Name the last three books you have read...

Tamstrong · Jan 3, 2024

The Red Empress is the only home Erzelle has known since the day her family was lured aboard and murdered, victims of a grisly ritual meant to make the elite immortal. Erzelle plays her harp for the diners inside this ghoul-infested riverboat, knowing her own death looms, escaping through the music that’s all she has left of her parents. Her nightmare’s upended in the space of a day by the arrival of Olyssa, a fellow musician, but so much more. Erzelle is swept up in Olyssa’s quest to find her ensorcelled sister Lilla, a journey across a mutated landscape that leads them to an enemy responsible for the deaths of millions. To stop the slaughter of countless more, the pair has no choice but to draw on the deadly magics that reshaped the world ... a power that’s as dangerous to its wielders as it is to its foes, one that’s killing Erzelle even as she fights to control it.
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Pretty good.

John has given up his ordinary life to find wisdom traveling the country and enjoy the freedom of living as a nomad. But when he stumbles across a mysterious town tucked away in the Appalachian Mountains, walled off from modern society, he discovers a group of people who could use some freedom of their own. Are they a harmless religious sect, or is there something malignant beneath the surface?
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I enjoyed it, but I felt like there was more story potential that wasn't put to use.

On a chilly November afternoon in 1998, a tearful 36-year-old man walked into the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department in Eureka, California, and confessed to something horrible. “I hurt some people,” he said. Inside his pocket was the ghastly proof of his statement. But there was more to Wayne Adam Ford than the trail of mangled victims he left behind. More, even, than the twisted predator inside, which drove him to increasingly perverse sexual appetites.

Pulitzer Prize–nominated author Caitlin Rother draws on previously sealed testimony, interviews with the key players in the case, and the killer’s shocking confession to explore the demons that drove a damaged man to his unspeakable crimes. Her book is a harrowing psychological portrait and a haunting, unforgettable true-life thriller.
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Worth the read if you're into true crime books.

In The Underworld, Kevin Canty tells a story inspired by the facts of a disastrous fire that took place in an isolated silver mining town in Idaho in the 1970s, in which almost everyone in town lost a friend, a lover, a brother, or a husband. The Underworld imagines the fates of a handful of fictional survivors and their loved ones?Jordan, a young widow with twin children; David, a college student trying to make a life for himself in another town; Lionel, a lifelong hard-rock miner?as they struggle to come to terms with the loss. It’s a tough, hard-working, hard-drinking town, a town of whores and priests and bar fights, but nobody’s tough enough to get through this undamaged. A powerful and unforgettable tale about small-town lives and the healing power of love in the midst of suffering.
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Not bad.

Frank Rodriguez, a much-loved counselor of troubled teens, lies dead on the bedroom floor. His wife and step-daughter are in shock, and so is the medical examiner when he performs the autopsy. Aside from being dead, Frank is in perfect health. Demanding to know the cause of her husband’s death, Angie Rodriguez badgers the police, insisting that Frank was murdered. The cops attribute her assertions to overwhelming grief, but soon they too believe that Frank didn’t die of natural causes. When the police enlist their number one suspect to help in the investigation, things spiral out of control until police are dealing with a daring plot to murder Angie’s best friend, and allegations of another homicide so evil and perverse that even seasoned L.A County Detectives are shocked beyond belief ... and so will the readers!
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Another interesting read for true crime fans.

Once upon a time, there was a toy store filled with magical playthings and fantastical stories. But not anymore. That was a long time ago.

When Marie arrived, the place was cobwebs and empty shelves. Little dry pellets covered the floor. Aunt Rinks called them dirt balls. They weren’t dirt balls.

The place didn’t feel like Christmas. Nothing did anymore. What Marie wanted, she couldn’t possibly have. A leaky air mattress and a self-absorbed aunt was all she got. But Christmas wasn’t about what you wanted; it was about what you needed. Godfather told her that. That was when he told her the tale of the nutcracker.

