All Darling Children by Katrina Monroe

Description

All boys grow up, except one.
On the tenth anniversary of her mother's death, fourteen-year-old Madge Darling’s grandmother suffers a heart attack. With the overbearing Grandma Wendy in the hospital, Madge runs away to Chicago, intent on tracking down a woman she believes is actually her mother.
On her way to the Windy City, a boy named Peter Pan lures Madge to Neverland, a magical place where children can remain young forever. While Pan plays puppet master in a twisted game only he understands, Madge discovers the disturbing price of Peter Pan's eternal youth.

 

 

Madge Darling has never been happy living with her grandmother Wendy. She has tried to run away before but is sent back to her grandmother's cold unwelcoming house. She doesn't believe that her mother is dead, and desperately wants to find her. Madge makes her escape one night when she has been left alone with her drunken uncle Michael but is whisked away by Peter Pan with a promise to take her to her mother. Will she find the truth in Neverland? Or is the truth in Grandmother Wendy's diary? Katrina Monroe has envisioned and brought to life a dark and savage Peter Pan that is indeed a far cry from the innocent Disney version. 4 out of 5 stars from me.

 

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Eat the Night by Tim Waggoner

Description

For Joan Lantz, it starts with a dream of a death-cult’s mass suicide in the jungle of Suriname thirty years ago, followed by the discovery of a hidden basement in her new house, where heavy metal music echoes on humid tropical air.

For Kevin Benecke, long-suffering employee of a mysterious organization known simply as Maintenance, it starts with the violent death of his co-worker at the hands of a madman who tells him, The Big Dark is coming for you.

Long-dead cult leader and former rock star Mark Maegarr has returned from beyond the grave, and Joan and Kevin have front-row seats to his apocalyptic comeback. Maegarr’s waited decades to finish what he started, and this time no one will stop him from putting on a killer show designed to hasten the universe’s end.

Rock on.

Joan has suffered a traumatic past, which has left her always longing for a home of her own. Because of that, she is ecstatic when she has the opportunity to purchase a house with her husband Jon even if the circumstances of that opportunity seem suspiciously convenient.
Kevin is an employee of "Maintenance" a company which does not advertise, does not have customers and doesn't want any. These characters who seem to have nothing to do with each other do in fact share a common thread and they are going to meet, in a big way.
This was a creepy read, reminiscent of the classic 80s horror that I so love.
4 out of 5 stars from me.

I received a complimentary copy for review

Gangster Women And the Criminals They Loved by Susan McNicoll

Description

Gangsters of the past never looked far enough into the future to do much planning. They stole sufficient money to get by for a short while and then robbed again. Sometimes they wanted to settle down, but most knew their crimes were going to lead to jail or death and their women knew it too. Life on the run was no picnic, but gangsters' molls chose it over a settled life in suburbia. This book is a history of gangsters' molls and mob queens, and it explains who these women were, where they came from and why they did the things they did.Covers the life stories of Bonnie Parker, Virginia Hill, the glamorous girlfriend of Bugsy Siegel who died mysteriously, Evelyn Frechette, who was charged with harbouring murderous mobster John Dillinger and many others.

 

 

 

Most of us know the story of Bonnie and Clyde, or at least we think we do. This book takes a peek at the lives of other depression era gangsters and the women who loved them. Often merely teenagers when first embarking on a life of crime, and often not living much past their 20s. 

 

"Don't call us Molls, we hate that."

 

You have probably heard of "Baby Face Nelson"

but you may not know of Helen Gillis, the woman who loved him and who when asked why she would leave her children behind with relatives to go on the run with him said she knew he probably didn't have long to live and she "wanted to be with him just as long as I could"

These "Gangster Women" did not lead the glamorous lives that were often portrayed, while on the run from law enforcement, and knowing they were not likely to live happily ever after, or even live to see next week. This was an enlightening look into the lives of the women who were willing to risk everything for these men. It also contains several fascinating photos.

4 out of 5 stars from me.

 

I received a complimentary copy for review.

 

 

 

Five Stories High by K. J. Parker; Sarah Lotz; Robert Shearman ; Tade Thompson; Nina Allan

Description

One house, five hauntings, five chilling stories.

Five Stories High is a collection of five novellas each set in the same house – Irongrove Lodge. This five storey Georgian mansion, once a grand detached property, has now been split into five apartments. This is a building with history, the very bricks and grounds imbued with the pasts of those who have walked these corridors, lived in these rooms.

Five extraordinary writers open the doors, revealing ghosts both past and present in a collection that promises to be as intriguing as it is terrifying.

Featuring novellas by Sarah Lotz, JK Parker, Nina Allan, Robert Shearman and Tade Thompson

‘They didn’t see the house until they were practically on top of it. A single building emerging from the dark. It didn’t look welcoming. But the front door was open. The door was wide open.’

Irongrove Lodge – a building with history; the very bricks and grounds imbued with the stories of those who have walked these corridors, lived in these rooms. These are the tales of an extraordinary house, a place that straddles our world and whatever lies beyond; a place that some are desperate to discover, and others to flee. At one time an asylum, at another a care home, sometimes simply a home.
The residents of Irongrove Lodge will learn that this house will change them, that the stories told here never go away. Of all who enter, only some will leave.
Multi-award-winning editor Jonathan Oliver has brought together five extraordinary writers to open the doors, revealing ghosts both past and present in a collection as intriguing as it is terrifying. Along with a linking narrative, this collection features five novellas by Nina Allan, Tade Thompson, K.J. Parker, Robert Shearman and Sarah Lotz.

This book contains 5 stories linked together in a narrative by Jonathan Oliver

When is a wood louse not just a wood louse? The answer to that is in the first story "Maggots" by Nina Allan.
A happy, family oriented young man, home visiting from college begins to suspect that his aunt is an imposter after she briefly goes missing and then reappears somehow changed. He is the only one who notices this difference. There was a delicious sense of foreboding that permeated this story from start to finish, made even more intense by the fact that I actually cared about this family and was hoping things would turn out well for them. I would give this story 5 stars

"Priest's Hole" by K.J. Parker is a story about a shape shifter who makes his living by becoming other people. It got off to a slow start, and did eventually pick up a bit but it just didn't grab my interest that well. Not to say it was a bad story, it was just not my type.


"Gnaw" by Tade Thompson
Harry and Tara move into the house with their 2 children Adrienne and Corey. The spooky happenings begin almost immediately, and it's not just the children who see and hear things that should not be there. This was one of my favorite stories in the book, again 5 stars from me.

"The Best Story I Can Manage Under The Circumstances" by Robert Shearman
I don't know what to say about this. It was like some kind of bizarro fiction. It begins with a very strange pregnancy and gets more weird from there.

"Skin Deep" By Sarah Lotz
This was a story of accused murderer Malika "the butcher" told from multiple points of view. When Malika and Robin meet they feel an instant connection. It doesn't matter to them  that she is 20 years his senior or that he doesn't have a cent to his name. When they decide to move in together and he wants to live in Irongrove Lodge, Malika buys the apartment to make him happy even though she feels there is something off about it. If only she had trusted her gut!
 This was in my opinion the shining star of  this book, the absolute best saved for last.

I received an advance copy for review.