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 some reviews from May and June!

1) Johnathan Davis-900 Miles 
John is a killer, but that wasn't his day job before the Apocalypse. In a harrowing 900 mile race against time to get to his wife just as the dead begin to rise, John, a business man trapped in New York, soon learns that the zombies are the least of his worries, as he sees first-hand the horror of what man is capable of with no rules, no consequences and death at every turn. Teaming up with an ex-army pilot named Kyle, they escape New York only to stumble across a man who says that he has the key to a rumored underground stronghold called Avalon..... Will they find safety? Will they make it to John's wife before it’s too late?

This was actually a decent zombie adventure but from page one I just hated the two MCs which made it very tough to root for them. They start trapped in an office building together as people die around them, and make their esvcape from the city with the help of armed men who get them out. It is on the road that they help an injured man who claims to have tickets to a mysterious safe compound where they can safely wait out the apocalypse. John thinks a short stay there to get help with a rescue for his pregnant wife sounds ideal.

The problem for me is that John is against anyone who is bald, fat, disabled, female or trying to help their fellow man while Kyle hates rich people. As the apocalypse begins, John thinks up snide nicknames for those around him and sneers at their fate ( ie his dead boss referred to as 'formerly fat b*****d')and sneers at anyone trying to come up with a plan as 'taking over'. Why don't YOU do something, eh John??? Those lazy people on mobility scooters deserve to be eaten, his fat boss who eats a lot in his office deserves to be eaten, the janitors who try to fight the zombies are stupid so they also deserve to be eaten, 'Little Patty' the female trying to organise survivors maybe doesn't deserve it quite as much but she kind of does, and there is the bald man, named Mr Cul-de-sac because his hair meets a dead end. There is a lot of fat shaming going on whioch various descriptions of how fat, ugly and disgusting they are. All rich people are asshats, even as John aspires to promotion in the same company to be a rich guy. Funny how he thinks going on this trip when his pregnant wife begged him to stay with her as she was due soon doesn't view himself badly. I hated John and hoped he'd be eaten.

It's a shame as I liked the Avalon plot and the twists that follow as they find out the secrets of the safe haven. I liked getting the true version of the rich man with the tickets. The twists were interesting and well written, and the fight scenes in Avalon were enjoyable. I didn't like the main characters though a few support characters were interesting, and I really didn't like the ending, though that is personal preference really. I just felt that this book could have been really good with better MCs and I don't want to read the next book with them in it.

Read May 2019
2.5 stars.

2) EL Montclair-The Sky Grew Dark 
The unthinkable has happened. Biological warfare has been unleashed on Americans and it seems their only choice is to flee or die. Struggling to survive, a family takes refuge in a cave by the sea and finds out there might be another option. 

A family have been preparing a cave with supplies in case of a specific attack on their country that they get advanced warning of. When the call comes, they flee to their safe haven and set up a small community in the cave system. The need for supplies and information gradually draws them outside and puts them into new danger.

I liked the idea of this story. Living in a cave for months after a biological attack would probably protect you from some of the dangers, as would staying away from other people. I liked the idea of them depending on each other but needing to do things like gather medicine, plant a veggie patch, breed rabbits and find out information. It was well enough written and I am curious about what happens next. But there is a big glaring issue that ruined the book for me. Most of the book was all tell and little show. We are told by the MC that a warning came, they grabbed supplies and rushed to the cave. We didn't see it happen in real time, which would have been better for character development. I wanted to see the panic and the escape. I also wonder WHY if you knew an attack would be coming, why would you get pregnant?

