Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road: paranormal

Showing posts with label paranormal. Show all posts

Friday, March 08, 2019

Seize the Night (Moonlight Bay #2) ★★★☆½

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Seize the Night
Series: Moonlight Bay #2
Author: Dean Koontz
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Paranormal/Thriller
Pages: 482
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

It has been a month since the events in Fear Nothing. Chris Snow is just chilling in Moonlight Bay, waiting to see if the end of the world will come quickly or slowly. He's out bicycling one night when he meets an old flame. She lost her husband 2 years ago and that very night her 6 year old boy has gone missing. Chris begins to track down the kidnapper and ends up at the Wyvern Base. He has a run in a psycho who tries to kill him and then in the process of leaving, has another encounter with the Troop. Also, Orson the dog has gone missing during the initial attack on Chris. While hiding from the Troop, he's rescued by his surfer friend and they continue the hunt for Jimmy. They find a room that appears to take them somewhere else and they appear to see things that have happened in the past. They barely escape with their lives when some kind of monster infects a past researcher and they're stuck with him. Thankfully, the “time machine” brings them back before they get axed.

Once home, before daybreak, Chris and Bobbie are confronted by the police and told to ignore everything, as “Higher Ups” are taking care of it. Considering the past track record of these “Higher Ups”, Chris and Bobby decide to ignore the cops and keep on looking for little Jimmy once night falls. They are told that the retrovirus burns itself out as the victims implode psychologically (ie, suicide) and that there are humans with natural immunity. Humanity is saved from the devastation Chris's mom let loose. Hurray. They still have to find Jimmy and some other children who have gone missing.

Chris, Bobby, Sasha (Chris's girlfriend), Mungojerrie (an intelligence enhanced cat) and some others all had to Wyvern to rescue Jimmy and the other missing children. Mungojerrie detects that the kids are beneath the time machine room and the machine is running while they make their rescue. Bobby is killed by security from the past and everyone sees into another dimension and a being comes through. It turns out that a murderous psycho who has been groups of children over the last 2 years is the head of the Mystery Train project and he wants to go to the other world so he can kill to his hearts content. It would appear though that he has tried to open a door to hell and something gets through. The group meets themselves on the elevator and Chris grabs Bobby and takes him with them. They escape and the time machine goes nuts. They watch it un-make itself, thus undoing the whole project but they still remember it.

Turns out the murderous psycho is still alive but now working on another project. Chris vows to stop him again and they all live happily ever after.

My Thoughts:

This was much more paranormal than the previous book. That just had a retrovirus turning everyone into bestial creatures who were just slathering to kill, pillage and rape. Here, the Mystery Train is a time machine only it turns out to “sidewise” in time and bad things have happened, hence why the project was shut down.

This book was only 48hrs and my goodness did Koontz pack in the thrills and chills. He's very descriptive and I have to admit I wanted to skip it all but his descriptions really set the mood. Very atmospheric writing and downright creepy in place. I really liked it.

I also liked how Koontz unabashedly talks about the spiritual and how it is just as real as anything “scyenze” today can try to explain. In one paragraph Chris the main character is talking to his friend Bobby and Bobby says:

“That doesn't bother you like it does me, 'cause you've got God

and an afterlife and choirs of angels and palaces of gold

in the sky but all I've got is broccoli.”

It is kind of silly but it really got across the hope I have as a Christian. It's refreshing and encouraging.

I think the only thing I didn't really care for was how open ended the book was. Yes, the Mystery Train project is revealed, the retrovirus appears to be either burning itself out or a cure quickly on the way but with the whole Tornado Alley project throwaway line and the revelation that the murderous child burning psycho is still alive and working, well, it came across as Koontz leaving the door open for more books if he needed it. He didn't have a definite “This Is the End” like he did for Odd Thomas.

And that reminds me of the only other nitpicky thing I can blab about. The recycling of ideas. Depending on how things continue in this vein, I might end up having to read these books a bit further apart than I have been. Time machines, evil materialized, calm and rational head character, creepy and spooky looks into a horrible dimension or the future, it all is extremely familiar. Now, Koontz does a fantastic job of not making the stories (so far) clones of each other but I'm leery of the same ideas being used in different ways. We'll see what the future holds.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased and the taut thrill of reading this was just what my brain needed.

