SBB Review: Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Synopsis:
It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.
His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live--not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.
Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.
Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.


Publication Date: August 7, 2012
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Horror
Source: Thanks so much to Southern Book Bloggers for letting me be a part of this tour!


Review:
Girl of Nightmares more than lived up to what I had expected and hoped for from this book.  Somehow I had forgotten in between reading Anna Dressed in Blood and this book that besides being amazingly well-written and interesting...it's also effing scary :) I'll admit to being a huge chicken-faced wimp, so maybe creepy or unsettling would be better words to use. I'll let you decide that for yourselves.

I was reminded right from the start how genuinely great Cas's voice is in this book. My sister at The Elliott Review was the one that insisted that I read this book because it was awesome. One of the things she loved most was Cas as the first-person narrator.  She said he was her favorite male narrator in a book, ever. And I have to say that I 100% agree. He's such a thinking, serious type of person but it's blended perfectly with his snarky, smart-ass mouth. Add in the fact that he is in love with a dead ex-murderer girl that could rip his face off...and you get come to understand just how complex of a guy he really is. When it comes to Anna though, there are no complex issues for him to work out. He loves her and wants what's best for her, and he'll do whatever it takes for that to happen.

Now the first we see of Anna in this book is seriously messed up and creeptastic. If you are really aiming to make this a scary read make sure you are reading it at night because the parts with her in them are very unsettling. And I loved it :)

The story continues seamlessly from Anna Dressed in Blood.  Some second books have a slow start picking up where they left off, but even if it's been awhile since you've read the first one it will all come back to you in this book.  This one is another page-turner and you'll want to punch your clock when it tells you it's too late and you should go to sleep instead of finishing your book.

Review: Latter-Day of the Dead by Kevin Krohn

Synopsis:
Harrowing cries escaped the contorted faces of our flock. End of Days was a known truth but never a faced reality. Once the madness broke...we feared it would never subside.

Publication Date: March 10, 2012
Genre: Adult, Zombie, Horror
Source: Thanks so much to the Author, Kevin Krohn, for my review copy!


Review:
I've been reading a lot of Zombie genre stuff lately. Some have been amazing and others have fallen short of what I had hoped they would be. Latter-Day of the Dead has a very unique premise and delivered on my (high) expectations for this genre.

If I could describe this book in two words I'd use: realistic and...er...um, realistic :) I know some people just can't get into the whole zombie thing, but I can easily dive into the story and believe that part of it (if done well). So to me even that part is realistic, but just assuming you are on board with zombie-ness I'm talking about the realism in the setting and how the characters react to the situation.

A zombie outbreak occurs in a secluded, polygamist community. All of the minute details are there without over-powering the story. It really makes the story what it is. I can't even imagine the amount of research that went into this novel, but it makes a huge impact on the reader.

There is plenty of gore and craziness (loved it), but I really liked the story going on with the community and their leader. I'm excited to see this continue into the next book. The only negative thing I have to say is that it was shorter than I expected. But that just means I loved it and wanted to keep going even after it ended :)


Find out more about this book on Amazon or Goodreads.

Review: Aftereffects - Zombie Therapy (From the Case Files of Dr. Victor Frenzel) by Zane Bradey

Synopsis:
One day you are an average citizen, carrying on with everyday mundane tasks, the next, you are a fiendish zombie looking to tear off, and eat the flesh of every family member, friend, neighbor, and stranger you come in contact with. That's where your story ends, right? You're destined to live out your remaining days as a blood-thirsty zombie until deprivation or some un-infected vigilante lays you to rest?

Wrong. The government creates a cure for your cannibalistic condition. Unfortunately, you remember every gory detail of your killing sprees. Can you cope with the fact that you ingested your fellow human beings? Good news: psychiatrist Dr. Victor Frenzel has devoted himself to treating the psychological aspects of living life after being a flesh-eating zombie. He's accepting new clients and wants to help you get on with your life. Unless, he suspects that you are one of the infected cannibalistic fiends who ate his lovely young wife, Barbara. In that case you might be a particularly prime candidate for one of his more cutting-edge treatments. Either way you will be cured...

Publication Date: February 26, 2012
Genre: Zombie, Horror, Adult Fiction
Source: My own Tower of Books

Review:
I found this book via Twitter and decided it sounded pretty awesome and worth a shot for the small price of $.99. How could I possibly resist?

This is a little gem of a zombie book that must be read! The premise is that the masses are infected and zombies are roaming and eating whoever they can lay hands on . . . BUT then a cure is administered and these individuals are 'cured' and sent on their merry way. We learn the stories of a few of these people as they are going to zombie therapy with Dr. Victor Frenzel. But this is no ordinary therapist and he's got his own agenda while 'helping' his patients. Each individual story that we hear from Dr. Frenzel's patients will pull you in and make your heart race and maybe make you go 'Eww' at some point too. I read it in one sitting and couldn't put it down.

