Gore by Kane Szoke

Gore is a grimdark story set in a dystopian world and tells of the warrior Gore – a man born in a sea of blood as his mother lay dying, who fights demons... those without and within. Fated to battle with the demonic Goredus, who himself is battling his brothers, Gore must attempt to navigate the harsh landscape of the nightmare around him and in his mind. As Gore faces what may be an enemy too strong for him, he must accept aid where he can. But when the pale knight sees the Red Sea, Gore knows his journey is just beginning and he must not become a head on Death’s belt.

 

The book is short but sets the main character up for further volumes. Initially, you think the story starts with Gore looking for a girl. Then it changes dramatically and shifts into a demonic dreamscape where Gore battles to keep his identity intact. He is constantly reminded of his failures by those taunting him and his inability to keep the ones he loves safe. This pulling on his psyche and forcing him to confront his past and future, makes for a physical and psychological battle that becomes emotive to read.

 

The imagery in the book is almost overwhelming. The descriptions of tortured bodies and entrails and blood was continuous. I could just picture a landscape devoid of joy and filled with everchanging nightmares. Sometimes it became a bit too much.

 

The book seemed to have language suited slightly higher than YA, and occasionally it became difficult to picture where you were as thoughts mingled with reality and mingled with memories and you had to reread passages to see if you were in a dream or in the present world. The proofing was good but often too many adjectives were used to tell us how people felt. This was my first foray into grimdark fantasy and while the story had merit, it wasn’t enough to make me want to find out more of Gore’s journey.

 

Thanks to Reedsy and the author for the opportunity to review the book.

The Girl in the Fire by Sarah K Stephens

Grace really loves Damien... or so he thinks. So why would she disappear just before their wedding? When looking for clues as to where she could have gone, he finds a newspaper article with her picture in it claiming she died in a fire many years before and that her name was Leanne. What is going on?

 

As Damien investigates further into family relations, he finds out that secrets are buried behind secrets. And that revealing some of the secrets could be deadly.

 

The premise of this book had me really excited as I love a good and well-thought-out psychological thriller. But it kind of left me hanging. The idea is great and the short chapters between POVs from the present to the past make you want to jump to the next chapter each time one finishes. It does become a little confusing to keep up with the characters and name changes at times but you do get into it.

 

My issues were with the story itself. I get that not every book needs to be thoroughly explained or tied up with a bow but so many subplots and parts of the story were left open or were ended so quickly they made little sense. Leanne and Tasha’s big plan was so slow in the making and the explanation felt unfinished. There will always be unlikeable characters in books, but there were more unlikable characters in this book than likeable ones. And the more you read, the more your empathy switched sides.

 

But no. Once the physicality started and the reasons behind things were explained, it just got “really???” Grace’s life choice was eye-raising and if the family had had one decent conversation, none of this would have happened. It felt like too many forced twists and turns to explain it all. And the lack of comma before direct address drove me nuts!

 

The idea was great but the slow execution, leading to a fast and forced reveal, made for a disappointing last page turn.

 

Thanks to Voracious Readers Only and the author for the opportunity to review the book.

Snow Star: Fading Stars by Susanne Ertl

When Namila, a hunter of night walkers for the Elites, encounters a naked girl on her doorstep in winter begging to stay with her for a while, she is completely confused. Where could this girl, Astara, have come from? And how could she let her stay at her home while out hunting each night? These questions open up a new world to Namila, where she learns that there is a lot more out there than the horizon and that what she believed about who her enemies were might not be true...

 

This is a very short book and the first of four, so I presume each will cover a season. The book opens with a conundrum straight away, which draws you in and leaves you with questions about Astara, who the Elites and night walkers are, and why Namila seems to be somewhat of an outcast. Then the addition of Trean makes for a lovely dynamic of job versus relationship.

 

I liked Namila’s balance between being a kickass hunter and wanting to be alone and not vulnerable in sharing emotions, with her opening her heart to Astara and then wanting to trust Trean. When the possibility that the Elites were lying to her and that the night walkers may have a different agenda came up, it seemed Namila was conflicted. But her true colours shone through and she went with her heart.

