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Full Immersion by Gemma Amor Book Review
Full Immersion Book Review
5 Stars
Back Cover:
A traumatised woman with amnesia finds her own dead body and sets out to uncover the truth of her demise in a race against time, sanity, crumbling realities and the ever-present threat of the Silhouette.
When Magpie discovers her own dead body one misty morning in Bristol, it prompts her to uncover the truth of her untimely demise. Her investigations take her on a terrifying journey through multiple realities, experimental treatments, technological innovations and half-memories in a race against time and sanity. Accompanied by a new friend who is both familiar and strange, and constantly on the run from the terrifying, relentless presence of the mysterious predator known only as Silhouette, Magpie must piece together the parts of her life previously hidden. In doing so, she will discover the truth about her past, her potential, and her future
Review:
Amor weaves a beautifully haunting tale of post-partem depression with dark imagery and eerie tones. A mother on the verge of self-harm makes one last attempt to save herself by applying to an experimental therapy program. Suddenly, she wakes up and comes face-to-face with her own dead body. Now, she must navigate a blurred world between truth and illusion in order to uncover her deepest secret.
This story is exquisitely written with a sympathetic protagonist that seeps into the reader’s soul and latches on for dear life. Amor bravely bares her heart on the page for inspection as the mother character must journey into her past in order to save her future. The drama unravels in a satisfyingly slow and steady pace with enough tension to keep the reader engaged from start to finish. While this premise has been explored by other authors, Amor spins the familiar tale of motherhood with a unique and personal perspective. This story will stick with readers longer after the final word.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
Ebola Saves the Planet and Other Wholesome Tales by Matthew A. Clarke
Ebola Saves the Planet and Other Wholesome Tales Book Review
This is a wild ride worth taking!
Matthew A. Clarke compiles a bizzaro collection featuring eleven short stories with unique scenarios. Whether it's Pinocchio prostituting himself or an unusual girl with button eyes, the characters are imaginative and memorable as they navigate a variety of weird and eclectic scenarios. Several stories relate to the end of the world or realities where humanity must adapt to a new world which makes this a fascinating and unnerving collection.
With the eleven stories sit a few that stood out.
The collection starts with "Best Birthday Ever." A man gets to participate in his favorite game show. This story takes a hard look at how far someone would go to win a state-of-the-art cheese grater and a wheel of mature Frayton cheese.
"Mortal coil" will pull at reader's softer side as two young friends navigate life Post-Coil. Yes, the world is littered with grenade-like coils. Touch one and blow up. Teddy and friend Speedo must steer clear of these deadly devices as they go on an adventure.
This collection is well developed with a strong sense of voice from Clarke. Readers who love bizzaro horror and aren't squeamish will enjoy this five star collection! Buy it here!
Moonfellows by Danger Slater
Moonfellows Book Review
This is a fun one!
Award winning author Danger Slater takes readers back-in-time to the early 1900's when the space program sends a group of civilians to the moon on a secret quest to acquire a rare rock. Don't worry to much about scientific accuracy. That's not why readers will flock to this book. Instead, they will find a wild adventure of a few brave space travelers who must figure out a way to survive when events spiral out-of-control. With a spatter of horror and a heavy helping of bizzaro, Moonfellows titillates readers with compelling characters and thought-provoking themes of loneliness and resilience. It's a quick read that will stick with readers long after the final word.
Buy it here!
Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer: Quick Review
SUBURBAN HELL BY MAUREEN KILMER
4 STARS OUT OF 5
Possession has come to the suburbs!
It's starts with an innocent She-Shed and ends with complete horror! This is a quick and fun book with a bit of humor laced into a story of possession and friendship. A group of suburban moms must work together when one of their own falls to the dark side.
Amy, Liz, Melissa, and Jess are likeable and realistic characters that come alive off the page. Their bond goes beyond playdates and picnics, which makes this a lovely story of sisterhood in the middle of creative horror elements. Readers who enjoyed My Best Friend's Exorcism will find Suburban Hell to be a similar plot but focused toward middle-aged moms. Overall, this is a fun one that readers will quickly consume!
Beyond the Creek by Nico Bell
When Alex Foster accepted the caregiver position with the eccentric Nox family, she was issued a single rule. Don’t wander past the creek. Alex isn’t interested in exploring the Nox’s vast wooded property. After escaping an abusive past, her sole focus is building a safe future for herself and her unborn baby. Except, a series of chilling events threatens her happily-ever-after. Now, she must fight to survive an ancient evil before all hope is lost.
