Scared $*%&less by The Spirit Chaser

Wow.  It’s been a long time since I read something that scared the ever-livin’ you know what out of me as I read it.  The anxiety, the butterflies in my stomach, finding myself literally-sitting-on-the-edge-of-my-seat as I read, the pure hatred that I can’t speed read 1,000 words a minute because I have to know what happens next, and the creepy goosebumps because the story is scary and – like while watching any horror movie – the feeling in the pit of your stomach that you just know that things aren’t going to end well…. well The Spirit Chaser by Kat Mayor had it all in spades.  OMG.  It was Awe.Some!  And I so hope there is a sequel of some sort!  I haven’t had a book run me through this particular gamut of emotions since Michael Scott’s Image (and sequel, Reflection).  Creepy!   I would say Anna Dressed in Blood did this too, but Anna was YA (aka PG-rated) and this one had the added bonus of being adult (between all the blood-draining-from-my-face scary as crap scenes there were some rushing-blood-to-my-face steamy as crap scenes between Austin and Casey), so if you are looking for something totally scary but a little steamy too, this is where it lives!

Austin Cole is the star of a TV show called SCI – Spirit Chaser Investigations – where he and his team investigate homes and other places, looking for ghosts.  When an investigation goes wrong at a warehouse and his best psychic (and best friend) ends up injured and refuses to be part of the team anymore, Austin needs to find a replacement.  Enter Casey, a tough psychic who steps into place and becomes part of the team.  But, the warehouse was just the beginning of a terrifying story.  Two more super creepy places are tainted by so much evil that Austin, Casey and the rest of the SCI team have a huge battle to face.  There are ghosts, demons, and terrifying exorcisms between the pages.  Need to be convinced as to how creepy this book is?  All you need to do is look at the cover picture as it sets the perfect tone.

I got goosebumps more than once while reading this.  And shivered from the chills plenty of times.  The temperature in the rooms with the ghosts was not the only chilling going on while reading this.  The settings were downright disturbing and the action while trying to chase the ghosts and/or demons away was excellent.  The character building was great, and the scenes with Austin and Casey’s families made their characters so much more real and likeable.  Austin, for the most part, is a dream.  Ok, maybe he’s a little over the top in a few areas, but really he’s pretty innocent and looking to to make sure Casey is happy.  Casey and all the other characters were easy to like and despite the ghostly elements, it was also pretty easy to feel like this was grounded in enough reality to make the story that much scarier.  I loved that I was able to picture it all in my mind so easily while reading.  This would make a phenomenal scary movie!

Only criticism, in the very first chapter, the first few pages, referring to Austin as “the Spirit Chaser” instead of simply identifying him in that way and then using his name, was a little confusing and lead me to re-reading the first 5 or 6 pages twice.  That could have been avoided with a slightly more discerning editor/editing job to those few pages.  But, once I caught on to who was who, it was smooth, albeit spooky, sailing.

**spoiler alert** One of the most tragic yet brilliant parts of the story?  The heartbreak at the end.  This was also part of how I knew I found a book that I loved.  The fact that I felt so attached to the characters that the last 10 (or so) chapters were so hard to read as they were so heartbreaking, drove home the fact that I had become invested in the story and the characters.  To be honest, I don’t mind sad endings, but the “closure” here, I could have done without as it took things from sad and a little unknown to downright cruel.  I think I would have preferred the loose end of not knowing what happened to Austin than the heartbreak when I read the last chapter.  It felt like a sucker punch to the gut.  Conversely, it again was a win for the overall book because I was able to feel that strongly about the characters and story.

Bottom line, The Spirit Chaser is filled with all the frights, spookiness, sexiness, and wonder of an excellent ghost story.  I’m just glad I wasn’t sitting around a campfire having this read to me right before bed, or I might never have gotten to sleep.  I loved it!!!