 

The editing was good with only a few mistakes. (The mix of straight and curly quotes irked somewhat, however!) The book was well written but very short so it was a pity that place and people descriptions were not as developed as I’d liked and it felt like more could have been explained about the conflicts and about the hidden agendas (the priest) and more about the star memories that were not meant to remain that were still there. But the ending does have a great lead into the next book!

 

Thanks to Reedsy Discovery and the author for the opportunity to review the book.

Eyes of the Spyglass by Steven Wagner

If you need an undercover issue sorted then Max Wayne is your guy. A spy and master in anticipating and then fixing, Max will stop at nothing to bring down the bad guys. So when he is presented with a cyber case, Mac pulls in a hacker to complement his abilities. However, they are kidnapped and it seems there are a number of people playing both sides. The world needs Max so it’s time for him to use his special abilities...

 

The premise of the novel and dealing with cyber crimes leading to an actual physical kidnap sounded very intriguing and I was looking forward to learning something “behind the scenes” about cyberwarfare. However, from the start, it became difficult to read the book.

 

It is written in present tense but with the reader being the main character, so it’s all “You pick up the pen and write” or “You turn the pc on”. This makes for a lot of uses of “you” and as you read the word keeps jumping out over and over again. The first 8% of the book is mainly taken up by Max declaring he is going to take the billionaire down and looking at files and “steeling himself” (this is said a lot) for the investigation as justice needs to be done. It is repeated over and over that he is determined to get justice and is looking through files. All of a sudden “you” becomes Max and the present tense moves into past so “Max narrowed his eyes”. Then it jumped back again. Certain paragraphs were repeated from one page to the next (not just once but a couple of times) and hard section breaks are missing to indicate a change in place – in one paragraph he is in his office and in the next he is in the billionaire’s office and is able to glimpse at his monitor and almost figure out his plan. All this after basically being in the office for five minutes and saying the billionaire could use better security and the guy just agreeing. No checks into backgrounds, no lead into why his company is better.

 

There is a lack of information and a lot more filler. Evidence is presented about the attacks but nothing is actually explained. Instead, you get sentences like this that take up the majority of the writing: The weight of responsibility settles on your shoulders, heavy and unyielding. You know that the choices you make in the coming hours will shape the fate of countless lives, that the path ahead is fraught with danger. It does not bring the narrative forward at all. And roughly seventy times, it is said: “For you are Max Wayne, the protector who never rests / harbinger / seasoned spy etc. etc.” Or in one chapter the hacker explains to Max that the billionaire took everything from their family and ruined them and in the next chapter Max asks if the hacker’s vendetta is personal. It felt like things were being said for the sake of being said.

 

The characters are not always described so it was difficult to envisage them and some didn’t have names. So when tech billionaire was mentioned I wasn’t sure whether it was the one they were looking for or not as the second time he meets him the guy doesn’t seem to recognise him.

 

I struggled through this as it could not keep me interested and even at the end I had no clue what the billionaire had actually done (I understood the general idea but the specifics are not elaborated on). The kidnap section seemed an afterthought and over in three pages. But what really confused me was when it was all done, his name was printed in the paper along with the expose on what he did. But he is supposed to be a super-secret spy!

 

Thanks to Reedsy Discovery and the author for the opportunity to review the book. Two stars from me.

The Bluff by Bonnie Traymore

Kate Breslow moved to a beautiful house on Crest Lake with her husband Ryan. It was against her wishes as she had a thriving job and really loved living in the city but she loved Ryan and didn’t want to go against his choice. Now Ryan is dead, having died in a car accident that is still under investigation. And the house she poured all her money into is sitting on a crumbling bluff.

 

Kate is on a committee to decide on a course of action to correct this but there are a number of different opinions and a group of extreme environmentalists who don’t seem to play by the rules. As things start happening to those on the committee, old secrets are brought up and indiscretions exposed. It seems someone is out for revenge, but the reason for the revenge might not be what they think it is.

 

This definitely had another edge coming into it than your usual thriller as there were so many characters keeping secrets that landed up intersecting with each other. It is a quick read but some arcs are slow in coming as the characters keep mentioning past secrets that are horrific or things they are hiding and yet they turned out not to be.

 

I found the technical aspects very interesting when it came to what could be done to stop the bluff from crumbling. It must be a nightmare to have land so close to the edge when Mother Nature decides to take some back. I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to “pick your house up” and move it backwards.

