Audio Review: Red Rain by R.L. Stine

Red Rain

By: R.L. Stine

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Release Date: October 9, 2012

Format: Audio CD, unabridged

Source: publisher for an honest review

BLURB courtsey of Amazon

Travel writer Lea Sutter finds herself on a small island off the coast of South Carolina, the wrong place at the wrong time. A merciless, unanticipated hurricane cuts a path of destruction through the island and Lea barely escapes with her life. 

In the storm’s aftermath, she discovers two orphaned boys—twins. Filled with a desire to do something to help, to make something good of all she witnessed, Lea impulsively decides to adopt them. The boys, Samuel and Daniel, seem amiable and immensely grateful; Lea’s family back on Long Island—husband Mark, a child psychologist, and their two children, Ira and Elena—aren’t quite so pleased. But even they can’t anticipate the twins’ true nature—or predict that, within a few weeks’ time, Mark will wind up implicated in two brutal murders, with the police narrowing in. 

REVIEW 

I was super excited when I had seen that R.L. Stine was writing adult fiction. I was an avid reader of his Fear Street series in high school. When I got the chance to review his latest, Red Rain, I couldn’t say no.

Lea Sutter has survived Hurricane Ernesto on the island of Cape Le Chat Noir and found two orphaned angelic looking twin boys, Daniel and Samuel, who lost their family. She immediately feels the need to be their mother and bring them home to her husband, Mark, and her children. Mark is a renowned child psychologist whose latest book has a lot of parents gunning for him. Once situated the twins began their devious plans to “rule the school”. Mark is immediately unsettled with the children and feel that they are taking his wife away from him. The twins decide that they need Mark out of their way so they kill several people that could be linked to Mark in order to frame him.

Let’s just say the only unique party of this book is the intriguing island that Lea was on. I had high hopes after reading about this island that the dead and the living coexist. Lea also witnesses a ritual that men commit suicide and then brought back to life. Once Lea leaves the island that is the end of it. Nothing really ties back to it. We already know the twins are evil and it is no secret when the murders are committed who were behind it.

Red Rain is full of gore as a good horror book should have but that is about it. It did not have a scare factor at all and personally the narrator wasn’t my cup of tea. It was just like any other horror book I have read before. Every now and then Stine threw in a sex scene that felt forced and a “have to” for it to be considered an “adult” book. The police detectives were not very intelligent and seemed to be typical for what you would find in a standard horror novel.

Still, if you are a diehard R.L. Stine reader then you will enjoy the trip down memory lane in his latest gruesome creation.

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Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children 

Series: Miss Peregrine, #1

By: Ransom Riggs

Publisher: Quirk Books

Release Date: June 7, 2011

Format: Hardcover

Source: personal copy

First off I have to say I can’t believe I waited this long to read Riggs creepy photograph filled story of peculiar children. Finding out the eerie photos were actually taken from personal collections added a disturbing quality to the read.

Jacob is our main character. He has seen his grandfather’s strange pictures and listened to his stories thinking that they were just that…stories. Stories of levitating children and invisible boys were just fairy tales to him until he discovers his grandfather dead and sees something that changes the course of Jacob’s life.

Jacob no realizes the “monsters” his grandfather has been fighting are not from his memories of WWII but are actually monsters. Now he must travel to the island where is grandfather stayed and where Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is located. The island is the typical strange island with its quirky residents. After arriving, Jacob goes on the hunt for the orphanage only to find it destroyed and abandoned. What happened to the children? The answer is soon found and leads Jacob on a fantastic journey of discovery and time travel.

I love every character involved in this haunting tale. Each one stood out on their own and Riggs ties each and every one of them together seamlessly. The story telling is amazing and with the added photos makes it easier for the reader to visualize the children. Riggs also answers all the questions that burn inside the reader from the start yet leaves a few things in the air for maybe another book.

Wonderful original characters and an inventive plot lead this read to be a good one to pick up. I loved the added historical aspects thrown in to provide a bit of realism to the story and the vintage photographs were just a bonus. If you are looking for a unique tale, this is the one for you.

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ARC Review: Forbidden by Jacquelyn Frank

Forbidden

Series: The World of the Nightwalkers, #1

By: Jacquelyn Frank

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Release Date: October 30, 2012

Format: D-ARC

Source: publisher via Edelweiss for an honest review

Docia Waverly’s life is about to change. After being hit by a speeding van she hovers in the Ether and is given a choice. She can live but with consequences or she can die and leave her brother Jackson who has raised her since she was 5 alone. The choice was pretty easy for Docia.

