Chuckles Mini Reviews Catchup

I review everything I read, on my blog and on Goodreads. Most reviews are of a decent length but sometimes you don't have much to say about the book because of its length or you DNFed it or various other reasons. In cases like that it makes sense to write a few mini reviews in one post and clear them out your way! So lets catch up with reviews from through this year.

1) Elias Zanbaka-Environmentally Friendly
Out of seven billion people, one man has declared war on Mother Nature and plans to bring it to its knees.

Out of all the criminals in Los Angeles, he's the number one target being hunted by the LAPD tonight.

And out of the entire LAPD, one officer is hell-bent on helping him complete his mission.

***I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a honest review*** 

This short story is only about 12 pages long so it is always difficult to review this kind of read without giving away what happens in the story. Basically a former soldier has escaped from a mental institution, and armed with a chainsaw, machete and flamethrower, he is determined to exact revenge on Nature for something it did to him while serving. One LAPD officer Sgt Schaefer is trying to stop his fellow officers from killing the man outright and one officer in particular is determined to kill the soldier no matter what, causing confict with Schaefer, while the angry soldier causes chaos on the streets. I can't really say much more without going into spoilerville.

As I said it is a short story. Personally I'd have enjoyed seeing this fleshed out into a 100 page offering which looked at the escape, the start of the rampage, a bit more about what the incident was that set off his attack on Mother Nature and her forces and why Schaefer decides to do what he does. I'd quite like to see that. However, what is there in the story is very well written and presented, with good use of descriptive language throughout. I was very much intrigued by Schaefer's early actions and why he didn't want to see the man killed and it leads to a fascinating and inventive plot twist that I wasn't really expecting. I like seeing something a bit different in a plot and that was certainly on view here. It was a fun and action packed short thriller which was entertaining to read.   

Read December 2018
3 stars

2) GS Denning-Warlock Holmes  
Sherlock Holmes is an unparalleled genius who uses the gift of deduction and reason to solve the most vexing of crimes.

Warlock Holmes, however, is an idiot. A good man, perhaps; a font of arcane power, certainly. But he’s brilliantly dim. Frankly, he couldn’t deduce his way out of a paper bag. The only thing he has really got going for him are the might of a thousand demons and his stalwart flatmate. Thankfully, Dr. Watson is always there to aid him through the treacherous shoals of Victorian propriety… and save him from a gruesome death every now and again.

I so much wanted to like this but I didn't. I found Warlock Holmes to be so damn annoying all through what I read. Yes it says in the blurb that he is an idiot and he certainly was but I wasn't expecting this level of idiot. He has magical powers that would easily allow him to investigate and solve the crimes but decides to keep it hidden and tries to deduce in other ways, turning him into the worst kind of bumbling idiot ever, who is clueless at crime scenes. To me it doesn't come across as amusing moronicness, just bloody annoying all the time. He never explains anything he is doing or thinking to the reader or Watson so we never seem to learn anything new. Watson also never asks questions either so there is no basis for Warlock to have a conversation to explain, and I found this very frustrating. I just want to be able to follow what was happening! Why didn't Watson ASK something?

As for Watson himself, he may be the brains of the operation but he is so dense about the bleeding obvious that I could hit my head off a wall. He chooses to ignore all of Warlock's 'eccentricities' and the weird stuff going on in the house, and the very strange visitors, because he is living there rent free. Oh well, that's ok then! It is so obvious that there are supernatural things going on but Watson sees nothing that he doesn't want to see. It seems to take him long enough to work out that the two detectives on the case are an ogre-Torg, and a vampire-Vlad. Torg is a complete moron with no brains who bumbles about breaking things, messing up evidence and beating up everyone that might be a suspect. How he became a cop never mind a detective is a complete mystery. It takes Watson ages to admit to himself that Torg might be an ogre. Vlad meanwhile is happily helping himself to the blood left at the crime scene which is hardly acceptable for an investigation or normal behaviour! I did find Vlad to be the one character that I did like.

I found the humour really forced in that 'laugh here now' kind of way and I'm afraid I didn't find it funny or amusing at all. Other readers might like it and find it funny-it comes down to personal taste. I like the slapstick kind of humour, not this over the top stupid kind of humour as it just doesn't work for me. I found the story itself a bit too rambling for my taste and had a hefty dislike of pretty much all the characters. I'm afraid I didn't enjoy it at all.

Read August 2018
DNF 1 star.

3) Hunter Shea-Rattus New Yorkus
THEY’RE BIGGER
Deep in the sewers of New York City, the rat population is growing. Dr. Randolph Finch is determined to break the cycle. His new rodenticide, Degenesis, doesn’t kill rats. It sterilizes them from reproducing. But nothing adapts faster than a New York rat . . .

THEY’RE SMARTER
City exterminators and soon-to-be divorced Chris and Benita Jackson think they know how these rats think. They know how rats breed. And they fear that Degenesis has only made these rats stronger. More aggressive. More intelligent. And more ravenous than ever . . .

TONIGHT’S DINNER SPECIAL: US
After a noticeable surge in rat den activity, the Jacksons witness something strange. Without warning, the rats disappear—only to reassemble in a massive lair beneath Grand Central Station. Millions upon millions of them. Working together. Operating as a hive mind. Feasting on the flesh of the homeless below—and planning their all-out attack on the unsuspecting humans above.

Two exterminators have realised that the rats in the city have started to get smarter and avoiding their traps, as other catchers in the business are also reporting. Benny and Chris are amongst those given a new poison which aims to make the rats sterile and unable to breed but it soon becomes clear that it is turning them more aggressive and not preventing breeding. Now the rats are starting to overrun the entire city and attack any humans they encounter. The inventor of the poison Dr 'Ratticus' Finch is sure that his drug is not to blame and wants to see the rats for himself but by now they are a threat to anything living.

This was the typical creature feature where something nasty is on the loose and killing people while the heroes try to stop it. You can't go far wrong with that kind of thing and this one proves to be a decent horror story. Benny and Chris have split up but still maintain a good working relationship as they try to work out what is changing the rats. They are characters that you can like and root for. There are some good action sequences with rat attacks for the horror fans to enjoy and there are the usual characters that you don't mind being chomped! It's hard to say much else without giving away all the plot but if you like the author and creature features, you'll probably like this short horror read.

Read September 2018
3 stars.

4) Carolyn McCray-Bullies (Salechii #0.5)

Callum is about to open a shark park, an underwater complex to entertain and educate visitors about sharks, assisted by his son Dillon and Dr Shalie Hofstrum. They are trying to catch a few deadly bull sharks to add to the species found at the park and corner them in Indonesia. With their robotic helpers ready to dive in and help with the capture, things start to go wrong.

This is the prequel story to Salechii and I read this short story after I read Salechii so it doesn't matter which way round you do it. It is a seperate story that briefly talks about the opening of the shark park and shows the attempted capture of a few sharks. It was fun to see Callum and Dillon on another adventure with Shalie and the brilliant robotic employees of the park. I can't say much about the plot without giving everything away but it does have scary shark action and a near disaster to deal with. It was a fun prequel to the main book and an enjoyable read.

And I just wish these books would come out in paperback. Just look how amazing these covers are for the series!

Read September 2018.
4 stars.