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 December!

1) KW Callahan-The Pandemic Diaries 2: Flee On Foot
Experience this pandemic and its terrible effects first hand through the eyes of a family just doing its best to survive.  

Kate and her kids decide to follow the train tracks out of Chicago and hitch a ride on a moving but abandoned train. As the journey continues, Kate starts thinking about finding a quiet town to move into as a better place for her children. She receives a cautious welcome in Spencer, where survivors are all living in a defendable town square and in the process of stripping resources from the abandoned houses. Joining this community seems to bring security to her family but there is the constant threat of outsiders coming to take what doesn't belong to them, and other threats that they didn't plan for.

The train journey part of the book was pretty dull and consisted of an inventory of every meal and drink that they had and all the whining her kids were doing, but it was a bit light on her getting off the train to explore Spencer in comparison. There is plenty detail on the scavenging team she is on the start of her relationship with Chase which has his ex girlfriend getting all upset and jealous about it. Seriously, it is a month since Kate's husband was murdered and romance is on her mind? Surely she should be concentrating on her kids and helping her new town survive first. I do get tired of these sudden and no chemistry apocalypse romances! This book was ok but nothing outstanding. It is a short read and I will see how it all ends in the next book.

Read December 2019
3 stars.

2) KW Callahan-The Pandemic Diaries 3: Pandemic Pioneers
Experience this pandemic and its terrible effects first hand through the eyes of a family just doing its best to survive.  

***This review contains full plot spoilers***

The news that a nuclear reactor was about to blow up and send a radiation cloud their way has the residents of Spencer taking to the train to escape with as many supplies as they can carry and transport. They have to endure frequent attacks on the train as they go through bigger cities and then a sudden flu outbreak on the train causes more chaos. The group need to get off the train and find somewhere to live and Glasgow seems like an ideal option at first. However Kate is uncomfortable about the Glasgow leader Barker and when her fears about him are proven to be true, Kate will find out if her friends from Spencer will stand by her or betray her.

I was so disappointed with this book as an end to the series. First there are the obligatory rapists in the town in the form of Barker and his sidekick who just want to target Kate, leading to a total farce of a trial where an eight year old boy is on trial for tryng to save his mother from rapists and the rapist gets no punishment plus the so called friends Kate thought she had are unwilling to lift a finger to help them, other than Chase. Basically, Chase breaks the boy out of a jail cell and the7y run away. The End. I was so annoyed by this poor plot which makes me hate pretty much everyone I liked in book two. There is also no real resolution to several things-did the nuclear reactor blow up or was it a ruse for others to take over Spencer? The details of the attacks on the train were lost amongst the on-off romance and obsession with every meal eaten by Kate and her kids. And WHY did they take prisoners from an attack on the train, keep them long enough to have the sick guy infect others with the flu, then let them go??? It really made no sense at all. It was as if the author either got bored and rushed it or didn't want to write a decent conclusion. A poor end to the series.

Read December 2019
2 stars.

3) Steve Stred-Yuri
As a bitter winter stretches on, Yuri decides to leave the family farm and seek employment in the City. Hired by the mysterious owner of the mines Mr. Petrov, Yuri is excited to move into the man's mansion. But not all is what it appears, and soon Yuri realizes not everyone is his friend. Yuri is a harrowing tale of what ends people would go to for family and for fortune. Just remember the key to surviving; Don't eat the stew.

With the death of his father and a brutal famine and winter to deal with, Yuri needs a job and somewhere to live and he gratefully accepts a job at a mine and a roof over his head from local rich man Mr Petrov. The employee who takes Yuri to his new home warns him not to eat the stew and as soon as he does, Yuri finds the other men won't talk to him because of it. He doesn't ask WHY nobody else eats it and despite countless warnings, dumb Yuri insists on angering all his colleagues by continually eating the stew. If it upsets everyone, there is a reason but Yuri doesn't seem to care, despite fish and other meats being there to choose from. It just seems so stupid and I wanted to shake him! I don't want to go into details about the plot and ruin the story for anyone so I can't say much more.

The reader is able to work out pretty quickly why nobody else wants to eat the stew and what the problem is with it but Yuri is just so dumb! I was yelling at him to ask Boris what was wrong with it and yelling at Boris to just tell Yuri the full story! It was so frustrating! I did at one point yell 'EAT THE BLOODY FISH!' which sort of startled my dad in his chair! But the thing is, I also really enjoyed the story as we waited for Yuri to work it out and see what he was going to do about it. This was an interesting and well written little horror thriller. Yuri was a nice guy if a bit on the stupid side overall and events kept me interested throughout. This was my first experience of the author and I do expect to read more by him in the future.

Read December 2019
3 stars. 

4) LC Mortimer-Just Another Day In The Zombie Apocalypse
The zombie apocalypse? Like that could ever happen. Alice wakes up on the roof one day to find the world on fire. Everything’s burning, and what isn’t burning is coming back from the dead. Zombies. Trapped on top of their apartment building, Alice, Mark, and Kyle must work together to find their way out of the city and to safety. Can they do it? 

Alice, Mark and Kyle wake up on the roof of the building they live in after another night of heavy drinking, and can see that something is not right. The fires creeping closer are a clue but then they see zombies eating people on the streets below. They quickly escape the building but don't get far in the car before having to go on foot, hiding in someone's abandoned house. Can they stay there or do they have to gather supplies and try to get further out to a more rural setting? 

Ok here is the problem with these serial novels. They are broken into small bits of story and charge too much money for each segment. I only read this because I found this lurking in the depths of my e-reader. I don't buy anything except complete stories or a big omnibus of all the chapters when the story is finished. This is just a short introduction to the characters and the fact that a zombie apocalypse has begun. There is nothing wrong with the actual plot so far of people fleeing from town or city and having to hide until supplies can be found. I just didn't like one of the MCs. Mark is former military who drinks too much, and seems to blame all the problems they face on his companions. First it is the hungover Alice's fault for crashing the getaway car but he was just as drunk and never offered to drive instead. Despite hanging out with them, he moans to himself that they are useless and she is probably also a gold-digger(?). He might think that Kyle is useless due to his asthma and lack of experience but he at least has a gun which is more than Military Mark has! Alice was a bit whiny at times though I did like Kyle. The segment was ok but I won't be seeking out the rest to continue reading.

Read December 2019
2.5 stars. 

5) Xavier Maniguet-The Jaws Of Death
Biggest of all fish and the best equipped for hunting, sharks live in every ocean. No natural predator except the killer whale threatens them, and they possess an extraordinary physiology...including those unrivaled jaws. They have become the stuff of movies, books, and nightmares, but some of what we commonly believe is fiction, not fact. Through the examination of case histories, including gruesome attacks on man, The Jaws of Death documents the truth. It discusses why sharks are essential to the equilibrium of the marine biotope and what benefit they have provided to science and medicine. In addition to sharks, other "jaws of death" receive attention, including piranhas, crocodiles, and barracudas.

This book starts with a section on the shark myths and shark gods and devotes a section to a scientific look at the various senses of the shark and what each does for their hunting. I did find that a bit technical for my brain as I tend to run screaming from detailed science! I'm sure a more scientific person would like it. There is a huge directory of shark types to look at and a section of truly gruesome photographs of shark and crocodile victims, which I found interesting. Not for those of a nervous disposition! I liked the section on the accounts of shark attacks including a bit on the Jersey Shore attacks which I plan to read more about. I think there will be bits of the book that each type of reader will enjoy and bits that might not be so interesting depending on what you want to know about sharks but overall it is a decent read with sections I will look at again.

Read December 2019
3 stars.