Horror Books

Such a poor execution!

McKinely's "Beauty" is one of my all time favorite fairytale re-tellings. When I figured out Sunshine was a modern retelling of the same tale, I snatched it up!

Oh, how I wanted to love this book. Con is a fresh take on the ubiquitous bad-boy vampire that many other author's have tried to hash out, and failed. Sunshine (Rae) is a bit annoying, but equally as flawed and compelling as Con. Together, they could have gone places.

Except that the author was way too busy setting the scene and forgot to tell the story. Because the book is narrated by Sunshine, the entire novel comes at you from her perspective. Which is just fine, except Sunshine liked to dawdle on the unimportant (so, so many parenthetical sentences, which I do not like), rather than tell the story at hand.

And because of this, the book suffered from flow and sequence. And the reader suffers a case of unanswered questions.

I truly hope that Ms. McKinley writes a sequel to this novel - I for one want to know why Constantine can go out in the moonlight...

Rae "Sunshine" Seddon is the world's best cinnamon roll baker, or at least she will smack you over the head with that idea until you start believing it. She's a pastry chef in a conspicuous diner filled with possibly-quirky regulars that we don't get to hear much of because we spend our time in Sunshine's head, either in long expository paragraphs about her world of the paranormal (which reminds me: McKinley gives no reason for the explanation role of the narrator. There is no, "I am writing this story for a legal case and must explain this paranormal creature to you." There is no reasoning behind the narrator's exposition role, and there really needs to be one because she is a character within the story itself), or else traipsing off into uninteresting and unnecessary anecdotes on baking.

I'm sorry to say I couldn't get beyond the first half of the book, so this review is only of what I read: Sunshine goes off to her lake house to think some things over, gets kidnapped by a gang of vampires, and while in captivity meets Constantine, the only vamp who doesn't want to drink her blood. She manages to escape through her own considerable abilities as a "Magic Handler" and decides to save Constantine (though she doesn't know why she did that, although she will whine about this decision for the next hundred pages). When she gets back to civilization, things about her town of New Arcadia and her own self are not quite what they should be...

Here are the inexcusable flaws: good and likable subject matter (vampire with a heart of gold, average girl who finds herself with extraordinary powers) that proceeds with the most drawn-out exposition I've read in a while, and a failure to flesh out any other character. I just. couldn't. read. any. more.

Go back and read some of the old Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles rather than pick up this plodding vampire romance.

I'm a foodie, so it's more than a little fun to read a story where the protagonist obsesses about food, food creation, feeding people, food gadgets, and the assorted food mania that foodies get into.

I've loved Robin McKinley stories since I ran into them in middle school a bajillion years ago (heh), and I still love them, but I really feel that her writing has improved in a really discernable way. (Unlike some vampire story authors I could name. harumph.)

The timing and pacing are remarkable all on their own. I loved the early but relatively slow reveal of the reason for the book's name. And she does such a good job of making you interested in the myriad characters, even the difficult ones.

So... in short: Hurrah.

I never thought I'd find a novel that married my two guilty pleasures: baking decadent desserts drenched in chocolate and laden with butter and cream, and vampires. Robin McKinley, best known for her exquisite Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast, marries both of these passions in the luscious Sunshine. Rae Seddon, known to family and friends as Sunshine due to her attraction to sunlight, is a talented baker at a post-apocalyptic coffeehouse in New Arcadia. Her specialties include Cinnamon Rolls As Big As Your Head and Bitter Chocolate Death. Her other great love is researching the Others, those very real supernatural beings that coexist uneasily with humans, including ruthless vampire clans. Until one fateful night, Sunshine's knowledge of vampires came off the Internet and from friends who worked in a special police department designed to combat the Others.

Sunshine has fallen prey to a creeping sense of frustration and restlessness, and takes off to her grandmother's abandoned cabin at a nearby lake. Unfortunately, said lake is known Other territory, and she is abducted by a gang of vampires. She wakes up dressed in a blood-red dress chained to a wall, only to find that she's not alone: she appears to be a late-night snack for a vampire.

The rest of Sunshine follows several different tangents: Sunshine's discovery of her father's supernatural heritage (McKinley's New Arcadia is populated with halfbloods, demons, angels, peris, vamps, and more), her dangerous alliance with Constantine, a master vampire, and her gradual involvement in combatting evil vampire clans. Her relationship with her biker boyfriend Mel is also explored, as is her uneasy relationship with her overbearing mother.

Sunshine brings to mind the kick-butt, take-no-nonsense Buffy the Vampire Slayer layered with a food porn dessert primer. McKinley's Sunshine is full of unexpectedly crude humor that made me laugh out loud, such as Sunshine's observations on being carried by a vampire: "I could no more have breathed with him than I could have ignited gasoline and shot exhaust out my butt because I was sitting in the passenger seat of a car." Despite the at-times childish language, this is a novel drenched in graphic violence and sex, but beautifully realized. McKinley's novel takes a while to develop, but her vision of the future is completely immersive: a world where surviving humans cling to magic wards to protect them from evil, where one small coffeeshop holds out against drug addicts and encroaching vampires, where the special police unit responsible for protecting humans is losing the battle against vampires. I can't wait to read more of Sunshine's adventure if and when McKinley writes a sequel; the cliffhanger ending is a bit of a letdown, especially since the main action happens only in the last fifty pages or so, and we know as little about Constantine as we did at the beginning. Fans of Charlaine Harris, Tanya Huff and Laurell K. Hamilton will thrill to Sunshine's adventures.

This book is Robin McKinley's emotional masterpiece. What other reviewers seem to fail to acknowledge is that in reading this book, if you have ever been able to identify the times in your life you pulled the covers over you head after the alarm went off and those feelings associated with being human and being stubborn, then you can identify with Sunshine. We all prefer to read books that read how things should go. Every character is in a neat little easy pocket and every sub plot is explored and explained thoroughly.