“You must find the princess,” he told Marie. “She’s been waiting for you.”

It was a story, nothing more. Marie didn’t believe in fairy tales or Christmas spirit anymore. Certainly didn’t believe in a wooden soldier and a cursed princess who needed saving. Until she discovered the gift.

Marie and her brother, Fritz, find a small box hidden in the old toy store. When they open it, the real journey begins. Marie discovers the nutcracker is more than just a silly toy. The princess isn’t a metaphor. The nutcracker shows Marie a truth hidden inside her.

They’ll have to hurry to save the princess. When Aunt Rinks finds the gift, she aims to take everything they’ve discovered for herself, to leave Marie and Fritz with nothing and the princess still cursed. The journey, however, isn’t a game. It will reveal Marie’s true nature.

What happens next is not what anyone wanted for Christmas.
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As usual, this author doesn't disappoint. Another great addition to the series.

Tamstrong · Jan 8, 2024

I am where dead children go.

Okiku is a lonely soul. She has wandered the world for centuries, freeing the spirits of the murdered-dead. Once a victim herself, she now takes the lives of killers with the vengeance they're due. But releasing innocent ghosts from their ethereal tethers does not bring Okiku peace. Still she drifts on.

Such is her existence, until she meets Tark. Evil writhes beneath the moody teen's skin, trapped by a series of intricate tattoos. While his neighbors fear him, Okiku knows the boy is not a monster. Tark needs to be freed from the malevolence that clings to him. There's just one problem: if the demon dies, so does its host.
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The darkness will find you.

Seventeen-year-old Tark knows what it is to be powerless. But Okiku changed that. A restless spirit who ended life as a victim and started death as an avenger, she's groomed Tark to destroy the wicked. But when darkness pulls them deep into Aokigahara, known as Japan's suicide forest, Okiku's justice becomes blurred, and Tark is the one who will pay the price…
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Enjoyable 2 book series.

Deep in a dark, snow-covered cemetery, a terrifying, moaning apparition rises from the same grave night after night. Even the most hardened caretakers won t go near the Spooner gravestone on their midnight rounds. Only one ghost hunter has the will to face the unknown, but at what price? In the chilling blackness, only Jessica Backman is prepared to answer the spectral cry from beyond when the graveyard speaks.
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Yawn. This barely qualifies as a short story IMO. It's like the author wrote a few chapters of a novel, got bored, and decided to end it before going anywhere with it.

Tamstrong · Feb 20, 2024

The unforgettable story of a young woman's odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes on her journey to redemption.
Astrid is the only child of a single mother, Ingrid, a brilliant, obsessed poet who wields her luminous beauty to intimidate and manipulate men. Astrid worships her mother and cherishes their private world full of ritual and mystery - but their idyll is shattered when Astrid's mother falls apart over a lover. Deranged by rejection, Ingrid murders the man, and is sentenced to life in prison. White Oleander is the unforgettable story of Astrid's journey through a series of foster homes and her efforts to find a place for herself in impossible circumstances. Each home is its own universe, with a new set of laws and lessons to be learned. With determination and humor, Astrid confronts the challenges of loneliness and poverty, and strives to learn who a motherless child in an indifferent world can become.
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Pretty good. It makes you think a lot about the hell foster care can be for the children whose parents who've already made their lives hell enough as it is.

Gathering of Waters is a deeply engrossing tale narrated by the town of Money, Mississippi--a site both significant and infamous in our collective story as a nation. Money is personified in this haunting story, which chronicles its troubled history following the arrival of the Hilson and Bryant families.

Tass Hilson and Emmett Till were young and in love when Emmett was brutally murdered in 1955. Anxious to escape the town, Tass marries Maximillian May and relocates to Detroit.

Forty years later, after the death of her husband, Tass returns to Money and fantasy takes flesh when Emmett Till's spirit is finally released from the dank, dark waters of the Tallahatchie River. The two lovers are reunited, bringing the story to an enchanting and profound conclusion.

Gathering of Waters mines the truth about Money, Mississippi, as well as the town's families, and threads their history over decades.
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Definitely worth the read, but hard to review. The fiction and truth are all stirred together in a way that's weird but fascinating.

Tea can raise the dead, but resurrection comes at a price...

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother, Fox, from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she's a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.

In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha—one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles…and make a powerful choice.
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Not bad but a bit too slowly paced. It's the first book in a series, so I'll have a better idea what I think after I read the rest of them.

Tamstrong · Apr 15, 2024

First they chase him through the mountains for days. Then they murder his grandfather. And just as seventeen-year-old Silas Ainsley is about to escape his nameless enemies, he is killed. This is where it should end, but Silas' journey is far from over. He wakes up and finds himself in a realm called Marenon; a place where humans are not the superior race, where magic is a way of life, and war is threatening to destroy it all.
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Not a bad trilogy. All three books were put together in the version I bought, so the pics below are the names of the different books.

Tamstrong · May 19, 2024

Famine, Death, War, and Pestilence: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the harbingers of Armageddon — these are our guides through the Wastelands... From the Book of Revelations to The Road Warrior; from A Canticle for Leibowitz to The Road, storytellers have long imagined the end of the world, weaving tales of catastrophe, chaos, and calamity. Gathering together the best post-apocalyptic literature of the last two decades from many of today’s most renowned authors of speculative fiction, including George R.R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, Orson Scott Card, Carol Emshwiller, Jonathan Lethem, Octavia E. Butler, and Stephen King, Wastelands explores the scientific, psychological, and philosophical questions of what it means to remain human in the wake of Armageddon.
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Excellent anthology. I highly recommend it. There are also two more books in the series I've added to my reading list.

Stanley and Richie, two naive teenagers, entered the woods in search of a haunted house. The pair hoped to capture evidence of the supernatural for their classmates. It was supposed to be a fun and simple weekend excursion. Unfortunately, the friendly pair were unaware of the terror lurking in the woodland – a family of savages, a family of violence. Only one of them would emerge from the woods unscathed, only one would be allowed to join the family in a shocking crime spree...

Jon Athan, author of Mr. Snuff and Butcher Road, brings you an uncompromising vision of provocative horror. Are you willing to join the family?

WARNING: This book contains scenes of graphic violence, disturbing themes, and some sexual references, including references to sexual abuse. Many of these scenes involve minors. This book is not intended for those easily offended or appalled. Please enjoy at your own discretion.
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Another story with potential, but it turned out to be a big ol' pile of meh.

This one is a snoozer, but it was free. lol

Ra · May 25, 2024

The wealthy seem to exist in a different, glittering world from the rest of us. Almost as if by . . . magic.

Stephen Oakwood is a young man on the edge of this hidden world. He has talent and potential, but turning that potential into magical power takes money, opportunity, and training. All Stephen has is a minimum wage job and a cat.

But when a chance encounter with a member of House Ashford gets him noticed by the wrong people, Stephen is thrown in the deep end. For centuries, the vast corporations and aristocratic Houses of the magical world have grown impossibly rich and influential by hoarding their knowledge. To survive, Stephen will have to take his talent and build it up into something greater—for only then can he beat them at their own game.

Vampires and humans live side by side thanks to an uneasy peace maintained by the Assembly. As an Arbiter for the powerful organization, Miles Watson is authorized to act as judge, jury, and executioner for anyone—living or undead—who breaks the law. But now Miles is up against a threat more sinister than anything he’s seen in his centuries as a vampire.

A criminal network in London is offering wealthy humans the chance to become vampires without the Assembly’s consent. When the process goes disastrously wrong, the Boss wants to eliminate any trace of the fiasco. But a rogue enforcer refuses to play along, and trouble quickly escalates out of anyone’s control.

