What the Dark Brings: A Collection of Horrors by Edward Lorn

Follow Edward Lorn out of the light and into the darkest recesses of his mind.

What the Dark Brings is a collection of 19 short stories, beginning with "Literary Sweets", a tender jaunt into Christmastime that proves all is not lost for one jaded gentleman. But by the time you reach the final tale, "Come to Jesus Meeting", the darkness is all encompassing.

Tales of hope, heartache, and horror abound.

Come find What the Dark Brings

***As an added bonus to new fans, Edward Lorn has included his mini-anthology, Three After, complete and uncut, at the end of this collection. A total of 22 tales of terror coming it at over 40,000 words.***


I was pleased but not surprised at how much I enjoyed this collection of stories (and the 3 bonus stories at the end!) This was a perfect October read.  I devoured each and every one. There was not a sour note in the bunch but I would have to say my absolute favorites were "The Monitor" where a kindness is repaid, "The Southbound Triple-Six" about a man who awakens on a train with no memory of how he got there or where he is headed. "Nothing is out There to Get you" where a blind date goes about as badly as you would expect "Up On The Rooftop" Which reminded me very much of a similar incident I saw on the news. "A Purchase Of Titanic Proportions" In which a man regrets his winning bid at an auction. "What The Dark Brings" about a rescue that doesn't quite go as planned. "That Thing About A Picture And A Thousand Words" A woman finds a picture has been slid under her door and as the saying goes the devil is in the details. "Smitten" I want to call it a love story... but I won't go there. In "An Affair To Remember" a man extracts revenge on his cheating wife.. sort of, and last but most definitely not least "World's Greatest Dad" in which a child goes missing while trick or treating with her dad.
5 out of 5 stars from me.

Call Me Daddy by Kelly Stone Gamble

Description

Cass Adams comes from a long line of crazy, and she fears passing that on to her unborn child. Also, she’s run over Roland and Clay’s surprise half brother Britt, landing him in the hospital. With her inner demons coming out to haunt her, she doesn’t know if she should keep the baby.
Clay Adams has his own decisions to make. His half brother shows up to tell him their father, Freddy, is still alive but needs a liver transplant. When Freddy blew out of town thirty-five years ago, secrets were buried. But it’s time for them to be dug up, because only then can Clay hope to lay the past to rest.
Call Me Daddy is a story of family, the secrets they keep, and to what lengths someone would go to protect them.
This sequel to They Call Me Crazy can be read as a standalone novel.


"Kids always think they can handle their parents' secrets at any age. That is, until they hear them"
I think this quote from the book sums it up well.

As stated this book can be read as a stand alone novel, but personally I would recommend that you read "They Call Me Crazy" first. I find it a bit difficult to review without giving away too much of the first book,  I think it is important to have a better understanding of these characters and what they have been through in the first story in order to relate to them in part 2. I enjoyed the sequel but I don't think I would have cared so much for Cass and her ordeal if I had not read the first book and been aware of her past.
This sequel to They Call Me Crazy picks up just about where we left off. Cass and Clay are still together and Cass still goes out to the hill on occasion to talk to dead people.
Things are going fairly well for the happy couple until Cass accidently hits a man with her truck who turns out to be Clay's half brother. It seems Clay's father is not so long lost after all, but has been alive and well and started a whole new life for himself until he wound up needing a liver transplant from so many years of heavy drinking.
When Cass finds out she's going  to have a baby she questions whether or not she would be able to take care of it, and whether or not she should even try. Though there is plenty of reason in this book to question whether or not having a baby with Clay would be a good idea, again I think it is important to the story to have read the first book.

4 out of 5 stars from me.
I received a complimentary copy for review.




 

Meds by Ray Garton

Description
One hot summer day, a man in a business suit running wildly down a busy street attacks a woman and her toddler, neither of whom have ever seen him before.

... As he waits in his pickup truck for his wife to finish shopping, a man decides to take the shotgun off its rack, go inside the mall and open fire on total strangers.

... While waiting to see her doctor, a woman takes a knife from her purse and begins stabbing others in the waiting room.

Something is making people become violent and murderous...something they all have in common. When Eli Dunbar discovers what it is, he becomes afraid, because it’s something he has in common with them–a drug prescribed to him by his psychiatrist. And now Eli is a ticking time bomb.

Do you know all of the risks your prescription drugs might pose? Does your doctor? Or has the manufacturer hidden them from the public in the interest of profits?

Meds...a thriller with deadly side effects.

A compelling tale, and quite relevant in these days of non stop commercial bombardments with drug ads for everything from cholesterol pills to a prescription to thicken your eyelashes. Yes that is a real thing.
So many drugs, so many side effects and risks, and so many warnings of what can happen if you suddenly stop taking your pills, yet millions of people flock to doctors asking for the latest pill they've seen advertising. Drug companies count on this, hence all the ads that tell you to "ask your doctor about (insert name of latest pill) today!"
In "Meds" Ray Garton presents us with a frightening (and not so far fetched) idea of what could happen if people were suddenly unable to refill their prescription for the latest antidepressant and suffered a psychotic break as a result.

Curiosity Quills Presents: Cast No Shadows by various authors

Description
Welcome to the shadowed woods, where the trees breathe with ghosts and the wind whispers of the past.

Twenty-six authors take you through haunted houses and cemeteries with tales that will chill.

Beware the dark, for the spirits await you.

