Robert’s Reads
Obviously I’d prefer you bought my books than anyone elses 😉 but this page lists books I’ve read that you might also like. Click the + sign to open each one, and read the blurb provided by the author plus a short note giving my thoughts.
Enjoy…
The blurb: Marble Springs is a town with a hundred missing persons cases, a lake harboring a blood-thirsty monster, and a second-generation serial killer on the loose. When undervalued city employee Abe Barret begins to see the dead, he discovers the loss of his family is linked to these unsolved disappearances, and he only has days to solve it before his time is up. There are a lot of ways you can go in Marble Springs, and none of them are pleasant. Welcome to the City of the Dead. My Thoughts: Elford Alley has a unique voice. I don't think you'll read anything else quite like this. Kind of a snarky, humorous, ghost horror mystery story. It's full of characters whose failings may have been exaggerated for comic effect but nevertheless reflects how different people react when life throws them a curve ball (or several curve balls). I thought it was a lot of fun. The blurb: The forces of evil are poised to prey on the folk of the hamlets and hollows: witches, demons, and red-handed men—but first they'll have to overcome Old Nathan the Wizard. He doesn't claim much for his magical powers, but they're real enough for what they are—and besides, he hasn't forgotten how to use his long flintlock rifle .... Enter the gritty, realistic world of Old Nathan, a backwoodsman who talks to animals and says he'll face The Devil himself - and who in the end will have to face The Devil in very fact. My Thoughts: A strange book. I've never read anything quite like it. Some of the language is a bit odd but it adds to the rich 'folksy' atmosphere. Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and recommend it if you’re looking for something a little different. The blurb: Set around the turn of the 20th century, A Moonlit Path of Madness traces Grace’s journey from the United States to the distant parish of Newport on the West Wales coast. Partly epistolary and laced with Welsh folklore, this tragic gothic tale delves into the prevalent mental health challenges of the era in the face of unrelenting fear and all-consuming trauma, as Grace reckons with the insidious specter of her lingering grief. My Thoughts: Catherine writes with her usual atmospheric touch. It's a gothic tale that's gentle yet spooky. A proper ghost story full of twists, and dark revelations. Superb. The blurb: My Thoughts: The name of the lead character first attracted me. Hideous Lee. If the author could be that creative with such a simple element then it had to be worth a read. I wasn't disappointed. Face-paced, plenty of action, snarky, with a good mix of believeable characters, plus a couple of smart twists to keep things interesting. A quick read that delivered full-on entertainment throughout. Get you some of that. The blurb: My Thoughts: Fast-paced, action-packed look at a dystopian future. Well written quick read. The blurb: But there’s a problem: Janet’s prized ginger tom, Bucky, has gone missing, flown the coop. As Janet and her deranged ex-con husband Klein intensify their search for the hulking mongrel, Betty Davis, an old woman clinging to survival on the outskirts of Juniper, discovers something large and ginger and lying half-dead by the side of the road. She decides to take it home… My Thoughts: Excellent. Dark, gritty, oppressive, and all those other lovely horror things. Great characters, well realised. Give it a read. You definitely won't regret it. Well, unless you're of a delicate disposition 😉 This is now part of a trilogy, and I've read and enjoyed them all but this remains my favorite. Get the ebook for just $3.21 – Paperback, hardback and audiobook also available. The blurb: A ceramic artist by trade and influenced by her late grandmother’s interest in supernatural magic, Elinor crafts an immortelle for Rowena’s grave and attempts to capture the girl’s spirit in the clay model of a starling. Soon she is inundated with requests for immortelles and the more immersed in the craft she becomes, the greater her powers grow. As the dead share their secrets with grieving Elinor, she learns the sordid truth of what happened to her beloved daughter and plots a revenge so hideous, it must be kept a secret forever. My Thoughts: What a delightfully absorbing, and atmospheric read. Some beautifully picturesque phrasing, while maintaining an air of darkness and foreboding. Bloody excellent.
Apartment 239 - by Elford Alley
Monsters. Mayhem. Minimum Wage.
Old Nathan - by David Drake
Five years after the American revolution magic is loose in the backwoods.
A Moonlit Path of Madness - by Catherine McCarthy
Inheriting a family heirloom in the form of an antique clock with a broken moon dial as well as a seaside house in Wales, Grace Morgan mourns the loss of her mother and dreads the manifestation of a family curse that threatens to lay claim to her and everything she holds dear.
Foul Play in Fairplay - by Wolff McNamara
Hideous Lee's cross country road trip takes a detour when he steps in to protect a stranger from a violent punk.
Below Economic Thresholds - by Adam Hulse
A near future. Demons stalk the desolate slums created by civil war.
The Agency hire working class survivors to act as pest control for this new threat.
It's a dangerous job but it sure beats starving to death!
Kurt robotically kills for rations until his eyes are opened to what The Agency is really trying to achieve.
Old wounds are reopened as trauma and class struggles are explored.
When are you going to fight back?
Juniper - by Ross Jeffrey
A post-apocalyptic horror about an insane American town seemingly at the edge of reality. As Juniper suffers from scorching drought and medieval famine, the townsfolk are forced to rely on the ‘new cattle’ for food: monstrous interbred cats kept by the oppressed Janet Lehey.
Immortelle - by Catherine McCarthy
When Elinor’s daughter, Rowena, is found poisoned and dead in an animal trough, Elinor is sure the local parish priest is to blame.
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