After coming home from the hospital she realizes that the van that hit her wasn’t an accident and the people that want her dead are still gunning for her. Enter the every sexy Ram to her rescue. Of course Docia has no idea who this over muscled goliath is but there is a voice in her head telling her it is safe.

Ram and his friends are here the help Docia accept the other voice in her head that is actually going to be cohabiting with Docia. Unfortunately, who they believe is inside Docia is their queen, Hatshepsut, and Ram knows that his attraction to her can go no further. She belongs to their King, Menes, when he is finally reborn. But why does he feel so pulled towards her when in the many past lives he hasn’t. Also thrown in the mix is Docia’s overprotective cop brother, Jackson. His role plays out very well and the surprise that Frank throws in the end was unpredictable and amazing. I can’t wait to read the next installment.

And so this begins Frank’s spinoff to her Nightwalker series. We are introduced to Bodywalkers who are souls of Ancient Egyptians that ended up in what they call the Ether after being mummified. They found a way to rejoin the living by cohabiting with willing humans. This angered the God Ra who cursed them to only walk at night. The Bodwalkers have enemies called Templar priests, who are Bodywalkers also but don’t want to cohabitate with their soul; they want dominate them and the human race. They also want to bring down Menes and Hatshepsut.

Loved the love story between Docia and Ram and the twist that is thrown in that explains why they have such an instant attraction to each other. When they finally decide to just go for it, it is explosive and tastefully done. Another aspect that I loved was the character of Leo, who has been kind of a protector of Docia and Jackson since they were young. He is kind of the anti-Jackson. Whereas Jackson has to obey the law being a cop and all, Leo uses less conventional ways of finding out information. I am wondering where Frank will be going with him since he just kind of disappears at the end.

I really enjoyed this first book in Frank’s new series. The world she has created is interesting and I know will never get dull. I love Ancient Egyptian themed fantasies so this one fit the bill perfect. It had just the right intensity to keep the reader turning the pages and enough twists to make sure we anticipate the next book. Loyal Jacquelyn Frank readers will not be disappointed. 

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Gratitude Giveaways 2012

Gratitude Giveaways - Blog Follower Appreciation - A way to say thank you to my fabulous followers.

Gratitude Giveaways is scheduled to begin on November 15th at 12:01 am EST and end on November 25th at 11:59 pm EST. Since this giveaway is being held around Thanksgiving, which is a busy time for many, we want to give followers plenty of time to enter all the giveaways.

This giveaway is all about Books. Each blog will host their own giveaway. There are over 200 blogs participating so when you are done here hop on over to the next one! You will find the links below!

I appreciate each and everyone of you! To show my appreciation for all of you the winner will get to choose TWO (2) books off my Sale/Trade list. To view the books CLICK HERE!

To enter just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Contest is US only and winners will be notified via email.

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Now head on over to the next stop!

ARC Review: Lord Gray's List by Maggie Robinson

Lord Gray’s List

By: Maggie Robinson

Publisher: Kensington Publishing

Release Date: October 30, 2012

Format: ARC

Source: publisher in exchange for an honest review

Evie Ramsay has lived her entire life either being really poor or living an okay life because of her father’s gambling problem. Now her father has developed dementia and all that is left is a printer’s shop that was won by her father. Still spurned by how things were left with Benton Gray, Evie decides to pose as a man and develops a gossip rag call The London List. Now all of Ben’s salacious exploits are splatter across the pages. Ben decides to stop this from happening anymore and purchases the paper. To his dismay he finds out that 1. Evie is the one doing this and 2. that London is not happy that he is shutting the paper down. One of its biggest supporter is his own mother!

Now Evie and Ben must bind together and make this paper work. Evie hates that she has to be near Ben but that doesn’t stop her from using her feminine ways to try to get him to leave the paper in her capable hands. Evie was Ben’s first love and obviously that is not forgotten. He plans to make sure that they work extremely close together.

The reader never really knows why Evie hates/loves Ben the way she does and Ben apparently doesn’t either. This is one part of the story that was confusing. It was never made clear were the hate comes from.

This was an enjoyable read and is like a historic version of what Gossip Girl would have been like during this time. This is a  good light read with some sassy characters and steamy love scenes.

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