We don't see or hear of when the actual attacks come as our group are already hidden in the cave when it happens or how they came to know the people who warned them. We don't see any of the planning, which I love in this genre. There is very little conversation in the beginning as the MC tells us what topics were discussed by what people, she tells us who decides to do what, she tells us what happened to her family members on their trips outside. All the characters feel flat because we never see their personality or see events through their eyes-it is all told by the MC. What is going on in Joey's mind for example? The book lacks emotion because of the lack of development so the impact of people dying isn't there for me either. I was also annoyed by the prologue giving away a major plot twist in advance. I HATE that. I want to see a death as it happens not know in advance a few lines in! It ruins it! The frustrating thing is that had the book been show instead of tell, it could have been a little gem. As it was it was a bit flat compared to others in the genre.

Read June 2019
3 stars. 

3) Jon Athan-Butcher Road
Austin and Anna had planned a simple trip. Austin would visit Las Vegas for work and Anna would tag along. The couple, however, were not aware of the terror lurking on Butcher Road – a lonely road plagued by violent murder and human trafficking. When they stumble upon a wrecked station wagon and a bloodied hitchhiker, the pair find themselves trying to survive a terrifying night... 

Anna is bored on the road trip to Vegas until Austin stops the car at the scene of an accident. When he takes a closer look he sees that the two dead people in the car have been brutally murdered. With no phone signal, they continue the journey, hoping to report it soon-and then they see a blood covered man walking at the side of the road. Anna is adamant that he might be the killer but Austin decides to ask if the man needs a ride-a decision he will soon come to regret.

Anna seems like a bit of an airhead to start with but being a horror film fan, she is well aware that picking up blood covered strangers close to the scene of a murder is not a sensible idea! But Austin the idiot refuses to listen and offers Dante a lift. From the start, they can tell that there is something not right with the man and they decide to ditch him at the nearby gas station. However Dante has other ideas about what is going to happen next and it becomes a night from hell for the couple and other people who are out on the same road that night. I don't want to say any more but the book very much reminds me of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which the author readily admits to. It is a bloody and gory story but there is no sexual violence in it. It was another decent story from an author whose work I am enjoying so far.

Read June 2019
3 stars.

4) Norman Christof-Destination Lost
A massive EMP explodes, transforming Garrett and Holly's romantic getaway into a floating death trap. Reviving their troubled marriage in a tropical paradise seemed like a good idea ... until the apocalypse arrived. Now, they have to deal with desperate passengers on a crowded, crippled cruise ship. Unbeknown to them, another disturbance looms menacingly on the horizon. Their daughter Becky finds herself trapped in a half-completed skyscraper fifty-four floors above New York City. Her world comes crashing down. This morning she thought she had her whole life ahead of her. Now she must make alliances in a battle zone littered with people scrambling to survive. Life and death choices lurk around every corner.  

The plot in this was so big you could drive a bus through it. I actually found Becky's adventure a bit more interesting. I liked the helicopter crash into the building, trying to save her boss and find a way down to the ground from a half finished building whose lift stops working. The detail was good and I liked Becky and William. Their journey continues after getting out the building with trying to find police and firemen to rescue Wayne. They manage to get involved in various dangerous situations as they move through the city.

Then it was Garrett and Holly, her estranged parents. Holly seems semi-sensible which explains why she left him in the first place, but he is a total idiot. A kid on the ship tells him about an EMP and some shady people who seem to be plotting something on board. Instead of sensible discussion with the crew where he calmly reports everything, he comes across as a ranting idiot who the crew decide to ignore. Breaking the rules, the couple go belowdecks and witness a man shooting a woman in a struggle for a bag so action man wannabe architect and construction site foreman Garrett decides to start following the man and his friend. Later he decides to confront the man with the gun several times like a total moron. I was getting so annoyed with Mr Hero Complex trying to drag his poor wife into various dangerous situations. We even have a James Bond moment where the bad guy confesses his crimes to Garrett! I got sick of him pulling stupid stunts and lost interest in his exploits. 

The book was ok I guess and I did finish it but as well as Garrett, I was a bit annoyed with Wayne's rescue dominating the book and then being abandoned without resolution at the end. Overall it was a frustrating story for me and I won't be reading on with the series.

Read June 2019
2.5 stars.