Review: Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra

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NightwatchingNightwatching by Tracy Sierra
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Nightwatching is what nightmares are made of.

It was very good; disturbing in such a realistic way. It was told with such incredible intensity and was completely gripping. This author knows how to pull the Reader in.

It all begins on a cold Winter night, when a blizzard is raging outside the old farmhouse that a mother lives in with her two young children.

After retucking her son into bed, the Mom hears a noise she shouldn’t be hearing; heavy footsteps on the stairs. Quietly peeking down the long, dark hallway she spies the silhouette of a large man at the top of the stairs.

Pure fear rushes through her. She must protect her children.

As silently as possible, she gathers both children, along with a few comfort items and shepherds them to the oldest part of the house, where the hidden room is waiting to shield them from the intruder.

Climbing into the darkness of the tiny place, the mother must keep the children quiet and hope to wait out the evil lurking just outside the door.

I can’t tell you how truly horrifying this set-up is to think about. It’s actually one of my biggest fears and the way the author captured that sense of fear is amazing.

Those tense moments tucked in that secret room, trying to keep the children quiet, trying to keep herself from panicking, I honestly think my heart was racing just as fast as this Mom’s was.

While tucked in the hidden room, there are moments of quiet reflection, so we do get a glimpse through this Mom’s life and a background of her family.

Those moments, while slower and of less intensity than the present timeline, did add a nice reprieve from the scary bits, which I didn’t mind.

This went in an interesting direction that I wasn’t expecting and the author did make me question a lot of what I thought I knew. The gaslighting was off the charts.

For me personally, I felt the ending, or the way things wrapped up was a bit abrupt though. I could have enjoyed more time with these characters at the end.

There was so much build-up, to have the ending occur so suddenly, I guess it made the pace feel a little off. That’s 100% personal taste though. It’s definitely not that the author did anything wrong, and the conclusion did actually still give me chills.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a tensely frightening Thriller. This type of scenario I feel is a fear for a lot of people, both in what occurred at the house, and the way the MC was treated in the aftermath.

Thank you to the publisher, Pamela Dorman Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I’m sorry it took me so long to get to this one. I am really looking forward to more from Tracy Sierra!

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Review: I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell

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I Need You to Read ThisI Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Alex Marks moves to New York City, hoping for a fresh start and a place to disappear into. Her copy-writing job is low key, and otherwise she keeps to herself.

When her idol, Francis Keen, the woman behind the famous Dear Constance advice column is killed though, it’s the impetus that uproots Alex’s carefully planned quiet life.

Keen will need to be replaced. Her column is so beloved. They can’t let it die along with her. On a whim, Alex applies for the job and to her absolute shock, she gets it.

Shortly thereafter, Alex begins to receive strange letters, threatening in nature. She wonders why Keen’s killer was never caught and then begins to suspect those around her, including her new boss.

Unable to leave well enough alone, Alex begins her own investigation into Keen’s death. Will she be able to solve the mystery, or will she die trying?

I Need You to Read This is a solid story. I feel like it had similar traits to Maxwell’s previous novel, The Golden Spoon, in that it is a slow build really focused on character work.

It took me a while to get into The Golden Spoon, but once I did, I was hooked. I was so intrigued by that full cast of eccentric characters, the setting and the backdrop of the cooking competition.

Unfortunately, this one never ended up hooking me. It felt a lot more subtle and Alex’s character was just less enticing to me, as compared to the full cast in the last book.

Additionally, the set-up and setting itself, although I love New York City, wasn’t as captivating either.

These are simply personal taste items though and just because I was never truly keyed into this one, doesn’t mean you won’t be. Give it a go!

This is a solid story, with an interesting overall mystery. It did nothing off-putting and had solid characters. I would recommend it if you enjoy more Literary Mysteries, or anything set in the newspaper, or publishing worlds.

I did feel like, because of the newspaper setting, it had a film noir feel to it as well, which I do enjoy. If that’s something you like as well, it’s another reason to pick it up.

Overall, it’s a sold story, just not necessarily my bag. Maxwell is interesting, she sort of toes the line in between Cozy and Literary. Her stories have a unique feel and she definitely shines with her character work.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. While not blown away, I definitely enjoyed this one and am looking forward to more from Jessa Maxwell!