There’s something beyond the creek, and it’s hungry.
BEYOND THE CREEK is a southern creature horror.
ASIN : B09S8H27NS
Publisher : D&T Publishing LLC (February 9, 2022)
Publication date : February 9, 2022
Language : English
Print length : 127 pages
Authors Whose Books I'll Buy Sight Unseen
Authors I’ll Buy No Matter What
A lot of readers have them. A list of authors they’ll buy books from without reading the back covers, without even glancing at the taglines. I’m no exception. My list is small but mighty. Here are the authors I’ve bought books from without knowing a single thing about the plots:
Chuck Palahniuk
This should come as no surprise as he’s my favorite author, but I buy anything he puts out sight unseen. I just hover my mouse over that “pre-order” button and click! His characters are disturbing, his writing minimalistic but visceral, and he has some of the best quotes in literature.
Nnedi Okorafor
I will never stop recommending the Binti series. They’re some of my absolute favorite books, but readers who stop at those are missing out on Nnedi’s brilliant worldbuilding, memorable characters, and universal themes.
Kealan Patrick Burke
I probably wouldn’t recommend jumping into Kealan’s books the way I did. The first work I read from him was Kin. Yeah, I jumped into the deep end, but when I explored more of his work, I loved his characters, themes, and settings. I’m sold! Anything he puts out, I’m buying.
Black Tide by KC Jones Book Review
Black Tide Book Review
KC Jones takes readers on a apocalyptical sci-fi thrill ride. Beth is a house and dog sitter looking for companionship when she meets Mike, the loner next door neighbor. A cataclysmic event occurs that spirals the world into chaos and leaves Mike, Beth, and the dog she's sitting, fighting for their lives.
The action and horror aspects will keep readers entertained, but some may have to suspend their disbelief when it comes to the characters' ability to fight considering their grave physical wounds. The sci-fi premise is intriguing and while this plot doesn't contain twists, it does strategically drop information about the mysterious event leaving readers heavily invested in the outcome. The setting is largely singular, with the vast amount of the story taking place in a single spot, which some readers may enjoy, but others will find this actually hinders the ability of the premise to fully bloom.
This book is a mix of Predators and Bird Box and will entertain sci-fi horror fans looking for a quick paced read.
Want to Join A Cult? Horror Books Featuring Cults
CULT HORROR BOOKS
Cult horror is a particularly terrifying sub-genre, and here to help you navigate this world is a list of book recommendations. Enjoy!
Intense and profoundly unsettling, Brian Evenson’s Last Days is a down-the-rabbit-hole detective novel set in an underground religious cult. The story follows Kline, a brutally dismembered detective forcibly recruited to solve a murder inside the cult. As Kline becomes more deeply involved with the group, he begins to realize the stakes are higher than he previously thought. Attempting to find his way through a maze of lies, threats, and misinformation, Kline discovers that his survival depends on an act of sheer will. Last Days was first published in 2003 as a limited edition novella titled The Brotherhood of Mutilation. Its success led Evenson to expand the story into a full-length novel. In doing so, he has created a work that’s disturbing, deeply satisfying, and completely original.
Nick Graves is a miserable man. Every day he comes home from his dream job to a stale marriage. On the day he finally summons the courage to tell his wife, Eve, he wants a divorce she has exciting news for him – she’s pregnant.
Nick is a spiteful man. He purchases his dream home in an ideal location far away from family, friends, and coworkers. It’s a life changing decision he’s chosen to make without Eve’s consultation.
Nick is a terrified man. He quickly realizes the residents of his new hometown are a bit eccentric. After a trip to the local doctor’s office Eve begins to behave strangely. And once Nick finds out what’s really going on he’ll never be able to look at Eve the same way.
When guerrilla documentary maker, Kyle Freeman, is asked to shoot a film on the notorious cult known as the Temple of the Last Days, it appears his prayers have been answered. The cult became a worldwide phenomenon in 1975 when there was a massacre including the death of its infamous leader, Sister Katherine. Kyle's brief is to explore the paranormal myths surrounding an organization that became a testament to paranoia, murderous rage, and occult rituals. The shoot's locations take him to the cult's first temple in London, an abandoned farm in France, and a derelict copper mine in the Arizonan desert where The Temple of the Last Days met its bloody end. But when he interviews those involved in the case, those who haven't broken silence in decades, a series of uncanny events plague the shoots. Troubling out-of-body experiences, nocturnal visitations, the sudden demise of their interviewees and the discovery of ghastly artifacts in their room make Kyle question what exactly it is the cult managed to awaken – and what is its interest in him?
