Zero Lives Remaining

Zero Lives Remaining by Adam Cesare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The ghost at the arcade was largely harmless until it had to kill to protect its favorite patron. Now, the soul of a sociopath is melded with its own and the remaining people in the arcade will have to fight for their lives...

As someone who whiled away many Mountain Dew-fueled hours playing video games as a youth, a novella about a murderous video arcade was something I couldn't pass up. Plus, it was on my kindle and I had to read SOMETHING while my tires were getting rotated. What was I going to do, talk to the other patrons?

As I've said before, I think Adam Cesare and I would be best buds if we'd grown up in the same neighborhood. His video game references hit all the right notes for me without feeling patronizing or pandering. The Ghost and Goblins reference was spot on. Fuck, that was one hard game!

Zero Lives Remaining is a survival horror tale set in a haunted arcade. For a b-horror enthusiast like myself, it reminds me of the part of Maximum Overdrive when they're holed up in the gas station. No one can enter, no one can leave, and it's only a matter of time before the next person dies. Some of the characters are surprisingly well crafted for a novella where most of the cast is destined to die horribly. Dan Bowden, in particular, really had me rooting for him.

There's a fair amount of gore but nothing nausea-inducing. I thought I knew who the survivors would be at the beginning and I was way off.

Zero Lives Remaining is a fun horror novella and a perfect way to kill time waiting for your car to get serviced. Four out of five stars.

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Neko

P. L. Nunn
Self-Published
Reviewed by Nancy
3 out of 5 stars

Summary

The neko are a cat-like race that live separate from humans. When Dharsha, a young neko is captured and enslaved he learns just how cruel humanity can be. Sold to a group of brutal woodsmen, who despise his differences, he becomes less than human, an object for them to sate their frustrations and lust. Only when a passing trapper frees him of their cruel ownership, does he discover that not all humans are evil. And in a new land, he discovers as well, that he can find love and clan with the one man who needs him as much as he is needed.

My Review

I would not have read this book if several of my friends have not already read and enjoyed P.L. Nunn’s work. Since I have read many books that explore the darker side of humanity and the evil things people do to each other, I wasn’t going to let a few warnings like, “bestiality, torture, and exaggerated scenes of humiliation, sadism and bondage” scare me away.

In Chapter 1, a young Neko named Dharsha was captured and sold as a pleasure slave. He went through hell with his first few masters until he was sold to a woman who introduced him to pleasures he knew little of. Though she was mostly kind, she would never let Dharsha forget he was just a slave, and he rebelled. His rebellion earned a brutal beating and his sale to five woodsmen who didn’t waste any time showing Dharsha how to behave like a proper slave.

I read this chapter just before going to bed and had a dream that I had a Neko of my own. Like the Neko in the story, he was a young man with feline characteristics such as tail, claws and tufted ears. He was sitting in my father’s favorite chair drinking a tall glass of Coke while I was sitting on the couch with my grandmother across the way. My father comes home unexpectedly, and my grandmother and I race to the kitchen, leaving the Neko sitting quietly. From the kitchen we can hear glass break, and my father shouting about cat hairs on his chair. Then he proceeded to beat the Neko until he howled. When I came out of the kitchen to beg my dad to leave him alone, my dad started pounding on me for referring to the Neko as a “him” and not as an “it”. I remember waking up and thinking that this author must have some serious issues with men and cats.

Chapters 2 through 7 nauseated me with the relentless torture, physical and sexual humiliation, and deprivations Dharsha endures with the five woodsmen. It took me a couple of days to read these chapters, as they were too much, even for me. I then had a dream that my former boss called me into work (after I was laid off) because he couldn’t find any of the employee files. When I arrived at the office, I saw the file cabinet drawers were open and my former office was a shambles. The files were nowhere to be found. My boss then grabbed me, bent me over the desk, tied my arms over my head, pulled my pants down, and took a switch to my bare ass. By this stage, the Neko’s spirit was so broken and my feelings so numb that nothing that happened next could have shocked me. So I kept reading.

