Book News and Reviews

Author: Meatball Fulton

Genres: Steampunk/Fantasy/Alternate History

Where it can be found:Amazon and ZBS.Org

Julia Rating: 9

Comments:

This is an alternate history, where World War Two was caused by a group of pranksters, zombies were used to fight the war – unsuccessfully and zeppelins are used to travel from place to place.  It’s only mildly steampunk.  The story is told by an old inventor who has recordings of the lead prankster, Lady Chatterley and of British spy, Lady Windermere.  He is sharing these recordings with a historian to set the record straight regarding who truly started the war – Lady Chatterley and about Lady Windermere’s involvement. 

Along the way, there are interesting stories of zombies, zeppelins powered by flatulence and more.  These are two audiobooks, and the acting/narration is pretty darn good.  You can tell they really put their hearts into it, which makes the listening even more enjoyable.

I recommend going to ZBS.Org and checking out the free chapters they have available.

Enjoy!

Author: Jake Bible

Genre: Horror/Sci Fi

Where it can be found: Podiobooks, Author site in ebook or dead tree, Author site as audiobook or Amazon

Julia rating: 10… and rated R

Comments: I subscribed to this podcast when I heard about it from Scott Sigler’s podcast – very probably when he was airing stories from the Crypt universe.  I mean, all someone really has to say is “zombie” and I’m generally on the bandwagon.  But often I drop off that bandwagon… or the author stops podcasting.  Not so with Dead Mech.  I’m now listening to the “sidequel” called The Americans, which is pretty fun in an extremely violent fashion.

Let me set the scene for Dead Mech.  The zombie apocalypes has happened in America.  Humanity has coalesced in various pockets of the US, some in huge, walled city-states, others in the wasteland which is outside the city-state walls.  Protecting these city-states and maintaining some kind of order in the wasteland are the Mechs.  These are huge, mechanical robot-types in which a human operator resides.  The human operator basically sits in the cockpit and moves – which makes the Mech move – a la Ripley in Alien.  These mechs are fricken huge.  They built the walls and the city states, as well as defeated the majority of the zombie menace.

Additionally, there is technology now which fries the brain of any city-state resident as soon as he or she dies, so they don’t become a zombie.  However, this tech has to be turned off to operate a mech and facilitate the mech/human interface.  So, there’s the rub.  What happens if a mech pilot dies before disconnecting from his mech?  You get a dead mech.

On top of this very strange state of affairs, something strange is happening in the city-states.  The mech pilots have to find out what is going on, and save the rest of humanity before it’s too late.

This book contains zombies, gore, cool tech, old-school tech, cannibalism (hey, a girl’s gotta eat…), and more.  It is not for those with weak stomachs.

Read at your own peril.

Authors: Rory Harper

Book: Petrogypsies

Genre:Weird Science Fiction

Julia Rating: 8

Comments:  I got this book from the fine folks at Dark Star Books quite a while ago, but I’ve been on hiatus, so I’m very sorry I haven’t review it.

The cover for this book is a little crazy.  It reminded me of a story I heard once on the Drabblecast called Something Borrowed, Something Doomed by Robert Jeschonek.

But I digress. Petrogypsies is basically a story about a group of traveling oil crews which have a dinosaur-like pump for oil (as well as other crews which have creatures that do other things). It’s neat because not only is the pump a living, breathing animal, it’s also their living space. The plot is a young man joins this group of gypsies, becomes one of them and learns all about their culture – finding a love interest along the way. It’s a really neat setting and culture. I love the animals and the idea. The only thing I couldn’t get into was the story of the main characters. I cared far more about their pump creature (named Sprocket) and a couple of the sub characters than the main two characters.

This story is really fun, the world is super neat and the characters are cute (especially Sprocket). It’s definitely a fun read.

If you want to pick this story up for yourself, you can get it off Amazon, or you can buy it direct from the publisher – DarkStar Books.

Hey everyone who may or may not still be reading this blog!  I’m aaaaalive!!

Sorry I’ve been gone from the reviewing world for so long.  I feel bad that I’ve neglected this blog.  I have just had life things come up, but now I’ve returned and I’m here to stay. 

So, expect a book review tomorrow – it’s written and scheduled – YAY!

And expect many more book and podcasts/podiobooks reviews in the future.

<3

Julia

Book: Closet Treats

Author: Paul Elard Cooley

Genre: Horror/Psychological Thriller

Julia Rating: 10

Comments:
I just have to get one thing off my chest before this review.  Paul Elard Cooley is a bastard.  He ended Closet Treats in a place where I actually wanted to read a book 2, and I pretty much never actually read a whole entire series of books.  I still haven’t finished the Dark Tower Series and that’s by Stephen King.

As you may be able to gather from my whining, I really enjoyed this podiobook.  Paul E. Cooley does what he calls a “slow burn” in this story – where it starts out slow, then makes you wonder what’s REALLY going on, then makes you scared out of your skull, then makes you want to read more of his books.  I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hope he will continue his writing and get to work on that second book.

