Horror Books

If you have any curiosity at all about John Winchester, this is a great read! This graphic novel has great illustrations and delves into a little of the enigma that is John Winchester. You also get a little look into the boys(Dean and Sam) upbringing, but this is about Papa John.
Highly recommended for the true Supernatural connaisseur!

The animation is average to good. The origin story stays true to the very beginning of the TV series. Goes further into John Winchesters development as a hunter.

Just finished this TPB, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'm never thrilled by Mignola-esque artwork, but I am betting that it actually served a purpose: to avoid licensing the likenesses of the actors. That aside, the story is quite good with many different creepy monsters/tones/settings. I'm betting that hard core fans of the show will dig it, and I bet you could enjoy it even if you have never watched the show. With so few horror comics out there on a regular basis... it's a nice break from the spandex monotony. Overall, a welcome addition to the SUPERNATURAL canon! Also recommended: Supernatural: Nevermore (Supernatural) (I have yet to read Witches Canyon, but my wife enjoyed it.) Supernatural: Witch's Canyon (Supernatural)

When a licensed comic is published, it usually focuses on a side-story that takes place during the timeline of the actual series. So when it was announced that the "Supernatural" comic would chronicle John Winchester's origins as a demon hunter and be set before the televised series, I was excited to pick up the story.

The writing isn't as good as that of the show, but it's passable. There are some truly horrific moments (the dead bodies floating in the water when John rescues the Hunter) as well as a few over-dramatic moments (the scene between John, the Hunter, and the shape-shifter), though nothing here sticks out as particularly good or particularly bad. It wasn't as good as I expected it to be, and moves quite a bit slower than your average comic, and readers will miss the comedy that is usually present in a supernatural episode. Some may argue that comedy is out of place in the story of a brooding man looking for his wife's killer, but a few light moments could have been mixed in to make this book more akin to the pace and feel of the series it spun-off from.

The art by penciller Matthew Dow Smith is pretty bad. Stylistically, it's similar to Mike Mignola's work in Hellboy, but it's not nearly as good. It feels like the artist copied the weak parts of Mignola's style and left out all the good. Everything is angular, and the characters simply have no eyes--they are just black dots that are supposed to look like the faces are in shadow. I suppose the intent was to give the comic a very dark look, but in the end it just makes everyone look like they are wearing strapless eye-patches. Not to mention, the style prevents the reader from being able to differentiate very much between some of the characters, leading to a slightly confusing read. This comic would have benefited from a more realistic look. Any of the cover artists, especially Dustin Nguyen who provided a stunning cover to #4, would have been better equipped to handle this series. In a licensed comic like "Supernatural," it is essential that the characters be recognizable, and that isn't the case here.

Overall, "Supernatural" fans will like this but not love it. Regular comic readers who haven't seen the show first won't hate it, but they certainly wouldn't come back for a second helping.

5/10

This novel was disturbing on so many levels. It was supposed to have started out with this great couple who had all these wonderful family ideals, until the fifth child came along who was really tough to take (and basically a commentary on society's reaction to such a different child). However, I never saw the couple as having a great marriage. The only testament to any sort of greatness I guess would be their coupled desire to have a lot of children. Simply because their house was constantly filled with free-loaders, didn't imply to me that their family was so great. Perhaps a bit more character development could have set the stage with a "perfect" couple, but as is, that's not really there.

And when the fifth child came along, where was everyone? Not only where the parents willing to throw this child away, but everyone suddenly disappeared right when they could have used some support. This book is a horrible example of family.

The other main thing that bothered me was the parents conclusion toward the end of the book that their fifth child's nature was due to some sort of latent paleolithic genes. They kept referring to how he was a caveman (in all seriousness, this is what they thought). They also equated this cavemanness with not being human (so, in effect, to them, early humans, weren't human at all). They constantly thought of their child as not human.

I thought perhaps this was written before autism was really heard of, but it was written in 1988. This kid seemed to have a classic case of autism and, instead of seeing specialist after specialist to get him help, the parents just succumbed to his tyranny in their home.

I read this in a state of agitation and joy. It gets off to a quick start and has a high level of suspense. For myself, I never felt any compassion for the child. Instead, I identified with the mother and hoped for the death of the little monster from start to finish. What it all means, I can't say. I read it as a parable of a kind. The fifth child is, say, Hitler? Somehow a political reading seemed appropriate. I liked the idea of there being this little monster loose, but no one knows what to do, least of all the polite professionals. Yes, political correctness functions to retard a responsible response to the threat. The professionals, who are so good at naming and classifying, are like Victorian polite society, utterly incapable of talking honestly about the threat before the,m. Little changes. This is very good writing, the sort one finds in all great stories. It is clear and absolutely dead on, every step of the way. In style, I'd compare it to masterpieces like "Of Mice and Men" and "Animal Farm." It is not nearly as sentimental as these two novels, but then again this is by Doris Lessing.

