Liar by Rob Roberge

About Liar

An intense memoir about mental illness, memory and storytelling, from an acclaimed novelist.

When Rob Roberge learns that he’s likely to have developed a progressive memory-eroding disease from years of hard living and frequent concussions, he is terrified by the prospect of becoming a walking shadow. In a desperate attempt to preserve his identity, he sets out to (somewhat faithfully) record the most formative moments of his life—ranging from the brutal murder of his childhood girlfriend, to a diagnosis of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, to opening for famed indie band Yo La Tengo at The Fillmore in San Francisco. But the process of trying to remember his past only exposes just how fragile the stories that lay at the heart of our self-conception really are.

As Liar twists and turns through Roberge’s life, it turns the familiar story of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll on its head. Darkly funny and brutally frank, it offers a remarkable portrait of a down and out existence cobbled together across the country, from musicians’ crashpads around Boston, to seedy bars popular with sideshow freaks in Florida, to a painful moment of reckoning in the scorched Wonder Valley desert of California. As Roberge struggles to keep addiction and mental illness from destroying the good life he has built in his better moments, he is forced to acknowledge the increasingly blurred line between the lies we tell others and the lies we tell ourselves.

This book was not at all what I expected from the description. It is unlike any memoir I have ever read, in that it is written in second person. That in itself took some getting used to. Also it reads less like a book and more like a disjointed list of events. It begins in 1977 and then jumps to 1912 and the sinking of the titanic before moving ahead to 2009 and then 2002. It's like dropping a photo album, shuffling the pictures and putting them back in no particular order. It was difficult to follow. That is not to say the events themselves were not book worthy, but the writing style was just not for me.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

About the Author

ROB ROBERGE is the author of four books of fiction, most recently The Cost of Living (2013). He teaches creative writing and his work has been widely anthologized. He also plays guitar and sings with the Los Angeles-based band the Urinals.

The Memory of Us by Camille Di Maio

Description

Julianne Westcott was living the kind of life that other Protestant girls in prewar Liverpool could only dream about: old money, silk ball gowns, and prominent young men lining up to escort her. But when she learns of a blind-and-deaf brother, institutionalized since birth, the illusion of her perfect life and family shatters around her.
While visiting her brother in secret, Julianne meets and befriends Kyle McCarthy, an Irish Catholic groundskeeper studying to become a priest. Caught between her family’s expectations, Kyle’s devotion to the Church, and the intense new feelings that the forbidden courtship has awakened in her, Julianne must make a choice: uphold the life she’s always known or follow the difficult path toward love.
But as war ripples through the world and the Blitz decimates England, a tragic accident forces Julianne to leave everything behind and forge a new life built on lies she’s told to protect the ones she loves. Now, after twenty years of hiding from her past, the truth finds her—will she be brave enough to face it?

Julianne is a beautiful girl from a wealthy family and appears to have it all. However he parents have been keeping a secret from her, and she in turn has kept secrets from them. They are not aware that she has discovered that she is a twin, or that they abandoned her brother to an institution at birth, never to see him again. They are also not aware that she visits her brother at the institution. Nor are they aware that Julianne has met and fallen in love with a young man that they would never approve of.
This was a beautiful work of historical fiction that begins before World War II and spans decades. It is a bittersweet story of a young woman finding the love of her life and the choices she is willing to make for those she loves. I had so much empathy for Julianne that at times I had tears in my eyes. I don't know when a book has last taken me on such an emotional roller coaster. I would rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

I received an advance copy for review

But You Scared Me the Most: And Other Short Stories by John Manderino

Description
This collection of twenty-six dark but often humorous short stories features a pantheon of disturbed and disturbing characters, human and otherwise. Many of the stories are modern takes on classic monsters crafted with twisted plots. For example, “Wolfman and Janice” is about a werewolf  who is doing the best he can under very trying circumstances, especially when confronted with eating his elderly neighbor’s cat. There’s an adolescent vampire-wannabe who is suffering badly: in love for the first time. “Frankenstein and His Mother” is a terrifying story of a grown man who wears a Frankenstein mask and lives with his mother watching TV and eating corn chips all day while being afraid of work.  “Dracula’s Daughter” turns a pretentious hippie into an honest ghost. And Bigfoot—lonely, sexually frustrated—tells all. Other stories feature characters who seem perfectly normal until they're alone. Phil, for instance, is never so happy as when he’s with his inflatable girlfriend Vanessa—until she tells him the devastating truth about himself. Elderly Ellen is running out of patience with her dead husband George, who’s turned prankish. “Bob and Todd” tells the story of a hitchhiking ride gone bad that will have readers squirming in their seats. More than just standard monster stories, the tales in But You Scared Me the Most reveal much more about human nature and will appeal to a wide range of fans of smart, funny short fiction.

This was a quick read, I believe just over 200 pages. I was able to finish it all in one night. It's hard to review each story individually without giving too much away but I will say the description was quite accurate and there is much humor in these odd ball characters. If you like short stories and dark humor I'm sure you will find something enjoyable in these pages. Some are disturbing, others thought provoking, and a few I must admit just didn't make a lot of sense to me. Several were quite good. My favorites were Too Old  To Trick Or Treat Too Young To Die, Otto and the Avenging Angel, Wolfman and Janice, Bigfoot Tells All, Self Portrait With Wine, The Mummy, and A Matter of Character, which was a bit longer than some of the rest.  I would rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

I received an advance copy for review

How To Date Dead Guys (Under The Blood Moon #1) by Ann M. Noser

Description

College sophomore Emma Roberts remembers her mother’s sage advice: “don’t sleep around, don’t burp in public, and don’t tell anyone you see ghosts.” But when cute Mike Carlson drowns in the campus river under her watch, Emma’s sheltered life shatters.

Blamed for Mike’s death and haunted by nightmares, Emma turns to witchcraft and a mysterious Book of Shadows to bring him back. Under a Blood Moon, she lights candles, draws a pentacle on the campus bridge, and casts a spell. The invoked river rages up against her, but she escapes its fury. As she stumbles back to the dorm, a stranger drags himself from the water and follows her home. And he isn’t the only one…

Instead of raising Mike, Emma assists the others she stole back from the dead—a pre-med student who jumped off the bridge, a young man determined to solve his own murder, and a frat boy Emma can’t stand…at first. More comfortable with the dead than the living, Emma delves deeper into the seductive Book of Shadows. Her powers grow, but witchcraft may not be enough to protect her against the vengeful river and the killers that feed it their victims.

Inspired by the controversial Smiley Face Murders, HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS will appeal to the secret powers hidden deep within each of us.

