Monster Story - Book Review

Monster Story - McCarty Griffin

4.5 stars = MUST READ

It all starts with Christine returning to her small West Virginia hometown.  Her grandmother had died of a heart attack.  Christine doesn't exactly have a Hallmark relationship with her mother, but Christine's inheritance keeps her there -- at least, until she sorts things out.  In the meantime, a series of grisly deaths have occurred.  Is it a monster?  Werewolf?  Serial killer?  You're just going to have to read it yourself to know.  This was a pulse-pounding fear ride that I absolutely *could not put down* until I was finished.  Yet, I was delighted at how tastefully the author handled the necessary gore.  I like to know what's going on in a story, but am not exactly up for lengthy, puke-inducing descriptions.  Really, doesn't one bloody intestine look like another?


There are somewhere around 30 typos, additional words, and minor flub-ups (actually 29 by my count) but it wasn't anything that horribly distracted from the story.  I would give it five stars, if not for all the errors.  This is the BEST FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR for me so far, and I hope everyone who reads this will go buy their copy immediately.  


NOTE: While I did receive a copy of this book for review, I do not know the author and consider myself an unbiased reader.


Update: After Ms. Griffin read my blog post, she asked if I saved the list of flub-ups because she wanted to fix them so to my knowledge, she now has an error free book.  However, since I don't normally start marking stuff until the seventh boo-boo, I might have missed something.

Brilliant Prey - book review

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Rating: 5 stars (translation = must read)


Confession: this novel was written by my dearest friend and critique partner. Further confession: I don't know how to lie if something's crappy writing. And this just isn't it. Lastly: go buy the book. I'm hard to please, and I loved it. On to the review....

Lauren's husband has died the year before under a dark cloud of unusual circumstances, and a life-or-death chain of events is set off when she receives a letter from MENSA...a puzzle, which contains something "more" than just a standard MENSA puzzle. This is a wonderful story full of ciphers, cat-and-mouse, with just the right dose of romance that had my eyes opening wide in amazement until the end. Ms. Wallace knows how to show us a sympathetic character -- we love her beginning to end, knowing that Lauren's heartstrings are being pulled by some unidentified person who may or may not have something to do with the death of a loved one. There is lots of lovey dovey romance, but it's beautifully intertwined within a thrilling story of a woman following a genius level trail of breadcrumbs.

While this story has some basic similarities to cipher stories like Dan Brown's DaVinci Code (and I think fans of that book would love this story), it is meatier. It raises philosophical questions that cannot be answered. But it's great brain candy, too. Amazing book.

For just $0.99, you can buy it here for Amazon Kindle, here for Barnes and Noble's Nook, and for virtually every other format you can think of, you can find it at Smashwords here

NIGHTCRY, a book review

I've managed to succumb to peer pressure: this is my blog's first official book review.  Expect many more, as I'm a readaholic.  Coral Russell thought reviewing might help feed my addiction.  So far, so good.  To the meat of the matter...

NIGHTCRY - Gregory M. Thompson

3.5 stars (translation=above average, recommended)

The story begins with the gruesome discovery of a dead body in the woods...and I do mean gruesome.  From the beginning couple of pages, I wondered if this would be a story I could stomach.  I'm glad I continued.  The story went on to detail a small town reporter's struggle to understand the supernatural, which had plagued his family for generations, as well as solve a murder mystery.  There were a couple of times when I thought, just maybe, the ghost did it.  If you want a nice piece of brain candy to munch on, give Nightcry a try.  The prose was plain, but the story was fast-paced and interesting.  There seemed to be a general theme of family developing in this story, but it was more the karma you inherit from your family rather than anything touchy-feely.

The cons?  Two. 1.)The editing could have used a grammar/OCD nut like myself.  One star off for editing because it made for muddy readability in places. 2.)The main character seems to be middle-aged, but occasionally he makes the sort of remarks you would expect out of a teenager with either slightly inappropriate humor or bits that refer to the character's mother a bit too often.  So minus a half a star for inconsistent characterization.

Overall, a fun, quick read.  Will be interested in what he comes up with next.