 

 

 

Thirteen Hallows Redux

It’s been a little while since I read the original by Michael Scott. Thirteen Hallows by Michael Scott and Colette Freeman is the rewrite of Michael Scott’s The Hallows. But I remembered most of the main points of the story. And I remembered loving it. I am happy to say that the redo didn’t disappoint. Since it had been some time since I read the original, I must admit I don’t really know how different it was; it felt like a reread with some small cultural references updated – like talk of updated technology with the reference to a blackberry which I am sure was one of the updates. But I didn’t feel like there were substantial differences. So… For that reason, this review will be very brief since I have a review of the original.

We have a set of ancient artifacts (obviously there are 13 of them and they are called the Hallows), a bad guy trying to bring them together so he can be all powerful and create some sort of chaos or event to end the world, an innocent or two who turn out to be heroes and something supernatural coupled with murder and/or torture to bring about the requisite horror gore. Here, the 13 Hallows of Britain and a young lady who saved an old woman and ends up with one of the Hallows. And we start the story of keeping the last few from falling into the hands of the bad guy who wants to use the Hallows to bring demons back and obtain all sorts of power.

I won’t spoil it for those who don’t want to be spoiled (at least I won’t here but no promises that I won’t put up a page if I see it confirmed anywhere that there will be a sequel…) so let’s just say that if you are looking for a good horror story – with the gore to go with – that is set up for a sequel, then read this book!

What’s coming in 2012

In honor of the end of 2011, which is rapidly approaching, I thought I would work on some year end/new year lists to recap.  Especially since the end of 2011 means my little blog experiment is approaching its one year mark.  So, I might as well start recapping the events of the year and planning for what I am going to read next year.

And I am so excited for some of the books coming in 2012.  Getting through 2012 will be so exciting.  No, it’s not just about watching December 2012 come and go and watching another group of doomsday-sayers be wrong (the Mayan calendar is pretty cool, but I don’t believe in the end of the world scenarios and that’s part of why reading The Daykeeper’s Grimoire by Christy Raedeke was such a huge disappointment – review for that is forthcoming)… but it’s about some huge expectations for sequels in some of my favorite series.  Boy, I hope I am not disappointed.  There are so many books where the first one was great but the second, well, sucked.  And they didn’t get better after that.  So… with those high expectations in mind, here’s MY 5 (or so) most anticipated YA and PNR books coming in 2012, in no particular order!  I have a few hopefuls and a few that are fit in other categories too.  I would be interested in the ones you are looking forward to most!

YA:

1. The White Glove War (Magnolia League #2) by Katie Crouch
2. Until I Die (Revenants #2) by Amy Plum
3. The Enchantress (the conclusion 😦 to the Secerets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel) by Michael Scott
4. Spellcaster (Spellbound #2) by Cara Lynn Schultz
5. The Girl in the Clockwork Collar (Steampunk Chronicles #2) by Kady Cross
6. Make Me (Demon Underground #4) by Parker Blue

PNR:

1. Darker After Midnight (Midnight Breed #10) by Lara Adrian
2. Werewolf in Seattle (Wild About You #3) by Vicki Lewis Thompson
3. The Darkest Seduction (Lords of the Underworld #9) by Gena Showalter
4. Lover Reborn (Black Dagger Brotherhood #10) by JR Ward
5. Lethal Rider (Lords of Deliverance #3) by Larissa Ione
6. Accidentally Dead, Again (Accidental Friends #6) by Dakota Cassidy and Accidental Genie (Accidental #7)
7. Tempest’s Fury (Jane True #4) by Nicole Peeler

Others (note about the category:  some would put these into the PNR category but I most often see them in the mystery category.  And I put them in the mystery category for the blog, so… after all it is my blog so I can do it how ever I want! 🙂 And, there aren’t many of the “others” since I tend to stick pretty much to the YA/PNR/mystery/SciFi/Fantasy and for the most part the sub-generes I read end up looking like one big lump of a category because they all tend to have a paranormal bent!): 

1. Let Them Eat Stake (Vampire Chef #2) by Sarah Zettel
2. In a Witch’s Wardrobe (A Witchcraft Mystery, #4) by Juliet Blackwell

