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Review: Under Another Sun by D.M. Siciliano

     Yvonne      2 Comments

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

51219807. SY475 - Review: Under Another Sun by D.M. SicilianoUnder Another Sun by D.M. Siciliano
Published by Dark Diva Press on October 1st 2020
Genres: Horror, Supernatural, End of the world,
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Author
Goodreads
five stars - Review: Under Another Sun by D.M. Siciliano

A crack in time saves 99
But what do those ominous words mean?
Ray is about to find out, whether he’s ready or not. His ‘deceased’ twin sister, Ravynn, is warning him of impending disaster, but Ray can’t seem to convince himself, or his wife, that he’s not crazy.
But Ray isn’t the only one communicating with his sister. Ravynn’s surviving daughter, Amelia, seems to know things that defy reason, in a time when reason is slowly slipping away.
When Ray’s brother-in-law offers evidence of something terrible coming in the form of prophetic journals Ravynn wrote before her death, Ray can’t doubt the truth any longer. The world is falling down.
The family struggles to hold themselves together as the world they once knew and understood begins to collapse all around them, leading up to a cataclysmic end.
Can Ray save his family in time?

Dark and Gothic.  Under Another Sun is multi-faceted and strips the layers back of the human condition.  It examines our ability to decipher the logic behind trauma.  Our ability to cope with grief.  It is a highly intelligent and fascinating novel on multiple levels.  D.M. Siciliano has given us another deeply unsettling horror novel but a winner in its own right from Inside.  Horror that is so realistic and palpitatingly dark.  Our future is national disasters, it gives us a lightbulb moment and relinquishes the hold that monsters under our bed once held.  I had a lot of pleasure unfolding this story and I believe you will too. 

Ravynn is such a powerful protagonist in Under Another Sun.  She has a hold over the other characters – predominately Ray (her twin brother), Elena (his wife) and little Amelia (Ravynn’s daughter).  She is an ethereal force to be reckoned with.  She has experienced her fair share of trauma and suffering and knows things she really has no right in knowing.  Her journals are a great source of foretelling and anguish for her now ex-husband and something that maintains the strands of her being and her experiences and traumas. 

Two timelines come crashing together and it felt like watching the beauty and destructive nature of a supernova.  The story had so many layers of tragedy and sublime storytelling that I was unwilling to have my kindle prized out of my greedy little hands!  The setting. The protagonists.  The horror.  It tallied up to an experience.  I felt like I was living and experiencing the events.  I felt the fear.  I felt the worry.  Under Another Sun was stealing the show!  I don’t think I have the necessary words to describe Siciliano’s powerful way of writing.  The drama.  The threatening edge.  The narrative.  It made for a heady mix, and it made me shiver!  You can feel the author’s love for this story.  You can feels its impact escaping through its pages and reaching out to you. 

I really don’t want to give anything away in regard to the storyline but believe me, it’s so worth it.  Time had no consequence for me and the chapters flew by.  I needed answers, I wanted to delve further into the reasonings to some events.  The pace was magnificent, and the last page left me feeling like I had been on rollercoaster. 

Under Another Sun is evocative and dreamlike.  Don’t be fooled by its beautiful cover Siciliano has created something darker than night.  Superbly inventive. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

UQUzp3PO 400x400 - Review: Under Another Sun by D.M. Siciliano

DM is a lover of all things creative. From the moment she could speak, growing up in Massachusetts, she had a passion for flair and drama, putting on concerts for anyone who was even remotely interested (and even for those who were not). A storyteller by nature, she first pursued her young dream of becoming a singing diva while living in Arizona. She soon found that stage life wasn’t the only form of storytelling she craved, so she dropped the mic and picked up a pencil instead. She still hasn’t given up on her diva-ness, and hopes her pencil stays as sharp as her tongue. 

A dark sense of humor and curiosity for haunted houses and things out of the ordinary led her down the path of completing her first novel, Inside. Several other projects are constantly floating around in her head and her laptop daily, and sometimes keeping her up much too late at night. Occasionally, those projects are so dark and twisted, she needs to leave a nightlight on. 

