Review of The Nightmare Man

 I received this book from Netgalley for a fair and honest review.

I haven't been finding a lot of horror books lately that I really enjoy. I am actually in a horror group on facebook that doesn't think I like anything...lol. That being said I actually liked this one!! 

Blackwood mansion looms, surrounded by nightmare pines, atop the hill over the small town of New Haven. Ben Bookman, bestselling novelist and heir to the Blackwood estate, spent a weekend at the ancestral home to finish writing his latest horror novel, The Scarecrow. Now, on the eve of the book’s release, the terrible story within begins to unfold in real life.

Detective Mills arrives at the scene of a gruesome murder: a family butchered and bundled inside cocoons stitched from corn husks, and hung from the rafters of a barn, eerily mirroring the opening of Bookman’s latest novel. When another family is killed in a similar manner, Mills, along with his daughter, rookie detective Samantha Blue, is determined to find the link to the book—and the killer—before the story reaches its chilling climax.

As the series of “Scarecrow crimes” continues to mirror the book, Ben quickly becomes the prime suspect. He can’t remember much from the night he finished writing the novel, but he knows he wrote it in The Atrium, his grandfather’s forbidden room full of numbered books. Thousands of books. Books without words.

As Ben digs deep into Blackwood’s history he learns he may have triggered a release of something trapped long ago—and it won’t stop with the horrors buried within the pages of his book.

 Ben Bookman writes horror novels and he has been working on a new book and staying in the ancestral home Blackwood manor where he soon learns that there are some murders happening in town that are identical to those in the book. 

The two dectectives in town are a father daughter team and they end up and some really strange and brutal murder sites, that lead them to Ben Bookman. He has no clue what is going on or why the murders are happen like in his book, but it's hard for the cops to understand what is going on.

Ben as well as the cops have to take a deep dive into Ben's history as his brother went missing 13 years ago and Ben has been looking for him since then, but he comes upon some bones he begins to think his brother could be among them. There is something about the Screamer, who takes kids. 

It really is hard to describe what this book is about really, I am having a hard time putting it down without thinking something I say might spoil something, so just going to say that I thought this was very interesting. 

This horror got me to like a lot of the characters so I knew someone was going to die that I didn't want to die, and at the end I was really on edge. I really liked all the characters a lot. They were interesting.

4 stars

Waiting on Wednesday #1

 

I haven't done this kind of post since changing blogs so thought I would start doing them again. Waiting on Wednesday has been around for a while and I know that it was taken over by Wishful Endings and called Can't wait Wednesday so will link to her.

Twelve year-old Serenity Noah has never told anyone about her recurring nightmares -- the haunting images of silver butterflies whose flapping wings drive away all sound, leaving only suffocating silence in their wake. Her parents already favor her "perfect" younger brother, Peace, and she doesn't want to be seen as the "problem" child.

Instead, Serenity's found a productive way to channel her fears: creating a horror movie as scary as her nightmares.

When Peace suddenly becomes afraid of the dark and refuses to sleep alone, their parents take him away for "treatment" on Duppy Island. Serenity has a very bad feeling about the mysterious island and the facility's creepy leader, Dr. Whisper. And when she sees a silver butterfly from her nightmares in the forbidden forest she realizes that something is seriously, dangerously awry.

But nothing could've prepared Serenity for the truth: the island is home to douens -- faceless children with backward feet who are trapped in limbo between the world of the living and the land of the dead. And unless Serenity acts soon, her brother is going to join their ranks...

A Douen!!

Love my middle grade horror and this one sounds really interesting. though I think sometimes the spooky middle grade is a bit to spooky for kids. This is what I will be picturing while reading this one!!!! A Douen  is a entity from Trinidad and Tobago folklore.

 It comes out June 6th from Scholastic Press.

Week in Review #32

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

Hi Everyone! The weather sure has been strange this past week. It got cold enough I had to build a fire again...blah! Hoping this coming week will be nicer.

How is April already ending!!!

Not a lot worth noting happened this week. I did watch some more movies, I like Killer Animal movies so watched The Bees and Kiss of the Tarancula both from the 70s, the spider one was better than the bees...lol.

Have a great day and happy reading!

What you might have missed on my blog

Review of Heart of Evil

Books I have added

• It Found Us - This cover is super creepy for a middle grade horror book, but I do love this author!
• Escape From Grimestone Manor - Looked like a fun light spooky middle grade.
• Murder at Merton Library - Can't wait to get to this one! I love this historical mystery series!
• The Camp - Sounded like a fun slasher campfire story.

Books read last week

• Discovery of Witches - Fantastic reread, love the All Souls Trilogy.
• Gone Missing - Another good read from the Kate Burkholder series.
• Thin Ice - This is a little grittier of a cozy mystery and enjoyable. Set in Alaska!
• Daughter Unto Devils - So boring!!!!
• A Killer Carol - Loved this one and so sad it's the last in the series but I finished a series. :)
• Freddie McFright's Chilling Night - This was a cute short middle grade book

Currently reading

• The Nightmare Man - This one has been decent so far. I am about 50% into it.
• Who Was Daniel Boone - My kind of biographies! Short and to the point for Middle Graders...lol. I will finish this one tonight.