But this isn't a detective novel, it's one woman's thoughts as she deals with a mid 20s crisis and the end of her world as she knows it. She has fears, that aren't rational, that never come true. She has urges, and hopes that in perfect situations, would work out and never bring about a moment of awkwardness, but because this book reads like someone living in a real time, things do get awkward and upsetting and don't make sense.

This book is so human that when I first read it and let myself be absorbed by Sunshine's plight, I put the book down 3/4s of the way through and realised I had FELT sick I had FELT like I was experiencing what Sunshine was experiencing, without knowing exactly that's what had been happening.

I don't think Robin McKinley wrote this intending a classic sequel, to be honest, I don't think she writes any novel with that in mind. If she did, we'd have series from her, not a dozen stand alones. I think she wrote it so that she could put to paper an alternative world where things are more mystical and yet just as simple and human as the world we are in now. I think she wrote it intending to bring a different kind of heroine to life, who didn't know what she wanted all the time, and didn't have some straight arrow path to follow.

If you loved Hero and the Crown and you want more saucy stubborn heroine with more talent in her pinky than the others around her, then you will love Sunshine doubly more. Period.

THIS WAS A GIFT TO MY GRANDSON, JAKE. HE LOVES THE GOOSEBUMPS SERIES. HE DID CALLED ME AND TOLD ME HE LOVED THE BOOK, SO I GUESS I WILL RATE IT A PERFECT 5 STARS.

I finshed this book but only because once I start something I have to see it to the end. Save yourself a waste of time, its tedious, the characters are 1 dimensional, and the plot, switching between century's is tedious in the extreme. I am glad to have got to the end.

"Sepulchre" has an ominous and chilling opening, an action-packed first few chapters with such rich historical detail and so many compelling characters, the plot could have gone in several directions. Smart, well researched, heavily layered; this was almost a perfect literary thriller. It missed the mark by a (copper colored) hair.

Like A. S. Byatt's "Possession", the genre's gold standard, "Sepulchre" links the nineteenth century and the present day. A deck of tarot cards, some faded photographs and a mysterious piece of music are clues to a puzzle that begins in 1891 and ends in 2007. I was fortunately and immediately hooked by the vivid 19th century tale, which kept me going through the rather lackluster and hurried romance of the contemporary story in which the hero was unengaging, the baddie predictable and as long as we're nitpicking, just how many times DID Meredith "grab a sandwich"?

The imbalance continues to the end. While the 19th century tale ends with a wildly satisfying mob of torch wielding villagers, the contemporary story ends with all questions answered. It's a little too pat. Since the internet plays a part in this book, why doesn't Meredith use it to do some geneological research much earlier in the story? And wouldn't it have been fun if Ms. Mosse had left a few ends loose so she could write the stories only hinted at?

A definite cut above the usual literary thriller in its skillfully woven details, "Sepulchre" is well worth reading. If Ms. Mosse had only made the modern characters as interesting as those in the past, she'd have a stunner of a book, indeed.

The story of two lives that are intertwined:

Leonie Vernier is a Parisian teenager who travels with her brother to a country house in the French Pyrenees in 1891. She does not realize that her brother and her aunt share a secret and that her brother is on the run for a man so evil that nobody dares to stand up against him.

Meredith Martin is an American who writes a biography of Claude Debussy. Her trip to Eurote brings her to the French Pyrenees where she hopes to find an answer to questions about her family.

Crucial roles in the book are played by a set of Tarot cards, a ruined Visigoth sepulchre and unconditional love.

Even though the book gives a nice description of upper-class French day-to-day live at the end of the 19th century and makes fun of the stories in the Da Vinci code and some other books that all hype up the region of Carcasonne for hidden treasures and connections to biblical figures, there is a lot of supernatural mumbo-jumbo in this book. It was an anjoyable book for a holiday, but not one that I will remember for a long time.

Kate Mosse's Sepulchre is a historical fantasy -- historical fiction with fantastic elements. I enjoy both genres, and this novel features a female graduate student (somebody I can relate to) as one of the main characters, and it's available on audiobook, so I thought it would be good entertainment on my commute. I got about ten chapters in before quitting.

The book seems well-researched, is competently written, the tone switches easily and successfully from past to present and back, and the characters are interesting enough. Here is the problem: It is full of enormous amounts of tedious descriptions of ancient and current French landmarks, French historical events, French historical figures, and untranslated French dialogue. I realize, of course, that France is the setting of this historical novel, but the effect of all of this name-dropping is to make me think that Ms Mosse feels the need to prove she did her research -- she's trying too hard, and it comes off as pretentious. And obnoxious. Especially when I'm listening to it in audio format and I can't just skim over the French words. Here are some examples (some are from later in the book):

"It was not quite dawn, yet Paris was waking. In the distance, Anatole could hear the sounds of delivery carts. Wooden traps over the cobbles, delivering milk and freshly baked bread to the cafes and bars of the Faubourg Montmartre. He stopped to put on his shoes. The rue Feydeau was deserted; there was no sound except the clip of his heels on the pavement. Deep in thought, Anatole walked quickly, to the junction with the rue Saint-Marc, intending to cut through the arcade of the Passage des Panoramas. He saw no one, heard no one."

"By the time a smoggy and hesitant dawn broke over the offices of the Commissariat of Police of the eighth arrondissement in the rue de Lisbonne, tempers were already frayed. The body of a woman identified as Madame Marguerite Vernier has been discovered shortly after eight o'clock on the evening of Sunday, September 20. The news had been telephoned in from one of the new public booths on the corner of the rue de Berlin and the rue d'Amsterdam by a reporter from Le Petit Journal."

