book review

Review: Worst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman

~ megs14malloy

Worst Case ScenarioWorst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

T.J. Newman has picked a lane and she’s good at it. She delivers what I’m expecting every time. This was fun, but also heart-warming and heart-wrenching simultaneously.

In this latest action-packed thrill ride, she explores a situation in which a commercial airliner crashes into a nuclear power plant.

Following the catastrophe, we follow regular people thrust into the most extraordinary of circumstances, as they race to try to save not just their friends and loved ones, but their communities, and really the whole world.

This audiobook was great, channeling the tension of the story straight into my veins. I was racing through it, like how could this possibly end well? I needed to know.

This book is perfect for anyone who watches movies like Armageddon and becomes completely invested. That person is me, and if it’s also you, please check this one out. It is quite frankly a disaster-action movie brought to the page.

There’s not much else to say to hype you up for this. It’s best to just experience it for yourself. It’s gripping, exciting and actually horrifying if you think about it too much.

That’s honestly what I’m trying to avoid here…

So, yeah, in short, if you like terrifyingly-realistic Disaster Thrillers that read like a ticking time bomb about to go off on humanity, you have to pick this one up!!

Thank you to the publisher, Hachette Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m such a Newman fan and will definitely be back for more!!

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Stephen King Publication Project: Re-Reading Carrie

~ megs14malloy

CarrieCarrie by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5-MODERN CLASSIC STARS YET AGAIN!!!

Recently, I’ve started this thing. It’s not unique to me. Many people have attempted it, some have even succeeded, but I’m currently reading all of King’s books in publication order.

I’ve already read 52-books of King’s extensive list of works, many multiple times, but I’ve never read them in order. I think this will be a fun way to experience the trajectory of his career, as well as his different eras, if you will.

I’m also annotating this time through and recording my final thoughts in a King-designated Book Journal, courtesy of Clever Fox planners. I’m so stoked for this journey, you have no idea.

With this being said, I don’t plan on really updating any of my thoughts on this one. Please see my previous review below for full thoughts. I’m pretty proud of this one, and feel very much the same this time through, as far as the execution of this novel, its importance and my love for it.

I did notice a couple of fun little Easter Egg type things this time around though that I’ll mention real quick. King gave Carrie his birthday, although he would have been turning 16 on the day she was born. Also, her English teacher that she turned a noted poem into was named Mr. Edwin King, and Stephen’s middle name is Edwin — that was fun.

Also, I believe I found some foreshadowing to Christine, Firestarter, and if you think about it, maybe even The Institute.

Oh, and did anyone else notice that in one of the news reports of what happened in Chamberlain on that fateful night, the first casualty was reported to be a firefighter, his first name escapes me now, but middle initial, B, last name, Mears? I found that fun, since King’s protagonist in his 2nd-novel, a little known work called ‘Salem’s Lot, is Ben Mears.

Final thought, Margaret White is one of the most heinous villains King has ever created. Every scene with her makes me want to knock her head off a wall.

That’s talent.

Previously:

Carrie, Stephen King’s first published full-length novel was released in 1974 and at this point, I think it’s fair to say it’s a modern classic. This novel has been adapted to film four times, the most well-known being the original 1976-release starring Sissy Spacek as Carrie.

Incidentally, I did decide to listen to the audiobook for this reread, as I had only read the print copy before, and the audio was narrated by Spacek.

It was fantastic and I highly recommend that audio-version. Spacek clearly has an intimate connection with this story and with Carrie in particular. I felt like it made the audio experience extra special.

Assuming most people at least have a general idea of what this story is about, I will keep this short and simple. This story, through the incredible use of mixed media, tells the story of Carrie White, a bullied teen who lives in the small town of Chamberlain, Maine.

At the beginning, there’s an infamous scene taking place in the girls locker room at school, wherein Carrie experiences her first menstruation. Raised by a single-mother, a religious fanatic, who believes only women who sin grow breasts, Carrie has no idea what her period is.

She’s frightened at the sight of the blood and panics. Her peers, who have already been bullying her mercilessly for years, are brutal in their reaction to the event, pelting her with feminine products and screaming at her.

It’s awful. The girls are awful. Carrie gets sent home for the day and the young women involved in torturing her are given a light slap on the wrist.

It’s at that time, under distress, that the first public signs of Carrie’s powers appear. At least since that rock incident when she was a child…

The plot progresses from there, advancing Carrie’s story from that point forward, as well as filling in some of her backstory, including her gut-wrenching, abusive relationship with her mother.

