ISBN: 9780441018369
I purchased this book.
Mercy Thompson book 3
This review contains spoilers for earlier books in the series.
Last time, Mercy was kidnapped, magically drugged and brutally raped. Bone Crossed picks up only a week later with Mercy still struggling to deal with her trauma, her newly exposed feelings for pack alpha Adam and now with area vampire queen Marsilia, who knows Mercy killed one of her own, decidedly pissed off at her. Though Mercy knows little of her own kind, being the only skinwalker (natural coyote shifter rather than an attack survivor like most other weres) currently known of, Marsilia knows what the walkers are, having been part of the Frontier-Era war between walker natives and European vampires.
Apparently nothing can kill vampires like a walker, so decades ago the vampires eradicated them. Once willing to let Mercy live as long as she wasn’t killing vampires and she remained useful, Marsillia now has declared war on Mercy, because Mercy was the one who fouled up Marsilia’s plans to make more demon-possessed vampires. But Mercy’s new position in the pack as Adam’s mate complicates things, so instead of attacking Mercy directly Marsilia goes after her friends and allies.
When Stefan, Mercy’s friend and Marsilia’s vampire, shows up, near dead and nearly mad with hunger Mercy is sure Marsilia sent him to kill her. Struggling to fight panic attacks and trying to form a healthy relationship with people around her Mercy also finds herself having to face down people who not only want to victimize her again, but who are willing to use her’s friend to re-victimize her.
Bone Crossed is full of emotional realism, even if it’s also full of vampires, fairies, ghosts and shape shifters. Characters who were already real before now deepen from fleshy and familiar to true friends of readers traveling with them.
The emotional turmoil is also balanced with action, manipulation and a complicated enough plot to prevent the book from coming off as sheer emotional angst over past events. Mercy is the definition of the plucky survivor, tough, but not immortal, snarky and defiant, but not suffering from Mary Sue Syndrome.
Bone Crossed is a good read, definitely not the place in the series to start, but a satisfying addition to the series. This series continues to deliver, creating a more complex world, but not one muddled by world rules violations, or mid stream changes in style or personality. Bone Crossed will both sate readers and keep them looking for more.
Black Jack Derringer: The Ace of Spades is like one of those little four-piece Whitman’s Samplers. You end up with a good idea of what the story’s going to be, but it’s over and gone just when you’re really ready for more.
Wild Alice West is not a woman for breeding or homemaking or any of the other things the Wild West-flavored land called the Skillet considers women good for. She’s a bounty hunter, plagued by a bit of bad luck, a mouth that constantly gets her in trouble, a society that can’t respect her and the fastest shot she’s ever met. (She’s humble too….)
Full Review at DarkScribeMagazine.com
I must confess–I love snark. Dry humor, witty insults, intellectual irony. Give me The Devil’s Dictionary or any absurdist play and I’ll suck it up. This is probably why I find myself drawn to authors like Terry Pratchett and genres like urban fantasy, where wit and attitude are delicious little bonbons inside the story.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls (prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) had me from page one.
“Mr. Ford was as well behaved as any corpse could be expected to be. In fact, he lay stretched out on the bier looking almost as stiff and expressionless in death as he had been in life, and Oscar Bennet, gazing upon his not-so-dearly-departed neighbor, could but think to himself, You lucky sod.”
Mr. Hockensmith, you had me at “well behaved corpse”.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a ironic, sassy romp through the England of classic literature (and zombies). It’s a “Hell Yes!” inducing book for anyone who ever had to dissect stodgy, self-important prose in high school English class.
Despite deserved criticism on the concept (but I doubt any of these mash ups are intended to be lasting, stately examples of “literature”) this book brings a sorely needed element to the both the zombie and high literary genres–humor. P&P&Z: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a reminder that reading, first and foremost, is supposed to be an enjoyable experience. In times like this, especially, we need to know that it’s okay kick back and enjoy, rather than analyzing and studying until the world around us lacks context and meaning. We can temper the horrible, the bloody and the overbearing and self important with skilled writing, enchanting characters and make reading a pleasurable way to spend the time again.
And speaking of fun If you go here (Quirk’s webpage) and post that my review sent you there we (that is you too!) will be entered to win one of 50 Quirk Classic Prize Packs (worth over $100), which include:
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- An advance copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
- Audio Books of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
- A password redeemable online for sample audio chapters of Dawn of the Dreadfuls
- An awesome Dawn of the Dreadfuls Poster
- A Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Journal
- A box set of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Postcards
With Skull Full of Kisses Michael West throws his tales into the long list of single-author collections available to horror readers today. With ten tales of love and monsters, Skull Full of Kisses gives readers more meat than many other lengthier collections out there.
