White Fur A Novel by Jardine Libaire

Description

A stunning star-crossed love story set against the glitz and grit of 1980s New York City

When Elise Perez meets Jamey Hyde on a desolate winter afternoon, fate implodes, and neither of their lives will ever be the same. Although they are next-door neighbors in New Haven, they come from different worlds. Elise grew up in a housing project without a father and didn’t graduate from high school; Jamey is a junior at Yale, heir to a private investment bank fortune and beholden to high family expectations. Nevertheless, the attraction is instant, and what starts out as sexual obsession turns into something greater, stranger, and impossible to ignore.

The unlikely couple moves to Manhattan in hopes of forging an adult life together, but Jamey’s family intervenes in desperation, and the consequences of staying together are suddenly severe. And when a night out with old friends takes a shocking turn, Jamey and Elise find themselves fighting not just for their love, but also for their lives.

White Fur follows these indelible characters on their wild race through Newport mansions and downtown NYC nightspots, SoHo bars and WASP-establishment yacht clubs, through bedrooms and hospital rooms, as they explore, love, play, and suffer. Jardine Libaire combines the electricity of Less Than Zero with the timeless intensity of Romeo and Juliet in this searing, gorgeously written novel that perfectly captures the ferocity of young love.

 

I loved that this book starts off with a sneak peek of what is happening near the end. It made it all the more intriguing and I couldn't wait to find out how and why Jamey and Elise had gotten to that point. If the ceiling had fell on my head I doubt I would have been able to stop reading.

This was not your usual love story. It was gritty, raw, almost painful at times. Jamey Hyde was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, where as  Elise Perez grew up where spoons were something people used to cook their drugs on before shooting up. To say they were opposites is an understatement. Jamey has had everything handed to him and Elise has had nothing. When they first meet Jamey is embarrassed for her, and later when he starts dating her (if you could call hiding away for hours at a time having sex "dating") he is embarrassed by her. Yet somehow they are just meant to be.

 

I received an advance copy for review

Penance by Kanae Minato, Philip Gabriel (Translator)

Description

The tense, chilling story of four women haunted by a childhood trauma.

When they were children, Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko were tricked into separating from their friend Emily by a mysterious stranger. Then the unthinkable occurs: Emili is found murdered hours later.

Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko weren't able to accurately describe the stranger's appearance to the police after the Emili's body was discovered. Asako, Emily's mother, curses the surviving girls, vowing that they will pay for her daughter's murder.

Like Confessions, Kanae Minato's award-winning, internationally bestselling debut novel, PENANCE is a dark and voice-driven tale of revenge and psychological trauma that will leave readers breathless.

 

 

Penance. A punishment. Something done to repent a sin. How does someone atone for something that was never their fault?  Five young girls went out to play but only four ever made it home. Those four girls did not witness the murder, but they did see the murderer, and the body, and have to live with the trauma. As if that were not enough, the killer was not caught, and the mother of the victim blamed them. In the course of that single event, the lives of these four girls was forever changed, and affected every aspect of their lives as they grew from happy children to the troubled young women that they were never meant to be. 4 out of 5 stars

 

I received a complimentary copy for review.

 

The Fear by Rae Louise

Description
Fear is all in the mind ...

But Mia’s nightmares become a reality when she and her troubled sister, Jamie, inherit their deceased uncle’s house and experience phenomena that extends way beyond a typical haunting. Only Mia’s infant daughter is aware of the sinister presence of a man that roams freely about the house, but it’s Jamie who has become the subject of the entity’s torment.

No one’s secrets stay buried for long, and the psychological abuse that the family are forced to endure soon turns physical, with the demon’s attachment to Jamie taking on a sexually violent nature. When the evil spreads beyond the boundaries of the house and wreaks chaos in the lives of those closest to Mia, she knows that she must uncover the house’s past, along with the identity of its ghostly inhabitant, in order to sever his hold on anyone who enters.

This was a hair raising haunted house tale.
After a fire, Mia and her younger sister Jaimie move into their deceased Uncle Billy's house along with Mia's young daughter Louisa, and their family dog. Right away the dog starts behaving strangely and Louisa begins to see "The Shadow Man" in her room. At first Mia puts this down to stress from the fire, the move, not seeing her father enough, and grandma having to be put into care due to dementia. Unfortunately for Mia, none of these circumstances are the cause of the evil that is infesting the house. There is something unearthly there, and it knows what you are afraid of and how to use it against you.
4 out of 5 stars from me.

I received a complimentary copy for review

Dark Screams: Volume Six by Brian James Freeman (Editor), Richard Chizmar (Editor)

Description
Stephen King, Lisa Morton, Nell Quinn-Gibney, Norman Prentiss, Joyce Carol Oates, and Tim Curran plunge readers into the dark side in this deeply unsettling short-story collection curated by legendary horror editors Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar.

THE OLD DUDE’S TICKER by Stephen King
Richard Drogan has been spooked ever since he came back from Nam, but he’s no head case, dig? He just knows the old dude needs to die.

THE RICH ARE DIFFERENT by Lisa Morton
Even though she made her name revealing the private lives of the rich and famous, Sara Peck has no idea how deep their secrets really go . . . or the price they’ll pay to get what they desire.

THE MANICURE by Nell Quinn-Gibney
A trip to the nail salon is supposed to be relaxing. But as the demons of the past creep closer with every clip, even the most serene day of pampering can become a nightmare.

THE COMFORTING VOICE by Norman Prentiss
It’s a little strange how baby Lydia can only be soothed by her grandfather’s unnatural voice, ravaged by throat cancer. The weirdest part? What he’s saying is more disturbing than how he says it.

THE SITUATIONS by Joyce Carol Oates
There are certain lessons children must learn, rules they must follow, scars they must bear. No lesson is more important than this: Never question Daddy. Or else.

THE CORPSE KING by Tim Curran
Grave robbers Kierney and Clow keep one step ahead of the law as they ply their ghoulish trade, but there’s no outrunning a far more frightening enemy that hungers for the dead.


For me, the absolute stars of this compilation are "The Rich Are Different" by Lisa Morton in which a writer accepts an invitation to a birthday party from a very wealthy and very different sort of fan.
"The Comforting Voice" by Norman Prentiss offers no comfort at all. In fact it set my teeth on edge and made my skin crawl, in the most delightful ways. Josh and Cheryl are new parents, which under the best of circumstances would be an uncomfortable time to take in a sickly relative. When the new baby has constant fits of inconsolable crying, and the relative is your estranged and abusive father-in-law, it's about as comforting as nails on a chalkboard. This tale had my anxiety levels through the roof and I loved it. These two stories alone are worth more than the cost of admission. 5 stars to both.
"The Corpse King" by Tim Curran is the longest story in this collection. It's a creepy tale of best buddies and grave robbers Kierney and Clow who find that not everything under the ground is lifeless. 4 stars
"The Manicure" by Nell Quinn-Gibney Has me eyeing my nail scissors distrustfully while I consider buying one of those as seen on tv doodads that files them instead. Another solid 4 stars.
"The Situations" by Joyce Carol Oates is one I have read previously in another collection and though I like much of her work this one just didn't quite do it for me then or now. 3 stars
"The Old Dude's Ticker" by Stephen King is a 1970s version of the Tell Tale Heart by Poe. Sometimes the classics are best left alone. It was ok, but not one of King's best efforts. 3 stars.
All in all this is a good collection of sinister stories that are certain to jangle your nerves.

I received an advance copy for review