Tag Archives: Horror

Book Review: These Violent Nights by Rebecca Crunden

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These Violent Nights by Rebecca Crunden

A Dark Romantic Fantasy Novel Independently published (03/31/21)

Summary:

“The eyes gave away most. Even humans.” (Location 754).

Thistle and Thorn are some of the last remaining free humans on Earth. The arrival of aliens from a tear in the fabric of the universe was the end of humans’ topping the food chain. The aliens, Suriias, have several different species but most are of the same mindset – that humans are lesser beings, pets, and sometimes food.

Thistle and Thorn have survived their whole lives in hiding, but they are determined to find their parents’ killer in the capital city of Courtenz. In order to navigate more freely, they decide to attach themselves to a pair of Suriias, Thistle as fiancée and Thorn as a tagalong. Thistle embraces this new life, this chance at normalcy, but Thorn is convinced that Suriias can only ever be the enemy.

Keywords:

Magic, Aliens, Technology, Flying Cars, Multiple Worlds, Multiple POV, Sisters, Brothers, Friends, Love, Romance, Sacrifice, Revenge, Fighting, Death

My Review:

I’m reticent to read fantasy and longer novels because they often drag, but this book didn’t feel like it was 600+ pages long. This book read like a satisfying trilogy all-in-one and I’m glad the author took time to give it proper pacing and an exciting and gratifying ending.

Another reason I’m reticent to read fantasy is that it takes me longer than with other genres to get into the story. I fell in love with the characters of this world before I fell in love with the world, but I was soon hooked on the world with its technology and magic. After getting through the first chapter, I couldn’t put this story down.

This novel is like two stories in one, but I was caught off guard when halfway through the book we leave Thorn’s story behind to focus on Lucian (I may have made an indignant sound at this point). I was so very, very engrossed in Thorn’s story that I didn’t want to leave her behind, though I quickly decided that I wanted more of Lucian’s story.

Crunden took no shortcuts and didn’t fall into quick stereotypes with her characters and her romances. I love the way she writes her characters and builds a romance.

This was an exceptional story with enticing characters and a seamlessly flowing writing style.

I can’t wait to read the next novel by this author!

This novel was Independently published on 03/31/2021 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 5.00

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Rebecca Crunden’s Website

Book Review: Coordinates For Murder (Geocache Series Book #1) by Darren Kirby

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coordinates for murder

Coordinates For Murder (Geocache Series Book #1) by Darren Kirby

A Thriller/Horror Novel published on amazon.com (02/18/2012)

 

Summary:

 Sammy and John are two friends who are in to geocaching. They plan a camping trip out into the woods to find a new cache – a multi-cache – but when they find the first part they are surprised by something they have never seen before. After following the series of caches deeper and deeper into the woods, they get so much more than they bargained for. They find the Woodsman, a sick creep bent on their destruction. Scenes of torture full of blood, gore, and horror-type things occur. Tied up and bleeding, will Sammy or John get out of the lair of the Woodsman’s elaborate setup?  They were the first to find. They might be the first to die.

 

Keywords:

Hiking, Woods, GPS, Murder, Torture, Psychopath, Thriller, Geocaching

 

My Review:

REVIEW BELOW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

The start of this book was promising. Sammy is a fun character who likes to mess around with his landscaping crew. There is a fun action sequence to start the book off on its toes, creating a mild amount of tension and creating a fun atmosphere. The dialogue was interesting and light. The characters were shown through their actions and words. The reader got to see a fun competition.

The title of the book contains the word ‘geocaching.’ The description is of a dashing cache hunt and a daring hope for escape and rescue. The real description should account for the miles of lost words describing John getting lost in a cave and the overlong scenes depicting the mad Woodsman’s maniacal torture. The author does a great job with these sicko scenes, but it was not what I was looking for nor what I thought the book was going to contain as it wasn’t in the book’s description.

There is something wrong with the Woodsman. The reader is not given much information into who he is or where he came from. The reader gleans from his actions and what he says that the reason he does what he does is because he is -presumably- a psychopath. He is only described as a large muscled man. He has a peculiar way of speaking, an intriguing bit of slang to make me think there is more going on than we are told. The author gives us a glimpse of this enemy early on and he is accompanied by a shorter companion who disappears immediately after with no indication of why this happened or where he went.

There are several plot inconsistencies that had me confused. Why wouldn’t the two boys take one vehicle to get to the campsite? If the Woodsman could find something lethal in the lair, why couldn’t Sammy? Why would the boys think there might be another cache when they’re in the middle of nowhere?

One of my chief criticisms is the boys’ lack of fear or any emotion similar. From the very initial creepy part, they are not at all worried or afraid or reticent to continue. When they meet the Woodsman they are not afraid, they only react to what he does. I’m sure they must be afraid, but the author never describes their fear it or tells us how they are afraid.

For me the ending was unsatisfying. Was this a series I didn’t know about? So many questions to answer, but even if it were a series I wouldn’t want to continue reading.

 

This novel was published through Createspace Independent Publishing Platform 02/18/2012 and is available on Amazon here.

 

TL;DR Star Rating: 2.50

 

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Smashwords