In the next chapter, a trapper comes to the woodsmen’s cabin wishing to spend a night or two in the stable while his horse recovers from injury. Neko reveals the woodsmen’s plans for the trapper and the two make their escape.

Though Dharsha is relieved to be away from his brutal masters, it takes some time for him to adjust to his freedom. Gradually, his feline senses become more attuned, his claws grow back and he demonstrates skill as a hunter. These skills become useful when the trapper’s life becomes endangered.

It was a pleasure watching Dharsha grow and change, though I wish more of the story would have been devoted to his adjustment to his new life and his developing relationship with Caled, the trapper, rather than the brutality he endured.

I suspect this is the most violent of P.L. Nunn’s works and will read another of the author’s stories, just not right away.

The Armored Saint

The Armored Saint by Myke Cole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Suffer no wizard to live."

The Order ensures no wizards, wizard sympathizers, or wizard harborers are allowed to live lest hell's dark maw opens once again allowing demons to walk among man. When Heloise and the villagers of Lutet are gathered to assist the Order by razing a nearby town and all of it's inhabitants, Heloise and her father defy instructions and bring the Orders' wrath to Lutet.

The Armored Saint was a mixed bag for me. I was immediately drawn into the story based on the Order and their sadistic tendencies. The Order is the supreme power in the land and they do not require any reason for their cruelty. The Writ, the world's holy book written by their Emperor, demands obedience from all towards the Emperor and his Order. These are the type of characters I largely want to see brought low because they abuse their power unabashedly. The world seems to be in a permanent Salem Witch Hunt atmosphere. Any suspected wizardry brings the Order near and no one wants the Order near.

After the strong beginning things go slowly and get less interesting. I won't go into major details, but the story focuses largely on Heloise and her father Samson's lack of judgment. They know the Order is cruel beyond need yet they can't seem to stop themselves from messing with them. Samson tries to lecture Heloise, but she clearly gets her rage filled stupidity from him and he has yet to learn to keep himself in check. The Order undoubtedly makes this difficult, but Samson should have taken his own advice when he said, "When a killer [any member of the Order] dumps your kit in the mud, you smile sweetly and tell him he's done right." If only Samson could listen to himself, then perhaps Heloise could learn to do the same.

The book did have more than a few heartbreaking moments. Witnessing friends slaughtered by the Order was significant, but what was harder was Heloise's love interest. She's in love with her best friend Basina who's betrothed to a man. Heloise has never spoken of her love, but she thinks about Basina constantly and is massively protective of her. Young love is difficult enough for anyone, but the added factor of being in love with someone of the same sex in a world where that's likely considered an executable offense is hard to read.

The Armored Saint got me excited in the beginning, but ended with me wondering if I care to continue the series.

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THE LIGHTKEEPERS BY ABBY GENI

The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

”There is a wonderful violence to the act of photography. The camera is a potent thing, slicing an image away from the landscape and pinning it to a sheet of film. When I choose a segment of horizon to capture, I might as well be an elephant seal hunting an octopus. The shutter clicks. Every boulder, wave, and curl of cloud included in the snapshot is severed irrevocably from what is not included. The frame is as sharp as a knife. The image is ripped from the surface of the world.”



Miranda has pulled every string available, applied for all the grants, and finally receives an invite to join the scientists already ensconced in the sanctuary on the Farallon Islands. These islands are so small and so close to sea level that if the ocean rises half an inch they will disappear forever. The scientists are there to study the birds, the whales, the seals, and the sharks that all use these islands to battle for mates, to feed, to reproduce, and raise their young.

The scientists are there to record and not interfere with the workings of nature. They adhere to a prime directive that reminds me of the same command that was regularly spouted by the crew of the Enterprise. ”Star Trek, the Prime Directive (also known as Starfleet General Order 1 or General Order 1) is a guiding principle of the United Federation of Planets prohibiting the protagonists from interfering with the internal development of alien civilizations.” If a baby seal is toddling off to certain death, all you can do is watch it die.