As Miles sets off searching for the illegal vampires, he finds himself on the trail of a monstrous serial killer. The twisty investigation takes him from London’s deadly underworld to the rural backwaters of the Pacific Northwest—where an even more devious criminal enterprise threatens all of vampire-kind . . .

Known for his terrifying tales of urban fantasy, author Steve McHugh goes even deeper into the shadows with this noirish vampire thriller, which masterfully combines suspenseful plotting and intricate world-building.

Civil War tore across the Union Empire, leaving countless dead in its wake. It was a war started by one man, once beloved by the Empire. His betrayal still lingers in the memory of those who lived through it.

Decades later, his son, Felix Drake, is a Warden tasked with both protecting the ruling members of the Union Empire and its Council, and bringing those powerful and influential people to justice should they break the law.

Drake protects the very Empire his father sought to destroy.

When two members of a Council family are murdered, Drake and his team investigate, only to uncover corruption, resentment, and yet more death.
As the case deepens, Drake is forced back into a life he’d left long ago, bringing with it the same disdain and anger from the very people he’s sworn to protect.
However, he’s no longer a helpless child, and the people who try to intimidate him now are about to discover that Drake is so very much his father’s son.

All three books are Book Ones for planned ongoing book series with Benedict Jaka's Book Two of his Magic series coming in October & Steve McHugh's Atoned actually being a follow-up to his novella Blackcoat, which set up the story's universe and featured one of Atoned's supporting characters as the protagonist for that particular story. All three books were entertaining reads.

Tamstrong · Jun 1, 2024

Something sinister is happening inside the New Leaf Building.

Olivia wakes on her bedroom floor in a pool of vomit, head spinning. The power is off and her husband is missing. A vicious storm assaults the building, but it is nothing compared to the storm raging outside her apartment door. A parasite has begun invading--possessing--the residents. Transforming them into twisted, murderous versions of their former selves with one thing on their mind. To kill.

Screams echo from the darkened hallways as Olivia, desperate to find her husband, ventures unknowingly into a world of violence and mayhem. Trapped within the New Leaf’s endless corridors, she must face her fears and discover the dark, ancient secret behind the insanity. She must face the Infested.
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Aside from a few editing issues, this one was pretty entertaining. If you like horror, it's worth the read.

For two sisters, confronting the past could come at a terrible price in a riveting novel about a family tragedy—and family secrets—by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author Elle Marr.

Fiona and Violet Seng were just children when their family’s Cessna crash-landed in the Washington wilderness, claiming the lives of their parents. For twelve harrowing weeks, the girls fended for themselves before being rescued.

Twenty-five years later, they’re still trying to move on from the trauma. Fiona repurposes it into controversial works of art. Violet has battled addiction and failed relationships to finally progress toward normalcy as a writer. The estranged sisters never speak about what they call their Alone Time in the wild. They wouldn’t dare—until they become the subject of a documentary that renews public fascination with the “girl survivors” and questions their version of the events.

When disturbing details about the Seng family are exposed, a strange woman claims to know the crash was deliberate. Fiona and Violet must come together to face the horrifying truth of what happened out there and what they learned about their parents and themselves. Before any other secrets emerge from the woods.
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I found a new author I like. This was well-written and engaging, and a solid thriller/suspense novel.

What makes a psychopath? A young woman delves into her family’s shadowy legacy in a terrifying novel by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of Strangers We Know.

Psychology student Olivia Eriksen’s family is notorious among true-crime buffs. Faced with a legacy of psychopathy that spans generations, Olivia has spent much of her academic life trying to answer one chilling question: Nature or nurture?

Although she’s kept a safe distance from her blood relatives for years, Olivia agrees to attend a weekend reunion. After all, her fiancé is eager to meet his future in-laws, and the gathering may give her a chance to interview her elusive grandfather about the family traits.

But nothing is ever peaceful among the Eriksens for long. Olivia’s favorite cousin is found dead in a nearby lake. Then another family member disappears. As a violent storm isolates the group further, Olivia’s fears rise faster than the river.