***Note: classified as New Adult due to the college-aged main character, but material is appropriate for those in 10th grade and up.***

Emma is a painfully shy college student, living in the dorms with no real friends. She has acquaintances but nobody that she is really close to. She believes that she is "boring"  or at least as boring as you can be while having the ability to see dead people!
When she blames herself for the death of a boy she has a crush on, she is willing to give her own life to bring him back. Not knowing how to use her new found abilities causes things to go a bit haywire but as it turns out maybe things work out the way they are meant to.
This was a very enjoyable book and I am glad to see it is the first of a series because I will definitely be looking for more! This was part fun, part spooky ghost whisperer type adventure and I loved it. Though it is categorized as young adult I know plenty of 40somethings, myself included who can enjoy a good story without the typical vulgarity and explicit sex that would be found in books geared towards an older audience. 5 out of 5 stars from me.

I received an advance copy for review

Sex in the Museum: My Unlikely Career at New York's Most Provocative Museum by Sarah Forbes

 

 

Sarah Forbes was in graduate school when she stumbled upon a museum dedicated to . . . sex. The anthropology student hesitated when her boyfriend suggested she apply for a job, but apply she did, and it wasn’t long before a part-time position at New York’s MUSEUM OF SEX lead to a gig as the museum's curator. That was over twelve years ago. Now Sarah—a married mother of two—proudly sports her title as Curator of Sex.

In SEX IN THE MUSEUM, Sarah invites readers to travel from suburban garages where men and women build sex machines, to factories that make sex toys, to labyrinthine archives of erotica collectors. Escorting us in to the hidden world of sex, illuminating the never-talked-about communities and eccentricities of our sexual subcultures, and telling her own personal story of a decade at The Museum of Sex, Sarah asks readers to grapple with the same questions she did: when it comes to sex, what is good, bad, deviant, normal? Do such terms even apply? If everyone has sexual secrets, is it possible to really know another person and be known by them? And importantly, in our hyper-sexualized world, is it still possible to fall in love?  

This was a fascinating and enlightening memoir. Well written and highly informative even if you think you know all there is to know I guarantee you will be surprised by at least a few of the facts found in these pages. I grew up in an age where talk shows were more than just celebrity gossip and  tests for paternity, so I was probably 16 the first time I saw a chubby man waddle onto a tv stage to proclaim he was leaving his wife because he found a woman willing to change his diapers and breast feed him. I suppose I am saying that to make it clear that I have not led a sheltered life and I am quite aware that for any repulsive thing you can think of somewhere there is a person who is as turned on by it as you are disgusted by it. Yet I had never heard these rumors about Cleopatra, nor did I know there were animals that participate in necrophilia. I've learned a multitude  of new words such as sploshing and merkin and am now aware of which creature has a penis on it's head!
Aside from the informative and entertaining aspects of the history of sex the author also shares with us a bit of her own life, which was quite interesting as well. Although this is not usually the type of book I reach for I must say it was quite well done. 5 of 5 stars from me.

I received an advance copy for review

The Daughter by AR Simmons

Description

Blue Creek's "golden girl" is gone.

Two days ago, Shara McGregor, the girl whose face adorns the junior college billboard on the highway, headed west to Springfield. A bright future lay ahead. After she completed her undergraduate degree, her mentor, former State Senator Willis Sparkes would pull the right strings to get her into a good law school. Despite her humble origins, the small-town girl seemed destined to be among the "movers and shakers." However, Shara never made it to Springfield.

Yesterday, two counties away, three drunken teenagers found her car hidden in the woods near an abandoned cemetery in the Irish Wilderness area. Having lost the keys to their own car, they "borrowed" it to go home for another key. When a deputy stopped them, he found blood in the car--lots of blood.

Since the girl came from Blue Creek, Hawthorn County has jurisdiction. Deputy Richard Carter begins what he assumes will be a short investigation. After all, this wasn't criminal genius at work--or was it?

The more he learns about the girl, the more Richard becomes emotionally involved. She seems one of his own, one of the "good people." The obsessive-compulsive ex-Marine pours his soul into the investigation, spurred by an irrational fear that something similar could happen to his own seven-year-old daughter Mirabelle someday.

Except for Shara's blood in the car, there is no physical evidence: no murder weapon, no crime scene, no body, and no one with a motive. There are no suspects and no motive. Everyone liked the girl, and she had no history of high-risk behavior. What happened to her shouldn't have. She wasn't that kind of girl.

Don't imagine that everyone in a small town knows everything about everyone else. There are secrets. And there is evil to match anything in the wider world.

If Shara had a secret that cost her life, what was it?
Maybe it was someone else's secret.

If you're looking for a good mystery with lots of twists and turns this is it.
When a pretty and popular teen disappears, leaving behind her abandoned blood soaked car, keys and all it doesn't look like things could possibly end well.
With a cast of characters full of shady pasts and their own agenda thrown into the mix this story will keep you guessing til the end.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill

 Description

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Preview — Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill

  

In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in and no one comes out, and it's been that way for 50 years, until the night a watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and is drawn to investigate. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever. Soon after, a young American woman, Apryl, arrives at Barrington House. She's been left an apartment by her mysterious Great Aunt Lillian who died in strange circumstances. Rumors claim Lillian was mad, but her diary suggests she was implicated in a horrific and inexplicable event decades ago. Determined to learn something of this eccentric woman, Apryl begins to unravel the hidden story of Barrington House. She discovers that a transforming, evil force still inhabits the building, and that the doorway to Apartment 16 is a gateway to something altogether more terrifying.

 

 

This was a good old fashioned horror and I loved it.

It was very atmospheric and descriptive, almost poetic. On the one hand we have Apryl who has arrived alone at Barrington House to clear out her Late Aunt's apartment which has been left to her in the will. People suggest that her aunt was perhaps a little batty but all is not as it seems.

Also at Barrington we have Seth who is experiencing some odd and ghostly occurrences of his own.

This was a very well crafted tale and I would rate it 4 out of 5 sinister stars.

Tell Me A Secret (Tales of the Unexpected #3) by Ann Girdharry

Description

Deceit, lies and hidden secrets…
How well do we know those closest to us?

Jared and Nalini have been married for eighteen months. They enjoy an affluent lifestyle but all is not as it seems. Nalini is a complex character, emotionally fragile and with a troubled past. Jared has his own failings, not least a passion for alluring women.

Their past lives are fast catching up, along with old deceptions and lies. When a stranger comes to stand sentinel outside their house, time is up for Nalini and Jared.

Awarded Readers' Favourite 5 Star Seal.
Tell Me A Secret is about the treachery of human emotions, the impossibility of love and the worst deception of them all. A psychological suspense and a short story of 8000 words. This is the third, stand-alone story in the Tales of the Unexpected, Mystery and Suspense series.

This was a short story and a fun read.
Jared and Nalini are a newlywed couple who have it all, including dark pasts and secrets they have kept from each other. But those secrets don't stay hidden long when he meets Vanessa, the strange woman who stands peering at their window each day. It's hard to say too much without giving it all away but it reminded me a bit of an old movie I saw many years ago called Diabolique.