When one of the girls involved, Sue Snell, starts to feel remorse for the locker room incident, she concocts a slightly hair-brained and uber-naive plot wherein her popular, jock boyfriend, Tommy Ross, will take Carrie to the Spring dance instead of her.

Tommy isn’t crazy about the idea. Not because he has anything against Carrie, he’s not that kind of guy, but because he doesn’t feel like Sue’s tepid attempt at ridding herself of guilt will make any real difference in Carrie’s life.

Nevertheless, he loves Sue and is willing to do anything she asks. If only he hadn’t…

I had such a blast listening to this. I haven’t read this story in over 20-years and it was so great to revisit one of King’s earliest hits. Imagine reading and reviewing this in 1974, like ‘this Stephen King guy is an author to watch.’

I was struck immediately by the creative use of mixed media. I have read from other authors who have mentioned how this novel influenced them with that format and I can see why. It is so incredibly well done here. IMO, definitely still one of the best displays of that format published to date.

I think it is important to keep in mind how unique that would have been at the time of publication.

There have been numerous novels in the past few years that have embraced that narrative style, particularly if you think of all the ones including podcasting elements. It seems now an obvious choice as a way to tell a story, but it’s really not traditionally.

I’ll be honest, it did make me sad reading this though. I was reminded why I have never reread it until now. There are certain King’s, mainly this and Cujo, that are so good, yet so painful to read, because of how much empathy I feel for the characters involved, that I sort of avoid them.

As a Horror story, one could categorize Carrie as the ‘baddie’, but you feel for her and I would assume that 99.9% of Readers will be on her side.

To me, it’s a bit like Frankenstein, another book I could only read once because I felt so damn bad for Frankenstein’s monster, and in a way, Carrie is the Frankenstein’s monster of modern times.

Carrie was created by the abuse of her mother and the constant harassment and ridicule of her peers. Sure, there’s an argument in the book that her powers are genetic and I get that, but having telekinetic powers doesn’t necessarily equate to killing hundreds of your peers and burning down your entire town.

I feel like there could have been other options for Carrie if she hadn’t been treated like complete trash her entire life.

I loved how this wrapped up too, how the speed that the mixed media jumped around in the aftermath of prom night increased the intensity of the conclusion. I just thought it was so well done and then that final little snippet, PERFECTION.

I’m so happy that I took the time to reread this one. Even though Carrie’s story is a painful one, it’s also powerful and absolutely one that will stick in your mind once you’re done.

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Review: Nightmare in the Backyard (Eek! #2) by Jeff Strand

~ megs14malloy

Nightmare in the Backyard (Eek!)Nightmare in the Backyard by Jeff Strand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was cute as heck. It had Lovecraftian-type creatures, perfect for a new generation of Horror Readers!

I loved the first book in this new Eek! series, It Watches in the Dark, by veteran Horror author, Jeff Strand, so I’ve been anticipating this release.

This has a classic set-up, with three girls, Chloe, Avery and Madison, doing a little backyard camping. It’s the best way to have a sleepover, IMO.

The girls are just settling in when the neighbor, Elijah, stops by to say hi. They just know he’ll be back later too, trying to prank them. Typical boy behavior.

Sure enough, they hear scratching on the outside of their tent later in the evening. Fully expecting to catch Elijah red-handed, they rush to open the tent flap and look out, but it appears there’s no one there.

A little creeped out, they retreat back into their tent, but not long after the scratching noises return.

Getting more freaked out by the second, the girls desperately want to figure out the source of the scratching, but the truth turns out to be much worse than the girls could’ve dreamed of, even in their worst nightmares.

Nightmare in the Backyard is a wildly-entertaining Middle Grade Horror story reminiscent of the Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark stories of the olden’ days.

I had the privilege of listening to the audiobook and feel that the narration is perfect for this age category. The narrator brought these characters and the insane circumstances they found themselves in to life. I def recommend that format.

I loved how fast-paced this story was and how the kids really worked well together trying to figure out exactly what was happening in the backyard. It was a lot. Wild, crazy and zany enough to keep Young Readers thoroughly entertained.

Also, I do want to note that these books can be read in any order. Just like the Goosebumps series, these books aren’t really related. It’s all new characters and circumstances.

Thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks Kids and Tantor Media, for providing me copies to read and review. I’m not sure how many installments are slated for this series, but I will be reading them all, I can assure you of that!

