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 January!

1) Jon Athan-The Abuse Of Ashley Collins
Ashley Collins, a sixteen-year-old girl, has severe behavior issues. She regularly fights with her parents, Logan and Jane. When the fights become personal and physical, Logan and Jane decide to take matters into their own hands. They chain their daughter in the basement and abuse her in an attempt to rescue her from her bad behavior... while delving into their own deviance and depravity.

WARNING: This book contains scenes of graphic violence, including violence towards children. This book is about abuse—verbal, physical, and emotional. This book does not feature any explicit sex scenes, but it does discuss sexual abuse. This book is not intended for those easily offended or appalled.

Ashley, quite frankly, is a bitch from hell and when she hits her dad Logan during the fight, most readers are on his side. When her parents decide to lock her in the basement to start teaching her a few lessons on behaviour, you don't have any sympathy for her at all. However, her parents quickly start on physical abuse to cause her pain and humiliation and it becomes clear that it is now about abusing her because they want to and are enjoying it, rather than attempting to teach her to behave. Ashley is left alone and in pain constantly and none of her family are interested in helping her, even her little brother who is initially uncomfortable with the idea of his sister being punished. 

As the book progresses, we find out why Ashley behaves the way she does and then I started to have real sympathy for her. Her parents reason that a few weeks of lessons will change her attitude and make them a happy family but their torture of their daughter is vile and it quickly becomes clear that they are doing this because they enjoy it. Jane goes from timid and unsure to become a total monster like her husband and Ashley's brother starts to develop an unhealthy interest in what is going on. The book has brutal torture and acts of violence in it. I would say that the book is interesting for horror fans who read dark plots and aren't squeamish about the torture scenes. For me it is a much better written abuse story than 'The Girl Next Door' but has similar content issues.  I like the author's work and I have a ton more of his books to read!

Read January 2020
3 stars.

2) Orlando A Sanchez-The Date (Montague & Strong #0.6)

Meet Simon Strong, an immortal detective about to enjoy a night out on the town. He’s planned this date for weeks and tonight is the night. When Tristan Montague, Simon’s partner and resident cranky mage advises Simon against this course of action, Simon declares his freedom to see whomever he chooses. There’s only one problem. Her name is Michiko and she doesn’t share well. Join Simon as he attempts to enjoy a pleasant evening, away from magic and angry creatures of the night. Only to find himself on the run as creatures of the night attempt to eliminate him and his date. Will he make it through the evening? Will he survive the Date? 

Simon has a date with Katja, daughter of a local businessman who is making a business deal that Simon thinks is a bad idea. The prospect of combining a pleasant night out with a chat about this deal seems a good idea and Simon is looking forward to it. Monty thinks it is a very bad idea to go on a date when Michiko, a dangerous vampire, has her own idea that Simon belongs to her, even though nothing has happened between them. Monty is sure that she is going to be very unhappy when she hears about it, and with her contacts, she'll hear about it instantly.

But dinner is interrupted when an troll comes in and tries to attack Katja. It's clear that her father has upset the wrong people and her abduction or death is to be the punishment. Simon calls on Monty for help as the troll chases them all over town but how can it be stopped and are they going to need the help of Michiko? The story was amusing and entertaining but I do wish that Monty was the senior MC rather than Simon all the time as Monty is my favourite. I do like a lot of the side characters that keep coming into the stories too. I've read a few short stories and the first book in the series and I continue to enjoy reading about what the guys get up to on their adventures.

Read January 2020
3 stars. 
  

3) Matt Wallace-Small Wars (Sin du Jour #1.5) 
The Sin du Jour procurement team has been tasked with acquiring a substantial cache of rare Welsh gold for a rather important event, but when they stumble upon rivals factions of the smallest warriors they've ever encountered, they'll need to bring out the big guns if they're to survive. 

It's been a while since I read the first book so I thought I'd delve back into the series with this short story but I kind of wish I hadn't as I didn't enjoy it at all. Firstly, our heroes by slagging off everything about Wales as they arrive to collect Welsh gold for an upcoming event. This seems to happen a lot in books by authors who seem to take delight in making the various nations of the UK like Wales and Scotland look like crappy places to be and it annoys me. 

The story is frequently interrupted by half baked flashbacks to when Ritter recruits each team member but there is no meat on the bones in these flashbacks and we learn nothing of real interest about the team. It just slows down the flow of the main story. The main plot isn't really that interesting and I wasn't a great fan of the ending. I was also getting annoyed with the foul mouthed characters just bickering all the time. I really didn't like this and I've now decided based on this, not to continue with the series.

Read January 2020
1.5 stars. 

4) Jack Martin-Halloween II
It is Halloween night in Haddonfield, Illinois. Six gunshots pierce the silence of this normally quiet town. Neighborhood kids trick-or-treating on the street stare as a man plunges off a balcony. A doctor from the county mental hospital rushes from the house. He has followed his patient, who escaped from the institution, back to Haddonfield, where fifteen years earlier he brutally murdered his own sister. The demented young man has already killed three teenagers this evening. Tonight's massacre has only begun!  

Michael Myers has been on a murder spree in Haddonfield and now he has followed his one surviving victim Laurie to the local hospital, where he brings death and horror to the staff members on the night shift. The book begins with Loomis keeping watch at the Myers house and then discovering the stolen car on a nearby street and saving Laurie from Michael. I found the inner thoughts of Loomis verging on psychotic himself as he plots to kill his patient and there are inner ramblings that are a bit on the stupid side as he gives his opinion on the town cops and other things.

The action moves to the hospital and sticks pretty close to what we see in the film. The problem is that Laurie's inner ramblings are just as dull and repetitive as Loomis as she obsesses about her family issues and the danger she is in. There are also mistakes in the names of characters from the film and the constant telling that Michael killed two people in 1963 which is not true. The actual language used in the book was annoying-ordinary items were described in weird ways and the over descriptive waffle just wasn't needed. For example as Michael patrols the corridors we get gems like this 'and so it was now, one more rerun on the late, late, very late show on Halloween night in this particular town, acting out the last reels of its relentless stalking of the heart of the American Dream.' Or this one to describe the emergency lighting in the hospital 'The dimmed out interstices of the hospital's once bright and optimistic asepsis.' What??? It was weird and did nothing to help the tension build up in the book. It was very offputting!  The book itself is ok for fans of the film but nothing spectacular.

Read January 2020
2.5 stars.