en-US Fri, 02 May 2025 07:53:24 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 78876
... a huge, rambling building, where masked figures and hooded shadows do wicked deeds in the wings...
... where dying the death on stage is a little bit more than just a metaphor...
... where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by an evil mastermind in a hideously deformed evening dress..

Where...

... there's a couple of old ladies in pointy hats eating peanuts in the gods and looking up at the big chandelier and saying things like: "There's an accident waiting to happen if I ever saw one."

Yes... Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, the Discworld's greatest witches, are back for an innocent night out at the opera.

So there's going to be trouble (but nevertheless a good evening's entertainment with murders you can really hum...)]]> 285 Terry Pratchett 0575058080 James 0 currently-reading 4.10 1995
author: Terry Pratchett
name: James
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 58323892 Wanted:
One (very real) husband
Nowhere near perfect but desperately trying his best

In BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, Luc and Oliver met, pretended to fall in love, fell in love for real, dealt with heartbreak and disappointment and family and friends…and somehow figured out a way to make it work. Now it seems like everyone around them is getting married, and Luc’s feeling the social pressure to propose. But it’ll take more than four weddings, a funeral, and a bowl full of special curry to get these two from I don’t know what I’m doing to I do.

Good thing Oliver is such perfect HUSBAND MATERIAL.

This Summer 2022, you’re invited to the event(s) of the season.]]> 423 Alexis Hall 1728250943 James 3


Honestly, while I didn't love this one, and indeed, got kind of annoyed with the finale, it was readable, and there were some rather cathartic moments tucked in with the bad rom-com set up. It's not perfect by any means, but it provided what I needed in a moment. ]]> 3.55 2022
author: Alexis Hall
name: James
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/02
date added: 2025/05/02
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Honestly, while I didn't love this one, and indeed, got kind of annoyed with the finale, it was readable, and there were some rather cathartic moments tucked in with the bad rom-com set up. It's not perfect by any means, but it provided what I needed in a moment.
]]> 1139989



"Greg Herren gives readers a tantalizing glimpse of New Orleans."--The Midwest Book Review]]> 311 Greg Herren 0758202156 James 4


Fun book, lightly smutty, and making me really want to go see New Orleans. ]]> 4.09 2004
author: Greg Herren
name: James
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/18
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Fun book, lightly smutty, and making me really want to go see New Orleans.
]]> 60190069
In 1926, 23-year-old cub newspaper reporter Leslie McFarlane responded to an ad: “Experienced Fiction Writer Wanted to Work from Publisher’s Outlines.� The ad was signed by Edward Stratemeyer, whose syndicate effectively invented mass-market children’s book publishing in America. McFarlane, who had a few published adventure stories to his name, was hired and his first job was to write Dave Fearless Under the Ocean as Roy Rockwood—for a flat fee of $100, no royalties. His pay increased to $125 when Stratemeyer proposed a new series of detective stories for kids involving two high school aged brothers who would solve mysteries. The title of the series was The Hardy Boys. McFarlane’s pseudonym would be Franklin W. Dixon.

McFarlane went on to write twenty-one Hardy Boys adventures. From The Tower Treasure in 1927 to The Phantom Freighter in 1947, into full-fledged classics filled with perilous scrapes, loyal chums, and breakneck races to solve the mystery. McFarlane kept his ghostwriting gig secret until late in life when his son urged him to share the story of being the real Franklin W. Dixon. By the time McFarlane died in 1977, unofficial sales estimates of The Hardy Boys series already topped 50 million copies.

Ghost of the Hardy Boys is a fascinating, funny, and always charming look back at a vanished era of journalism, writing, and book publishing. It is for anyone who loves a great story and who’s curious about solving the mystery of the fascinating man behind one of the most widely read and enduring children’s book series in history.]]> 304 Leslie McFarlane 1567927173 James 5


While that review ends with "I'm kind of needle dropping here, because there's a hell of a lot in the book that really deserves discussion that I really just don't have the energy to explore here. I will say I highly recommend reading this to anyone who got sucked into one of the Syndicate series," I forgot to point out how much McFarlane's non-Hardy fiction prose reminds me of Nathan Leopold's exposition, as well as a bit of Ambrose Bierce. I assume if I read Horatio Alger Jr.'s stuff, it would have a similar patter.]]> 3.89 2022
author: Leslie McFarlane
name: James
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/08
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While that review ends with "I'm kind of needle dropping here, because there's a hell of a lot in the book that really deserves discussion that I really just don't have the energy to explore here. I will say I highly recommend reading this to anyone who got sucked into one of the Syndicate series," I forgot to point out how much McFarlane's non-Hardy fiction prose reminds me of Nathan Leopold's exposition, as well as a bit of Ambrose Bierce. I assume if I read Horatio Alger Jr.'s stuff, it would have a similar patter.
]]> 657953
But then Scotty discovers one of his best clients in front of his Decatur Street apartment, shot through the head, execution style. It's even more troubling when his friend Jeremy, he of the disappearing act a year ago, reappears briefly in the bar, begging Scotty to take care of a computer disk for him and spouting something crazy about people being after him. And things get really, really bad when everyone from the cops -- who don't believe anything Scotty says -- to a shadowy man claiming to be an FBI agent is tailing Scotty's every move, waiting for a chance to arrest him...or worse.

Now, with help from his best friend David and a gorgeous new lover who just happens to be a cat burglar of the real and not-Cary Grant variety, Scotty's diving into a web of tawdry Southern secrets that stretches all the way to a corrupt political machine whose members would do anything and use anyone to get to Scotty and that disk. Suddenly, the Big Easy's liveliest gay celebration has just taken on asinister glow, and Scotty's carefree living is turning into a desperate race for his life.]]> 288 Greg Herren 075820213X James 4


I enjoyed this; the humor leavens the seriousness of the plot, and everyone mostly winds up with a happy ending.]]> 3.93 2003
author: Greg Herren
name: James
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



I enjoyed this; the humor leavens the seriousness of the plot, and everyone mostly winds up with a happy ending.
]]> 221473207 From Dead Eleven author Jimmy Juliano, a twisty, edge-of-your-seat novel about a unique haunting in the early 2000s

Piper Lowery, a public library clerk in charge of liaising with the local middle school, can tell right away there’s something strange about the new girl in eighth grade. Avery Wallace won’t touch any kind of technology, not even the computers at the library, and her mother comes to school with her every day, refusing to leave her side—not even when Avery uses the restroom.

And then there are the rumors, the whispers Piper hears from kids in the hallway and parents around Avery’s mother is a witch. Her sister and father were killed by something supernatural. A strange virus killed them.

Seeing how isolated and lonely Avery is, Piper befriends her but quickly realizes it might just be the worst decision she’s ever made. Because there’s something dark inside Avery Wallace, and it’s spreading . . .]]> 384 Jimmy Juliano 0593475895 James 0 to-read 4.21 2025
author: Jimmy Juliano
name: James
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219603177 One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge.

In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson’s family. Twelve years later, she’s ready for retribution.

Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family’s downfall onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of fourteen hours. Her goal? Confront the people who’ve wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. Justice will at last be served.

But Anna’s plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own form of revenge—and that they won’t stop until everyone else is dead.

With time running out before the train reaches its destination, Anna is forced to hunt the killer in their midst while protecting the people she hates the most. In order to destroy her enemies, she must first save them—even though it means putting her own life at risk.]]> 400 Riley Sager 0593472403 James 0 to-read 3.61 2025
author: Riley Sager
name: James
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2797374
Nothing could go wrong - until it did. As the crowds swarmed through the gates on Opening Day to sample the record-breaking delights of the dazzling Death Spiral or the delicious terror of The Graveyard, they were unprepared for the disaster that was about to strike. A disaster rooted in evil and built on darkness. Rich and poor, young and old would be taken for the ride of their lives, trapped in a game of epic proportions where only the winners survived...]]> 383 Patricia Wallace 0821731424 James 4


It's a fun, if nonsensical at times, ride, that brought back a sense of vicarious excitement I felt reading it years ago. Much love to an old classic. ]]> 3.19 1990
author: Patricia Wallace
name: James
average rating: 3.19
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



It's a fun, if nonsensical at times, ride, that brought back a sense of vicarious excitement I felt reading it years ago. Much love to an old classic.
]]> 665410 289 Greg Herren 0758208308 James 4


Going to have to find the other 3 books now. ]]> 4.03 2006
author: Greg Herren
name: James
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Going to have to find the other 3 books now.
]]> 56844690 306 Stephen Purdy 0367761122 James 5


All told, while some of the shows in here might find new life either touring or a revival either in New York or a local production, they all succeeded in opening on Broadway, a feat not every show gets. And frankly, it sounds like many of these shows deserve another chance somewhere. ]]> 4.36
author: Stephen Purdy
name: James
average rating: 4.36
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2021/11/09
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



All told, while some of the shows in here might find new life either touring or a revival either in New York or a local production, they all succeeded in opening on Broadway, a feat not every show gets. And frankly, it sounds like many of these shows deserve another chance somewhere.
]]> 3282324 JOIN FRANK AND JOE...

On a deserted country road, where, a fiendish scarecrow walks and talks and stalks its victims! On a stromy night at sea, where the Hardys' only hope of rescue is an l8th-century whaling ship piloted by a ghostly, crew!

In the dank, dark dungeon of a Scottish castle haunted by its first lord, a cruel and notorious pirate! WHEREVER DANGER LEADS... THE GHOST-HUNTING HARDY BOYS ARE SURE TO FOLLOW! Don't be alarmed, there is no such thing as a ghost -- or is there? Who knows what unseen powers lurk in the darkness? Frank and Joe are about to find out as they face some of their most challenging cases ever -- six startling journeys into the heart of mystery and fear...]]> 137 Franklin W. Dixon 0606013083 James 5


Now, while all of this is really really improbable, not the least of which is how two high school kids can be all over the globe for this stuff to happen (a problem with the entire series, that you don't particularly think about when you're in the age range), it's still fun reading, with more than a little learning hidden in the bare bones stories. (You get an age appropriate lesson in whaling, information on Widow's Walks, exactly how poorly settlers treated Native Americans, why you listen to the gypsy lady with the crystal ball.) Even nearing 50 though, this scratched a nostalgia itch I was unaware I had, and brought back some childhood wonder that the series of this era inspired in me. ]]> 3.82 1984
author: Franklin W. Dixon
name: James
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1984
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves:
review:
Full review here (even if I do feel silly writing a review of this.)



Now, while all of this is really really improbable, not the least of which is how two high school kids can be all over the globe for this stuff to happen (a problem with the entire series, that you don't particularly think about when you're in the age range), it's still fun reading, with more than a little learning hidden in the bare bones stories. (You get an age appropriate lesson in whaling, information on Widow's Walks, exactly how poorly settlers treated Native Americans, why you listen to the gypsy lady with the crystal ball.) Even nearing 50 though, this scratched a nostalgia itch I was unaware I had, and brought back some childhood wonder that the series of this era inspired in me.
]]> 209607967 Weird things are happening again in Cape May and the ghosts of old mobsters never rest easy.

Erik Mitchell gets a strange delivery of antique poker chips with odd markings tied to a casino that burned a century ago. Ben Nolan finds a dead guy in one of his rental units—turns out the guy's been missing for twenty years and is linked to a long-lost treasure.

The ghostly energy of the old Commodore Wilson hotel juices up all the town's spirits, and a stranger shows up with an unhealthy interest in both cases. Ben and Erik have just moved in together, and they're still navigating the next step as partners and blending their lives.

Murder, missing persons, hidden treasure, and haunted poker chips. Can Ben and Erik put the pieces together to solve the case, or when the cards are dealt, will they be left holding the dead man's hand?

