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 earlier this year.

1) Keelan Patrick Burke-Jack and Jill 
When they were kids, Gillian and John used to visit the local cemetery every Sunday after church. It was a curious place for children to frequent, but they had their reasons. The main attraction was the lofty hill that separated the cemetery from the elementary school, and the act of tumbling down it like Jack and Jill was a ritualistic escape from the abuse they were suffering at their father's hands. It was an escape that lasted only until John's tragic death.

Now, Gillian is all grown up. Married with two children, she has managed over the years to force the trauma of her nightmarish childhood into the darkest recesses of her mind. But lately there are dreams, and in them Gillian sees impossibly vivid reenactments of the horrors she endured as a child. Nightly, she sees John die all over again, only not in the way she remembers.

And something else is in those dreams, stalking her, a terrible figure with wire-hanger hands and a plastic bag wrapped around its rotten face. A monster whose reach starts to extend beyond the boundaries of sleep into the waking world, threatening everything Gillian holds dear. A monster she once called Daddy.

This didn't turn out to be what I was expecting at all. I was expecting the nightmare monster to start chasing her in reality as well as her dreams or maybe her dad coming to stalk her but it wasn't anything like that at all. Gillian is struggling with nightmares about the abuse her father inflicted on them both and it is starting to cause problems in her relationships with her husband Chris and kids Sam and Jenny. Sleeping all day and not being there for her family cause so many problems that she decides to go and confront her father about the past but doesn't get much closure. Instead the nightmares begin to change, manifesting Gillian's deep fears that Chris is going to become her father. 

Basically the story is a psychological plot about a woman who has never really dealt with the horrors of her past and what happened to her brother. Now that the nightmares are seeping into her reality, she is starting to have a breakdown with hallucinations and constant fear. She is obsessed with seeing her father but he still denies any wrongdoing, and with Chris confessing to a dark secret, her damaged mind struggles to cope and she loses her grip on what is real. It has a pretty shocking twist that I never saw coming and I was pretty appalled by it, but in a good way. The story itself is well written as we see Gillian struggle with both her past and her present. The only reason for the low star rating is that it personally isn't my kind of story and I was expecting things to go in a different direction. I am intrigued to read more by the author though.

Read January 2019
2.5 stars.

2) Edward Chilvers-Curse of The Forever Rain (Forever Rain #4)
One year after fleeing her increasingly disturbed husband Helen and her daughter Verity attempt to begin a new life for themselves in a settlement run by a benevolent pastor. But whilst his wife enjoys new friendships and the creature comforts of communal living her husband Tom, now almost completely deranged, becomes consumed by bitterness and is determined to take back what he has lost at any cost.   

This was the fourth bite sized short story about one man trying to save his family from the rain that never seems to stop. Isolated at his parent's hillside farm, Tom was willing to do whatever it took to keep his family safe, causing him to kill anyone he deemed to be a threat, even if they were innocent of any crime. Now Tom broods that his wife has left him and sought sanctuary in a new community nearby. He is just waiting for his chance to get to Helen and her daughter.

This was a fun light little apocalypse series that can easily be read in a few hours. I loved that Tom was on the edge of paranoia and insanity, thinking himself to be the good guy when his family are horrified by his actions. I liked seeing the conclusion of the story!

Read January 2019
3 stars.  

3) Cheryl L Cholley-Survivalist By Circumstance 
I found it somewhat surprising that a man would say he was tired of living where he was and wanted to go farming in the wilds of New Mexico and his wife just says ok let's go with no thought or discussion, no discussing the idea with the kids or anything. Next moment they are house hunting in New Mexico over a couple of short trips and bang, they buy something and drag the kids screaming to a new life. It all seems to happen very quickly which doesn't seem too realistic. I didn't like the attitude they had to the concerns of their family, just laughing at them and basically saying deal with it.

This whole first part is just dealing with them looking for the house to move to so it wasn't greatly interesting. To be fair, it is an introduction to the story and characters so there is no sign of any impending apocalypse yet. My trouble was that I didn't like the characters. Darrell and Mallory don't care what their kids think about the move, laughed when the kids complained and were pretty obnoxious in their attitude, not even letting the kids come and look at the houses and get their imput. They constantly mock neighbour Rick, the prepper, who is meant to be a friend and from reviews I've read, they mock a new neighbour too. I don't like these people and don't really want to read any more about them!

Read January 2019
2 stars. 

4) Adam J Wright-Lost Soul (Harbinger PI #1)
Alec Harbinger is a preternatural investigator, a hunter of things that go bump in the night. When his employers, the Society of Shadows, banish him from his Chicago office to a small town in Maine, Alec thinks his career and life are over. How is a preternatural investigator supposed to find work in a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere? But when a local teenager comes back from a weekend at the lake with an altered personality, Alec is hired to investigate a possible demon possession. A young man turning up at Alec's office insisting he's been bitten by a werewolf adds to the caseload. And just to make his first day at the office perfect, Alec discovers that someone in the Society of Shadows is trying to kill him with ogre assassins. No work for a preternatural investigator in a sleepy Maine town? Yeah, about that...  