★★★☆½

Fear Nothing (Book 1)

Sunday, October 16, 2016

The Last Guardian of Everness (The War of the Dreaming #1) DNF@70%

The Last Guardian of Everness - John C. Wright

Synopsis: Spoilers

Galen Waylock, a spoiled young brat who is very talented, thinks he knows better than his grandfather. So when he receives a vision that he thinks foretells the end of the world, he charges in instead of investigating like his grandfather tells him too.
Which leads to Galen being possessed by his ever so great Grandfather, a malevolent magician working with the devil. There are other characters and it is obvious that a lot of various religious Ideas are represented.

My Thoughts:

Fairytales can be good. However, most of that is because they are short. Things happen, boom, Happily Ever After. If you take the time to think about them, then you begin to wonder just what in the world was going on and how did such stupid idiots survive to propagate?

This book was a 300+ page fairytale.

It was not written badly or unskillfully. There were no egregious errors. However, it bored me out of my mind and I couldn't get past the style and the idiocy of some of the characters. It is a good thing this wasn't my first book by Wright or I would have consigned him to the "Authors to Avoid" list and that would have been a shame.

On an unrelated note, I have about reached my limit with Booklikes. I can't comment without going through hoops [thanks to you who did comment on my posts], I can't load my dashboard and even this review took a couple of reloads to get all the parts of the page to appear. If things haven't improved, site-wise, by the end of the month, I'll be leaving. If things do improve, then the next goal will be staff interaction by the end of the year. Just wanted to give you all a heads up about where my thoughts are.
`

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Stiletto (Checquy Files #2)

Synopsis: Spoilers

The Grafters have set in motion events so that they can join the Checquy. A Checquy agent, Felicity is given the job of being the bodyguard to a Grafter, Odette. Both have grown up with horror stories about the other's organization.
Unfortunately, a small group of young Grafter's doesn't WANT join the Checquy and they are willing to go to war, and kill millions of normals, to keep the merger from happening.
Now Felicity and Odette must work together to stop this group while their bosses must work together to make sure the merger happens. Magic and Bio-Technology working together.

My Thoughts:

When I finished this, I realized it had been 4 [!!!!] years since I had read the Rook. Definitely worth the wait though. I was expecting another Myfanwy Thomas story and it took me a while to realize that this book was NOT about her. Took me even longer to realize that Felicity and Odette were the main characters and not just the openers.

The humor was just the same as the Rook. The action however had much more to do with genetic thingies than ghosties and goblins, even though there was an incident that involved a dead Checquy agent gone bad. The twisty-turny plot raced ahead at Formula 1 speeds. It felt like a Thriller, whereas the Rook definitely had that Mystery vibe going on.

O'Malley can write! I laughed, I got frustrated and I was triumphant. I can't ask for much more than that. Of course, I hope it isn't another 4 years before we get the next Checquy book. I also added this to my Best Book of the Year List.

Oh, does anyone know what Checquy means? I'm too lazy to look it up :-D

Tuesday, October 04, 2016

I Don't Want to Kill You (John Cleaver #3)

Synopsis: SPOILERS

John Cleaver is doing A-OK. He's getting semi-along with his mom, he's going out with the hottest girl in school and the Demon Nobody is on her way to town. What more could a young psycho ask for?
Unfortunately for John, he's not quite as smart as he thinks and when another serial killer shows up in town, he doesn't know who is Nobody and who is just the "regular" killer. Can he afford to kill and maybe get it wrong or are the stakes too high? In the end, John's selfish obsession, brain smarts and experience just aren't enough and it takes his mom sacrificing herself to kill this new demon. And John and Brooke hook up as a new Demon Hunter Duo right at the end of the book.

My Thoughts:

Yeaaaahhhhh [said real slow and drawn out, not excitedly].

This book showcases the fact that John is still a teenager and as such thinks the world revolves around him and that only HE can do anything about anything. That thinking leads directly to his mother's death. I hope it haunts him for the rest of his fictional life.