Last Resort is a suspenseful MM paranormal romance mystery-adventure filled with second chance love, hurt/comfort, true soulmates, old curses, hidden treasure, dangerous secrets, restless ghosts, psychic visions, powerful witches, angry mobsters, and a very haunted hotel.]]> 216 Morgan Brice 1647950732 James 4


Still fun, and I love the connected world here. ]]> 4.36 2024
author: Morgan Brice
name: James
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Still fun, and I love the connected world here.
]]> 51115030
Undercover Newark cop Ben Nolan went down in a hail of bullets when a bust went sideways, after a tip-off from a traitor inside the department. When he recovers, he spends a couple of years as a private investigator, only to tire of seeing the worst of human nature. So when his aunt offers him the chance to take over her rental real estate business in Cape May, it seems too good to be true. Now if he could just believe he could ever be lucky again in love.

Sparks fly when Erik and Ben meet. But when a cursed hotel’s long-ago scandals resurface, the two men are pulled into a web of lies, danger, and deception that will test their bond—and might make them Cape May’s newest ghosts!


Treasure Trail contains sexually explicit material intended for adults 18 and over. This is book #1 in the Treasure Trail series.]]> 246 Morgan Brice 1939704936 James 3


While the book is fun, it does feel a bit like reading two skeletons setting up a support beam to hold a larger tent up as we eventually prepare for a meganovel crossover. ]]> 4.01 2019
author: Morgan Brice
name: James
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While the book is fun, it does feel a bit like reading two skeletons setting up a support beam to hold a larger tent up as we eventually prepare for a meganovel crossover.
]]> 61273279
Give me a D-I-E!

Corky and Bobbi Corcoran want nothing more than to make the cheerleading squad at Shadyside High. But as soon as the sisters are named to the team, terrible things start happening to the cheerleaders. First, there’s a mysterious accident near the Fear Street cemetery. Soon after, piercing screams echo through empty school halls. And things only get more disturbing from there.

Can Corky and Bobbi find out what’s going on before the entire squad is slain? Nothing is ever truly laid to rest on Fear Street, and the girls may lose more than they bargained for in their fight to survive.

This chilling paperback bind-up
The First Evil
The Second Evil
The Third Evil]]> 592 R.L. Stine 1665932635 James 3


Honestly, I enjoyed it for what it was, but it really missed a lot of opportunities.]]> 3.86
author: R.L. Stine
name: James
average rating: 3.86
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Honestly, I enjoyed it for what it was, but it really missed a lot of opportunities.
]]> 222681470 Simon and Vic are home from their honeymoon, just in time for a brand new case!

Mysterious missing person reports, a cursed motorcycle club, and an ancient entity add up to trouble. A bad bargain to stop a long-ago gang war requires a yearly sacrifice from a tightly-knit group of riders, and even their coven of witches hasn’t been able to stop the deaths.

Then the granddaughter of a former lighthouse keeper comes to Simon for help. When the lighthouses were automated, they lost their live-in guardians, who worked protective spells to shield the coast from killer storms and a murderous creature. Those protections are fading, and an old evil has gained power, growing stronger with every life it claims.

Can Simon and Vic end the deaths and disappearances, or have they finally found a foe too powerful to stop?

Thunder Road is an action-packed MM paranormal romance chock full of old magic, protective guardians, found family, an ancient monster, brave motorcyclists, helpful ghosts, loyal friends, psychic visions, hurt/comfort, supernatural suspense, and an evolving, established romantic relationship with all the feels.]]> 204 Morgan Brice 1647950864 James 4


Fun read, and what I've come to expect from the author. ]]> 4.45
author: Morgan Brice
name: James
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Fun read, and what I've come to expect from the author.
]]> 200101541 A chilling twist on the “cursed filmâ€� genre from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club ˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚýThe Cabin at the End of the World.

In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.

The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.

The man who played “The Thin Kid� is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions � demons of the past be damned.

But at what cost? 

Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful twist on the “cursed film� that breathlessly builds to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.]]> 277 Paul Tremblay 0063070014 James 4
(Minor spoilers about the C plot there.)

I enjoyed this one, even if it did leave me with more questions than answers, but I think that was the point of this narrative. Worth checking out if you're inclined. ]]> 3.31 2024
author: Paul Tremblay
name: James
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/21
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
Full review here:

(Minor spoilers about the C plot there.)

I enjoyed this one, even if it did leave me with more questions than answers, but I think that was the point of this narrative. Worth checking out if you're inclined.
]]> 123248556 The long-awaited story of the founding of Valdemar comes to life in this 3rd book of a trilogy from a New York Times bestselling author and beloved fantasist.

The refugees from the Empire have established a thriving city called Haven with the help of the Tayledras and their allies. But the Tayledras have begun a slow withdrawal to the dangerous lands known as the Pelagirs, leaving the humans of Haven to find their own way.

But even with Haven settled, the lands around Haven are not without danger. Most of the danger comes in the form of magicians: magicians taking advantage of the abundant magical energy in the lands the Tayledras have cleansed; magicians who have no compunction about allying themselves with dark powers and enslaving magical beasts and the Elementals themselves.

Kordas, his family, and his people will need all the help they can get. But when a prayer to every god he has ever heard of brings Kordas a very specific and unexpected form of help, the new kingdom of Valdemar is set on a path like nothing else the world has ever seen.

Perfect for longtime fans of Valdemar or readers diving into the world for the first time, the Founding of Valdemar trilogy will delight and enchant readers with the origin story of this beloved fantasy realm.]]> 484 Mercedes Lackey 0756417406 James 4


It's a really fun and quick read, although it is very much a Lackey Valdemar novel. You know what you'e in for when you pick it up.]]> 4.42 2023
author: Mercedes Lackey
name: James
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



It's a really fun and quick read, although it is very much a Lackey Valdemar novel. You know what you'e in for when you pick it up.
]]> 207611566 There’s power in a book�

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master� (NPR).]]> 482 Grady Hendrix 0593548981 James 5


A very good book, and frankly way more serious than what Hendrix usually produces.]]> 4.00 2025
author: Grady Hendrix
name: James
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



A very good book, and frankly way more serious than what Hendrix usually produces.
]]> 50891838 The classic and heart-pounding Fear Street Series from beloved author R.L. Stine is back with the first four books now in one thrilling package!

Welcome to Fear Street�
Where strange things happen, people go missing, and nightmares come true.

This is where it all began. When Fear Street became legend, forever linked with danger, and curses, and things that go bump in the night. Go back to how it all started—to the moment when Corey Brooks falls for perfect, incredible Anna, only to learn that she’s gone missing...on Fear Street.

Venture into the terrifying Fear Street woods where Meg Dalton’s best friend Evan died under mysterious circumstances, and discover why only Meg can uncover the truth behind his death. Follow Della to Fear Island and learn about the terrifying threats that force Della to confront her past—and the incident that occurred on the island between her and a dangerous stranger.

Return to Fear Street with Mark and Cara Burroughs who come home to find that their parents have disappeared, plunging them into a nightmare of chaos that neither of them could have ever predicted. The only thing they know for sure is that though Fear Street may be a mystery, not everyone escapes such an evil place alive.

Only danger awaits those brave enough to travel down Fear Street. You’re not afraid…are you?]]> 552 R.L. Stine 1534477845 James 4


The books are a lot dated, having been published before the internet and mobile phone boom, and the plots are kind of corny, but they remain kind of fun. A bit of comfort food for the soul.]]> 3.62 1998
author: R.L. Stine
name: James
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



The books are a lot dated, having been published before the internet and mobile phone boom, and the plots are kind of corny, but they remain kind of fun. A bit of comfort food for the soul.
]]> 52237989
Will has no idea what that information is, and nobody to turn to, until Kim Secretan—charming, cultured, oddly attractive—steps in to offer help. As Kim and Will try to find answers and outrun trouble, mutual desire grows along with the danger.

And then Will discovers the truth about Kim. His identity, his past, his real intentions. Enraged and betrayed, Will never wants to see him again.

But Will possesses knowledge that could cost thousands of lives. Enemies are closing in on him from all sides—and Kim is the only man who can help.

A 1920s m/m romance trilogy in the spirit of Golden Age pulp fiction.]]> 265 K.J. Charles 1912688158 James 5


While I'm sure there are historical inaccuracies, it was a fun read with characters who while not morally pure certainly made understandable gray characters. ]]> 4.00 2020
author: K.J. Charles
name: James
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While I'm sure there are historical inaccuracies, it was a fun read with characters who while not morally pure certainly made understandable gray characters.
]]> 60093989
Adam Binder has lost what matters most to him. Having finally learned the true identity of the warlock preying on his family, what was supposed to be a final confrontation with the fiend instead became a trap that sent Vic into the realm of the dead, where none living are meant to be. Bound by debt, oath, and love, Adam blazes his own trail into the underworld to get Vic back and to end the threat of the warlock once and for all.

But the road to hell is paved with more than good intentions. Demons are hungry and ghosts are relentless. What awaits Adam in the underworld is nothing he is prepared to face. If that weren’t enough, Adam has one more thing he must do if he and Vic are to return to world of the living: find the lost heart of Death herself.]]> 350 David R. Slayton 1094067989 James 5


I'd be more than interested in reading more in this setting.]]> 4.16 2022
author: David R. Slayton
name: James
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



I'd be more than interested in reading more in this setting.
]]> 1558241
The Heart of Osiris has been stolen, all but one of his Eset-a cultists have been murdered , and his prey has escaped. Nicholas Sforza - an undying mummy resurrected by the power of Osiris - has failed in his righteous dury to Ma'at.

All but one of her fellow hunters are dead, her relationship with her best friend is a shambles, and the monster who's responsible has disappeared. Thea Ghandour - a hunter imbued by a mysterious force represented by beings known only as "the Messengers" - is watching her life fall apart all around her.

...One May Still Find Redemption

Yet the one responsible for all this turmoil is not satisfied, Maxwell Carpenter, a rotting horror that will not die has left a trail of terror and destruction in his wake as he heads inexorably toward the Lands of Faith with the ancient prize that he has stolen. Driven to once again taste the life that was stolen from him, he leads a chase to Egypt, where he hopes to unlock the secrets of Osiris' power. The race to this ancient land will tie the fates of these three souls together as the epic year of the Scarab trilogy draws to its stunning conclusion.]]> 288 Andrew Bates 1588468046 James 4


All told, it's good RPG fiction, and given the characters are continually ignoring larger plot lines in favor of pursuing personal vendettas, it does seem to be written by someone who's played one before.]]> 3.74 2001
author: Andrew Bates
name: James
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/18
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



All told, it's good RPG fiction, and given the characters are continually ignoring larger plot lines in favor of pursuing personal vendettas, it does seem to be written by someone who's played one before.
]]> 56914971
Returning to Guthrie, Oklahoma, Adam Binder once again finds himself in the path of deadly magic when a dark druid begins to prey on members of Adam’s family. It all seems linked to the death of Adam’s father many years ago—a man who may have somehow survived as a warlock.

Watched by the police, separated from the man who may be the love of his life, compelled to seek the truth about his connection to the druid, Adam learns more about his family and its troubled history than he ever bargained for, and finally comes face to face with the warlock he has vowed to stop.

Meanwhile, beyond the Veil of the mortal world, Argent the Queen of Swords and Vic Martinez undertake a dangerous journey to a secret meeting of the Council of Races . . . where the sea elves are calling for the destruction of humanity.]]> 285 David R. Slayton 1094067970 James 4


I look forward to book 3 and how we're going to resolve everything that happens here.]]> 4.11 2021
author: David R. Slayton
name: James
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



I look forward to book 3 and how we're going to resolve everything that happens here.
]]> 199798522
It’s the summer before senior year for best friends Tolly Driver and Amber Dennison. They’re not in the marching band, they’re not in the FFA � they don’t really count. Amber’s the only Native student in town, and Tolly’s only on the radar due to his father’s recent death.

