Tag Archive: werewolf


eBook Review: High Moor 2

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April 19, 2013

high moor 2 book coverAuthor: Graeme Reynolds
Title: High Moor II – Moonstruck
Genre: Horror, beautiful, beautiful horror!
ASIN: B00BVC7MKW
‘The people of High Moor are united in horror at the latest tragedy to befall their small town. As dawn breaks, the town is left to count the cost and mourn its dead, while breathing a collective sigh of relief.
John Simpson, the apparent perpetrator of the horrific murders, is in police custody. The nightmare is over.
Isn’t it?’

I’m such a shameless fan girl. I can’t help it. It took me long enough to get around to this review (I’ve not written one for AGES) but I think that’s primarily because I’ve been guzzling books like water on a hot day. This book, however, needs my review. I need to talk about how much I freakin’ love this book.

So first, I should say that there is a book previous to this. I believe we’re looking at a trilogy. I’ve reviewed the first book already and when I finished it I didn’t expect another.

Graeme was kind enough to send me a copy of Moonstruck and though I took my time in getting to it, when I finally started, it was a three day job to read. Yes, that’s not that fast, but when all my reading is confined to snatched moments while breastfeeding a baby and sitting on the loo, I think I did pretty well. ;-)

Anyway! The story picks up where the previous one left off, diving straight into the action. It may be confusing if you’ve come to the story without having read the first book, but the drip feed of info, for me, was perfect. I’d forgotten every character’s name and most of the events of the previous novel (I only have so much head space, so sue me!) but it soon came rushing back.

I’m not giving you any spoilers. I’ll just say if you’ve read High Moor then you need to follow it up with this gorgeously (is that a real word?) gory, fantastically intense and breathtakingly fast paced sequel. If you haven’t read High Moor, then do that first, then follow it up with this gorgeously gory, fantastically intense and breathtakingly fast paced sequel.

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eBook Review: High Moor

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July 24, 2012

High Moor book cover Graeme ReynoldsAuthor: Graeme Reynolds
Title: High Moor
Genre: Horror
ASIN: B0068NOYM8
‘When John Simpson hears of a bizarre animal attack in his old home town of High Moor, it stirs memories of a long forgotten horror. John knows the truth. A werewolf stalks the town once more, and on the night of the next full moon, the killing will begin again. He should know. He survived a werewolf attack in 1986, during the worst year of his life.’

It has been far, far, FAR too long since I last read a decent werewolf book. None of these pretty, soft, furry, piss-weak werewolves having little spats with glittery vampires. Oh hell no! These things are massive, powerfully built hairy beasts that can tear your head off with a single swipe. They are foul tempered monsters who don’t discriminate between children and adults; anyone and everyone is prey.

At first I wasn’t sure where the book was going to go. I was caught off guard by the shift in time and it took me a page or two to get to grips with all the characters. I don’t know if it was just a bad day, but there seemed to be a lot of them. Then the action began and I’ll tell you what; it belted along at such a fast clip that I’m glad the chapters were broken down into chunks of time.

Graeme has a fabulous writing style and a skill at descriptive gore that makes my toes curl in appreciation. I want to write like this guy. His characters are engaging, his dialogue rings in my reading ears and his rich descriptions of the town, the changes and the people make for a beautiful reading experience.

After a tweet from a friend of mine I picked this up for £1.99 (it would have been free, but I forgot my Amazon password and by the time I remembered the price had skipped back up) and don’t begrudge it at all. Hell, now that I’ve read it, I’d be happy to buy the physical copy just to own it and would if not for the lack of space in my house to store any more books.

He did me a favour in bringing my attention to this book so I’ll now do the same for you. Read. This. Book. You like werewolves? You like gore? You like fast paced plot and unforgettable characters? Its all right here and waiting to be enjoyed.

Do it…! Do it now!