I received a complimentary copy for review
It is also currently free at amazon so check I out if you are so inclined

How to Grow an Addict by J.A. Wright

Description
Randall Grange has been tricked into admitting herself into a treatment center and she doesn’t know why. She’s not a party hound like the others in her therapy group—but then again, she knows she can’t live without pills or booze. Raised by an abusive father, a detached mother, and a loving aunt and uncle, Randall both loves and hates her life. She’s awkward and a misfit. Her parents introduced her to alcohol and tranquilizers at a young age, ensuring that her teenage years would be full of bad choices, and by the time she’s twenty-three years old, she’s a full-blown drug addict, well acquainted with the miraculous power chemicals have to cure just about any problem she could possibly have—and she’s in more trouble than she’s ever known was possible.

This is my first time reading anything by J.A. Wright, and honestly I'm blown away.
How To Grow An Addict is an expertly crafted realistic look at a dysfunctional family and all it's ugly consequences. It made me laugh one minute and broke my heart the next. Poor Randall grew up with an abusive hard drinking father and a mother who popped pills to calm her nerves. From the time she was old enough to mix a drink she was playing bartender and fetching her mother's pills, and sometimes helping herself to one or 2 so she could calm her own nerves and get some sleep. Almost always made to feel unwelcome in her own home she looked forward to spending time with her Aunt Flo and Uncle Hank, until tragedy took even that small measure of comfort away from her. This was an amazing story. 5 out of 5 stars from me.

I received a complimentary copy for review

The Makings of a Fatherless Child by Chandler Alexander

Description

Chandler Alexander's The Makings of a Fatherless Child is a dark and riveting tale of a young boy, Amel River, growing of age in the Mississippi Delta all while trying to survive a broken home, poverty, fatherlessness, and a voice in his head that won't go away.

With the wisdom of a drunken stranger King Lee, the unspoken love of his best friend Sea’Sea, and the innocent eyes of his two-year-old nephew Javion, Amel embarks on an unknown journey of truth, understanding, and forgiveness, hoping that his journey will lead him to experience his ultimate definition of freedom, a life worth living.

 

 

The Makings of a Fatherless Child by Chandler Alexander
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I struggled over whether or not to leave a review for this book. I have mixed feelings about it. I have issues with much of the narrative and some of the dialogue. First the good...

This is a dark, gritty, brutal story. A coming of age tale in a poverty stricken city. Amel has known nothing but hard times his whole life. His father wants nothing to do with him, his mother is abusive and too wrapped up in herself to care or notice that Amel's clothes stopped fitting him years ago. He has hopes and dreams for a better life but circumstances, poor choices and his own temper conspire against him time and time again, dragging him down into a future that looks more and more bleak. This was a good story that could have been much better if only it had just a bit of polishing up before publication. The author states that they are a writer of "realistic fiction." Now I am sure that is where much of the dialogue fits in. It is raw, gritty and I suppose realistic. I am sure there are people who speak the way the characters in the book do, with mother****** and nigg** peppering every other word. You feel me? Aight? Some may take offense to the vulgarity, obscenities or ghettosims laced through-out but "I'm not even gone go there witcha." That was not what bothered me. However the constant typos and grammatical errors did begin to get on my nerves. Yes it is "realistic" to the way some people speak. But sometimes it seems the author forgot who they were even speaking about. For example seeing a man who had "my arm" around somebody's throat instead of his own arm. Or "I smiled at my little champ standing there crying, looking passed the big not on his head" "I said with a grimmest" "I threw a red brick on his body so there wouldn't be any figure prints" Not to even mention the woman who is wearing her "night grown" or having a "meth addition" I could go on but there is no point. Suffice it to say there are typos, misspellings and/or grammatical errors on every page.

At this point I actually reached out to the publisher to ask if these had been corrected. I did not get a response so today I went to amazon and downloaded the sample of the kindle edition which is currently for sale, and am sad to say that no these have not been corrected. I probably would have rated it 4 stars if corrections had been made even though some of the "realistic" parts are pretty outlandish.

If you can overlook this, it is a book worth reading.


I received a complimentary copy for review.

Night Show by Richard Laymon

Description

When the horror becomes real.

Dani Larson is the queen of horror movie special effects. Grisly murders and mutilated corpses are all in a day’s work for her. Nothing frightens her—not even watching herself torn to pieces on the screen. But now the gore is real, and Dani is terrified. She’s being stalked by the Chill Master, a psychopath who wants to be Dani’s apprentice, her lover, and eventually…her replacement. Can Dani find a way to survive? Or will this real-life horror movie scare Dani to death?

 

 

This was a quick and creepy read.

One night a disturbed youth who gets off on scaring people decides it would be great fun to lock a girl in the local "haunted" house as a prank. Something goes wrong and now this girl is out for revenge.

Meanwhile this disturbed young man has moved on to stalking Dani, a horror movie special effects expert. He insinuates himself into her life with dire consequences.

A fun and suspenseful read.

I received an advance copy for review.

A Dark Assortment by Mikey Campling

Description

Don't be afraid. They're just stories, aren't they? Sometimes that noise you can hear upstairs is just the old floorboards creaking as they settle down for the night. Sometimes. But there's no need to worry because, that face you saw at the window was just a reflection. There's no one else here. You're alone. But that's OK because you're safe in your bed. And all those things you fear deep down in the dark reaches of your soul... well, they only happen in stories, don't they? A Dark Assortment is a collection of seventeen stories; a chocolate box of handmade treats. But beware - beneath each richly decorated shell, there's a seed of delicious darkness. These stories with a twist are perfect for fans of Edgar Allan Poe, and if you enjoy books like Ray Bradbury's "Illustrated Man" and Roald Dahl's "Skin" then we'll get along just fine. Oh - before I go, I'll wish you all Sweet Dreams.

This was a quick read. I do love short stories but I am not a big fan of "flash fiction" and at barely over a page long several of these would fall into that category. I'm not even going to pretend that I understood the stories that were that short. However if you like flash fiction this may be the book for you. There were a few gems mixed in with the bunch, that were longer and that I did find enjoyable. Among those were "Listen" which is a modern version of the Tell Tale Heart, "Focus" about a blogger who is too wrapped up in himself to notice life passing him by, and "Christmas Comes But Once, about a man who has lost the holiday spirit but may have found himself. Or at least that is my interpretation.  I could very well be wrong. If you read it let me know what you think.
I received a complimentary copy for review.

The Devil's Serenade by Catherine Cavendish

Description
Maddie had forgotten that cursed summer. Now she’s about to remember…“Madeleine Chambers of Hargest House” has a certain grandeur to it. But as Maddie enters the Gothic mansion she inherited from her aunt, she wonders if its walls remember what she’s blocked out of the summer she turned sixteen. She’s barely settled in before a series of bizarre events drive her to question her sanity. Aunt Charlotte’s favorite song shouldn’t echo down the halls. The roots of a faraway willow shouldn’t reach into the cellar. And there definitely shouldn’t be a child skipping from room to room. As the barriers in her mind begin to crumble, Maddie recalls the long-ago summer she looked into the face of evil. Now, she faces something worse. The mansion’s long-dead builder, who has unfinished business—and a demon that hungers for her very soul.