Harriet and David Lovatt are a happy, newly married couple. Unaffected by the swinging 60s, they have strong, old-fashioned family values. A huge beautiful house is bought in the English countryside and, one after the other, four children add to their domestic bliss (I should add that they unashamedly ask, and obtain, a great deal of help by the grandparents throughout the years, which makes the 'bliss' easier to achieve). Anyway, as the years go by the house becomes a jubilation of laughter and hospitality with relatives and friends joining the Lovatts every Christmas, Easter and summer. Harriet becomes pregnant again and their fifth child is born. The new baby proves to be a very difficult and strange one. Defiant from the very beginning, both parents struggle to come to terms with his unusual fierce and hostile character. Harriet is distraught and everybody becomes affected by the presence of the latest addition to the family. But... how to deal with it all?

I found the prose flawless in its utter simplicity, conveying a chilling feeling that nothing should be taken for granted. You just knew something was bound to happen and the fact that there are no chapters in this book made this feeling more perceptible by the minute. Impossible to put down. The transformation of Harriet especially, from happy-mum to concerned-then-desperate-mum is rendered vividly and what's more, a strong affection is conveyed for that strange child yearning to fit in but failing. At least, that is what I felt by reading this book, my first one by Ms. Lessing. Better late than never. I am truly looking forward to the sequel `Ben, In the World'.

The family wanted lots of children until Ben, #5, came along. He was a different child. Read the book to find out how different. The follow up book contines Ben's story. Don't miss it.

A conservative, tradition-bound family; a large house always filled with children and guests and friends and animals; a pleasure-filled, if harried, oasis in the middle of England--this is the setting into which Doris Lessing introduces her monster. Even before Harriet's and David's fifth child, Ben, is born, he shatters the serenity of his mother's life: "this savage thing inside her" causes her extraordinary agony with "its ceaseless battering and striving" in her womb. She drowns herself with tranquilizers, hoping to subdue the restlessness within, but she is ultimately "alone in her ordeal."

During her pregnancy, Harriet conjures images of "pathetic botched creatures," the result of experiments by scientists, and Ben's arrival in the world fulfills this prophecy: he looks like "a troll or a goblin or something." He is an evolutionary "throwback" (or a mutation?), the stuff of horror stories, the result of a genetic mistake and, perhaps, all those sleeping pills. And he is, without a doubt, evil.

Containing a hint of science fiction, Lessing's tale is basically a subdued tale of terror. As an infant, Ben at first makes visitors "puzzled, even anxious; but then came fear, though everyone tried to conceal it." Animals die; children are hurt. Soon, Ben is shut up in his room, an outsider and a prisoner in his own home. Then, friends and relatives stop coming, and the family, too, is isolated. And, eventually, Ben finds his place in the Clockwork Orange underworld of delinquent youth, for whom he serves as both a mascot and a mentor.

Although "The Fifth Child" is the shortest of novels, there are really two stories here: one examining the horrific side of maternity, how a child can test a mother's love beyond its natural limits; the other reminiscent of H. G. Wells's allegorical struggle between the Elois and the Morlocks. Ironically, this second, potent theme isn't one Lessing necessarily intended. In an interview, she claimed that her "what if" story merely posed the question: ''What if you had a child like this, what would you do? My publisher said to me, in a very authoritarian way, 'Of course, this is your vision of England.' I said, 'It hadn't occurred to me.' It hadn't.''

Yet, undeniably, both themes are at work here: what makes one woman's personal calamity doubly powerful is the depiction of the struggle between our inherent primitive nature and our extrinsic civilized artifice. It's hardly hyperbolic to say that this is a minor classic, one that will join the dystopian nightmares of Shelley and Wells and Orwell and Burgess as a model of its kind.

