The Conduit by Gordon Bonnet

I met Gordon via Twitter (Ha! You thought I was going to say FaceBook, didn't you?). I'm not sure who followed who first, but I quickly became a fan of his humor and wit and then of his writing. So when he posted a link to his published works, I offered to do a review. He kindly asked me which book I would like and gifted my choice to me. It was tough to pick. All of his works interested me, but I finally chose The Conduit because it had a big old creepy house and hinted at a scary family history. I was not disappointed!

Synopsis: Ryan Linahan lived an ordinary life as a high school biology teacher, until Great-Uncle George Parker died. While helping his family to go through all of Great-Uncle George's belongings, Ryan discovered a box full of old letters that revealed that the Parker family had some serious skeletons in the closet -- skeletons that were about to come back to life.

Upon finding a genealogical link between the Parkers and the Meadows and Fry families, who had left behind a legacy of dark reputation and ill will in the small, rural Pennsylvania village where they lived, Ryan becomes obsessed with finding out what it was his ancestors were actually guilty of. And his obsession leads him to become ensnared in events that, though they happened in the 19th century, are far from over, and in the end may reawaken evil that was thought to be dead and buried for over a century.

Sounds good, right? It was. The plot was intricate. It touches on Native American legends, demonic possession, conspiracies, inherited evil and madness. And yet, it all makes sense and doesn't lose the reader. The characters were sympathetic and easily likable. The added bits of history, found in the letters, old newspaper articles and other genealogical records was icing on the cake. There is some switching of pov- you get different characters with different chapters- was well done and not confusing as 'head-hopping' sometimes can be. The writing style flows well and the story plays out nicely, while the end satisfies. No lose ends here.

I'm going to give it four stars. It is well worth the read and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good scary tale with some history thrown in. I'm looking forward to reading more of Gordon's work.

You can find out more about Gordon over at The Author Spot today, as he kindly consented to an interview. You can find out more about him and his published works at his blog. And you can buy The Conduit on Amazon.com.

Happy Reading,
♥Spot

The Robber by WJ Rosser

I met WJ on Facebook(Is there anyone else to meet people these days?) and I liked his literary writing style. So when he put The Robber: Selected Works up for free for a few days, I jumped at my chance and downloaded it. Now, normally I read and review horror, so this isn't my usual fare. If you're looking for skeletons or demonic possessions you should probably come back another day. It's not that I read only horror. I read a little bit of everything, but since I work with mostly horror authors, I find myself reading and reviewing more of it than anything else. However, I like a good mainstream literary yarn as much as the next girl.

So I crawled into bed with my Kindle and started this collection. And a short time later I found myself in tears. That doesn't happen often. But the first story in the collection was so moving, that I couldn't help myself. I got caught up in the story from the very first paragraph. Rosser has an unbelievable talent for immersing you immediately in the character's lives. The interplay between the characters is so real that they could be the couple next door. They are genuine, slightly flawed and absolutely believable. His writing flows well and pulls you along the storyline.

Of the three stories, the title story, The Robber, was easily my favorite, despite the tears. Winchester 30/30 begs the question, how well do we really know our parents? And Genny, is a wonderful slice of one man's life and struggle with temptation. Also included in the collection are two poems which I also enjoyed.

I would recommend The Robber: Selected Works for anyone who enjoys literary fiction. For those who enjoy little vignettes of other's lives, those who liked their heartstrings tugged, and honesty in fiction.

You can find out more about WJ Rosser and his alter ego, Jeremy Wright, over at The Author Spot, where he has kindly consented to an interview.

Happy Reading,
♥Spot

Ancient Eyes by David Niall Wilson

When "Bram Stoker Award" winning author David Niall Wilson messaged me, I almost fell off my chair. I had read many of his short works in places like Cemetery Dance magazine and other anthologies, but I'd never read any of his novels, so when he offered me the chance, I took it. I chose Ancient Eyes because it was a new one, and the synopsis appealed to me.

Synopsis: There is an ancient evil lurking in the mountains of California. One peak over from Friendly, California, there is another, darker place. In that place there are two churches. Displaced from a time and place far distance, an ancient carving watches from an alcove above the door of a broken down, nearly forgotten church. When the evil it embodies reaches out and snags the soul of Silas Greene, roots creep down into the mountain and out into everything they touch. There is another church on the mountain. It is made of stone, carved into the stone of the mountain, and also all but forgotten.