"In the next stack she discovered a first edition of Maistre's Voyage autour de ma chambre. It was battered and dog-eared, unlike Anatole's pristine copy at home. In another alcove she found a collection of both religious and fervently antireligious texts, grouped together as if to cancel one another out. In the section devoted to contemporary French literature, there was a set of Zola's Rougon-Macquart novels, as well as Flaubert, Maupassant and Huysmans --indeed, many of the intellectually improving texts Anatole tried in vain to press upon her, even a first edition of Stendhal's Le rouge et le noir. There were a few works in translation but nothing entirely to her taste except for Baudelaire's translations of Monsieur Poe. Nothing by Madame Radcliffe or Monsieur Le Fanu . . . The first was Dogme et rituel de la haute magie by Éliphaas Lévi. Next to it was a volume titled Traité méthodique de science occulte. On the shelf above, several other writings by Papus, Court de Gébelin, Etteilla and MacGregor Mathers. She had never read such authors but knew they were occultist writers and considered subversive. Their names appeared regularly in the columns of newspapers and periodicals."

At first, I found myself rolling my eyes at every French phrase and name-drop, but since that started to become a driving hazard, I just quit listening. I would much rather read a story whose purpose is to entertain me, not to enlighten or impress me. Sadly, Sepulchre did none of these things. --FanLit.net

I looked forward to this 2nd novel from Kate Mosse (sort of, she has 2 other books that are no longer in print, apparently from another life) having read and enjoyed Labyrinth, her first effort. Reviews from other reader gave me pause, but I finally deciced I wanted to read this after I saw that one of the main characters was writing a biography of Claude Debussy, my favorite composer. Concerns of the French spoken in the book didn't give me cause for concern after 4 torturous years of the language in high school which was enough to help me through this novel.

The book is set up much like here first effort with connections between a present day "heroine" and one of an earlier time. The story folds out, bouncing between present day and turn-of-the-century southern France, in the Languedoc (literally, "language of Oc" which was what was spoken there hundreds of years before). The characters, despite other reviewers beliefs, were, in my opinion, quite well written. I, again personally, found the characters of the past to be more interesting than those of the present.

The characters are tied by a secret that revolves around the ancient "art" of tarot. I don't personally believe in tarot or astrology or things of the sort, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the book in the slightest. If anything, my lack of knowledge on the subject made it all the more interesting.

I have seen comparisons to Mosse's first novel, though I failed to see anything too redundant in this novel; past and present heroines aside.

It is hard to write a review of this book with any detail without spoiling the story so I shall not give my usual summary so as to leave the mystery there when, should you decide, you do read. All I will say is that the book is thick with suspense, bouncing forward or back at just the right moment so that you remain frustrated at the moment that you must wait to return to the applicable characters or timeframe.

Mosse has a gift, in my humble opinion, obviously not shared by other reviewers, for writing characters with substance. I felt a pang of sadness as I read the last page because I had grown to know the characters and I liked, or hated, them very much.

I eagerly await Kate Mosse's next novel as these first 2 have firmly placed her as a writer of mystery tinged with historical fiction.

And, the Claude Debussy information, surprising though perhaps it should not have been so, was detailed and accurate. There was some creative license taken as Achille-Claude Debussy did play in to the novel, but his person and his music remain untarnished by the tale.

My biggest regret from this book is that I don't play the piano. A piece from the book, written especially for the book, and which plays in to the story is left to be read at the end of the book; how I wish I could play the tune and hear it's haunting permeations. Alas, perhaps I shall find someone who can play it for me.

Enjoy!!!

Britney Crosby is not very happy, and that is an understatement. Her pain-in-the-neck cousin Ethan has moved into her house. That's bad enough, but Britney's mother gave Ethan her room, so now she's sleeping in the sewing room! At least Britney has her BFF, Molly Molloy, to sympathize with her. Ethan is a complete brat, but Britney's parents insist she be especially nice to him because he's had such a hard life.

This is nearly impossible, especially when Britney sees Ethan's best buddy --- a creepy smiling ventriloquist's dummy that Ethan calls Mr. Badboy. Bam! Mr. Badboy whacks Britney on the forehead the moment she meets him. Ethan, of course, denies any responsibility, insisting that the dummy hit Britney all on his own. Meanwhile, Mr. Badboy screeches, "I'm a BAAAAAD boy!"

Britney's mom makes her take Ethan (still toting Mr. Badboy) to Molly's house. Molly's dad is a folklore professor who travels everywhere, bringing home bizarre artifacts like horrible-looking dolls, old toys and skulls. When Professor Molloy sees Mr. Badboy, he's intrigued, saying that the dummy looks vaguely familiar to him. He takes the children up to his attic museum and shows off a doll with a shrunken head that he's recently acquired. The doll is called a Mind Stealer, and supposedly it can take your mind right out of your head. Even worse, Professor Molloy believes it's actually capable of doing the evil deed...but he feels it's safe under thick glass.

When Britney and Ethan get home, Ethan shows her his ventriloquist act. Surprisingly, he's excellent at throwing his voice to make Mr. Badboy talk. Or so Britney believes, until she sees the dummy moving all on its own. Britney is sure her cousin has rigged the dummy, even though Ethan appears to be trembling in fear. She continues to believe that Ethan is putting one over on her, until something happens that is completely unexplainable. How can a dummy move and say, "I don't like you, Britney!" when its ventriloquist is away from the room?

Britney is terrified, but (not surprisingly) her parents don't believe her when she tells them that Mr. Badboy is alive. That's terrible, but things go even further downhill for poor Britney as Mr. Badboy grows increasingly violent. And her life gets more complicated when Molly calls, begging Britney to come help bury the Mind Stealer doll.