West’s style is easy to read, but well-paced and well-formed, delivering solid stories page after page….
Full review at DarkScribeMagazine.com
27
Feb
Interviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Eric S Brown is a 34 year old author living in NC. He has been called “the king of zombies” by places like Dread Central and was featured in the book Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead as an expert on the genre. Some of his books include Space Stations and Graveyards, Dying Days, Portals of Terror, Madmen’s Dreams, Cobble, The Queen, The Wave, Waking Nightmares, Unabridged Unabashed and Undead: The Best of Eric S Brown, Barren Earth, Season of Rot, War of the Worlds Plus Blood Guts and Zombies, World War of the Dead, Zombies II: Inhuman, etc. He was the editor of the anthology Wolves of War from Library of Horror Press. Some of his upcoming titles include Bigfoot War, The Human Experiment, Anti-Heroes, and Tandems of Terror. His short fiction has been published hundreds of times. Some of his anthology appearances include Dead Worlds I,II, III, and V, The Blackest Death I & II, The Undead I & II, Dead History, Dead Science, Zombology I & II, The Zombist, and the upcoming Gentlemen of Horror 2010 to name only a few.
He also writes an ongoing column on the world of comic books for Abandoned Towers magazine.
ML: First, why don’t you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your most recent releases?
ESB: Some of my best releases last year were War of the Worlds Plus Blood Guts and Zombies, Season of Rot, World War of the Dead, and a zombie SF book entitled Barren Earth. Coming this year, I have my first two superhero books (The Human Experiment and Anti-Heroes), a new giant sized collection with John Grover called Tandems of Terror, and a paperback novella called Bigfoot War (from Coscom Entertainment). I think Bigfoot War is one of the most carnage filled and fun things I have ever written.
ML: You’re well known as a zombie author. Lately there’s been a lot of disillusionment with the sub genre, with many people blaming tired plots and recent mash ups, like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, for a decline in zombie fiction. What’s your take on this?
ESB: I think Zombies are one of those monsters that rises up in popularity and hits the world like a nuclear bomb from time to time then goes back to being a cult thing until the dead rise again. There are tons of great zombie books out there but there are also tons of not so great ones. Like anything else, you just have to be careful what you buy so you don’t waste your cash. With War of the Worlds Plus Blood Guts and Zombies, my retelling of H.G. Wells’ alien invasion classic, I did my best to take it seriously and deliver a hard hitting Z tale not a parody.
ML: Likewise, horror in general is often dismissed or over looked by readers and libraries because of the belief that it’s all Freddy, Jason and Hostel type stories. Do you believe that horror is a genre that appeals to readers of more mundane stories, or do you think people are wrongly dismissing it?
ESB: I think it’s a bit of both. Horror fans expect a certain formula and go looking for that in general but the more discerning horror reader
stays on the quest to find that new and original masterpiece that will leave them having nightmares and talking about it for weeks.
ML: In the same vein, what are some horror classic that you believe deserve a place on more reading lists?
ESB: F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep is one of my favorite WWII horror novels. It inspired my own book World War of the Dead. I would also list
Earthworm Gods, Empire, Swan Song, and Dead in the West as must read books. If we’re talking school reading lists though, I think H.P. Lovecraft’s work should replace most of the Poe stuff they teach.
ML: What’s the draw to horror for you, as a writer and a reader?
ESB: I like to be terrified and disgusted. Can’t help it, it’s who I am. I also love action so I tend to steer more to horror with a war, military edge to it. Some good examples would be Aliens, Z. A. Recht’s books, and again F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep.
ML: What are some of your goals, as you write and edit your books? What do you want readers to take from them?
ESB: I always put a bit of me in each of my works whether that’s just my inner child/zombie fan part coming out and playing or deciding to
include a moral message behind the battle of good vs. evil. Above all, I want my readers to have a good time and read the kind of stuff I enjoy as a fan.
ML: So, why zombies and not vampires, or werewolves?
ESB: Zombies are the modern monster. They fit better with our world today and they are a lot scarier. The idea of a virus or plague alone killing so many people is disturbing enough in its self but toss in them getting back up and chewing your face off with no remorse and you have a winner in tears of fear.
ML: How do you think the sub genre has changed since the original zombie movies like, White Zombie, Things to Come and Night of the Living Dead? How has the zombie itself changed?
ESB: The zombie is constantly changing, getting smarter, faster, even hopping species. That’s one of the great things about the
sub-genre. Everyone is trying to do something new with it but keep that old end of the world, flesh eating fear intact.
ML: What do you look for in a good book?
ESB: Well developed characters that move me, an interesting plot, and above all, enough action to make me dream about it and keep me turning the pages as fast as I can read.
ML: Finally, what are you working on right now?
