February 21, 2007
Monster Island by David Wellington, 3
Book description: It's one month after a global disaster. The most "developed" nations of the world have fallen to the shambling zombie masses. Only a few pockets of humanity survive — in places rife with high-powered weaponry, such as Somalia.
In New York City, the dead walk the streets, driven by an insatiable hunger for all things living. One amongst them is different; though he shares their appetites he has retained his human intelligence. Alone among the mindless zombies, Gary Fleck is an eyewitness to the end of the world — and perhaps the evil genius behind it all.
From the other side of the planet, a small but heavily-armed group of schoolgirls-turned-soldiers has come in search of desperately needed medicine. Dekalb, a former United Nations weapons inspector, leads them as their local guide. Ayaan, a crack shot at the age of sixteen, will stop at nothing to complete her mission. They think they are prepared for anything. On Monster Island they will find that there is something worse even than being undead, as Gary learns the true price of survival.
Review: I love Zombie fiction but I’m more of a fan of traditional zombies. I’m not too fond of thinking zombie plots so the overall plot of the book didn’t work for me. But this book did have some good gory moments and was entertaining enough to hold my interest. The plot of the next book in this series sounds interesting so I may read it. If you like horror fiction you may want to give this one a look.
Category, Horror|
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August 15, 2006
Blood to Blood: The Dracula Story Continues by Elaine Bergstrom, 3 1/2
Book description: After her second trip to Romania, Mina Harker returns to London -- finally free of Lord Dracula's spell. Building a new life for herself, she must find a place for her unleashed desires in her marriage to her husband, Jonathan. But Jonathan's nightmares signal that another of the vampire kind, one who has tasted of his blood, still walks the earth -- and is coming for him.
Review: Blood to Blood is the sequel to Mina. The story follows the characters from Dracula as their paths cross with Dracula’s sister, Joanna. This is a very good follow up to Mina but I found myself wishing it focused on Mina herself more. I wanted to read more about Mina’s troubled marriage and her charity work. Much of the book is about Joanna learning to live again without her brother’s influence. Joanna is an interesting character though and her story was enjoyable enough. I’ve really enjoyed the writing in this series and will seek out Bergstrom’s other work.
Category, Horror|
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March 07, 2006
Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice, 4
Book description: Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force–a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses.
Review: I loved the Vampire Chronicles as a teenager but haven’t read them in years. I wasn’t even sure if I read them again I would still like them since the direction the series too was bitterly disappointing. However, I found the familiarity of the characters and the story comforting and still quite enjoyable. Interview with the Vampire was never my favorite book in the series, Louis is a bit too morose for my taste. Anne’s writing is overly descriptive and this book has many boring patches. But it’s still one of the better books in the series. I actually listened to it in audio book format this time around. Not usually a format I enjoy but I needed something to make my long college commute more bearable. The narrator was quite good but the mispronunciation of names was jarring. If you like vampire fiction you can’t miss this book.
Category, Horror|
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February 12, 2006
Cell by Stephen King, 4 1/2
Book description: On October 1, God is in His heaven, the stock market stands at 10,140, most of the planes are on time, and Clayton Riddell, an artist from Maine, is almost bouncing up Boylston Street in Boston. He's just landed a comic book deal that might finally enable him to support his family by making art instead of teaching it. He's already picked up a small (but expensive!) gift for his long-suffering wife, and he knows just what he'll get for his boy Johnny. Why not a little treat for himself? Clay's feeling good about the future.
That changes in a hurry. The cause of the devastation is a phenomenon that will come to be known as The Pulse, and the delivery method is a cell phone. Everyone's cell phone. Clay and the few desperate survivors who join him suddenly find themselves in the pitch-black night of civilization's darkest age, surrounded by chaos, carnage, and a human horde that has been reduced to its basest nature...and then begins to evolve.
There's really no escaping this nightmare. But for Clay, an arrow points home to Maine, and as he and his fellow refugees make their harrowing journey north they begin to see crude signs confirming their direction: KASHWAK=NO-FO. A promise, perhaps. Or a threat...
Review: Confession time: I’ve never read anything by Stephen King before. But I can’t pass up a good zombie (or zombie-like in this case) story so I had to pick this up. I loved it. The mystery behind the cell phone zombies’ behavior had me hooked from beginning to end. The characters weren’t just disposable cannon fodder, I cared about every one of them. The ending was perfect. I’m really glad I read this.
Category, Horror|
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November 11, 2005
Mina by Elaine Bergstrom, 
Book description: In Bram Stoker’s immortal classic, Dracula, an extraordinary woman named Mina Harker became one of the vampire’s many victims.