A message goes out to Abraham Carlson. "He's Back. Come home, boy." When young Abraham returns to the mountain, and to that stone church, a battle is rejoined that should have ended decades in the past. When the cleansing began - and was never completed. The only question is, does Abraham have the strength...or will he, and everyone he loves, fall into the depths of those evil, ancient eyes...

The best word I can use to describe the novel is intense. It pulled me in every night when I sat down to read. David is a master at description and character building, without being overly verbose or repetitive. The characters and setting he created were easily imaginable and at once, familiar. I was drawn along into the story and really wasn't sure how it was going to end. Was good going to win? Or is evil unstoppable? I won't spoil it for you by saying, but I will tell you that the ending is very satisfying.

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed David's style of writing. It was lyrical and compelling. I had no trouble dropping right back into where I'd left off and I didn't want to put the Kindle down each night (unfortunately falling asleep and dropping it on your head is rather painful) and only did so when my lids began to droop. The story is an old one- good vs. evil, light vs. dark, but he never crossed the line into preaching at the reader. The religion of the good was well done without being overdone and the evil was broodingly malevolent, without being unbelievable. At the heart of the novel are the battles we all face: the struggle between good and bad within ourselves, and the struggle to keep our roots without letting them hold us back.

It may have been the first novel of his I've read, but it will not be the last. I'll hungrily devour more. One last word of warning- if you don't like snakes, prepare to be extremely uncomfortable, because there are a lot of them in the book (obviously representing temptation and evil). I hate snakes. Loathe them. But I made it through with only mild squirming.

I rarely give 5 stars- but this deserves them.

Happy Reading,
♥Spot

The Harbor by Al Lamanda

I read The Harbor, by Al Lamanda, because of something I saw on Facebook. In one of the groups I belong to, Al (can I call you Al?) had posted a message he'd gotten from a woman requesting a refund. Her reason? She thought the book was too scary. What better praise for a horror writer, I ask you. So I immediately downloaded the book to my Kindle. Holidays finally finished and I realized that I had about 30 books to read. Where to start? Well I'm always looking for a good scare, so I started The Harbor.

I finished the book last night. It took me three nights to read, as I have a reading period from about 10pm to midnight every night. Last night I stayed up until one to finish the book. Yes, I was that hooked. And after I put the light out, I was still thinking about the premise of the book. And, I'll admit, I was a bit uneasy lying there in the dark. That's the ultimate praise I can give a horror novel- if it makes me uneasy after I put out the light, then it was well done.

I went to amazon.com today to see what other reviewers had said. Most were favorable, but there was one two star. He pointed to flaws (typos, wrong words, ect.). I did notice those things (I can't take off the editor glasses when I read), but they weren't bad enough to distract me from the story itself. He said the writing was bad. I disagree. Each to his own, but I feel pretty qualified to judge storytelling skill. And he pointed out that there was a lot of cigarette smoking and eating in the book (I wondered why I was so hungry!) and there was, but it fit the storyline. I don't even smoke, but had I been a character in this book, I think I would have started.

The basic story is about a small island off the coast of Maine which seems to have a habit of erupting into bloody, unsolved murders every so often. It happens again and Sheriff Mark Blaine wants to get to the bottom of the problem. There is a host of other characters in the story, but Blaine is ultimately my favorite. He's a flawed character and it lends a depth of vulnerability that really makes him likable. The murders are sufficiently gory and the plot speeds along. The central premise of possession and evil is well explained and plausible. I don't think the religious aspect was overdone at all. I liked that explanation of why some were possessed and some were granted absolution. And oddly enough, with all the gruesome axe murders in this book, it was the one accidental death that left me the most horrified. Now you have to read it, just to figure out what I'm talking about!

Overall, I'd recommend this book. The story was a good one, the characters well developed, the premise sound and the action swift. It left me thinking about it long after I'd put the book down. I'll definitely read more of this author's work.

Happy Reading,
♥Spot

Creepfest Winners!

So, I'm probably the worst blog-hopper in the world. I wanted to be better, I really did. But we are trying to get two books out this week at Angelic Knight Press and there are always a million last minute details. And it's Christmas. Those are the excuses I'm sticking with anyway.

I didn't get as many posts up as I would have liked to, but stay tuned. Those posts are still coming. Plus many more posts on the wonderful books I managed to win during Creepfest. I didn't get to visit as many blogs as I hoped to, but I still have the linky guy. I'll continue the rounds!

My grand prize winner is Gina! Gina gets first choice of the prizes.

First Runner up was Ash Krafton. After Gina lets me know what she wants, I'll get in touch with you, Ash.

And the second runner up was Julie Janson. I'll be in touch!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by, and congrats to the winners!