Beyond that, I don't have much to say about the book. If you liked the previous 2 books, you'll like this. If you didn't like them, this certainly won't change your mind.

I won't be reading any more by Wells though. His sick fascination with serial killers might have a place in non-fiction, but to essentially "make it palatable" and present that interest to teens and young adults in that light is irresponsible. I ranted about Wells in my review of the previous book, so I all I have to say now is "Goodbye, you sick, sick man".
`

Friday, August 05, 2016

Resurrection (Demon Squad #2)

Synopsis:

Trig gets tricked, manipulated and whatnot into stopping a necromancer from raising Longinus, the soldier who stabbed Christ's side. Only Longinus was a demon, so he got a butt load of power from that act. If he comes back, he'll be top dog.

My Thoughts:

The first book was crass. I figured Marquitz was just seeing how this whole writing gig worked. This time around, his writing was just as crass, if not more and it is very apparent that this is a style choice by the author. So if you like your 500 year old half demon commenting on every pair of breasts and butt that he sees, running commentary on the state of his genitals at any given moment, and unrestrained lewdness and lustfulness, then this book is for you.

If, however, you have even an ounce of taste, restraint or class, this book will either secretly titillate you or disgust you. Considering the juvenile tone of everything, I'm betting on disgust.

The only positive is that now I can clear this series off my kindle and make room for another. That is damning praise indeed.

Monday, July 25, 2016

Mr Monster (John Cleaver #2)

Synopsis:

John Cleaver can't get over the fact that he killed. He's not horrified, he's fascinated and he wants MORE. He knows this though and is doing everything in his power to stop Mr Monster [his mental disconnect that is his inner psychopath] who wants to bathe in the blood of everyone he knows.
But when another serial killer shows up, following in the footsteps of the demon from the first book, John knows another demon has shown up. So it's ok to unleash Mr Monster. But can John reconcile the fact that other people see him as a hero when he knows he's unleashing Mr Monster?

My Thoughts:

This was just as disturbing as the first book. Wells has done his research and seems to revel in showing the struggle that John is going through in trying to control his killer instincts. I guess what bothers me the most is that John is shown as not having any choice, so far, in the matter. He fights against wanting to kill but it is presented as if it is a futile fight. I'm hoping the next book changes that.

Everyone has Choice. Not necessarily easy choices, or even one time choices, but they have Free Will.

The mind of a psychopath is a sick mind. Those interested in such minds are either trying to help heal those minds, or like this author in writing for profit about it, sick bastards themselves. As you can tell, I'm not a big fan of Dan Wells.

There were just enough touches of humor to keep this from being completely dark and horrible. I've got the 3rd book on my tbr list and I'll read it, but after that, I'll be avoiding anything, no matter the subject, by Wells. I don't want to my mind contaminated by a mind like his.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Swords of Exodus (Dead Six #2)

Swords of Exodus - Mike Kupari, Larry Correia

Synopsis:

Valentine and Lorenzo are back in action. Of course, Valentine is being totally mind raped Majestic in a secret prison. Lorenzo is forced to rescue him, in exchange for information on his missing brother Bob.
Exodus recruits both of them to go after a new Warlord who enslaves whole village and then has the slaves become his devoted minions. Something otherworldly would seem to going on.

My Thoughts: Spoilers

Sadly, this suffers not only from "middle book" syndrome, but also from the death of Lorenzo AND the fact that there is no book after this. It felt like a project that got cancelled.

That really skotched my enjoyment of this. I don't mind when the good guys die or suffer a setback, IF they have the chance to come back and be victorious. But they didn't here and it doesn't appear they ever will. Also, I wish the supernatural element had played a much bigger part. Just like in the first book, this was a military escapade first with just a Hint of supernatural.

Meh...

Monday, June 06, 2016

Armageddon Bound (Demon Squad #1)

Synopsis:

Frank Trigg, nephew of the devil, once candidate for the Anti-Christ, is now living in a post-God/Devil world. Only the demons and angels are left. Some of them want the status quo, some want to become Top Dog and some want the Cessation of All, ie, Armageddon.