Aftereffects was a gorey, thought-provoking, zombie-y, heart-pounding adrenaline rush. And pure genius. I loved it from start to finish. It's not a very long read and that would be my only complaint. This first book ends with the door wide open for a sequel which will hopefully be out sometime this year. You zombie fans should give this one a try!

Review: Darkness Falling by Peter Crowther

Synopsis:

Zombie monsters struck from the mold of countless drive-in B movies supply mayhem and gore in Darkness Falling. Their onslaught is heralded one day by a predawn flash of unearthly light that cuts off middle-American everyville Jesman's Bend from communication with the outside world. When four employees of local radio station KMRT investigate, they find the town mysteriously depopulated, apparently in the middle of regular routines. Familiar folk reappear shortly afterward, all wearing concealing sunglasses and gloves and driven by malignant alien motives revealed when they descend en masse upon the terrified foursome . . .


Review:
Darkness Falling is the first book in the Forever Twilight series. It starts off as just an average day, and then there is a blinding, white light. Afterwards, there are only a few people left. Everyone else is just gone. As the survivors are trying to figure out what happened and come to terms with the fact that the people around them have disappeared, there is another flash of light. This time all those people are back, but they aren’t what they appear to be.

I knew that I would probably like this book before I even read it. The premise is something that really appeals to me. It has a cool story and some very interesting characters. It starts out introducing you to some of the key players. All of them have a defining flaw or issue, and some of them are just plain crazy. Then they are thrown into this life-altering situation and it was cool to see some of them rise to the occasion. Virgil really stood out to me as one of my favorite characters to read. I would definitely describe him as a ‘creeper’, but knowing the reason for why he’s so screwed up made me feel sympathetic towards him. I was really rooting for him and look forward to seeing more of him in the next book.

Now, this book does have some gore in it. Well, there’s no ‘some’ about it. While I wouldn’t say that’s normally my cup of tea, it actually added to the whole feel of the book for me. During those parts I kind of shook my finger in mock scolding, but I was secretly really enjoying it. I could picture the action and shoot-em-up parts in movie form, especially the climax at the very end.

One other thing that I think this author did a superbly good job of was building up a feeling of suspense as you read through it. Darkness Falling gains momentum as it goes, and I ended up really liking it.


Publication Date: 9/27/2011
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Adult
Source: Thanks to http://www.netgalley.com/ and Angry Robot.

Review: The Sleepwalkers by J. Gabriel Gates

Synopsis:
Privileged and popular Caleb Mason is celebrating his high school graduation when he receives a mysterious, disturbing letter from his long-lost childhood playmate, Christine. Caleb and his jokester friend Bean decide to travel to his tiny hometown of Hudsonville, Florida, to find her. Upon arrival, they discover the town has taken a horrifying turn for the worse. Caleb's childhood home is abandoned and his father has disappeared. Children are going missing. The old insane asylum has reopened, and Christine is locked inside. Her mother, a witch, is consumed with madness, and Christine's long-dead twin sister whispers clues to Caleb through the static of an A.M. radio.

The terrifying prophesies of the spirits are coming to pass. Sixteen clocks are ticking; sixty-six murdered souls will bring about the end of the world. As Caleb peels back layer after layer of mystery, he uncovers a truth more horrible than anything he had imagined, a truth that could only be uttered by the lips of the dead.

Review:
Before even opening The Sleepwalkers I was mildly unsettled just from the art on the cover. It's very dreamlike and creepy. I think it's a good indicator of what you will be getting once you actually start reading it.

Definitely read this book at night when everyone else is asleep if you really like being scared. If you are slightly more chicken, like me, you may want to make it a daytime read. That being said, my prime reading time is late at night and I was jumping at every little noise.

I was drawn into the story from the very first page. Caleb drags his friend Bean with him as a reluctant detective to help him discover the answer to a few questions from his past. As they go further into the mystery behind the Dream Center, Bean gives voice to what I'm thinking the whole time. Basically for them to get the heck outta there, but of course they don't. There was one scene in particular that had me reading faster and faster as if that would help Caleb and Bean out of their situation any quicker. I had to close the cover of my Nook, turn on some extra lights and the TV just to break the tension.

Even though I am a big baby about being scared I really enjoyed reading this book. I like that the author puts Sleepwalkers firmly in the horror genre, which I haven't seen alot of in YA fiction. He's an author I'll definitely be reading more of.

You can visit the author's website here: http://www.jgabrielgates.com/

Publication Date: October 3, 2011
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Horror
Source: I received this book from Netgalley.