What Did I think of my Stay at. . .
Turnstone Manor?

The Rooms of Turnstone Manor

As I’ve mentioned before, I love it when a story has that certain something I can connect with from the outset. In this case, we have a wonderful twist on the usual ‘haunted house’ theme. A subject that I have something of a soft spot for, having spent eight years of my early childhood living in such a dwelling.

But a haunted hotel? Aha, that’s taking it up another level.

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Upon his arrival at Turnstone Manor, Terry Peters is instantly intrigued by the mysterious history of the grey-stone mansion turned bed and breakfast. Visiting the town of Miller’s Cove for a friend's wedding, he is determined to make the best of a vacation that has started out as less than ideal. His stay soon turns nightmarish however, when he makes a gruesome discovery in the home's library. Even more sinister and fantastical secrets are to be revealed to him within the manor's warped walls and twisted hallways, until he is uncertain of whom he can trust among Turnstone's peculiar occupants. Will he escape the strange plague which haunts the mansion, or will he succumb to it, unable to trust even his own sanity?

*************

So, what’s on the menu?

Something rather tasty. That’s what.

After tempting us with a little spice at the beginning, Erica Schaef then winds back a little and introduces us to the town of Miller’s Cove in a straightforward, ‘conversational’ way that allows you to settle in and get comfy. Only then does she start to develop the main course of her story. And I really enjoyed that. The characters are instantly relatable; the scenes evocative of holidays and short breaks spent in quaint hotels; the dialogue easy to follow. And the plot? Oh, there are all sorts of tasty, bite-sized things going on, but they’re developed at a measured pace that allows you to keep track of who’s who, what’s where, and most importantly, what’s coming. Yes, the mounting anticipation of skullduggery is a delightful condiment that Schaef sprinkles into the story ark in a way that makes you want to keep coming back for more.

I read and review a lot of books, and The Rooms of Turnstone Manor reminded me in some ways of certain aspects of Jeannette Ng’s Under the Pendulum Sun, as Schaef manages to encapsulate the same moody, evocative, almost claustrophobic atmosphere here, that makes her story such a success.

Well worth a read. And please, bring on another course!

Amazon Review

 There's No Second-Guessing What I think of. . .

Afterthoughts

This is another of those reviews, long in the waiting.

As I mentioned last week, I first met Lynn Tincher’s – Detective Paige Aldridge – back in February in The Devil’s Mark, a crossover horror/thriller incorporating Tony Acree’s Hand of God, Victor McCain. Having thoroughly enjoyed that outing, I was determined to find out more about those characters, starting last week with McCain, and this week, with Aldridge herself in her opening adventure: Afterthoughts.

So, what can we expect?

*************

Detective Paige Aldridge’s family is prey for a serial killer. Desperate to help her sister, she is determined to find out who is behind it all. After being the victim of a kidnapping, she is traumatized by memories she does not know she has. She sees visions of the murders and believes she is followed by someone she’s only seen in the shadows. Trying to run from her dreams, she is sent spiraling down a path of self-doubt, fear, and betrayal. Paige finds an unlikely friend that tries to help her by telling her unbelievable things. Teamed up with her partner, Jay, she tries to put all of the pieces together. Are all of these things connected? Will Jay believe in her and most importantly will Paige believe in herself? Can she get her thoughts together before it’s too late?

*************

Nice premise eh? Well, it gets even better . . . because what initially appears to be a straightforward set of tragic deaths, quickly become much more complicated. Complicated, in an eerie 'I'm out to get you' stalker kinda way. As the blurb highlights, Paige starts seeing visions of the deaths, and at the same time, notices someone watching her? Suspicions roused, she begins to dig deeper. But every time Paige does so, she either loses interest or starts feeling unwell.

Coincidence?

She soon finds out, as these ‘coincidences’ become much more focused, making her feel as if she’s the target of a personal vendetta. But how could that be? As far as she’s aware, nobody holds a grudge against her. And why would they? She’s honest. Fair. Doesn’t cut corner s or take liberties.

Nevertheless, someone’s got it in for her.

And without spoiling the story arc, what we get is a neat, compact, murder-mystery-supernatural whodunit that transitions through a series of revelations very nicely. I particularly liked the way Paige Aldridge’s vulnerabilities were not only highlighted, but played upon, as it paints a much more believable picture of how events would unfold if this happened to someone for real.

A most satisfying introduction to what I’m sure will be a great ‘new’ series.

Amazon Review

 Stand Together

Some of my followers may not be aware of the fact that, along with writing novels and short stories, I also dabble in poetry from time to time. (Take a look at the lower portion of the right-hand sidebar under Other Works, and you'll get an idea of the publications I've managed to get some of my prose listed in.

