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Review: Rabbit Hole by Mark Billingham
Sometimes there is just a powerhouse name in the thriller genre but somehow their work has just evaded you for one reason or another. Rabbit Hole was my first taste of the talented Mark Billingham’s work. I’m neither surprised nor shocked that I fell down the Rabbit Hole. The mind of Billingham is devious and twisted, he will take a common misconception in mental health and twist and turn it until it no longer resembles what it once was. The author did the groundwork, and the reader took one step and we fell into the dark and depraved mind of Alice Armitage. She is an ex-police officer who has been…
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Self-Published Author Appreciation Week: Review: The Wrack by John Bierce
The Wrack gives us topical insight into a plague that wreaks havoc throughout a fantasy world. I’m a bit of a freak in a way that I have enjoyed reading about plagues/pandemics whilst living through one. The format that it was told in was refreshing and thought-provoking. Multiple POVs give us a snapshot of lives, some are cut short, and some last several chapters. The plague pays no attention to stature, race, or social class. It takes no prisoners, but it will cause an insurmountable amount of pain and will take your last breath if your guard is down. The Wrack gave me something that I didn’t realise I was looking for…
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Review: The Doll by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
The Doll is the fifth story in the Icelandic Freyja and Huldar series. The cover instantly had me at hello. I am a huge fan of the creepy and intriguing and that cover came from the horror gods. The Doll is discovered after being trawled by a fishing net in Faxafloi Bay by Rosa Thrastdottir. Five years later bones have been discovered in the same place as the Doll, is it a coincidence or is this more to this story than meets the eye? Also, serious sex abuse allegations have been made against Bergur Alvarsson. Three different stories and timelines but just how do they knit together? The premise of…
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Review: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
After loving A Southern Book Groups Guide to Slaying Vampires, I was seriously looking forward to reading The Final Girl Support Group. The perception and reality, unfortunately, were completely different. A premise that should have both been intriguing and thrilling, it turned out to be neither. Something is lacking, be it characters of more substance and grit, racial tropes that don’t belong there and the feminist monologue just didn’t feel genuine and if I’m honest a bit contrived. The Final Girls were just girls that had a traumatic event happen to them – I wanted to the raw and unfiltered story of their backstories, we only had Lynette’s story, one…
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Review: Early Retirement by Luke Ethan Knight
Early Retirement is a novelette that packs the appropriate level of punch for the length of the story. The story development, the characterization and the level of suspense and intrigue had me turning the pages. With a science fiction backdrop, the horror enters almost immediately with the reader being immersed right in the middle of the story, I liked that – there was no messing around with backstories, character nuances, and hyperbole. It was laid out on a plate for the reader – you either took it or left it – I was happy to gobble it up! A story of such a short length is usually hit or miss…
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Twisted: Tainted Tales by Janine Pipe | Review
Twisted: Tainted Tales is a horror short story collection by the amazingly talented, Janine Pipe. When I saw the hype behind her new collection doing the rounds on Twitter, I just knew I had to get aboard. I’ve been lucky enough to taste Janine’s unique brand of horror before and TTT is equally compelling. The shades of darkness are there to witness with equally horrifying results. The first story that drew me under her spell was When Doves Cry. This story has a very old-time feel. It gave me instant Dickensian feelings. The setting, the narrative, and the characterization felt like a drop in the ocean. I was one-minute treading…