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Book Review: Ghost Mother by Kelly Dwyer

~ megs14malloy

Ghost Mother: A NovelGhost Mother: A Novel by Kelly Dwyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Ghost Mother was an engaging and heart-filled story. It’s highly-readable, simply told and feels like it could be enjoyed by a wide-variety of Readers.

I would especially recommend it to Supernatural Horror (Light) Readers, who may be looking more for vibes, than anything too scary, or disturbing.

This story follows Lilly Bly, who is married and desperately wants to have a baby. She’s suffered losses in this area already and it’s a sensitive topic for her.

Her husband, Jake, has just gotten a new job and they are moving from Chicago to a small town in Wisconsin because of that. Lilly is okay with it. She’s ready for a fresh start and when she sees the decrepit mansion that could be their potential new home, she falls in love.

It’s well out of their price range, but Lilly is able to convince Jack to purchase the dilapidated property. She swears she’ll get a job to help make the payments. It’s worth it to her, she just knows she’ll finally become a mother in this house.

After they move in though, Lilly has a tough time getting herself together and motivated. Jack travels a lot for work, so she’s on her own quite a bit.

It’s not long after they move in that Lilly learns their new home was the site of a gruesome triple homicide in the 1950s. They don’t call it the Murder House for nothing…

As she experiences more unexplained phenomenon at the house, she’s led to believe it could be haunted. It would make sense, right? Terrible things have happened there.

She begins to research the house and its dark past, determined to get to the bottom of what she is experiencing.

While she is doing so though, the rest of her life is being neglected. Her husband, the household, she’s making poor choices, she’s losing time. Is the house really haunted, or are these all signs of an escalating mental breakdown?

As mentioned above, I really enjoyed my time with this story. I felt for Lilly. She wanted to be a mother so badly, and as things were spiraling, I wanted to just give her a hug, to tell her that everything was going to be okay.

At the same time, she was making choices that simultaneously made me want to shake her back into reality. I think the fact that I felt so much for this main character, who was going through something that I’ve never personally experienced, but felt so much for, is a sign of great writing.

I’ve never read from Kelly Dwyer before, but she’s found a fan in me, and I hope to get more from her.

I was impressed with how quickly I became immersed and attached to this story. There’s been a few other ‘expectant or want to be’ mother books that I’ve read in the past year or so that have driven me absolutely batty.

Full disclosure, I have no children, by choice, and have never, ever had that want. So, for me, it’s generally hard to connect with the characters who that is their sole desire.

I didn’t feel that with Lilly. Even though she was wanting to be a mother more than anything else, it was presented in such a way where she didn’t lose her identity to that want. I could connect to her and feel for her, even though our lives are vastly different.

Again, I think this is due to the quality of Dwyer’s writing; the way she created this character. Lilly wasn’t just pigeon-holed into the fact that she wanted to have a child. She had layers, which I appreciated.

Additionally, this novel has my favorite thing, atmosphere. That’s my number one. The thing I look for most in my Dark Fiction. I want atmosphere, a true sense of place, I want to feel like I’m there, to see everything in my mind’s eye and that was definitely the case here.

With this being said, and this doesn’t negate from anything the author has done here, but I do feel like this will work best for Readers who are either newer to the Horror genre, or who want the vibes, but to not actually feel scared.

I’m not saying I need Horror to be scary, because I completely recognize that there is so much more to this nuanced genre than that one parameter, however, this did feel way more about the vibes to me than anything else.

With this being said, I would recommend this to anyone who loves a Supernatural Mystery with a lush Haunted House setting. I would also recommend the audiobook format, fabulously narrated by Renata Friedman.

Thank you to the publisher, Dreamscape Media, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I had a lot of fun with this story and look forward to more from Kelly Dwyer. I hope she stays in this wheelhouse, because it was really well executed!

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Review: Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage

~ megs14malloy

Dear HannaDear Hanna by Zoje Stage
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dear Hanna is the unexpected follow-up to Zoje Stage’s 2018-debut Horror novel, Baby Teeth, which I adored.

It leaned into the creepy kid trope, which I’m always here for, and it did it in such a toe-curling way.

I never expected we would get more of this story and though I don’t feel it was necessary, it was interesting. I went on a journey with this. We had our ups-and-downs, but I’m glad I stuck with it for the satisfying conclusion.

It’s important to note that you don’t really need to read Baby Teeth before you read this. In fact, there could be a solid argument for reading this one first, learning about adult Hanna, and then going back and visiting her childhood, so you can see where all this came from.