As a young lonely child Maddie looked forward to her time spent at Aunt Charlotte's house. Maddie is an only child but her imagination creates the siblings she wishes she had. She is often scolded for talking to herself, but at Aunt Maddie's house she is free to chatter away to her imaginary brother and sisters while her parents are off on Safari. Now that Maddie is a grown woman and has inherited her Aunt's house she struggles to remember what happened the summer she turned 16 and why she never visited Charlotte again. Strange things are seen and heard in the house and rumors abound concerning Aunt Charlotte and the previous owner. Maddie begins to wonder if she is losing her mind or if something more sinister is at work. I would rate it 4 out of 5 spooky stars.

I received an advance copy for review

Can You Keep A Secret by R.L. Stine

Description
R.L. Stine has built his legacy on scaring children and teenagers. Now he's back with another spine-tingling tale of horror in this new Fear Street book about temptation, betrayal, and fear.

Eddie and Emma are high school sweethearts from the wrong side of the tracks. Looking for an escape their dreary lives, they embark on an overnight camping trip in the Fear Street Woods with four friends. As Eddie is carving a heart into a tree, he and Emma discover a bag hidden in the trunk. A bag filled with hundred-dollar bills. Thousands of them. Should they take it? Should they leave the money there? The six teens agree to leave the bag where it is until it's safe to use it. But when tragedy strikes Emma's family, the temptation to skim some money off of the top becomes impossible to fight. There's only one problem. When Emma returns to the woods, the bag of money is gone, and with it, the trust of six friends with a big secret.

Packed with tension and sure to illicit shivers in its readers, this new Fear Street book is another terrifying tale from a master of horror.

Emma is a typical teen aside from the strange dreams she’s been having about wolves. She thinks they might be caused by something that happened when she and her sister Sophie visited their aunt as very young children and she was bitten by a dog. However neither she nor Sophie can really remember the dog bite and there is no scar. Strangely enough there have been some wolf attacks in town. One night Emma sneaks off with her boyfriend and some of their friends for a camp out in the woods. When they find a brief case full of money stashed in a tree greed and distrust among the friends may become a problem. Meanwhile there is more then one secret going on that needs to be kept.. or discovered. This was a fun read although a little less on the spooky side than some of the others by R.L. Stine
I received an advance copy for review

Return to Deathlehem: An Anthology of Holiday Horrors for Charity

Description

Slay bells ring,
Kids are screaming,
In the lane, snow is blood stained.
There's nowhere to hide,
Krampus has arrived,
There'll be feasting in a winter slaughter land…

Welcome Back
to
Deathlehem

… where the office Secret Santa proves more dangerous than a game of Russian roulette…
… where trips to Grandma’s house are fraught with danger…
… where a traditional Nutcracker poses a threat to a pair of would-be thieves…
… where ghosts of Christmases past haunt and take vengeance against the living…
… and many more!

Twenty-three tales of holiday horror that benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

I love a good Anthology and the only thing I love more than short horror stories with a Halloween theme is short horror stories with a Christmas theme. I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite from these creepy little gems but I suppose I am partial to Krampus stories and would have to say I loved those. I think this volume was even better than last year's.

Authors include JP Behrens, Steven Bigwood, Rose Blackthorn, Chantal Boudreau, Kevin G. Bufton
Alyn Day, Nicole DeGennaro , David J. Delaney, Gerard Griffin
Vicky MacDonald Harris Susan Jay Geoffrey K. Liu  Kerry G.S. Lipp  Steph Minns, Christopher M. Morgan, Mark Parker, Jordan Phelps, Mike Pieloor, Joel Reeves, Michael Shayne, Philip Thorogood
DJ Tyrer, Jay Wilburn

Cold Hollow (Cold Hollow Mysteries Book 1) by Emilie J. Howard

Description
The Barner family relocates to Cold Hollow, a quaint town nestled in a Vermont mountain range. They find it to be quite charming and the inhabitants endearing, except for a few residents. Odd laws are enforced, confrontations begin, and insanity reigns as a madman sits upon his imaginary throne, trying to keep the threads of his dream from unraveling. Will Sophia and Angus Barner be able to protect their children from the malevolence that lurks within the small township? This is the story of Cold Hollow, a place you’ll never want to visit.



The Barner family is relocating to a lovely home in  Cold Hollow, which from all outward appearances is a perfect little town. So what if certain residents like to dig a hole in the dirt to nap in or slap their wives upside the head to show appreciation for preparing their favorite meal. It's really not that big of a deal if you have no cell phone reception and have to leave town if you need to make a long distance call is it? Well... provided you are able to get out. What might be a problem however, is what happens if you don't show up to town hall on time to collect your monthly bill or if you can't pay your "living fee." I have to say I LOVE books about strange little towns with bizarre inhabitants so this was right up my alley.  I was enthralled from the first sentence and thrilled to see that there is a part 2 (Weaving The Web: A Cold Hollow Mystery (Cold Hollow Mysteries Book 2)                  

I received a complimentary copy for review                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

The Blood On My Hands by Shannon O'Leary

Description
Set in 1960s and '70s Australia, "The Blood on My Hands" is the dramatic tale of Shannon O'Leary's childhood years. O'Leary grew up under the shadow of horrific domestic violence, sexual and physical abuse, and serial murder. Her story is one of courageous resilience in the face of unimaginable horrors.

The responses of those whom O'Leary and her immediate family reach out to for help are almost as disturbing as the crimes of her violent father. Relatives are afraid to bring disgrace to the family's good name, nuns condemn the child's objections as disobedience and noncompliance, and laws at the time prevent the police from interfering unless someone is killed.

"The Blood on My Hands" is a heartbreaking-yet riveting-narrative of a childhood spent in pain and terror, betrayed by the people who are supposed to provide safety and understanding, and the strength and courage it takes, not just to survive and escape, but to flourish and thrive.

I don't know that I have ever read of such a horrific case of abuse that didn't end in death. I had to constantly remind myself to calm down, this is a first person account so the author did survive. Words spoken to Shannon by her mother are what truly defines this story.
"Go down the road until you come to a telephone box, and ring the police if your father kills me." Words spoken by a mother who never knew from one day to the next if she and her children would survive the madman she married.
I received an advance copy for review

Old Flames by Jack Ketchum

Description
When her lover betrays her and dumps her coldly, Dora’s mind begins to crack. She tracks down her old high school love to recapture what she might have had. He’s married with a family, but Dora isn’t about to let that stop her…

This novel contains graphic content and is recommended for regular readers of horror novels.