Happy Reading,
♥Spot

Quiet Houses by Simon Kurt Unsworth

I read Quiet Houses, by Simon Kurt Unsworth, because of a recommendation I saw in the Kindle Horror Facebook group. I've always been a huge fan of the haunted house story, and this book was recommended highly by another author. I assumed Mr. Unsworth was a new indie author. I was totally wrong. (Not really an unusual occurrence) Mr. Unsworth has been writing for a while and has stories in several of the Best Horror of the Year volumes as well as The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. You can find his blog here.

Quiet Houses is one of the best books I've read all year. I don't say that lightly, because let's face it, I read a lot of books this year. Some of them not even worth reviewing, but some of them quite good. I will say that this is the best "on a whim" purchase I made this year.

The book uses the "frame method" of story telling. That means that there is a beginning story that sets the premise of the book and then each of the other stories are told, and another story at the end wraps everything up tightly and ties everything together. Sometimes this method works well (think of the old movie, Dr. Terror's House of Horror. What? You've never seen it?! It's a classic, people! Chock full of old horror movie legends! *sighs* I digress...) and sometimes it doesn't work. In this book it works beautifully.

We start with the story of a research assistant, Nakata, sorting through answers to an ad he placed in the newspaper, trying to find haunted houses. He wades through them and finds a few to actually check out. Each of these houses is a seperate story in the book. Throughout the book we get more glimpses into the character and what drives Nakata himself. One of the stories in the book is his own pivotal experience with a haunting. There are eight stories in the book. It would be hard to pick a favorite, but I if I had to (you know, because someone was pointing a gun to my head, or something), I would pick number 5. It centers on a big abandoned hotel, The Ocean Grand.

And I know what you're thinking (no, not because I'm psychic), I can almost here you say it, But that's been done! It has, and it's been done so well that sometimes we begin to think that no one else can use that theme again. And that, my friends, is the beauty of this collection! Haunted houses, haunted hotels, haunted burial grounds have all been done. Yet, Mr. Unsworth manages to do them again and not bore his readers. Each tale is so quietly creepy, so dreadfully evocative, so atmospheric, that you get completely caught up in them and don't spend the whole time comparing them to other things you've read. That, in itself, is quite a feat. As is creeping me out so badly that I don't want to turn out the light. And that's what these tales did.

There's no gore. No shock for the sake of shock value. No mad slashers. No gimmicks. These tales are just pure horror. The good old fashioned kind of horror, the kind that relies on plot, atmosphere and good writing, to deliver the scare. I highly recommend this collection. I don't recommend that you read it at night, if alone in the house. Recommended for lovers of Poe, James Herbert or Barbara Eskine. (If you don't know any of those authors- look them up- they're fabulous!) Or for anyone who just likes their fear to creep up on them, slowly, from behind.

You can find the book here on Amazon.com.

Remember the contest! You can still enter to win by leaving me a comment telling me your favorite book and the reason it's your favorite. Contest runs until December 23rd. Now go. Read something!


♥Spot

Creepfest Reviews...

I am participating in the "12 Days of Creepfest" blog hop, put together by the wonderfully talented Rebecca Treadway. Rebecca is the Artistic Director for Angelic Knight Press. She's a supremely talented author, but she's also a great writer.  And she put together this little blog hop to help all of us grab some new followers and discover new blogs.

The rules of participation say that the blog owner must host a contest during the creepfest. So, since this is a book review blog, I want the contest to be about books. The prize is going to be an eBook version of "Satan's Toybox: Demonic Dolls", eBook version of "Satan's Toybox: Toy Soldiers" or a print copy of Demonic Dolls, winner's choice. I'll give the remaining two prizes to two other lucky people.

How do you enter this fabulous contest? Simple. Just leave a comment on any post between now and December 23rd. In the comment tell me your all time favorite horror genre book and why it's your favorite. I will pick the winner at random and announce them on the Christmas Eve blog post. I'll also pick runner up #1 and runner up #2. If you'd like extra entries, follow me on Twitter (@Spot_speaks) or "Like" my Facebook fan page. Links for both are conveniently located on the side of my author blog.

I will be posting some reviews from now until Christmas. Most of them will not be accompanied by author interviews on my other blog, simply because I don't know the authors. And not all of them will be Indie Books. I've read some really great books lately and want to share.

That's all I've got for today, but you should go visit all the other horror authors, reviewers, artists, bloggers listed at the bottom of this blog. Why? Because it's the right thing to do. Also, they're giving away prizes as well!

♥Spot