This is all about to change.

Bodies are going to be dropping fast in this small West Texas town. For a few unbearably hot days that will resonate through the decades and even get made into a TV movie, Tolly and Amber will be famous. Notorious even. Finally, everyone will know their names.

This is Stephen Graham Jones x-raying the slasher genre, interrogating its motivations over the shoulder and in the voice of the killer itself � from a town he did some growing up in, in a year he was also seventeen.

The kills will be poignant, the jokes will hurt, and the violence will be endearing. Everything’s turned around for Tolly, for Amber � for all of Lamesa, Texas.

Be happy you weren’t there.

Be happy you’re only reading about it.]]> 373 Stephen Graham Jones 1668022249 James 1


With his just above poverty life and the whining, the entire narrative is like reading Holden Caufield of Catcher in the Rye narrating traveling to California with the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath, only with a left field zombie attack that shoehorns Friday the 13th: Jason Goes to Hell into the narrative.

While some people obviously enjoyed this, I can't list myself among them. ]]> 3.54 2024
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: James
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



With his just above poverty life and the whining, the entire narrative is like reading Holden Caufield of Catcher in the Rye narrating traveling to California with the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath, only with a left field zombie attack that shoehorns Friday the 13th: Jason Goes to Hell into the narrative.

While some people obviously enjoyed this, I can't list myself among them.
]]> 45047384
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.]]> 394 T.J. Klune James 3


I mean, the overall theme about accepting people as the are without judgement I can get behind, and frankly, most readers of fiction spend so much time in other people's heads that I think the message is a case of the preacher giving his sermon to the choir. I mean, it's charming, but it really has no major emotional or physical conflict, beyond "Most of the townspeople hate us!", which in turn kind of falls on the whole "There are good people working to change that" trope.

While I might end up reading more of Mx. Klune's work at some point, I feel like this one is missing something to give it heft and oomph. ]]> 4.37 2020
author: T.J. Klune
name: James
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/22
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



I mean, the overall theme about accepting people as the are without judgement I can get behind, and frankly, most readers of fiction spend so much time in other people's heads that I think the message is a case of the preacher giving his sermon to the choir. I mean, it's charming, but it really has no major emotional or physical conflict, beyond "Most of the townspeople hate us!", which in turn kind of falls on the whole "There are good people working to change that" trope.

While I might end up reading more of Mx. Klune's work at some point, I feel like this one is missing something to give it heft and oomph.
]]> 53255694 Guthrie was a good place to be from, but it wasn’t a great place to live, not when you were like Adam, in all the ways Adam was like Adam.

Adam Binder hasn’t spoken to his brother in years, not since Bobby had him committed to a psych ward for hearing voices. When a murderous spirit possesses Bobby’s wife and disrupts the perfect life he’s built away from Oklahoma, he’s forced to ask for his little brother’s help. Adam is happy to escape the trailer park and get the chance to say I told you so, but he arrives in Denver to find the local magicians dead.

It isn’t long before Adam is the spirit’s next target. To survive the confrontation, he’ll have to risk bargaining with powers he’d rather avoid, including his first love, the elf who broke his heart.

The Binder brothers don’t realize that they’re unwitting pawns in a game played by immortals. Death herself wants the spirit’s head, and she’s willing to destroy their family to reap it.]]> 320 David R. Slayton 1094067962 James 4


It really fit the bill of what I was looking for in reading material at the moment.]]> 3.87 2020
author: David R. Slayton
name: James
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



It really fit the bill of what I was looking for in reading material at the moment.
]]> 84082 Now, in The Yanti , Ali discovers that a mysterious Entity is masterminding the Shaktra's attack on Earth, an attack that will kill billions and leave both Earth and the elemental world shattered. Still reeling from the death of one of her closest friends, Ali finds herself accused of murder on Earth and besieged by enemies in the elemental world.
The Shaktra has had years to develop her magical abilities and her evil plots, guided by the otherworldly Entity. Ali has only known about her fairy powers for a month. There are holes in her fairy memories and her powers are still incomplete, while the Shaktra commands vast armies of hideous monsters and rules over hosts of dragons.
Ali's allies are one dragon, one leprechaun, a single troll, a handful of fairies and an African boy, Ra, who has sworn to serve Ali even beyond death. Plus the mysterious disembodied Nemi -- whose love sustains Ali through her darkest moments of despair.
Only the Yanti can stop what is to come. Unfortunately, Ali has barely had a chance to study it. The first time she tries to use it as a weapon, it nearly kills her. Unless Ali Warner can solve the riddle of the Yanti - and the mystery behind the Shaktra's insane bitterness -- then the Earth and the elemental world will be doomed.]]> 400 Christopher Pike 0765311003 James 4


I guess we can hope someday the rights get fixed so we can find out what happens next. ]]> 4.07 1988
author: Christopher Pike
name: James
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/12
date added: 2024/11/12
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



I guess we can hope someday the rights get fixed so we can find out what happens next.
]]> 1780322 308 Lisa W. Cantrell 0812506685 James 4


While this one is better written than the original, and remains a fun read, the multiple plot lines that get resolved a bit too quickly and one or two not so logical actions keep it from being a perfect Halloween read. Still fun.]]> 3.36 1990
author: Lisa W. Cantrell
name: James
average rating: 3.36
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While this one is better written than the original, and remains a fun read, the multiple plot lines that get resolved a bit too quickly and one or two not so logical actions keep it from being a perfect Halloween read. Still fun.
]]> 362706 Each Halloween, the Manse becomes a House of Horrors. Vampires, werewolves, ghouls and ghosts - not to mention Frankenstein's monster - stalk the premises. Bats and spiders drop upon the unwary. At every turn a new fright awaits - all in fun, of course.

Happy Halloween
But the Manse's history of horror is ancient and terrible - more awful than the innocent Trick-or-Treaters can imagine. For twelve years it has been biding its time, feeding on the fear its unsuspecting visitors so willingly offered...

Happy Halloween
Until tonight. Tomight is the Thirteenth Annual House of Horrors.
It will be the last.
Tonight, at the Witching Hour, all Hell will break loose.

Happy Halloween]]> 341 Lisa W. Cantrell 0812516737 James 4


While not an original premise, the writing us fun, most of the characters relatable, and how can you not love a good ol' Hag of the Manor subplot?]]> 3.29 1987
author: Lisa W. Cantrell
name: James
average rating: 3.29
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While not an original premise, the writing us fun, most of the characters relatable, and how can you not love a good ol' Hag of the Manor subplot?
]]> 28479
This annotated version of Time of the Twins, War of the Twins , and Test of the Twins contains extensive notes by The New York Times best-selling authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The three titles deal with all of the Heroes of the Lance, but primarily with the most popular character in all of Dragonlance , Raistlin Majere.]]> 1200 Margaret Weis 0786939745 James 4


But yes, the focus on everyone's hubris and personality flaws is painful all the way around, even with a "happy ending". In terms of the Annotations, Ms. Weis doesn't say as much in the book as she did in the Chronicles, while Mr. Hickman expands quite a bit on Campbell and his view of the characters, and how all of this sets up the further revealed cosmology in the next trilogy after the horrible book. Still worth reading. ]]> 4.46 1986
author: Margaret Weis
name: James
average rating: 4.46
book published: 1986
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/08
date added: 2024/10/28
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



But yes, the focus on everyone's hubris and personality flaws is painful all the way around, even with a "happy ending". In terms of the Annotations, Ms. Weis doesn't say as much in the book as she did in the Chronicles, while Mr. Hickman expands quite a bit on Campbell and his view of the characters, and how all of this sets up the further revealed cosmology in the next trilogy after the horrible book. Still worth reading.
]]> 6556 393 John Saul 0553560271 James 3


While I remained entertained (by the plot in general) and horrified (by the animal experimentation), the overall set up falls apart 30 years on trying to picture any of this happening in a world of AOL, Windows 3.1 and DOS 6.]]> 3.94 1992
author: John Saul
name: James
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/25
date added: 2024/10/25
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While I remained entertained (by the plot in general) and horrified (by the animal experimentation), the overall set up falls apart 30 years on trying to picture any of this happening in a world of AOL, Windows 3.1 and DOS 6.
]]> 52350
At once a masterpiece of psychological suspense and a savage commentary on a media-driven society that values the pursuit of youth and beauty at all costs, The Stepford Wives is a novel so frightening in its final implications that the title itself has earned a place in the American lexicon.]]> 144 Ira Levin 0060080841 James 4


Ok, so, I really enjoyed this quite a bit, even if the overall idea of losing autonomy to please a man makes my soul itch. As Peter Straub points out in his introduction, lots of little things towards the start take on really ugly meaning as the conclusion nears. Although, I will add that while Joanna refers to Disney's Hall of Presidents as evidence robots could pass for human, we really don't have that tech now, 50 years on, so there's a lot of suspension of disbelief here. Really good read, even with some of the outdated references, since there are plenty of folks who'd like to see it happen still.]]> 3.85 1972
author: Ira Levin
name: James
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1972
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/16
date added: 2024/10/16
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Ok, so, I really enjoyed this quite a bit, even if the overall idea of losing autonomy to please a man makes my soul itch. As Peter Straub points out in his introduction, lots of little things towards the start take on really ugly meaning as the conclusion nears. Although, I will add that while Joanna refers to Disney's Hall of Presidents as evidence robots could pass for human, we really don't have that tech now, 50 years on, so there's a lot of suspension of disbelief here. Really good read, even with some of the outdated references, since there are plenty of folks who'd like to see it happen still.
]]> 279947
Ten years had gone by since then, and only now were people sleeping peacefully at night.

But the nightmare was just about to begin...

Children are having hideous nightmares about a grossly deformed being with razor-edged fingers of death. Freddy is back; now neither man nor beast, but a chilling embodiment of evil itself. And as the nightmares become reality, and Freddy's twisted will becomes the children's command, panic, terror and murder stalk the streets of Springfield again...]]> 216 Jeffrey Cooper 0312905173 James 4


Honestly, the biggest issue with these novelizations is that the film series highly relies on visual images, and the author really can't shape the words in ways that let you see them the way film can. (Although with the dawn of DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4k, they look pretty threadbare with the cleaned up visuals.) On the other hand, the author does give us occasional peeks into the minds of the protagonists, something the movies couldn't really do. While you're probably better off renting/streaming the movies, the novels are a fun way to spend some time, and even catch a glimpse of what might have been. ]]> 3.78 1987
author: Jeffrey Cooper
name: James
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/14
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Honestly, the biggest issue with these novelizations is that the film series highly relies on visual images, and the author really can't shape the words in ways that let you see them the way film can. (Although with the dawn of DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4k, they look pretty threadbare with the cleaned up visuals.) On the other hand, the author does give us occasional peeks into the minds of the protagonists, something the movies couldn't really do. While you're probably better off renting/streaming the movies, the novels are a fun way to spend some time, and even catch a glimpse of what might have been.
]]> 860901 Gaston Leroux 0812460243 James 5


Overall, despite being a century old, it's still fun to read and enjoy wandering around a haunted theater with people who all are doing wrong, but doing it with heart. ]]> 4.20 1910
author: Gaston Leroux
name: James
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1910
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/09
date added: 2024/10/09
shelves:
review:
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Overall, despite being a century old, it's still fun to read and enjoy wandering around a haunted theater with people who all are doing wrong, but doing it with heart.
]]> 27528 First they were Left Behind.
Then they formed the Tribulation Force.
Now they must face Nicolae.
In Nicolae, the most explosive of the three books thus far, the seven-year tribulation is nearing the end of its first quarter, when prophecy says that "the wrath of the Lamb" will be poured out upon the earth. Rayford Steele becomes the ears of the tribulation saints at the highest levels of the Carpathia regime. Meanwhile, Buck Williams attempts a dramatic all-night rescue run from Israel through the Sinai that will hold you breathless to the end.]]> 530 Tim LaHaye 078622469X James 2


Honestly, while the writing is slowly getting less wooden, it doesn't change the fact that every character in here feels like they're marionettes dancing on strings while lipsyncing to a recorded message. ]]> 3.98 1997
author: Tim LaHaye
name: James
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1997
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/05
date added: 2024/10/05
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Honestly, while the writing is slowly getting less wooden, it doesn't change the fact that every character in here feels like they're marionettes dancing on strings while lipsyncing to a recorded message.
]]> 842883
Questioning the origins of his ancestors, the estranged vampire called beckett has come to Chicago, arriving in the middle of a now full-blown war. Unknowlingly, Beckett helps Khalid al-Rashid, a powerful Nosferatu, piece together the ancient history of the mummies - a history hidden for centuries. Now the Kindred not only face the threat of Thea Ghandour and her fellow hunters, but now must also struggle against other immortals.