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Review: William by Mason Coile

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WilliamWilliam by Mason Coile
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

William was quite the experience. I read this today. Yeah, the whole thing today. A perfect day, IMO.

It’s definitely one of those stories that once you start, it’s close to impossible to put down. Coile kept me on my toes the entire time. I had so many questions!

The synopsis actually calls this a delicious one-sitting read, and they aren’t lying. Meeting Henry and Lily, and discovering what is going on in their home, it’s like watching a train about to go off the tracks.

There’s such an eerie set-up. You feel like the characters are keeping something from you, but you don’t know what. Additionally, there’s AI involved and for me personally, the future of AI tech is absolutely horrifying.

Both Henry and Lily are in the tech space, so their home is a virtual cornucopia of cutting-edge technological devices. Some of these things have never even been revealed to anyone outside the home.

When Lily has some co-workers, Paige and Davis, stop by for a meal, it should be a harmless event. Unfortunately, it’s anything but that.

The newcomers want to meet one of Henry’s creations, an AI called William. It’s at that point that things go from strange and eerie, to much, much worse.

I Buddy Read this with a friend and we both flew through it. There was quite a bit of super creepy Horror imagery that I was eating up and we did find a lot to discuss.

In addition to being frightened by the possibilities of AI, I am also horrified by dolls, or any iteration thereof. Trust, there’s plenty of that to go around in here!!!

I was so surprised with how this turned out and it was a race to the conclusion.. There were twists and turns I did not see coming. Jaw successfully on floor.

Overall, I felt this was a little heart-breaking, a lot thought-provoking, super creepy and hella engaging. Well done by Mason Coile. I know nothing about this author, but I already cannot wait for more.

Thank you to the publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I am so happy to have a new Horror author to follow!!!

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Review: World War Z by Max Brooks

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World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie WarWorld War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War has been sitting on my shelves for close to a decade. It’s survived many book unhauls in that time period, mainly because of how much I love this fiery orange cover.

Also, it features a zombie plague sweeping the world, so why wouldn’t I read that? Who doesn’t want to be petrified by the possibility of that?

Over the years, I have heard incredible things about the audio production for this book, so in spite of having a hard copy, I did decide to go with the audio format.

I’m delighted with that choice. It’s full cast and includes music and sound effects. As an Oral History, it also makes sense that having it told in a variety of accents and tones from the various voice artists would add a certain level of authenticity to it you may not feel otherwise.

The narrative style is a bit unconventional, which may not work for some Readers, but I ended up enjoying that aspect. It truly is a world story; a story of humanity.

The overall story is told through a series of vignettes from characters living all across the globe. The different perspectives run in timeline order so that we are led through the start of, middle and end of this zombie infestation.

I did watch the World War Z movie years ago, but would like to go back and watch it again to see how much it was actually inspired by this book.

I would recommend this to anyone who would enjoy more of a Literary Zombie story, as opposed to a more Horror-based story; although heavy Horror Readers could enjoy this as well, particularly the audiobook.

It’s terrifying to imagine something like this becoming reality, but I feel like Brooks did a great job examining what the overall world reaction would be. Well done!

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Review: The Perfect Cornish Murder (Nosey Parker Mysteries #3) by Fiona Leitch

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The Perfect Cornish Murder (The Nosey Parker Mysteries #3)The Perfect Cornish Murder by Fiona Leitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Perfect Cornish Murder is the 3rd-book in Fiona Leitch’s Nosey Parker Mystery series. I love this series so much.

I read them a little out of order, so even though this is number 3 out of 7, it was actually the last one I had left to read, which makes me sad.

If you are unfamiliar with these books, let me give you a brief breakdown and perhaps inspire you to give them a go.

This is an Adult Cozy Mystery series that follows Jodie Parker, who resigned from the Metropolitan Police Force in London after a close call. She then returned to her native village of Penstowan in Cornwall, with her teen daughter, Daisy, and their Pomeranian, Germaine.

Jodie is now pursuing her love of cooking and has created her own catering company, which is starting to gain some traction in the local area.

Old habits die hard though, so any time a crime occurs in Jodie’s proximity, she’s gonna look into it. This has brought her into contact with charming DCI, Nathan Withers. This is one connection she’s hoping will continue to grow just as much as her catering business.

In this installment, a film crew has come to Penstowan and many regulars are getting involved in the process as extras, including Jodie’s daughter, Mom and best friend, Tony.