Hanna is a foul human. Let me just get that out there. She’s a true sociopath from the moment we first meet her. Stage is so convincing with her characterization of Hanna, that there were times when it was making me angry; her thoughts.

I would have to set it down and walk away for a moment. Then I would remind myself, it’s just Hanna being Hanna. I will admit though, there were times when it wasn’t enjoyable to read, particularly through the middle bits and the parts involving Hanna’s step-daughter.

I also didn’t like Hanna’s husband, Jacob, at all, so any scene with him had the strong possibility of annoying me.

It’s funny, as I write this, the more I think about it and process it, the more impressed I am with just how convincing this story was. It left a bad taste in my mouth, it certainly did, but I think that was the intention, so I definitely need to give Stage props for that.

I feel like it’s important to go into this one in the right headspace though, and perhaps, I wasn’t quite in the right space when I picked this up. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more at another time.

Unfortunately, we’ll never know. I walk away happy I made it through, but knowing I’ll never pick it up again. Although, Baby Teeth I would def be interested in revisiting now.

Thank you to the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Zoje Stage has such creative and compelling ideas. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next!

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Review: Blood Heir (Blood Heir Trilogy #1) by Amelie Wen Zhao

~ megs14malloy

Blood Heir (Blood Heir Trilogy #1)Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first time I laid eyes on a copy of Blood Heir, many moons ago, my first reaction was, I kind of want the girl on this cover to kidnap me and hold me hostage…

Instead, I bought the book and it remained hostage on my shelves since 2019, which seems like cruel and unusual punishment for this poor book.

Recently, I’ve had some flops for reads and I needed a change of pace. I decided it was finally time to give this beauty a go, and I’m so happy I did. This could turn into a full-series binge for me.

In this story we meet Ana and Ramson. Ana, full name Anastacya Mikhailov, is the crown princess of the Cyrilian Empire. She’s also an Affinite, individuals who have the ability to control the world around them. Ana’s special ability is that she’s able to control people’s blood.

Her ability has always been kept a secret, but after her father is murdered, she’s the main suspect. She needs to find her father’s actual killer in order to clear her name, and more importantly, save her life.

The world is grossly corrupt though, and Ana’s gonna need some help. She cannot succeed navigating her way outside the kingdom walls on her own.

That’s where Ramson comes in, a cunning crime lord with an agenda of his own. He may have met his match in Ana, and we all know where that leads…

This was such a nice change of pace for me. I haven’t read a Fantasy story in a while and I found this one very easy to engage with. I loved learning about the main characters and the way they came together, having an important mission, was a delightful set-up.

Every time I would put this down, to go to work, or you know, do other adult life things, I was always excited to come back to it. That’s a sign of a great book.

It was adorbs watching Ana and Ramson catching feelings. Him especially, because he was such a tough guy and I think his attachment to Ana came as a real surprise to him.

I liked Ana’s ambivalence to it a bit as well. She wasn’t swooning over this guy. She did have a job and she needed to get it done, but you could tell, even if she couldn’t right away, that the attachment was going in both directions.

I wouldn’t call it a Romance story though, so don’t get scared away if that’s not for you. I’m not crazy about a lot of romance in my Fantasy either. This is def more about the magic system and politics. At least it felt that way to me.

Speaking of, the magic is so interesting. The idea of the Affinites and all the various powers they wielded, it was a cool concept. I thought the author executed it well. It was easy to understand and opened up a lot of potential powers.

The politics and world are really built out in the second half, when we end up learning a lot more about Ana and her family. There were some jaw-dropping developments.

I would say this succeeded in creating a solid foundation as the 1st-book. There’s still a lot of room to grow, particularly in the world/politics, so I’m super excited to start the 2nd-book, Red Tigress and follow along with all that.

Overall, I felt this was really strong. My favorite element was the magic system, but I can’t deny how attached I’ve become to both Ana and Ramson.

This book has proven again why it’s so important to never ignore your backlist. There’s a lot of books lurking on the shelves that are real winners. Don’t neglect them. Have a peek. You may just find one like I did!

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Review: Glass Houses by Madeline Ashby

~ megs14malloy

Glass HousesGlass Houses by Madeline Ashby
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars rounded up**

I’m not having the best reading luck lately. I’m feeling let down a lot. Am I being punished for something?

I need this trend to turn around soon, because it’s seriously putting me in a mood.

