Book Review: Otherworld Chills by Kelley Armstrong

I have chosen not to include the blurb as it is misleading over the content so I'll move straight to my review.

My Review:
I have already reviewed Brazen and Chaotic, two excellent stories in the Otherworld series and looked at The Puppy Plan previously. I'm going to concentrate on the others in this review.

Amityville Horrible: (Jaime and Jeremy)
Jaime is railroaded into doing another like TV Ghost House Special by her slimy agent Mike, who seems determined to arrange things in ways that she objects to. The event is at a fake Amityville House and spooky things start to happen, making it look like Jaime has made contact with the actual ghosts in the story.

I like Jaime and Jeremy as a couple and like seeing him in the role of devoted boyfriend. Jaime shows how smart she is when dealing with the crisis that begins to cause panic among the volunteers. It was a good story even if it is similar to other stories we've had about Jaime. (3.5/5)

Sorry seems to be the hardest word: (Zoe and Cassandra)
Cassandra has been sent to recruit Zoe to take a place on the Council but Zoe refuses until Cassandra apologizes for ruining a relationship Zoe had years back. When the apology does not come, Zoe decides to set Cassandra up to be 'attacked' so Zoe can save her but is a plan like that going to work with Cassandra?

I never understood why we got three whole books about whiny Savannah and no book based on Cassandra or Zoe, or both working together. Zoe is so much more interesting! How many stories do you get about gay vampires? And Zoe is also funny, and I enjoy her interactions in that cool bar. She is wasted in just short stories. As is Cassandra with her rude snark. I liked this one and wished it was a bit longer. (3.5/5)

Off Duty Angel: (Eve and Kristof)
Eve is getting a bit of time off but a court case means Kristof is too busy to spend time with her and she is bored. Kristof asks her to follow someone for him and before Eve knows it, boredom is no longer going to be an issue.

This one was a decent read with Eve managing to get herself into trouble again and dragging her friend Trsiel into it. (3/5)

Baby Boom: (Paige and Lucas)
With Savannah being pregnant, and Carlos expecting his first son soon, Benicio tries to get Paige and Lucas to change their mind about becoming parents, fearing the board will now favour Carlos being the chosen heir. But the meddling Cabal are about to take meddling to a whole new level and Lucas is forced to decide on his future.

This was a good story. I can't quite believe that Savannah is going to be a mother when she is so immature. She is my least favourite of all the women in the series. However the focus is more on Paige and Lucas as the Cabal are trying to meddle in things that Lucas feels are private. I liked the story twists and I was satisfied with the end of their story. (4/5)

I can't believe The Otherworld is at an end! I hoped for more of these anthologies so I could get some of the stories I haven't read yet but I guess I'll need to try and hunt them down.
Read November 2016. 

Book Review: RV Ambush by Robert Boren (Bug Out #9)

Bug Out! Part 9 follows our group as they cope with the new danger they've found at the RV Park, while keeping the enemy at bay. The group partners with a dangerous trio. These new friends can help them defeat the dark forces coming at them, but at what cost? 

Kansas is still safe, but the enemy is on the move, taking over sections of Denver. The shadowy owner of their RV Park has discovered them, and is plotting his revenge, with the help of a person they thought they could trust. The Nighthawk Road Serial Killer is active again, causing mayhem in the heartland as the war rages. Who can stop him? Old friends are re-united and meet in the relative safety of the RV Park, but the darkness is coming. Their Motorhomes will make easy targets. Will they survive? 

My Review: 
Security has never been more important so Frank starts on a firewall to stop anyone spying on his computer after the last scare, correctly believing it was the serial killer park owner. Charlie is worried about the lack of roadblocks between the enemy and the park. Dobie has to venture into town for parts with a few nervous friends. The Sheriff and Charlie find something unpleasant as they go fishing at the park lake. Scott tells a nervous Howard that he is coming home but Howard doesn't want to be there when he does, wanting to avoid any new 'adventures'. George and Malcolm offer an alliance between the two groups based on mutual friendship with General Hogan.