Alec is banished to a small town by his employers to set up a supernatural PI office complete with secretary spying on him for his father. He gets his first couple of cases and starts investigating while trying to avoid supernatural assassins that have been sent to kill him.

There is nothing wrong with this book at all so I feel a bit mean giving it a lower star review like this. It's just that it didn't really grab me in the way that I want a new book to do. It is quite similar to plots I've read before in urban fantasy so maybe it just felt like it was nothing new story wise or something like that. I've seen plots with incompetant PI's who have people trying to kill them while they take on client's cases and I can't say that any of them stood out greatly for great characters or exciting plots. It doesn't seem to be a scenario that I love in the genre so that might explain why I didn't click with this one. It was certainly a case of this being more about me and my tastes rather than issues with the book.  

DNF January 2019
2.5 stars.

Around The Blogs With Chuckles

We all enjoy snooping and lurking on other people's blogs right? Why not share those entertaining things you found with other readers and bloggers too! Welcome to Around the Blogs with Chuckles, where I take time out to show you some of my favourite blog posts from the previous seven days and link you up so you can check them out. 

This Week!

1) Books Recs 

Verushka shares more book ideas.

https://editingeverything.com/blog/2019/02/18/5books-book-recs-from-literary-bites/ 

2) Book Review-The Purloined Poodle by Kevin Hearne

Carole looks at the Atticus & Oberon spin off.

https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.com/2019/02/audiobook-review-purloined-poodle-by.html 

3) Book Review-The Passage by Justin Cronin

Barb looks at a bit of apocalypse.

http://bookertsfarm.blogspot.com/2019/02/that-was-one-long-trip-passage-review.html 

4) Book Review-The Other Side of the Night by Daniel Allen Butler

Sarah looks at the Titanic disaster.

http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-other-side-of-night-carpathia.html 

5) Book Review-Gates of Stone by Angus Macallan
Mogsy goes fantasy!
https://bibliosanctum.com/2019/02/19/book-review-gates-of-stone-by-angus-macallan/ 

6) Book Review-Last To Let Go by Amber Smith
Elle goes contemporary.
http://elleinked.blogspot.com/2019/02/book-review-last-to-let-go-by-amber.html 

7) Book Review: Alone by Cyn Balog
Jenn goes YA thriller.
http://jennreneeread.blogspot.com/2019/02/review-alone-by-cyn-balog.html 

8) Book Review-Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw (Dr Greta Helsing)
Verushka looks at an urban fantasy sequel.
https://editingeverything.com/blog/2019/02/20/dreadful-company-in-which-greta-finds-some-good-dreadful-company/ 

9) Book Review-This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp 
Carole looks at a school shooting story.
https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.com/2019/02/review-this-is-where-it-ends-by-marieke.html 

Book Review: Gameland by Saul Tanpepper

In the center of Long Island's forbidden wasteland, overseen by a large and powerful corporation known as Arc Properties, is GAMELAND, a virtual reality arcade where the rich and privileged act out their base fantasies using zombies as avatars. Connected to their Infected Players via neural implants (government-mandated in the event of an outbreak), Operators pit the Undead against one another using remote gaming controllers in a high stakes game of money, violence, and power. For the poor, the televised action on state-controlled Media streams is horrifying yet powerfully addictive.

Volunteering to become an Undead Player is strictly forbidden, but fame and money lure some to The Game.

On a whim, a small group of computer hackers and gamers decides to sneak onto the island, hoping to catch a glimpse of the uncontrolled Infecteds, unimplanted victims of an outbreak that took place there over a decade earlier. But while breaking in turns out to be a lot easier than any of them could have ever imagined, getting back out is one a hell of a killer. As they soon discover, when you play, you play to win. Because, if you die, you become part of The Game. 

My Review: 
This was the second book that I completed in 2019 but I had been reading it for about a week in December! This was initially a serial novel but the first 8 books were released as this huge 800+ page omnibus and I worked my way through it. It might not be the greatest zombie book ever but I felt strangely compelled to finish it and find out what happened! Now I have an even longer season two omnibus to get through!

Jess and her friends can't afford the top of the line entertainment system that rich people have so things like Gameland are out of their reach. They continue to try and hack their way in without success but then one of them comes up with the idea of going on a day trip out to Long Island, evacuated when the zombies came and is now quarantined, where the Gameland game zone is situated. The thought of catching a glimpse of the infected for real and maybe being able to hack into the system when nearer to the game zone outweights the dangers involved in going. To get there they must get through checkpoints then sneak into the flooded tunnels that lead to Long Island. They have no idea what to expect when they get there.