My Thoughts:

Trig was born 500 years ago. No details are given, which is pretty par for this book. Things are just "told". He has a cousin, who is an angel. Who he has redneck desires for. An ex-wife who is a succubus, who betrays him at every turn.

Then you have his inner thoughts. Which mostly consist of Trig commenting on how hot some woman is, or how horny he is. It is the thoughts of a 23 year old, not a supercentenarian.

Add in the ridiculous ideas about God and the devil, which mostly consisted of the fact that both God and the devil got sick of humanity, so they walked off into the void, or non-existence and you have the depths of this book.

The action was like the old video game Doom. Trig runs around like a chicken with his head cut off and shoots things and gets shot and pretty much chewed up. Then he gets a "power up" and gets healed, just in time for it all to happen again. A fun ride if you don't mind be immersed in a 23 year old males mind.

From a purely technical standpoint, this was indie all the way. It was the story Marquitz wanted to tell but it lacked depth, skilled writing, polish and that indefinable something that all good books have. I'm planning on reading the next one just to see if his writing improves; if not, then this is one to avoid.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Saint Odd (Odd Thomas #8) (Final) 5...

Synopsis:

Odd returns to Pico Mundo as he knows the cultists from the previous book are going to try to get back at him through his home town. Following a dream where the whole of Pico Mundo is underwater, Odd must stop the cultists from creating some sort of event that will shake the nation even while he knows that it is time for him and Stormy to finally be together forever.

My Thoughts:

Honestly, this felt weak. I have to admit, I was looking forward to Odd being back in Pico. I was hoping that the characters there would be as engaging as in the first book. I was hoping the badguys would be REALLY bad and that Odd would go out in a blaze of Fry Cook Glory.

It just wasn't to be. The faithful Pico Mundo'ites were barely sketched in, more like name dropping than anything. Remember that Sheriff guy, a second father to Odd? He's just a tired, ragged man with a badge. Those people who loved, nurtured and helped Odd? Names, just names.

The cultists were just crazy nutjobs blowing stuff up and trying to set loose a plague.

But my goodness, if you ever wanted to hear about Stormy, over and over and over again, you get that in spades. I get that Odd is a young 20'something and his hormones are as much in charge as his brains, but for goodness sake, give it a rest. Then the whole 2nd life Battle thingy, it felt rushed and forced, just to give a pseudo-happy ending.

For the series overall, I really enjoyed the first book and then one or two in between. But I didn't really ENJOY this book nor the overall series. I'll probably re-read Odd Thomas at some point but it will definitely only be the first book. That was gold.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

I am Not a Serial Killer (John Cleaver #1)

Synopsis:

John Cleaver is a 15 year old boy with an obsession about serial killers. He is intelligent and convinced that because he shares X number of traits with the profile of a serial killer that he'll become one.
Then a serial killer visits his town and begins a spree. John is fascinated while at the same time desiring to find, and stop, this killer. Can John be Dexter Jr and turn his weakness into strength?

My Thoughts:

This was disturbing, don't think otherwise. While John might not have killed, he's already convinced that he will and we get a first rate journey into his thought processes. His mind is a very unpleasant place.

Add in the fact that the serial killer turns out to be some kind of demon and this book was just a big bowl of disturbing covered in disturbing. Add in the fact that this is marketed and targeted to young adults and the disturbing level goes even higher.

Sunday, May 01, 2016

City of the Lost

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Dead Six (Dead Six #1)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Dead Six
Series: Dead Six
Author: Larry Correia & Mike Kupari
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 725
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:
Michael Valentine, former marine and mercenary extraordinaire, has burnt out. Trying to live a "normal life" as a security guard, Valentine is going out of his mind. One day a former team mate offers him a job of a lifetime. Making money hand over fist for the United States Government while bringing the War on Terror to the terrorists in places they thought were safe.

Lorenzo. Con man, thief and hitman. He thought his family safe. Big Eddie convinced him otherwise. Of course, Big Eddie promises they'll be safe if Lorenzo does just one, teensy weensy impossible, job.