Even Jodie begrudgingly participates, swept up in all the hubbub. She’s hates her assigned costume and finds the set rather boring, but when things start going wrong, including the injury of their caterer, Jodie takes over that role and starts to feel much more in her element.

As more and more mysterious incidents occur on set, they delay filming, and rumors of a curse start to circulate. It’s not until someone ends up dead though, that Jodie actually begins to believe that may be true.

DCI Withers, never far away, arrives to investigate, but it’s Jodie’s work behind that scenes that could ultimately end up cracking the case.

Yet again I was absolutely swept up in this mystery and the drama of Penstowan. I have come to love this cast of characters so much over the course of these 7-books. I’m honestly hoping it never ends.

Every time I crack a new one, I can’t wait to see what sort of hi-jinks Jodie and friends and are going to get up to next. She’s such a good Mum and daughter. The relationship dynamics in these stories are one of my favorite elements.

This one was really fun too because of the whole idea of a film crew invading this small town, and all the high level people that were bandying about way outside their natural environments.

The mystery was well plotted and did succeed in keeping me on my toes. I definitely had theories, but it was fun watching all the pieces slot into place.

I also loved getting more with Jodie and Nathan. They were fairly new to each other at this point, so it was fun for me to get to go back and sort of relive how it all began.

If you love Cozy Mysteries, particularly those set in a village, or small town, that have humorous characters and happy vibes, you should definitely check this series out. It’s heart-warming, amusing and a great escape from reality.

I haven’t heard an announcement for an 8th-book yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this series continues for many years to come.

I will happily read each and every one!

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Review: Tidal Creatures (Alchemical Journeys #3) by Seanan McGuire

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Tidal Creatures (Alchemical Journeys, #3)Tidal Creatures by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tidal Creatures is the 3rd-installment to Seanan McGuire’s epic Adult SFF-series that has not just created a whole new world unto itself, but a whole new cosmology.

Middlegame took the world by storm when it was released in 2019. I wasn’t immune. When I read it, I fell in love. I always knew McGuire was a talented writer with a plethora of unique ideas, but this thing is off the charts.

The sequel Seasonal Fears didn’t get quite the same level of fanfare upon its release in 2022, but I loved it nevertheless. I wouldn’t say I loved it as much as Middlegame, but it was a brilliant continuation of the story.

Tidal Creatures is a monster in the way it continued to build out this complex and enticing world. I loved meeting new characters like Kelpie, Judy and Isabella. The cast of characters felt broader in this one than the previous novels and it was interesting to learn about them.

Additionally, their interactions were deep and their banter, funny. Most of the new information we learned was accomplished through character conversations. Because of this, it never felt info-dumpy.

This story felt different too, in that it is a murder mystery of sorts. Someone is killing moon goddesses, and it’s up to our cast to figure out why and then stop them.

I thought that was an intriguing way to advance this overall story arc. The way it tied into the lore of the Impossible City and the concepts that we had starting building in the previous books was very well done.

I will say, I think if I read this again, I would probably enjoy it even more. There is a lot going on here and the way that the various perspectives are initially introduced, not coming together until a little way in, it was a lot to follow.

A part of me wants to say, I am done reading these as they’re released for the rest of the series. I want to wait until they are all out so I can binge them all at once.

Before Seasonal Fears released, I did reread Middlegame directly before I picked it up and I do think I enjoyed it that much more because of that.

But now, we’re so deep. I don’t know if I have time to reread them all prior to every other subsequent release…

This is easy for me to say now. I’m sure as the next book releases I am going to flock to it like a Publisher’s dream. All past hesitation blown out of the water by the overwhelming FOMO that I’m gonna feel.

Either way, no matter how it happens, I love this series with my whole heart and will happily see it to the end.

I would recommend continuing on with the series to anyone who read and enjoyed Middlegame. I also highly recommend the companion series, The Up-and-Under by A. Deborah Baker, for more insight into the background of this world.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.

This series is an absolute tour de force in the SFF space and I cannot wait for more!

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Review: Into the Crooked Place (Into the Crooked Place #1) by Alexandra Christo

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Into the Crooked Place (Into the Crooked Place, #1)Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

💙💜🖤💙💜🖤💙💜🖤💙💜🖤💙

This was so good! I love this type of gritty fantasy world.