I was fascinated by the idea of Gameland. When people die they can choose what kind of service they go into as the undead. For those who want their family to be well provided for, they can choose to become players in the zombie game where through an implant in their bodies, their undead selves can be moved and controlled through the Gameland Arena by rich people playing in the safety of their own home. The idea of becoming a zombie player to be used for entertainment, fighting other infected or other controlled zombies is pretty horrible but interesting. Other dead people that are zombies are used by military and security so the worst and most dangerous jobs are given to the undead rather than risk real humans. When flooding and zombie outbreaks cleaned out Long Island, a company bought the land and built Gameland, a protected arena with zombies inside for this game. However outside the arena are miles of open land where all kinds of zombies roam free and this is where our group decide to go to take a peek and see if rumours of zombies roaming outside the arena are true.

Preparing for the trip is bad enough. They need to be out early so they can get home in time for Jess to eat dinner with her family, something her grandfather insists on. They need to bluff their way through security checkpoints and evade police patrols near the tunnels. Even the practice dive that they do in the water to test out the equipment almost turns deadly. The long dive through the tunnels in the dark murky water where transport lies abandoned proves to be a very dangerous place to be. Part of me thought they were crazy to try this but if there was a place near where you lived where you could get a glimpse of a real zombie, I guess I understand how curious some people would get. I might have wanted to do it myself but I have a fear of water and I'm not a great swimmer so I would never be setting foot in those tunnels!

I liked Jess as an MC. She is a game fan but her life is dominated by family issues and trying to decide if she is ready to marry her boyfriend Kelly. Her father was killed by a zombie years ago leaving her with her autocratic grandfather, drunken mother and hotheaded brother, who works with zombies. Jess is not a whiny character but she is much happier when she is with her friends rather than her family. Kelly wants to go to college so he can look after his family especially his sick younger brother, but fears leaving Jess behind. Reggie is hotheaded and impulsive, coming up with the idea of the trip to Long Island to break the boredom before they go back to school. He is in a relationship with Ashley now, a talented hacker. They meet at Micah's house as he has more advanced equipment and his parents never seem to be home. The other addition to the group is Jacob, who has a thing for Jess and will provide the diving gear that they need for the trip if he can tag along. 

The dangerous dive and journey through the tunnels should have been a hint that this trip was a bad idea but things go from bad to worse as they get to Long Island. The first episode is about that initial trip and how badly wrong it goes very quickly. The other installments follow the story as our group get themselves into more trouble with every passing minute. I don't want to say too much about what comes in the other seven episodes but I can say that there are rescues, twists, conspiracies, secrets, lots of zombies and the deadly Gameland arena to enjoy! Jess is about to find out the truth about her medical issues and what exactly happened to her father.   

There were a lot of interesting things in this book and some twists that I wasn't expecting. For the most part I liked the characters with the exception of Jacob whose sulks when Jess doesn't fancy him got on my nerves a bit. He turns pretty whiny but it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. I found myself wanting to know what happened next as they faced each new challenge. I'm certainly interested in reading the second omnibus maybe later this year.

Read January 2019
3/3.5 stars.

Chuckles Cover Love #114-Sarah Jean Horwitz

If there is one thing that makes a great book even better, it is when it has a cover that we love! The cover design is what catches the eye as we browse through a bookstore shelf or check out the Amazon or Goodreads recommendations. The right cover makes me look closer at a book, to read the blurb and maybe make a purchase. A poor cover might mean I never look at the blurb at all.

NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account.   

This Week! 

I love these covers!

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 earlier this year.

1) Bobby Akart-The Loyal Nine 
The series introduced The Loyal Nine, direct descendants of the Founding Fathers whose mission is to protect America, and the republic, from those who would inflict tyranny upon her.  

The President and his friends plan a series of false flag attacks so they can enforce martial law and take guns, land and supplies from Americans, ensuring he can stay in power without an election. The book starts by introducing different people-a man sent to ally with an anti-Russian group in Ukraine, a professor talking to his class about cyber attacks and retaliation, a prepper who accepts jail time to protect a rich client in return for payment and of course the corrupt President who thinks he is actually a good guy. 

It seems to be full in the beginning of introductions to a lot of people but I can't say that any of them appealed to me. I found this very slow to get in to. There seems to be a lot of talk about things but nothing much in the way of action, tension or excitement, just lectures. I found myself getting bored very quickly as this is not my kind of book at all.