An Unknown History

The Temple of Akhenaton has been destroyed, and Maxwell Carpenter reveals his true motive for uncovering the source of the mummies' power: revenge. Powered by his hatred, Carpenter will stop at nothing until he has killed the last member of the Sforza family, the mummy, Nicholas Sforza-Ankhotep. The mummies must protect the heart of their power or they and their future will cease to exist.

Lay Down with Lions is the second novel in the Year of the Scarab trilogy. This three-volume epic reveals the rise of an ancient power that threatens to forever alter the World of Darkness: the immortal beings known as mummies.]]> 288 Andrew Bates 1588468038 James 5



Honestly, it was fun revisiting Chicago by Night, which is likely why I enjoyed this book so much more. ]]> 3.59 2001
author: Andrew Bates
name: James
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/02
date added: 2024/10/02
shelves:
review:
Full review here:




Honestly, it was fun revisiting Chicago by Night, which is likely why I enjoyed this book so much more.
]]> 15721841
Withrow is a sarcastic vampire at a dinner party with his nosy neighbors. Jennifer is a genius in a dead-end job.

When the dead rise all around them are they more in danger with those they think they know or out in the streets with a zombie around every corner?

Perishables is a book which includes zombies but is not so much about them: instead it's about the lives of the persons who see the dead walk and some of those persons' favorite foods. At turns tense, humorous, compassionate, acrobatic, horrifying and filled with dread, Perishables delivers three stories of a zombie uprising that are independent but interrelated.

Perishables tells the stories of those who find responsibility and opportunity thrust upon them. It's about friendships and neighbors and the way everyone feels like an outsider, even insiders; about risk versus reward and the ways the big frights and tragedies we encounter in life make the small ones of every day seem a little better and a little worse. The people of Perishables are not professionals or heroes but they are eager to survive and one of them technically might not be a person at all...

Perishables is rich in characters, their relationships and the humor of events gone terribly awry. It's a zombie book unlike any other because it's a book about humanity; that it's also about dessert recipes, jellied beef loaf, mainframe systems and people who annoy us by talking loudly on their cellphones is simply a bonus.]]> 190 Michael G. Williams 1476355266 James 4


It's a wonderfully silly read, and his commentary about people's actions on Black Friday were too true to be truly funny. ]]> 4.05
author: Michael G. Williams
name: James
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2017/10/11
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



It's a wonderfully silly read, and his commentary about people's actions on Black Friday were too true to be truly funny.
]]> 137988 She's already saved one world.
Now she must try to save another.

Ali recently discovered that she is not an ordinary teenager but actually Queen of the Fairies. Reclaiming some of her magical abilities, she has taken possession of a mystical talisman whose powers she has barely begun to understand. She has saved the Earth from an invasion by elves and other creatures from the elemental world that lies parallel to our own.
Now Ali searches for her missing mother in the elemental world, accompanied by a troll, a leprechaun, and Ra, a mysterious African teen whom she met on the icy slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Ali feels a strange connection to the young man, but does not understand why. They grew up separated by half a world.
Attacked by nightmarish creatures, a wounded Ali and her friends are rescued by Drash, a young dragon with an inferiority complex. From Drash, Ali learns that the elemental world is on the verge of destruction at the hands of a sinister being known only as the Shaktra.
Meanwhile, on Earth, Ali's friends Steve and Cindy investigate the beautiful and bewitching Sheri Smith, who is somehow connected to the Shaktra. Too late, Steve and Cindy discover that she is not human at all . . . .
In a secret ice cavern hidden on a massive island that floats through the elemental heavens, Ali discovers the true relationship between humanity and the elementals--and the hideous nature of the enemy she must face.
Ali Warner's quest will not be complete until either she or the Shaktra is dead.]]> 336 Christopher Pike 0765349612 James 4


Interesting book and series, getting back into the more New Age ideas that populated Pike's other fiction. ]]> 4.07 2005
author: Christopher Pike
name: James
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/27
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Interesting book and series, getting back into the more New Age ideas that populated Pike's other fiction.
]]> 228258
Those left behind face war, famine, plagues, and natural disasters so devastating that only one in four people will survive. Odds are even worse for enemies of the Antichrist and his new world order.

Rayford Steele, Buck Williams, Bruce Barnes, and Chloe Steele band together to form the Tribulation Force. Their task is clear, and their goal is nothing less than to stand and fight the enemies of God during the seven most chaotic years the planet will ever see.]]> 452 Tim LaHaye 0842329218 James 2


I mean, honestly, the wooden writing is bad enough without the other bad ideas getting thrown in here. I find myself again wondering about who they thought the target audience was, as the majority of people most likely to read the series would be taken up in the Rapture should such a thing occur, I kind of doubt the rather confrontational style of Evangelism within would particularly motivate a non believer, and I seem to recall their placement of the Rapture is controversial in their own circles. (Ever want fun, go read through some of the wiki articles on pre and post millennial rapture. It really is proof Unverified Personal Gnosis isn't just a pagan/wiccan thing.) I know they probably made bank on this series, given it hit the bestseller lists, and the back has adverts for the YA series as well as videos you can order for the sinner who get left behind...

I mean, the sunken cost fallacy means I'll likely finish this reread, but wow, is it painful.]]> 3.96 1996
author: Tim LaHaye
name: James
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1996
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/21
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



I mean, honestly, the wooden writing is bad enough without the other bad ideas getting thrown in here. I find myself again wondering about who they thought the target audience was, as the majority of people most likely to read the series would be taken up in the Rapture should such a thing occur, I kind of doubt the rather confrontational style of Evangelism within would particularly motivate a non believer, and I seem to recall their placement of the Rapture is controversial in their own circles. (Ever want fun, go read through some of the wiki articles on pre and post millennial rapture. It really is proof Unverified Personal Gnosis isn't just a pagan/wiccan thing.) I know they probably made bank on this series, given it hit the bestseller lists, and the back has adverts for the YA series as well as videos you can order for the sinner who get left behind...

I mean, the sunken cost fallacy means I'll likely finish this reread, but wow, is it painful.
]]> 199026522 In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.

The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul de sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?

The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed monsters roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.

The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present.]]> 367 Riley Sager 0593472373 James 4


Honestly, this is probably the best the author has achieved, and I found myself enjoying it, even as I wondered how certain facts were overlooked in the past.]]> 3.65 2024
author: Riley Sager
name: James
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/18
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves:
review:
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Honestly, this is probably the best the author has achieved, and I found myself enjoying it, even as I wondered how certain facts were overlooked in the past.
]]> 1252649
Drawn into a struggle against the forces of darkness, Thea Ghandour encounters and enigmatic figure who shares her same immodest goal: the ultimate destruction of evil. Maxwell Carpenter has tracked an entity of incredible power to an obscure temple in the heart of Chicago. Only with the aid of Thea and her fellow hunters can Carpenter hope to stand against its dark might

An Ancient Force Awakens

But Thea learns that Carpenter has not yet revealed everything - not about his actual goals, nor about the mysterious entity's true nature. Only by entering the formidable Temple of Akhenaton can Thea hope to discover the truth - and uncover a revelation that may change the world

Heralds of the Storm is the first novel in the Year of the Scarab trilogy. This three volume epic reveals the rise of an ancient power thaqt threatens to forever alter the World of Darkness... the immortal beings known as mummies.]]> 288 Andrew Bates 1565048571 James 3


t's readable, but it's also kind of silly and there were other fictions being released around this time that explored similar dynamics within the setting.]]> 3.52 2001
author: Andrew Bates
name: James
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/16
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



t's readable, but it's also kind of silly and there were other fictions being released around this time that explored similar dynamics within the setting.
]]> 906289
Teenager Ali Warner has good reason to believe in such a fantasy.

While hiking in the woods behind her house, Ali stumbles across a plot by the elementals—mysterious creatures who live in a neighboring dimension—to invade and destroy the Earth. Not only that, she discovers that she has been chosen to stop the attack.

Why was Ali chosen? It is very possible that she may be more than human.

To reclaim her magical abilities and her true identity, Ali sets out on a great adventure. This journey will take her far from home and through a series of dangerous tests that require not only courage and strength but an insight into life itself.

Accompanied by a devious leprechaun, a loyal troll, and three close friends, Ali strives to reach the top of a forbidden mountain and lay claim to the Yanti, an ancient talisman of great power that even the elementals cannot control.

Ali Warner is Alosha. Join her in her quest to save humanity.]]> 304 Christopher Pike 0765310988 James 3


Not quite YA or Adult fiction, but fun and readable. ]]> 3.70 2004
author: Christopher Pike
name: James
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Not quite YA or Adult fiction, but fun and readable.
]]> 27523 470 Tim LaHaye 0842342702 James 2


I just can't wait to get into the later books again, where we get condescension to any belief that isn't either Orthodox Judaism that will accept Jesus by the final book or Crispy Christianity, or some Dante-esque moments where people they don't agree with are shown to have failed to be good Christians and are therefore being Tribulated. Wee. /sarcasm off]]> 3.86 1995
author: Tim LaHaye
name: James
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1995
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/09
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



I just can't wait to get into the later books again, where we get condescension to any belief that isn't either Orthodox Judaism that will accept Jesus by the final book or Crispy Christianity, or some Dante-esque moments where people they don't agree with are shown to have failed to be good Christians and are therefore being Tribulated. Wee. /sarcasm off
]]> 8084228
A hardboiled elf is framed for murder in a North Pole world that plays reindeer games for keeps, and where favorite holiday characters live complex lives beyond December.

