The nitty-gritty: A touch of romance blended with a magical tale of witches and wine, The Vine Witch was a pleasant surprise. October is the perfect month for stories about witches, and The Vine Witch is an atmospheric tale that, while very light on spooky elements, offers plenty of magic and witchy folklore. I don’t […]
The nitty-gritty: Odd and unsettling, Michael Wehunt’s stories are glimpses into Twilight Zone-like worlds where horror is just another everyday occurrence. Michael Wehunt is a new-to-me author, but cruising around blogs and social media sites over the years, I kept seeing his name pop up. When Lesley Conner at Apex Books invited me to participate […]
The nitty-gritty: Weird, shocking, bloody and did I mention weird? Reading Gideon the Ninth was an experience. Gideon the Ninth was weird. I can honestly say I’ve never read anything quite like Tamsyn Muir’s debut, so if you’re looking for that elusive, completely original story, then Gideon might just be the book for you. And […]
The nitty-gritty: Mexican mythology mixed with a 1920s vibe makes this a stand-out fairy tale. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Certain Dark Things is still one of my favorite books, and it’s always exciting when she releases something new. Somehow I completely missed her last book, but I was determined to read her latest, not only because of […]
The nitty-gritty: Exciting action and relatable characters make this futuristic look at corporate greed a ton of fun from start to finish. I got to meet Rob Hart at San Diego Comic Con, which made me even more excited to read his book. Rob put a cool stamp each attendee’s ARC and filled in their […]
The nitty-gritty: Another strange and bloody tale, part horror, part sci-fi, and one hundred percent WTF. The first book in the series, The Murders of Molly Southbourne, was a bloody, violent surprise of a story, a horror tale steeped in mystery where the reader is in the dark about what’s going on for quite a […]
The nitty-gritty: Thought provoking, emotionally satisfying and unforgettable, Craig Davidson has written a coming-of-age story that delivers on multiple levels. How can that comet burn as it does, pursue the trajectory it does? It confuses you, because the comet disguises itself as a human girl. But make no mistake, the girl contains fire to evaporate […]
The nitty-gritty: Ambitious in scope, with thrilling action and plenty of surprises along the way, Velocity Weapon was a blast from start to finish. Well that was fun! I started Velocity Weapon not knowing much about it, but it didn’t take long to realize that Megan E. O’Keefe has some serious writing chops. The story […]
The nitty-gritty: Full of strange magic, secrets and lies, a compelling mystery and some emotional soul searching, Magic For Liars was a surprise in more ways than one. Magic For Liars was not the book I was expecting it to be, and I finished reading it with the feeling that it was exactly the book […]
The nitty-gritty: A short, well written tale with a dream-like quality that gives readers plenty to think about. This was such an odd little story, but I enjoyed it a lot. Vylar Kaftan has written a twisty, hallucinogenic tale about mental health and inner strength that didn’t go where I was expecting it to go—at […]