*****
Dee Harrison-The Sliver of Abilon:
Junah the Mirrorsmith seeks out fragments of mirrors to be safely destroyed before these slivers infect humans causing death or madness. A plague occurs in Abilon and he goes to investigate. 3 stars!
I'm not a huge fan of this style of fantasy-scifi but I did enjoy this story. It's tough to develop character in a short story but Junah was likable and his quest to stop the plague and find the slivers of contaminated mirrors that came through the planet gateways to infect people was an interesting concept and not one that I had seen before, which is always nice! The side characters that we meet on his journey are all interesting in their own ways and add to the story. It's hard to say much without giving away the story but I liked the way the plot moved on. If anything, perhaps I'd have liked it to be a bit longer just to get some more action and tension into it. I would certainly look at more by this author, and would maybe look at any other books set in this world.
*****
Ivan Amberlake-Diary of the Gone:
A social misfit who is haunted by the dead has to investigate when students at his school start to go missing, with only his diary to protect him. 3 stars!
Full review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
*****
Claire C. Riley-Life Ever After:
Nina and Ben are on the verge of divorce when the zombie apocalypse comes. When their plan to stay safe in their house fails, they must make a run for it to try and reach safety. 4 stars!
Really enjoyed this story! I felt that this was a very realistic look at how an ordinary couple would deal with a sudden zombie outbreak. Do we stay at home and wait for help or risk a road trip to get to the country? What do we take? What do we need? Can the zombies get in? It made me think about what I would want to do in that situation. Nina and Ben are nicely developed through their interaction with each other before the zombies arrive, and during the crisis itself and both are likable characters. The zombie incidents are nicely written with plenty tension and a little bit of gore to keep horror fans happy! This was the best story in the book and a prequel to zombie novel Odium.
*****
Scott J. Toney-Novafall:
The essence of dead planets once invited into the human body give the host great powers but using the powers drains their life away bit by bit. 1 star.
I found this story very confusing and not to my taste at all. It starts with a man called Ineal and we get a bit about his back story as he crashes down to a planet with the alien essence. Then we never hear of him again. A man appears later called Ivanus with no back story. I wondered if the author during a new draft had decided to change the name of the character and forgot to do a complete edit. Then there was the jumping back and forward between present and past which was not always clear. I didn't like the way it was written, described or structured and gave up halfway through it.
*****
Mindy Haig-Cybilla:
A man falls in love with a muse who is trapped in another dimension and goes on a quest to deem himself worthy to rescue her. 3 stars!
This was the surprise of the book for me. I'm not a romance type person and that is what the blurb sounded like but it was so much more than that. Our hero is obsessed with his muse who can only visit him for limited times before returning to where she is captive. Other men have tried and failed to complete a mythological quest to find and claim her. The quest was fascinating, testing him in different ways and I was caught up in the story. Beautifully written, well developed.
*****
Cara Goldthorpe-Capturing Perfection:
A greedy man marries a talented artist and forces her to draw things for him to pass off as his own to make him rich. 2 stars.
I just never got into this story at all. There was nothing wrong with the way the story was written-it just wasn't my thing. I'm not interested in art or painting and I'm not interested in love stories so I didn't expect this to be a favourite!
*****
C.M.T. Stibbe-Until the Ninth hour:
The reign of a serial child killer is brought to a halt by the police but there are a few more shocks in store. 3 stars!
I liked this story. The characters are well developed and the plot is excellent. We find out about the last moments of a serial killer's victim from the killer, which is chilling and we get a tension filled side story developing as we follow the victim's father going to confront the man who took his daughter. Chilling, sad, touching all the same time! Very well written and will look out for more work in this genre by the author.
Overall I enjoyed this anthology and will look at further releases from Breakwater Harbor books.
