Chuckles Goes Sampling

Seeing Kermit surrounded and almost buried in leaves kind of reminds me of my relationship with books. I'm pretty much buried in them too! I have no more space in my house for the books I buy and piles are sitting on the floor which isn't good and I can't read them quick enough because I keep buying!!! I've battled to reduce the tbr without success this year but now Kermit and I are embarking on a new plan to reduce the book buying and give me a chance to reduce the tbr at last. The Plan? Download samples instead of buying!

This is what I looked at last week:

1) Flint Maxwell-Dead Haven
Jack returns to his home town to bury his estranged mother who was partially eaten by something after crashing her car into a partially eaten deer. He encounters the school bully who made his life miserable as a kid and the man beats him up for becoming a successful writer. Jack is staying with his fiancee' in a crappy motel where he continues writing his next book and hoping to avoid his brother who is also returning to town.

This sample was less than inspiring though there was nothing wrong with the actual writing. It just didn't appeal to me. The zombie bits might be better but the sample doesn't stretch that far. We get Jack's self pity about everyone who ever looked at him the wrong way in town and his woes over being bullied. We get his fights with his mother and brother that left them estranged and his drink issues. We get all the details of the crappy town and Jack being beaten up and then threatened by the school bully. So why then would you agree to stay five more days in a crappy motel in a town you hate, where your life was threatened, to go 'sightseeing' with your fiancee'? Me, I'd be out of there right after the funeral! There was too much whining from Jack who is a successful writer and too much angst surrounding his visit. I didn't like Jack much and the characters we meet are cliched. I won't be reading on with this one. Delete!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35587943-dead-haven 

2) Laurence MacNaughton-It Happened One Doomsday  
Dru worries about paying the rent on her shop are put aside when she has two problems on the one day-Rane's powers destroying her stock and Greyson who seems to have a demon issue. We're introduced to these characters and the sample finishes when Dru is trying to diagnose what Greyson's problem is. I can't say that the sample really made me want to read on with the book but there was nothing wrong in the story or with the author's writing. It just didn't click with me.

It felt too light, as if we were meant to be finding the story amusing in some way. I'm not a huge fan of this kind of fluffy urban fantasy especially with big hints that Dru's client will be her love interest. I'm not a great fan of this insta-connection thing we get when Dru meets Greyson. Having checked out a few reviews, I see that the book also ventures into love triangle territory, and that was the definite deal breaker for me. If you like the lighter kind of urban fantasy, maybe this is for you but I won't be reading on with it.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27405594-it-happened-one-doomsday    

3) John O'Brien-Red Team Strigoi
This book appears to be a prequel to the New World series by the author and can be read without reading that other series as this explains how Red Team first got together. I haven't read the other series so I started with this one. The sample follows Jack and his team as they enter the compound of a Mexican drug cartel to look for hostages who may or may not be there. The sample deals purely with this raid so it is a fast moving beginning to the story. There are no supernatural elements in this sample so it does not get to the main point of the story.  We don't get much about the other characters on the team but we do get into the head of Jack.

Overall I'm still very curious about the book. The sample leaves me wondering what is coming next, how Red Team is formed and how the other team are getting on with their raid on a different compound. There is enough in this to make me want to read on and get to the nasty beasties!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36183312-red-team