 

I can well imagine that in such a small place people’s lives are going to interfere with one another and relationships will be tested but it also showed what a lack of communication and friendship can cause. The different POVs that drove the story made for an interesting look at different sides and the psychological explanations of narcissists/psychopaths/sociopaths were illuminating.

 

The story was easy to read if a little slow in places and there were some unanswered questions. No cliffhanger as such but when the end arrived, I did turn the page to look for more. The twist is also not that surprising as there are clues in the inactivity.

 

Overall a good read that brought an interesting perspective into a domestic thriller and made people question the severity of punishment based on what led to the crime.

 

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to review the book.

The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan

The Obelisk Treasure that came off the pirate ship has been a drawcard to Maple Bay for years. People have searched high and low, from townsfolk to visitors, and each has come up empty handed. Or have they?

 

Peter has been contacted by the grandmother he never knew to come back to Bellwoods in Maple Bay – a large estate that has been in the family for years. Dandy is a teen who fancies herself the next Nancy Drew and when she recently lost her Grandy, he left her a clue about a secret society she just has to follow up on. Then there is Cass who, after having a successful YA book published, has developed writer’s block. Luckily, she has taken up an offer to look after a house in Maple Bay and the fates are definitely conspiring to get these three together. But where will the meeting of the trio take them?

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this as a classic treasure tale. The way that the old town’s secrets mixed with the new made for a good guessing game. The clues led in unexpected directions and then more clues were added to prove the directions wrong. I loved how the ripple effect was wider than expected but that so many were willing to forgive.

 

The characters were a great foil for each other and the amalgamation of enthusiastic innocence versus world-weary experience worked well together. Dandy was definitely my favourite character and her bravery astonishing. Cass was an odd one as I wasn’t entirely sure if she really needed to be there. As for Peter, well he certainly had no clue what the invitation would bring. The descriptions of places and scenes were very well done and easy to imagine – the staircase must have been quite something!

 

The writing was very easy to read and it was just comfortable to sit with a cup of tea and fly through the book. I definitely recommend it for a fun-filled spirited mystery whose history and the secrets it kept buried will keep you second guessing yourself until the end.

 

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to review the book.

Don't Lie to Me by Willow Rose

Eva Rae Thomas has moved back to her hometown with her three children. She has left the FBI to focus on the kids, seeing as her husband decided to leave her. But even her good intentions of staying away from cases don’t help when she is caught up in a murder straight away.

 

Sophie Williams, a rising surfing star, has gone missing from a scout camp. When her body is discovered, it leads to a string of abducted and murdered children that leaves the police confounded. Eva is asked for assistance and when videos surface of the killer blaming divorce and the consequences on children for the reason behind the abductions, Eva knows time is of the essence. But with memories of her abducted sister coming to mind, Eva knows this one will feel close to home. She just doesn’t realise how much...

 

I’ve read a number of books by this author but each series I start I feel disappointed. There are always too many ideas and things thrown into the plot and some lead nowhere while others are meant to hint at the ending but majority never do. There are just too many “huh?” moments in this to allow you to read the book and escape into it.

 

So firstly you have a killer who is doing this to show their deep hatred of divorce and the consequences it has on the children. The killer is killing innocent children to prove this? Um, why? Then you have an ex-FBI agent who has no jurisdiction but constantly goes into crime scenes, gets involved, and the police are so befuddled that she has to join them? But does not actually use her profiling skills. She has promised to be more of a mother now that she has all this time with her children but cannot keep up with groceries, laundry, or school events because she is too busy helping her old flame in the police and even leaves her hyperactive child in the car while she checks out a crime scene?

 

I found the writing stilted to read and the chapters that were in the child’s POV were written in an adult voice. Then there were so many kids either left alone overnight or not contacted in months and the number of times people said Sophie would be the next Kelly Slater was crazy. There are other surfers from Cocoa Beach! And the mother turning a blind eye to their child being molested so that they could be coached by the best? I don’t think so! And the abuse of one of Eva’s friends? What did that have to do with the whole story? A subplot that didn’t add anything.

 

Then when the killer is outed (which was a very unrealistic time grudge to hold) the families carry on as though “Oh well, these things happen” when for it not to be noticed was highly suspect.

 

It started out with a hook but landed up going in tangents and not a series I would continue as I didn’t connect with any of the characters.

 

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review the book.