The scientists call her Melissa, Mel, Mouse Girl, really anything but her real name. She doesn’t correct them. Being someone else for a while is just fine with her. She writes letters to her dead mother. She gives her cameras names as if they were children or pets. She has been running from any permanence in her life. Mortgages, relationships, children, picket fences, car payments are foreign concepts to her. She wants to be able to leave anywhere at a moments notice and head for somewhere else that she can capture images she has never seen before with her camera.

”Your death made me into a nature photographer.

I was always going to be an artist. There was never any question about that. I need to take pictures of the world around me the way a whale needs to come up for air. For as long as I can remember, I have been driven by beauty. I am talented; I don’t mind saying it. Photography was a given. Nature was the wild card.”

It is not that Miranda is unfriendly. She just doesn’t put any work into developing friendships. Friends become weights that can potentially keep her anchored to the Earth. The constant presence of her mother’s ghost is, in many ways, all consuming. When one of the scientists tells her about the ghost that lives in her quarters, Miranda is not scared, nor is she skeptical. ”’I believe you,’ I said. ‘I believe in ghosts.’”

The ghost of her dead mother is like an ethereal talisman. Something she doesn’t have to hold anywhere but in her mind.

Everything is going great. She is fitting in well enough with everyone. She knows where she stands in the pecking order. Everyone helps everyone else with their projects. She is capturing some amazing images.

And then a late night assault is committed.

This leads to a suspicious death, which leads to an unravelling of the symbiotic relationships they have achieved. Trust has been breached. ”In truth, there were a hundred ways to die on the islands. It was amazing that we were not all six feet under--lost to the wind, the ocean, and the dreadful, human capacity for misadventure.” The island is trying to kill them, and now no one is sure whom they can trust among the people they must trust to survive.


Look at that crazy head pecking bastard!

The most dangerous part of the island are the kamikaze gulls. ”But the gulls are the worst. They kill for food. They kill for pleasure. They kill for no good reason. They are expert assassins. They soar around the islands with bloody beaks and a mad glint in their eyes.” When Miranda is first pecked in the head, I can’t help thinking about the lovely Tippi Hedren, sitting in that small boat on the water being dive bombed by gulls in the Hitchcock film The Birds.

No, thank you. I would not be able to adhere to the Prime Directive. I’d be carrying around a blood crusted bat, waiting for the next dive bombing gull assassin.

One of the things I became aware of while I was reading this book is the powerful thirst I have for nature writing. I read a lot of Edward Abbey, Charles Bowden, and others as I was going to college in Tucson, but I haven’t really pursued the genre of nature or nature fiction much since I left the desert. I recently read Bearskin, which is set in another nature preserve in Virginia, and enjoyed it immensely. Fortunately for me and for you, Abby Geni has a new book coming out September 4th, 2018, called The Wildlands . She also has a collection of short stories called The Last Animal, which I also intend to read. Geni describes nature in vivid detail. I was transported to this wind swept, bird shit splattered, rain battered, gorgeous island. I settled in...well...not with the gulls, *shiver*, but with this dedicated crew of people intent on doing everything they can to advance our knowledge of the mystical world of nature.

”Perhaps there were only two kinds of people in the world--the takers and the watchers--the plunderers and the protectors--the eggers and the lightkeepers.”

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Bloody Rose (The Band #2) By : Nicholas Eames

Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Swagger...that's the word on the tip of my tongue as I BURNED through Bloody Rose in a fit of pure madness and joy. Kings of the Wyld was a joy to read, what I call rock and roll epic fantasy. IF that tale was the journey of the band getting back together, the stomp of a Led Zeppelin, the crunch of a Black Sabbath.. Bloody Rose is a different beast.

Its metal, the shred of Metallica, the live fast die young of early Motley Crue, the flash and crash of punk rock. IT IS BEAUTIFUL. Action, passion, screaming over the top fights, characters you love and a world you want to sink into and the most important thing...massive massive heart.

one of the top fantasies of this year, if you haven't read the Band series, why you wasting time?

99999 stars out of 5

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Another Cornwell Victory In His Sharpe Saga!