I’ve been putting off reviewing this for a while. I needed to cool my jets a bit before I tore off on some salty rant review, going up one side of this and down the other. That helps no one. So, let’s take a deep breath, and get into it.

The synopsis for Glass Houses had me anticipating a gripping, freaky, intense, near-future Mystery-Thriller involving a palatial house on a deserted island.

Instead what I got was a slow-moving character study of messed up people. Sure, a small portion is set on an island, but that certainly didn’t feel like the focus.

The very start was giving the first scene from the first season of Lost. I thought to myself, this is exciting, this is intriguing. Then as it began to play out further, I thought, wait a minute is…

I won’t fill in that blank, but that happened by page 19, and I was correct. There was another thing later ‘revealed’ that I knew early on as well. I wasn’t trying to figure anything out. I never do that, but these things were just so glaringly obvious, I wonder were they supposed to feel like reveals?

Then in other ways, where I wish it could have been expanded upon, we were kept in the dark. We did get little tidbits of the greater world here and there, but it was never clear enough to understand, or provide a sense of place.

I feel like a nice mixed media element scattered throughout, that could’ve let us know how the world got to this point would’ve been fun. I mean obviously it’s the near future, but why is everything soooo different?

By the middle, it had really slowed down. We weren’t seeing as much of everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off, which I guess could’ve been entertaining if we didn’t have these huge sections from the past taking us right out of that present feeling of chaos.

At the end of the day, NGL, I didn’t enjoy this. Some of the concepts involving future tech and AI were interesting, but I hated the way the story was told.

There was too much focus on the backstory of Kristin and not enough on the present setting of the deserted island. I feel like I was sold something that I didn’t end up getting.

I wasn’t given suspense, nor intrigue, AND was barely given any time on the deserted island that I was promised. I am rounding up to 3-stars to be nice.

With this being said, just because this didn’t work for me, does not mean it won’t work for you. I wouldn’t really go by the synopsis though to judge whether or not you would enjoy it, as personally, I feel it’s a bit mismarketed.

I think this would work best for Literary Fiction fans, who enjoy dark stories with light SF-elements. Character-driven Readers may also have success with this.

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

I’m not sure if I will read from this author again, probably not, but I’m glad I gave this one a shot, even if it wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea.

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Review: A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

~ megs14malloy

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive BakingA Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

T. Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors and one of my favorite things about her work is her versatility. Her ability to write stories for people of all ages is unsurpassed.

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, which follows 14-year old Mona, won prizes in both the Young Adult and Children’s Literature categories. I honestly couldn’t tell you which age group this would be more fitting for, as I truly feel it can be enjoyed by Readers of all ages.

I have had this delightful little novel quietly lurking on my TBR for years, but recently was urged to pick it up when it was selected as the monthly read for a Book Club I participate in. I’m so glad it was chosen.

Our discussion was on a Saturday afternoon and I had no problem getting through the audiobook that morning just prior. It read so quickly, and kept me fully-engaged while doing my Saturday deep house clean.

I loved meeting Mona and, surprising me not for a moment, her narrative voice was quirky, witty and fun. I also enjoyed the journey her character went on over the course of the story, as she goes from mere baker’s aid to the magical girl with the power to save a kingdom.

As usual, Kingfisher infused this story with her humor and heart. She has such a fantastic ability for creating lovable and memorable characters, including some of the best animal, and inanimate object, characters that I’ve ever read.

I feel like there is some great messages in here for younger readers as well. I can see how this could feel like an empowering story for them, where they’re shown they can do big things, and important things.

Mona’s baking magic was super cute and I liked watching her confidence grow throughout the story. Her differences, which once made her self-conscious, ended up being what qualified her to succeed where others couldn’t.

I laughed, stressed when characters were in danger and I fell in love with Mona and friends. Overall, this is a lovely read. Fast-paced, funny, wildly-entertaining, pure Kingfisher joy.

I’m so glad that I finally made time for this one. I definitely recommend it to anyone, of any age, who loves a fun and magical fairy tale-feeling romp!

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Review: A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons

~ megs14malloy

A Mask of FliesA Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars rounded up**

After a failed bank heist, Anne Hiller is forced to go on the run, along with her wounded partner, Jessup, and the policeman she has taken hostage.

Anne goes to the closest place she can think of where they can safely take refuge, her family’s abandoned cabin. This place should hold a lot of memories for Anne, but her entire childhood is hazy at best. She does remember that the cabin was the site of her mother’s untimely death though.