Fired from his longtime job as captain of the Coal Patrol, two-foot-three inch 1,300-year-old elf Gumdrop Coal is angry. He's one of Santa's original elves, inspired by the fat man's vision to bring joy to children on that one special day each year. But somewhere along the way things went sour for Gumdrop. Maybe it was delivering one too many lumps of coal for the Naughty List. Maybe it's the conspiracy against Christmas that he's starting to sense down every chimney. Either way, North Pole disillusionment is nothing Some elves brood with a bottle of nog, trying to forget their own wish list. Some get better. Some get bitter. Gumdrop Coal wants revenge. Justice is the only thing he knows, and so he decides to give a serious wakeup call to parents who can't keep their vile offspring from landing on the Naughty List. But when one parent winds up dead, his eye shot out with a Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model BB gun, Gumdrop Coal must learn who framed him and why. Along the way he'll escape the life-sucking plants of the Mistletoe Forrest, battle the infamous Tannenbomb Giant, and survive a close encounter with twelve very angry drummers and their violent friends. The horrible truth lurking behind the gingerbread doors of Kringle Town could spell the end of Christmas-and of the fat man himself. Holly Jolly!]]> 277 Ken Harmon 0525951954 James 4


After Halloween, if you find yourself wanting something fun to help you get past the sap and treacle that normally fills December, this is a great way to do so. ]]> 3.46 2010
author: Ken Harmon
name: James
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/05
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



After Halloween, if you find yourself wanting something fun to help you get past the sap and treacle that normally fills December, this is a great way to do so.
]]> 1602810 But on the journey home to Providence, R.I., Daniel receives a bizarre and frightening sign from someone who knows the most intimate details of his deception. Soon after he reunites with his family, another message makes it chillingly clear that Stephen Hart has been murdered.
Through macabre communications the killer paints a brutally accurate portrait of Daniel's sexual obsessions, leaving no doubt that he observes every move Daniel and his family make. Even as Daniel desperately tries to shield his wife and daughter from the truth, he succumbs to the diabolical manipulations of the killer and is dragged deeper into a netherworld of bathhouses and S/M clubs.]]> 232 Gary Zebrun 1555838383 James 3


It held my attention, but the engagement ended not long after the final page and the last bit of trying to insert Jesus into the narrative.]]> 2.94 2004
author: Gary Zebrun
name: James
average rating: 2.94
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/03
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



It held my attention, but the engagement ended not long after the final page and the last bit of trying to insert Jesus into the narrative.
]]> 847424 288 Philippe Boulle 1588468585 James 4


(combined review with book 2)

While it was nice to finally finish these after nearly 20 years, I still feel a bit like the main purpose was to hide cameos of the "Signature Characters" from the Dark Ages and Modern Clannovels in another era. On the other hand, with Hesha, we get a better look at the beliefs of the Settites (now The Ministry in 5th Edition) and how it can be reflected in every day things. ]]> 3.61 2003
author: Philippe Boulle
name: James
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/30
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



(combined review with book 2)

While it was nice to finally finish these after nearly 20 years, I still feel a bit like the main purpose was to hide cameos of the "Signature Characters" from the Dark Ages and Modern Clannovels in another era. On the other hand, with Hesha, we get a better look at the beliefs of the Settites (now The Ministry in 5th Edition) and how it can be reflected in every day things.
]]> 847426 284 Philippe Boulle 1588468291 James 3


(Combined with a review of Book 3)]]> 3.53 2003
author: Philippe Boulle
name: James
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/30
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



(Combined with a review of Book 3)
]]> 1052604 284 Philippe Boulle 1588468283 James 4


t's fun reading, once you get into it, although it takes its good sweet time getting going. People familiar with the signature characters from the Revised edition will probably get a kick out of the cameos made by people focused on in the Clan Novels, although likely people with no knowledge of the Vampire RPG will be as lost as poor Regina. ]]> 3.56 2002
author: Philippe Boulle
name: James
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/20
date added: 2024/08/20
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



t's fun reading, once you get into it, although it takes its good sweet time getting going. People familiar with the signature characters from the Revised edition will probably get a kick out of the cameos made by people focused on in the Clan Novels, although likely people with no knowledge of the Vampire RPG will be as lost as poor Regina.
]]> 18755773
When Nina Linden is hired to landscape a private island off the New England coast, she sees it as her chance to rebuild her failing business after being cheated by her unscrupulous ex. She never expects that her new client, software mogul Deacon Whitney, would see more in her than just a talented gardener. Deacon has paid top dollar to the crews he’s hired to renovate the desolate Whitney estate—he had to, because the bumps, thumps, and unexplained sightings of ghostly figures in nineteenth-century dress are driving workers away faster than he can say “Boo.�

But Nina shows no signs of being scared away, even as she experiences some unnerving apparitions herself. And as the two of them work closely together to restore the mansion’s faded glory, Deacon realizes that he’s found someone who doesn’t seem to like his fortune more than himself—while Nina may have finally found the one man she can trust with her bruised and battered heart.

But something on the island doesn’t believe in true love…and if Nina and Deacon can’t figure out how to put these angry spirits to rest, their own love doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance.]]> 318 Molly Harper 147670600X James 5


It wound up being very entertaining and readable, and I'm sad that this seems to be a stand alone novel, since I'd love to read more about these characters. ]]> 3.83 2014
author: Molly Harper
name: James
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/15
date added: 2024/08/15
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



It wound up being very entertaining and readable, and I'm sad that this seems to be a stand alone novel, since I'd love to read more about these characters.
]]> 169227396 0 Bill Bridges James 5


While I never liked playing Werewolf overly much (the mechanics were often unwieldy) the much more detailed world building behind the game was very good and quite fun to get sucked in to. Thankfully, Werewolf also made for some really engaging fiction. (The Tribe Novels made more sense than the Clan Novels, and Albrecht's pack's first novel, The Silver Crown, was wonderfully action packed.) While I wouldn't recommend this particular novel to anyone not familiar with the setting, it is a heck of a lot better than it had any right to be. It also well outdoes the game supplement that covered this same time period, that really didn't offer any satisfying conclusions. ]]> 5.00
author: Bill Bridges
name: James
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/13
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While I never liked playing Werewolf overly much (the mechanics were often unwieldy) the much more detailed world building behind the game was very good and quite fun to get sucked in to. Thankfully, Werewolf also made for some really engaging fiction. (The Tribe Novels made more sense than the Clan Novels, and Albrecht's pack's first novel, The Silver Crown, was wonderfully action packed.) While I wouldn't recommend this particular novel to anyone not familiar with the setting, it is a heck of a lot better than it had any right to be. It also well outdoes the game supplement that covered this same time period, that really didn't offer any satisfying conclusions.
]]> 201102262 An intrepid woman and her friends must somehow undo the great damage they have done to the future of their world in the thrilling conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Dragonlance seriesWhen Destina Rosethorn and her companions were transported to a time 300 years before their birth—to the days of the Third Dragon War famed in song and story—the last thing they wanted to do was upset history. But upon returning to the near-past from which they departed, they discover a world completely altered. Thanks in no small part to the Graygem of Gargath that Destina carries, the war that was once won is now lost, and the forces of evil hold sway over the land.The river of Time is rising, flowing inexorably towards present day. So it is up to Destina and her friends to make one last, desperate attempt to restore Time's river to its proper channel. For if they cannot manage it, the altered past will sweep over the present until no trace of their old world remains.]]> 400 Margaret Weis 1984819429 James 5 4.26
author: Margaret Weis
name: James
average rating: 4.26
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 204061
For millennia, vampires have fed on the living, hidden in the shadows of mortal society. Legends say the undead descend from Caine, the first murderer portrayed in the Bible, who passed on his curse through his blood. Those same legends speak of a final reckoning, when Caine and his mad children will rise from slumber and consume all the undead. Vampires call this time Gehenna.
For the vampire Beckett, a researcher among the undead, it means one last shot at understanding the mysteries of the get of Caine � and at outrunning his own sins.
Vampire: Gehenna, the Final Night is the first act of the Time of Judgment, telling the story of a wide-ranging Armageddon among the supernatural entities of the World of Darkness.]]> 352 Ari Marmell 1588468550 James 4


Probably the best of the trilogy. I recommend this and the second book to anyone who enjoyed the games, and even to those few who are willing to work with contectual clues to figure out what they've missed to get into a good world ender.]]> 3.62 2004
author: Ari Marmell
name: James
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/09
date added: 2024/08/09
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Probably the best of the trilogy. I recommend this and the second book to anyone who enjoyed the games, and even to those few who are willing to work with contectual clues to figure out what they've missed to get into a good world ender.
]]> 69708390
With the battle raging on, Destina tries desperately to make amends and prevent disaster. Raistlin and Sturm encounter their heroes, Huma and Magius, and must reconcile the myths with the men. Meanwhile, Tasslehoff—shocked that the Knights of Solamnia have never heard of dragonlances—sets out to find the famed weapons.

But as the forces of the Dark Queen close in on the High Clerist’s Tower, Destina’s party must return to their own timeline together—or not at all.]]> 370 Margaret Weis 1984819380 James 4


While I enjoyed this one more than the first volume (among other things, the pacing is a lot better), and I enjoy watching Raistlin and Sturm gain an understanding of each other they never had in prior outings, it still feels a bit like the balance between pathos and comedy is a bit off here. I mean, Tas by himself is hysterical, but it just doesn't seem as meshed in with the meat of the story. Still worth reading for fans of the Lance.]]> 4.14 2023
author: Margaret Weis
name: James
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/06
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves:
review:
full review here:



While I enjoyed this one more than the first volume (among other things, the pacing is a lot better), and I enjoy watching Raistlin and Sturm gain an understanding of each other they never had in prior outings, it still feels a bit like the balance between pathos and comedy is a bit off here. I mean, Tas by himself is hysterical, but it just doesn't seem as meshed in with the meat of the story. Still worth reading for fans of the Lance.
]]> 711855 360 Sharon Green 0380812959 James 4


While free will does play a part in the narrative, and questions of prevailing moral ambiguity do exist in the strange new world, it does tend to put a damper on the conclusion to know that we were all lead here.]]> 3.76 2002
author: Sharon Green
name: James
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/03
date added: 2024/08/03
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While free will does play a part in the narrative, and questions of prevailing moral ambiguity do exist in the strange new world, it does tend to put a damper on the conclusion to know that we were all lead here.
]]> 711852
As traitors scheme at home, the Chosen Six are called beyond Gandistra's borders to deal with a dire threat to their empire and their world. For, as the leaders of neighboring Gracely bicker and brood and play politics, an inconceivable army is massing -- an invading wave of impossible terror, dedicated to the total devastation of everything in its path. And it may already be too late to stop a foe immune to every known magic -- including the awesome blended might of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Sight, and Spirit.]]> 384 Sharon Green 0380812940 James 4


All in all, it does a good job at expanding on themes and moving the plot along at a good clip.]]> 3.70 2001
author: Sharon Green
name: James
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/03
date added: 2024/08/03
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



All in all, it does a good job at expanding on themes and moving the plot along at a good clip.
]]> 517102 432 Sharon Green 0380812932 James 4


Having read this before, I know how everything comes out, but I'd forgotten how much better the writing was this time around, other than GRRM levels of subplots.]]> 3.66 2000
author: Sharon Green
name: James
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Having read this before, I know how everything comes out, but I'd forgotten how much better the writing was this time around, other than GRRM levels of subplots.
]]> 711853 416 Sharon Green 038078811X James 4


While the first climax isn't very exciting, the real climax that follows is quite well done, setting up the follow up trilogy.]]> 3.66 1999
author: Sharon Green
name: James
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While the first climax isn't very exciting, the real climax that follows is quite well done, setting up the follow up trilogy.
]]> 711854 388 Sharon Green 0380788101 James 5


Probably the strongest of the quintet, it also relies rather heavily on rape, both literal and figurative as a plot point, as well as using the Blending entity as a Deus ex Machina quite a bit.]]> 3.65 1999
author: Sharon Green
name: James
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Probably the strongest of the quintet, it also relies rather heavily on rape, both literal and figurative as a plot point, as well as using the Blending entity as a Deus ex Machina quite a bit.
]]> 517106 384 Sharon Green 0380788098 James 4


Well written, setting up the back half of the quintet.]]> 3.65 1998
author: Sharon Green
name: James
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Well written, setting up the back half of the quintet.
]]> 517104 432 Sharon Green 0380784157 James 4


Honestly, most of the big payouts are a book or two away, so most of this is setting the stage and filling in the background on what our as of yet Unnamed Empire has been doing for the past 300 years. Still fun. Looking forward to finishing this journey soon.]]> 3.68 1997
author: Sharon Green
name: James
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/21
date added: 2024/07/21
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Honestly, most of the big payouts are a book or two away, so most of this is setting the stage and filling in the background on what our as of yet Unnamed Empire has been doing for the past 300 years. Still fun. Looking forward to finishing this journey soon.
]]> 517115 448 Sharon Green 0380784149 James 4


As first books in a series go, this one does a lot of legwork in setting up what comes later, even if much of the thrust of the overall plot can be inferred from the get go. However, it remains readable and fun.]]> 3.66 1996
author: Sharon Green
name: James
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/18
date added: 2024/07/18
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



As first books in a series go, this one does a lot of legwork in setting up what comes later, even if much of the thrust of the overall plot can be inferred from the get go. However, it remains readable and fun.
]]> 552199
The team is small: Renquist; his right-hand man, Lupo; an extremely unorthodox hardline NSA operative named Jack Coulson; and Thyme Bridewell, a failed NSA brain-control experiment originally intended as Renquist's lunch. What they find in Underland taxes even Renquist's supernormal powers. The quondam Nazis have some very powerful allies -- the Dhrakuh, a race of sentient reptiles from the dawn of time. Their goal is nothing less than the conquest of the entire world.

