Reviews

05 Apr 2012 1 Comment

Wolf’s Cross by S.A. Swann

Wolf’s Cross by S.A. Swann
Paperback : 400 pages
Publisher: Spectra (July 27, 2010)
Series: Wolfbreed

Maria lives a simple life in a small Polish village, working for the lord of the nearby fortress. Motherless since birth, Maria has been raised by her father and stepmother. Around her neck she wears—as she has always worn—a silver crucifix, to protect her from the devil. Or so her father tells her.

But when a contingent of badly mauled Teutonic knights, including a handsome and gravely wounded young man named Josef, ask for succor at the fortress, Maria’s quiet and comfortable world shatters. For the knights are Wolfjägers, an order dedicated to the extermination of werewolves, and Maria, unknowingly, is one of the creatures they hunt. Only the crucifix about her neck prevents her body from changing into a lethal killing machine.

When Maria meets Darien, a wolfbreed bent on exacting a terrible revenge on humans, she will learn the truth about herself, and find her loyalties—and her heart—torn in two.

Wolf’s Cross was an amazing adventure-filled story with enough action and drama, and a hint of romance, throughout to keep you reading into the night. My only wish is that I’d realized it was the second book in the series a little sooner. LOL.

The characters are well-developed and realistic for the time period. Maria far surpassed many of the male characters in strength, morals, and faith.

You should try Wolf’s Cross if you’re looking for a riveting werewolf story unlike any other.

by Jennifer in Adult, Reviews Tags: , ,

31 Mar 2012 1 Comment

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Paperback : 319 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (September 26, 2006)
Series: Little Blue Envelopes

Here’s the deal: Aunt Peg, the New York artist and the person Ginny Blackstone depended on to make her life interesting, took off to Europe without a word three years ago. Aside from a few postcards, Ginny hasn’t heard much. Then she gets a horrible phone call that changes everything.

But the story is only beginning. Soon after, Ginny receives one little blue envelope from Aunt Peg containing a thousand dollars and some very strange instructions…

And with that, she is sent off to pick up a package containing twelve similar envelopes, which she can open one by one, as instructed. Each letter contains a task that Ginny must perform.

Soon, the mild-mannered and quiet Ginny (who’s barely made it out of New Jersey before) finds herself running from London to Paris to Rome, and beyond. Along the way, she collects a number of new friends, including: a manager from Harrods department store who runs errands for the rich and famous, a handsome but maddening thief-turned-playwright, a celebrity painter who tattoos the names of her dead pets on her body, and the angriest vegetable salesman in all of France.

As time goes on, Ginny realizes that her aunt has sent her on a mission, and that there is something big waiting for her in the thirteenth envelope. All she has to do is make it from place to place and complete all of the tasks that have been set before her.

As if life is that easy.

Ginny is goes on the journey of a lifetime with no clue what is in store for her. Her Aunt Peg disappeared, leaving no clue as to where she went. She receives word that her Aunt has passed away and that she is to go on a quest, taking only what will fit in a backpack. Easy enough, right? Ginny must follow the directions in the 13 little blue envelopes, each one requiring her to fulfill a challenge before opening the next one.

I absolutely loved the adventure this book offered. The excitement of what was to come and what crazy Aunt Peg would have her do next kept me reading into the night. This is a fabulously fun read.

The characters were very well developed, adding intensity to each step of the puzzle. Ginny definitely had that shy girl quality that made the journey so much fun. Seeing her grow as a person as she come closer to the final envelope was brilliantly executed. Keith, on the other hand, was difficult to like. Sometimes he was a total jerk that annoyed me to no end but, on occasion, he would surprise me by acting like a descent person.

Overall, Ginny’s journey kept me on the edge of my seat, dying to know what would happen next. Johnson concocted a super fun read. This is a beautiful story of family, life experiences, and learning to be open to living life to its fullest. I highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a fantastic, entertaining read.

by Jennifer in Reviews, Young Adult Tags: , , ,

29 Mar 2012 1 Comment

Autumn by David Moody

Autumn by David Moody
Paperback : 308 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin  (October 26, 2010)
Series: Autumn

Autumn chronicles the struggle of a small group of survivors forced to contend with a world torn apart by a deadly disease. After 99% of the population of the planet is killed in less than 24 hours, for the very few who have managed to stay alive, things are about to get much worse.

Animated by “phase two” of some unknown contagion, the dead begin to rise. At first slow, blind, dumb and lumbering, quickly the bodies regain their most basic senses and abilities… sight, hearing, locomotion…  As well as the instinct toward aggression and violence.

Held back only by the restraints of their rapidly decomposing flesh, the dead seem to have only one single goal – to lumber forth and destroy the sole remaining attraction in the silent, lifeless world:  those who have survived the plague, who now find themselves outnumbered 1,000,000 to 1…

Don’t tell anyone but I just adore horror; the more blood and gore the better. I mean, if I’m afraid to walk down the hall by myself, well, then horror has done it’s job. With that said – What is Autumn all about? I’ve said it before and I will say it again… Zombies aren’t my thing, but there are exceptions. It has to be said the word zombie was NEVER mentioned in the book. Strange, I know!

The first 100 pages are amazingly descriptive, giving the reader a clear image of the infection taking its toll on the unsuspecting population. The survivors are drawn to the community center, where you would think they would rally together to stay safe. Like most survivors in horror flicks, there are those who breathe fear and then chaos is born.

As everyone begins to wonder when and if help will come, the corpses begin to rise. This causes panic amongst the survivors. Emma, Michael, and Carl plan to leave the city and find safe shelter away from the rotting flesh that will eventually come. With no way of knowing what they might find, they set off on their journey.

If the dead were to walk the earth, where would you seek shelter? The trio find a farm house in the middle of BFE. This seems to be a perfect solution to the rotting corpse problem but then one has to wonder if being this isolated is a good thing. There are small towns near by that they journey to from time to time seeking food and provisions, which leads them straight into the ‘loving’ arms of the walking dead.

Overall, I found this to be a great suspense novel but it lacked in the horror department for me. There is a slight similarity to “28 Days Later” but not enough to give it a horror rating. I was impressed with the author’s choice of not using the word ‘zombie’ but, in fact, having zombies as a key feature in the plot. The beginning was exciting and gripping, but that fell flat as the trio reached the farm house.

There were a few things that I found annoying; one being the lack of human-zombie interaction and the lack of story in regards to the people that stayed behind at the community center. I wanted to know what happened to them. The characters were well developed and interesting. They were very realistic and easy to relate to, given their real world feel. I would definitely recommend “Autumn”. It is an exciting read that will keep you reading into the night.

“Autumn” is book one of the Autumn series. While the first Autumn novel focused on those who escaped the city, Autumn: The City (book #2) focuses on those who didn’t.

by Jennifer in Adult, Reviews Tags: , , ,

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