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Book Review: Naked Brunch

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December 20, 2011

Author: Sparkle Hayter
Title: Naked Brunch
Genre: Comedy Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 9781842430422

‘A modern Grimm’s fairy tale and a comedy with both heart and teeth, Naked Brunch followes the adventures of the last nice girl in a fabled big city; a mysterious werewolf named Jim; a psychiatrist to werewolves; the world’s luckiest reporter and an assortment of villains, media jackals, obsessed lovers and wannabes.’

Okay… first of all, her name is Sparkle Hayter. YEY! I could kiss this woman! Grab her face and drown it in big, wet, sloppy kisses of sparkle hating gratitude.
…but I doubt she’d appreciate it. So….

Instead I’ll say that this book, if not for the werewolves, would have almost become ‘chick-lit’ or ‘chick-romance.’ I’m fascinated with the obvious and skill that’s gone into creating a book that suspends belief well enough to forget, just for a moment that werewolves, for all intents and purposes, need agony aunts. Because that’s how it feels.

An utterly bizarre, surreal and humorous book that I’ll have to read again at some point to be sure that I’ve enjoyed all the laughs.

Hayer’s characters are likeable and believable. Her villains have just enough going on in their own lives that you can almost feel sorry for them (its a complex emotional journey! Kinda…) and the bit villains (or, as I like to call them mid-bosses – being the gamer that I am) are superficial, corrupted and cruel enough that its a pleasure to read about their untimely ends.

A cracking read; I ploughed through it in perhaps three days as it became my ‘at-work-giggling-in-the-canteen-at-lunch-time-trying-to-handle-the-pages-while-stabbing-at-my-salad book’ as well as my ‘hmm-its-boring-on-the-loo-where’s-that-book-I-couldn’t-get-to-the-last-chapter-of’ book. What can I say, Naked Brunch definitely has the range to suit both those book times and a great deal more.

This is another from Alt Fiction; one I bought actually. So I’m even more pleased that I enjoyed it so much.

To finalise; there were a couple of instances where I might have lost my way just a smidgy bit (probably my own fault for speed reading), but the bits that feel ‘too easy’ or ‘too creepy’ are suitably explained in a way that fits the rest of the tale to give an overall very satisfying read. Win.

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Book Review: Ravaged

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September 27, 2011

Author: David Wellington
Title: Ravaged
Genre: Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 9780749952433
‘The days grow colder. The nights grow longer. And every time the moon rises, the wolf inside her grows a little stronger.’

Vampires are my creature of the night, but this book made me think twice. Even for a short while. Werewolves have become cool! I realised only half way through that I was reading a book that was part of a series. I haven’t been able to figure out if its a series of two or three but the characters have enough history that there is definitely at least one book before this one. Possibly two.

Chey is fighting with her werewolf; battling with a creature far older than she could ever imagine to retain her sanity. To save her the man who gave her the curse in the first place takes her north towards the Arctic Circle where they hope to find the one thing that can cure them of the curse and make them human again.

This was my ‘at work’ book. Not one of the ones from Alt Fiction, I actually picked it up at The Works for about £2.50. David Wellington is a chap I’ve never heard of before but I’ll be looking for this book again.

The pacing is brilliant, keeping you rolling along at a fast clip that still manages to engage you without having the full background of what happened in the previous novel. It would be nice to know, but you don’t need it necessarily.

I love the way he utterly separates the werewolves from the humans; its almost like reading two books. If you were to take the wolf chapters away from the human ones, it would make some very interesting reading. He gets right into the mind of the wolf and the mythological aspect of the tale is one I’ve not come across before. I don’t know anything about the spirits of the Inuits, but now I’m really keen to look.

Its a take of the werewolf curse I’ve not come across before, but the only question I have about it now is how much of an affect the end of the book will have on future tales.

Ambiguous in a nice way though; certainly not taking away from the satisfaction of a story well told and an ending that is clean and touching. Finishing it up today I found myself speed reading to get towards the end, racing towards the end just like Chey and Powell to make sure I reached my destination before time ran out.

Clean, straight forward story telling with a hint of the spiritual and just enough love and/or jealously to keep it gently burning. Loved it!

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