Book Review: Dracula
/
Dracula first written by Bram Stoker is a novel that I am remiss to report that I spent a good portion of my young life without. Please do not be like me.
Read More
Lenni Reviews: "The Devouring God" by James Kendley
/
**This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review.**
Ghost hunters Takuda, Mori, and Suzuki are sent to investigate some mysterious and disturbing calls made to a local mental health facility. As the case goes on, they notice the clues come to them way too easy. Bodies start piling up all leading to a mysterious and evil artifact.
This book does a great job setting an atmosphere of tension and mystery. The writing is competent enough to give you a real sense of Japan (in 1993). It was intriguing to see the characters change the longer they do this treacherous job; as if corrupted by the very evil they are hunting. Our three main characters work off of each other well in a delicate balance of annoyance and loyalty. Endo - the villain - talks like The Architect from The Matrix; pontificating in a way that even makes other characters snap at him to get to the point. I gotta say, Endo is MUCH less annoying and makes WAY more sense than The Architect so it wasn't completely painful to read his little speeches.
On the whole, this book is written well enough that I didn't feel I was missing information from the first book in this series. The ending is left quite obviously open for a new story so while the immediate problem was solved; you're left curiously unsatisfied. The over-arching evil is still out there. If I come across the next one, I'm intrigued enough to want to pick it up as this one was an enjoyable, supernatural horror. 4.5 out of 5.
For more reviews, check out Haunting Hypatia.
Lenni Reviews: A Demon Inside by Rick R. Reed
/
In this novel by Reed, Hunter Beaumont finds himself alone in the world after the death of his grandmother. After his parent's mysterious deaths when he was only five years old, his grandmother kept him sheltered and with his only family gone, Hunter is the last of the Beaumont line. They were a well off family so a huge estate aptly named the Beaumont house is part of this inheritance, yet on her deathbed, his grandmother begs him to destroy it. Curious, naive, and frightened of being alone in the world, Hunter doesn't heed his grandmother's warning and makes this infamous estate his home. And the house is not happy about it.
As a character, Hunter can be a little whiny but as a sheltered person, I had to give him a little leeway. After all, he did lose his parents in a gruesome murder he blocked out as a kid. But it leaves him vulnerable to plain old horrible people before he even gets to being haunted. But when he finally makes the decision to move, things get really creepy really quickly. You get the feel of a standard horror movie where you're yelling at the book for the guy to get the message and get the hell out of poltergeist house; which is where some readers will get frustrated with Hunter. He swings from wide eyed innocent to obstinate brat to such a degree, it's to his detriment; putting him in danger. Reed did a great job showing how Hunter's poor experiences with people led to less than logical determination to battle a ghost who is trying to kill him where he may have once ran away. The book ends before we get to really see if Hunter finds a balance between being too innocent and too brave.
Again, like Clashing Tempest, the male/male romance is secondary to the horror story. The horror isn't bad but experienced horror fans may find it formulaic; more tense than outright scary. But I had fun reading it and I enjoy discovering LGBT books with real plots instead of bubblegum nonsense. Sugar has it's place, but Reed gives us more meat with our meal. I enjoyed it.
Lenni Reviews: Dr. Sleep by Stephen King
/
As a fan of Stephen King's work, I am certain my fangirl-ish squeel of glee could be heard far and wide when I heard Dr. Sleep came out. As a sequel to The Shining, I was super excited to find out the fate of Daniel Torrence, the child with the Shining gift now all grown up.
A recovering alcoholic; Danny works as an orderly in a hospice, using his gifts to help comfort the dying and earning the nickname Dr. Sleep. As he gets his life together, he starts to receive messages from another with a talent like his own; a young girl named Abra Stone. Abra's abilities are so strong, she attracts the attention of a group called the True Knot; who feeds off children with the Shining. The two of them must battle to stop them from devouring Abra and continuing to hunt these special children.
This book is best read if you have read The Shining first; although it stands alone as a perfectly thrilling book. Unless you read the first one, you won't get the REDRUM and Daniel's alcoholism provides much more of an emotional punch when you read in the first book about his father.
Simply put, I could not put this book down. I am such a fan of King and his writing that I have actually avoided reading his books for awhile because then I'd have to go and read 10 more; some of which would be the second or third time I've read the book. Abra is an amazing little girl; a character I wouldn't mind reading more about in the future. The True Knot are pretty damn terrifying and I had a white-knuckle grip on my tablet, anxious to read what comes next. (see here why I read this book on a tablet because the physical book was too big to carry around)
Dr. Sleep really gets to the point even though it comes in at a whopping (well, not whopping for King, anyway) 544 pages. I am thankful for this because King can really delve into detail which is great sometimes but... Let's just say I never made it through the extended cut of The Stand. There was so much back story, I hadda give it up. And while I won't spoil the ending, this King fan can safely say it is a very satisfying conclusion. This book is a very worthy successor and I do truly wonder if we will hear more of Abra in the future.