It starts out like an old Anita Blake novel: there's a supernatural serial killer on the lose and it's apparently up to a lonely in-the-closet werewolf named Luna, using only her PI skills and "tough as nails" attitude to bring him in.
But the plot isn't nearly as entertaining as it sounds and it quickly becomes convoluted. And unfortunately, none of the characters make up for it, either. Luna's a total b*tch, (not in a good way), and I found it really hard to believe that she was supposed to be some sort of hotshot homicide detective. Luna basically just bumbles around all day, occasionally bullies people, even tries to make an arrest at one point---with no warrant, gun, or badge, (apparently she'd forgotten she was fired, i guess). I know it's fiction, alternate reality or whatever, and it's not like i wanted to read about Luna doing paper work all day, but a little credibility wouldnt have hurt.
And then there's the grieving "russian" alpha werewolf Dimitri, Luna's love interest; a former pimp turned drug dealer prone to temper tantrums. He spends his days smoking pot while he squats in a filthy abandoned movie theater with the rest of his crew. Also, (spoiler alert!), he's into beastiality. You'd think with all those labels the poor guy would manage to have a personality, right? But he doesn't.
I often found myself contemplaiting the author's picture at the back of the book; is she still in high school or something? It would explain a lot...
I also feel like i should mention that i checked out the sequel, (Pure Blood), from my local library. Thought maybe i'd give it another try, (it's actually the only reason i forced myself to finish this book), but it was just more of the same. So head's up: If you liked this book, you'll love the sequel...

So, I really liked this book. I read it in about a day. For me it was a page turner. The only thing I didnt like was the way they described Dimitri. I imagined him to be dirty and at one time he was a pimp! I am suppose to despise him and then want her to be with him. Sorry, I just cant seem to warm up to a pimp - regardless of whether he is reformed.

Other than that, I really liked the book. It grabed my interest and held it the entire time. I am looking forward to the next book.

This book starts out with the typical urban/para stuff, in a pretty cool world with some fun characters, but it really falls apart at the end. It seems entirely too rushed towards the end, with some plot holes and just complete confusion about what the heck is going on and happened. Nothing really gets resolved, her cousin gets dismissed, she has some 1 page kinky sex with another character who dies and comes back to life with little explanation, and that's pretty much it. The whole climax demon summoning sequence just seems phoned in.

When I decided to purchase this book I expected, well I am not sure what I expected... But it didn't really amaze me.

It was a good read, funny and dark, but it just didn't convince me...
The world-building was one of the best I've read but it felt like the characters weren't 'alive'.
Like their emotions weren't those felt of normal people... And, in my own weird thinking... Werewolves should mate for life... It's one of the characteristics of the natural wolf and I always thought that it would be also in werewolves... Here that isn't the case and even though that is up to the writer... The mourning just wasn't there, when you lose pack, it's like you lose family (at least that is how I see it) the Alpha just didn't convince me of his mourning, and I will just stop here as I already said too much and don't want to spoil the fun.

Luna Wilder is a tough and independent cop who is working a tough city. She is also an Insoli (lone) werewolf. This makes things even harder as she is learning the ins and outs of being a werewolf day by day. Luna has been called into investigate some murders which all seem to be ritualistic in nature. Her investigation is sending Luna into some of the worst parts of her city.

Dmitri Sandovsky is the pack leader of the Redbacks and he is also a serious suspect in the murders. Dmitri makes Luna mad in one way and also sends her wolf sense into overdrive in the total other way. Dmitri has his own reasons for wanting the murderer to be found and its not to help out the law or the irritating Luna.

Luna and Dmitri end up working together as the investigation leads to the demon underworld. A demon has to be called into this world and all paths, and murders, are leading to a magician who is an expert in black magic. Both Luna and Dmitri are reluctant to do anything about the pull their wolves are feeling, however it turns out that it is that trust and blooming belief in the other that pulls them through the night the demon comes to call.

Night Life was the opening story in the world of Nocturne City. I was taken pretty quickly with the trouble, independent and above all gutsy Luna. It seems like she was always on the outside looking in and it didn't change after she became a werewolf. Rather it got worse. Dmitri is a tough alpha of his pack with a chip on his shoulder concerning most things. I was not only intrigued with the world that Nocturne City exists in but also by the circling that Luna and Dmitri do with each other. I will say upfront that Luna and Dmitri do not have their happy ever after yet, however they have started a rough and tumble relationship and I personally can't wait for the next book in the series to come out so I can see just where that relationship goes. This couple will keep me on the hook until the end I have a feeling. Night Life is listed as a dark fantasy and it reminded me of a really well done urban fantasy. If you are looking for a series that is intriguing, fast paced and keeps you up late turning the pages, then you are looking for Night Life.

Jo
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Youngsters eight and younger will love this spooky children's tale about a little old lady who refuses to be afraid of "things" following her through the woods on her way home. "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything" is simple, fun, and excellent for kindergarten and first grade kids to practice their reading skills on. It works even better as a tale read to a child. My daughter loves it when I read this story to her and put emphasis on the noises that each of the old ladies' followers makes. From "Clomp, Clomp" to "Boo, Boo," my daughter giggled her way through this story. There's just enough spookiness to the story to keep kids a tad antsy, but the resolution eventually makes everything okay.

I highly recommend this tale to anybody who has a child eight years of age or younger and stress that this story works best if it's read to the children instead of having them read it. Author Linda Williams has done a nice job of making a lightly spooky tale for youngsters and Megan Lloyd's dark and moody (though somehow amazingly fun) illustrations only add to the tale's atmosphere. It's a fun Halloween tale that works on any night of the year.

We pull this one out in the fall. The story is great for standing up and moving around -- clomp, clomp - wiggle,wiggle - shake, shake - clap, clap - nod, nod... plus, there's a great surprise (which we shout out VIGOROUSLY!) and a happy ending. It's one of our best fall books.

This is one of my all-time favorite children's books. It is an interactive book and I suggest everyone who reads it to a child or group of children get them on their feet and acting it out. Much fun and laughter!

This book is great for the fall season. The writer gives suspence with bravery.

Teacher at day school introduced us to this imaginative book. Both of our children absolutely adore it.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I can't believe this is the end of the book! It has so much potential for a sequel, or maybe even a triology! There were characters to explore, relationships to develop and more demons to vanquish! I loved how briggs was able to develop a relationship between the Reeve and Shamera without concentrating the book on it and how deeply she delved into the world. It amazes me how detailed she could write about this subject because it's so difficult to bring a world to reality out of thin air. However, the explanations did get a big complicated sometimes and I did get lost, but that's my only concern about it. It was a great book and I NEED A SEQUEL! I really hope she considers it!! :D

I am a Kim Harrison and Charlaine Harris fan, who does not usually like fantasy/supernatural fiction involving magic, wizards or mages. However, this book was delightful. This is the second Patricia Briggs book I have read and I truly enjoyed it. It had just the right amount of action, romance, and humor, without going overboard with the sex or violence scenes. She has a great variety of supernatural races and a very likable character in Sham.

Hm, I'm a bit embarrassed. I mean here we have a book which is basically a romance, mixed with some mystery elements and set in a fantasy landscape (you can't get much lighter) and yet I liked it. I liked it so much, I gave it four stars.
The heroine is flashy and sassy, the hero well muscled and and has the famous soft spot under a crusty exterior. Their dialogues are fast paced and witty, the plot flows along nicely and never drags. The world (same as in STEAL THE DRAGON) could have had some potential if it hadn't been neglected so badly (Sham and Kerim need some place to hold their witty dialogues after all). Fortunatelly the novel was revised before being republished in Aug 05, causing a definite improvement of style and story line.
Cliche works, this novel stands prove.

Evil lurks in the halls of the castle, and the Reeve is finally convinced to seek someone with magical powers to find it. Sham turns out to be more then what the Reeve bargins for - masquerading as his mistress, she battles the creature (and the Reeve's mother, who seems infinitely more frightening).

Usually, I dislike overt romance in my sci-fi/fantasy, but Patricia Briggs does an excellent job with this book, making it fun, and interesting, but doesn't read like a bad Harlequin novel set in a fantasy setting.

Definitely "girly" fantasy, but guys with a hidden streak of romance in them, will fall in love with Sham as well.

This is an atypical fantasy novel of spys. The heroine is working for what is technically the enemy. Shamera is a native of Southwood who is asked to spy for the occupational force. Or one faction of it. The current leader of Southwood (Lord Kerrim) is doing his best to improve the conditions for everyone, native and occupier. However, the court in general does not seem to like this idea. There are plenty of options as to who is cursing - and killing - Lord Kerrim. Of course, first Shamera must figure out there is a curse at all.

As with all of the authors books (so far) the emphasis is firmly on character, and the character drives the plot, rather than the other way around. You can watch additudes change and mutate, and conclusions are reached in a seemingly logical fashion.

The world is built from the inside out, so that if you accept the mundane, it is easy then to accept the fantastic, as it ties into what is known.

Reccomended for anyone serching for a little escapism.

I have read much of L.J. Smith's work. Alright all of it. And ALL of her work is very well done, The Secret Circle Trilogy being no exception.