Sharpe's Havoc by Bernard Cornwell
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



It's been a while since I've read one of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books. I read most of the series some years back, but there are still one or two left that I haven't gotten around to. The series would make more sense if it were read in chronological order, because Cornwell set these books to run throughout the entirety of the Napoleonic Wars from start to finish.

However, he was also smart enough to make each book a solid stand-alone read. You can pick up any throughout the series and you won't necessarily feel lost. That's not because he loads you down with all the backstory in each book. He doesn't. The fact is, you don't need backstory to enjoy these. They're action/adventure good-time books, like romance novels for those who prefer guns over roses.

And yet, having said that, there is always a romance element. Our hero is forever saving some damsel in distress and then often getting her out of dis dress. I don't know how many ridiculously beautiful, young and ditzy English dames were flouncing about Europe in the middle of that war, but I think Sharpe found them all.

Aside from the well-described action scenes, one of the draws for me has been Cornwell's excellent eye for history. He adds some colorful period details, yes, but I mean adding actual history to his fictional series. It provides the characters and their actions gravitas. Sharpe's Havoc is set in Portugal when Wellington took over and the British were working with the Portuguese to toss the French out of the country. This was the beginning of the turning of the tide in the fight against the little dictator...or the perfectly average-sized dictator, I should say if I'm being historically accurate.

I chalk this one up as another victory for Cornwell. Solid plot, adequately evil baddies, the rough and ready Lt Sharpe's in good form and all is well in the world!

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A Showdown With An Archenemy

Sharpe's Enemy by Bernard Cornwell
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It felt good to get back in the saddle with rifleman Richard Sharpe! Sharpe's Enemy was one of author Bernard Cornwell's original books in the series. Written in the mid-80s it has all the rough and raw qualities I've come to know and love about these books!

Number fifteen balances the personal with the professional. We get plenty of fighting, Sharpe's expertise, and we get a bit of his fumbling family affairs, where he doesn't shine. Sharpe's long-standing feud with his personal nemesis comes to a head in a satisfying way. Victory and tragedy strike our tough hero and Cornwell deftly handles both.

Cornwell is great at weaving history into his fiction. Here is beats it like a blacksmith into the shape he desires. While some of the details are true to real life - there were deserters fitting the description described herein - Cornwell fudged some of the other details in order to place his main character at the center of the action. That's a-okay with me. I'm not reading these books for their historical exactitude. I just appreciate all the effort the author did make in getting the historical details correct. If you like reading fiction set during the Napoleonic Wars, you've come to the right place!

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Corpse Rider

Corpse Rider by Tim Curran
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Christina noticed an untended grave at the cemetery, she felt pity and pulled the weeds. Little did she know what horror would follow her home...

I've been a fan of Tim Curran and his horror novellas for years so I had to snap this up once I whittled the unread pile down a bit.

The Corpse Rider is part psychological suspense, part ghost story, and I'd have to throw body horror into the mix as well. Christina's one act of pity sees her terrorized by a ghost and its even more horrible progeny.

What do you do when a ghost leaves you creepy ass gifts, saying what a good mother you'll make? Freak the shit out, that's what, as Christina understandably does. With her friends Nancy and Office Crews at her side, she tries to get to the bottom of things so she can fight off the thing making her life a living hell or die trying.

I think Curran hit every color in the horror prism in this one. There's a nagging creepiness, suspense, body horror, and some nasty ass shit. Corpse Rider joins Sow as one of the only horror tales to actually make me slightly nauseous.

I really liked the gravedigger and all the background behind the thing stalking Christina. It gave the tale an extra dimension that sent it climbing out of the corpse-haunted grave that spawned it and put it on a pedestal. While not for the squeamish, Corpse Rider isn't one to be missed. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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Training Season

Leta Blake
Self-Published
Reviewed by Nancy
3 out of 5 stars

Summary

Unquestionably talented figure skater Matty Marcus is willing to sacrifice everything for his Olympic dream, but his lack of discipline cost him the gold once before. Now the pressure’s on. He needs a coach who can keep him in line, but top coaches don't come cheap, and Matty can't afford to stay in the game no matter how badly he wants to win.

