I first got a taste of Billy Young’s writing in October 2008 when I read his book Banshee Angel of Judgement. Having been an avid fan of horror in high school, I still enjoy the occasional read that can send shivers up my spine. Mr. Young has a talent for not falling into horror stereotypes where it’s easy to guess who will die first and who won’t die at all. His writing also appealed to me because he actually concentrates on building a strong plot rather than focusing on the fear factor of the story. His latest book, Bublos, is no different.
Bublos traces the journey of a hidden scroll from t
Having been impressed with Ken McConnell’s first book, Starstrikers, I was more inclined to give his next book, Null_Pointer, a look. But after reading the blurb and the preview, I was immediately impressed with the subject matter and anxious to read it regardless of how much I enjoyed his first work.
With no preview and a descriptive blurb consisting of only two sentences on Lulu, I took a chance on reading and reviewing Stephan Zimmermann and Bill House’s very short published work, The Dogwood Murders. It’s definitely a chance I’m glad I took as this is a very nice short story, and being that is probably it’s only drawback. It’s so good that it’s a shame that it is so short. This could definitely be developed into a nice novella or longer piece of work. I see it working great in a collection of similar short stories, that had I read, this particular story would have definitely stuck out with me.
I will admit that a “romantic mystery” is not my first choice for a book I’d read for review here or for pleasure. But what convinced me to give Kit DeCanti’s book a sincere try was a YouTube video that she posted of herself reading the prologue. Proof that book trailers and author videos on the web do work! Not only does Kit do a good job at it and has a good voice for reading out loud, but I admired the unique and uncommon attention to certain details that might otherwise be overlooked. I was immediately captivated, like a small child in the library who just sat down for storytime.
Cursing the Cougar is two books in one. Which book you like says a lot about you as a reader. The first book is a lushly written coming-of age story that crests and falls on the emotions of the characters. This is the kind of book they don’t write anymore but should, Jane Eyre in blue jeans holding a torque wrench. The second book-within-a-book is a taut psychological thriller complete with deranged bad-guy and brief glimpses into a warped mind. While it would be easy to dismiss Cursing the Cougar as lacking in direction, it’s actually in the intersection of these two tales that we realize that life is LIKE that, sometimes evil visits our slowly simmering lives and turns up the heat.
From the very first word, Death at Disney evoked a strong sense of the 1950’s cop show, Dragnet.
We first met Tiff Banks in review 70 of Along Came a Demon. During the course of the first book, Tiff Banks is established as a person with the ability to talk with ghosts, who are referred to as shades. Tiff used her gift to assist the Clarion Police Department with murder investigations.
If Tim LeHaye and Michael Crichton had ever gotten together to write a book, it would probably end up being something like Anthony Policastro’s Absence of Faith. It’s part medical mystery and part religious thriller all rolled up in a plot of Christianity, Unexplained Phenomenon, New Age Beliefs, and Satanic Occults. It’s a white-knuckle read that would probably drive a Baptist preacher to an early death, and probably have Stephen King saying, “Now why didn’t I think of that?”
I was excited to get my copy of Altered Life, a detective thriller from Keith Dixon. He was nice enough to send me a copy all the way across the pond and I dove into it the same day it arrived. The description on the Lulu page hooked me: ‘Altered Life transplants the attitude and pace of the American private eye story into a contemporary English setting.’
I have been an avid mystery fan for much of my life. I read before going to sleep every night and the books that usually make up that reading material are mysteries of the cozy type. Agatha Christie, P D James, Elizabeth Peters, Ngaio Marsh, Sara Paretsky, Martha Grimes, and the list goes on. When I saw that Linda Welch had requested a review for her psi-fi mystery, Along Came A Demon, I leapt at the chance to read and review it. I was not disappointed.
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