She now lives in Northern California with her two fluffy furbabies, Cezare and Michaleto. 

five stars - Review: Under Another Sun by D.M. Siciliano

Review: Darkened Wings Flutter by Lou Yardley

     Yvonne      2 Comments

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

52161361. SY475 - Review: Darkened Wings Flutter by Lou YardleyDarkened Wings Flutter by Lou Yardley
on April 3rd 2020
Genres: Horror, Moths, Monsters
Pages: 273
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Author
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four stars - Review: Darkened Wings Flutter by Lou Yardley

“The end is nigh when darkened wings flutter…”

The small town of Crow’s Foot Hollow is thrown into turmoil when a local boy called Dwayne goes missing. For teacher Beth Harwood, it soon becomes clear that the nearby forest is connected to his disappearance. Clouded in mystery, scary stories and haunting nursery rhymes, that forest seems like just the kind of place to swallow a young boy whole.

But the forest isn’t the only thing you have to worry about in Crow’s Foot Hollow. Sometimes the dangers are much closer to home. Chuck Graves lives next door to a family with their share of problems - a couple that always argues, a little girl called Imogen who creeps the hell out of everyone - but they appear to be held together by little Ryan who keeps on smiling regardless of what’s going on. Everything appears normal, but Chuck can’t help but wonder what’s going on behind closed doors.

Crawling with monsters big and small, Darkened Wings Flutter wants to get under your skin.

Darkened Wings Flutter is a story that categorically highlight the reasons why everything isn’t as it seems.  A story so dark and evil it makes your insides clench and your spine stiffen.  Lou Yardley has once again stepped up that benchmark of bone aching horror. Review of The Deal Maker.  She knows what her readers ache for and she delivers with eye popping clarity.  This is the kind of horror that unseats you, makes you deftly uncomfortable and hurtles you into the story at one hundred miles per hour.  Moths and Monsters meet humanity.  Cancel your plans, kick back and experience the high dimensional terror that awaits you!

Chuck. Ryan. Imogen. Beth.  Four people who couldn’t be more different.  Valid reactions.  Layer upon layer of mannerisms, strength and for one a realisation of what life has in store for them.  The events that spill out around them breaks the reader down to the extent that you know that you won’t be able to tear the book out of your cold dead fingers!  Individual character arcs balanced so intricately that you have to take your hat off to Lou Yardley.  She spins the story with a remarkable sense of ease but dipped a megaton of dread.  Your heart feels the chill, as does your body – the perfect combination when you have the pleasure of reading a good horror novel. 

Imogen was an almost unattainable figure for me.  She always felt like she was an ethereal being, creeping into the edges of the scene.  Threatening and pulling taut the realms of possibility.  Assessing her prey, appearing when you least expect her.  Her mannerisms appearing as creepy but is it nature or nurture?  Her brother Ryan, is much more approachable, making a firm friendship with the family’s neighbour, Chuck. 

Beth teaches in the local school in Crow’s Foot Hollow (did I mention how much I love that name?)  She has had her run ins with Imogen and feeling extremely unnerved by her aura of creepiness.  She strikes a friendship with Chuck when they pair up to search for Dwayne who mysteriously goes missing during school.  They know the forest is connected somehow to his disappearance but, how?  Chuck has long had his suspicions about his neighbours.  Strange sounds in the middle of the night.  The mum being knocked about by their father.  He’s often wanted to phone social services but what impact would that have on the children? 

I was drawn immediately to Imogen.  I viewed as a sort of Wednesday Adams character.  Her life force surrounded by black magic.  She is a figure that emits such a level of paranoia in you that you constantly have to check over your shoulder for threat.  All the protagonists become connected, in a way that you won’t see coming.  There is a punch to the jugular moment, breaking free within the pain and suffering.  Lou Yardley has exquisitely created characters that make you shiver, make you cower and above all delight in the experience. 