Those without listed (in goodreads anyway) sequels that I really hope get them:

1. Misfit by Jon Skovron
2. Out in Blue by Sarah Gilman
3. Strange Neighbors – a new one would be #4 – by Ashlyn Chase
4. Thirteen Hallows by Michael Scott and Collette Freedman (the synopsis says Thirteen Hallows is the first in a new saga, so…  sequel to come at some point!)
5. Runelight by Joanne Harris (the sequel to Runemarks – listed in goodreads as published in 2011, but not available on amazon or anywhere yet)
6. Bewitching Mystery – would be #9, what ever would come after In Charm’s Way – by Madelyn Alt

Next year end list to tackle – best covers and covers that suckered me in the worst!

Reviews Galore! Well… 3 to start.

Going to be using the next few days to move some reviews from amazon and other places to here.  Some will be about series, some won’t.  And some will be about the few series that I have quit.  There aren’t many, but since I have spent the time writing the review, I figured I’d put ’em all in the same place.

And, that will keep me posting since I am taking a small break from reading new stuff.  I was going to read Forever but I went and saw HP DH2 and am suffering from massive Harry Withdrawals.  Therefore, I am re-reading (I think the count on the # of reads for the series is 10 now) the series before I read anything else new.

So… let me astound you with some reviews.   Here are 3 that aren’t about series.  I will post more over the next few days!

Betwixt by Tara Bray Smith (YA; 2 stars).  “So far, most of the characters have promise. With the notable exception of Morgan… we’ll have to see what happens once we get to the solstice.”

Well, that was what I thought before getting to the end. I must say that it seemed to have so much promise. But that promise was dashed. Hard. I am hardest on endings of all books – but this one was so bad that I don’t really even know what happened. It is totally set up for a sequel – but I won’t read it. I kept reading because I was waiting for this grand revelation (which sort of happened) and an ending that would at least make sense (as opposed to much of the rest of the book!)… but it never happened. I was also waiting for some great new twist on a “fairy” story… but that great new twist was a total let down too.

There wasn’t enough character development for me – don’t get me wrong, we get background info on all three of the “lings” (shot for changelings – and the “shorts” version, well, I could live without; it came across as an attempt to create new lingo in this genre and that isn’t necessary, moreover, it felt forced and new lingo needs to just happen, it can’t be forced). But the only one we really get to know is Ondine. And while Ondine is so important, why are we told over and over that Nix is the key? But we really get very little of Nix and we don’t get enough to really get invested in him. Morgan on the other hand – she would have made a great villain and it seems that she is headed that way, but then I am really not sure what happens to her. And honestly, the way she is introduced made me wonder what happened in the really short time frame of the first few chapters to take such a character – who I was sort of indifferent to and turn her into such a bit__. All of a sudden it was like the reader is meant to hate her – and I did so I had no sympathy for her nor did I care what happened to her.

I like plots where I care about what happens to the characters (even if I want the villain to get what he/she deserves, at least I care about the villian in some way – here, not so much). The story seems to have promise, but the execution of the “exidis” falls way short. And don’t even get me started on the conflict that happens towards the end – the danger they are in – my reaction was “what? huh?” at the conclusion of that fiasco and I am a pretty careful reader. I won’t waste my time on the sequel if there is one.

The Hallows by Michael Scott.  (Horror; 4 1/2 stars) This is one of those books that makes me realize we need 1/2 star rating capabilities… this would definitely get 4 1/2 – why not the full 5 (although I gave it the full 5 since I don’t have the 4 1/2 option!)? Well, because I would have like to have seen a little more of the end. And it’s hard to explain what I mean by that without giving up the end. I also would have liked a little more of the history of the Hallows – we get quite a bit towards the end, but I think there was a little more…more This is one of those books that makes me realize we need 1/2 star rating capabilities… this would definitely get 4 1/2 – why not the full 5 (although I gave it the full 5 since I don’t have the 4 1/2 option!)? Well, because I would have like to have seen a little more of the end. And it’s hard to explain what I mean by that without giving up the end. I also would have liked a little more of the history of the Hallows – we get quite a bit towards the end, but I think there was a little more potential that was left untouched – especially with the sword’s history. But it was excellent!