Smith is great at hooking the reader right off the bat with the appearance of a mysterious stranger on a beach. Cassie Blake, the central character, is a shy girl at first and totally relatable and down to earth. The antagonists are really awful, and "hateable". The plotline is in NO way predictable and flows wonderfully, with a constant build and hardly any lull in action. Each character is unique and easily discerned from the others, and their interaction is natural and fun! Cassie blossoms from a shy girl something more through her discovery of the Secret Circle.

Seriously. Read it.

i didnt hesitate to buy since i am a fan of her books. she never dissapoints that's for sure. i loved Cassie's character and she got her emotions perfect. It sucks to be the new kid, she made all the choices (wrog or right) that anyoe in her position would have made. Adam reminded me (in a weird way of a more relaxed Edward from Twilight) but i was confussed if this was a republished book or new entirely. but either way it was awesome. i couldnt help but like Nick, i htink he was my fav boy character, yeah i liked Adam but there's something about Nick that i dunno.....anyway the book is great i would recomend it to anyone who loves a good story with twist. :)

When i went to the book store and saw this i thought it was part of the vampire diaries series, but it wasnt. I loved this book and can't wait for the next one!!!

I began reading L. J. Smith when I was twelve years old, and continued to read and reread her books as I grew older. This edition of the Secret Circle is the same as L. J. Smith's previous editions of the Secret Circle which were released in the mid to late 1990s. Out of all her books though, The Secret Circle trilogy has remained one of my favorite series by far.

In the books Cassie a young girl moving to a new town is in for a surprise when she finds out her mother was raised in a small town run by the families on Cassie's street. Cassie is both welcomed into this fold as a member of the street and excluded from the fold as a half-outsider and finds herself surrounded by a mystery she feels compelled to solve. Throw in some romance, drama, and a tad bit of magical mystery and the series is pretty much explained. A great read and if you enjoy this series check out my other favorite books by L.J. Smith, which include her Dark Visions Trilogy and the Nightworld Series.

I wrote a review for LJ Smith's "Secret Circle" trilogy when I was a teenager--years, even, after I had read it. Now that the books are being re-printed, I decided to write yet another review for the trilogy as an adult. It should say a lot about an author when, 11 years after the very first time I read this trilogy, I am here rating it five stars and continuing to praise it as one of the best paranormal teen series I've ever read.

Cassie Blake is an outsider in the small town of New Salem--after living in California, her mom decides to pick up and move to the town she grew up in. Cassie lives in an old colonial style house on a road that seems to evoke fear in students at New Salem High whenever she mentions where she lives. Cassie soon discovers the reason the townspeople fear the kids living on Crowhaven Road is because they're all witches, bonded together in a private Circle. When Cassie befriends Diana, the Circle's leader, she begins to long for membership into the exclusive club. When one of the circle members turns up dead, Cassie is initiated instead and discovers that not all the members of the circle are as good as Diana. And when she starts falling in love with Diana's boyfriend, she worries that it may destroy not only the circle, but her best friend as well.

"The Initiation" holds a really special place in my library, because it was the first paranormal book I had ever read and is singlehandedly responsible for making me such an avid reader in the first place. Cassie is probably one of my favorite heroines in teen literature, mostly because LJ Smith writes her as sensitive and shy. But at the same time, Cassie isn't very outgoing and isn't the kind of girl who will be particularly noticed in a crowd. She's a deep and thoughtful wallflower who is willing to sacrifice her happiness for the wellbeing of others. But LJ Smith never writes any of these traits as negative or irritating. They just ARE a part of Cassie. Cassie never internally angsts about not being pretty enough or good enough. She is a rational and levelheaded heroine who becomes EXCEPTIONAL to those who become close to her. And in the course of the "Secret Circle", Cassie becomes a leader. But unlike in some series, where this evolution may make the heroine increasingly into a Mary Sue, LJ Smith keeps Cassie grounded in her convictions, in her intelligence, and in strength that is internalized rather than shown off. Even in the writing, its almost easy to overlook Cassie amid the other characters in the circle in the beginning. But she TRANSFORMS in the books, not only for the characters inside the story, but for the reader as well. Until one can see the true strength that was easily overlooked because it wasn't so put out there. And that makes Cassie's character refreshing.

