3 Gates of the Dead (The 3 Gates of the Dead #1) by Jonathan Ryan

Description

Sometimes, the most evil things come from the most holy…

Conflicted with his faith in God and the hypocrisy of the church, Aidan Schaeffer, a young assistant pastor, is in a constant state of spiritual turmoil. When Aidan learns that his ex-fiancée is the first victim in a string of ritualistic killings, he finds himself in the middle of an even deeper fight. Tormented by demonic threats and haunted by spirits, Aidan throws himself into investigating Amanda’s death; all the while supernatural forces have begun to attack the people around him. The more questions he asks, the more he is drawn into the world of a mysterious Anglican priest, a paranormal investigation group and a rogue female detective investigating the murders. As the gruesome rituals escalate, ancient hidden secrets and an evil long buried threaten to rip Aidan’s world apart.

I loved the cover and the creepy atmosphere.

Pastor Aidan Schaeffer has suffered a loss. A loss of his parents, his fiancée and his faith. Not long after his ex fiancée leaves him for another pastor she is brutally murdered in a ritualistic killing.

The killer may be someone very close to Aiden.
I really enjoyed the first half of this book, when whispered disembodied voices and footprints with no visible owner appeared. Towards the middle when it got more into the investigation, theology and biblical quotes it did not hold my interest as well.

 

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Win a kindle copy of Brother by Ania Ahlborn

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Description
"From the bestselling horror author of Within These Walls and The Bird Eater comes a brand-new novel of terror that follows a teenager determined to break from his family’s unconventional—and deeply disturbing—traditions.

Deep in the heart of Appalachia stands a crooked farmhouse miles from any road. The Morrows keep to themselves, and it’s served them well so far. When girls go missing off the side of the highway, the cops don’t knock on their door. Which is a good thing, seeing as to what’s buried in the Morrows’ backyard.

But nineteen-year-old Michael Morrow isn’t like the rest of his family. He doesn’t take pleasure in the screams that echo through the trees. Michael pines for normalcy, and he’s sure that someday he’ll see the world beyond West Virginia. When he meets Alice, a pretty girl working at a record shop in the small nearby town of Dahlia, he’s immediately smitten. For a moment, he nearly forgets about the monster he’s become. But his brother, Rebel, is all too eager to remind Michael of his place…"


The Morrows "don't have much" according to Michael, and when asked what he does he replies that he "catches things."  Yes he sure does. He catches things for his momma. Things that cry and beg for their lives but are shown no mercy. Momma Claudine definitely wears the pants in this deranged psychotic family and if you don't want to be on the wrong end of her knife you'll do what she says.
Big brother Reb has his own ideas of who should be the boss. He also has a murderous plan for revenge that he's been plotting for years and it's all starting to come together. Part of me wished it could end differently, and yet I must acknowledge that the ending was truly perfect.
I would rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

Liberty Street A Novel by Dianne Warren

Description

"A deeply affecting novel about the truths we avoid and the bad choices that come back to haunt us.

While gridlocked in the churchyard of a small Irish town, the traffic frozen in place for the funeral of a young mother and her infant, an unbidden thought comes to Frances Moon. “I lost a baby when I was nineteen.” She is surprised by how easily the long-suppressed memory slips into her consciousness, and by her own voice as she speaks the thought aloud to Ian, her partner of twenty years.
            The next morning, Ian is gone.
            Numbed by this abandonment, Frances sets out for the small town in western Canada where she grew up—and where she began to make so many poor choices. The novel flashes back to Frances as a curious, imaginative, and well-loved little girl who begins to lose herself once forced from her family's idyllic farm and into school. As she withdraws inward, only two people offer comfort: Dooley Sullivan, an older boy, a prankster who is always in trouble, and Silas Chance, a decorated veteran of World War Two, an Indian who works at the local lumberyard, and the Moon family's new tenant. Silas dies violently, the victim of a hit-and-run. And at the site there is evidence the driver stopped but did not help. In such a small town with the usual racial prejudices, the case is never solved. But years later, on the evening of her marriage, Frances knows who the driver was. And possibly, so does Dooley.
            There are no huge miracles in Liberty Street, only small gestures from characters alive on the page with grace and humor. Warren is a born storyteller, a magus who creates flawed but enduring characters who seek a way to redeem their lives. Written with compassion and wry humor, this is a novel to cheer for."

 

 

Out of the blue, middle aged, Frances Mary Moon lets loose a secret that she has kept from her boyfriend for the entire 20 years they have been together. She once had a baby, and that baby died. What's more she once had a husband that she never divorced, and he was not the father of her child.

Through flash backs we relive Frances's childhood with her, and follow her into young womanhood and throughout middle age. How could she just step out of her life and start a new one while pretending the old never existed? Well it may have had a lot to do with her mother, who was all for putting unsavory matters behind you and pretending they never happened.

This was a thought provoking story that often had me wondering what choices I would have made had I been in her place. I was deeply engrossed in these pages from start to finish.

 

I received an advance copy for review

Brother by Ania Ahlborn

Description
"From the bestselling horror author of Within These Walls and The Bird Eater comes a brand-new novel of terror that follows a teenager determined to break from his family’s unconventional—and deeply disturbing—traditions.

Deep in the heart of Appalachia stands a crooked farmhouse miles from any road. The Morrows keep to themselves, and it’s served them well so far. When girls go missing off the side of the highway, the cops don’t knock on their door. Which is a good thing, seeing as to what’s buried in the Morrows’ backyard.

But nineteen-year-old Michael Morrow isn’t like the rest of his family. He doesn’t take pleasure in the screams that echo through the trees. Michael pines for normalcy, and he’s sure that someday he’ll see the world beyond West Virginia. When he meets Alice, a pretty girl working at a record shop in the small nearby town of Dahlia, he’s immediately smitten. For a moment, he nearly forgets about the monster he’s become. But his brother, Rebel, is all too eager to remind Michael of his place…"


The Morrows "don't have much" according to Michael, and when asked what he does he replies that he "catches things."  Yes he sure does. He catches things for his momma. Things that cry and beg for their lives but are shown no mercy. Momma Claudine definitely wears the pants in this deranged psychotic family and if you don't want to be on the wrong end of her knife you'll do what she says.
Big brother Reb has his own ideas of who should be the boss. He also has a murderous plan for revenge that he's been plotting for years and it's all starting to come together. Part of me wished it could end differently, and yet I must acknowledge that the ending was truly perfect.
I would rate it 5 out of 5 stars.