However, I recently managed to have two of my poems accepted in a work that was put together with the idea of donating all the proceeds to those living in the Ukrane who have been intimately affected by the war there. (A worthy cause, as I'm sure you'll agree).

And THIS is a little interview compiled by The Library of Erana regarding that contribution.

Why not click on the link and find out more?

Library of Erana

 See My Review of. . .

The Hand of God

The Hand of God

Those of you who follow my blog will have been expecting this review. . .

I can’t believe it was back in February when I read and reviewed “The Devil’s Mark” a crossover collaboration between authors Tony Acree and Lynn Tincher. As you’ll remember, I really enjoyed that book, and especially the way the main protagonists – Victor McCain and Paige Aldridge – worked together in foiling plots most foul. I also mentioned that I would endeavor to get to know said protagonists better, even if it meant ‘going back in time’ as it were, to the beginning of their respective journeys to find out how everything began.

And here we are, in Tony Acree’s The Hand of God, the opening adventure introducing us to Victor McCain (You’ll have to wait until next week to re-acquaint with Detective Paige Aldridge).

Here’s the blurb:

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Bounty hunter Victor McCain always wondered how his brother, Mikey, went from down-n-out loser to one of Louisville’s richest men. Now he knew: his brother sold his soul to the Devil. And in twenty-four hours, Mikey would die and spend eternity in Hell unless Victor agreed to hunt down a thief, a woman as deadly as she is beautiful. On a journey of murder and betrayal, Victor must now put his own soul at risk to save his only brother, battle a dark underground organization with the goal of nothing less than global war between Christians and Muslims, and fight creatures from man’s darkest nightmares. Then there’s the Hand of God, God’s own bounty hunter. In the end, will he be friend or enemy? Only Heaven knows.

*************

So, what do you get?

A roister-doister thrill ride. That’s what. And it opens, oh so calmly.

Imagine . . . Victor McCain is sitting in his office, going about business as usual, when a new client walks in with a job offer he can’t refuse. That new client just so happens to be the Devil, you see. And the job? Oh, that involves saving his brother’s – Mikey McCain’s – life, and hopefully, his soul as well. But at the expense of someone else.

Not the kinda offer you turn down, even if it is at someone else’s expense. Or is it?

Victor’s not a guy you want to cross. He’s worn around the edges, true. But before he became a bounty hunter he was something of a hunter-killer, employed on special missions abroad to track down and eliminate bad guys. He’s sharp too. He notices the little details that matter. And no sooner does he start to look into this new assignment than alarm bells start ringing. Alarms bells that shoot back and warn of double, triple, and even quadruple-crosses galore.

And THAT makes him determined to find out what’s really going on.

What follows is an ever evolving/devolving runaway action-thriller that leads Victor ever deeper into a diabolical under underworld hiding in plain sight among society. And it all takes place in twenty-four hours!

As you can imagine, the pace is frantic and events do become chaotic. However, Acree keeps a tight rein on his plot delivery, so that while developments do tend to run away from Victor McCain, you can keep track of the chaos he faces. Overall, everything is well thought out, and delivered in a slick and polished style that keeps you engaged throughout. Even better, the dialogue is sharp – I especially liked McCain’s inner turmoil/thoughts as the truth finally dawns on him – and though this is clearly an action thriller, it manages to get you thinking about deeper, philosophical issues over the supposed eternal battle between good and evil.

I liked it. And look forward to seeing how McCain becomes the man we see in the Devil’s Mark.

Amazon Review

 This is One Secret Victoria Will Never Know!

See my review of. . .

Deadly Secrets

I DO like it when I can make an instant connection to a storyline. And as soon as I saw the blurb to S.C. Fisher’s Deadly Secrets: Base Fear, it took me back to my childhood. One where I lived in a genuine, real life, haunted house . . . and years later, after joining the military, the happy times I spent yomping all over the Brecon Beacons in atrocious weather.

See if you can pick up a similar vibe:

******

There is something wrong with the house. Something far beyond creaking floorboards and woodworm.

Ordinarily, Paige Daniels embraces the challenges that come with having a parent serving in the military. However, when her family are posted to the sleepy Welsh island of Ynys Mon, Paige discovers that their new quarter comes with a grislier history than most.

Plagued by an unknown entity with a malicious streak, Paige must join the pieces of a decades old puzzle if she hopes to save the ones she loves...machines?

******

There’s an old adage that shows its true value here: Write what you know.