And the other characters? LJ Smith never fails there too. There's Diana, the classic beauty who represents almost the complete opposite of Cassie. She's strong and intelligent and NEVER overlooked. Then Faye, Diana's counterpart, who is sinister and mysterious, dark, and almost feline. The Hendersons, who are energetic and fun, but fiercely loyal. Sean, almost easily forgettable because he's small and shy, but Cassie can't help but think he's important in his own way. Laurel and Melanie, Diana's friends and who are both wise in completely different ways. Suzanne, who always comes off as egotistical and so damn fluffy, like she shouldn't have any amount of insight into anything, but who always ends up stating something that gives her true intelligence away. Nick, cold and sexy, but at the same time hiding a part of him that is immensely vulnerable. Deborah, who admires courage above all and who, out of the group, comes to be the first to admire Cassie's internal strength where she underestimated her before. And then there's Adam, who in many ways is like Cassie: logical, considerate, but at the same time there is a ferocity to his personality as well.

The Circle's characters are a large undertaking for books as short as these. And yet LJ Smith KNOWS her characters. She understands every individual facets of their personalities and manages somehow to put the details into such a small page count. And what she doesn't, the reader just comes to know, because she writes these characters with such insight that I could probably write paragraphs describing each distinct character. Her writing is not particularly elaborate, but she packs SO much into a paragraph--hell, a single sentence--that say much more than what is stated. I've still yet to find a teen writer who can do the same.

I hadn't read anything from Tom Picciirilli before but I will be reading more from this author. I was hooked from the very first chapter and he kept me guessing up to the very end. S.L. Chessor, Authors of Poodlums, Boogeymen and Booglers and My Tongue Fell Out.Poodlums, Boogeymen and Booglers: A Poetry Collection
My Tongue Fell Out

There are two writers extant who can bring me to tears, to real
laughter, and sometimes, to screaming in frustration or anger. One
of them is Tom Piccirilli. When I first picked up The Midnight
Road, I remembered, at once, the very first line of the book from a
little taste given at the back of his last novel, The Dead Letters:
"Flynn remembered the night of his death more clearly than any
other in his life." Wow! And, of course I read through that little
taste and decided Ihad to stay alive for another year or so to
finally read the entire book. Which I have. Twice. Wow!

This is the story of Flynn, a forty year old man who carries enough
grief and pain and regret to fuel an entire city. Everyone he loved
died, but the worst death was that of his brother, thirty years
gone. Flynn still drives the Charger in which is brother and
girlfriend met their ends. He is a deeply flawed, deeply empathetic
man who works for Child Protection Services just to try and ease or
prevent yet more suffering. Too many people think that a guy
working for CPS is a potential pederast, and don't look kindly on
him. In trying to save a child and her naked and scarred autistic brother who was locked in a
cage from their nutsoid gun-toting mom, Flynn gets to die. For
twenty-eight minutes. (not a record!) After that, everything goes
downhill. People start falling dead around him, and the cops think
he's involved. Which he is, but not in the way they think. So he
has to find out what's going on.

Good story. Terrific story, in fact, studded with all kinds of
oddities. Like the ghost dog who died along with Flynn and then
came back to haunt him, still wearing plastic booties and a
sweater. Like Flynn's boss, Sierra, whose face is full of
reconstructive plastic. But the best thing, the very best, is the
writing itself and all those terrible emotions it conjures up.
There is something so very natural, so unforced and lacking
contrivance about Piccarilli's writing that you just fall into it.
You know that this is real: this is how people would think and talk
and act. This is how it would go down in the world off the page.
This is not a writer inventing stuff, this is somebody telling you
how it is. It is that simple, and that amazingly good.

And Piccirilli is really funny. Don't know why more people don't
respond to that outrageous humour which is sometimes very subtle,
sometimes very black, and sometimes absolutely silly. It gives a
wonderful balance to all of the pain and misery which his
characters have to endure.

And this is why his writings can make me cry and laugh and steam
with anger. He has that very rare ability to encite real emotional
response in the reader, to render his characters so very alive
that they walk off the page and into your thoughts. You may finish
the book and put it down, but you will never forget it.

The Midnight Road is the latest novel written by one of America's finest storytellers of dark fiction. As with Piccirilli's other work, the protagonist begins a journey of self discovery, weaving in and out of their own troubled past that somehow connects to a current threat. While the story itself wasn't as gripping as his other book, Headstone City, this one still has the trademarks that Piccirilli fans have come to know and love - flawed, haunted characters caught up in dangerous situations, wrapped in a beautifully detailed world of pain. The only problem I had with the book was the occasional over-analyzing of characters, delving into their psychological motivations throughout the story over and over again. I felt the story wanted to break away with greater speed and energy - and should have - only to be held back sometimes by this technique. That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller and as always, look forward to the next Piccirilli tale.