This book contains 2  novellas.
In the first "Old Flames" a psycho woman hires a detective to track down her old boyfriend and then proceeds to insinuate herself into his and his families lives.

In the second, "Right To Life"

A woman is abducted on her way into a clinic where she intends to terminate an unplanned pregnancy.
This was definitely the more graphic and horrific of the 2 stories, full of depravity and torture as Jack Ketchum fans have probably come to expect.

With No Regrets by Julie N. Ford

                                               

Description

Living With No Regrets Is Harder Than It Seems
Finley isn’t exactly sure when her life began to feel unfamiliar. She suspects the transformation started long before she caught her husband and fellow garden club member doing the white-trash-two-step on her new Bernhardt sofa. Now free from the shackles of a loveless marriage, and with her children off to college, she’s finally able to go searching for the missing pieces of her heart.

Finley’s best friend, Cathyanne, is already working hard to ensure that Finley finds true love this time around. But when Finley is unwittingly tossed into the arms of two men—their sexy trainer and her neighbor, a popular country star—Cathyanne fears finding the right guy will be more complicated than she ever could have imagined.

For Finley, building a new life feels as impossible as flying a paper airplane to the moon. But maybe, just maybe, with the right help, she will find her whole heart—even if it’s in the very last place she thinks to look.

This was a bitter sweet story that I read over Valentine's day. It reminded me a bit of the movie How Stella Got her Groove Back and I guess it's because Finley needed to get her groove back too. Finley had been stuck in a stagnant marriage for quite some time. Finally catching her husband cheating on her was the push she needed to end things. She probably would have just stayed in the marriage and spent her life unhappy if not for that.
Her best friend seems to be in a rush to get her into another relationship, but she has another motive for wanting to make sure that Finley has someone in her life to lean on.
I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

I received an advance copy for review

I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb

Description
With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal—this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world


This is mainly the story of twin brothers, one who is in and out of institutions due to mental illness, and one who feels he must always look after him and protect him as best he can.
I very much enjoyed the first part of the book which kind of bounced back and forth between the here and now, and flash backs to when the boys were growing up with an abusive step father and a mom who was basically afraid of her own shadow, Towards the middle and into the last half when much of the book was taken over by memoirs written by the long dead grandfather my enjoyment began to wane a bit. I also would have liked less psycho babble from the drawn out visits with the psychiatrist who was constantly asking for things (Americanisms ) to be explained. Although some of the secrets revealed in the grandfather's memoirs were pertinent to the story, I really feel this story could have been better told in 700 or so pages instead of needlessly dragged out into 900.
I would rate it 4 of 5 stars.

Dastardly Bastard by Edward Lorn

Description

When war photographer Mark Simmons is sent to do a promo on Waverly Chasm, he assumes it’s a puff piece, a waste of his talents.

Widow Marsha Lake brings her son, Lyle, to help him heal after his father’s death.

Donald Adams, aka H.R. Chatmon, joins the tour to get away from a sticky situation.

Justine McCarthy consents to the hike to placate her boyfriend, Trevor.

For Jaleel Warner, the tour guide, walking the chasm is just part of his job.

Each of these people must face their darkest memories in order to discover and defeat the secret buried in Waverly Chasm.

Dastardly Bastard by Edward Lorn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure what to expect from the description but having read and enjoyed another book by the author (Life After Dane) I decided to give it a chance.
With an eclectic cast of quirky characters it really held my attention right from the start. I love horror with a dose of humor thrown in and that is exactly what this book delivers.
There are some strange and spooky happenings before Justine and Trevor even arrive to tour Waverly Chasm, and Mark had a humorous time getting there. The adventures of this plus sized reporter had just while renting a car had me laughing one minute and gave me goose bumps the next.

I received a complimentary copy for review

When I'm Gone by Emily Bleeker

Description

Dear Luke,
First let me say—I love you…I didn’t want to leave you…
Luke Richardson has returned home after burying Natalie, his beloved wife of sixteen years, ready to face the hard job of raising their three children alone. But there’s something he’s not prepared for—a blue envelope with his name scrawled across the front in Natalie’s handwriting, waiting for him on the floor of their suburban Michigan home.
The letter inside, written on the first day of Natalie’s cancer treatment a year ago, turns out to be the first of many. Luke is convinced they’re genuine, but who is delivering them? As his obsession with the letters grows, Luke uncovers long-buried secrets that make him question everything he knew about his wife and their family. But the revelations also point the way toward a future where love goes on—in written words, in memories, and in the promises it’s never too late to keep.


I was in the mood for a good cry when I picked up this book, but what sounded like another Tear-Jerker was surprisingly much more.  When Luke is left to raise his children alone after the untimely death of his wife he is totally lost without her. Suddenly letters begin to mysteriously appear written by his wife before her death, but who is sending them? Her best friend claims no knowledge of them but she is keeping secrets too. Luke begins to suspect his wife had secrets from him and what he uncovers is not at all what I was expecting. There are lots of twists and turns in this well told tale.

I received an advance copy for review

A Note From the Publisher

Emily Bleeker is a former educator who learned to love writing while teaching her students’ writer’s workshop. After surviving a battle with a rare form of cancer, she finally found the courage to share her stories, starting with her debut novel, Wreckage. A fully recovered “secret writer,” Emily now spends her days wrangling four kids while planning out plotlines and writing about the people in her head. She currently lives with her family in suburban Chicago.

Castles in the Air by Alison Ripley Cubitt

Description

An eight-year-old child witnesses her mother's secret and knows that from that moment life will never be the same.

After Molly, her mother dies, Alison uses her legacy to make a film about Molly's relationship with a man she had known since she was a teenager. What hold did this man have over her mother? And what other secrets was her mother hiding?

Castles in the Air follows the life of Molly Ripley through the eyes of her daughter Alison. From Molly’s childhood in colonial Hong Kong and Malaya; wartime adventures as a rookie office girl in the far east outpost of Bletchley Park then as a young nurse in the city; tangled romance and marriage… to her challenging middle-age when demons from the past seem set to overwhelm her.

The writer in Alison can't stop until she reveals the story of Molly's past. But as a daughter, does she have the courage to face up to the uncomfortable truths of Molly's seemingly ordinary life?

As she unravels the private self that Molly kept secret, Alison realizes that she is trying to find herself through her mother's story. By trying to make sense of the past, can she move on with her future?

Honest yet unsentimental and told with abundant love and compassion, this is a profoundly moving portrait of a woman’s life, hopes and dreams. We learn not only about Molly, but about mothers and daughters, secrets and love. A story for readers struggling to come to terms with the trauma of losing loved ones. 

 

 The description intrigued me. I love both fiction and non fiction from this time period so I read through this memoir in a single night.  After a young girl witnesses what was meant to be a private moment she begins to question how much she really knows about her mother Molly.
The story of Molly's life is told partly through letters and diaries, and a ship's log type journal. It was a bit disjointed at times but worth a read.