Along with each complete horror story, each entry in R. L. Stine's Horrorland series --- a spin-off of his popular Goosebumps books --- features a serial tale in installments, which takes place in a creepy amusement park known as Horrorland. In this first book, Britney and Molly have received a puzzling invite to the Horrorland amusement park, which is complete with a werewolf petting zoo and a quicksand beach. The girls think this is the most amazing thing ever...at first. But it isn't long before they experience the true horror in Horrorland.

REVENGE OF THE LIVING DUMMY is a fun, fast-paced, spine-chilling thriller for kids who love to be scared. These readers will also enjoy the first episode of the serial story, which will leave them yearning for the next title in this 12-book series.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon

This is a completely new and surprising return to Goosebumps. Because of the new twists in the storytelling--each book has two parts inside--you really don't know what will happen next! I hope CREEP FROM THE DEEP is just as silly/scary as this one. p.s. Don't forget to look in the back of the book!

After almost a decade R.L. Stine decided to please his fans and write more Goosebumps books. I have to say that this has been the best Goosebumps book I have ever read. I am a teacher and I read the Goosebumps series to my class. My class loved this book. They are big fans of Slappy so they basically forced me to get this book. There were laugh out loud parts and scary parts. This has been the funniest Goosebumps ever and then when you think the tale is over R.L. Stine throws a whole new story in. The family gets an invitation to go to Horrorland. From who? The reader doesn't know but my class has some ideas about what or who it might be. The family then goes to Horrorland where weird things begin to happen. The story ends and the reader still wants more just like the previous Goosebumps book. But the reader should feel satisfied because it seems like all of our questions are going to be answered within the 10 Goosebump Horrorland books. I don't want to spoil any parts for anybody but R.L. Stine throws in another doll into the story and its not a puppet. All I can say is that the doll was very interesting and brung a whole new type of scare to this story. There are also extras in the book like a map of Stagger Inn. Every book has its own map. There is also more extras that I won't spoil for you so just pick up the book.

Yes that's right, gentle readers, the master of fright is back nearly after a whole decade with a new book series called Goosebumps: Horrrland for kids. The first new book is called "Revenge of the Living Dummy" and the second book is called "Creep from the Deep." The writing style is still the same, but that's what makes R. L. Stine so interesting. He wrties on kids level so that it is easy to read and undertand and his stories are so original and entertaining that I can't wait until the next book releases. (Which will be in June!) So, again, I'm very surprised that Goosebumps has finally awakened again after all these years! If Goosebumps: Horroland stays around long enough, it might be even better than the Harry Potter series, (in my opinioin!) but you never know if FOX might make an attempt to ressurect the show for the new series, (hey, I can dream, can't I?) So 'readers beware, you're in for a scare'!

After almost a decade, R.L. Stine brings Goosebumps back! And what better way to inaugurate the new series than with new adventures of Slappy the Dummy, the series' most popular character? Sadly, R.L. Stine drops the ball with the series debut, creating a disappointing rehash of the previous Slappy books.

The first Night of the Living Dummy was a brilliant book which set the standard for future Goosebumps book - well-written, suspenseful and occasionally even frightening. Parts II and III were pretty good follow-ups, and Bride of the Living Dummy was almost as good as the original, and easily the best of the Series 2000 books. Slappy's Nightmare was a bit too tongue-in-cheek but did put an interesting spin on the plot thread.

But Revenge of the Living Dummy slavishly adheres to the Dummy formula. The dummy shows up, nasty things happen, kid is unfairly blamed, it turns out to be a prank, THEN the dummy REALLY comes to life, and so on. There are a few twists - the main character isn't the one blamed for the dummy's activity, and the finale - but nothing really worth mentioning. It's a really disappointing, formulaic, by-the-numbers Goosebumps book. We can only hope that the future installments will improve on it, especially as the recurring plot and characters are introduced.

Follows a woman who spends her time, exorcising demons from people...ends up with a demon herself...and has to ask for help (without letting everyone know she needs it) from a co-worker of sorts, Adam, who has very dark tastes..
Interesting idea, unlike other reviewers I thought the sex/erotic scenes were the best part of the book. The book didn't get interesting till she meets up with Adam..and felt it would have been more interesting if the story had started there, and did more to expand that relationship.. The whole demon possession thing was a little too weak for me..
Had a lot of potential, just fell short of reaching it..
Kim Harrison, Laura K. Hamilton is more interesting..

The concept for this book was highly original and I loved it! I absolutely loved everything about this book. Can't wait for the next.

I had a lot of problems with this book, including the amount of sex, and some of the torture/S&M scenes. There was just too much of it for it to really be a mainstream novel, as S&M lifestyles aren't really mainstream... I don't have a problem with sex most of the time, but I didn't like being less than 20 pages into the book or 40 pages or whatever and hitting a sex scene... I didn't know the character well enough to enjoy reading about her having phone or in-the-car-while-driving sexual encounters. I also didn't like that the main character was attracted to everyone *rolls eyes*. I'm tired of paranormal/dark fantasy books turning into hisem or harem type stories where everyone wants to be with the main character or the main character wants to be with everyone. Way too many are following that trend and too much sex actually gets boring.

SPOILERS

Ok, not counting the sex there was also a huge loop hole in the book's entire plot premise. The main character is posessed by the king of the demon world, right? And he's not powerful enough to posess her.... and yet he's supposed to be too powerful for her or anyone else to exorcise. (I apologise if I spell things incorrectly, I'm not really in the mood to check to make sure I get them right.) Ok, so it seems the main character is stuck with this demon inside her and yet he's supposed to be more powerful than her exorcist powers, which would also imply he could take her over right? Nope. He can't for whatever reason. My OTHER big problem with this is part of the rules for this world: demons are supposed to be able to transfer to another human host after they've already been called onto the Mortal Plain and inhabited someone else. So, why didn't this king of the demons do that... because if he did, the entire story would fall apart? Or does he have to be in control of the host before he can do that? That's another thing the author doesn't explicitly state. Near the end of the book he does transfer to someone else temporarily but moves back in... but at the time he was in control of Morgan because she let him. SO maybe that IS it. I just wish it had been said for sure, because I don't even remember the question being addressed. If he transfers to someone else and takes over, would the other demons even be able to find him? I would think that would make him safe until he could return to the Demon Realm or whatever if that's what he wanted.