ESB: I just finished The Human Experiment and am for the moment caught up on longer projects so I am writing mostly short fiction and my columns until I feel ready to return hardcore to the world of zombies with a brand new book that has been growing in the back of my mind. You can find some of my short fiction this year in anthologies like The Zombist, Dead History, Dead Worlds 5, Gentlemen of Horror, an upcoming installment of the Zombology series, and others. I will also be adding chapters to Pill Hill Press’s upcoming collab zombie novel they will be releasing this Fall/Winter (2010).
25
Feb
Yasmin Stoker is a tour guide in one of the most haunted fictional cities ever. She’s also a wraith, an undead creature who feeds off the life of revenants — that is mindless, murderous newly-risen vampires. Nicomedes, a blind, mad Lich Lord and undead ruler of the city, orders Yasmin to derail a PI’s investigation into a series of murders of young girls. Yasmin has no choice but to obey, but the strange appearance of one of victims, prowling the streets on hunts of her own, takes Yasmin on an adventure to find the killer, which might just unbalance the current power system and let loose a horde of demons on the city….
Full Review at DarkScribeMagazine.com
ISBN: 9781439167618
I was given this book to review.
Book three in the Megan Chase series finds Megan, human ruler of a demon clan and psychiatrist, in more trouble. This time Megan is preparing for a big time demon meeting, where a cluster of inhuman beings will try to force her into performing a ceremony that would make her a full demon. It doesn’t help that an FBI agent arrives at her office, offering immunity if she’ll just testify against the other demons (most of whom run various illegal cartels, not to mention they all seem to attract bodies in large quantities), which includes Megan’s rather serious boyfriend, fire demon Greyson Dante.
Megan finds unexpected pressure put on her relationship as the meeting starts, not from the FBI, but from the realization that if she is to have any future with him she will have to become a demon, or let him go forever. Balancing her wants against her needs, and the needs of her clan of “personal demons” is hard enough without the appearance of an angel, who is most definitely trying to kill her. Now Megan must find out who sent the angel, defeat it, decide whether she values her humanity or Greyson more and most importantly: Survive.
Demon Possessed is fast, a little confused at the beginning as all the threads present themselves but before they come together as one related plot. Megan is a bold urban fantasy heroine, who unlike others doesn’t seem to be opposed to being rescued, married, and playing a female-oriented role, she just doesn’t want to lose herself to other peoples’ demands on her. As emotional as the previous book, Demon Inside, but focusing on Megan’s future rather than her past, Demon Possessed is at times hard to stomach due to intensity of emotion, not intensity of graphic violence. But it’s a good read, and a sad farewell to Megan and Greyson and their family, as this is the last anticipated book in the series.
In January 2010 Apex Magazine kicks the year off with a special 2012/End of the World edition. Featuring the essay “2012: The Good, the Bad, and the Apocalyptic” by Dr. Amy Sturgis and an Editorial Disposition column from Editor-in-Chief Jason Sizemore on our obsession with the end this edition offers more than just fiction for those who love speculations of the future.
The fiction offerings include; “Wondrous Days” by Genevieve Valentine, a disturbing tale about a scientifically engineered end of the world, in Mayan fashion, designed to reset things and fix the problems humans inflicted on the planet; and “White Christmas” by James F. Reilly, a story it seems we can all relate to this particular winter, where the end comes in a blanket of snow and human desperation, yet somehow fails to completely suppress the human spirit.
The February 2010 issue kicks off with “p.a. chic” by Tobias Amadon Bengelsdorf. Birthing the wisest bit of advice to come from Apex in a while, “Dystopia is best viewed from a distance.” this tale is strongly reminiscent of Matheson’s I Am Legend, without the company of mutation and monsters.
“The Lady or the Tiger” by J.M. McDermott is a science fiction farming tale, strongly familiar to the style of Rudyard Kipling, and his peers of the late 1800s era. A juxtaposition of that strong, exotic storytelling style, and a landscape of alien planets and crash landings the elements are blended well and make for a very interesting read.
“The Killing Streets” by Colin Harvey rounds out the February issue. A strongly spun tale of a future where government “precautions” (and secrecy) and bio lab mucking about have resulted in the city streets being haunted by disease and a species of mole-like animal that eats human prey. Despite the drastic (but not terribly far-fetched) world differences, Thom is facing real, modern problems; struggling to care for an aging parent, and deciding whether to live with the woman he loves, but who can’t support the family she already has, and remaining in his existing marriage with a woman he no longer loves, but who keeps him comfortably supported. The focus is on the emotional life of the story, making this tale easier to relate to than some of the other science fiction tales out there.
Apex Magazine continues to delivers fine fiction and appears to have also taken on the task of challenge itself to change its tempo and tune in its quest for excellence.