Darkened Wings Flutter is incredibly propulsive and unique.  It chills the marrow and Yardley is proving just how fertile her storytelling is in a populated genre.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

louyardley - Review: Darkened Wings Flutter by Lou Yardley

Planted on this planet by a rogue team of aliens, Lou Yardley has largely been left to her own devices. This has resulted in a coffee addiction, an obsession with hats, and an ever-growing collection of horror stories. These tales are steeped in gore as much as possible, as Lou loves when things get messy. We really don’t want to think about what her home planet is like. We suspect it’s very sticky… and it’s best not to think about what those stains are. I wouldn’t touch anything if I were you.

Until the mothership comes to collect her, Lou is doing her indie horror thing somewhere just outside of London in the UK. She lives with her other half, Mark, and their feline overlords.

You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram or you can get more involved through her mailing list or by becoming a patron. Links are included below.

Lou would like you to know that there should be more horror films with puppets. Puppets are cool.

Links:
www.twitter.com/LouciferSpeaks
www.facebook.com/LouYardley
www.instagram.com/louciferspeaks
www.patreon.com/LouYardley

four stars - Review: Darkened Wings Flutter by Lou Yardley

Review: Mad Hallelujah And Other Oddities by Owen Morgan

     Yvonne      1 Comment

51526453. SX318 SY475 - Review: Mad Hallelujah And Other Oddities by Owen MorganMad Hallelujah by Owen Morgan
Published by Independently Published on September 3, 2019
ISBN: 9781687868091
Genres: Horror, Strange Fiction, Short Stories
Pages: 104
Format: Paperback
Source: Author
Buy on Amazon
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four stars - Review: Mad Hallelujah And Other Oddities by Owen Morgan

"Behold, these mad hallelujahs, we scream into the dark"An already cracked marriage is obliterated with a single word...A hiker is compelled to join a strange child, digging in the woods...A clump of hair in the drain turns out to be much more horrible than it appears...An experiment in rubberisation rebounds in violent fashion at a secret research facility... All this and more is held within these pages, waiting for your eyeballs. Mad Hallelujah and other oddities is the debut poetry and short fiction collection from Owen Morgan, featuring 14 tales to make your skin crawl and your bones dance. These stories will take you to some utterly bizarre, crushingly dark and gloriously absurd places......but at least you'll have some fun along the way.

Mad Hallelujah and other Oddities is a work of literary genius.  Have you ever wished your spouse away with a single word?  How often have you seen a clump of hair stuck in the plug hole and pulled and been surprised by what lays beneath?  Or a beautiful rose bush that signifies something far deeper and darker.  Owen Morgan has delved feet first into topics that lay dormant in the back of our psyche and he has the key to unlock the cage to our darkest fears.  He has made the unthinkable totally and utterly realistic. 

My favourite short story within the collection was either; Flower of Flesh and Blood or The Elgin Incident.  Let me first examine Flower of Flesh and Blood.  It is no secret that I love horror stories that delve into the very scary world of body horror.  Haven’t we all wished our bullies should come to some kind of nasty fate?  Unfortunately, in this story it is the mother that is the abuser.  We have seen how she can inflict damage both mentally and physically upon her son.  She is a woman of little conscience.  Sam has suspected such evil and brutality from her before but with no proof.  He lands himself in hot water with her once again when he destroys her precious rose bushes.  The harrowing scene that follows is a difficult pill to swallow.  She beats her own son bloody with the deceased remnants of said rose bush.  He wishes that she would just go away and leave him.  He’s tired of her draconian ways – what follows is one of the best scenes in body horror I have read.  Gory and vivid, we see just how Morgan’s imagination can come into the fold. 

The Elgin Incident is a brilliant case study of how sometimes an idea should be left well alone.  Stuart Elgin is an incredibly intelligent man…too intelligent.  The idea of creating a real life flubber in a lab was, well, hilarious.  This story was deeply disturbing in its violence, but I couldn’t stop laughing.  It truly deserved a Darwin award.  What could go wrong when developing the world rubbiest rubber?  This is where we see Owen Morgan’s dark and sardonic sense of humour and it is divine!