The evil Count Dracula came to her in the night—a demon lover—opening a vein in his chest and pressing her lips to the wound.
Filled with inexplicable desire, Mina drank his blood, and from that moment on, his seductive power filled her senses with strange, forbidden longings. Only one thing saved her soul from eternal damnation: a stake driven through the monster's heart.
But was the spell truly broken? Mina had tasted the vampire's blood and known the exquisite pleasure he alone could give her. And she had been changed.
For how could a mortal woman return to a normal life and marriage when she burned with the shameful passion Dracula had aroused...when a timeless love, dark and desperate, refused to die?
Review: I liked this one. I didn't really love anything about it but it kept my interest through out. Mina's voice rang true for me and there's something very amusing about her being unhappy because Jonathan is terrible in bed. This book also utilized some of the side characters from Dracula well and the original characters were interesting and didn't seem out of place. The only major complaint I have is that for a sequel to Dracula, there really should have been more Dracula in it. Fans of Dracula should give this a look. I liked the writing enough to try another vampire book by this writer.
Category, Horror|
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September 28, 2004
Hawkes Harbor by S. E. Hinton, 9
Book Description: An orphan and a bastard, Jamie Sommers grew up knowing he had no hope of heaven. Conceived in adultery and born in sin, Jamie was destined to repeat the sins of his parents -or so the nuns told him. And he proved them right. Taking to sea, Jamie sought out danger and adventure in exotic ports all over the world as a smuggler, gunrunner-and murderer. Tough enough to handle anything, he's survived foreign prisons, pirates, and a shark attack. But in a quiet seaside town in Delaware, Jamie discovered something that was enough to drive him insane-and change his life forever. For it was in Hawkes Harbor that Jamie came face to face with the ultimate evil....
Review: This was originally intended to be part of HarperCollins’ Dark Shadows book series. However, the book was rejected due to content but was published anyway with the names of the characters and locations changed. As a Dark Shadows novel, it succeeds beautifully. It revolves around Jamie (Willie) and takes us through his days at sea, to his stay in the insane asylum and, finally, his life as a servant to the temperamental vampire, Greenville (Barnabas). My favorite part of the novel was the changing relationship between Jamie and Greenville. Their transition from slave and master to friends was a subtle and interesting one. This book is a must have for Dark Shadows fans. However, if you aren’t a fan of Dark Shadows it probably isn’t for you. The book never strays far from it source material and it assumes readers are very familiar with the show’s plot. If you are a big fan of S.E. Hinton’s writing it may be worth it to grab a Dark Shadows plot summary and trudge through anyway.
Category, Horror|
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September 24, 2003
Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore, ****
A vampire comedy about Jody, a woman who was recently made a vampire against her will. She has no clue what vampires are suppose to do in her situation but she figures she needs someone to do her bidding during the day. So she picks up Tommy, a gullible and horny aspiring writer. Things are going as well as can be expected with Jody and Tommy until the vampire that turned her decides to screw with their heads.
This book was pretty darn amusing and full of offbeat humor. I loved the oddball characters and quirky situations littered through out the book. I wasn't overly interested in the plot but that didn't really matter much. This is the only Christopher Moore book I've read but I'll most likely be reading more. If you like wacky humor with a little horror and romance then you should try this book.
Category, Horror|
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July 13, 2003
Merrick by Anne Rice, *
This is the absolute worst book I've ever read! I don't even know where to start with listing all that is bad about it! The title character is as dull as she is annoying and the tie in with the Mayfair witches is just a lame publicity stunt. All of the returning characters are twisted till they are unrecognizable. David is turned from a refined British gentleman who just happens to be gay to a perverted molester of little girls. Lestst (yes he is in the book) seemed in character at first but that didn't last long. He was way too accepting of events. If any of this stuff had happened around the real Lestat he would have thrown a big temper tantrum and started incinerating things. I don't want to reveal too much about Claudia but I will say that something happens with her that will forever taint Interview With the Vampire And worst of all is Louis. I'm not buying him and Merrick as a couple to say the least.
I was being generous when I gave it a star but there are a few things that I enjoyed about this book. Very few. My favorite part of the book is when Louis is telling David about the daguerreotype that was taken of Claudia before she died. That scene just rang true for me. A few of the other Louis/David scenes had merit too...... just not much.
Avoid this books at all costs!! If you must satisfy your morbid curiosity then borrow it from the library and if you must own it get it from a used book store. Anne Rice doesn't deserve to profit off this crap.
Category, Horror|
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