To make matters worse, Renquist is hampered by some throwbacks from his own race and by the unexpected arrival of one of his own colony members, Julia, together with Philipa, a darklost whom Julia has led through the Change into Nosferatu.
The future of civilization hangs in the balance.
]]> 448 Mick Farren 0765342162 James 5


Really fun book, despite the really absurd premise.]]> 3.35 2002
author: Mick Farren
name: James
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/12
date added: 2024/07/12
shelves:
review:
full review here:



Really fun book, despite the really absurd premise.
]]> 49214539 Box Hill is a sizzling, sometimes shocking, and strangely tragic love story between two men, set in the gay biker community of the late 1970s. Beautifully written, intimate, and profoundly affecting, Adam Mars-Jones's first novel in almost a decade is the winner of the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize.]]> 160 Adam Mars-Jones 1922310107 James 3


It's a short read, but if you like books with 20 pages of ecstasy and 100 pages of angst, go for it. ]]> 3.50 2020
author: Adam Mars-Jones
name: James
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/02
date added: 2024/07/02
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



It's a short read, but if you like books with 20 pages of ecstasy and 100 pages of angst, go for it.
]]> 1478041 416 Mick Farren 0312879016 James 4


While essentially a "bottle episode", the final part is a lot of fun as a legendary figure more or less does a 70's car chase through the Nosferatu fruit stand. ]]> 3.52 2001
author: Mick Farren
name: James
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/11
date added: 2024/06/11
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While essentially a "bottle episode", the final part is a lot of fun as a legendary figure more or less does a 70's car chase through the Nosferatu fruit stand.
]]> 48645008 219 VENDLA BRAMBLE James 4


Honestly, worth the read.]]> 3.89
author: VENDLA BRAMBLE
name: James
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/21
date added: 2024/05/21
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Honestly, worth the read.
]]> 552202
Having fled New York, Victor Renquist and his small group of Nosferatu are striving to reestablish their Colony in Los Angeles. They have become a deeper, darker part of the city's nightlife. And Hollywood's glitterati are hot on the scent of a new thrill, one that outshines all others--immortality.

But someone, somewhere, is meddling with even darker powers, powers that even the Nosferatu fear. Someone is attempting to summon the entity of ancient evil known at Cthulhu.

And Renquist must overcome dissent in his own Colony, solve the riddle of the Darklost (a being brought partway along the Nosferatu path and then abandoned), and combat powerful enemies to save the world--of humans!]]> 480 Mick Farren 0812589548 James 5


While the plot looks cheesy as hell, the book itself is a hell of a lot of fun to read, and held up better than I remember it being when it was first released. ]]> 3.68 2000
author: Mick Farren
name: James
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/05
date added: 2024/04/05
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While the plot looks cheesy as hell, the book itself is a hell of a lot of fun to read, and held up better than I remember it being when it was first released.
]]> 198139926
Mary Dunlavy didn't intend to become a professional babysitter. Of course, she didn't intend to die, either, or to become a crossroads ghost. As a babysitting ghost, she's been caring for the Price family for four generations, and she's planning to keep doing the job for the better part of forever.

With her first charge finally back from her decades-long cross-dimensional field trip, with a long-lost husband and adopted daughter in tow, it's time for Mary to oversee the world's most chaotic family reunion. And that's before the Covenant of St. George launches a full scale strike against the cryptids of Manhattan, followed quickly by an attack on the Campbell Family Carnival.

It's going to take every advantage and every ally they have for the Prices to survive what's coming—and for Mary, to avoid finding out the answer to a question she's never wanted to where does a babysitting ghost go when she runs out of people to take care of?]]> 368 Seanan McGuire 0756418615 James 5


While this book almost seems like an ending, I hope there's more to come. ]]> 4.16 2024
author: Seanan McGuire
name: James
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/28
date added: 2024/03/28
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While this book almost seems like an ending, I hope there's more to come.
]]> 1101963 384 Mick Farren 031286213X James 5


Occasionally self aware, still highly recommended.]]> 3.70 1996
author: Mick Farren
name: James
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/21
date added: 2024/03/21
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Occasionally self aware, still highly recommended.
]]> 609093
He turned to the first page and read:

I, Strahd, Lord of Barovia, well aware certain events of my reign have been desperately misunderstood by those who are better at garbling history than recording it, hereby set down an exact record of those events, that the truth may at last be known . . . .

He caught his breath. By all the good gods, a personal journal?]]> 320 P.N. Elrod 0786907541 James 4


While not as fun as the first vampire confessional, it remains engaging. ]]> 3.90 1998
author: P.N. Elrod
name: James
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/07
date added: 2024/03/10
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While not as fun as the first vampire confessional, it remains engaging.
]]> 970305 231 Catherine Atkins 0698119150 James 4


Liked it, just made me squicky at a few points.]]> 3.93 1999
author: Catherine Atkins
name: James
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/04
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves:
review:
My review here:



Liked it, just made me squicky at a few points.
]]> 63104676 Only the extraordinary are chosen. Only the cunning survive.

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment.

Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.

And still the outside world mobilizes to destroy them, while the Caretaker himself, Atlas Blakely, may yet succeed with a plan foreseen to have world-ending stakes. It’s a race to survive as the six Society recruits are faced with the question of what they're willing to betray for limitless power―and who will be destroyed along the way.]]> 496 Olivie Blake 1529095352 James 2


I mean, if the author's point is that everything is arbitrary, she succeeded in that theme, but lord, this really was like reading a tale filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing.]]> 2.82 2024
author: Olivie Blake
name: James
average rating: 2.82
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/04
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



I mean, if the author's point is that everything is arbitrary, she succeeded in that theme, but lord, this really was like reading a tale filled with sound and fury, signifying nothing.
]]> 62919373 A fearless debut novel of resilience, transcendence, and the elusive promise of justice.

Growing up in suburban New York, Dylan lived through the unfathomable: three years as a victim of sex trafficking at the hands of Vincent, a troubled young man who promised to marry Dylan when he turned eighteen. Years later—long after a police investigation that went nowhere, and after the statute of limitations for the crimes perpetrated against him have run out—the long shadow of Dylan’s trauma still looms over the fragile life in the city he’s managed to build with his fiancé, Moans, who knows little of Dylan’s past. His continued existence depends upon an all-important mantra: To survive, you live through it, but never look back.

Then a groundbreaking new law—the Child Victims Act—opens a new way forward: a one-year window during which Dylan can sue his abusers. But for someone who was trafficked as a child, does money represent justice—does his pain have a price? As Dylan is forced to look back at what happened to him and try to make sense of his past, he begins to explore a drug and sex-fueled world of bathhouses, clubs, and strangers� apartments, only to emerge, barely alive, with a new clarity of purpose: a righteous determination to gaze, unflinching, upon the brutal men whose faces have haunted him for a decade, and to extract justice on his own terms.

By turns harrowing, lyrical, and beautiful, Hertz’s debut offers a startling glimpse at the unraveling of trauma—and the light that peeks, faintly, and often in surprising ways, from the other side of the window.]]> 288 Kyle Dillon Hertz 1668005875 James 4


While I enjoyed this, your mileage may vary.]]> 3.71 2023
author: Kyle Dillon Hertz
name: James
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/01
date added: 2024/02/01
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While I enjoyed this, your mileage may vary.
]]> 2262157 175 Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson 0761327908 James 4


It's ugly, but it's cathartic. ]]> 3.77 2001
author: Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
name: James
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/16
date added: 2024/01/16
shelves:
review:
full review here:



It's ugly, but it's cathartic.
]]> 2960815
Danger stalks Queen Ehlana's realm. Peasants whisper of the heroes of old who will rise again. Outlaw bands ravage the hill country. Then comes an ambassador from the far-off Tamuli empire, requesting aid: Tamuli is being torn apart by monsters, ancient warriors, and foul magics. Queen Ehlana turns to the great knight Sparhawk, and the two begin the perilous trek to the distant empire of the east, toward a glittering court seething with corruption and treachery.
This tale of rousing adventure, glory, and betrayal is fantasy at its best, as told by one of the finest storytellers of our time.

"This tale of comradeship, dastardly doings, multiple gods, strange races and noble and ignoble humans is vintage Eddings."
-Publishers Weekly, on The Shining Ones

"Eddings continues to reward lovers of great, sweeping fantasies with creative ingenuity in characterization, world building, and magical effects."
-Booklist, on The Hidden City]]> 1040 David Eddings 0345500946 James 3


As fantasy novels go, it's well written, but given how much that genre has changed over time, I can't help but feel this has been a relic of an earlier time.]]> 4.23 1999
author: David Eddings
name: James
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/15
date added: 2024/01/15
shelves:
review:
Fuller review here:



As fantasy novels go, it's well written, but given how much that genre has changed over time, I can't help but feel this has been a relic of an earlier time.
]]> 202306647
Now they’ve gone on the road together, hunting the rest of the coven while they figure out how to keep the white-hot, once-in-a-lifetime bond between them. Days are filled tracking their paranormal quarry, honing their monster hunting skills, and gaining control of the small magics that have made a life-or-death difference. Nights are spent together, entangled in adrenaline-fueled passion, learning how to make this love last forever despite the odds. Seth fears that if they don’t eliminate the rest of the coven, they’ll be on the run forever, and more people will die. Evan is afraid that Seth’s obsession with revenge means they might not survive to get a happily ever after.

Seth and Evan head to West Virginia to confront one of the dark warlocks, a master con man running a cybercrime empire. Can Seth and Evan save the warlock’s next target, bring down his crime syndicate, and live to tell the tale?

Signs and Wonders is a thrill-packed supernatural thrill ride with plenty of paranormal suspense, hurt/comfort, hot nights, found family, deadly magic, immortal witches, determined hunters, haunted places, creepy ghosts, impressive explosions, spooky chills, and sexy thrills, and features an evolving, established romantic relationship with all the feels.]]> 211 Morgan Brice 1647950678 James 5


Fun read.]]> 4.56 2023
author: Morgan Brice
name: James
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/08
date added: 2024/01/08
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Fun read.
]]> 195442699
"Welcome to the moon!"

Neal Gordon screwed up his assignment on Mars and they reassigned him to Antarctica. Now he's being reassigned some place even worse: Luna City. A crime ridden hellhole with a super-rich ruling class, he almost immediately finds himself targeted by bounty hunters and cyborg terrorists.