A trio of mismatched mercenaries—Micah Shughrue, Minerva Atwater, and Ebenzer Elkins, colloquially known as “the Englishman”—is hired by young Ellen Bellhaven for a deceptively simple task: check in on her nephew, who may have been taken against his will to a remote New Mexico backwoods settlement called Little Heaven, where a clandestine religious cult holds sway. But shortly after they arrive, things begin to turn ominous. There are stirrings in the woods and over the treetops—and above all else, the brooding shape of a monolith known as the Black Rock casts its terrible pall. Paranoia and distrust soon grip the settlement. Escape routes are gradually cut off as events spiral toward madness. Hell—or the closest thing to it—invades Little Heaven. All present here are now forced to take a stand and fight back, but whatever has cast its dark eye on Little Heaven is marshaling its power—and it wants them all…
With his marriage on the rocks and his life in shambles, washed up crime writer Lucas Graham is desperate for a comeback. So when he’s promised exclusive access to notorious cult leader and death row inmate Jeffrey Halcomb, the opportunity is too good to pass up. Lucas leaves New York for the scene of the crime—a split-level farmhouse on the gray-sanded beach of Washington State—a house whose foundation is steeped in the blood of Halcomb’s diviners; runaways who, thirty years prior, were drawn to his message of family, unity, and unconditional love. Lucas wants to tell the real story of Halcomb’s faithful departed, but when Halcomb goes back on his promise of granting Lucas exclusive information on the case, he’s left to put the story together on his own. Except he is not alone. For Jeffrey Halcomb promised his devout eternal life…and within these walls, they’re far from dead.
Planet Bizarro Press: Book Reviews
Porn Land and Sons of Sorrow Book Reviews
I was lucky enough to snag two ARCS from the Planet Bizarro Press catalogue. The first was a sex-filled story of two friends saving porn from extinction in Porn Land by Kevin Shamel, and the other was a returning home story of two brothers fighting literal monsters in Sons of Sorrow by Matthew A. Clarke.
PORN LAND REVIEW
Porn is illegal, and two men accidentally are sucked into the internet to a magical place called Porn Land. Porn Land is the origins of all porn, but because porn is illegal in the real world, Porn Land is slowly disappearing. The men are given a mission: Find the Pornomicron book, put it back together, open the bridge between worlds, and restore porn to the outside. By doing so, Porn Land will be safe, and people in the real world will once again be able to enjoy sex beyond procreation.
It goes without saying but there is a lot of sex in this book. It's...vivid, to say the least. What's surprising about this book is the plot. There's an actual well-developed sex-positive story laying underneath the pile of naked sweaty orgasmic scenes. One of the protagonists has a sexual awakening, finding a love for sex that he previously never experienced. There's a porn-positive message about the joys of sex and overall encouragement not to feel ashamed about ones desires.
There were a few little issues. First, one of the protagonists, Phil, calls the other a "homo" on the first page after the character expresses concern that porn is being viewed. Also, Phil is just a little too concerned that men want to have sex with him when he's in Porn Land. Phil is heterosexual, but still, the insistence that men stay away from him felt a bit...much.
Overall, this is a fast-paced read for those looking for something out-of-the box. TW below.
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TW: Sexual Assault
SONS OF SORROW REVIEW
This is a wild ride into a small town filled with monsters!
Henk and his brother Dave left the town of Sorrow when they were kids, but when their old friend Maria invites them back for her wedding, they decide to go back to the place they long to forget. It's still being overrun with monsters, but now, it's been turned into a tourist attraction. With people dying and the town no longer safe, Henk, Dave, and Marie decide to team up and put an end to this chaos once and for all.
Clarke takes readers down a psychedelic trip filled with fingers, deception, and wild creatures! The plot bounces between past and present, and while this does slow the pace a tad at times, it also helps weave a complete backstory as to how these three characters became friends and how their relationship evolved. The horror elements are a mix of bizarre and comedic, and while I didn't love the representation of the fat character being portrayed in a grotesque manner, this book will entertain anyone looking for something a bit out-of-the box.
I got a free ARC and rounded my 3.5 review up to a 4.