 

I received a complimentary copy for review.

The Picture Frame by Iain Rob Wright

 

Description
An SG Horror Release
--Latest Novel by bestselling horror and suspense author, Iain Rob Wright
--Includes 2 bonus short stories by UK author, Matt Shaw

SOMETIMES THE PAST IS DEADLY
Blake Price is the most celebrated mystery writer since Agatha Christie, but violent tragedy has yanked him from his life and sent him retreating to a secluded cottage in the countryside, dragging his family with him.

Trying to connect with his spirited ten-year old son and despondent wife is difficult, but Blake tries to hold the strands of his life together as best he can. But that becomes impossible when an old picture frame finds its way into his life. A picture frame that curses anybody unlucky enough to have their picture placed inside of it. Unfortunately, Blake’s wife thinks the frame is just perfect for a family photo...

THE PICTURE FRAME
SOME MEMORIES SHOULD STAY BURIED…

Blake and his wife have had some rocky times but are doing their best to raise their young son and forget the past in a rural cottage in the country.
One day While Blake and Ricky are having some father son time together they find an old picture frame buried on the property. Ricky wants to keep it and soon has it cleaned up and looking good as new. However unfortunate incidents begin to occur immediately afterwards.
This was a short and spooky read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a horror story without excessive gore. Even if it did irk me a bit that nobody would consider getting medical attention or rabies shots after being bitten by a wild animal. I suppose horror doesn't always have to make perfect sense.

I received a complimentary copy for review

Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves

 

Description

In this astonishingly accomplished, morally complicated, “exceptional and starkly beautiful debut” (Kevin Powers, National Book Award–nominated author of The Yellow Birds), a prideful electrician in 1920s rural Alabama struggles to overcome past sins and find peace after being sent to prison for manslaughter.

Roscoe T Martin set his sights on a new type of power spreading at the start of the twentieth century: electricity. It became his training, his life’s work. But when his wife, Marie, inherits her father’s failing farm, Roscoe has to give up his livelihood, with great cost to his sense of self, his marriage, and his family. Realizing he might lose them all if he doesn’t do something, he begins to use his skills as an electrician to siphon energy from the state, ushering in a period of bounty and happiness. Even the love of Marie and their child seem back within Roscoe’s grasp.

Then a young man working for the state power company stumbles on Roscoe’s illegal lines and is electrocuted, and everything changes: Roscoe is arrested; the farm once more starts to deteriorate; and Marie abandons her husband, leaving him to face his twenty-year sentence alone. Now an unmoored Roscoe must carve out a place at Kilby Prison. Climbing the ranks of the incarcerated from dairy hand to librarian to “dog boy,” an inmate who helps the guards track down escapees, he is ultimately forced to ask himself once more if his work is just that, or if the price of his crimes—for him and his family—is greater than he ever let himself believe.

Gorgeously spare and brilliantly insightful, Work Like Any Other is “a striking debut about love and redemption, the heavy burdens of family and guilt, and learning how to escape them…Virginia Reeves is a major new talent” (Philipp Meyer, New York Times bestselling author of The Son).

This is a work of historical fiction, set in the south in the mid 1920s Before the story has begun we are already aware there will be a death on this land and that Roscoe Martin will be jailed for it. The story flashes back and forth between the time leading up to that death and jail sentence, to the time Roscoe is currently serving out his sentence and then continues past his eventual release. He and his wife Marie were not exactly the happiest married couple you will ever encounter though they did both try to make things work in their own way up until his jail time when Marie totally abandoned him. Roscoe had never actually wanted to be a farmer and his resentment of that was often felt by his wife and son. This was a tragic story of the breakdown of not only a marriage but ultimately a family.
I enjoyed the story but I could have done without the excessive descriptions of wires, coils transformers and how electricity works.

I received an advance copy for review

Evicted by Matthew Desmond

Description

From Harvard sociologist Matthew Desmond, a landmark work of scholarship and reportage that will forever change the way we look at poverty in America
 
In this brilliant, heartbreaking book, Matthew Desmond takes us into the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee to tell the story of eight families on the edge. Arleen is a single mother trying to raise her two sons on the $20 a month she has left after paying for their rundown apartment. Scott is a gentle nurse consumed by a heroin addiction. Lamar, a man with no legs and a neighborhood full of boys to look after, tries to work his way out of debt. Vanetta participates in a botched stick up after her hours are cut. All are spending almost everything they have on rent, and all have fallen behind.

The fate of these families is in the hands of two landlords: Sherrena Tarver, a former school teacher turned inner-city entrepreneur, and Tobin Charney, who runs the worst trailer park in the fourth poorest city in the country. They loathe some of their tenants and are fond of others, but as Sherrena puts it, “Love don't pay the bills.” She moves to evict Arleen and her boys a few days before Christmas.

Even in the most desolate areas of American cities, evictions used to be rare. But today, most poor renting families are spending over half of their income on housing, and eviction has become ordinary, especially for single mothers. In vivid, intimate prose, Desmond provides a ground-level view of one of the most urgent issues facing America today. As we see families forced into shelters, squalid apartments, or more dangerous neighborhoods, we bear witness to the human cost of America's vast inequality—and to people's determination and intelligence in the face of hardship.

Based on years of embedded fieldwork and painstakingly gathered data, this masterful book transforms our understanding of extreme poverty and economic exploitation, while providing fresh ideas for solving a devastating, uniquely American problem. Its unforgettable scenes of hope and loss remind us of the centrality of home, without which nothing else is possible.

 

This is a work of non fiction, the story of 8 families and their struggle to make ends meet, and their often times less than sympathetic slum lords.
I would say it is an unbiased look, showing both sides from the perspective of tenants and their landlords but in a matter of fact way.

The reason I wanted to read this book was because we struggled ourselves to make it through the recession and I was curious what it was like for these other families. However our own situation was quite different in that we were never on welfare or SSI and we were never criminals or drug users or from families with a long history of broken homes and unwanted pregnancies. Our financial collapse was due to my husband's employer living large and committing tax fraud, and deducting social security from everyone's pay while not actually paying social security. When the company went into receivership and then out of business owing everyone 2 weeks pay we were already falling behind in our bills. So that additional month that it took from the time they closed to the time the first too small unemployment check arrived was brutal and the closest we have ever come to being homeless. We were not at all prepared to go 6 weeks with 0 income, and that coupled with the fact that there just plain were no jobs made for the most difficult year of our lives.

Anyway back to the book, this was a well written and well researched look at poverty in America and the landlords who make their living off the poverty stricken.

 

I received an advance copy for review

 

The Consultant by Bentley Little

Description
CompWare is in serious trouble after a promised merger falls through, so they do what other businesses have done to bolster their public image: they hire a consulting firm to review and streamline their business practices.