I have always loved ghost stories from the time I was a little girl, so I jumped on the chance to read this anthology.
These tales and their intensity varies. They include ghosts who came back for unfinished business, gentle spirits who want to protect what they love, demonic forces, and even a touching tale of a little girl who never really had a chance to live, until long after she passed away.
There are spooky graveyards, haunted houses, and things that go bump in the night. Some stories are spine tingling others are sorrowful.
Not all are scary, or even meant to be scary but all were worth a read.

4 out of 5 stars from me

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Who We Were Before by Leah Mercer

Description
Zoe knows that it wasn’t really her fault. Of course it wasn’t. But if she’d just grasped harder, run faster, lunged quicker, she might have saved him. And Edward doesn’t really blame her, though his bitter words at the time still haunt her, and he can no more take them back than she can halt the car that killed their son.

Two years on, every day is a tragedy. Edward knows they should take healing steps together, but he’s tired of being shut out. For Zoe, it just seems easier to let grief lead the way.

A weekend in Paris might be their last hope for reconciliation, but mischance sees them separated before they’ve even left Gare du Nord. Lost and alone, Edward and Zoe must try to find their way back to each other—and find their way back to the people they were before. But is that even possible?

This was a heart wrenching read, told in alternating points of view from both Zoe and Edward. The time period moves back and forth between present day when they are on a trip to Paris meant to bring them back together, and the past when they first met, and fell in love. We also learn in these flashbacks how the loss of their child ripped them apart and left them in the precarious state they are currently in. Zoe and Edward thought they were going to be a happily ever after story, but real life got in the way. Fate seemed to put them together, but the loss of their child tore them apart. Each dealt with their grief in their own way, never quite able to come together and share how they truly felt. Edward was left feeling shut out, while Zoe was left feeling Edward blamed her and that he did not grieve as deeply as she. This was a heart breaking story of loss and the dissolution of a marriage, but where there is love, there is still hope.
4 out of 5 stars from me.

I received a complimentary copy for review

The Goblin Crown: Billy Smith and the Goblins, Book 1 by Robert Hewitt Wolfe

Description
Billy Smith is having a rough first day of high school. The new kid at exclusive Francis Drake Prep, Billy embarrasses himself in front of fiery, beautiful Lexi Aquino. He makes an instant enemy in Kurt Novac, the school's surly star quarterback. Then suddenly Billy, Lexi, and Kurt are mysteriously transported to an underworld teeming with goblins, strange animal hybrids, and powerful magic the fact that they're stuck there is probably Billy s fault, too. With help from an unlikely goblin leader named Hop, the teens soon discover that goblins can be both fierce and friendly, with their own rich language, culture, and history a history that foretells of a human arriving to claim the Goblin Crown and lead them to victory against the deadly, invading Hanorians. Could Billy anxious, awkward Billy be the mythical Goblin King? Could saving the goblin race be his destiny and the key to getting him, Lexi, and Kurt back home?

What a fun and action packed story!
Billy Smith has never felt like he belonged. He has always been uncomfortable everywhere he goes. He just doesn't quite fit in. On his first day of high school, with his nerves already on edge, and spying the beautiful Lexi who is a bit of a chatterbox  he accidentally runs afoul of Kurt. When Lexi tries to speak up for him she unintentionally makes things a bit worse. Lexi suffers an injury as they are fleeing, and it is then we find out that Kurt is more bark than bite. In trying to get help for Lexi, Billy transports them to a magical land where Goblins and Humans have been at war, Rabbits are the size of cows and ships fly through the sky powered by giant bats. Some goblins are friendlier than others and not all will welcome these unlikely human heroes.
The target age group for this book is middle school and up, but if you are a kid at heart you too will be enchanted by this captivating tale.

I received an advance copy for review

The Troubles Keeper by Susan May

Description
Bus driver Rory Fine has a gift. He can take troubles from others with merely a touch. On a rain-swept night, he asks his glum passengers to leave their worrisome emotions in his palm. But when he touches one person’s hand everything he knows about trouble keeping is shattered. Somebody aboard hides a deadly and dangerous secret.

What began simply, descends into a perilous battle with a menacing and evil dark thing. Rory now faces a terrible decision: should he reveal his secret gift to Mariana, the passenger he’s come to love but barely knows? The last time that happened, somebody died. But he must find a way because someone is stalking Mariana. Someone who kills in a macabre and sickening way. Someone with abilities more powerful than his own.

Should the killer's plan succeed, it’s not just Mariana at risk, but the very fabric of the world. Rory will need to discover a strength he may not possess. Even then, that might not be enough. For when the Trepan Killer wants you, there’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

Can Rory stop the Trepan Killer before he loses all? To do so, he must face more than the killer. He must face his own harrowing past …

From International best-selling dark thriller author Susan May comes another page-turner to keep readers up way past their bedtime. The Troubles Keeper is a non-stop supernatural thrill ride with memorable characters and a world you won't want to leave.

Rory Fine is a young man with a secret. He discovered when he was just a young boy, that he had the ability to take troubles and lock them away. This ability has been both a gift and a curse. One day he meets Mariana whose "troubles" are unlike anything he has ever experienced. A trouble that is so huge, so evil, it can not possibly be her own, and he can barely contain it. Rory knows that she is in danger but doesn't know from who, or how to help her. When another young woman falls victim to a serial killer Rory begins to suspect that the killer is closer than he thought.
This was a very original, well written thriller with just a hint of romance.
4 out of 5 stars from me.

I received a complimentary copy for review