Book Nook Club: vampires

Showing posts with label vampires. Show all posts

December 15, 2011

Hot Jazz & Cold Bodies in NOLA by John R McCormick

Monty Rake just got a transfer from the Baton Rouge police department to the New Orleans Special Investigations Unit. But it wasn't until he arrived that he learned just what the SI Unit did... keep the city of New Orleans safe from abominations of all kinds.

The small SI Unit consists of only 5 people... 6 now that Monty joined their team. They tend to see a quick turn around, since their job is rather deadly. But so far, no one's had Monty's skills, brains or balls to fight against these monsters. Vampires, werewolves (and other were-animals), and demons are just a few of the abominations that Monty faces, and befriends.

When the Unit takes a rogue vampire captive, in an effort to clean up the city of a particularly dirty coven of vampires, Monty also finds himself taking on a secret assignment. Monty and the captive vampire, Darius, take a liking to one another and decide to cautiously share information. Their unlikely friendship causes unexpected consequences and is one hell of a ride!

If you love fantasy books... vampires and the like... but are tired of the predictable, try this book. It is ANYTHING but predictable. This book is from a completely different perspective... the cops... the hunters... the guardians. This book was fast paced and exciting throughout. It was funny, sarcastic, nerve wrecking, dangerous and even sexy (without being gross). The writing is really great and moves along nicely. My only complaint was that it wrapped up a little too quickly. As I read it on my kindle, I kept clicking the next page to see what else would happen... but when I looked down, I saw I was at 100%. I didn't want it to be over! That's a good sign.

5 Stars
post signature

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

September 15, 2011

All You Can Eat by Richard Harlan Miller

Darius is a distinguished gentleman. He enjoys the finer things in life, like the opera and a robust glass of wine. He is a member of the online dating network, He@rt, but not for the purpose of meeting his next love... more like meeting his next lunch. Darius is a vampire.

Through He@rt, Darius meets Susan and is instantly attracted to her persona. She is snappy and smart, not like the usual ladies he "dates". He realizes that there is a true connection made with her.

Luke, an old time vampire friend, comes into town and Darius finds himself babysitting him yet again. Over the course of their years as friends, Luke has gotten them into plenty of trouble, and Darius sees him more as a nuisance than a true comrade. Luke hears of an upcoming party and is determined to get Darius to go along.

The party is an ongoing gathering of today's "hippies" or "greenies". All these modern day flower children getting together, strumming their guitars, tapping bongos, sleeping in tents and smoking a whole lot of pot. This would be the perfect opportunity to have a little fun and feed freely. The pair find themselves in a spot of trouble when they find out that old vampire Dimitri is behind the feeding frenzy... creating a sort of harvest. Now not only are Darius and Luke in trouble, but so is Susan!

In all honesty, I didn't love this book. I felt it to be confusing at times and didn't begin to move until half way through. I didn't even realize that Darius and Dimitri were 2 different characters for a while... they sounded similar. The character voices were not well defined and I had to keep retracing dialogue to figure out who said what. I though Darius' character had a few personalities... at times he was serious, sometimes annoyed, but then for a while he's really silly and witty. Although it was funny, it seemed out of character. However, even with the negative, the prose was beautiful.

2 stars.

I received this e-book free of charge for the purpose of this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

May 22, 2011

Women and Other Monsters

Enter into the twisted mind of writer Bernard Schaffer in his collection of short stories, Women and Other Monsters. The collection consists of 5 short stories that are each different, dark and deserving to be read. Each story is written with lots of character and beautiful descriptions. You actually feel like you're there; you can hear the voices, feel the temperature in the room even. And yet, that is all that connects these stories, as they are each unique from one another.

1. The Reluctant Death: This is the first short story in the collection. It is placed pre-civil war, on a plantation farm. Folklore, mysticism and darkness rule here, but there is still a hidden gentleness that emerges. I found this one to be beautiful and mysterious.

2. Codename: Omega: This story was wild, adrenaline pumping and tricky. An American soldier is killed in action during World War 1... only, he's not really dead. He's a superhuman who becomes a secret agent, bent on kicking some serious Nazi tail. Basically, if you liked Quentin Tarantino's, Inglorious Basterds, you'll enjoy this too!

3. Room Service: This story will make you laugh out loud and root for the underdog (for a change). With all these good-guy-vampire books out now, it's refreshing to read the opposite. When Rob's stripper girlfriend goes missing after a "home call", he decides to investigates and doesn't like what he finds. Having nothing to lose, he decides to take his revenge. This story was my personal favorite... good fun.

4. Cold Comforts: A married couple struggles to find intimacy with one another after the death of their unborn child. While she searches for answers at any cost, he finds comfort with another. This story made me do a double take... how twisted can you get, Mr. Schaffer? ;)

5. Nazareth: This story is written very well. It unravels slowly and has a shock factor that will make you want to re-read it. Two alien researchers are studying Earth and the human life form. They discover DNA and decide to change all of humanity with one simple act. Although this story will take you by surprise, you will also find yourself taken by Schaffer's cleverness and satirical humor.

