Monday, January 30, 2012

Peril by Ruby Barnes

Description
Gerard Mayes is in a mess. During a mugging gone wrong, he kills his assailant and becomes the blackmail target of a vicious Romanian crime gang. In a deadly struggle to cast off the gang's net, Ger becomes more entangled. Can he find a way out and save those he loves?


If you're looking for an everyone lives happily ever after tale, keep on looking, you won't find it here. The world seems to be crashing down around Ger in this witty, well written, engaging story. Even though much of Ger's "peril" is due to his own lack of self control I couldn't help but feel sorry for him as he dug himself in deeper and deeper from one bad situation to the next. A very enjoyable read.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Northwoods Deep by Joel Arnold


Description
"Deep in the north woods, two sisters become lost; one stalked by a murderous ex-husband, the other unable to rid herself of the leeches that appear mysteriously on her skin.

All are drawn to an old, dilapidated cabin.

Inside lives an old man with awful urges, accompanied by a Rottweiler possessed by something…unnatural.

But it’s what resides beneath the cabin that they should really be worried about.

Please join award-winning author Joel Arnold on a ride over the river and through the woods straight into terror in his newest novel, Northwoods Deep."

A sister's love, a father's pain, a brother's guilt, a psycho ex husband, a creepy old hermit, and an Indian legend all come together in a story so descriptive and well written that I could almost smell the woods and hear the river.
There are not many books that I assign the overused phrase of "page turner" and it may seem like I'm gearing up to call Northwoods Deep one of them....
Well I'm not. Because for me, this book was more rare than a page turner. I did not devour it in one sitting. This book was savored slowly over several days, even though I did not want to put it down. I forced myself to put it down. To make it last, simply because I don't know when I have enjoyed a book more, and I didn't want it to end. I do know it will probably be a long time before I find another one as good. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from this author.

 

Sunday, January 22, 2012

DRACULAS (A Novel of Terror)

Description
A DYING MAN’S GREATEST TREASURE…

Mortimer Moorecook, retired Wall Street raider, avid collector, is losing his fight against cancer. With weeks to live, a package arrives at the door of his hillside mansion—an artifact he paid millions for…a hominoid skull with elongated teeth, discovered in a farmer’s field in the Romanian countryside. With Shanna, his beautiful research assistant looking on, he sinks the skull’s razor sharp fangs into his neck, and immediately goes into convulsions.

OPENS THE DOOR TO AN ANCIENT EVIL...

A rural hospital. A slow night in the ER. Until Moorecook arrives strapped to a gurney, where he promptly codes and dies.

WHERE DEATH IS JUST THE BEGINNING.

Four well-known horror authors pool their penchants for scares and thrills, and tackle one of the greatest of all legends, with each writer creating a unique character and following them through a vampire outbreak in a secluded hospital.

The goal was simple: write the most intense novel they possibly could.

Which they did.

A Word of Warning:

Within these pages, you will find no black capes, no satin-lined coffins, no brooding heartthrobs who want to talk about your feelings. Forget sunlight and stakes. Throw out your garlic and your crosses. This is the Anti-TWILIGHT.

Finally! These vampires do not glitter in the sunlight or mope around looking depressed.This is not an everyone lives happily ever after story. These are vampires as they were meant to be. Bloodthirsty, vicious, with one thing on their minds, BLOOD and where to get more.

Includes bonus material and short stories. One of which(Cub Scout Gore Feast) was hilarious... in a sick kind of way 


Saturday, January 21, 2012

The Butcher's Boy by Michael Robb Mathias

Description
Thirty-one years ago, Buxly the Butcher went to trial for killing his entire family. Now Janet, a newly divorced nurse, has unknowingly purchased the place where it all took place.

What happens when her eleven year old son and their overprotective Rottweiler learn that the place is haunted by the victims of that grizzly act? Can young Michael fight through the madness and terror to figure out what really happened so long ago? If he does, maybe the tormented souls can be put to rest. If he fails, he just might become one of them. With only the help of his babysitter, a burned out house painter, and his dog, Lucy Fur, Michael is about to try. The problem is, not everyone is who they seem, even the dead.


Not just another ghost story! Very enjoyable from start to finish, and just when I thought I had it all figured out... there came the twist to prove me wrong.
The Butcher's Boy is well written, imaginative, and just plain scary!

Scissors by Ray Garton

Description
Stuart will never forget the horrible thing Dr. Ferguson did to him when he was a boy. The pain, the blood and the snip-snip of those glinting scissors will live in his nightmares for the rest of his life. But now Dr. Ferguson is back and not just in Stuart's dreams. He's very real. He's determined to perform that same horrible procedure on Stuart's young son. And his scissors are nice and sharp



A great read from one of my favorite authors. It kept me guessing from the start. Through much of the book I wasn't sure whether there were supernatural elements at work or whether the main character was sinking into insanity. Very original.


Thursday, January 19, 2012

Full Dark, No Stars -Stephen King

Full Dark, No Stars is a collection of four intense short stories with retribution as the central theme. Released in the fall of 2010 in hardcover and audiobook formats, Full Dark, No Stars is a powerful read featuring some of Stephen's most graphic and merciless content to date



No spoilers from me, and no plot descriptions that you could obtain from the dust jacket anyway. To be direct and to the point, I loved this book. Each and every story had me hooked from the start, and I hated for it to end. I simply didn't want it to be over because it's been a long time since I enjoyed a book this much.

I had given up on Stephen King for a while because of a few disappointing book purchases after his accident.. I even began to wonder if he had somehow, in that accident, lost his ability to tell a story. I see now that he has not. Full Dark No Stars is Stephen King in top form