Sulan is Free!

Hey, everybody! My good friend Camille Picott is an author and has newly published the first book in a YA dystopian series called Sulan. Between now and August 20th, you can download it onto your Kindle for FREE from Amazon! 

Definitely grab a copy of this while you can with absolutely no risk to you. 

I'll be a stop on her upcoming September blog tour, so stay tuned for more from Camille and Sulan!

About Sulan, Episode 1: The League: Sixteen-year-old Sulan Hom can’t remember life before the Default—the day the United States government declared bankruptcy. As a math prodigy, she leads a protected life, kept safe from the hunger and crime plaguing the streets of America. She attends the corporate-sponsored Virtual High School, an academy in Vex (Virtual Experience) for gifted children.

Beyond the security of Sulan’s high-tech world, the Anti-American League wages a guerrilla war against the United States. Their leader, Imugi, is dedicated to undermining the nation’s reconstruction attempts. He attacks anything considered a national resource, including corporations, food storage facilities—and schools. When Sulan witnesses the public execution of a teenage student and the bombing of a college dorm, she panics.

Her mother, a retired mercenary, refuses to teach her how to defend herself. Sulan takes matters into her own hands. With the help of her hacker best friend, Hank, Sulan acquires Touch—an illegal Vex technology that allows her to share the physical experience of her avatar. With Touch, Sulan defies her mother and trains herself to fight.

When Imugi unleashes a new attack on the United States, Sulan finds herself caught in his net. Will her Vex training be enough to help her survive and escape?

Book Review: Blood Past by Samantha Young

Blood Past (Warriors of Ankh, #2)

by Samantha Young 

Genre: Paranormal/Mythology

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publication Date: August 19, 2011

Source: Kindle store

Age Rating: 16+

| Buy from Amazon |

All Eden wants is redemption... but the road to redemption is never an easy one.

Traveling to Scotland to find her mother’s bloodline, Eden is soon embroiled in the politics and training of the Scottish Warriors of Neith. It is a world where some stand with open arms ready to welcome her as family, while others keep a wary distance, conspiring against her. Through it all Eden learns of love, friendship, and what it means to be a warrior. Her future has promise... that is until a man she thought was forever gone from her life returns to threaten it all.

When the one person Eden loves above all else is endangered, she will have to make a choice. Him... or her?

Life is such a bitch...

... but so is Eden when you don’t play nice. 

  

My Review

• Plot: This is Book 2 in the Warriors of Ankh series. Eden has been saved by the Ankh warriors after they massacred her soul eater family—all except her evil cousin, Teagan. They take her to Scotland where she becomes Ankh and trains as one, even hunting down soul eaters as she completely turns her back on her soul eater heritage. But, somebody won't let her forget who and what she used to be, and Teagan decides he's not done with her.
• Characters: Eden really wasn't that likable of a character in Book 1, but after her change into an Ankh warrior, she really loses all that inner rage and bad attitude which made her kind of losery. I like her way better in this book. Noah is just the same old Noah, an okay guy and your typical overly good-looking dude who's way too into an average-looking chick, that being Eden. Teagan is the character that shines for me. I honestly only wanted to read this sequel because of him. And, he did not disappoint. So sassy and snarky and full of evil smirks. Oh, man! I love this guy even though he is about as sadistic as they come. But, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love me some great villain characters, and Teagan is the one I've been searching for to add to my collection a while now.
• Story: It starts off not all that exciting and even has quite a draggy middle, but gets much better during the climactic scene. Much of the first half is about Eden being mad at Noah for pretending to be her friend during his mission to “save” her in Book 1. They have relationship problems most of the book, but then end up together in the second half and it felt REALLY forced. I wasn't into that because I always assumed Eden was a plain-looking girl and he talks about her like she's a run-way model. I just don't get it. Is she so gorgeous? If she were meant to be, then why give the constant impression that she's so dreary and plain? If Noah is so ridiculously Greek god-like, then he'd not be into a plain 17-year-old girl. He's 80-years-old and she's his first real love. Really? (Edward Cullen, anyone?) I'm not buying it and they have zip in common, despite the prose mentioning that they do. Show me the evidence of that and I might believe it.
• Writing: It's written just like Book 1, decently enough. A very quick read if you want a quicky.
• Overall Quality: Good. I enjoyed this, mostly because of Teagan's antics and his plot-twisty ways. There are some colorful Scottish characters on the side that really stand out, like Tobe and Mhari. Really funny and cute.
• Favorite Scene/Moment: Not really a scene, but I loved every instance in which Teagan would refer to Eden as “Paradise,” “babe,” and “my love,” using these pet names that irritated Eden to no end. That made me laugh so hard! Ah...that guy slays me (pun intended).
• My Score: 4/5 stars.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Book Review: Girl Steals Guy by Kelly Green