When a lucrative house-sitting gig brings him to rural Montana, Matty does his best to maintain his training regimen. Local residents turn out to be surprisingly tolerant of his flamboyant style, especially handsome young rancher Rob Lovely, who proves to be much more than a cowboy stereotype. Just as Matty requires a firm hand to perform his best on the ice, Rob shows him how strong he can be when he relinquishes control in the bedroom. With new-found self-assurance, he drives himself harder to go straight to the top.

But competition has a timetable, and to achieve his Olympic dream, Matty will have to join his new coach in New York City, leaving Rob behind. Now he must face the ultimate test. Has he truly learned how to win—on and off the ice—during his training season?

My Review

Matty Marcus is a very talented figure skater, but poor performance and an injury have kept him out of competition. Now he’s short on cash and in order to be able to compete in the next Olympics, he accepts a six-month housesitting job in Montana for a friend of his mom’s. The natural beauty and tranquil lifestyle allows him time to recuperate from his injury and focus on his training without all the distractions of his friends and city life.

Rob Lovely is the handsome next-door neighbor and ranch hand that comes knocking on Matty’s door with an armful of firewood. Even though they are attracted to each other, Matty is preparing for competition and doesn’t need the distraction. But the heart wants what it wants and Matty and Rob inevitably fall in love.

I totally loved Matty’s flamboyant style and charming personality, and I loved how attentive he was to Rob’s 12-year-old son, Ben. But there were a lot of things that irritated me about him. His parents made a lot of sacrifices to get his career off the ground, and to me he took them for granted and squandered his talent. At least now he acknowledges his mistakes and is trying to make up for that.

Rob is a really nice guy, and though I don’t understand his attraction to Matty, he brings stability to their relationship. Their sex scenes, however, left me cold. They were repetitive, lacking in chemistry, and very unromantic. I could have done without the BDSM aspect of this story, as it felt out of character and completely unnecessary. I know Rob wanted Matty to do his best, but I’m not convinced that pain and humiliation is the way to help him achieve his goals or address his self-esteem issues. I also was disturbed that Rob felt he knew just what Matty needed sexually without considering his feelings or getting consent before engaging in high-risk practices.

On the positive side, there are a number of interesting and well-rounded secondary characters, male and female. I enjoyed reading about the grueling training and physical demands of figure skating and loved the breathtaking descriptions of Montana. The disturbing BDSM scenes detracted a lot from my enjoyment of this story, so I can’t rate it higher than average.

War Cry

War Cry by Brian McClellan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Teado is a shapeshifting wizard who serves on the front lines of a war that has dominated his life. His platoon specializes in ambush and sneak attacks, but they are running low on supplies. In an effort to steal the needed supplies from the enemy Teado is lost behind enemy lines and struggles to find his way back.

I'm not sure exactly what I imagined War Cry would be like. It does have the feel of a more modern war with planes, motorcycles, machine guns, and other modern technology. The world features wizards such as Fire-Spitters, Smiling Toms, and Changers. Fire-Spitters name seems self explanatory in that they can spit fire. Smiling Tom's create illusions that can be made to mask an army base. Changers seem to be werewolves that don't need the full moon to transform, but they can't pass their powers on through a bite. The world and wizards have potential.

I struggled a bit with War Cry in that I didn't truly connect with any of the characters before events really got moving. The story is told exclusively from Teado's point of view and with the exception of being loyal to his platoon, I don't feel like I knew anything about him as an individual. He's a Changer as well, but that doesn't really flesh him out. The story features some other characters who show even less personality with the exception of Bellara who just wants to use her Smiling Tom powers to make people happy rather than having to be involved in a seemingly never ending war.

The story itself also didn't really draw me in as it was a largely straightforward tale of a character lost behind enemy lines with some slight differences. I felt bad for Teado's platoon as they seemed to be largely abandoned in the war effort. I also was a bit disappointed that the author never really showed the enemy. Granted they have the same types of wizards, but outside of that they were just simple soldiers.

War Cry felt like a good idea that simply wasn't developed enough yet.

3 out of 5 stars

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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