As she waits for help from other members of her crew, Anne ends up discovering some old relics of her mother’s. Could these items help her piece together the missing bits of her past. She’d love some closure.

Her mission to delve into the past is interrupted when the injured Jessup goes missing. They end up finding his dead body. They decide to bury him, thinking that’ll be the end, but when the dead man returns, knocking at the door in the night, they realize, this is only the beginning.

A Mask of Flies is the third book that I’ve read from Matthew Lyons. On paper, this should have worked really well for me. A Horror-Crime Thriller blend with people returning from the dead and a woman on the run for her life. What’s not to love about that?

Sadly, this didn’t end up being a good fit for me. I’ve enjoyed both of the other novels I’ve read from this author, but this ended up being a miss for me.

I never became fully invested. Anne was very meh, as were the characters surrounding her. The only person who ever really interested me was Dutch, just because of the circumstances he found himself in, but it still wasn’t enough for me to actually feel truly engaged with his plight.

With this being said, it’s not all negative. The writing is great and the ideas are solid. It just failed to capture my attention. That doesn’t mean it won’t work for others, however, including you, so please take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I did read this directly after reading Blood Like Mine, another new release Crime Horror novel that I absolutely loved. Perhaps reading them back-to-back was detrimental to my experience with this one. It disappointed in comparison.

I will also say, Lyons creates his landscapes really well. I’ve noticed this throughout his work that I’ve read. I can always picture these beautifully-stark landscapes the characters travel through.

This one, as with A Black and Endless Sky, gave me slight Desperation mixed with Revival vibes, which I even mentioned in my review for that previous novel. There’s something very Fundamentalist Religious group meets Tak about all this. IYKYK.

At the end of the day, even though this wasn’t the most fun experience for me, I still believe Matthew Lyons is one heck of a writer. He takes risks and is creative with his storylines. I’m definitely planning to pick up whatever he writes next.

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

There’s a book for every Reader and a Reader for every book. Just because this wasn’t great for me personally, doesn’t mean it won’t be amazing for you.

Give it a shot. Check it out. Available now!!!

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Review: Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville

~ megs14malloy

Blood Like MineBlood Like Mine by Stuart Neville
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Ooo, Blood Like Mine was so, so good.

A fabulous blending of Horror with Crime Fiction. It was gripping, fast-paced, included excellent character work and a bloody sensational ending!

After seeing a couple of trusted Book Friends write glowing reviews for this one, I started to experience my typical high-levels of FOMO. They were enjoying it, therefore, I wanted to be enjoying it. I couldn’t rest until I was.

I requested an audio copy and very luckily, my request was granted. I started right away and was so very happy that they brought this book, and this author, onto my radar.

In this story, we are following Rebecca and her daughter, Moonflower. It’s clear the two are on the run from a difficult past, but the full truth of that isn’t revealed right away.

As we get to know Rebecca and Moonflower, the truth behind their past, current situation and close connection, is beautifully-exposed. I loved getting to know these two characters. They were both so real to me and fascinating.

We also meet a Special Agent with the FBI, Marc Donner. For the last two-years, he has been hunting a serial killer across the American West, a killer who drains their victim’s bodies of blood.

As the trail he is following leads him closer to Rebecca and Moonflower, the existence Rebecca has worked so hard to create for them is inexorably threatened. Donner isn’t giving up, he’s not turning back, and they’re all set on a crash course with disaster.

The synopsis describes this one as cat-and-mouse and I absolutely agree with that. I love those types of stories, so that played a huge role in my enjoyment.

It was intense. I grew to care for all of these characters, not just Rebecca and Moonflower, but also Agent Donner. The high stakes involved, you know it can’t end well for everyone though, which made it particularly gripping for me.

Who was going to end up on top?

I vibed so well with the way the author told this story. The level of intrigue is high from the get-go and for me, it really never let up. You can intuit what is going on with Moonflower and Rebecca, but there’s a certain level of uncertainty that did keep me guessing.

Until there’s not. Once it’s clear, I was loving this even more, because if anything it only upped the stakes of the game playing out on the page.

I would love to read more from this author. I think the genre-bending nature of this really took the cake for me. The Horror aspects blended perfectly with the Crime Fiction elements. It was seamless.

I would recommend this to Horror Readers who enjoy fast-paced, high-stakes Thriller-type reads. This is unique, fun and for me, memorable. I’m looking forward to seeing what more Readers think of this one.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Recorded Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. The audio narration was so well done and definitely helped to bring this story to life for me!

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