Kitty Horror

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Pete has the ability to live both in the real world and also his dreamworld, Twin Moon City. At the latter he has amazing adventures with a mystery blonde but doesn't realise the powers he possesses as a dreamwalker in this realm. Fate draws him to Atlantic City where St Croix, a voodoo demon possessed drug lord, is looking to destroy him both in the real world and in Twin Moon City.

This one was a really enjoyable read, the premise and world building were unique and I was pretty hooked from the first few chapters. Pete is a very likeable main character and is well supported by an array of nicely fleshed out minor characters who all add something to the story. St Croix is a nasty piece of work and his actions are chilling in how vicious he will be to get what he wants.

The pacing is fairly fast and the writing engaging enough that it was hard to put down at times. The only small niggles I had with this was the fact that some things were tied up too neatly at the end. Whilst I thought some elements of the story were taken care of too easily towards the end I do give the author major props for not copping out to a happily ever after ending.

I would recommend this and will look at some other work by the author.

Having just finished this today I realise it's taken me 11 months to get through. Partly due to getting distracted by other books but mostly because it's split up into three sections and it became too easy to finish a part and then set it down.

The book itself centres around Anton, a light one, who is part of the Night Watch, others who 'police' the dark element of the supernatural world. The war between the two factions has been raging for centuries and each side is always looking to tip the balance in their favour.

I liked Anton for the most part, a wheel in the cog of something much bigger who tries to do the right thing but seems to miss the mark on this most of the time. There were lots of other characters and background was given on some of them but you never felt you really knew them that well. It didn't help that the book feels a little disjointed, each part was a complete story but also continuing story/themes from the last part. This made it too easy to put it down and not itch to get back to it.

I thought the world building was interesting and well done with a massive scope for adding a lot more into it, as this is the first book in 4/5 I would be looking forward into finding out more about the history of the watch and how the agencies run.

It's taken me forever and a day to even attempt to read this. Memories of the first book were not making this very appealing and it's ended up sitting on my NG shelf for almost 2 1/2 years.

However once i committed to reading it I was relieved to find that this is a better book than the first in a number of ways, mostly because there are more characters than just Ceony and Emery. Ceony is still pretty annoying as main characters go but she has a slightly better attitude this time around and doesn't whine nearly as much. Nor is she prying into Emery's life and belongings like she did in the first novel.

She is however, just as dim as she was in the first book in that she is adamant that she, an apprentice magician, can take on other dangerous magicians without any help and it's no surprise that her decisions cause problems for everyone else.

The romance between Ceony and Emery still leaves me cold, it doesn't feel right and to be honest it's annoying that Ceony is just so hellbent on trying to make it happen. She also needs to seek medical advice for the chronic blushing problem she has, any encounter she had with Emery seemed to set this off, pair this with her pale skin and reddish/orange hair and it's not a pretty picture that's conjured up.

The world building is yet again something that didn't work for me, the time period is confusing with some of the details and it would seem that the author has 'modernised' the period with details of transport, food and materials that really don't seem to fit the time. I also found the magic wasn't very well explained and I struggled to grasp what the author was describing.

On the positive side this was a fairly fast read and a lot more engaging than book 1, I'll again put this down to the fact that there were a number of other characters whom Emery and Ceony spent time with, this seemed to help keep the plot moving along and not stagnate as it did in the first book when a lot of the story was just Ceony.

Better than the first book but I don't think I'll be picking up the third one, my interest was slightly peaked but not enough to continue.

Stanley is a loser, nearing middle age with not much to show for it. After he dies in a freak accident, he is brought back to life on live TV and starts his second life as the Amazing Mr Corpse. He is now essentially owned by a corporation who are looking to cash in on his infamy, forcing him to do all manner of 'celebrity' appearances. When he begins to get cocky about his importance he is shown that a second death will be far more unpleasant than the first and that he was not the scientific miracle he thought he was but something far more sinister.
I enjoyed this one a lot, I'm a big fan of Strand and this one certainly didn't disappoint although I thought the main character wasn't as good as some in his other work. The ending was also slightly anti-climatic.
Strand uses this to lampoon celebrities who are famous for being famous, how they are viewed and the cult like status that some of them achieve for doing absolutely nothing. Stanley is a fairly talentless individual who soon begins to believe the hype of his own fame before it all goes wrong. Secondary characters were done well but for some reason none of the characters really resonated with me that strongly however the story itself was engaging, pulling several threads together at the end and gave me almost everything I come to expect in a Strand novel. As with most of his other work this was fast faced and darkly funny and whilst it's not my favourite it was still a fun read.

I put this on my reading list in Scribd and decided to open it up as I've been on a carb fest since christmas and the kilos are piling on. I thought this would be more like your typical diet books, giving overall advice but with a plan for your eight weeks. Whilst the advice was interesting and I probably picked up a couple of tips for weight loss, I've read most of it before. This is supposed to an eight week program to get you started on your weight loss journey but by the time I had finished the book I had totally forgotten the timeframe or even that there was one, I'm not sure if this was just me or that the message wasn't conveyed strongly enough. I'll probably go back to it over the next few weeks to check up on a few things whilst I make a weight loss start but I'm a bit disappointed it wasn't more structured.
Interesting but a bit forgettable.

The island of Pritchards Key is home to plenty of wildlife including a new strain of worm as well as several groups of people who are all on the island for different reasons. The scientists, Nora and Loren, are there to find a specific worm for the National Geographic to photograph, there are redneck brothers who are on the island to harvest their pot plants and military personnel who are conducting deadly experiments.
As the worms begin infecting people on the island, all hell breaks loose as each group becomes desperate to find a way off the island to safety. Nora and Loren try to find out more about this new strain as well as why the military are running surveillance on them. What they find out could spell doom for civilisation.
This was a great 'B' movie type read that was a lot more subdued in content that some of Lee's other work such as his backwoods horror series. There is still plenty of cringe worthy scenes full of disgusting gore and sex but they don't even begin to touch on the depravity of say, Bighead. The only thing that slightly spoiled the story was the overload of science talk about worms which got a little boring to be honest. The ending was nicely done with a nice twist.
The characters were fairly well done, the good guys were realistic and flawed enough to be believable, the bad guys were pretty despicable and it was easy to cheer when things went pear shaped for them.
Great fun and a slightly tamer Lee read for the uninitiated.

You can't take this type of fiction seriously as Mr Lee has his tongue planted firmly in his cheek telling this tale of rednecks seeking revenge on the mafia.
He also manages to introduce some very imaginative ways for folks to die and skitters well past the line of what is morally acceptable in story telling, be warned, sick, twisted and a lot of fun.

Enzo is not like other dogs, he loves race car driving, loves watching t.v and is convinced that he will be reincarnated as a man after he dies. On the eve of his death, Enzo looks back over his life, chronicling his adventures with his master, Denny and the highs and lows of their time together.

I loved so much about this book but most of all I loved Enzo, he is so loyal to Denny you love him for that alone. His insights into human life are humorous and sometimes it seems he's the only one who sees situations clearly.

The story itself was very easy to get lost in and I found myself cheering characters on, becoming teary when tragedy struck or angry when Denny was being pushed to his absolute limit. This read highlighted not only the best of human (and dog) behaviour but also the ugliest. I laughed out loud when Enzo got his revenge on one of the grandparents, be warned that feeding a dog a spicy hot pepper will have serious repercussions for your carpet.

Overall this was a fantastic read; engaging, thoughtful, realistic with wonderful characters and one hell of a dog. Be warned though, you'll need lots of tissues.