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 and read them and only go on to buy those I liked instead of grabbing everything!

Here is what I read last week! 

1) Matt Shaw-Terror Teds 
Sarah has been chained up in the basement by the man she used to love, forced to make scary teddy bears which he sells for money while she is forced to live like a slave. While watching Jeremy Kyle on TV, she hears a voice that seems to be coming from her now finished bear Smiler, offering to kill her captor if she just says the word. Sarah fears that she is going mad and begs to be let out of captivity but instead is told to make more bears. This is where the sample finishes.

Don't you just love the cover for this book? Those are teddies that you wouldn't want to cuddle up beside but it could be fun to set them on your enemies! Sarah's partner certainly deserves that fate for the way he treats her. I've seen Matt Shaw around Amazon and always been interested in trying some of his stuff and this one certainly had enough in the sample for me to want to find out what the bears do and if her partner gets what is coming to him. This is a short novella at 102 pages and as much as I want to read it, I have no intention of paying £3.50 for a short offering! I'll grab it when it comes down in price.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31301502-terror-teds

2) Tim Miller-Clown Night
Reggie has a cloud of bad luck that seems to follow him around everywhere, causing him to lose countless jobs. George is tired of continually telling him the same things over and over but the last straw is when Reggie is robbed at the shop by an old woman with a gun. When out trying to pawn things for food, he sees a clown mask that appeals to him and does a trade instead. Wearing it in the car home, Reggie delights in scaring a fellow car driver. He decides to go and give George a good scare, and is surprised when George empties the till to get him out the shop. Reggie is delighted and that is when his mask begins to talk to him, calling itself Captain Pinky and asking him to go out and abduct and kill a woman, carving her face up like a clown mask.

This was a fun sample to read. Reggie is just one of life's eternal losers and I can understand why he was never able to keep a job. I did have an evil snigger as Reggie decided to scare a couple of people with the mask, and I think this has the potential to be an interesting horror book. It's full length at 252 pages so there should be plenty of things going on as Reggie gets more dangerous. I certainly want to read this one.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31567856-clown-night 

3) PK Hawkins-Titanoboa
Hank is going on what might be his final research project into the Amazon as one of his students is trying to force him out of his job, cutting his funding and undermining him. Now Hank and his students are sailing down the Amazon to study the declining tree frog population and things on the boat are tense. With his friend Captain Morgan offering to introduce Randy to an accident and Erin distracting his mind, Hank starts to regret bringing anyone with him. Then, something is picked up on the radar. This is where the sample ends.

The sample basically sets the scene with who are Hank's friends and who the enemy is. I liked Hank straight away so naturally I want Randy to die a very violent death. Captain Morgan is that grizzly gruff character that I enjoy in this kind of book, and I do like these jungle expedition settings. It gets straight into the story and I'm very much hoping this is going to be a gory tense creature feature book, which I generally enjoy reading. I think there is enough here for me to want to find out what happens.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31567856-clown-night