And it’s obvious that S.C. Fisher ‘knows’ Wales and the military way of life very well. You can see that in the terms and expressions she uses throughout the narrative. And that’s a good thing, as it adds a simple realism to her story that helps you connect to what’s going on. You’re there with the Daniels family as they endure the drudgery of yet another move; the tedium of having to unpack and settle in, again; of having to find their feet in a familiar (military) and yet, unknown new community with its own way of doing things. And we can all relate to what’s it’s like, getting a ‘feel’ for your new house. . .

But when that house possesses a well known – only whispered about – secret that can literally come back to haunt you? Ah, THAT’s another thing entirely, as the Daniel’s family start to find out on their very first night there.

The question(s) is/are: If people know what went on there, why don’t they speak openly about it? And why do the military allow new families to move in when it’s obvious conditions there aren’t right? Because, when events escalate from things that go bump in the night to actual physical harm? Well, something’s gotta give!

Deadly Secrets; Base Fear. A refreshing example of how to write a paranormal thriller.

Amazon Review

Goodreads Review

 Come Ye And Worship At. . .

The Altar From Space

I was attracted to The Altar From Space by Radar DeBoard, as the premise centers on the repercussions that follow when folks who should know better mess with things they shouldn’t. And we’ve all seen the films where this happens. Where commonsense screams at the intrepid heroes and heroines to do one thing – and gosh-darn-it – they go and do the exact opposite. . .

Oh, the fun that ensues.

But what happens when such fun and frolics unfold in the depths of space?

Let’s find out:

******

Talisha Martinson and her crew respond to the distress signal of the SS Revelation, only to discover that nobody is there. It quickly becomes apparent that something monstrous is lurking aboard the SS Revelation, and it's not going to let anyone leave with their life.machines?

******

So, the scene is set. Talisha Martinson and her crew are about to head home after a tour of duty serving as spaceborne maintenance & repair mechanics, when they receive a distress signal from the SS Revelation out in the Malestromos sector. The thing is, the distress signal is so short and sweet that there are no details for Talisha and Co to prepare properly. All that they know is that the Revelation is some sort of exploratory vessel that recovers relics and other objects from distant planets before bringing them back for proper analysis.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. . . THAT sounds a bit dodgy. Alien artifacts. Unknown origins. Ship that’s gone dark. If we were on the Jupiter 2, the robot would be waving his arms and shouting, “Warning! Warning! Danger, Wil Robinson!”

However, the bounty of 6 million credits to take a look serves as a great incentive for Talisha’s merry band to overlook any possible danger and get stuck in. Especially as they are also offered a further 6 million-credit bonus if they manage to get the Revelation repaired so that it can continue with its mission.

Of course, they proceed, posthaste, to the stricken vessel only to learn that it’s nothing but a ghost ship. One where the ghosts must be poltergeists, judging from the amount of bodies and bits of ship floating about in the vacuum outside. Undeterred, Talisha and the team head inside, where they quickly discover the damage is deliberate – ie, sabotage – and that someone, or something, has made quite a mess.

What that mess is, exactly, you’ll have to find out for yourselves, as trying to describe it here would give advance warning and spoil some major plot points. Buuut, if you think Event Horizon meets The Thing while on a trip through Cowboy Bebop country, you’ll be on the right track, as you’ll be in for a no-chance-to-catch-your-breath extravaganza of megalomaniacs on the loose, freaks running rampant, and ‘its behind you’ moments. 

And of course, the inevitable consequences of doing too little, too late.

All in all . . . great fun!

Amazon Review

 Blackgate Fantasy Review

of

A Hybrid's Tale

“Cambion: the half-human offspring of the union between a human male and a Succubus, or a human female and an Incubus.”

 A Hybrid’s Tale is the latest offering by Andrew P. Weston. It’s a short, fast-paced novel set in the realm of “demondim,” and is the first book in his new series, The Cambion Journals. It’s “billed” as Occult Horror, but it’s much more than that. Weston skillfully blends and cross-breeds genres: supernatural horror and science fiction, fantasy and mythology, and a modern-day, action-packed thriller. It’s also a story of love and devotion, and something of a dark and sexy detective story, as well. This is a twisted game of cat-and-mouse — a frantic hunt and chase spanning continents and other dimensions.

I waited in the shadows

And thus, the story of Augustus Thorne, begins.