Girl Steals Guy (Borrowing Abby Grace, #2) 

by Kelly Green 

Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy (Novella)

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publication Date: October 21, 2011

Source: Amazon Kindle store

Age Rating: 14+

| Buy from Amazon |

 

Dropped into the life of a gorgeous senior with a heartbroken best friend, Abby Grace must navigate high school keg parties, football games and power couples as she discovers that love and revenge are sometimes the same thing. 

 

My Review

• Plot: This story is another adventure for Shadow Abby Grace to tackle as she finds another borrower, Michelle, a beautiful teen girl with a best friend brokenhearted over her boyfriend who suddenly dumped her for a more attractive girl. It's up to Abby, who is starting to remember a little of who she really is, or was, to set things straight and reunite the two lovers.
• Characters: Abby gets a hint at what she's supposed to do from Will, her helper guy, and it's to reunite the two lovers. This means something along the lines of getting Michelle's best friend, Heather and her ex-boyfriend, Sam, back together again. I think in so little space, the new characters for this episode can't be judged properly. But, seeing more of Abby and Will does reveal more character development for them. They even seem to be liking each other, despite the fact that Abby always pretends to be someone else, and has to pretend to like someone else. It would seem confusing, but it doesn't come off that way.
• Writing: The writing is better in this episode compared to the first one, The Shadow. It seemed more efficient and descriptive, especially of Abby Grace herself, the real Abby Grace whose face can be seen only by herself whenever she looks into a mirror.
• Story: I like the story pretty well because, like the first installment, it is a mystery that Abby needed to solve in a short period of time, and it took on a lot of unexpected twists and turns. With this one, I was always guessing the outcome along the way, but it turned out not quite like how I figured would. It's pretty fun reading.
• Overall Quality: Good quality—I liked it, although not as much as the first novella. People who love mysteries and Nancy Drew-like stories would really like this contemporary series.
• Favorite Scene/Moment: The scene where Abby(Michelle) chatted with Sam, the best friend's ex-boyfriend, and ate pizza with him on the beach. He had come to her rescue when her own boyfriend had stranded her there because she wouldn't put-out. I like that Sam turned out to be a dear old friend of Michelle's that she hadn't talked to in years because Michelle had changed during her relationship with her awful boyfriend.
• My Score: 3.5/5 stars.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Book Review: Borrowing Abby Grace by Kelly Green

The Shadow (Borrowing Abby Grace, #1)

by Kelly Green 

Genre: Mystery/Paranormal

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publication Date: October 16, 2011

Source: Kindle Store

Age Rating: 12+

| Buy from Amazon |

  

When Abby Grace wakes up in the back of a van, she has no idea who she is, how she got there, or why anyone would want to kidnap her. After escaping her masked captors, she hurries home, only to discover that she unknowingly left her younger brother behind in the van. Unable to answer the police’s questions with her memories gone, she retreats to the safety of her bedroom where she tries to reconstruct her life. Just as she is settling into the belief that things will one day return to normal, she looks in the mirror—and sees a stranger’s face.

As Abby learns next, she has become a Shadow, sent to inhabit the lives of strangers in trouble. With nothing to go on except the vague hints of her cute but maddening Guardian, a 19th century ghostly teenager named Will, Abby sets out to rescue the missing brother. But she will need all of her intelligence, fearlessness, and wit, because if she fails to find him in time, she will remain trapped in this unfamiliar body forever. 