Thankfully, Neal has an unusual set of partners in robot dog, Barksley, and the snarky but badass Lucy Westenra. Yes, make all the vampire jokes you want. It's tough being a corporate cop on humanity's foremost colony and before this adventure is over, he's going to have to deal with deranged influencers, mysterious female secret agents, and a 1970s themed flying car called the Purple Rain. Can he survive to get reassigned? Who knows.

MOON COPS ON THE MOON is set in the Futurepunk setting of Agent G, the Cyber Dragons Trilogy, and Space Academy novels but functions as a standalone series. It is a humorous action-filled romp that fans of The Expanse, Robocop, Demolition Man, and Blade Runner will enjoy.]]> 267 C.T. Phipps 1951510054 James 5


If the idea of Dashiell Hammett writing cyberpunk appeals to you, this is great.]]> 4.29
author: C.T. Phipps
name: James
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/03
date added: 2024/01/03
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



If the idea of Dashiell Hammett writing cyberpunk appeals to you, this is great.
]]> 123165486
Alas for Tybalt and his domestic aspirations, fate—and Titania—had other ideas. His perfect world had been complete for only a moment when it was ripped away, to be replaced by hers. Titania, Faerie’s Summer Queen, Mother of Illusions and enemy of so many he holds dear, has seized control of the Kingdom, remaking it in her own image. An image which does not include meddlesome shapeshifters getting in her way. Tybalt quickly finds himself banished from her reality, along with the Undersea and the rest of the Court of Cats.

To protect his people and his future, Tybalt must find the woman he loves in a world designed to keep her from him, convince her that he’s not a stranger trying to ruin her life for no apparent reason, and get her to unmake the illusion she’s been firmly enmeshed in. And he’ll have to do it all while she doesn’t know him, and every unrecognizing look is a knife to his heart.

For Tybalt, King of Cats, the happily ever after was just the beginning.]]> 368 Seanan McGuire 0756416809 James 5


Fun story, worth reading. ]]> 4.06 2023
author: Seanan McGuire
name: James
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/30
date added: 2023/11/30
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Fun story, worth reading.
]]> 552748 260 Chris Glaser 0664256597 James 4


And frankly, This was likely addressed more to a straight audience, helping heterosexuals better understand what it means to be gay and Christian, with a secondary focus on letting gay Christians know they are not alone. However, given it took PC(USA) until 2011 to finally reconcile on a national level with LGBTQ+ parishioners wanting recognition and acceptance, his happy ending really didn't happen until 30 years after where this book ends. (To be fair, individual churches and Presbyteries did make their own decisions prior to this, but mostly in the Out of Sight of the General Assembly, Out of Mind of the General Assembly sense.) This makes an interesting continuation of Congregations in Conflict by Keith Hartman, showing some of the same arguments happening 10-20 years apart in different settings. Supposedly, Glaser has written more books since this one, so I may eventually check it out and see how his story continued during AIDS and ENDA/DOMA]]> 4.25 1988
author: Chris Glaser
name: James
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/25
date added: 2023/11/25
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



And frankly, This was likely addressed more to a straight audience, helping heterosexuals better understand what it means to be gay and Christian, with a secondary focus on letting gay Christians know they are not alone. However, given it took PC(USA) until 2011 to finally reconcile on a national level with LGBTQ+ parishioners wanting recognition and acceptance, his happy ending really didn't happen until 30 years after where this book ends. (To be fair, individual churches and Presbyteries did make their own decisions prior to this, but mostly in the Out of Sight of the General Assembly, Out of Mind of the General Assembly sense.) This makes an interesting continuation of Congregations in Conflict by Keith Hartman, showing some of the same arguments happening 10-20 years apart in different settings. Supposedly, Glaser has written more books since this one, so I may eventually check it out and see how his story continued during AIDS and ENDA/DOMA
]]> 68806
In an ancient kingdom, the legacy of one royal family hangs in the balance, and the fate of a queen—and her empire—lies on the shoulders of one knight.

Sparhawk, Knight and Queen’s Champion, has returned to Elenia after ten years of exile, only to find young Queen Ehlana trapped in a crystalline cocoon. The enchantments of the sorceress Sephrenia have kept the queen alive–but the spell is fading. In the meantime, Elenia is ruled by a prince regent, the puppet of the tyrannical Annias, who vows to seize power over all the land.

Now Sparhawk must find the legendary Bhelliom, a sapphire that holds the key to Ehlana’s cure. Sparhawk and his companions will face monstrous foes and evil creatures on their journey, but even greater dangers lie in for dark legions will stop at nothing to reach the radiant stone, which may possess powers too deadly for any mortal to bear.]]> 912 David Eddings 0345500938 James 3


Since it's high fantasy and Eddings to boot, the ending is fairly foregone. It's readable, but some of the opinions expressed under veil of fiction get really annoying. As much as people complain about Piers Anthony's sexism, Eddings is just as bad with it.]]> 4.20 1993
author: David Eddings
name: James
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/16
date added: 2023/11/16
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Since it's high fantasy and Eddings to boot, the ending is fairly foregone. It's readable, but some of the opinions expressed under veil of fiction get really annoying. As much as people complain about Piers Anthony's sexism, Eddings is just as bad with it.
]]> 2672694 195 Keith Hartman 0813522293 James 4


This remains a fascinating time capsule of church history and exactly how far things have come in 30 years. ]]> 4.36 1996
author: Keith Hartman
name: James
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/29
date added: 2023/10/29
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



This remains a fascinating time capsule of church history and exactly how far things have come in 30 years.
]]> 303431 341 Troy Denning 1560766425 James 4


All in all, the series holds up as a memorable D&D adventure series, although one probably not as high quality as the DragonLance Sagas. ]]> 3.66 1993
author: Troy Denning
name: James
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/27
date added: 2023/10/27
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



All in all, the series holds up as a memorable D&D adventure series, although one probably not as high quality as the DragonLance Sagas.
]]> 165023284
For centuries the Cinder Spires have safeguarded humanity, rising far above the deadly surface world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses rule, developing scientific marvels and building fleets of airships for defence and trade.
Now, the Spires hover on the brink of open war.

Everyone knows it's coming. The guns of the great airship fleets that control the skies between the last bastions of humanity will soon speak in anger, and Spire Albion stands alone against the overwhelming might of Spire Aurora's Armada and its new secret weapon--one capable of destroying the populations of entire Spires.

A trading summit at Spire Olympia provides an opportunity for the Spirearch, Lord Albion, to secure alliances that will shape the outcomes of the war, and to that end he dispatches privateer Captain Francis Madison Grimm and the crew of the AMS Predator to bolster the Spirearch's diplomatic agents.

It will take daring, skill, and no small amount of showmanship to convince the world to stand with Spire Albion--assuming that it is not already too late.]]> 656 Jim Butcher 0698138031 James 0 to-read 4.59 2023
author: Jim Butcher
name: James
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 45434033
Everything is a lie.

October has been pulled from her own reality and thrown into a twisted reinterpretation of Faerie where nothing is as it should be and everything has been distorted to support Titania’s ideals. Bound by the Summer Queen’s magic and thrust into a world turned upside down, October has no way of knowing who she can trust, where she can turn, or even who she really is. As strangers who claim to know her begin to appear and the edges of Titania’s paradise begin to unravel, Toby will have to decide whether she can risk everything she knows based on only their stories of another world.

But first she’ll have to survive this one, as Titania demonstrates why she needed to be banished in the first place—and this time, much more than Toby’s own life is at stake.]]> 368 Seanan McGuire 0756416833 James 5


The author states it's fun writing stuff down finally that's been in her head since the outset. And it's fun to read. And I'm happy she didn't start here, since the series has given us characters whom we've come to know and love, and therefore are much more emotionally involved with as this apocalypse happens. ]]> 4.24 2023
author: Seanan McGuire
name: James
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/20
date added: 2023/10/20
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



The author states it's fun writing stuff down finally that's been in her head since the outset. And it's fun to read. And I'm happy she didn't start here, since the series has given us characters whom we've come to know and love, and therefore are much more emotionally involved with as this apocalypse happens.
]]> 1413169 Sixteen years after it was first published, "The Obsidian Oracle" is as fresh and exciting as it ever was. Join a new generation of fantasyfans as they rediscover the sword and sorcery adventure of the" "Dark Sun world
Tithian of Tyr seeks the Dark Lens so that he can become the next sorcerer king. Agisneeds the Dark Lens to destroy the Dragon of Athas. Before either can lay hands on it, they will have to settle their long-standing hatred of each other.]]> 310 Troy Denning 0099316218 James 4


For a D&D novel, this is really heavy material to deal with, as even the dering-do is overshadowed by some really ugly actions on pretty much everyone's part in the narrative. ]]> 3.63 1993
author: Troy Denning
name: James
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/18
date added: 2023/10/18
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



For a D&D novel, this is really heavy material to deal with, as even the dering-do is overshadowed by some really ugly actions on pretty much everyone's part in the narrative.
]]> 303432 The Lure of Dark Sorcery. . .

Borys: The Dragon of Athas, born of magic and sustained by the agony of the doomed. For a thousand years, he has terrorized the desert wastes of Athas, roaming from city to city in pursuit of his gruesome levy - the lives of thousands of slaves.

The winsome enchantress Sadira now stands ready to challenge him.

To do so, she must reach the Pristine Tower, the forgotten citadel still smoldering with the incredible magic that spawned the Dragon. Only one man can help her: Faenaeyon, her elven father, the man who abandoned her into slavery. Before the journey ends, Sadira must forgive his betrayal - or give herself to the dark forces that still dwell within the Pristine Tower.]]> 344 Troy Denning 1560762365 James 4


Fun book. Not a single good person in it]]> 3.63 1992
author: Troy Denning
name: James
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/18
date added: 2023/09/18
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Fun book. Not a single good person in it
]]> 303430 341 Troy Denning 1560762608 James 4


Overall, a good continuation, and we get to know Rikus better by the end, even as he loses almost everything. ]]> 3.57
author: Troy Denning
name: James
average rating: 3.57
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/16
date added: 2023/09/16
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Overall, a good continuation, and we get to know Rikus better by the end, even as he loses almost everything.
]]> 497317 A new creed kindled from despair...

Kalak: an immortal sorcerer-king whose evil magic has reduced the majestic city of Tyr to a desolate place of dust, blood, and fear.

His thousand-year reign of death is about to end.

Banding together to spark a revolution are a maverick statesmen, a winsome half-elf slave girl, and a man-dwarf gladiator bred for the arenas. But if the people are to be freed, the mismatched trio of steadfast rebels must look into the face of terror and choose between love and life.]]> 341 Troy Denning 1560761210 James 4


It's torrid and turgid, but it's engaging. Worth reading. ]]> 3.63 1991
author: Troy Denning
name: James
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/15
date added: 2023/09/15
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



It's torrid and turgid, but it's engaging. Worth reading.
]]> 9393168 Coming of age after the end of the world.The Bunker was humanity’s last hope. An underground town, sealed away from the radiation that killed everything on the surface. A lifeboat, with its own water and power and hydroponic farms to see us through the long nuclear winter.

But radiation isn’t the only thing that can kill you, and life in the Bunker has its own dangers. There are a half dozen factions that rule this town, and it’s a bad idea to get on the wrong side of any of them.

I’m one of the Brats, the kids who were born in this place and have never seen the open sky. But I’ve never fit in with the rest of them. I’m not one of the Cools, or the Geeks, or the Chosen. I’m just the weird boy who sits in the library, reading stories about the world that’s gone. But still, this is my home, too.

And now it’s dying.

The Bunker is failing. One by one, the lights are going out, and the farms are going dark. Soon there won’t be enough food to go around. And the factions are already starting to turn on each other.