But there's something strange about the firm they hire--more specifically, the quirky gentleman who arrives to supervise the project: Mr. Patoff, tall and thin and wearing a bow tie, and with an odd smile that never quite reaches his eyes.

In his first interactions, the consultant asks a few inappropriate questions, and generally seems a nuisance. Over time, Patoff gains more power, to the point where he seems to be running the whole company. He enacts arbitrary and invasive changes to office protocol. He places cameras all over the building, making workers paranoid; he calls employees at all hours of the night, visits some of their homes and menaces their families.

People who defy the consultant get fired… or worse.

They soon realize they're not just fighting for their jobs: They're fighting for their lives.

The Consultant is a biting workplace satire, with the horrific touches only Bentley Little could provide.


In the same vein as his previous novels The Store, The Policy, The Resort etc  Bentley Little paints a horrifying (yet satirically comedic) picture of big business as an evil entity. While I did mostly enjoy this story, as a long time fan of the author I can't help but notice I'm starting to feel that he is basically writing the same book over and over. He has a formula and he sticks to it. Because of that, if you have read his previous works you may find this one a bit predictable.

The Sentinel by by Jeffrey Konvitz

Description

A New York Times Bestseller: A young woman descends into a demonic madness—only to discover that it’s not simply in her mind

Aspiring model Allison Parker finally moves into her dream apartment: a brownstone on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. But her perfect home quickly turns hellish. The building is filled with a cast of bizarre tenants, including a reclusive blind priest, who watches her day and night through an upstairs window. Eventually, Allison starts seeing things and hearing strange noises from the empty apartment above hers. Before long, she uncovers the building’s demonic secret and is plunged into a nightmare of past misdeeds and evil that knows no bounds.

From New York Times–bestselling author Jeffrey Konvitz, The Sentinel, which was adapted into a feature film starring Ava Gardner, Cristina Raines, and Chris Sarandon, is classic horror at its best.

 

 

This is a classic horror that I missed out on the first time around because I never knew it was a book. I remember seeing the movie when I was a kid or bits of it anyway but I didn't realize it was adapted from a book.

A model with a dark past moves into a great apartment with affordable rent. All is well until she meets her neighbors!

Some of the language is a bit dated but the story itself stands up to the test of time.

I would rate it 4 of 5 stars.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Behind Closed Doors 2 Dana's Story by A.L. Smith

Description

"The love of money is the root to all evil, but poverty and wealth are its greatest companions..." ~ A.L. Smith

Human trafficking is often considered an international phenomenon and women from third world countries are the first images that come to mind. However, “familial human trafficking” is a more intimate crime due to the dynamics of the underlying relationships. Human trafficking is one of the largest criminal entities in the country today, second only to drug trafficking, with 200,000 cases reported each year. Abject poverty, visible obscurity and other socioeconomic disparities are contributing factors. Behind Closed Doors 2 is the riveting tale of one little girl’s struggle to overcome circumstances beyond her control. Born and raised on the ruthless streets of East St Louis, Dana Toussaint was accustomed to a life of privilege, thanks to her father, a Haitian-born immigrant and notorious drug lord. Dana’s mother, a materialistic southern belle from South Louisiana, is consumed by the good life, as memories of her upbringing in an East New Orleans housing project become a distant memory. In spite of the similarities between the Haitian and Louisiana Creole cultures, the marriage unravels and the unthinkable occurs when Dana’s father abruptly abandons the family. At the age of 12, Dana becomes the ultimate sacrifice and her mother brokers the deal.

 

This story begins when Dana is a little girl of 8 and ends when she is a young woman. She is a bright girl and I went back and forth from wanting to give her a hug to wanting to shake her when she made some poor choices that I knew were going to lead to heart-ache for her.

Dana Toussaint was a reasonably happy little girl living with her parents, 2 sisters and brother, until her childhood was brutally ripped away. Now without her father in her life, her abusive mother Diana goes out of her way to make her feel like dirt. When they have to move into the housing projects Dana's siblings still get new clothes while Dana's come from the second hand stores. Dana's mother still seems to be living the good life while Dana is lucky to even get a meal. Things go from bad to worse when Diana decides she can use Dana's body to make more money for herself. This was a heart wrenching read. I would rate it 4 of 5 stars.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Interior Darkness by Peter Straub

Description

Celebrated author Peter Straub's mastery of the short form shines in this wide-ranging collection of his most chilling, intense, and compelling tales from the past twenty-five years.

Peter Straub has spent forty years at the forefront of modern literary horror. The stories assembled here represent his astonishing range and his ability to terrify, transport, and hold a reader hostage.
     "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff" is a darkly comic masterpiece in which a stern estate lawyer known as the Deacon hires a pair of "Private Detectives Extraordinaire" to investigate and seek revenge on his unfaithful wife. In "The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine," a man and his much younger lover explore their decadent and increasingly sinister fantasies on a luxurious yacht in the remotest stretch of the Amazon River. "Blue Rose" finds violence and power in the hands of the most innocent among us, leading to a conclusion that is fully surprising and devastating.
     Each story cracks the foundation of our reality and opens our eyes, taking us further and further into the darkness that normally remains deeply, and safely, hidden. Interior Darkness is the gold standard of literary horror.

 

The name fits and Peter Straub wears it well. Interior Darkness could not be more aptly titled. These stories are quite dark and I enjoyed them all. My favorites were “Blue Rose” - in which a little boy’s sadistic streak  blossoms when he finds a book on hypnosis and discovers he has a knack for it.
“Pork Pie Hat”  - a creepy tale told by a jazz musician of his last time trick or treating as a child and why he never goes out on Halloween again.
“The Buffalo Hunter”  - A man who lives more in his mind and in books than in the real world develops a strange affinity for drinking cheap vodka out of baby bottles. “Ashputtle” - About a teacher who you really wouldn’t want around your children.

I received an advance copy for review

Life After Dane by Edward Lorn

Description
A mother’s love is undying… and so is Dane.

After the state of Arkansas executes serial killer Dane Peters, the Rest Stop Dentist, his mother discovers that life is darker and more dangerous than she ever expected.

The driving force behind his ghostly return lies buried in his family’s dark past. As Ella desperately seeks a way to lay her son’s troubled soul to rest, she comes face to face with her own failings.

If Ella cannot learn why her son has returned and what he seeks, then the reach of his power will destroy the innocent, and not even his mother will be able to stop him.