I recently unhauled over 70-books, and during the course of that massive undertaking there were quite a few books and series that I needed to decide if I was still interested in.

The Into the Crooked Place duology was one of them. The overall rating isn’t great, but the synopsis still intrigued me. After I got rid of the books that didn’t make the cut, I decided to just pick this one up. I’m so glad I did!

This is a YA Fantasy story, published in 2019, that sweeps the Reader away to Crejie, a gritty, urban landscape where vice runs rampant.

The characters we follow are all part of the seedy underbelly of this society. There’s a bit of a mafioso-feeling to it. They peddle in dark magic, versus the commodities they would commonly deal with in our world.

We follow four mains: Wesley, a powerful underboss, Tavia, his lead busker, Karam, his muscle, and Saxony, a girl filled to the brim with magic.

There’s a new dark magic unleashed on the streets, think of it as a dangerously high-powered drug, that is corrupting souls to do another’s bidding. It’s wild.

The four team up together to try to stop this plot before it gets out of hand, but this means they’ll need to overthrow the powers that be. This would result in Wesley coming to power, but is that really what would be best for everyone?

This book reminded me so much of Amanda Foody’s Shadow Game trilogy, which I loved. At the time I read Foody’s books, I had never read a Fantasy world quite like that.

Into the Crooked Place is the first YA Fantasy I’ve read since that rivals that sort of magical gangster feel. I’m not sure why this is a setting I enjoy so much, but I ate it up.

I loved learning about this cast of characters. Their relationships were nuanced and I enjoyed their various backstories and motivations. Watching them come together to fight for a common cause was gripping.

There is so much action in this too. A ton of fights and drama. I never felt a lull. It was go, go, go. Towards the end, OMG, I was flying through this so fast and I cannot believe how this ended. I never could have predicted it.

I do see how this wouldn’t necessarily work for everyone, but I think if you’re like me and enjoy stories with this type of vice-filled setting, you could enjoy it as much as me.

The characters were very easy to get attached too and root for. I will be picking up the sequel very soon, because I am so not ready to leave this crew behind.

I need to know what happens.

I’m so glad that this book survived that unhaul and I’m even happier that I finally made the time for it. This one really surprised me!

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Review: Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot #25) by Agatha Christie

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Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot, #25)Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

Five Little Pigs is the 25th installment in Christie’s beloved Hercule Poirot series, but as you most likely know, these books can be read in any order.

In this one, Poirot is approached by a beautiful young lady, Carla Lemarchant, who when she was only 5-years old had her entire life upturned.

Her mother, Caroline Crale, was accused and subsequently found guilty of killing her husband, Carla’s father, Amyas, an up-and-coming artist with an eye for the ladies.

After her father was killed and her mother imprisoned, little Carla was whisked away to Canada to live with relations.

Growing up she had no real memory of her life before she set foot on Canadian soil, but recently, on her 21st-birthday, Carla received a letter written by her mother, now long deceased, proclaiming her innocence.

Carla returns to the U.K. and seeks out Poirot to implore him to look into the case. It’s been 16-years since the incident took place, but Poirot is intrigued.

Poirot assures Carla he will do his best, but it could be a tough nut to crack. Cold cases are so much more difficult. Nevertheless, Poirot sets to his task with great vigor, interviewing those involved and narrowing it down to five main suspects.

He’ll leave no stone unturned as he craftily pulls together the players from past and tries to reveal the truth behind the shocking death of Amyas Crale.

I loved this one and not just because I solved it!

I loved that everything included here was necessary to get to the bottom of the ‘whodunit’. There was absolutely no BS. Agatha developed a great little mystery within these pages.

It has a bit of an unconventional format, reading more like a case file than a novel. It’s like Christie was actually challenging Readers to solve it alongside Poirot.

I enjoyed that; how it didn’t necessarily follow her traditional format, although it did still have a lot of the classic features familiar to long-time Christie Readers.

Out of all the Christie’s I’ve read, I think this has got to be in my top 5. I enjoyed it that much.

If you haven’t read this one yet, but love the feel of a classic whodunit story, you really should check this out. Have your notebook, magnifying glass and pipe at the ready!

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Review: Seasick by Kristin Cast & Pintip Dunn

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SeasickSeasick by Kristin Cast
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

I’ll be honest, I think the trick with Seasick is going into it with the right mindset.