And an uninvited guest is about to join the party. True-crime podcaster Birdie Tan has uncovered a disturbing mystery in her latest investigation—and she’s following it right to the Eriksens’ mountain resort. There’s a deadly twist in the family plot that even Olivia doesn’t see coming.
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Another well-written book by this author.

Tamstrong · Jun 8, 2024

In Paris, her twin sister has vanished, leaving behind three chilling words: Trust no one.

Shayna Darby is finally coming to terms with her parents’ deaths when she’s delivered another blow. The body of her estranged twin sister, Angela—the possible victim of a serial killer—has been pulled from the Seine. Putting what’s left of her life on hold, Shayna heads to Paris. But while cleaning out Angela’s apartment, Shayna makes a startling discovery: a coded message meant for her alone…

Alive. Trust no one.

Taking the warning to heart, Shayna maintains the lie. She makes a positive ID on the remains and works to find out where—and why—her missing sister is hiding. Shayna retraces her sister’s footsteps, and they lead her down into Paris’s underbelly.

As she gets closer to the truth—and to the killer—Shayna’s own life may now be in the balance…
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The search for a serial killer leads a woman into the twisted tangle of her own family tree.

Adopted when she was only days old, Ivy Hon knows little about her lineage. But when she’s stricken with a mystery illness, the results of a genetic test to identify the cause attract the FBI. According to Ivy’s DNA, she’s related to the Full Moon Killer, who has terrorized the Pacific Northwest for decades. Ivy is the FBI’s hope to stop the enigmatic predator from killing again.

When an online search connects Ivy with her younger cousin, she heads to rural Rock Island, Washington, to meet the woman. Motivated by a secret desire to unmask a murderous relative, Ivy reaches out to what’s left of a family of strangers.

Discovering her mother’s tragic fate and her father’s disappearance is just the beginning. As Ivy ventures into a serial killer’s home territory, she realizes that she may be the next victim of poisonous blood ties.
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A novel about secrets and revenge. It’s only by confronting who she was then that she can understand who she is now.

I was born in captivity…

Two decades ago Marissa Mo escaped a basement prison—the only home she’d ever known. At twenty-seven, Marissa’s moved beyond the trauma and is working under a new name as a freelance photographer. But when she accepts a job covering a string of macabre murders in Portland, it’s impossible for Marissa not to remember.

Everything is eerily familiar. The same underground lairs. Sad trinkets and toys left behind, identical to those Marissa had as a child. And then there is the note meant just for her that freezes Marissa’s blood: See you soon, Missy.

To determine the killer’s next move, Marissa must retrieve her long-forgotten memories and return to a past she’s hidden away. But she won’t be facing her fears alone. Someone is waiting for her in the dark.
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I enjoyed all three.

Tamstrong · Jun 10, 2024

In this debut thriller, a troubled child psychologist returns to a small Louisiana town to protect her secrets but winds up having to protect her life.

Dr. Willa Watters is a prominent child psychologist at the height of her career. But when a viral video of a disastrous television interview puts her reputation on the line, Willa retreats to Broken Bayou, the town where she spent most of her childhood summers. There she visits her aunts’ old house and discovers some of her unstable mother’s belongings still languishing in the attic—dusty mementos harboring secrets of her harrowing past.

Willa’s hopes for a respite are quickly crushed, not only by what she finds in that attic but also by what’s been found in the bayou.

With waters dropping due to drought, mysterious barrels containing human remains have surfaced, alongside something else from Willa’s past, something she never thought she’d see again. Divers, police, and media flood the area, including a news reporter gunning for Willa and Travis Arceneaux—a local deputy and old flame.

Willa’s fate seems eerily tied to the murders. And with no one to trust, she must use her wits to stay above water and make it out alive.
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It's well-written, a good story, and I'm looking forward to her future novels.

A tragic and riveting true crime story of teenage obsession, torture, the 1992 murder of a twelve-year-old Indiana girl, and its aftermath.

