Chills: A Short Story Collection Author: Sahar Sabati Genre: Suspense Age Category: Adult Release Date: 17 October 2013 Blurb: The same people are impossibly spotted in two different places at once; a man considers murdering the husband of a woman he loves; while driving home very early in the morning, a driverless car appears out of the fog and follows two sisters home. Fear of the unknown, emotional intensity, and plain old creepiness will give you chills long after you have finished reading the seven stories in this collection. Buy Chills Here:Amazon // Kobo // Barnes & Noble // iTunes My Review: Overall: 3 out of 5 stars Cover: 1.5 out of 5 stars Chills is an entertaining little short story collection. I would not rate these as horror or thriller simply because they did not offer the "shock" or "tensity" expected of these genres. This being said, I did find myself enjoying these little stories. They were very intriguing and offered just enough to allow me to formulate my own ideas or offered subtle twists I did not see coming. The author offers some nice stories. I was able to read it in less than an hour and although I would have liked to feel the tensity of a horror or thriller story, I was satisfied with this short read. The story Karma and Seeing Double gave me a real "slap in the face" moment I enjoyed immensely. I would recommend this collection to those who want a taste of intrigue without reading a longer novel. I was pleasantly surprised and honestly, would like to see some of these stories developed if the author ever felt the inkling to do a full fledged novel. About the author:
The author of Spirit Within Club and Chills: A Short Story Collection, Sahar was born the first of three siblings and the first of eight cousins who grew up together. Thrust in the role of head of the brood at a very early age, she honed her imagination by creating stories and plotlines the eight of them could play to all summer long. But soon, her interest in the paranormal took its toll on said brood. Worried on the long-term effects (as well as potential therapy costs) of this continual exposure to increasingly scary stories her oldest was (too) expertly weaving for their terrified ears, her mother gave her a typewriter – and a writer was born. Many books, a couple of screenplays, countless short stories, numerous essays, two blogs, and one Facebook page later, Sahar joined the ranks of Blogcritics, delving into the world of reviews. Find the author: Website // Blog // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram
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Title: A God In The Shed Author: J.F. Dubeau Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Mystery Blurb: The village of Saint-Ferdinand has all the trappings of a quiet life: farmhouses stretching from one main street, a small police precinct, a few diners and cafés, and a grocery store. Though if an out-of-towner stopped in, they would notice one unusual thing—a cemetery far too large and much too full for such a small town, lined with the victims of the Saint-Ferdinand Killer, who has eluded police for nearly two decades. It’s not until after Inspector Stephen Crowley finally catches the killer that the town discovers even darker forces are at play. When a dark spirit reveals itself to Venus McKenzie, one of Saint-Ferdinand's teenage residents, she learns that this creature's power has a long history with her town—and that the serial murders merely scratch the surface of a past burdened by evil secrets. My Review:
Story: 2 out of 5 Stars Cover: 3 out of 5 Stars ***Disclaimer: These views are my own opinion. I will always recommend people to read the novel and form their own opinion. This book was not my cup of tea. I am going to say this right out of the starting line. One of its main saving graces for me was pure intrigue in wanting to know what happened next. The story, in a nutshell, follows multiple points of view starting with a group of kids who play with a forest god and goes into a dilapidated POV mess that confused me to no end. Venus finds a creature in her shed whom she traps by putting a camera on it. The same creature who played the game with the kids and locked it in a cave by placing eyes on stakes outside the opening. It shifts into a strange plot of secret societies and cults all having to do with the creature now living in Venus' shed. One of the biggest things that turned me off of this book was the lack of the supernatural factor promised by the title. As with so many horror novels, we begin with a beautiful concept that could lead into something truly sinister only to run away from it and focus too much on the "human aspect." The god seemed more of an afterthought rather than the main antagonist. There was too much rambling and needless dialogue between characters and long drawn-out scenes that could have been used to add to the tension. If the focus remained on the human aspect, replacing some of these drawn out speeches could have been used to add to the much lacking tension. I also found myself not connecting with any of the characters except the god who got limited "screen time." Otherwise, I must admit, the book was well-written. I really enjoyed that part about it and one of the reasons I would actually recommend it to my readers. The world descriptions were also impressive (not the best but impressive). However, I will be returning to some of the author's works because I like to give each title its own chance. I think the author has potential. Goodreads // Amazon // Website Title: The Body in the Pool Author: T.A. Henry Genre: Humor, Mystery, Thriller Blurb: Seattle has seen it’s fair share of serial killers over the years. Now a new demographic needs to watch their backs…successful white males are losing their lives in shockingly public venues. Detective Spencer Thomas and his task force are 12 murders deep and no closer to finding the Dismember Killer than they were when the first body appeared. The killer is taunting them without leaving any useful evidence. With a pregnant wife on bed rest, brass that strips his resources, and the FBI breathing down his neck…the last thing Spence needs is a dead body at an exclusive boarding school, floating in their pool no less… Goodreads // Amazon // Website My Review:
Overall: 3.5 out of 5 Stars Cover: 2 out of 5 Stars ***Disclaimer: These views are my own opinion. I will always recommend people to read the novel and form their own opinion. Wow. Okay, just wow. What can I not say about the absolute nostalgia of this book? It reminded me of nothing more than a Law & Order, CSI: Miami or Criminal Minds mash-up. And you know what? That's what I absolutely adored about it! As an avid lover of Chris Noth as Mike Logan and Jerry Orbach as Lenny Briscoe (of course David Caruso as Horatio Caine) I enjoyed this book for the sheer nostalgia. The plot is pretty straight forward. Body gets found in a pool facedown, missing a piece of his anatomy. A team of detectives gets called in to investigate the possibility of a serial killer re-emerging after what appears to be a state of dormancy(?) I didn't exactly understand if that was what the author was going for. Anyway, the interactions of the police officers made me laugh at times, especially when one of them had a pregnant wife to content with. All in all, it really did remind me of the humor one might find in your average cop show. Now, while I adored this book for its humor and entertainment value, I must point out that it is okay to eliminate the "forced dialogue" and humor. Some of it went too far, and dragged on. At times there was just too much police lingo and some of the interactions felt beyond forced. I found myself actually getting the "enough already, please" vibe in many cases. The absolute lack of conflict made the story seem boring in some parts. At least in Law & Order, Mike Logan gets a chance to slap a guy around. The characters seemed too cliche (perhaps that was the point since this was a humor?) but I rolled my eyes in a few places. As far as the cover, I didn't get the tension. I didn't get the story. I wanted to understand what I was going to read before reading the description. However, I did indeed enjoy this read. The author definitely has my attention and I will gladly read upcoming titles from them.
My Review: Overall: 2.5 out of 5 Stars Cover: 3 out of 5 Stars (because it looks like a cozy) ***Disclaimer: These views are my own opinion. I will always recommend people to read the novel and form their own opinion.*** My, my. How I wanted so badly to like this book. I really won't go much into the plot because the synopsis gives a good description but long story short - cursed house needs a ritual completed which just happens to be a wedding between the owner of the house and an heir to the witch who cast the spell. Needless to say, they actually start loving each other which wasn't supposed to happen. I also posted my opinion on Goodreads (which you can find here) but like I said, I wanted to like this book. While it was supposed to be a "cozy mystery" it read nothing like one. Usually cozies have some murder or a massive problem and something warming to help alleviate this tension. This was NOT that. It was more like a contemporary romance with a hint of supernatural. The Hagen house was supposed to be a cursed object. Something sentient that would never let itself be sold. Here's the problem with this being the "inciting incident." The character could've taken his losses and walked away. Liam really didn't have to go back to the house and try to salvage it. Yes, it cost him some money and he would've lost some but in the end, he knew the house was dangerous and should've walked away. A strong inciting incident doesn't allow the character to choose. Frodo didn't have a choice and neither did Harry Potter. They both had to move towards their destinies, they didn't have a choice. I couldn't connect with either of the characters, the world building was shallow. The dialogue felt forced and not at all natural. Just not my cup of tea. I went into it thinking it was one thing only to find it was another. It was disappointing. However, I do think anyone who appreciates a nice humorous, contemporary romance and love-at-first-sight will enjoy it. I'd recommend it to those readers. If you are looking for heavy paranormal activity, you're most likely not going to enjoy it.
My Review: Overall: 2 out of 5 Cover: 1 out of 5 ***Disclaimer: These views are my own opinion. I will always recommend people to read the novel and form their own opinion.*** The FireFly by Nancy Gray tells the story of a girl named Leila who finds her younger sister the prey of a type of vampire capable of taking the form of a firefly. In order to save her sister, Leila offers herself to the beast while working with her friends on a way to defeat the monster. To begin, I am an avid fan of folklore so that is literally the only thing that captured my attention for this read. This review will be relatively short because while I found inklings of a shiver, it did not deliver on the horror aspect. However, for a middle grade, it did a decent job of entertaining me. The characters are very shallow. I did not feel any connection whatsoever. I feel the description of the world did not exist and I could never get immersed into what was going on. These are very fatal in trying to keep a reader's attention. I highly recommend they be revisited in subsequent installations. My favorite character was the vampire himself, because, as I said, I'm an avid fan of folklore. When reading a horror, I expect to feel suspense. A continuous building of tension and lingering sense of hopelessness in the plot. I felt nor saw none of this here. It was unrealistic to think kids could come up with such a quick solution. What bugged me most (no pun intended) was the cover. It was very amateur and unprofessional in appearance. From what I've learned, having an eye-catching cover can be the author's first line of defense to sell. Overall, I'm sorry but this was just bad. While I usually try to give author's chances because I know we tend to grow as we write more titles, I'm going to have a hard time returning to this one.
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AuthorMy name is Iona Caldwell. I'm the author of the British Occult Fiction, Beneath London's Fog set to be published by FyreSyde Publishing October 2019. When I'm not busy weaving worlds of the arcane and dark, I'm spending time out in nature. I love books. My biggest inspirations are H.P Lovecraft, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman and Edgar Allen Poe. I blog about many things but mostly everything bookish. Archives
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