If you are expecting deep prose and super compelling character interactions, you may want to look elsewhere.

If however, you’re like me, and you’re just here for a good time, this could be a lot of fun for you.

To me, one of the things I appreciated about Seasick was that it didn’t seem to take itself too seriously. This is like B-Horror, which I am a huge fan of. It feels campy, and in spite of the mega-yacht setting, it feels low budget.

The plot and characters were outrageous, nevertheless, it was a wicked good time. I loved seeing that body count pile up, as I tried to figure out who was behind it.

This story follows a group of recent high school graduates, who after being inducted into a prestigious society in their small Oklahoma town, set out on a celebratory yacht trip to Bermuda. For some, a trip of a lifetime.

As the Reader, you’re clued in from the start that it’s going to end up being a total bloodbath, but it was fun watching that whole drama play out.

Estranged best friends, Yana and Naya, team up to figure out who the killer aboard is, before they fall victim themselves.

I mean, that’s it. It’s pretty simple, but it was a blast, NGL. This is like a made-for-tv movie with a ton of hot actors trying to survive a Slasher. It def gives those vibes.

The yacht setting was fun, because it feels claustrophobic. There’s literally no means of escape. These kids are trapped, and one way or another, they need to fight in order to survive, whether they like it or not.

I did enjoy a lot of the teen drama, but that’s sort of what I’m into. So, boys and girls behaving badly is like candy for me. I was eating it up.

Will this go down in history as one of my favorite YA Horror/Thrillers ever? No. However, can I walk away happy I read it and feeling like I had a really great time? Absolutely!

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys Campy Teen Screams and books set on boats. This is filled with catty drama and ridiculously fun kills. There’s a whole bunch of Readers for this out there, and you know who you are!

Thank you to the publisher, Delacorte Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was a wild voyage!

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Review: One House Left by Vincent Ralph

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One House LeftOne House Left by Vincent Ralph
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed One House Left. It deserves its comp to R.L. Stine, though this is better written…

I sort of totally kid. I love R.L. Stine and appreciate all of his work and his contribution to the Horror space. I still read his books today and will continue to do so, well, forever.

Anytime I see a new release compared to Stine’s stories, I am going to check it out. It’s the Publishers doing their work. They sold me. Sometimes it pays off, other times not so much. Happy to report it def paid off here.

This story follows 16-year old, Nate Campbell, who grew up on a cursed street, dubbed Murder Road, haunted by a vengeful spirit known only as The Hiding Boy.

Every few years a different house on the street is plagued by some sort of violent tragedy. Nate and his family, trying to outrun the curse, move to a new town at the start of this story and that is where we pick up with Nate.

We follow him as he navigates being the new kid, while also trying to outrun his past. Will he be able to do so? Is it even possible to escape from the clutches of Murder Road?

I was hooked into this one from the start. It was giving me total Fear Street vibes with the narration style and the way the MC, Nate, presented his story.

He was pulled into a clique of friends at his new school, led by the strong-willed, Max, who love learning about and exploring urban legends. Little did they know that Nate was actually living one.

Max seemed like such a cool girl to me. I loved her. Everything about the way she was described and the confidence with which she carried herself, she was def my fave in this one!

There’s all sorts of mystery throughout this story as well. I had so many questions. I didn’t really know what was going on half the time, purposefully on the author’s part, and it kept me hella intrigued.

People were acting strangely, Nate was receiving mysterious threatening messages, it wasn’t quite clear the circumstances under which Nate’s family left their old home; there was so much I wanted to know.

That’s one way to keep you furiously flipping pages!

There was a huge twist around the 70%-point, that legit left my jaw on the floor. I couldn’t believe what was happening and it totally changed my perspective on everything. I felt that was so well played by the author.

As far as reveals go, it was definitely one I did NOT expect!

I also loved the escalation of this story. It was like a snowball rolling down hill. The pacing was very well done.

There’s a lot that I appreciated about this story, but I won’t risk saying more because I don’t want to spoil anything. Just know, I was impressed.

Overall, I loved how the concept of Urban Legends was used by the author to tell this story. I found the characters so compelling, especially my girl, Max. As YA Horror novels go, this is at towards the top of the class!

Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. This is the 2nd-book I have read from Vincent Ralph and I’m definitely seeing a progression in his work.

I look forward to reading more from him!

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