Now, quick story synopsis: the basic gist of this story is: Trey Leger has a mental issue – he suffers from psychosis.  He sees eyes in the closet and is so afraid of closets that he can’t put his clothes in them.  That said, he is married and has an adorable boy named Allan.  He’s managed to set up a life for himself that works for him and his family.  That is, until the ice cream man.

Who is the ice cream man?  WHAT is the ice cream man?  Ah, well, you need to read the book to find out.  All I can say is that no one ever seems to fully see his face, and he seems to like children a little too much.

With Closet TreatsPaul Elard Cooley sticks to motto: “Where we don’t believe in happy endings”

Check out Shadowpublications.com for more info on Paul his works.  You cannot buy Closet Treats, but it’s on Podiobooks.com.  You can, however, support this author by buying his fantastic novella Tattoo on Smashwords or Amazon.

See ya on the other side.

Book: All Kinds of Things Kill

Author: Robert R. Best

Genre: Horror

Julia Rating: 10

Comments: This is a book of nine short stories created by Robert R. Best. I have to say I found this set of stories really enjoyable to listen to. The cheerful mayhem created by the wide variety of things that kill (from a wife to a grandmother to a hooker) is tons of fun to listen to.

If I had to pick (and I am) I’d say “Hooker” and “The Wife’s Confession” are my two favorite in his collection, though “Nipping it in the Bud” is just damned creepy – as is “Boil Order”.

Anyway, for a quick and interesting collection of short stories in the horror/dark fantasy genre, check out All Kinds of Things Kill. It’s free for goodness sakes!

If you’d like to purchase a book to support this author – check out Robert R. Best on Amazon.com

Authors: Robert Asprin, Eric Del Carlo and Teresa Patterson

Book: No Quarter

Genre: I’m going to say this one’s Crime Fiction

Julia Rating: 10

Comments:  Okay, so when I received this book from the friendly folks at Dark Star Books, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I certainly didn’t think it was going to be a crazy whirl-wind tale of murder and intrigue in New Orleans. (Well, I did kind of guess the New Orleans part… I mean… just read the title.)

Anyway, I really enjoyed this book. I’m not usually a big crime fiction person beyond the occasional short story from Crimewavand CSI and Bones and detective novels… hmmm… maybe I do read a lot of crime fiction.

I digress… back to No Quarter. This book is a murder mystery which takes us deep into the world of the French Quarter, and believe me, the Quarter is it’s own little world. 

The first thing to know is everyone in the Quarter goes by a handle.  Like, some people call me “Scotty” (like “I can’t hold her much longer Cap’n”) because of my last name.  Well, these handles get much more interesting than that.  For example, the murdered woman is named Sunshine.  Her ex is called Bone and a bar friend and confident is called Maestro.  The list goes on.

The basic story is that when Sunshine is knifed with an ice pick in a dark alley, Maestro and Bone set out to find the killer.  This leads them on a wild adventure in which they discover a lot about themselves, about each other and they find just how low the underside of the French Quarter really hangs.

So, I say, go ahead and check out No Quarter. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Oh, and just a reminder, this blog doesn’t pay for itself unless you, yes you, take action and click on one of my links to purchase something at Amazon.com.  So, if you can, click on the links and go hog wild.

Jess Haines has announced on her blog that her fabulous book, Hunted by the Othersis now available in bookstores everywhere! Yay! Also, she’s doing a neat contest. Check out her blog for the scoop.

I know I’ve been offline for a few weeks. Sorry about that. I’ve been prepping a move out to Portland, OR which has taken up quite a bit of time. If you’d like to read about my travels in the last week, check out this post on my www.Juliascottdouglas.com blog.

Cheers and I promise I’ll have some new reviews up soon.

Book: Crescent

Author: Phil Rossi

Genre: Horror/Sci Fi

Julia Rating: 10

Comments: Crescent is a free podiobook and is also for for sale on Amazon, so if you would prefer not to listen to it, or just want to support the author, go ahead and buy the book. Either way, though, I recommend listening to Notes from the Vault by Phil Rossi before reading or listening to Crescent. It will make the experience so much cooler.

Crescent is an awesome Sci Fi/Horror mashup about a haunted space station. Though the place is only half completed for some unknown reason, people live and work on the station. A young salvage hauler named Gerry and his ship, Bean, are employed by the corrupt mayor of Crescent Station – Kendall, to haul suspicious salvage.  After the first salvage run, Gerry wants to get off that station, but he has a contract to wait out and Kendall is not a man to mess with.  Plus, now Gerry’s got a girlfriend on the station.  So, when an archeologist asks Gerry to haul some salvage at a high rate of pay, Gerry agrees.   The salvage turns out to contain something which should have stayed off the station.

To make matters worse, someone has woken the beast in the lowest decks of Crescent – in a place called the Vault.  Strange things start happening in the station.  Areas are flooded, a chill wind rushes down main street, people die for no good reason.  Crescent Station comes to life.

This book is extremely creepy, visceral and intense.  There is sex, violence, drugs and lots and lots of death.  I’d say I hope you enjoy it, but I’m not sure that’s the right word.