Sometimes it takes an outsider to see what’s really going on. Somebody with nothing to lose.

So if anyone is gonna save this place, I guess it will have to be me.



� Post-apocalyptic new adult dystopian science fiction noir mystery with occasional sex loosely based on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Read at your own risk. •]]> 160 Keith Hartman James 5


Lots of fun, although darker than much of what else Hartman has published.]]> 3.97 2010
author: Keith Hartman
name: James
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/09
date added: 2023/09/09
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Lots of fun, although darker than much of what else Hartman has published.
]]> 15727484 The Lost Prince, and the race to find the missing prince is on . . .

In Lazellari’s debut fantasy, Awakenings, New York City cop Cal MacDonnell and photographer Seth Raincrest found themselves stalked by otherworldly beings intent on killing them. The two had to accept the aid of a mysterious woman to unlock their hidden pasts, and what they discovered changed their lives.

Everything they knew about their lives was an illusion. They had in fact travelled to our dimension from the medieval reality of Aandor to hide their infant prince from assassins, but upon arriving, a freak mishap wiped their memories. Cal, Seth, and the rest of their party were incapacitated, and the infant prince was lost.

Thirteen years later, that prince, Daniel Hauer, is unaware of his origins--or that he has become the prize in a race between two powerful opposing factions. Cal and Seth’s group want to keep Daniel safe. The other wants Daniel dead—by any means necessary.

From the streets of New York City to the back roads of rural North Carolina, the search for the prince sets powerful forces against each other in a do-or-die battle for the rule of the kingdom of Aandor.

Against a backdrop of murder, magic, and mayhem on the streets of New York City, victory goes to the swiftest and the truest of hearts.
“Combines crossover fantasy in the style of Charles de Lint and Mercedes Lackey with urban fantasy reminiscent of Jim Butcher in a hard knocks action tale.”�Library Journal on Awakenings]]> 352 Edward Lazellari 0765327880 James 4


Even if the characters follow D&D archetypes, seeing that reinterpreted is terms of Earth translations is quite a bit of fun. Really, it's kind of like a reverse of Brook's Magic Kingdom of Landover.]]> 3.81 2013
author: Edward Lazellari
name: James
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/11/03
date added: 2023/09/08
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Even if the characters follow D&D archetypes, seeing that reinterpreted is terms of Earth translations is quite a bit of fun. Really, it's kind of like a reverse of Brook's Magic Kingdom of Landover.
]]> 195883337 A con man and a government agent walk into a carnival�

Bartlett Gibson is a necromancer and an agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Supernatural Investigation. He’s hot on the trail of RJ Tucker, a psychic con man who has eluded him at every turn and led him on a merry chase. Pursuit leads to grudging respect in their game of cat and mouse, which becomes a high-stakes game of seduction. Bart chases RJ to the Carnival of Mysteries and realizes that nothing is as it seems. A dark witch’s curse ups the ante, creating a deadline for revenge and redemption, and the clock is ticking.

Falling in love breaks all the rules. Can Bart and RJ stop the witch, break the curse, and find a way around RJ’s spot on the “most wanted� list before time runs out?

Roustabout is a fast-paced MM paranormal romance filled with supernatural suspense, snarky humor, crafty carnival workers, sarcastic ghosts, midway magic, hurt/comfort angst, adversaries-to-lovers tension, and a very happy ending!

Part of the multi-author, shared-world Carnival of Mysteries series. Can be read as a stand-alone.
]]> 238 Morgan Brice 164795052X James 4


Fun read, although I'm unsure if I feel like looking up other books with the Carnival just to find out more. ]]> 4.33 2023
author: Morgan Brice
name: James
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/08
date added: 2023/09/08
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Fun read, although I'm unsure if I feel like looking up other books with the Carnival just to find out more.
]]> 125917583 It’s not easy being invulnerable.

Back in high school, Josh was secretly the famous superhero KID QUASAR! But he was so busy saving the world that he never had a chance to make any friends. Let alone a boyfriend.

So now Josh is living in his mom’s basement, struggling to get his first real job after nearly failing out of college. Because it’s hard to be an A-student when alien arms dealers decide to attack Cleveland in the middle of your sociology final. And as his mom keeps pointing out, being a superhero doesn’t actually pay anything.

Worse, Josh isn’t even a big-name superhero anymore. Some showoff named Comet Boy came along, rescued a few celebrities, and became a social media darling. And suddenly, nobody cares about Kid Quasar.

Like so many young guys, Josh is feeling lost. He can’t be the person that he was back in high school. But he can’t figure out what comes next. And even though he has this one amazing thing that makes him special, there’s no way for him to make a living at it. He’s a misfit who can’t find a place for himself in the world.

And then Josh meets Rick, the guy who might change everything. There’s just one BIG problem . . .

� Gay Coming of Age Superhero Story •]]> 225 Keith Hartman James 5


Two good things come out of this. One is that it seems to be the start of a series *fangirl squee*, and two, it gives me a chance to recommend another good read to people.

(Of note, this seems to think I read the kindle version. I bought the TPB, since eReaders make it rough on me trying to read where I normally read.)]]> 4.12
author: Keith Hartman
name: James
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/06
date added: 2023/09/06
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Two good things come out of this. One is that it seems to be the start of a series *fangirl squee*, and two, it gives me a chance to recommend another good read to people.

(Of note, this seems to think I read the kindle version. I bought the TPB, since eReaders make it rough on me trying to read where I normally read.)
]]> 123849643 Secret agents, forbidden love, danger, and magic!

Supernatural Secret Service agents Owen Sharps and Calvin Springfield meet on the train to their new assignment in St. Louis, and sparks fly between them. But it's 1897, and they need to be very careful—falling in love can be dangerous for men like them.

It's their first case together, investigating mysterious disappearances—including the two agents who preceded them. Grim evidence leads them to look for a darker purpose. Old ghosts haunt the railroad line, zombie rise, signs point to ritual sacrifice, and they suspect someone is trying to open the gates of hell.

Can Calvin and Owen stop the mayhem, thwart the vampires, and find true love, or will everything go up in smoke?

Peacemaker is a high-stakes steampunk MM romance thrill ride filled with found family, paranormal Pinkertons, intrepid reporters, mysterious disappearances, nefarious land brokers, hellhounds, zombies, vengeful spirits, dark spells, absinthe magic, a ruthless vampire railroad baron and a love that won't be denied.

Before Colt and Winchester, there was Sharps & Springfield!

Peacemaker is the first book in the new Sharps & Springfield series.]]> 249 Morgan Brice 1647950430 James 4


While this book shares several bones with other series by the same author, the setting drew me in, and I really did wind up enjoying it. ]]> 4.00 2023
author: Morgan Brice
name: James
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/06
date added: 2023/09/06
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While this book shares several bones with other series by the same author, the setting drew me in, and I really did wind up enjoying it.
]]> 175629483 Sexy psychic Simon Kincaide and skeptical homicide detective Vic D’Amato are getting married--if the ghost of a murderous magician doesn’t get them first!

Simon and Vic’s wedding is just a few weeks away, and they’re hoping for a little peace and quiet to wrap up work before their honeymoon, but nothing ever goes that smoothly.

Strange circumstances around the death of a retired stage magician suggest supernatural involvement, bringing Simon in on the case. The dark secrets of a long-ago resort hotel lead to a trail of unsolved cold cases that have a chilling similarity. Old scandals, malicious magic, and vengeful spirits expose a web of lies, deceit, and death that is headed for a reckoning.
Can Simon and Vic solve the murders, stop the ghosts, keep Simon’s mother from crashing the party, dodge last-minute wedding disasters, and still make it to the altar on time? Or will the shadows of Myrtle Beach’s haunted past ruin everything?

Point Blank is a fast-paced thrill ride MM paranormal romance packed with supernatural suspense, sinister sleight-of-hand, mysterious monsters, psychic visions, hot men, hurt/comfort, loyal friends, wedding planning, found family, ghosts galore, dark magic, and an evolving, established romantic relationship with all the feels.]]> 222 Morgan Brice 1647950465 James 4


A fun addition to the series. ]]> 4.34 2023
author: Morgan Brice
name: James
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/02
date added: 2023/09/02
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



A fun addition to the series.
]]> 564641 416 Keith Hartman 189206524X James 5


I really wish there was another Gumshoe coming out sometime.

Don't let that stop you. The book is still a damned good read.]]> 4.16 2001
author: Keith Hartman
name: James
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/31
date added: 2023/08/31
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



I really wish there was another Gumshoe coming out sometime.

Don't let that stop you. The book is still a damned good read.
]]> 257991 As you can tell, this is a lively novel, full of intricate plotting and engaging off-beat characters. Among the latter are a gay detective, a Wiccan family, an ambitious televangelist with an eye on the White House, an artist whose medium is flesh and blood, a Cherokee drag queen--and then there's poor Benji, who would just like to make it to his fifteenth birthday, assuming the MIBS don't get him first or his Baptist parents don't ground him for life because his new girlfriend is a witch.

]]> 432 Keith Hartman 1892065053 James 5
...

The mix of Sci-fi, urban fantasy, magical realism, and just plain humor is a heady mix, frosted with themes that are close to my heart, was just what I needed to get 2016 off to a good start.]]> 3.99 1999
author: Keith Hartman
name: James
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/31
date added: 2023/08/31
shelves:
review:
Full review here:

...

The mix of Sci-fi, urban fantasy, magical realism, and just plain humor is a heady mix, frosted with themes that are close to my heart, was just what I needed to get 2016 off to a good start.
]]> 37903770 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780393356182

Neil Gaiman, long inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction, presents a bravura rendition of the Norse gods and their world from their origin though their upheaval in Ragnarok.

In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose, these gods emerge with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.]]> 301 Neil Gaiman James 4


Ultimately, I ended up enjoying it. As much as I loathe the Norse, Gaiman does a good job of making an engaging narrative out of the stories he decided to retell. And it would be a fabulous resource for folks looking for something that doesn't cure insomnia like the Eddas.]]> 4.11 2017
author: Neil Gaiman
name: James
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/31
date added: 2023/08/31
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



Ultimately, I ended up enjoying it. As much as I loathe the Norse, Gaiman does a good job of making an engaging narrative out of the stories he decided to retell. And it would be a fabulous resource for folks looking for something that doesn't cure insomnia like the Eddas.
]]> 282576 244 Mabel Maney 1573440124 James 4


While I can't say it's on my list of favorite reads, I will say it's a hell of a lot better than I judged it in 1995. ]]> 3.81 1995
author: Mabel Maney
name: James
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/23
date added: 2023/08/23
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While I can't say it's on my list of favorite reads, I will say it's a hell of a lot better than I judged it in 1995.
]]> 16793 Alternate cover edition can be found here

Young Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria—even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that old stone wall, Tristran learns, lies Faerie—where nothing not even a fallen star, is what he imagined.]]> 248 Neil Gaiman 0061142026 James 4


While not my favorite book by Gaiman, it's still an exciting read that has improved with age.]]> 4.10 1999
author: Neil Gaiman
name: James
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/21
date added: 2023/08/21
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While not my favorite book by Gaiman, it's still an exciting read that has improved with age.
]]> 62703226 At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope

Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life

It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer�I want to tell you everything.

“It wasn’t me,� Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.]]> 383 Riley Sager 0593183223 James 4


While the Sager books are hit or miss for me, this is one of the better efforts, and I found myself quite enjoying the crumbling mansion on the cliff and its secrets.]]> 4.12 2023
author: Riley Sager
name: James
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/19
date added: 2023/08/19
shelves:
review:
Full review here:



While the Sager books are hit or miss for me, this is one of the better efforts, and I found myself quite enjoying the crumbling mansion on the cliff and its secrets.
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