My Review

Borrowing Abby Grace is a little book I'd been meaning to read for a while and finally did. It's a very short and cheap ebook-only story, so it was a no-brainer for me to give it a try...

• Plot: Abby Grace is a Shadow, a mystical being, formerly human, who inhabits the bodies of living people who need her to solve their problems. But, her problem is that she has amnesia upon first inhabiting her new body and doesn't remember anything about herself. She is in the process of being kidnapped when she first comes to, in the beginning, and manages to get away. Then, discovering who she is and who she's pretending to be takes her on a wild Nancy Drew-like mystery solving journey. The main objective of this episode is for Abby to find the kidnapped younger brother of Brooke, the girl whose body she's inhabiting.
• 
  Characters: Abby is a funny girl, apparently a teenager herself, though she has no body. We never find out why she is a Shadow, or rather, she never finds out how the whole “shadowing” process works and why she's a part of it. The other presence in the story is a boy her age named Will, who is like a ghost, and he's there to help her out. He can't tell her how to solve her mysteries, or anything about who she's supposed to be helping, but he can tell her some things about what is expected of her, how much time she has to complete her mission, and the consequences if she doesn't complete it on time. Clearly, he has an important function, but I can't form an opinion of Will because he simply isn't in the story enough.
• Technical Writing: It's good and written in a believable YA voice. Abby has probably been leaping around from body to body (kind of like Quantum Leap) recently, since she's aware of modern technology and knows how to use it, even with amnesia.
• Storytelling: It's supposed to be an homage to the Nancy Drew mysteries of yesteryear, but I can't even draw that comparison because I never read any Nancy Drew. My older sisters loved those books, but they're ten years older than me, and I just had no interest. I thought the books were outdated, but, that was how I felt as a kid. (Don't kill me!) Still, I thought the mystery was done really well insofar as mysteries are concerned, and I never saw the climax coming. It wasn't predictable, and Abby did her job, even helping to repair a broken family at the end. It was very sweet.
• Overall Quality: Great. I wasn't sure what to think when I first started reading, but it quickly became a fast, fun, engaging story as Abby tried to figure out so many different unknowns all at once. I'm surprised it could be done within such a short space (40 pages).
• Favorite Scene/Moment: Easy. The scene where Abby sings a solo as Brooke (who has a killer voice) in the choir concert. She didn't know the words to “Danny Boy,” so she started making up stuff around the middle of the song—stuff about Danny losing his teddy bear and eating a hamburger. Then, in the middle of her solo, she takes off, chasing after a kid she believes is connected to the little brother's kidnapping, leaving the entire audience completely O__O. I laughed out loud at the pure Randomy McRandom-ness of it all!
• My Score: 4 stars out of 5.

Buy this ebook from | Amazon | for $2.51. 
 

Book Review: The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Michaels

The Thirteenth Chime (A Sense of Truth, #1)

by Emma Michaels

Genre: Mystery/Paranormal

Reading Grade: New Adult

Publication Date: August 10, 2010

Source: Kindle Store

Age Rating: 14+

| Buy from Amazon |

Destiny has finally found the life that she has always wanted. She is about to finish college, has a fiance that loves her, and a great summer on the West Coast planned with her friend, Stephanie. But her world is turned upside down when an antique clock mysteriously chimes thirteen times and someone attacks them, sending Stephanie and her mother to the hospital.

Alone, and without any help from the police, Destiny has no choice but to turn to the one man she had left behind a year ago—her ex-boyfriend, David. Together, they must solve the riddle of the thirteenth chime before the clock strikes thirteen again. Yet as they face their own past and hearts, a trap over half a century old is waiting for them to become its prey. For revenge, fifty years is never too long... 