Also, if the demons were really wanting to kill him, why did they let Morgan go at all? Why didn't they just burn her to death as soon as they had her as a container for Lugh? I don't understand how someone wanting to kill Lugh would allow any chance for him to live.

Another problem is the main character... I have problems with her because she does some pretty stupid things, doesn't really think things through, and she says a lot of mean things during the course of the novel to people who are trying to help her. Part of this just grates on me as a reader, but I understand that it's part of her blunt truthfulness I guess. I just found most of the characters unlikable.

I don't know exactly what parts I liked, but I liked it enough to not give it a 2... and I did finish the book. I think I liked Lugh. I liked the idea of the demons not being too different from humans, except in psychology.

I thought that this was a great book ~ interesting plot, concept, etc. I was hooked after the first page and flew through it in one day. However, the amount of sex was distracting (I never knew that would be possible). Towards the end, I started skimming over the sex scenes to get back to the story; I felt as if I needed to take a shower after reading this. The jury is still out on whether or not I am going to read the second book or not...

I picked this book up, thinking that I might be lucky to grab a book about the paranormal world and hopefully latch onto a new series. The first 20 pages basically cemented the realization that the author is trying way to hard. Within the first 10-20 pages You are introduced to the main character whos name i have forgotten already, but I do know that she has a tattoo, a celtic tattoo on her back, and its really important because she mentions it alot, The character also likes to dress minimally (read trashy) in low rise sweaters and leather pants, did i mention leather pants? because the author is obsessed with telling the reader about them, I counted the words "leather pants" 8 times in 5 paragraphs. I cannot read a book that is introduced soley on what the character is wearing, and it doesnt get any better than that, you really want to yell at the book and say "I GET IT, YOUR SO SEXY AND DIFFERENT AND ALTERNATIVE LETS MOVE ON SHALL WE?" i moved on allright, put it down and never picked it back up.

I got as far as page 47 and finally had to put this book of rubbish down.

Perhaps Mr Connolly if you watched FOX news you might come up with a better plot. (was there one?)

I liked all of his other books, but this one came across (to me) like he was just filling up pages.

The story of Louis and Angel - finally some background about their upbringings (mostly Louis's) - was good, but it was not in the same category as the rest of Connolly's works. Louis was developed well, but not at the same depth as Charlie Parker (we were spoiled) and Angel still remains a tertiary character. That being said, I think the author has set a very high standard and certain expectations for the "Parker series" - i.e., Charlie Parker's struggles and some supernatural element -that just wasnt present in this book. I would highly recommend, but would do so only if the reader was not expecting the same as a typical Charlie Parker book.

Also, I think the final scene (reversal of the scenes where Louis and Angel rescue Charlie) was a little drawn out and it ended on a soft note. Again, while this was a very good book, it was not the best that I've seen from the author.

I was excited when I heard that John Connolly's next book was going to focus on Louis, the hitman from the Charlie Parker series. He has always been an intriguing and unique sidekick type of character. How many books have a black hitman with an affinity for country music?

"The Reapers" is a tale of vengeance. We see Lewis as a boy growing up in the south. We see him being recruited by a man named Gabriel who is loosely associated with the U.S. government. We see how Louis is manipulated into becoming an assassin. And we see Louis creating enemies in the process.

Some of the enemies have tracked Lewis down and are ready to have their vengeance. As usual, Angel is at Lewis's side quipping and griping the whole way.

Connolly is an amazing writer. In just a few pages of "The Reapers" he is creating characters that we feel like we have met. With just a few paragraphs he has also created a sense of foreboding. "The Reapers" just doesn't quite deliver on the promise that the first 50 pages show.

This is very much a "Louis" novel. There is no supernatural undercurrent running through this book as it does in the Charlie Parker novels. This is probably why it is not as satisfying.

Without the supernatural element this becomes just another mystery full of murder and mayhem. There is nothing to distinguish "The Reapers" from dozens of other books that come out every year.

It is a fun read, but it is not on par with the other Charlie Parker books.

The Reapers is the best book I've read in quite some time. Fast-paced, beautifully written and always interesting, this one takes all of Connolly's characters and puts them in a medly of action and suspense. And this time, instead of being from Charlie Parker's point of view, the book tells the story of his partners in crime, Angel and Louis.

Living in New York, Louis has a dark past. We finally learn why he has become the cold blooded killer that he is today. As his past is revealed, certain figures from it resurface, seeking vengeance. These men, the Reapers, were trained killers that have no remorse whatsoever. Louis used to be one of them. But now that he works solo, without any organisation to tell him what to do, some want to make him pay for what he has done in the past.

Beautifully written as always, Connolly writes this one as a full-on thriller. There is no supernatural this time around, simply high-octane suspense. The narrative presents many characters, all of them interesting, all of them crucial to the plot. I love the way that Connolly presents every character as if he was the lead of the story. Within a few pages, we know the back story of every major and secondary characters, which in turns makes us feel par of the story. It's not simply a kill in the end when someone dies. Some might feel as though these descriptions are too much, filler, but they serve their purpose. Every character becomes known to us which, in turns, makes their eventual doom more striking.