Mad Hallelujah and Other Oddities is definitely for those that love their horror in bite sized portions.  Creepy and marvellous. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Owen is a writer from South Wales in the UK. He specialises in flash fiction and short stories. His first flash fiction/poetry collection The Great Travelling Graveyard and other brief tales was published in October 2019.

He is also the co-owner of The Abominable Book Club Ltd, the UK’s only horror fiction subscription box.

you can follow him on twitter @ON_morgan or on instagram @on_morgan_, where he is liable to talk about horror movies, professional wrestling, and dumb ideas for stories.

The Abominable Book club

four stars - Review: Mad Hallelujah And Other Oddities by Owen Morgan

Blog Tour: Wizard Ring by Clare Blanchard

     Yvonne      4 Comments

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

47903260. SY475 - Blog Tour: Wizard Ring by Clare BlanchardWizard Ring by Clare Blanchard
Published by Self Published on August 25th 2019
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 284
Format: eBook
Source: Author
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
three stars - Blog Tour: Wizard Ring by Clare Blanchard

I knew nothing about the alchemist John Dee until one winter's night in Prague when I met the ghost of a barber.
My name is Sylvia. I was just a burnt-out teacher with a subversive sense of humour. Then my mother gave me a magic ring made in the Prague workshop of John Dee.
I've never been the same since.

Wizard Ring is a tale of a magical ring.  It is steeped in mystery and intrigue.  It was made in Prague and it has the ability to influence events and people around it.  Unfortunately, these events aren’t always positive.  What would you do if you were given the opportunity to harness a rings power to change events or people’s actions?  Would you grab it with both hands or would you turn it down, knowing that  it’s power would likely lead to some pretty dire consequences.  Navigating the waters of this decision shouldn’t be taken lightly.  This is the plight that Sylvia, our main character is faced with.  What will the sacrifice be? 

Sylvia has had a lifetime of knockbacks.  A religious studies teacher, with a struggle to have any credence in her field of teaching.  A bit of a battle-axe for a mother that appears to have been more than a little cold towards her daughter.  She believes she has finally landed on her feet with her position in prestigious boarding school.  Unfortunately, it all appears to have fallen flat.  The headmistress isn’t interested in addressing concerns that she believes are below her station.  Her position seems untenable.  She has major concerns but with an unapproachable situation. Will the Wizard Ring solve her problems?

Life is about to take a turn when she finds out she is the inheritor of a seriously powerful ring.  It was created by a legendary British alchemist.  The story takes us on a journey of historical proportions, a woman trying to find her way in the world.  Will this ring provide a necessary sense of stability that she has been craving in her career for many years.  This seems like a great instrument to basically getting what you want, but, at what cost?  Could it have implications in other areas of Sylvia’s world? 

The story is a heart-warming tale of family and the dominion of bullies.  It was a quick and entertaining read with the added elements of good vs evil.  The familial relationships with Sylvia’s son and her mother added a necessary human element to the story and developed connections with the readers.  It was highly entertaining.  The author’s writing style was engaging and had moments of knife edge drama. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Clare Krojzl 683x1024 - Blog Tour: Wizard Ring by Clare Blanchard

Originally from the North Yorkshire coast in England, Clare Blanchard spent half her lifetime in Czechia in Central Europe, where her books are mainly set. Inspired by noir fiction, her settings are often like another character in the plot. She writes crime mysteries and dark urban fantasy with a historical twist.

Clare loves beautiful landscapes and architecture, cross-country skiing, the wine of South Moravia, and of course Czech beer. When she’s not being literary she knits funky socks.

www.clareblanchard.com        

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CBcrime

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClareBlanchardBooks/

Website: www.clareblanchard.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clareblanchardbooks/

three stars - Blog Tour: Wizard Ring by Clare Blanchard

Blog Tour: Cupidity by Lucinda Lamont – EXTRACT

     Yvonne      3 Comments

Cupidity banner - Blog Tour: Cupidity by Lucinda Lamont - EXTRACT

cupidity by lucinda lamont - Blog Tour: Cupidity by Lucinda Lamont - EXTRACTCupidity by Lucinda Lamont
Published by Independently Published on May 18, 2019
ISBN: 9781099201004
Genres: Romance
Pages: 256
Format: eBook
Source: Author
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

Britain, World War Two. After newly widowed Martha is invited to live with her wealthy confidante, Mae, she finds herself attracted to her husband.
Meanwhile, an escaped convict is targeting women close to Martha's new home. After several women are murdered, they realize the danger is closer than they could have ever thought.
As Martha's passion threatens to unravel her friendships, paths cross with devastating consequences.