 

My Review

• Plot: Destiny and her roommate Stephanie are staying with Stephanie's mother in an old Victorian house on the coast of a small Washington State town for the summer. An old grandfather clock has been part of the house since long before any of them ever set foot in it, and it has the tendency to chime thirteen times out of the blue. One night when that thirteenth chime rings out, Stephanie and her mother end up in the hospital. In a panic, Destiny calls her fearless ex-boyfriend, David, out from Cleveland to help her figure out how to unravel this paranormal mystery that has left her completely baffled.
• Characters: Destiny is the main character, but a lot of this story revolves around her ex-boyfriend, David. Destiny calls him to fly out from their hometown instead of her fiance, Scott. She feels David is the more capable when she's feeling extreme terror, and David comes through for her. He's a really heroic character who has the tendency to be reckless in the face of danger, but always manages to come out unscathed. He still has feelings for Destiny, but Destiny sends him constant mixed signals as to whether or not she still has feelings for him. That's one thing I don't like about her—she seems to be unable to let him go, yet she is very determined to marry the guy she couldn't even reach out to when in crisis.
• Technical Writing: The writing is weak in most areas, but does have some smooth patches here and there. I found countless writer's ticks that grated on me. Also some sentences are worded strangely, and I'm not fond of the clumsy use of adverbs. I have a personal preference for 3^rd person-limited POV in adult fiction, yet this one was in 3^rd person-omniscient, jumping from one character's head to another and then another, all in one scene. Very confusing and pulled me right out of the story. I think that type of 3^rd person POV should only be used for children's fiction, but that's just my opinion.
• Storytelling: Besides the likable characters (Stephanie's mother being one of the funniest), I think the story aspect was strong, too. It has an intriguing paranormal mystery premise that got me interested, and it did a great job keeping me just clueless enough to keep on reading to see the characters uncover the mystery. It uses a very different kind of paranormalcy that I've never heard about before, and it may even be the author's clever invention, this “Sense” phenomenon. I think for lovers of mysteries that can be a bit scary—scarier than Scooby-Doo, anyway—this would be a great fit, although, don't expect the rational explanation and the masked bad guy cursing those “meddling kids” at the end.
• Overall Quality: It goes down on the technical writing, but back up again because of the effective storytelling and good characters, so it evens out to being average. I wouldn't read this if you hate reading any writing that is less than flawless. But, if you like a great paranormal mystery despite poor writing, then this one might work for you.
• Favorite Moment/Scene: It's a spoilery scene at the end when Destiny and David are finally confronted with the spooky clock-dwelling thing that is causing so much trouble in the old Victorian. It was such a relief to finally arrive at that moment and find out what was behind that pesky mystery.
• My Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
  
  
  
  
  

Buy this ebook from | Amazon | for $0.99.

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Giveaway: The Magic Warble by Victoria Simcox

I'm happy to be hosting a giveaway for the middle grade fantasy novel, The Magic Warble by Victoria Simcox on my blog for the next week. The giveaway will extend from Friday, March 9th through next Thursday, March 15th.

Here's a little bit about the book:

The Magic Warble (Book 1)

by Victoria Simcox

Dwarfs, gnomes, fairies, talking animals, and an evil queen – all these and more can be found in The Magic Warble, an enchanting tale of adventure and friendship.

Twelve-year-old Kristina Kingsly feels like the most unpopular girl in her school. The kids all tease her, and she never seems to fit in. But when Kristina receives an unusual Christmas gift, she suddenly finds herself magically transported to the land of Bernovem, home of dwarfs, gnomes, fairies, talking animals, and the evil Queen Sentiz.

In Bernovem, Kristina not only fits in, she’s honored as “the chosen one” the only one who can release the land from Queen Sentiz’s control. But it’s not as simple as it seems. To save Bernovem, she must place the gift she was given, the famous “Magic Warble” in its final resting place. And she must travel through the deep forest, climb a treacherous mountain, and risk capture by the queen’s “zelbocks” before she reaches her destination. Guided by her new fairy friends, Clover and Looper and by Prince Werrien, a teenage boy, as well as an assortment of other characters, Kristina sets off on a perilous journey that not only tests her strength but her heart.

Read about the author, Victoria Simcox!