Lorenzo and Valentine are on a collision course. Women get involved, things slightly Cthulhu'ic are involved and backstabbing and betrayals are the keywords of the day. Will Valentine and Lorenzo kill each other or save each other?

My Thoughts:
Wow! Just wow! Valentine and Lorenzo are apparently on two different paths when suddenly they're on a collision course. Then suddenly they're reluctant allies. Now that sounds like a whiplash ride, but considering this book is over 700 pages long, the process was gradual and realistic.

Having the dual viewpoints, essentially telling 2 stories, worked. Each POV was prefaced by which character it was and the location, and that was very helpful.

There was a group called Exodus that played a very brief part. They seemed to be some sort of super vigilante group that was driven by the need for Justice against those who could never be brought to Justice by ordinary means. There was another group called Majestic, which was more referred to than anything else. I am assuming they will both play bigger roles in the next book.

There is an object of power, human sacrifice and a heavy unearthly feeling in parts. That is why I gave this the paranormal tag, even though it was pretty strictly a gun fest.
The violence level was pretty high definitely earned the ultra-violence tag. Brains, blood and body parts blown all over the place. High calibre weapons do a lot of damage and neither author shied from describing such carnage.

Correia is known for his gun porn. Apparently, Kupari was right behind him, egging him on and adding his own. Thankfully, it didn't overwhelm any part of the story and it sounded like what a soldier would think/talk in these kinds of situations. I don't enjoy gun porn for the record.

I know this doesn't really tell why I liked this so much, but I stayed up until almost 11pm two nights in a row reading this because I just couldn't put it down. I think that speaks volumes in and of itself. I am really looking forward to the sequel, Swords of Exodus.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Deeply Odd (Odd Thomas #7)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Deeply Odd
Series: Odd Thomas
Author: Dean Koontz
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 352
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Odd has a vision of a mysterious cowboy burning 3 children alive. To prevent that is the adventure that this book portrays.
Odd meets a variety of people, some really good, some really bad. He also realizes that the supernatural world that he has a limited access to is much wider and has a greater impact on our world than he previously realized.

My Thoughts:
Odd Thomas takes on a Satanic Cult.

I haven't added the horror tag onto this series until now. But this one certainly deserves it. Koontz takes a very broad based Judeo-Christian world view and throws the demons full on onto Odd. Thankfully, unlike Stephen King, Koontz also emphasizes the side of Good, no matter how peculiar they might be. It is made abundantly clear that Odd couldn't have taken on this adventure, and succeeded, without the help of many other Good people.
I like that.

Several things made me uncomfortable with this read though. I suspect it was Koontz's intent, but I still want to note them.

The children. Anytime a story revolves around the pain, suffering and possible death of children, it puts me on edge. I do not subscribe to the belief that children are "innocents". I was a child, once. I remember. I have also seen children through my adult eyes. Anyone who thinks children are innocent has never seen two 5 year olds fight over a toy and then lie like a politician about it when one of them gets hurt and the adults have to intervene. But I am a strong believer that children must be protected until such a time as they can take care of themselves, mentally, physically and emotionally. So it just makes it a hard read when children are the object of a satanic ritual.

Which brings me to the second thing that made me uncomfortable. The satanism and demons. I am a Christian and hence believe that the supernatural world is real. I believe in God. I believe that Satan is a fallen angel and that demons are other fallen angels. I believe that the devil hates God and His creation so much that he'd rather see it destroyed than exist and not be under his, Satan's, control. I believe that the devil is immensely powerful and can give some of that power to humans to further his own aims. So to just casually write about this subject sets off alarm bells in my head.

Like I said above though, I think Koontz included both those subjects as uncomfortable subjects and not just because it was convenient for the plot. Or maybe it was. Either way, while they made me uncomfortable, I liked the way Koontz handled them.

There is one more book in this series, Saint Odd. While I'm sad that this series will end, as I'm enjoying the whole of it so far, I am glad that Koontz will finish this. A good story needs an ending and a good author will not allow said story to be the story that never ends and to have it wither on the vine, so to speak.