Born a Cambion — a half-demon, half-human hybrid — and cursed by a terrible hunger he can barely control, Augustus Thorne spends his long and lonely life hunting and exterminating any Incubi and Succubae he can find; they’re demons, of course, psychic vampires gifted with near-immortality and extraordinary powers. But who and what Augustus is truly after is his father, Fanon, the Incubus who raped his mother, Rosemary, in the year 1759, and getting her pregnant. Rosemary was then ostracized by her family and her village. She was pregnant and unwed, and they considered her a whore. Augustus was born in 1760 — born without a heartbeat. But he was alive; a hybrid, a Cambion. Mother and son soon moved on, and she loved and protected him, nurtured and taught him to be human, and from her, he had the innocence all children possess. Weston paints Augustus in such a way that he is quite a likable human, a charming and persuasive bloke with a quick wit who can make the ladies swoon.

However, for all his inherent humanity, Augustus is still part demon. Succubae and Incubi feast on the souls, on the lust and on the desire of their victims. They feed and they kill — they have to kill. Augustus can sense the scent of an Incubus, as well as the histamines of the Succubae. And he, too, must feed on humans, but he does not kill: he is not a killer, and the unholy cravings he suffers and must satisfy scare him half to death. This conflict between his human and demonic halves is a cause of great consternation for Augustus, a true struggle between the two halves of his nature, and is the heart of this story. We see that his human-half is all important to him, due to the mother he so loved. His vendetta against his father is a highly personal one, for he wants nothing more than to avenge his mother for the nightly degradations Fanon made her suffer, and for what his paternal heritage turned him into. He comes across as a fairly nice guy, but when forced to defend himself, we witness the awesome, demonic powers he was born with: not only the powers of an Incubi, but with the added powers of a Cambion. Paranormal, supernatural powers. He is like no other living being.

Rosemary, Augustus’ mother, kept diaries of their lives, of her relationship with Fanon and all that she suffered at his hands. There is a wealth of history and information within the pages of her diaries, and guided by her written memories, Augustus pursues Fanon down through the centuries and around the world, driven by the need to avenge his mother, to destroy Fanon for what he did to her. He also wants revenge for himself, for Fanon made him what he is — a hybrid of demon and human, and then later abandoned Augustus and his mother. (I know, I have already stated this fact.) But as the hunt goes on for his father, Augustus soon realizes that things are not as they appear, and the revelations he uncovers are mind-boggling. For if he wishes to confront his father, he must first learn more about his own unique heritage, and the awful circumstances that led to his creation. Not only does Augustus seek vengeance against his father, he has also sworn to hunt down and destroy any Incubus and Succubus he can find. The trouble is, doing so might just cost him his humanity, which is the one thing that sets him apart from the rest of Demondim.

Augustus soon discovers that there are others searching for his father, namely, the Forge: Succubae and Incubi assassins who hunt Fanon for their own personal and political reasons. Early on in the story, when Augustus picks up his father’s trail, he encounters a gang of Forge assassins and this leads to a wonderful battle royale. Now we learn more of the powers that not only Augustus wields, but the powers the Succubae and Incubi have at their command: flying in hyper-time; ESP, skirring, which is teleportation, only much faster; phase-shifting, where they can hide objects in hyperspace; and the ability to heal themselves, to name a few. Question is, will Augustus and the Forge become enemies or will they join forces and become allies? There is more to Augustus and his Cambion heritage than he knows. There are hints of what he is and why the Forge becomes interested in him, but these secrets and so much more aren’t revealed in this first volume of The Cambion Journals, and Weston ends this volume on a cliff-hanging note.

Written mostly in 1st person, as narrated by Augustus, this is a story of Demons and Fallen Angels. Weston’s prose is smooth, crisp and quick-moving. His dialogue is witty and informative, his characters solid and real. We get a great sense of Augustus’ personality, attitude and sense of humor, as well as entry into his thoughts and emotions. And during his quest he meets and seduces Colleen, a stunning and highly-sexual flight attendant, with whom he makes a deeper connection. If love is in the air for Augustus, Weston is not telling us. And in my mind, I’m thinking that Colleen may be more than she seems, something Augustus does not even suspect. But whether or not my hunch is right remains to be seen.

There is one paragraph that caught my attention early on and still lingers in my mind, where Weston describes in simple, poetic imagery, the beauty of falling rain:

Caught in the moment, Fanon watched, entranced, as a thousand fingernails drummed against his windowpane, staccato heralds to the aqueous procession now threading its way down the glass toward a sill already beaded in translucent pearls.

If you like well-plotted, fast-paced thrillers with plenty of action, if you enjoy occult horror and the paranormal, and the other genres I mentioned earlier, I think you’ll enjoy this one.

Besides A Hybrid’s Tale, Andrew P. Weston is the author of a number of novels, including Hell Bound, Hell Hounds, and Hell Gate (all reviewed here at Black Gate, so check out those links), which are set in the Heroes in Hell™ shared-universe series.