Although the book is short (especially compared to Connolly's other books) this is one of his best. It was great to learn Angel and Louis's past and to see them take the lead for once. The sections of the novel that gives us Louis's past are written in a very cinematic way. But the real pleasure was the last 50 pages or so. The finale is so intense, so well plotted that it left me feeling breathless.

I will endeavour to put my disappointment in this book into words.

In my opinion Anne Rice seems to have no direction to her writing of the New Vampire Chronicles, it is the only conclusion I can make. I kept reading them hoping against hope that after such a long time between the original series and the current one, she just need time to get herself fully immersed in that world again. However, this book just blew that grace period out the water and confirms what I have suspected for a long time; this new series is junk.

I cannot believe I wasted good money on this book; the central character (Quinn Blackwood) is a spineless fop who forns over his grandmother (there was a ridiculously lengthy description of her) and has the really annoying habit of falling in love with anything that moves. His character is not even remotely interesting. The only character that may, I repeat, MAY have saved this plot-starved book was the fact that Lestat made a return. However his character is so completely watered down and absent for most of the book that it really was not worth including him in this tale at all.

The bottom line with this book is that it has little to no direction and what plot it did achieve never paid off in the end, weak new characters, original characters that were completely underused, rambling lengthy descriptions that have no point to them, and a complete waste of my time.

This was the last book I bought in the new Vampire Chronicles; I'll stick to the originals.
Blackwood Farm (The Vampire Chronicles)

This is my first Anne Rice book, so I don't have anything to compare the story with. I bought Interview with the Vampire and tried to read it a couple of times and was having trouble getting into it (although I wil definitely give it another try now). When I bought Blackwood Farm, I didn't realize that it was part of The Vampire Chronicles. The Entertainment Weekly quote on the front about it being a ghost story was what attracted me.

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much. I absolutely fell in love with all the characters and I loved the story Quinn had to tell. I am a huge Stephen King fan, and I read a lot of Alice Hoffman and things of her ilk, as well as any memoir I can get my hands on. Something about this book was just so enjoyable to read. It was very different from my norm, but I am so anxious to read more about Quinn, Mona, and the Mayfair witches, as well as the earlier Vampire books, that I only wish there were more hours in a day to read.

Story: Its a pretty good story. I wish there were more action and fights between the vampires. But its great to see the interaction between Ann Rice's Mayfair witch books and Vampire chronicle books. Its a great addition to the other vampire books. But it doesn't surpass any of the previous books.
Characters: Lestat as always is my favorite vampire character. Its about time that Lestat finds someone who loves him back.
I hope the next Lestat book will have more action and drama in it like vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned books. They were the best of Ann Rice.

Let me start out by saying I am not going to tell the story that Anne wrote for this book. But believe me when I tell you it was ingenious. Anne has a knack for ripples of frission which she incorporates into her stories. One her best examples of this is in here second book "Feast of All Saints." There a young boy wakes up to a man in the bedroom of his first love. Frission is actually an understatemt oh how well Anne conjures this scene.

Anne also has a way to leave purportedly important questions asked of the reader unanswered. This is another knack she has and I am going to post my answer to one of those unanswered questions from her book. That is "why is Tarquin always referred to as little?" Tarquin is puzzled why he is referred to that way by others being that he is seventeen six foot four and growing. He has a hunch why but he doesn't really know. The reader is invited to supply a answer as well.

Anne's favorite Dicken's story in this work is his "The Old Curiosity Shop." The central character in that work is Little Nell. So I believe this gives the reader the answer to Tarquin's question. Well because Anne you been reading about Little Nell. But that is the beauty of this novel. The reader is asked to participate in a character's resolvement of confusion many times.

Anne uses another device in this work posing to the reader the true meaning of egregious. Well she and I do not agree on how she used the word often. She asks us to identify where we find egregiousness in the story. Her characters only get it half right half the time. Remember though Anne is playful in this work and that is why I give this her five stars.

Well done Anne.

This book was very good. Some of my favorite books were written by Anne Rice, but I have been very disappointed with some of her later writing. I was very hesitant to read this book, but I was pleasantly surprised with how hard I found it to put down - I couldn't wait to find out how the various mysteries unfolded. This book reminded me a lot of "Interview with the Vampire" in the style it was written. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because there were a couple of minor things that happened in the book that I didn't feel were fully explained or that didn't make complete sense. Also, as another reviewer pointed out, Quinn did fall "in love" repeatedly, but I'll give him a pass since he was also very young - although it could be a little annoying at times. I will definitely read the next book in this series.

If you've read the first two books in this series, you already know the basics. Tom is the apprentice of The Spook, whose job it is to fight dark creatures. The Spook becomes Tom's mentor through his apprenticeship but Tom realizes The Spook is a very mysterious character, rarely speaking about his past. However it is here where much of the spook's mysteries are revealed. Tom learns that the Spook's past is filled with hardship, sacrifice, and a very complex love, all of this effectively shaping Tom's master into the man he has become, we see how human The Spook really is.

The Thomas Ward Series is well written but not a good choice if you're looking for a few laughs. Everything tends to be pretty dark in these books although they are enjoyable.

Tom, apprentice to the aged and crabby John Gregory, or The Spook as Tom calls him, is charged with rounding up and neutralizing ghasts, ghosts, witches and other monsters that pester the good people of the County. The Spook's standard method for dealing with witches is to seal them in a pit where they exist on worms and bugs for decades at a time. (Wouldn't killing them be kinder? I'm just asking although yes, the plots do thicken when the witches escape and start looking for people to chow down on.)

"The Soul Stealer" features two such witches, sisters, that bring no end of grief to Tom and his master especially since The Spook is in love with one of them: Meg who easily walks through the iron cellar door designed to stop all other evil things. Delaney never explains how she does this but that's just quibbling.

This is an intriguing series and well worth reading for anyone who likes their fairy tales Grim.

