Monday, September 2, 2019

Grim Harvest by Patrick C. Greene

Almost a year has passed since the town of Ember Hollow learned the true meaning of fear. Last Halloween, something foul and insidious turned their annual celebration into a nightmare of blood-soaked visions, resurrections, and death. Now, as the harvest approaches, the locals brace themselves for the holiday’s return—and the rebirth of an evil that knows where they live . . .

A documentary filmmaker turns his lens on a shaken community—and exposes the darkness in his own soul. The survivor of a mass murderer hides a face disfigured by violence—and a mind infected with madness. A girl who lost her family finds cold comfort in a foster home where cruelty and fear are child’s play. And the local reverend begins to lose faith when a sadistic convict is busted out of jail, unleashing a new wave of evil too hideous to imagine . . . and too seductive to resist.





I really enjoyed the first book Red Harvest (Review Here)
so I was excited to get a copy of the sequel.
Maybe my expectations were too high but this was just an OK read for me. It lacked the momentum of the previous book and the story seemed to jump around too much.



About the author
Some dark serendipity plopped a young Patrick Greene in front of a series of ever stranger films-and experiences-in his formative years, leading to a unique viewpoint. His odd interests have led to pursuits in film acting, paranormal investigation, martial arts, quantum physics, bizarre folklore and eastern philosophy. These elements flavor his screenplays and fiction works, often leading to strange and unexpected detours designed to keep viewers and readers on their toes.

Literary influences range from Poe to Clive Barker to John Keel to a certain best selling Bangorian. Suspense, irony, and outrageously surreal circumstances test the characters who populate his work, taking them and the reader on a grandly bizarre journey into the furthest realms of darkness. The uneasy notion that reality itself is not only relative but indeed elastic- is the hallmark of Greene’s writing.

Living in the rural periphery of Asheville North Carolina with his wife,youngest son Gavin and an ever-growing army of cats, Greene still trains in martial arts when he’s not giving birth to demons via his pen and keyboard.


Saturday, August 31, 2019

Cricket Hunters by Jeremy Hepler

Celia (Garcia) Lundy was fifteen in the fall of 1998 when Abby Powell, one of her five friends who called themselves the Cricket Hunters, disappeared without a trace. Cops scoured the central Texas town of Oak Mott searching for Abby. Interviewed everyone. Brought in the Texas Rangers to assist. Three key suspects emerged and were focused on, but no evidence was found. Eventually, the case went cold, and the passage of time buried the truth of Abby Powell’s fate.

Fifteen years later, as the anniversary of Abby’s disappearance approaches, Cel’s life is upended when her husband Parker, also once a Cricket Hunter, goes missing. When bizarre clues surface that point to a link between Parker’s and Abby’s disappearances, Cel is forced to delve back into the past in order to navigate the present. With the help of her abuela, a self-proclaimed bruja, she embarks on a tumultuous journey fraught with confrontation and trickery, spells and spirits, theft and murder, in order to find out what happened to her husband, and why. 



Cricket Hunters takes place on two time lines. It is both a coming of age tale in the late 1990s and a supernatural mystery taking place today.  Back then Cel and Parker were teenaged sweethearts, and part of a close knit group of friends. In the present day the bloom is off the rose and their marriage is quite rocky. After a heated argument with Cel, Parker disappears. Cel doesn't know if it's because of his philandering ways or if it is something to do with an unresolved incident in their past. The interpersonal relationships between the characters in the past and the way it shaped their adult selves is quite realistic and believable. In my opinion this is the author's best work to date and that is saying something considering his previous work is quite good. The ending left me awe struck.
5 out of 5 stars.
I received an advance copy for review.
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About the author

Jeremy Hepler is the Bram Stoker-nominated author of CRICKET HUNTERS, THE BOULEVARD MONSTER, and numerous short stories and nonfiction articles. He received the Texas Panhandle Professional Writer’s Short Story Award in 2014, and his debut novel was a Bram Stoker Award finalist in the Superior Achievement in a First Novel category in 2017. He lives in central Texas with his wife and son and is currently working on his next novel. For more information, you can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, and Amazon.