The action picks up again in this series as George and Malcolm join the party. They have discovered that the enemy are planning to set up a new base and they see the chance to take some of them out, and slow down their plans, requesting help from Frank's group, who provide the apps to assist them. When Frank tells them about General Hogan being held hostage, the men agree to be part of any upcoming rescue plan. One group from the park go to meet George and Malcolm to assist in an ambush, which leads to an exciting bit of plot. The added interest in the plot comes from the serial killer subplot as Scott entices Howard back into their old world and start going after young women to rape, torture and kill, which adds alarm to the RV group when news starts leaking out about the dead girls. When they see Howard on some of the torture videos, there is a sense of shock and horror at trusting him.

General Hogan was betrayed by someone close to him and is being used as bait to lure Frank's people into an attack at the base. Sam, the agency contact of George, says the app was not discoverd as the General managed to dump his phone, which his son has secured. It is decided that it is too risky for the RV group to get involved so trusted military sources will attempt the rescue instead after making contact with people at the base who can be trusted. Everything has to happen fast as Frank has now set up his app to go live in seven days which will allow the entire population to fight back against the terrorists.

There is so much happening in this book! Scott is back to his old killing ways and wants to take over the RV park again. The General is in need of urgent rescue. The RV park needs to be secured. Enemies need to be taken out. Business as usual for our group! I wasn't sure about adding the serial killer plot into this series but it adds more excitement and a whole new level of interest and tension. You know that these two stories are going to collide at some point and I can't help wondering how the author will do it!

I'm totally addicted to this series and continue to get swept along in the fast placed plot, fearing for every single good guy!  
Read April 2016.

Book Review: First Kill by Andrew Dudek (Dave Carver novella)

Dave Carver is a teenager when his mother is brutally killed, exposing him to the dark side of the world he thought he knew. Almost immediately he is plucked out of his normal life and exposed to the dark magic that exists beneath the streets of New York City. Together with a small group of determined teenagers, Dave confronts the twisted, brutal reality of vampires and black magic, and faces off against bloody violence and abject horror.

My Review: 
Dave has always considered the Bronx home, in spite of its problems but all that changes when the disappearances start. There are too many for it all to be down to runaways and the local people start living in fear and refusing to go out at night or go anywhere alone. Life changes for Dave when he comes home just before dark to find his mother murdered. A street kid called Nate explains about the vampires hunting people and invites Dave to join his group of vampire hunters.

Dave is very much a normal teenager who is making the best of his life. He talks about the feeling of dread hanging over the city but is able to forget about it at times-until that darkness takes his mother. With no family, Dave is alone and decides to take Nate up on his offer, joining The Family, a group of street kids who have lost loved ones to vampires and seek payback. They live together in an abandoned subway station, stealing to eat and training to survive. It is a decent vampire story.

There wasn't a great deal of focus on the kids and who they were, other than Nate, Maria and Hector. The others were named but we didn't get to meet them which would have added more to the story, but when you read the story you understand why the author chose not to do that. We do meet local tattoo artist Squirrel, who uses tips and gossip to locate possible vampire nest sites for the gang to hunt down. But the vampires are not dumb and start to lay a few traps for the tea.

Decent action scenes, good MC and I liked it overall. With the way it ended, it can be read as a stand alone book or you can continue on to the next one. I'm not sure if I'll look at the next book yet but I did like the story in this one.
Read November 2016. 

Book Review: Brew by David Estes

Salem’s Revenge strikes without warning or mercy, ravaging the powerless human race under the forces of united gangs of witches, wizards, and warlocks. During the slaughter, Rhett Carter's foster parents and sister are killed, and his best friend and girlfriend are abducted by a gang of witches calling themselves the Necromancers, who deal in the dark magic of raising the dead. Rhett’s sword-wielding neighbor with a mysterious past saves Rhett from becoming another casualty of the massacre and teaches him the skills he needs to survive in this new world.

Rhett is broken, his normal high school life of book blogging and football playing shoved in a witch-apocalyptic blender. The only thing he has left is his burning desire for revenge. Armed with his new witch hunting skills and a loyal, magic powered dog named Hex, he sets out into the unknown with one mission: hunt and destroy those who took away everyone he ever loved.

But Rhett isn’t just a witch hunter; he has secrets of his own that he has yet to discover, secrets that his enemies will stop at nothing to keep him from. And discovering the truth about himself is the human race’s only hope.