Michael does a great job of cutting back and forth between scenes and yet I still feel like the book flows – sometimes authors try to do that and I feel so disjointed about it – and here, the transition is seemless and the book still flows and keeps things moving forward. I am becoming a fan of the way Michael sets out chapters/sections of the books by date too (see the Alchemyst and Magician for the same device).

There is suspense, action, gore (although not too much) and history all rolled up into one here. The opening chapter sucked me in and I couldn’t put the book down. I really felt for the character Greg Matthews and his losses. I also really disliked the bad guy – and when I can identify with the characters and feel invested, I know it’s a great book!

This means I am off to pick up more of Michael’s books!

Raven by Allison Van Diepen (YA; 3 stars).  Wish I could give the darn thing 2 and 1/2 stars. 

Plot – Nic is a HS girl and part of a break dancing troupe. She works at a bar on weekends where her sort-of boyfriend works. He’s a little older but a great dancer and a little mysterious. He doesn’t mind that all the other members of his dance group are in HS and he’s not. Nic has a “ghost” (which I thought had potential until we are told that it’s not really a ghost just that’s how she thinks of her drug addict brother who moved out but still sucks mom and dad dry). Turns out Zin is one of a group of immortals, lead by Carlo. And the immortals are Jiang Shi. Carlo had a vision that Nic will lead the Jiang Shi to a new existence and wants her to become one of them. And there are hunters after the Jiang Shi.

It had a few things going for it – it was a really quick read. As in, took me about 3 hours to read. The star-crossedness isn’t the primary focus of the relationship between Nicole (aka Raven) and Zin. It’s a unique take on the immortality “thing” that is goin’ on in all these YA novels. And the end was fairly satisfying. There are a few loose ends, but if there’s never a sequel (or if there is and I don’t feel like bothering), it won’t be nagging me the way I feel nagged when ever I catch a re-run of the tv show Las Vegas (remember that one?) because it ended on such a cliff hanger. Maybe a bad example, but it certainly demonstrated my point.

The bad things – well, a few of them were really pretty bad. The writing didn’t have much emotion to it at all. The narration was very cold and choppy. I felt like I was reading one of those Dick and Jane books that they used to print to teach kids how to read (“I got out of bed. I ate breakfast. I got dressed for school.”) And the relationship between Nic and Zin had so much potential but they really didn’t spend enough page time together to feel like there was anything between them. Except we were told about 5 times that Nic loved him the moment she saw him and he was dancing at the time. That’s not exactly depth to their relationship. Then there was the break dancing lingo. It was worse in the beginning then later and I found myself skipping paragraphs because I don’t know the moves and their names and it felt like a waste of pen space.

As for the mythology – it was almost as if the writer heard of these types of people but did no research. Heck, she could have made up the mythology for all I care, but it was so superficial the way it was dealt with. I would have loved to have felt like there was more conflict – so that the end felt more satisfying. Even the stuff with Nic’s brother was almost too easy and there was no real emotion in the story. The who Jiang Shi story just sort of fizzled out. The whole book and the immortality story line felt rushed. The book was less then 300 pages, big type and big line spacing. A little more to the story, both the love story between Nic and Zin as well as the mythology and the resolution to it, and a little less “see jane run” could have easily turned this into a 4 star book. 

The Warlock is out!

I will be busy the next few days reading The Warlock, book 5 in the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott and not posting pages or posts.  

I haven’t added a ton of detail about that series because I want to steer readers to the forum and portal.  But, I will add at least a review as soon as I am done.

Pick it up – the series is great!

On another note, I am sooo bummed I couldn’t get these at Borders since my local Borders closed.  So, I had to settle for B&N.  But, they had a display as soon as you walk into the door and they had a cool sign that said “If you like…” and named this great series!  They can be seen here – as soon as I figure out how to rotate the pics, I will! EDIT:  I think I did it…