With a Vengeance by Riley Sager

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fantastic.

The book cover is great, the title is fitting, and the story is well written. While I prefer clean reads, there was minimal foul language. While this book isn’t perfect, the story picks up around page 75. Before that, Riley Sager takes the time to world-build and provide backstories for the characters. There is horror, but the mystery and thrills are more prevalent in this story. I hope Riley Sager considers focusing more on mystery and thrills in the future.

This novel reminded me of Murder on the Orient Express, Clue, and movies featuring famous actors in train sequences, like Tom Cruise and Liam Neeson. I would consider re-reading this at around page 75 and on because so many things happened. There were a few surprises that kept me engaged while reading.

This is the second book I’ve read from Riley Sager, and I’ll continue to read more. I want to note I enjoyed this novel much more than Survive the Night. I can see this book being adapted into a movie.

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Misfit’s Magic: Shades of Winter by Fred Gracely

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Imaginative.

Goff continues his adventures with his two sidekicks, Halstrom and Lydia. On top of keeping his grades high at school, he fights against an evil scheme to resurrect this world’s version of the Dark Lord. Goff’s magical realm portrays a darker version compared to Harry Potter.

Pros:
1. The book cover is fantastic.
2. The illustrations are a splendid addition to this book.
3. Creative story.
4. Vivid descriptions.
5. Fred Gracely is a talented writer.
6. High-quality novel.
7. Great for YA enthusiasts.

Cons:
1. I had to force myself to continue reading to finish it.
2. Unrealistic ending.
3. No desire to re-read it in the future.
4. Bones and Maxim.
5. The editing could be better.

I received an advance review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

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The Last Halloween by Fred Gracely

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Epic.

This is a story about a young boy named Goff who gets repeatedly bullied by others around him. On a tragic night, he goes from human to… you’ll have to read the rest of the story to find out.

For me, this gets two thumbs way up. I have no problem saying that this is one of the best books I have read all year. I can tell that the author had fun creating this novel, and it was expertly crafted. I would compare this to the Harry Potter series, as Goff is joined by others in his adventure. I already knew by the eighth chapter that I was going to give this text a five-star rating.

The prose is well thought out, the twists and turns are great, the book cover is good, the chapter header illustrations are a spectacular add-on, the dialogue is funny, and the bonus content was a splendid addition to this novel. This chronicle contains a blend of genres: fantasy, supernatural, mystery, adventure, humor, suspense, and action. I would recommend this book to both adults and children alike, as the anecdote contains clean dialogue. Some of the end of chapter cliffhangers were spot-on. I’m not sure how long it took the writer to create this yarn, but you can tell that he worked hard on it.

It’s no wonder why this book has won literary awards. I was sucked into Goff’s world from the prologue, and the only bad thing was that I waited this long to dive into the tale and finish it. If you’re reading this review, and you’re considering whether or not to give this book a shot, I would highly suggest that it be your next read. This is a high-quality book. The text is easy to see, the book is well formatted, and it is edited.

The bonus content was a delight to read, and it gave a further foray into Goff’s character. It was disheartening to see how much he suffered. I was glad to see how Pam changed as time went on. I won’t say more than that; read the book.

Although I issued this book a five-star rating, it was not perfect. There were a few times I wished this anecdote was shorter. For me, part of the narrative dragged. I think it might have been because of how long the yarn is, but I understand why the author did what he did, opting to take his time as the narrative unfolded. Halstrom and Lydia irritated me at times, but I was delighted to see what happened later in the tale (I will not specify this to avoid spoiling it for you).

Please note that I personally prefer shorter fiction, but I have read longer fabrications in the past.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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When Dead Men Bleed by K. Weikel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Good but could have been better.

This chronicle is about a zombie named Zeke who transforms into something rather unique. Along the way, he meets other supernatural beings and has quite a few experiences. Read this tale to find out more.

Let me start by saying that I love the book cover, and I think it is better than the one she made for the sequel When Dead Men Breathe.

The arena that Zeke and the other supernatural creatures were in was amusing too. I like the description of the vampires and bleeders. I thought it was cool that the vampires had red irises, that they could camouflage themselves, and turn into bats. Well done!

It was a nice surprise to see the skull illustrations in the book; I thought that was genius.

First, this book would have benefited from keener editing as I noticed some errors in the text. Second, this novel would have been better if it was shorter. I noticed that the pace of the book slowed down, but the beginning did have me absorbed by it. Third, K. Weikel should think about hiring a professional beta reader to grade her work before publishing it. That way, she can level up her story. Finally, I felt that this book was all over the place, regarding zombies, bleeders, and humans.

I recommend releasing a second edition of this novel to fix some of these issues.

The metamorphosis that can take place between species didn’t make sense to me, even though this is fantasy writing. I can understand a human becoming a vampire or a human becoming a werewolf, but for transformations regarding the main character? That might have been overdoing it. Normally, in other fictional works, zombies already bleed, and I found it strange that in this universe zombies are fragile creatures that can think. The mindless zombies made more sense, but they were also useless.

This may just be me, but I found Mikey to be irritating. Since Zeke despises her, I ended up not liking her, and it was troubling to see her pop up as much as she did. This could have been “fixed” by shortening the book a little bit or by having something happen to her so she could disappear.

K. Weikel is a talented writer, and I look forward to reading her other literary works. But she should invest more money and time into her books.

I was torn between giving this text a 3-star or 4-star rating. For me, it is not a five-star book, but it by no means is a two-star book either. In the end, I ended up giving her a 4-star rating because of the awesome book cover, the skull illustrations to match, a great introduction and rendition of the vampires, and a decent narrative.

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