My Review: 

I loved the covers for the series and based on reading The Moon Dwellers, I wanted to read this series. Sadly I did not get far with it.

I was greatly disappointed that the author chose to have the first two chapters featuring one of the things I hate most in YA fiction. The poor nerdy hero is being picked on by the popular school jocks who like to beat him up on a regular basis. Why was this dumb story needed anyway? After two chapters war starts and people are dying everywhere so I failed to see the point of inserting this annoying plot device. It adds nothing to the story and put me off from page one. Rhett himself wasn't greatly exciting, having to be rescued from bullies by his best friend and girlfriend. I get he doesn't like violence but letting the world walk all over him makes him look weak and he is obviously the lesser partner in this circle of friends.

I feel that more time should have been spent with the main characters as a group of equal friends and warm family to make you care what happens to them as chapter three rolls around. Instead the impression I get of them is that his mother is so preoccupied by watching TV that she fails to notice her son got his nose caved in at school that day. His sister seems clingy and annoying. His dad appears for a few seconds so we don't get any impression of him at all. His best friend likes to interfere and drag him into fights they can't win and seems to take over everything. Beth is the cliche newspaper editor who lets nothing get in the way of a good story but we don't see her do anything except rant about witch trials and intervene in another fight that the boys get themselves into. I don't feel emotionally attached to any of them by the time the action starts. Character development was seriously lacking which was a surprise to me.

The important action when the witches arrive is rushed and we don't see what actually happens. It is all done by vague impression and it just lacked tension or emotion. His talks with Mr Jackson after the event felt disjointed, lacked cohesion and I just wasn't getting into it at all. I so much wanted to like this book but it just lacked the interest to make me keep reading. It didn't feel like the author of The Moon Dwellers had written this, if I'm honest, as the whole thing was a bit flat for me.

Pity I never got to meet the dog! 
Read November 2016.

Chuckles November Preview

Welcome to my November preview, where I share my reading and viewing plans for the month ahead. I plan to be very busy with ebooks, catching up on a book series, planning some films and continuing to watch a TV series I began last month. October was productive but I want to get even more done this month, hence the bigger goals set!

I plan to read the last books to complete the Melanie Karsak and Kelley Armstrong series which should all be quick reads. I cannot wait any longer to read My Lady Jane! I am also determined to try and catch up with the Iron Druid series. I loved book one and a few short stories I've read though finishing it this month might be a tad optomistic! I intend to fully catch up with the Bake Off which I've become somewhat addicted to...just in time for it changing channel and losing three presenters! Argh! Having shouted, swore, laughed and cried my way through Game of Thrones season one, I plan to get season 2 and perhaps more watched. I want to be fully caught up before Christmas.

What are your November plans?

EBOOKS:
April Aasheim-The Witches of Dark Root
Marla Braziel-Zombie Wars Online
Rob Cornell-Darker Things
Holly Evans-Infernal Ties
William Massa-Gargoyle Knight
Bobby D Lux-Dog Duty
LZ Hunter-KRex
Catt Dahman-Dinosaurs
Linda Jackson-Twisted Bloodlines
AL K Line-Ink:Red
Alex Laybourne-Hard Time
Chad Evercroft-Undone
Andrew Dudek-First Kill
Jay J Falconer-Linkage
Ian Woodhead-Pteranodon Mall

BOOK SERIES:
Kevin Hearne-Iron Druid
#2 Hexed
#3 Hammered
#3.5 A Test of Mettle
#4 Tricked
#4.5 Two Ravens and One Crow
#4.6 Chapel Perilous
#4.7 The Demon Barker of Wheat Street
#5 Trapped
#6 Hunted
#7 Shattered
#7.5 Three Slices
#8 Staked

OTHER BOOKS:
Melanie Karsak-The Shadow Aspect
Melanie Karsak-The Torn World
Cynthia Hand-My Lady Jane
David Estes-Brew
Kelley Armstrong-Otherworld Chills
Kelley Armstrong-Driven

FILMS:
Into the Storm
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Theory of Everything
World War Z

TV SERIES:
Game of Thrones series 2
The Great British Bake Off series 6
The Great British Bake Off series 7