Review: Can't go wrong with 8 books for the price of 1
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 17, 2014
My rating for this collection is derived from the average ratings of each story. And then I added a star because I love collections like this for introducing me to authors I haven't read before at an affordable price.That Ghoul Ava and The Queen of the Zombies by T.W. BrownI read this story in the collection 'From Darkness Comes,' which I bought because the collection features another author that I'm a fan of (Burke) and I thought the collection would introduce me to new authors that I'd like. So far, so good. I now want to obsessively track down TW Brown's other books because I love, love, love this story.I have purchased the rest of the Ava series and am eagerly waiting for the fourth book to be released. The Queen of the Zombies is actually the second book in the Ava series but it's better than the first in that this book fleshes out a more rounded story.TW Brown may be a dude but he nailed (paranormal) chick-lit better than most chicks. He gave me a female character that I can identify with (even though I'm not a ghoul) and I hope to see several more stories about Ava in the future.Kin by Kealan Patrick BurkeLoved the beginning, the way the psychology was dispersed through the horror. It made me think of movies - The Hills Have Eyes, Scream, The House of a Thousand Corpses (the movies are listed in chronological order and not in any way associated with how they reminisced certain themes). I suspect this book would be well-suited for a potential horror movie (I'd watch it).I read this story as part of the collection, From Darkness Comes (which I bought only because KPB was in it and, since I like his work, I figured it would be a good way to meet new authors I'd also enjoy - haven't been let down). Here's the comment I left while logging one of my stopping points: "KPB is particularly gruesome tonight. Chapter Seven made my clitoris try to recede in sympathy, ouch."Then, we get to the second part of the book and start meeting normal people. The introduction of the new characters felt out of place; I wish I'd met them earlier - that the first part of the book was dispersed among the second part, so I'd have developed emotional attachments to the potential good guys. So that the gruesome horror that kept me enthralled would be steady, tugging me further along, to the third part of the book.Where I'm thrown a curve ball because I was gullible and fell into what I thought the story was telling me, without thinking ahead to the ending I didn't expect. Which I'm not going to tell you because that would be, you know, a spoiler and you wouldn't read the book to find out for yourself. I'm just going to tell you that it's human nature to think you know someone when, actually, you have no idea what's going through their head. This book demonstrated that to me.The Colony: Genesis (The Colony, #1) by Michaelbrent CollingsThe zombies here are slightly different than usually portrayed - they are fast and they are learning but the violence, and the human response to it, didn't feel real so I had problems losing myself in the story.The book leads me to believe that something controls the zombies but I have no idea what because this book ends abruptly without answering any of the questions I asked. Unfortunately, this is the first in a series and if I want those answers, I have to buy the other books.Chronicler of the Undead by Mainak DharAn interesting spin on the zombie apocalypse as the story is set on the Chinese-Indian border (and Americans are rumored to be responsible for the creation of the zombies). The story is told through a journal kept following the rise of the zombies; this style of storytelling slows down the action-packed plot so that I'm not overwhelmed by a sequence of crazy events, though crazy events are certainly plentiful.I'm not saying there isn't blood and guts in this book, but it's handled with a more tactful approach than what's usually seen in zombie-lore, used to illustrate the crazy events that happen. The plot isn't gore-themed but driven by the main character, Captain Maloy, a failed soldier before the zombies who turns hero afterwards, trying to keep a ragtag group of survivors alive. I wish the rest of the cast had been fleshed out as well as Captain Maloy, to help deliver the emotional impact at the end of the book,but the story, which I read in one sitting, kept me intrigued until I turned the last page.The Painted Darkness by Brian James FreemanPsycho-drama -post-traumatic stress touched by the surrealism of a creative mind- is the driving force of this story. I loved how the story was told, bouncing between now and then, but the theme is underdeveloped and the story has plenty of room for growth. Wanted to love this, as I often do with writers associated with Cemetery Dance, but it was just so-so.Chasing Spirits - The Memoirs of Reginald Weldon by Glynn JamesI wasn't aware that this was a second book in a series when I started reading this in the collection From Darkness Comes. I had the nagging sensation of missing something, of not connecting the dots because I couldn't figure out what the story wanted me to know - maybe it has something to do with the other books in the series that I haven't read.The story is written like an old man's thoughts, disjointed and disconnected. The past tense narrative slows the story down, though the war scenes piqued my interest.There were a few editorial mishaps; I was able to write many off as character development but a few (repeated paragraphs) can't be called anything else.The Home by Scott NicholsonFeels like this ghost story is geared for young adults. The horror here lies in what other people can do to you with and without your permission. There's nothing too horrific here in the way of blood and gore but the story does a good job presenting the dangers of personal bias during scientific experimentation.Preta's Realm: The Haunting (The Hidden Evil Trilogy #1) by J. ThornThis wasn't my cup of tea. I had problems relating to the characters. However, the idea of Gaki, the Preta, was interesting because it's not one I've seen done a hundred times in books.