 Victoria was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, to an Austrian immigrant mother, and a Dutch immigrant father. She now lives in Western Washington with her husband, Russ and their three children, Toby, Kristina, and William. Her other family members are a Chihuahua, named Pipsy and two cats, named Frodo and Fritz. Besides being an author, Victoria is a home-schooling mother of twelve years and an elementary school art teacher of eleven years. In her spare time, Victoria enjoys managing her two older children's Celtic band. She also loves writing, reading, painting watercolors, hiking, good movies, and just simply hanging out with her family and friends.

Find Victoria:

Author blog: http://www.victoriasimcox.blogspot.com

"The Magic Warble" on Facebook 

Victoria on Twitter

 
Buy The Magic Warble on Amazon for $2.99.


Giveaway Details:

• Open internationally.
• Be 13 years of age or older.
• 2 winners will each get 1 ebook of The Magic Warble.
• 1st entry is free.
• Earn up to 4 extra entries (+4).

Enter your information below to enter! 
Note: Use Victoria's links above to earn more entries.


 

Book Review: Cicada by Belle Whittington

Cicada (Cicada #1)

by Belle Whittington 

Genre: Paranormal/Sci-fi

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publication Date: July 14, 2011

Source: BookRooster.com (ebook)

Age Rating: 14+

| Amazon |

For 17-year-old Blair Reynolds and her friends, being the bearer of secrets is getting really old. But it's something she learns to deal with, because there's no other option. If the people in her small town ever found out what she and her friends discovered in the woods and hid in the storage room, the whole town would be up in arms;literally. You see, folks here don't believe in aliens from outer space. Besides, if they ever found out what two of those aliens did to one of their own, well, let's just say what would follow would be all out war.

As the months unfold, their summer becomes consumed with secrets, puzzle pieces that don't quite fit together, and a fight for their lives that leaves one of them at death's door.

 

My Review

• Plot: Things definitely happen, although, perhaps timed a little off what they should be. Blair is a high school girl whose friends have all just graduated from high school, except she still has another year left. Everyone else is going through major life changes, especially when they all encounter a creature that appears to not be of this world. Her old friend Everett ends up being the most affected by this creature, and thus changes the most, and also makes some drastic changes to his future post-high school plans.
• Characters: Blair is a cute country girl from an inconsequential town in east Texas. Her brother, her grandfather, and her other male friends are so convincingly southern men—it's a hoot! I like Everett the best because he is different from everybody else, a nerd-boy who loves bugs and running into daunting situations head first without fear. He is super cute and I like that he gets to play the main hero character—not some popular jock boy. Although, he ends up going through some serious changes that left me, like Blair, a bit uncomfortable because I really liked Everett as the goofy, clumsy, silly guy.
• Writing: It's simple and effective. Nothing artful, but definitely decent. The southern YA voice was also really well done.
• Storytelling: I think the story could have benefited from starting a bit sooner. There is some back-story for a little while before anything important happens to start the plot. But, it does the job of helping us to get to know the characters. I really like the ambiance of the slow, hot, humid summer on an east Texas ranch, with cicadas whining and fireflies floating around under a blanket of twinkling stars. Very relaxing. It was easy to hear the characters speaking with their southern drawls. I love Blair's mother's rhymes as she spoke in rhymes all the time. It was quaint and sweet. “My Blair with the dark brown hair,” things like that. It seems accurate as to what I know of real people from that region, particularly mothers.
• Overall Quality: Pretty decent and very compelling in parts. I would have liked more information on the inhuman element in the story and why it was around them, why it had been hiding for several years, where it came from, who were its enemies, and how all of that tied into the death of Blair's father and brother (which had already happened prior to the story). I like when I'm more in-the-know than not, but it doesn't mean it's a flaw, as it's so common in literature these days to keep things uber mysterious. Everett was such a neat character, in my personal estimation, he made me want to keep on reading, especially to see where his relationship with Blair would go.
• Favorite Moment/Scene: When the non-human life form Blair and her friends had discovered started to emerge from its pod. I thought Everett's reaction upon seeing it was very interesting and memorable. (He kind of freaked out!) What the life form resembled was also pretty shocking.
• My Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars. 
  