Welcome to my stop for the blog tour, Cupidity by Lucinda Lamont. Thanks to Emma @ Damppebbles for spot on the tour.

Those memories, for Martha, were to be just that. On April 22nd, 1943 life changed. It was one of those life events whereby people say you will never forget it, but it hadn’t been that way for her, she was already beginning to forget. It was one big blur, and that blur lasted for months.

On April 22nd, she had been playing with Willy. She had not long bathed him. He was on his baby towel on the living room floor, and she was drying him off. Although he did bear a slight resemblance to Martha, he was his father’s son, and she loved that. For every day that she missed John, she could look at Willy and know that he was with her. His eyes, although only baby eyes, would bore through her and reach right into her heart and soul. Mostly that soothed her, but sometimes the darkness of his pupils staring into her used to make her nervous and unsettled and wishing that John could be there immediately. She wondered if the baby was an indicator of John’s safety, and that’s why she would have those feelings sometimes. Maybe she could pick up a sixth sense from Willy when John was in danger; after all, he was made by both, he shared both of their genes. She would never know.

When she did see John, he would tell her nothing. He would say that everything was fine and that she shouldn’t worry so much. He was a man, a typical man, but also a gentleman and very loving. She hoped Willy would be just like him. How could he not? A beautiful baby boy. She leaned down and tickled him, and he began to laugh and coo. She then blew a big raspberry on his belly, and he laughed and giggled in sheer delight. His skin so soft and delicate – scrumptious. They played this game for a good few minutes. His laugh was so infectious, how could she stop?

There was a knock at the door. She called out that she would be just a minute. She wrapped little Willy up in his soft baby towel and stroked his face with her index finger.

‘Now you wait there like a good boy, Willy. Mummy will be just a second.’

She got up and wandered just out of sight to the door. The door was a solid wooden one with no window. She patted down her skirt, checked her hair, and, with what would become slow motion in memory, turned the golden latch on the door. The gloomy, poorly lit hallway came to life with beams of the outside world flooding it with colour. On the opposite side of the door to Martha was a boy of about fourteen. He had a plain envelope with a cross on it. Of that moment, that was all Martha could remember.

The boy had delivered a telegram. Martha had known what it was as soon as she saw the envelope. She had heard it before from people she knew quite well and others she barely knew. The news was always delivered by a teenage boy and the envelope would be plain with a cross on it. It was the fastest way of delivering the message. When she opened the door, she didn’t even see his face. She saw the envelope instantly and passed out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lucinda Lamont - Blog Tour: Cupidity by Lucinda Lamont - EXTRACT

Lucinda is 31 years old in lives in Hampshire. Born in Aberdeenshire, she spent the early years of her life in a small fishing town before relocating with her mother to the South Coast.

She is the middle child and only girl with four brothers.

Lucinda began her higher education in studying Performing Arts and then began a degree in Law (but dropped out). She is a qualified hairdresser but the arts always drew her back in and she took up an interest in writing which she now plans to continue to make a career out of.
 
Mother of one, a baby boy, she works part time for a Business publication and spends her spare time soaking up the Hampshire countryside and plotting her next stories.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lucindalamont7

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LucindaLamontAuthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucinda_lamont_author/

Tales of Unexplained Mystery by Steph Young

     Yvonne      1 Comment

49005186. SY475 - Tales of Unexplained Mystery by Steph YoungTales Of Unexplained Mystery by Steph Young
Published by Self Published on November 27th 2019
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 190
Format: eBook
Source: Author
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four stars - Tales of Unexplained Mystery by Steph Young

Tales of Mystery Unexplained.... Do you love Unexplained, cryptic, and intriguing & mysteries? Why was a man found in the same spot he disappeared, but 4 years later, with a hole in his head that no surgeons could explain, and what did this have to do with a séance, doppelgangers, and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln?