Friday, August 23, 2019

The Other Side of the Mirror by Lex Jones

Carl Duggan has worked as a Detective in the city for a long time. The kind of long where you’ve seen everything, and seen it twice. With that in mind, it comes as no surprise to him when a pregnant nineteen-year-old girl washes up on the banks of the Styx.
But something about this one is different, and before Carl gets any answers, two more bodies join the pile - a corrupt Judge and a big-shot lawyer.
Carl’s gut tells him there’s a connection. There are the little things, the tiny details that others would ignore.
The bodies keep on coming, then a second case rears its head: three young men with nothing in common except their sexuality, each murdered in their own home.
Gaining little assistance from his fellow officers, Carl goes it alone into the darker regions of the City. Along the way, he makes acquaintances and enemies of the City’s more colorful residents, including the beautiful sister of the first dead girl, a Catholic hit-man dubbed ‘His Holiness’, and a shady casino owner named Dice.
The closer he gets to the truth, the more Carl’s life is put in danger, forcing him to move further and further away from the rule of law. Never once does he suspect that the two cases are so intimately linked, or that the truth could be so close to home.



A stew of seamy characters come to a boil and overflow the pages in this dark and gritty crime thriller.
This is a mesmerizing story in which a hard boiled cop and a religious hit man hold an uneasy alliance.  Carl Duggan is a tough as nails detective who won't think twice about shooting someone if he feels they deserve it but his sharp edges and brutish nature can't always hide the fact that he does have a heart. Greed and poverty can both be motivators for grisly crimes sometimes with more gruesome consequences than intended. Crooked cops, prostitutes and gangs litter the town. I loved these larger than life characters and the action barely left me time to catch my breath.
5 out of 5 stars
I received a complimentary copy for review.

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About the author
Lex Jones was born and raised in Sheffield, north England, in 1985. A keen writer from a young age, he was always fascinated with the supernatural and is obsessed with stories. He loves films, books, theatre, videogames, graphic novels, anything with a good story that captures the imagination. His books tend to have a supernatural (or at least 'unusual') undercurrent, as this moves them away from the more boring aspects of real life.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Date Night by Samantha Hayes

Returning early from a disastrous date night with my husband, I know something is wrong the moment the wheels crunch the gravel drive of our home. Inside, the TV is on and a half-eaten meal waits on the table. My heart stops when I find our little girl is alone in the house and our babysitter, Sasha, is missing…

Days later, when I’m arrested for Sasha’s murder and torn away from my perfect little family, I’ll wish I had told someone about the threatening note I received that morning.

I’ll hate myself for not finding out who the gift hidden inside my husband’s wardrobe was for.

I’ll scream from the rooftops that I’m innocent – but no one will listen.

I will realise I was completely wrong about everything that happened that night…

But will you believe me?



One morning, out of the blue, Libby finds a note on her car that says her husband is having an affair. She debates with herself and a friend over whether or not to confront him. Eventually she decides to ask him about it. His answers or should I say non-answers certainly did not satisfy me or seem to placate Libby. For some reason this leads to their "date night" which oddly for this couple is not a usual occurrence, and is somehow meant to patch things up between them. During their evening out someone is blowing up his phone with texts and calls that he never accepts. Now for me, this is odd behavior and although there should be trust in a marriage there is also such a thing as not burying your head in the sand. Libby does ask who keeps calling but he doesn't tell her and she never actually looks at the phone until after he heads off to the men's room to delete the call history. It's hard for me to imagine any wife letting that happen.
I hate to be the only one who didn't fall madly in love with this book but for me it seemed to be a long and winding road that dragged on a bit longer than necessary. You may enjoy it more than I did if you like lengthy drawn out  reveals.
3 out of 5 stars
I received an advance copy for review.

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