What might be up next

A Few books that are on my radar for the first one May! :)

How was your week? What did you get?

Two Bloggers, One Series ~ Heart of Evil (Krewe of Hunters #2)

 So last year I got Barb to try book one in the Krewe of Hunters series (Phantom Evil) and she really enjoyed it so even though I am currently on book 17, I told her I would go back and reread the books with her and so that is what we are doing. I really like this series! Go see what Barb thinks of it so far! 

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Emerging from the bayou like an apparition, Donegal Plantation is known for its unsurpassed dining, captivating atmosphere, haunting legends and now a corpse swinging from the marble angel that marks its cemetery's most majestic vault. A corpse discovered in nearly the same situation as that of Marshall Donegal, the patriarch killed in a skirmish just before the Civil War.

Desperate for help traditional criminologists could never provide, plantation heiress Ashley Donegal turns to an elite team of paranormal investigators who blend hard forensics with rare & often inexplicable intuition. Among the Krewe of Hunters is an old flame, Jake Mallory, a gifted musician with talent stretching far beyond the realm of the physical, and a few dark ghosts of his own.

The evil the team unveils has the power to shake the plantation to its very core. Jake and Ashley are forced to risk everything to unravel secrets that will not stay buried even in death.

This one starts out with a Civil War reenactment that ends in a murder. One on the Yankee's side was not able to play in the reenactment, so they asked Charles from the Southern side to go and play a Yankee and well he wasn't happy about it and whined. So another guy spoke up and said that he would do it and that Charles could play Marshall Donegal and well that probably saved the one guys life but it was death for poor Charles.

When Charles goes missing Ashley Donegal is really worried something bad has happened, like she just knows, but they look all over and can't find him. Her grandfather who knows Harrison (founder of the Krewe) gives him a call and in come the Krewe of Hunters. The krewe is a special team of investigator with some slightly different skills, most of them have some sort of paranormal specialty, whether it's seeing ghost, hearing them, communitcating with them, etc. But they are all law enforcement and are still there to look for the evil in men not really thinking it's a ghost.

One of those team members is Jake who is the first on the scene because he has ties to the Donagals, he is Ashley's ex and can see ghost which is the one thing that ruined their relationship. Now though Ashley is seeing the ghost of her ancestor who is trying to help her out and now she is seeing Jake in a different light. 

When they find Charles body the way it was and then someone else turns up missing then dead and found in the swamps with the gators they are in a hurry to find out who is behind these because it sure isn't a ghost and someone may be after some revenge on the Donagals putting Ashley in danger. 
So I first read this one in 2016 and I will say that though I could recall a few things as reading this I couldn't remember much and enjoyed my second read. I know this series is very formulaic and not for everyone but for me it's just a paranormal comfort read and I haven't disliked one yet...lol. 

I love all those involved in the Krewe, Jackson is still my favorite (Phantom Evil), but I liked Jake. I did find it interesting that Ashley had to see a ghost for herself to help her see that Jake meant nothing bad when he told her what he did when they were together. I loved the ghost of Marshall Donagal he was a hoot!

So I love this series but can see how it would be hit or miss with some, so if you like paranormal romances give it a try and see where you fall.

4 stars

Week in Review #31

The Week in Review is where I combine Stacking the Shelves, The Sunday Post and It's Monday! What are you reading?  If you have never joined in on these meme's you can check them out by clicking on the meme and it will take you to the host blog.

This past week most of my spare time has been used cleaning out a part of our house that seemed to be the catch all for all things. It's an open area room upstairs next to my room that has never been completely fixed (We built our own house and this section sort of just got forgotten) and I want to make it into a library so been cleaning it out slowly since it wreaks havoc on my back.

I needed a Discovery of Witches TV series fix so subscribed to Shudder for a few months so I can watch it. It's probably more of a Matthew Goode fix...lol. :) That is pretty much the only thing I have watched of interest this past week.

Oh and I think Spring is confused because we had a Frost Warning last night and it was 32....burr!

Have a great week and happy reading!

What you might have missed on my blog

Review of The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency

Review of The Grand Sophy

Books I have added

• Murder in the Scottish Hills - I enjoyed The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency and so when I seen another one was coming out next month I had to grab it. :)

Books read last week

• Let's Get Invisible - It's the 6th book in the Goosebump series and I thought it was okay.
• The Grand Sophy - It was okay, Sophy was fun but didn't feel like much of a romance book.
• Breaking Silence - Very dark Amish books, so not cozy...lol. Really like this series though! Kate Burkholder use to be Amish but left and now she is a police chief.
• Spy Camp Graphic Novel - Enjoying my second time reading this series but though Graphic novel form.
• The Five - This was okay, makes me want to read a Ripper book now though. 
• I Want My Hat Back - Cute picture book, read it for Picture This Readathon.
• I Will Chomp You! - Another cute picture book.
• The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency - I enjoyed this one but thought the first part was a bit slow. 