Thomas Ward has been the Spook's apprentice for several months now. When the winter starts to roll in, the spook decides it is time to leave his home in Chipenden, to go to his house in Angelazarke. Thomas is forced to leave Alice, a young witch friend, behind in a town on the way to Angelazarke.
The Spook hides many things about his past, Thomas at one point read a personal diary of the Spook's which revealed he was and is in love with a domestic lamia witch, and Thomas gets the pleasure of meeting her in Angelazarke. Yet more secrets come out when Thomas leans about a trouble maker in a town near Angelazarke, a failed apprentice of the Spook's, named Morgan. Morgan, who practices necromancy, wants to raise an ancient and forgotten god of winter, Golgoth. If Golgoth is raised, then the entire county or maybe even more will fall under an eternal winter.
Morgan attacks Tom's recently deceased father, who is in limbo, and tortures him, so Tom will do Morgan's bidding. When the Spook catches Tom attempting to steal an ancient book with the summoning ritual for Golgoth, Tom's actions are stopped. Eventually Morgan captures Tom again and he steals the ritual book. As Morgan begins the ritual in an underground crypt Thomas ponders how he could escape, realizing that he can't. Unannounced to Morgan and Thomas, however, the Spook destroyed to original book and had it remade, with an extremely minute change but important change; he replaced a word in Latin with another. Now, instead of summoning Golgoth outside of a protective ritual circle, Morgan summons Golgoth inside the circle, which ends in Morgan's demise. Now Thomas is sure he is doomed, as the tunnel has collapsed, but soon he finds Meg, the Lamia witch and her feral sister coming to his rescue. With Morgan dead and Golgoth never to be summoned again, the worries of winter are over.
The Spook and Meg have come to an agreement; Meg and her sister are going back to their homeland via ship. This is the wisest choice because up until now the Spook has been feeding Meg some special herb drinks, making her forget who she truly is and what she can do. For the remainder of the winter the Spook and Thomas will continue battling evil on the Angelazarke side of the county.

The spook's last apprentice Tom Ward meets an old failed apprentice of the spook. Unfortunately the failed apprentice has turned to necromancy and is trying to revive an old evil god GOLGOTH. The failed apprentice blackmails Tom by torturing his father's soul and Tom feels helpless until he stands up to Golgoth himself. The feeling of a child's helplessness and the lives people led in pre-modern days come through very strongly. There is somewhat of a slower pace in this book than the others but the fear that Tom feels comes through very strongly. Tom lives in a much harsher world than Harry Potter and he has no wand or broomstick, only his wits ,speed and help from friends help him survive. We learn more of Tom's master the spook in this book and of Tom's mother but it is with a new understanding that soon they will be gone and Tom will be on his own.

i relly liked this book i thought it was very Creative i thought that it was scary i though that the Idea of a Monster huter was gerat, but there were some holes in the story and i thought that was a lack of an overall story though out the series and a lack of character development. and i think that the idea of a monster huter and some of the other ideas that Joseph Delaney has come up with are better ideas then he is a writer, so i think that if J.R.R.Tolkien had the some ideas that Joseph Delaney had his book would have been much better becaues j.r.r Tolkien was a much better writer then Joseph Delaney. so i would definetly say to buy this book.


joshua.

This book really wasn't all that great. The love scenes were stronger than some and that was a plus, but the plot was kind of boring. I found myself more interested in the back story of the female lead than in what was really going on. As far as it being a turn on, it was okay, but I've been more moved by other books, some of which weren't written with that strictly in mind.

I picked up this book on a whim - I've never read anything by this particular author before nor had I ever heard about this title from fellow reader friends. I found it to be a delightful find!

The story line is easy to follow, the romantic scenes were hot and steamy, and it really is a no fuss read. I actually finished this book in one sitting (in flight to family vacation destination) and felt engaged nearly the entire time.

The only little complaint I had with this book was the writers use of the Scottish accent - sometimes it became a little annoying/distracting but nothing that would result in me putting the book down. There is a male/male romance in this story that may not be appealing for all readers, although I thought it was written beautifully and really added to the story.

Overall, great and easy paranormal erotic romance!

WARNING: This book contains EXPLICIT sex scenes that may not be appropriate for more conservative readers.

1314

Darius MacLeod and his brother Demetri were turned by a vampire named Remont. Darius' wife Rose was terrified when she found out. She refused to accept him and ran from him. When she died, Darius blamed himself. For centuries since then, Darius has taken lovers but has never loved again.

London, 1818

Gabrielle Fairmont is being forced to marry Lord Sutherland. He is a cruel and evil man and Gabrielle is desperate to escape her fate. When Daruis and Gabrielle meet at a ball, Daruis is struck by Gabrielle's resemblance to Rose. He is overjoyed that he may have a second chance at love with her. Gabrielle senses a familiarity with Darius as well and is drawn to him. Will she still feel the same when she finds out he is a vampire though? Will she have a chance to? Sutherland has no intention of letting Gabrielle go.

Return To Me is full of excitement, danger, and eroticism. Darius and Gabrielle's relationship is sensual and poignant, as is Demetri and Remont's. Remont and Demetri have a long and tumultuous history but it ultimately develops into something wonderful. The time Darius and Gabriel spent in Darius' bed and Demetri and Remont's heart to heart are very passionate and loving. I love Demetri and Remont, their lives are fascinating and their love is beautiful. Darius and Gabrielle complement each other very well, both in personality and appearance. Return To Me is another shining example of Julia Templeton's wonderful storytelling ability.

Nannette
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

If you're looking from some simple erotica that lacks any sort of complicating depth then this might be the perfect escape for you. If you're looking for a romance with a solid plot, or interesting characters I'd look elsewhere.

