Time, Time travel 1 Comment
Doomed to Repeat is author Tim Baker’s latest crazy crime novel, complete with his usual cast of lovable characters; Ike, Brewski, Ralph Donabedian and the Golden Lion Staff.
Ike and Brewski get a blast from the past when Nazis with amnesia show up in Flagler Beach. As they work to unravel the mystery of how they came to be in this time, while trying to stay one step ahead of the white supremicist who is trying to muscle Ralph Donabedian and the other Flagler Beach business owners into selling all of their properties, they learn their new found friends may hold the evidence to prove two great historical myths to be truths. But, with the bad guys, the C.I.A. and the Russians all closing in, can they save their new found friends and the secrets they carry with them without getting themselves killed or letting their secrets fall into the wrong hands?
When you pick up a novel set in Flagler Beach, and find Ike and Brewski sitting in the middle of it, you know the story will be entertaining, and Doomed to Repeat does not disappoint. I give it five quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“Time to Live”: A YA Mystical Fantasy
Posted: September 28, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult | Tags: Fantasy, Jordan Elizabeth, Magic, Time to Live, YA, Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction Leave a comment
Time to Live by Jordan Elizabeth was released yesterday. I had the privelage of a review copy and found it to be a delightful story of magic and mayhem. I was able to fall into this young adult novel and kept the pages turning.
Endowed with powers she’s not supposed to have yet, Banon seems to find trouble and someone to rescue wherever she goes. Then, she disses the wrong guy and re-ignites the kindling for an all out clan war that’s gone on for so long, no one remembers how it really started, throwing her in the path of her true soul mate, awakening memories within them both, and bringing understanding as to why they’d never felt as if they belonged.
I question why this book is titled as such, but I think the cover is killer. I enjoyed this tale to the utmost and give Time to Live five quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“Twisted”: An Unusual Body Switching Tale
Posted: September 21, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Dark Fantasy, Paranormal, romance, Romantic Comedy, Speculative Fiction | Tags: Book Review, Dark Fantasty, Humor, Paranormal Romance, RA Winter, Speculative Fiction, Twisted, vampires, werewolves 3 Comments
We’ve all heard tales which involved body switching, but what does one do when they are switched into the body of, not only the opposite sex, but that of a different species, one that is your sworn enemy? Twisted is a Vampire Werewolf Freaky Friday novelette, by R.A. Winter which deals with just such a delimma. And the worst part is, they are going to have to work together if they want to save their world.
This funny, quirky novelette explores the unthinkable and makes it believable and entertaining. The humor is on the adult side and may be a little over the top for the YA crowd, but it will keep the pages turning. It’s a fun read andI give Twisted five quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“Kissed by Literature”: A YA collection of short fiction
Posted: August 31, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction, Paranormal, Speculative Fiction, Stories, Young Adult Leave a comment
Like many authors, Jordan Elizabeth started out writing short fiction, and in Kissed by Literature, she offers us a generous sample of paranormal and speculative shorts. The trouble in writing short fiction comes in making the story feel complete, with a beginning, middle and end, using a minimal number of words. It’s not an easy thing to do, and while there are stories included that feel a little rushed in the pacing or end abruptly, as can only be expected in a collection of shorts of this size, those that do feel complete hit the mark and give readers goosebumps. Among them, my favorites include House of Sixty Bells, a ghostly mystery solved; Satin, a tale of paranormal friendship with ulterior motives; and Lock the Door, the story of a husband’s guilt following his wife’s murder.
A delightfully eerie collection of paranormal and speculative stories, I give Kissed by Literature four quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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DARE: The sex is the story line
Posted: August 24, 2018 Filed under: Adult, Book Review, Books, Erotica, Fiction | Tags: Adult Fiction, Book Review, DARE, Erotica, James Crow 1 Comment
Most erotic stories get categorized as romance, for obvious reasons, and many erotic stories read like a romance with erotic scenes tossed in here and there to spice things up. Or the opposite, so much erotica it’s hard to find the story line, it seems everyone in the tale is having random sex for the sake of having sex, and there doesn’t seem to be much point to the tale.
Neither can be said for DARE, by James Crow. A tale where I found that the sex scenes carried the story. At times the flashbacks out weighed the present scenes and multiple sexual encounters play out for us simultaneously, but they are all relevant to the main story line. But reader beware, DARE goes beyond the erotic and into the realm of very twisted kink, and is definitely aimed at very mature audiences. To be honest, I found the subject matter a little shocking, but the matter-of-fact British tone that discusses atrocities as if they were run of the mill, everyday occurances may have something to do with the shock factor.
I’m not sure how I feel about this story, but it is an interesting approach to story telling, with a surprise twist at the end, so I give DARE four quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“The Affected”: A Tale of Horror
Posted: August 17, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Dark Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Speculative Fiction, Suspense | Tags: Book Review, Demons, horror, James McNally, The Affected Leave a comment
There’s nothing like a good horror story. The Affected, by James McNally is a tale of horror straight from the pits of hell. This story is not for the feint of heart due to the heineous acts contained within.
Random town’s people are vanishing, or being murdered, but whatever is going on, there won’t be any town left if someone doesn’t figure it out and put a stop to it, and soon. And then there is the strange man in white who has been appearing to some residents and seems to be stalking them, there one moment and gone the next. The mystery unravel, but can this demonical surge be stopped before there is no one left?
Although I found a few logic flaws throughout, the story is so well plotted, overlooking them came easy. A plot worthy of the classic horror tales. I give The Affected four quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