Piccirilli's latest begins with one of the most memorable sentences he has penned yet, and ends on an even deeper note. Blending modern-day noir, suspense, mystery, and a slick, funny ghost-dog side character (that doesn't take away from the serious tone of the story, but actually adds to it), THE MIDNIGHT ROAD may be the perfect book for your next trip to the beach . . . you'll find it very hard to put this one down. But this isn't your typical "beach" read, as the author's trademark prose and fantastic dialogue puts most other thrillers to shame . . . including everything and anything on the bestseller list. Don't miss it.

First Sentence: Flynn remembered the night of his death more clearly than any other in his life.

Flynn is an investigator for the Suffolk (NY) County Child Protective Services. Responding to a tip, he drives through a snowstorm to the Shepard's Long Island mansion where he finds a young, mentally disabled, man being kept in a cage. In spite of the mother threatening to shot him, and accidentally shooting her husband, Flynn escapes with the young man and his even younger niece. A car chase by the mother, lands Flynn in the frozen harbor, but revived after being "flash frozen" for 28 minutes. However, his new life ends up a nightmare with someone killing the people around him.

From the opening sentence, I found myself embroiled in Flynn's story. Piccirrilli's writing is lyrical, although a bit overblown. He has an excellent ear for dialogue and knows when to use humor to balance the dark a bit. This is a case where the weather becomes an essential element of the story, along with the talking dog. The characters are eclectic and have violent histories. I would have said this might not be my type of book, but, instead, found it a dark, intriguing, haunted and haunting book I couldn't put down.

In the 1980s in Nashville, the Snow White Killer murdered ten women who looked similar with their dark hair and the red lipstick painted haphazardly all over their lips. The serial killer was never caught, but taunted the police with a note claiming mission accomplished. At the time of the murders, preadolescent Taylor Jackson was fascinated by them; she hoped, if the predator was not caught then, to one day have the opportunity to catch the psychopath when she became an adult police detective.

Two decades later, the case remains unsolved, but Taylor knows that was the impetus that turned her to law enforcement. The homicide lieutenant is stunned when the Snow White type murders begin again. She and her fiancé FBI profiler John Baldwin investigate planning to bring the killer, whether he is the original or a copycat, to justice.

The second Taylor Jackson police procedural (see ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS) is a gritty urban serial killing thriller with strong plausible twists. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action as Taylor got her tweener wish as she goes after the deadly effective and efficient psychopath. 14 is a tense and intense thriller throughout.

This is the second book I have read by this author and she gets better and better with every key stroke. If your looking for edge of your seat suspense, police procedures that bring you along for the ride, and a killer that makes you look at your neighbors sideways....this is the one for you. I highly recommend this book as well as All the Pretty Girls.

This book is perfectly paced, full of suspense, and creepy as all get out--I liked it even better than ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS. Ellison proves once again that she not only knows how to keep the reader turning pages, but how to create characters that stay with you long after you've finished reading. Taylor Jackson rocks, plain and simple.

David Golemon's book reminds me of a low budget Hollywood suspense thriller released in the motion picture graveyard of February and staring Vin Diesel or 'The Rock'. It's written on an almost juvenile level with very little depth and contains dialog that is often awkward or downright cheesy.

I'm surprised by the positive reviews, as I found the book to be a shallow cookie cutter story line that might make you wonder if IKEA might have suddenly entered the book publishing business.

The story revolves around the mysterious 'Event Group', which is yet another secretive government agency; as if the CIA, FBI, NSA, and Secret Service weren't enough. But the Event Group is apparently more important than its peers, as is treats the other agencies like red-haired step-children compared to itself.

At times, the book is quite tedious to read, as you are well aware of what is going to happen over the next 25-50 pages, but are forced to endure the vanilla action scenes.

Picture stereotypical action hero running through a barrage of bullets, never failing to escape injury, but taking plenty of bad guys down with him, while his enemies can't seem to hit the broadside of a barn, even though they are 'highly trained' military personnel and hold every possible tactical advantage.

As for the characters, Golemon apparently feels character development equates to giving a character a name, a gender and describing their professional background in science, government and military service; though somewhere in story, I do believe I spotted a token black guy.

As such, you could care less about any of the characters and they are little more than a name and a rank.

The story moves along quickly, but it is a pretty horrid plot. Without spoiling the suspense for you (some sarcasm there), let's just say that it is very convenient that some of the worlds most excavated historical sites suddenly turn up large artifacts the week of this story unfolding.