Ella Peters thought she was going to live happily ever after when she married Phillip and gave birth to their son. Instead she sat back and watched the makings of a serial killer. As the abuse Dane suffers turns more and more horrific Ella seems desensitized to it all. When Dane is found guilty and put to death for his crimes that should have been the end of it. Instead Dane has other plans and Ella may have to face some justice of her own. Dane is back and he is coming home to momma. I didn't think I could ever feel sympathy for a serial killer, and yet in those years when Dane was growing up, I did. I'm not sure who is the worst villain in this story, the murderer himself, the father who made him that way or the mother who never lifted a finger to protect her son. Either way this was a hell of a story.  I would rate it 4 of 5 stars.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Dark Moon Digest Issue #22 by Lori Michelle and Max Booth III

 Description
Dark Moon Digest #22 includes the fiction: “Late Fee” by Patrick Lacey, “Horror Junkie” by Michael Schutz-Ryan, “Room 207” by Cooper O’Connor, “Drummer Boy” by Kenneth O’Brien, “The Seventh Date” by Mason Gallaway, “That’s the Price You Pay” by Matt Hayward, “Ion Dissonance” by Benoît Lelièvre, and “Girl Six” by John C. Foster. Also included are Jay Wilburn’s “Bits of the Dead” column, book reviews, and an excerpt from Vincenzo Bilof’s upcoming novel The Violators


Here lies some first rate, freaky, creepy, fiction. Which begs the question, if this is issue #22 where can I get my hands on the first 21? Because I want them all and so will you.
If you like short horror stories you will love these.
In "Late Fee" A spurned lover gets more than he bargained for when he wanders into an old timey 80's style video store.
"Horror Junkie" is a tale of best friends and roommates who share an affinity for horror movies until one of them gets a bit too extreme.
"Room 207"  is probably best left alone but a man on his way to surprise his wife makes a quick stop-over at a motel and lets his curiosity get the best of him. 
In "Drummer Boy" a happily married couple who have been trying to conceive find an antique toy that may bring them luck. Of course not necessarily good luck....
"The Seventh Date" is a tale of a love spell gone wrong.
"That's The Price You Pay" is a story of a shop owner and the strange curios for sale in his antique shop, though there is no charge to see the main attraction in his store.
"Ion Dissonance"  is a story of a young man who can't quite tell where dreams end and reality begins.
In "Girl Six' an interrogation takes a very strange turn. 
All in all these stories were quite unnerving!

I received a complimentary copy for review.

They Call Me Crazy by Kelly Stone Gamble

Description
"Cass Adams is crazy, and everyone in Deacon, Kansas, knows it. But when her good-for-nothing husband, Roland, goes missing, no one suspects that Cass buried him in their unfinished koi pond. Too bad he doesn’t stay there for long. Cass gets arrested on the banks of the Spring River for dumping his corpse after heavy rain partially unearths it.

The police chief wants a quick verdict—he’s running for sheriff and has no time for crazy talk. But like Roland’s corpse, secrets start to surface, and they bring more to light than anybody expected. Everyone in Cass’s life thinks they know her—her psychic grandmother, her promiscuous ex-best friend, her worm-farming brother-in-law, and maybe even her local ghost. But after years of separate silences, no one knows the whole truth. Except Roland. And he’s not talking."

Life in a small town is not the peaceful happy "Mayberry" that some people imagine. This novel portrays a more accurate depiction.
Everybody knows everybody else's business, or at least they think they do. They sure don't mind sharing everyone else's business either if it gets them a bit of attention. So of course it's common knowledge that Cass Adams is just plain crazy, like her mother before her was crazy. Her witch of a grandma might not be all there either. Her Husband Roland is a great guy, at least to your face. Maybe not so great behind closed doors, and maybe Cass isn't so lucky after all to have landed the husband every other girl wanted for their own. Even so, she should not have killed him. Or should she? Maybe he deserved it. Though he didn't even beat up on her all that much. What's a few blows to the top of the head and a degrading insult or two. Who can blame him when she won't even lift a finger to clean up the tar paper hovel of a shack he has her living in. Or maybe she didn't really do it. She says she did but everybody knows she's crazy as a loon, and if that's what everybody thinks it must be true.
This story, told in first person from multiple points of view, with sarcasm and wit kept me up turning pages all night long. I would rate it 5 of 5 stars.

I received a complimentary copy for review

Northwoods by Bill Schweigart

Description

"Some borders should never be crossed. From the author of The Beast of Barcroft comes a waking nightmare of a horror novel that's sure to thrill readers of Stephen King and Bentley Little.

Ex–Delta Force Davis Holland, now an agent for the Customs and Border Protection, has seen it all. But nothing in his experience has prepared him for what he and the local sheriff find one freezing night in the Minnesota woods.

Investigating reports of an illegal border crossing, the two men stumble across a blood-drenched scene of mass murder, barely escaping with their lives . . . and a single clue to the mayhem: a small wooden chest placed at the heart of the massacre. Something deadly has entered Holland's territory, crossing the border from nightmare into reality.

When news of the atrocity reaches wealthy cryptozoologist Richard Severance, he sends a three-person team north to investigate. Not long ago, the members of that team—Ben McKelvie, Lindsay Clark, and Alex Standingcloud—were nearly killed by a vengeful shapeshifter. Now they are walking wounded, haunted by gruesome memories that make normal life impossible. But there is nothing normal about the horror that awaits in the Northwoods."

 

This sequel to The Beast of Barcroft is a creepy, creature packed tale.  This is the further adventures of Ben and Lindsay doing what they do best, getting on each others nerves with snarky but humorous affection, and hunting down deadly supernatural beings.
It will give you shivers, and not just from the icy Minnesota  setting. If you liked the first book you’ll love the second, and if you haven’t read the first book you really should.

 

I received an advance copy for review.

The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee by Talya Tate Boerner

Description
"Ten-year-old Gracie Lee knows a few things. She knows which trees are best for climbing. She knows how to walk through the hallway without making a sound on the hardwood floor. She knows if Daddy's crop gets one more drop of rain, the whole family will pay the price. There are plenty of things Gracie doesn't know. These things keep her awake at night. Gracie longs for something bigger and grander and truer, and feels certain there is more to life beyond school and dull church sermons. She worries about the soldiers in Vietnam and wonders what it must be like to have been born Lisa Marie Presley from Tennessee instead of Gracie Lee Abbott from Arkansas. Mostly, she wishes her Daddy wasn't so mean. Gracie's unchecked imagination leads to adventure, and adventure leads to trouble. She confides in unexpected characters and seeks solace in a mysterious gray house beyond the cotton field. When Gracie faces a difficult family situation, she must make a life-altering decision, one that will test the very essence of her character."

Gracie Lee lives on a farm with her mother, father, little sister and their dog Lucky. She is a nervous worried child, always anxious over everything from whether she will drown during her baptism to how many beers her father has consumed, to what has become of the man from the "pretty gray house." Gracie's mom plays piano at their church. Gracie decides one day during the invitational hymn to go up and speak to Brother Brown about praying for her heavy drinking father with the nasty disposition. From that point on Brother Brown becomes somewhat of a confidante for Gracie as she struggles through a difficult home life. 
As a fan of historical fiction I enjoyed this story, set in the 70s, with references to Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Nixon. I did feel it started off a bit slowly but it was definitely worth sticking with to the end.
I would rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

I received an advance copy for review