The nitty-gritty: Gritty action, a unique narrator and lots of humor make this an absurdly fun-to-read novella. Absolute Unit was a fun, fast-paced mashup of horror, sci-fi and gritty thriller, and I had a blast reading it. Bill is an out of shape, overweight health inspector who makes money on the side collecting payoffs for […]
The nitty-gritty: Grady Hendrix takes a stab at the slasher movie trope and gives readers a high stakes, fast paced thriller with lots of clever movie references and some very resourceful final girls. “O NO—I’m being stalked by an unusually slow killer armed with a ridiculously impractical weapon. Eek! It’s a boat hook! A machete! […]
The nitty-gritty: A delightful fantasy/mystery and a loveable main character make this a must read for fans of The Goblin Emperor. I’ll start this review by confessing that I have not read The Goblin Emperor, and after reading The Witness for the Dead, I think it’s perfectly fine to dive straight into this sequel first. […]
The nitty-gritty: Blood magic, spirit guides and powerful magic infuse this short and lively tale. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s latest is a very short but well crafted novella about a sorceress who is seeking revenge on the sorcerer who stole her power. You’ll only need an hour or two to read this, but it’s well worth the […]
The nitty-gritty: A strange and magical reimagining of The Great Gatsby, The Chosen and the Beautiful is full of spellbinding imagery and glorious prose. He drew the invitation from his jacket, and I turned it over in my hands. It was good paper, deep red as if dipped in blood, with gold lettering sunk into […]
The nitty-gritty: Come for the thrilling mecha battles, stay for the cute romance! Hard Reboot was a lot of fun! You might expect from looking at the cover that the story is chock full of mecha fighting goodness—and you would be partially right. But there is a lot more to this little story, and the […]
The nitty-gritty: Tim Pratt brings his readers three stories that focus on the side characters from his Axiom series, and while I enjoyed the stories overall, I really loved the last one in particular. Tim Pratt mentions in his forward to The Alien Stars that he wanted to revisit some of his favorite characters from […]
The nitty-gritty: Henry’s latest is a fast-paced suspense story with some very dark elements. I had a lot of fun with this book! After having some issues with Christina Henry’s The Ghost Tree, I was a little worried going into Near the Bone. But it ended up working a lot better for me, I think […]
The nitty gritty: Dark and atmospheric, All the Murmuring Bones is an intriguing blend of fairy tale and mystery. Love is a barbed hook and family the line to which it is tied. It digs deep, and sometimes trying to remove it entirely does more damage than simply leaving the obstruction beneath the skin for […]
The nitty-gritty: A strange, sad, claustrophobic tale, with unexpected moments of beauty and hope. I can honestly say I’ve never read anything quite like We Shall Sing a Song Into the Deep. This is a dark, atmospheric tale—verging on oppressive—that weaves together several unusual elements: a submarine called the Leviathan commanded by a religious zealot […]