Why did a man write the Fibonacci sequence as a clue and tell a stranger he was “Looking for the Beast,” before he disappeared in the barren plains of a desert?

Why did five boys run from their car into the snowy wilderness, to certain death, yet not try to save themselves, at all? They found food but did not eat it. What were they running from? And why?

Who are Hecate? And what did they have to do with people disappearing in the countryside of England?

How did an introverted lady die on the top of an ancient fairy mound, on a remote island: her face locked in an expression of terror?

Why did a man die of fright atop a coal pile after disappearing for days, and why could no scientists identify the strange ointment found on his body? Where had he been? And what had happened to him?

How could a man be found after a plane crash, lying on a moor, with no injuries at all; yet his body had not been there when the plane had crashed and searchers had combed the area multiple times looking for him.

Also featuring an in-depth investigation into the strange death of Elisa Lam, found dead in a water tower on the top of a hotel roof in LA. Who were the two men who came to see her, and what was in the mystery box they gave her?

Steph Young has appeared on national radio shows and podcast including the UK's The Unexplained, and Coast to Coast Am, talking about many of these mysteries of the Unexplained, which are her passion... These stories are some of the most intriguing, enigmatic, and ultimately unfathomable & unexplained true tales I have ever come across and they continue to fascinate and completely puzzle me.

Join me for some true tales of Unexplained mysteries of the most cryptic kind. In this book are strange and baffling true stories of unexplained mysteries, and the cast of characters who star in them. Stories of unexplained mysteries that yearn to be solved. All of these strange and curious stories, I have written about over the last six years, across a number of my previous books. They continue to intrigue me, and while some of my readers may be familiar with some of these cryptic tales, there are many who are not, and I present them once more, in longer and far more extended format, with deeper delving into the strange and mysterious events and the central characters who feature in them, caught in the whirlwind of these strange unexplained mysteries… which still have yet to be solved.

Review

that moment when you receive a review request and it turns out to be just what your black soul had needed.  This book turned out to be all that more.  It just turned out to be the catalyst of great big emotions.  This book capitulates everything mystery.  The title brings it to life, gives it purpose and will have you questioning every little news report you ever recall seeing or hearing.  Is its clear cut?  Is something deeper and more sinister at play?  The book is a creeping shadow, threatening to jump out of the pages and swallow you whole.  Read on for my book review.

Each individual story had me engrossed.  My imagination was racketed up by a thousand notches.  My eyes blurred through tiredness, but I just couldn’t close that damn book!  I imagined the fear, the black ooze dripping down the crease of the book.  The book examines everything about the human condition and throws away the rule book.  Your preconceived ideas will be stamped on and you will question everything you thought you once knew.  Niggles were itching at my brain and I was turning into Poirot trying to conjure up reasonable explanations.  Nothing is as it seems.  The stories however outshine reasoning. 

I was moved, I felt fear and the cold dread was constantly a presence up my spine.  The deaths especially the Elisa Lam story was both heart-breaking and cruel.  The beautiful narrative had her existence coming to life, her experience felt real and haunting.  Steph Young’s writing ensures that you will never leave this story behind. 

The stories were easy to follow and the writing as I’ve said has a real multi-faceted element to it.  The research that the author has conducted was through and far beyond the scope than I expected.  The stories were brought to life in 3-D technicolour.  She gave meaning to these real-life characters and I was left in a bubble of emotion.  She leaves scope for you to form your own opinions.  She chucks you into the back of her truck and takes you along for the ride, whether, you wanted to or not. 

Tales of Mystery Unexplained was a superb read, which I read in intense excitement.  I savoured every dark word and hungered for more.  I look forward to delving more into the world of Steph Young.

Check out Steph’s work – https://www.stephyoungauthor.com/bio

four stars - Tales of Unexplained Mystery by Steph Young