  
  
  
  

*I received this title as a complementary copy in exchange for my honest review.

Buy a copy of this ebook from | Amazon |

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Review: Blood Calling by Joshua Grover-David Patterson

Blood Calling 

by Joshua Grover-David Patterson 

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Vampires

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publication Date: September 10, 2011

Source: review copy from author (ebook)

Age Rating: 13+

| Amazon | 

 

When Lucy Leary turned eighteen, her life fell apart. She crashed her car, her best friend abandoned her, her parents divorced, and her grandfather passed away, leaving her a single possession: A vampire slaying kit with a note that said, “THEY’RE REAL. FIGHT THEM.”

Now Lucy must stop the oldest, most dangerous vampire in history, before it can kill her family. 

 

My Review

I hate to have to do it, but sometimes I must. This novel just warrants a negative review because it's riddled with what I perceive to be a lot of problems. If anything, it wasn't for me.

Now, this first issue isn't necessarily a problem, but that depends on the reader's preferred narrative style. This is a fictional autobiographical novel, so it reads like someone telling you their life story way back when it happened. Don't expect to be transported through time and space, feeling as though you're right there with the characters like a fly on the wall. I'm not against this style, but if every book were written this way, I know I'd get annoyed, eventually.

Story and characterization difficulties abound. There's no semblance of a plot. The characters just do one thing, then move on the next thing, kind of like real life. That can work in some fiction, like Interview with the Vampire, to name another vampire novel. But, not here. At least Louis regales an actual character in the novel with his life history. Here, we get Lucy rambling for 65,000 words to whatever reader will listen to her. And, of course, there's no depth of character, no inspired thematic elements to rescue it.

There are misplaced digressions that just don't seem to matter. The story of how Emma became a vampire is good, I'll admit. But, other than it being how she met the villain character, a bad old vampire, I didn't see any point to it. Then there's Wash's story of how he met the bad old vampire, told by Emma right before Lucy needed to go fight the guy in a one-on-one battle. Lucy even asks Emma to give her some fighting pointers before she goes to fight him, but Emma claims there's no time for that. But, there's time for a pointless story on how Wash met the bad old vampire? It makes no sense.

I also have a problem with every character sounding exactly the same. Many times they go on and on about something, for several paragraphs, which is not good, sounding exactly like the main character narrator. And, we get way too many details of every mundane thing Lucy does. She steps into the bathroom and she brushes her teeth, and then she gets into the shower, and she lathers up the shampoo—then, later she checks her phone for messages, etc., etc. This is commonplace, and doesn't add anything meaningful to the story.

I will never advise against buying a book because if you want to read something, despite my opinion of it, then you should. It's your life. Some people might find this story charming. I can see that. None of the characters are annoying, and at least Lucy's not some selfish, spoiled brat who sits around and lets everyone do everything for her. The story is not completely awful, but not particularly good. And, that's all I really can say about that.

* I received this from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

My score: 2 out of 5 stars. (Did not like.)

Review: "Fallen from Grace" by M.J. Putney

"Fallen from Grace" (Dark Mirror, #0.5)

by M.J. Putney 

Genre: Fantasy/Magic/Historical

Reading Grade: Young Adult (short story)

Publishing Type: traditional

Publication Date: March 4, 2011

Source: Kindle store (freebie)

Age Rating: 12+

| Amazon | 

  

Allarde, a gorgeous, wealthy noble has hidden his true nature. Discover his diary and witness his sudden fall from grace.

My Review

In this short story prequel to the Dark Mirror novel series, we read the diary of Allarde, an English aristocrat with secret magical abilities. At first, he is attending England's finest boarding school, but he reveals his abilities in order to save a fellow student from harm. Because he is an aristocrat with magic, not just a commoner, he is considered evil and has to be ousted from all good society.

His father sends him to a reform school for aristocrats where he learns how to suppress his magic in order to regain some privileges of his former life. But, he meets some other young people there who don't want to pretend to be something they're not, and finds himself considering their philosophy. Also, he meets the protagonist of the novels, Lady Victoria Mansfield, as she arrives at the reform school toward the end of the short story. It ends with hints at his immediate romantic interest in her.