DNF January 2019 
1 star

2) Bobby Akart-Axis Of Evil
Military analysts agree that the United States can't start World War III. Why? We might lose. Sabers are rattling and the war of words escalate between America and her enemies, but the rhetoric has done little to stop the nuclear proliferation of North Korea and Iran. When the deep state, a close-knit group of powerful, influential people within our government challenges a new, untested President, things go awry.

The decisions made in the darkened rooms of Washington have a profound impact on ordinary Americans like the Armstrong family, Texas ranchers who spend their time making a living, but also preparing for the worst. As most of the family lives their life in Texas, one of them will unknowingly be the catalyst for World War III.

I decided to give the author another try but again I wasn't really enjoying it much. The first 20 pages are full of information about EMPs which I skipped but might be interesting to those wanting to learn more about them or someone new to the genre.

The book follows a family led by retired ranger Duncan. His oldest son died in military action which he has never got over. Duncan Jr is a former Navy Seal now working for the CIA and based on the USS Jack H Lucas near Iran. Cooper and his other siblings do bull riding. I found the actual characters around the ranch to be interesting enough but the plot again was very slow. We also follow female President Alani Harman who struggles to control rival Defence Secretary Monty Gregg, who wants to assassinate the North Korean leader in a plot with Kim's sister. After 125 pages the biggest excitement were the Iranians trying to get the Americans to shoot at them and a beaver dam at the ranch. It was just too slow getting into the story again for my tastes.

DNF January 2019
2 stars.

3) Annie Berdel-Alpha Farm
From the beginning, Emma was always looking for modern ways to becoming self-sufficient. Following the signs of a faltering economy and a nagging in her Spirit to return to her family farm, Emma begins rebuilding a life independent from The Grid and away from her high stress corporate job. Is it any wonder that when a localized Electromagnetic Pulse is detonated over the New Madrid Fault Line and The Grid is taken down, that Emma immediately goes into action? Well, at least until Senator Varga and her personal Army shows up at Emma’s door. That is one curve ball that Emma was not expecting.

Calling her fellow Prepper Chicks into action, follow along as a Modern Day Underground Railroad is formed, a long forgotten way of life is pulled back into action and they all adjust to A World without Rule of Law.
 
I hate been overly critical of a book these days but this one was all over the place. Firstly it takes the EMP 182 pages to finally arrive-I only know this because I skimmed ahead to see if it ever does happen. Prior to that it is basically a rape novel on hispanic women with a few wolf attacks thrown in. The wolf attacks are described in a strange manner which makes the wolf sound more like a violent lover than an animal. I found it weird to read. As for the rapes, well it starts with Angie being raped and saved by Emma but it then focuses on Angie's recovery and the attitudes of the police to the rape. Then the rapists, who happen to be cops try to attack Elsie, shooting her as she escapes with two kids that she is driving with. She dies in the woods and is found by Emma. Then the pregnant Sonya is raped by the cops. To say that I was getting a bit mad with the content was an understatement and this is before society breaks down.

There is also no cohesion in the book. In the space of four pages the subject matter leaps from how tornados destroy prepper houses, Emma taking a walk, description of her comm tower, mocking the Scottish accents they once heard on the radio, Prepper instructions and a website ad and an anti government rant about using the weather as a weapon. It was so disjointed and the plot just jumped around with no direction. There are also page long bible quotes and long prepper lists but no real sense of any impending doom, just the odd vague comment on society being a mess. I hated that the MC kept calling Emma 'doll' all the time and I found the comments about Europe being taken over by muslims insulting. Perhaps she needs to take a long look at her government and the problems America has before passing judgement on other countries. The other thing was the dreadful formatting which had gaps in between every line of dialogue, big spaces between paragraphs and poor punctuation-and this was the paperback copy. Not impressed with this book at all.

DNF January 2019
1 star. Lucky to even get that. 

4) Christopher Coleman-They Came With The Snow
The fight for survival started with a blast. Then it started snowing in May and the grid failed. Then they came. Who are they? And what do they want? When a mysterious blast goes off in a small college town, triggering a blizzard, the few survivors must decide whether to stay or leave and face the monsters who came with the snow.

Dom and Naia were having an affair behind his wife's back which is why when the snow came, they were stuck at the college where she was his student. Outside in the snow, watching and waiting are the crab like creatures, cutting off their chance at escape but with food and fuel running out after five weeks, a run to the nearby mall through the trees might be their best bet. 

The actual story was interesting if a little far fetched but I don't mind lack of realism in this kind of tale. What I didn't like was Dom. I don't greatly care about him cheating on his wife and I certainly liked Naia a lot better than him. Dom is rude, obnoxious, dismissive of any idea that isn't his own and likes to interrupt people who are talking so he can be heard. Frankly, the guy is an arse! He is constantly sarky and likes making smart retorts and I wish the crabs would just eat him. I have no plans to continue with the series.

Read January 2019
2 stars.