'Hmmm, who knew this treasure chest had anything useful in it. We should have opened it a long time ago.'

I also found several editing issues throughout the book, but without bogging down this review, I'll let them be. Just be aware that a literature masterpiece, this book is not.

All-in-all, I'd be surprised if Golemon could get better than a 'C' in a college creative writing class and I'm surprised he was ever published.

In summary, this novel is almost 'fan fiction' modeled after any number of existing story lines, and Golemon just changed the names and the setting. Ok, it's not quite that generic, but its close.

Unless you're stuck in a situation where you have to buy a book from a grocery store isle to alleviate your boredom, I'd certainly pass on anything written by Golemon. Even if, there has to be something else available. At the very least, read something else again; you'll get very much the same experience but with better writing.

Legend, the second installment of the Event Group series is in many ways very different than the first book. The first installment is very fast paced, lots of snappy dialog, the action non-stop, and it is one hell of a rollercoaster ride. Also, EVENT scared the bejeezus out of me. The style of writing in book one is just different than this book. Not worse, just not the same. Golemon switches writing gears and pens this book in a more literary style. I thought this one was just a bit long and drawn out but it pays off at the end. The reader must have a bit of patience and give the author their trust. The first half of the book is a slow build, a warm up approach that in my opinion does take too long, Also, there are way too many characters bouncing all over the place too fast like Mexican Jumping Beans. The reader feels like a ping pong ball ricocheting hither and yon, finding it hard to keep track of who is who and what their part was. In book one there is more character development to set up the main key players. You dont see that here. This book falls under the assumption that you already know who they are and why they do what they do. So I dont think you could really read Legend, without reading Event first, or you'd be floundering a bit as to what is going on and why the Group does what they do. But even though this needed a tad bit of editing, and although there were too many characters and one too many side plots, the author does manage to weave this convoluted story into one heck of great story. He pulls all the threads together very nicely so that when you are done, you are happier than you were during the first half of the story. One thing that I thought was better in this installment was that the action scenes were more believable, not so over-the-top James Bond-like. I have to admit on a whole, looking at the big picture, Event was better for me. It was more exciting and had you on the edge of your seat, and as I said earlier, it was much scarier. When reading Event, I could barely breathe. Legend is still excellent, it just holds a steadier pace and maintains about the same level of thrill and intrique from start to finish. I was not scared at all in this book. Golemon is creative, and he is a good writer, one worth watching in the future. The literary writing style in this book was better I think, and the scare factor was better in book one. So I loved them both for different reasons and would highly recommend them both. I just ordered book three and can not wait to dive in. This is fun stuff for sure, a sort of blending of Robert Doherty's Area 51 series and the television show Stargate SG1. Pure entertainment at it's best!

I stumbled across this book by accident. I'd never heard of either the author or the Event Group, yet when I saw his photo in the back, it looked awful familiar.

This is a long story and has lots of twist, turns, characters, and locations. Though some may find it confusing, I had no trouble following along with things except toward the end when everything came together and I had some trouble keeping track of who was who. My biggest problem was his mixing of points of view within scenes. He does plenty of that, yet it wasn't so bad it turned me off. It has all the elements of a good action/adventure/thriller, and even has some icky bugs in it. It is good plot driven, third person thrills, from start to finish. Even the implausible aspects were not enough to turn me off. After all, it's fiction!

I can't say he's just as good, or better than James Rollins, but he still writes an excellent story that kept my attention. Recommended.

What a great second effort from this author. This was an exciting story from start to finish and personally I thought it was better than the frist book Goleman wrote. I am anxiously awaiting the third installment of the Event Group. Very good characters and great story lines. Sometimes these kinds of books get formulaic, but so far Goleman has avoided that pitfall. Way to go!

The book is the worst piece of dog do-do I've ever "tried" to read. I couldn't get through much more than a hundred pages before I wanted to fling it to the moon. One of the biggest problems with the book is that the story leaps from one side of the world to the other, without giving you a chance to find out who is who and how all of it ties together. There are some creatures running amok in Brazilian Amazonia and then there's anthrax in some old boat on the island of Okinawa. There are apparent good guys in Washington; apparent bad guys in Spain. And the characterizations are as limp as a festering dinosaur. The book jacket equated this book with the work of Cussler and Rollins. Wrong! This Golemon writes like a teenager who seen too many movies based on comic books. (Hey, dude, the conquistadors didn't use flintlocks in the early 1500s; they used matchlocks!) I sure wasted my money on this tripe. Anybody need $8.00 worth of toilet paper?