YEA THOUGH I WALK BY @J_P_Sloan @CuriosityQuills #Paranormal #Western #Bookreview

Yea Though I WalkYea Though I Walk by J.P. Sloan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yea Though I walk is a paranormal western set in Wyoming in 1876. It opens with a scene where a man’s foot is roasting on an open fire and later eaten by human cannibals known as Wendigos

Linthicum Odell is a member of the Godpistols a group using religion as a rule of thumb to rid the country of evil. Escaping from the super human cannibals during an attack by blood drinking stiggers, Odell is rescued by Denton Folger, a local newspaperman.

Denton lives near Gold Vein with Katherina, a strange women who sleeps during the day. In return for his rescue Odell agrees to help Denton rid the town of Lars Richterman the local town thug and leader who is forcing people off their land for his own grand scheme.

The last third of the book becomes extremely complex as the triangle around Denton, Odell and Lars closes in and their fight with the Wendigo draws to a climax. Here the writer shows his aptitude to stretch the limits of the reader. I often found it quite hard to know who was talking, but I cannot reveal more without dropping in huge plot spoilers. An interesting story concept, I enjoyed the setting and the buildup but got lost on the way to the end.

This review is based on a copy given to me by Curiosity Quills

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

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THE UNQUIET DEAD by @ChrisDubecki @CuriosityQuills #Paranormal #BookReview

The Unquiet DeadThe Unquiet Dead by Chris Dubecki
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rating 3.5 stars.
The Unquiet Dead is a paranormal tale set in Toronto, Canada. Nineteen year old Tyler Dufresne is a Necromancer. At a funeral he is drawn to a mausoleum with an eerie statue which emits a fearful energy. Sharing his experience with his friends he is persuaded to visit an occult shop where Martin and his partner Thomas might be able to teach Tyler to use his own powers effectively.

Research finds that Father Yeung knows more about the evil bound in the mausoleum and its links with a past mass suicide pact. Someone is trying to release the bound spirit and Tyler and his friends must put a stop to it all.

There is a big cast of supernaturals in this book; Necromancers, eidolon, were-folk, sorcerers, psychics, ghosts and more for lovers of the paranormal theme. The story-line has great potential, I felt it needed more building of layers and depth of characters, characteristics and action scenes. This would have made each person more memorable and their purpose in the book more believable. Some of the dialogue didn’t feel right, Police officer Mark Hennessey’s use of the F-bombs when talking to an almost complete stranger just wasn’t professional enough. There is also a time and place for f-bombs and generally over using them in writing robs an author of opportunities to show the reader his or her skills as a writer.

A good first attempt at a paranormal tale, it just needs more work to compete in this very competitive genre.

This review is based on a free copy of the book given to me via Curiosity Quills

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

#FridayBookShare YEA THOUGH I WALK by J.P Sloan @J_P_Sloan #Paranormal #Western

 

#FridayBookShare  brainchild of Shelley Wilson

07 _ 10 _ 2014 (2)

With the weekend approaching it’s the perfect time to seek out new books to read, so Shelley has created a Friday Book Share game to help search for that ideal read.

Anyone can have a go – all you need to do is answer the following questions based on the book you are currently reading/finished reading this week and use the hashtag #FridayBookShare

First line of the book.

Recruit fans by adding the book blurb.

Introduce the main character using only three words.

Delightful design (add the cover image of the book).

Audience appeal (who would enjoy reading this book?)

Your favourite line/scene.

I’m currently reading an ARC of Yea Though I Walk by J.P. Sloan, due out on July 11th from Curiosity Quills Press

First line of the book. “It’s the smell that hits me first.”

Recruit fans by adding the book blurb.

“Never leave a devil without puttin’ it in the dirt.”
~ First Law of the Godpistols.

Gunning down the heathen monsters of the untamed West is the calling of the Godpistols, and may be Linthicum Odell’s only path to redemption. A Union Army deserter, Odell figures he has plenty of sin to atone for. As he has yet to earn the Godpistols’ trust, they send Odell on a thankless errand to Gold Vein, a mining town with two afflictions: a corrupt local justice named Lars Richterman, and a horde of cannibal wendigo in the surrounding hills.

Half-dead from a wendigo attack, Odell is nursed back to life by Denton Folger, a righteous press man from the East Coast. Intent on settling debts, Odell takes up Folger’s cause against Richterman and his schemes on the land surrounding Gold Vein. Odell soon realizes that Richterman and the wendigo in the hills are not the only monsters threatening the town. His greatest ally comes in the form of Folger’s ferociously capable wife, Katherina, who holds the secrets to the intrigues of this valley. To save Gold Vein, Odell must pry loose these secrets, though her dark allure may prove too much for Odell’s loyalties… both to his Godpistol dogma and to Folger.

When Odell discovers the truth of what brought him to this valley, and why Katherina keeps this truth buried, will his virtue fail? Or will a bag of silver bullets be enough to survive this war between devils, virtue be damned?

Introduce the main character using only three words. Linthicum Odell; Caring, protective, evolving

Delightful design.

28637186

Goodreads

Audience appeal (who would enjoy reading this book?) Readers who like paranormal mysteries, maybe even Western readers.

Your favourite line/scene. An early line “Inside the fire is a length of meat on a spit. I try to keep my breath even when I recognize it’s a man’s foot.” -ohh shudder!!

 

If you want to join in, then answer the F.R.I.D.A.Y questions and use the Friday Book Share meme. Tag Shelley (@ShelleyWilson72) and myself (@rosieamber1) in so we can read what you have added too.