I haven't read any of these novels, yet, but I doubt it's necessary to do so prior to reading this short story. I was a bit disoriented at first, but I found my feet after a while. Allarde is a really likable character, even if we don't get to know him all that well in such a short reading time, but he's an interesting character to follow further. I purchased Dark Mirror (the first novel) prior to reading this, and I'm so glad I did. I want to learn more about this intriguing world of magic users, and why the wealthiest practitioners are ostracized.

My score: 4 out of 5 stars.

Review + Giveaway: A Soul to Steal by Rob Blackwell

Hey, everybody! I've got a special treat for you all after this review. Rob Blackwell, the author of A Soul to Steal, has given me permission to giveaway ONE free ebook copy of his book to a lucky blog reader! It's the perfect read for Halloween, so read on to the end of the review to find out how to enter this giveaway… 

A Soul to Steal

by Rob Blackwell

Genre: Thriller/Urban Fantasy

Reading Grade: Adult

Publishing Type: self-published

Publication Date: August 29, 2011

Source: review copy (ebook)

Age Rating: 17+

| Amazon | 

Something is stalking the citizens of Loudoun County, Va. Is it the return of the notorious serial killer known as Lord Halloween? Or is it something worse—a figure that can cloak itself as your worst nightmare? Kate and Quinn, two community journalists, rush to uncover the truth before a promised bloodbath on Halloween night.

The debut novel from award-winning journalist Rob Blackwell, A Soul to Steal balances suspense, horror, action and humor, building to a gripping and unforgettable conclusion. For readers who enjoy Stephen King, Neil Gaiman and Jim Butcher, A Soul to Steal is the perfect autumn novel.

My Review

I'm not one to read much in the way of thriller-suspense novels, so I'm no expert in the genre. But, I do know a good story when I read it, and this is definitely great. Whether or not the 'whodunnit' aspect is all that clever—I don't know, because I have nothing to compare it to. But, I think it's awesome because I was wrong about who the killer is, and when you guess, then realize you're wrong by the end, you must have read an effective mystery.

We follow around quite a few different characters, but most of the time, we're inside the heads of Quinn and Kate, the main characters. They are reporters for a small town newspaper called The Loudoun Chronicle, in Virginia. Kate moves there for very personal reasons because she's connected to the serial killer that terrorized the town twelve years earlier.

But, that killer has started to kill in Loudoun again, and as the story progresses, everybody's trying to find him, and this guy's downright terrifying! He keeps on succeeding and a lot people, despite being super careful, still get picked off by him. He is as sick as you'll ever find because he uses the newspaper to publicize his crimes, and to get the people of the town to tremble in fear every October so he can get off on it.

For some reason, he takes a twelve year hiatus and then starts killing again in October of 2006. It's definitely a thrilling ride as you try to figure out who he is and why he's killing people. But, there's this very original and creative aspect to the story that I loved in how it all connected to Washington Irving's “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” I won't spoil how it's connected, but it intersects with this story in a really neat way, and sort of parallels Irving's classic spooky read.

I think any adult reader would love this, especially during this time of year. Because the events take place only during October, it's the perfect Halloween read. It's not scary in the horror kind of way since there's not much gore. Lots of murder and mayhem, but we don't see every detail of every kill. That made it easy for me to read and enjoy. From what I understand, this is the first book in a trilogy, so there's more to come in future Halloweens.

I received this book for review from the author for my honest opinion.

My score: 4.5 stars out of 5. 

 

*This goes toward my 2011 Spooktacular October Paranormal Reading Challenge!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

• open internationally
• leave a comment under this blog post with your name, email, and Google Friend Connect (GFC) name, if you're a follower
• following my blog is NOT required, but encouraged
• followers of my blog will receive an extra entry (+1)
• 1 winner will be chosen by Random.org
• 1 ebook in ONE of the following formats will be chosen by the winner:
  Kindle, Epub, PDF, RTF, LRF, PDB, or Plain Text
• Last day to enter: Sunday, November 6^th, 2011.