Gabrielle Fairmont steps out of a Mary Sue fanfic into this story as a super special, kind, gorgeous damsel in distress that also has super special magic powers and may be the reincarnation of a vampire's tragically deceased wife. Early in the book the author tries to fool us into thinking Gabrielle is a strong, independant figure who shapes her own destiny by plotting an escape from her murderous fiance and learning to survive on her own. This is apparently a fluke on Gabrielle's part, as she spends the rest of the book once vampire hunk Darius rescues her tottering between useless and TSTL (that's 'too stupid to live'). Gabrielle demonstrates the latter element to us perfectly with such brilliant ideas as 'Well I've been having visions of my murderous psycho fiance following me here, and it's daylight so my crew of vampire protectors are all deeply asleep because they burn in the sunlight, but I think now is a wonderful time to go outside the protection of the manor and sit alone in the sunlight on a hill to ponder'. We're supposed to believe this girl survived on her own for any length of time?

The problems with characterization certainly don't end there. Darius, a warrior turned vampire that lost his wife as she was fleeing him, is a flat character. The only thing that stands out about him is that he is 'anatomically impressive' and we are reminded of this repeatedly. Throughout the book the vampires carry a burden of being 'monstrous' except that there isn't really anything remotely monstrous or threatening about them. They feed off their lovers, who retain no memory of being bitten and behave with unfailing civility. Other characters that pass through the story are stereotypical, with good characters portrayed as attractive and 'bad' characters portrayed as being fat, drunk, and anatomically unimpressive. This book carries a naive sense of unerring black and white, so that the characters more resemble caricatures than actual humans.

The relationship between Gabrielle and Darius is virtually nonexistant. They meet, he later saves her, and they start having sex. From then on the book is a constant stream of sex occasionally interrupted by the secondary romance between Darius's vampiric brother and sire. Oh, and there's the whole 'dangerous ex-fiance' matter too, which is both unsuspenseful and largely uninvolved. Gabrielle does have flashes of memories from her past life, but not enough to justify the quick and easy relationship with Darius. The plot here actually had a lot of potential for interesting conflict, but none of it was tapped. There is no conflict or real obstacles for their relationship.

By contrast, the relationship between Remont and Demetri is by far more interesting, but largely overlooked in favor of more Gabrielle/Darius sex scenes. Even this slightly more interesting plot line fails, because we are never given a good reason why Demetri cheats, and the resolution between them is anti-climatic at best.

There are dozens of other complaints I could make, but I've rambled on long enough. To conclude, I found this book to be boring, and uninspired. Don't let the descriptions on the book fool you- this has nothing to do with romance and everything to do with repetative sex.

Often times when I have been absorbed by a story I find it difficult to know where to start. I sit staring at a blank page until I feel confident enough to put down how much the story thrilled and moved me. This was one of those times.

On the battlefield of Bannockburn in 1314, Darius MacLeod lay dying, thinking never to see his beloved Rose or unborn babe when a young man with kind green eyes, approached him. His name was Remont and asked if Darius wanted to live an immortal life, never to age, never to die. Before Darius could answer and about to take his final breath; his brother Demetri made the decision pleading with Remont to change Darius. Several days later when Darius returned home to his pregnant wife Rose, he was a changed man. Several people told Rose they saw Darius receive a mortal blow and wary of his recent behavior she questioned him. Horrified by his confession, Rose ran, falling down stairs killing herself and their unborn child.

Five hundred years later and invited to attend a ball to meet Demetri and Remont, Darius was shocked to meet Lady Gabrielle Wentworth whose resemblance to Rose was astonishing. Feeling as if his heart had sprung to life, he knew he must save Gabrielle from Sutherland. Instinctively knowing in his heart that Gabrielle was the reincarnation of his beloved Rose, he also worried if she would run from him in horror if she discovered what he was.

Gabrielle had been betrayed by her only living relative. Her uncle needing money to pay off his creditors sold her "sight unseen" to the despicable Lord Sutherland, rumored to have murdered four of his previous wives. Gabrielle is a healer with the gift of sight, and knows after marriage, Sutherland will kill her. Meeting Darius, Gabrielle senses a familiarity that she's known Darius, but with her `sight' she also `knows' what he is. During a commotion at the ball, she makes good her escape into the night, but who immediately senses the loss of Darius in whose arms she had felt safe.

*** I was completely absorbed and emotionally drawn in to this exquisitely written and passionate love story. The author held me emotionally captive from beginning to end. Initially showing Darius to be a young man in the prime of life when fate intervened grabbed my heart. He had found his true love with Rose and was awaiting the birth of a child conceived of that love. Though not his decision to be changed, he could never have imagined the tragedy to follow. The authors portrayal of after five hundred years and Darius finally finding the woman he'd never forgotten was portrayed in such a way it brought tears to my eyes.

Characterized as a young woman with special powers, Gabrielle was special from her initial introduction into the story. As serious as the drama of this story was I actually had a chuckle or two when Gabrielle, who kept her powers hidden for the most part, threw a couple of uncomfortable spells towards Sutherland when he was at his most repulsive behavior. My admiration for this autho'rs originality in Gabrielle's ingenuity and resourcefulness after her escape from the ball, in finding shelter and a way to fund her escape out of London was inspired. In another scene, Gabrielle's gift to Darius was so filled with emotion it brought tears to my eyes and is one instance that was truly unforgettable.

Not only was I captivated by the adventure and romance of Gabrielle and Darius, but Remont and Demetri's story also held me spellbound. As the vampire who had turned both Demetri and Darius, Remont came across as truly compassionate and caring and I was rooting for him to find the happiness he deserved after centuries of existence.

In short RETURN TO ME is a remarkable, sensually passionate, well-written and incredible paranormal historical novel that must be read by both paranormal and historical fans alike.

Marilyn Rondeau, RIO - Reviewers International Organization for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com