So if you like folklore, history, war, vampires, family dramas or sci-fi, this is the book for you! There really is something for everyone!

Overall, this collection is great. You will peel through it, just to see if the next one can possibly be better than the last. And, as I said before, since they are so vastly different from one another, it's hard to compare. The only thing that was not in my taste, was that once he gave you the shock factor, the story ended. There was no wind-down or conclusion... just an open end for your own imagination to conclude. Like at the end of a great movie, when you go, "WHHHAAAT?!" (Inception, anyone?). Other than that, it was flawless.

5 stars

*This book is currently only available in e-book format*

I was given a free copy of this book to review. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

November 2, 2009

A Twilight Review by a Non-Twilighter

I know that I might be stepping into something here. Still, I read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer for the first time and can't help but share my thoughts.

First, I have to admit my bias. I knew that I'd likely not like this book since I don't like vampire-books/movies/shows and I don't like (cheesy) romance, either. Perhaps it's like hypnotism...you can't fall to it if you don't believe in it.

Still, I didn't fall under Twilight's spell, which is what everyone said would happen if I just took the time to read it. Though the book moved along at a decent pace and I didn't dislike reading it, I didn't find it to be anything special. Like I told a friend, I feel like Meyer's writing is about on the level of mine...nothing spectacular. Though I want to try my hand at writing fiction, I believe that at heart I'm more of a reader. Meyer might be the same way. Her writing was adequate, but nothing literary...there were no sentences that evoked anything within me (except for a gag a couple of times, but that's more an issue of plot), no evidence of the laboring until she found the just-right word.

So, I now can say what I've thought all along. I see nothing wrong with reading the Twilight series, but to those who read them I want to be perfectly clear:

There are better things out there.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

August 25, 2009

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

I admit it. I read the Twilight series, all of them, in about a week because I was hopelessly addicted. I wanted to hate them because my 12 year female students were absolutely obsessed and I was convinced that my literary tastes were far more evolved and there would be no way I could even get into such juvenile writing. Well, lo and behold. I read them and enjoyed them.

Let's be clear. Dead Until Dark is nothing like Twilight. Sure, there are vampires in both, but that's right about where the similarities end. I picked up the first of this series based solely on the fact that I became hopelessly addicted to the HBO series "True Blood," which is based on Harris's series. This is probably the first time I will actually say that I preferred the TV version.

Dead Until Dark is about Louisiana waitress Sookie Stackhouse, a quirky, likeable woman who has a "disability:" she can read minds. Along comes Bill Compton, a vampire who takes a certain liking to Sookie and who she is immediately drawn to because his mind is, for one reason or another, closed to her. The first book in the series deals with the initial stages of their romantic relationship and the mystery of who is murdering the women of the small town of Bon Temps who are known to be "fang-bangers."

I enjoyed reading this book, as one might shamelessly enjoy an Arbor Mist while everyone else is drinking Pinot Noir. The writing is far from literary genius, the dialogue can be a bit goofy, and the plot takes some strange jumps at times, but it's a good fluff book if you're looking to be entertained. I will probably continue with reading the rest of the series simply because I had to cancel my HBO to bring my cable bill down, but I'll still rent True Blood when it comes out on DVD to get the racier, edgier version of this story.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

June 22, 2009

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Another vampire book, but of a much different breed. The Historian follows three generations of a family of historians that research Vlad Tepes, or Dracula, as a matter of academics. But they do such a good job that they attract the attention of a sinister force that they must both search for and avoid in order to save themselves.

Anyone that is interested in History will love this book, vampires aside. Kostova's characters roam Cold War era Europe digging through archives and visiting many of History's treasures, like the Hagia Sofia. Yet this is no National Treasure, thank goodness. It was written for people of scholarly leanings rather than for mass appeal, and therefore does not insult the reader's intelligence.

As far as vampires, this book takes the more classic garlic and crucifix approach and doesn't attempt to rewrite myth or history. The downside of that is that there's not much there to surprise anyone. Audiences are more and more difficult to shock, myself included. Kostova seems to have been aware of that, and so relies on the reader's interest in the cobwebs of History rather than a the visceral thrills of violence and blood. Although there's a bit of that too. Somehow it was enough at times to keep me up at night with a racing pulse.

Overall this was an intriguing -and very long- read. I recommend it to anyone interested in History or in the manifestations of myth and legend.

Widget by Css Reflex | TutZone

December 15, 2011

Hot Jazz & Cold Bodies in NOLA by John R McCormick

September 15, 2011

All You Can Eat by Richard Harlan Miller

May 22, 2011

Women and Other Monsters

November 2, 2009

A Twilight Review by a Non-Twilighter

August 25, 2009

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

June 22, 2009

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Book Reviews

Find a Book Review

Followers

Categories

Grab our Button!