Currently reading

• A Discovery of Witches - I need to speed up my read so I am done by the end of the month but really enjoying my reread.
• Gone Missing -The Fourth book in the Kate Burkholder. Just started this one on chapter 4.
• Cover Her Face - Almost finished, it's okay.
• Gustav Gloom - Just starting this one.
• The World of All Souls - This is interesting, kind of a fictional behind the scenes look at the world of All Souls, like you get all the charcters broken down, more about the world and all that good stuff.

What might be up next

How was your week? What did you get?

Review of The Grand Sophy

 Recieved a copy from Netgalley and the publisher for a fair and honest review.

When the redoubtable Sir Horace Stanton-Lacy is ordered to South America on business, he leaves his only daughter Sophy with his sister, Lady Ombersley, in Berkeley Square. But Sophy's cousins are in a sad state, and she's arrived just in time to save them all. But she hadn't reckoned with Charles Rivenhall, the Ombersleys' heir, who is very unappreciative of her efforts.

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I think I have only read one other book by this author and it was a long time ago, but I was curious about this one when I seen it on Netgalley so grabbed it. 

I had to remind myself while I was reading this that it was written a long time ago when romances were written differently because this really didn't feel like a romance. I know it was I believe suppose to be mainly about Sophy, hense the title, but it was hard to believe in the conclusion.

Since Sir Horace was going to be gone to South America he asked his sister if it was okay to leave Sophy with her. It's funny because she is a grown woman but yet couldn't stay by herself, but such was the times. Anyway, Sophy is not your normal lady, I mean she comes bearing monkey as a gift for the kids!

When Sophy arrives she pretty much takes over things in a grand way. She was raised differently and is really one to put plans together to push people in the right way and this doesn't go very well with Charles Rivenhall, the heir and person in charge of the household. 

He doesn't like Sophy's interferences with how he is dealing with his sister and many other things. It was really hard to believe that in the end he falls for Sophy.

Although I will say I think I know pretty much the time he started to think a little differently about Sophy, but still he was pretty gruff about things right up till the things that happen at the end making this hard for me to believe in the romance. 

That aside I really liked Sophy and she made me laugh a lot, she was spunky, and brave and really turned the household upside down. So overall, I thought this was an okay read and would try more from this author.

3.5 stars

eARC Review of The Scottish Ladies Detective Agency

 

I was given this book by Netgalley and the Publisher for a fair and honest review.

When Maud McIntyre sets up her own private detective agency, she never imagines her first case will involve murder… A mystery in the Highlands? The Scottish Ladies’ Detective Agency is on the case!

Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid, Daisy, form a detective agency, they never dream their first case will take place at a glamorous house in the Scottish Highlands. But when the Duchess of Duddingston, concerned that a notorious jewellery thief will target her lavish weekend party, employs Maud to go undercover as a guest to find the culprit, the agency has its first case to solve…

Undercover with Daisy as her maid, Maud follows a trail of clues across the Duddingston House estate. And as she meets the weekend guests, she hopes one of them will reveal themselves as the jewellery thief. But when one of the house guests is discovered dead, Maud and Daisy realise they’re not only hunting precious gems, but a murderer…

As Maud and Daisy investigate, they realise that a connection in Edinburgh might hold a vital clue that will help them solve the case. Travelling back to the city, Maud hopes that what she and Daisy uncover will help them piece together the murder mystery at Duddingston House…

But when Maud receives a telephone call from the Duchess requesting urgent assistance, she realises that the murderer didn’t have just one victim in mind. Speeding down the drive to Duddingston House, Maud and Daisy hear gunshots ring out across the estate. Will they reach the Duchess in time to save her? And will they catch the murderer in the act?

So in this start to a new series Maud and her former maid decide they are going to be private detectives. They solved a case earlier and think that makes them qualified to do the work and have opened a place, but their first would be client thought they were men and didn't want to hire them, then they get lucky when a Duchess walks in also looking for a man, but thinks it's interesting that it's two females and decides to hire them.

There has been a lot of recent jewelry thefts and the Dutchess in throwing a party and doesn't want anything to happen to any of her guess things, so Maud and Daisy go undercover to see if they can figure out who might  be the person stealing things before it happens and if not catch the person whodonit, but they get a murder as well as a theft. 

Everyone's a suspect so it's a hard case for thier first official case and everything is riding on getting things right. The guest are all wealthy or at least have the appearance of wealth so why would they need to steal jewelry? 

This is just one of the cases the ladies have as they are also hired to find a dog, a missing person and some scadalous letters. 

I thought this was a decent start to a series even though it took longer than I would like for the murder to happen when I am reading a cozy mystery. I also thought it had a lot of things happening with all the different cases they were working on at the same time.

It's set during the time when Scotland was having their sufferage movement and at times I thought there was a little to much additude with the two main characters. I get the time period but for me it was a bit much, others will like it more than me. It's my only real gripe and it's my opinion. 

I like how it wrapped up and how certain things came together and was satified with who the killer was and how it was solved. It was a decent mystery.

I will be looking forward to the next one in this series.

4 Stars