Twelve-year-old Shanda Sharer carefully selected what she would wear on her first day at Hazelwood Junior High in New Albany, Indiana. She wanted everything to be perfect. Yet two days later model student Shanda was in detention for fighting with another girl. Within a week, Shanda and tough, swaggering Amanda were best friends. Slowly, Shanda began to change, and her worried parents transferred her to another school. But the girls’ relationship didn’t end, sparking homicidal jealousy in another girlfriend. Then, one night, after a rock concert, a clique of four teenage girls did the unimaginable: they drove to Shanda’s home, lured her into their car and committed horrific crimes. Afterwards they drove to McDonald’s for breakfast.
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Worth the read for anyone into true crime.

Six naïve guests plus revenge served cold equals a recipe for disaster…

Lila Carmichael may be a rich and famous comedienne, but she’s hidden her greatest talent from her adoring fans - her ability to simmer, spice and serve a carefully constructed tour de force at a cozy reunion on her private island in the Pacific Northwest.

Six unsuspecting guests have forgotten the innocent little crimes they committed against poor, gullible Lila fifteen years ago in college. All are teetering on the brink of ruin, hoping the famous Lila will come to their rescue. But their desperation plays them right into her hand.

One by one, Lila's guests are figuratively killed off in a vicious parlor game called Wolves. And revenge turns bittersweet when the weekend is over…and one guest is dead for real.
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This one was okay. Some parts are engaging and others are downright corny.

Tamstrong · Jun 15, 2024 at 9:55 AM

That was the simple yet groundbreaking question William T. Vollmann asked in cities and villages around the globe. The result of Vollmann's fearless inquiry is a view of poverty unlike any previously offered.

Poor People struggles to confront poverty in all its hopelessness and brutality, its pride and abject fear, its fierce misery and quiet resignation, allowing the poor to explain the causes and consequences of their impoverishment in their own cultural, social, and religious terms. With intense compassion and a scrupulously unpatronizing eye, Vollmann invites his readers to recognize in our fellow human beings their full dignity, fallibility, pride, and pain, and the power of their hard-fought resilience.
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Highfalutin garbage.

It begins on the shaded town square in a sleepy Southern town. A spirited seven-year-old has a brisk business at her lemonade stand. But the little girl’s pretty yellow dress can’t quite hide the ugly scar on her chest.

Her latest customer, a bearded stranger, drains his cup and heads to his car, his mind on a boat he's restoring at a nearby lake. The stranger understands more about the scar than he wants to admit. And the beat-up bread truck careening around the corner with its radio blaring is about to change the trajectory of both their lives.

Before it's over, they'll both know there are painful reasons why crickets cry . . . and that miracles lurk around unexpected corners.
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Excellent book and beautifully touching story.

They thought it was a simple flight home. The pilot had other plans…
A moment of calm
Heading home after a conference, the senior leadership of a global corporation relax on their private jet ahead of their Christmas break.

A flash of fear
But their peace is shattered when they realise their jet isn’t taking them home. Instead, it’s heading east—out over the Atlantic Ocean.

A journey of terror
And things go from bad to worse when their pilot tells them she is going to crash into the ocean if one of them doesn’t confess to murder…
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It got off to a slow start, but overall it was a solid story.

CAkicker · Jun 15, 2024 at 5:31 PM

Tamstrong said: ↑

Highfalutin garbage.

Excellent book and beautifully touching story.

It got off to a slow start, but overall it was a solid story.
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I have to applaud you for your discipline of reading Tam, I'm trying to read more often

Tamstrong · Jun 16, 2024 at 2:02 AM

CAkicker said: ↑

I have to applaud you for your discipline of reading Tam, I'm trying to read more often
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Thanks. If I was actually disciplined though, I'd be writing a lot more than I'm reading. lol I read a lot more when the mood strikes me, and when I have a lot of downtime for whatever reason. I also tend to get more out of reading than I do a lot of other things.

It helps if you read topics/genres you enjoy.

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