AUTOMATIC WOMAN by Nathan Yocum @CuriosityQuills #BookReview #Steampunk

Automatic WomanAutomatic Woman by Nathan Yocum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Automatic Women is a Steampunk novel set in London in 1888. Jacob Fellows is a thief catcher and works for The Bow Street Firm, which I believe is the author’s take on the original Bow Street runners, the first professional policemen of London.

Known as “Jolly” Fellows, he is called to a theft as a penny theatre by Dr Saxon. Saxon has a set of automated dancing dolls who perform to the music of Swan Lake, but his leading lady, The Swan Princess, has been stolen. Jolly knows little about automated figures and leans on his informers for a name where he can go to begin his enquiries. Jolly meets eccentric Frenchman Jacques Nouveau, who himself owns several life-like automatons. He knows of Saxon and admires the magical qualities of his figures, especially The Swan Princess.

Returning to Saxon’s theatre, Jolly finds Saxon being crushed to death by the Swan Princess, a graveyard of other automated figures and then he is attacked and must fight to save his own life. He is now the number one suspect in a murder case, is forbidden to return to his workplace and has fourteen days to prove himself innocent. The one piece of evidence which might save him is locked in storage back at The Firm.

An intriguing plot follows as someone wants Jolly dead and he becomes a pawn in the long standing game between too theorist rivals of the time. There were some great characters; Conan Doyle, Darwin and Bramstoker mixed with historical components of the era. For me the ending left more questions than answers and the copy I read had a good dozen minor editing errors which just needed tweaking.

This review is based on a free copy of the book given to me by the author via Curiosity Quills.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

A CURSE OF ASH & IRON BY @cnorrisauthor @CuriosityQuills #BookReview #Steampunk #wwwblogs

A Curse of Ash and IronA Curse of Ash and Iron by Christine Norris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Curse Of Ash and Iron is a steampunk tale set in the late 1800’s Philadelphia in an era of mass industrial revolution. The book evolves around the Eleanor Banneker and Benjamin Grimm. Childhood friends pulled apart by dramatic family events and then reunited by chance seven years later.

Aged 17 Ben now works as stage crew in a theatre, Ellie has become the victim of her wicked stepmother in a Cinderella style life. However there is a sinister twist as Ellie believes she and her father are under a curse. Desperate for help Ellie turns to Ben.

At the Centennial Exposition the pair are mesmerised by mechanical inventions, but they also meet a fortune-teller who knows more about Ellie than is possible without the sight. She gives Ellie clues about breaking the curse and then vanishes. Ellie and Ben set out to gather items needed, even having a wild adventure in a steam powered “motorcar”, but the curse must be broken before midnight on New Year’s Eve.

A mystery person arranges for Ellie to go to the New Year’s Assembly Ball in true Fairy-Godmother style, with a race against time to break the curse.

This is my first Steampunk read, so I’ve nothing to compare it with, certainly there were mechanical attractions, magic and mystery, did the Cinderella tale add or detract from the genre? I’m not yet sure.

This review is based on a free copy of the book given to me by the author via Curiosity Quills.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

The Dead Detective by @jr_rain and @RodKierkegaard Jr #Bookreview

The Dead DetectiveThe Dead Detective by J.R. Rain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Dead Detective is a paranormal murder mystery and allows pure escapism from life as we know it. Believing herself to be the victim of a prank, Richelle Dadd wakes up inside a chalk outline at a murder scene. Ticked off at the level to which her fellow police officers will go to pull such a prank, Richelle begins to ask a few questions. The trouble is, no pulse, cold skin and a bullet through her heart are just NOT normal. Plus something has happened to her vision, she can see ghosts or shades of buildings from yesteryear. But people can still see her, so what is she?

Forced to accept she is undead, half ghost/ half alive or just a plain old zombie, Richelle plans to solve her own murder case. With a foot in both worlds, she teams up with Bull McGuiness an old cop who’s been dead a while. He suggests they return to the scene of the crime and look for clues, but whilst there, Richelle is taken over by an evil possession and forced to murder two gypsies.

A bit of research reveals Richelle is the victim of a powerful gypsy curse which can take over her mind and force her to do bad things. But it’s not just Richelle who has been possessed. News comes of more vicious murders and rumours of something big being planned between dangerous players. No one messes with gypsies! But Richelle and her friends on both sides of the fence are determined to stop them.

Letting go of all reality and plunging yourself into this book is the best way to read this, allowing the story take you on a journey. Written in a fun upbeat manner, The Dead Detective puts a different twist on a murder mystery.

This review is based on a free copy of the book given to me by Curiosity Quills

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Moon Bayou by J.R Rain #Paranormal #Fantasy @jr_rain @CuriosityQuills

Moon BayouMoon Bayou by J.R. Rain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Moon Bayou is a paranormal fantasy featuring vampires, werewolves and the voodoo culture around New Orleans. This book follows the already popular Samantha Moon series. Samantha is a Private Investigator and lives in California, but she’s been asked to investigate the disappearance of Wendy Lo. Missing for six months, her parents are desperate for any news.

Samantha is an unusual investigator in that she is a vampire, with mind reading skills, plus she can go out in the sunlight, due to some fancy rings she wears. However New Orleans has an uncomfortable atmosphere which she can’t put her finger on. More curious is the warning she receives from a friend about a blood price on her head, set in 1860. A ridiculous statement since Sam wasn’t around then, or is it?

When she’s captured by the Tête de Mort Krewe and help comes from friends she doesn’t remember, Sam has more questions than answers. It looks like Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau is the one she must turn to, but contacting her on the night of their most powerful ceremony has life changing results.

I loved this story, I have read the first Samantha Moon book , which reminds me I need to catch up with this series. The storyline was fast and full of surprises. I wanted to howl like a werewolf when the book ended, I wanted more!

This review is based on a free copy of the book from Curiosity Quills

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads