Constellations of Scars by Melissa Eskue Ousley

Not all gifts are a blessing. Some are a curse.
When Amelia turned 12, she began growing pearls. Every month, a crop of beautiful pearls bursts from the skin on her back. Her mother, Denise, believes her daughter is blessed, and sells the pearls to put food on the table. Amelia sees her condition as a curse. As the pearls form, her body aches and her skin grows feverish. The harvest of pearls brings temporary relief from the pain, but leaves her back marred by scars. Denise hides Amelia away from the world, worried that Amelia’s gift will be discovered and she will be abducted for the wealth she can provide. Now a young woman, Amelia realizes she has become her mother’s captive, and plans her escape. When she runs away from home, she finds a new family in a troupe of performers at a museum of human oddities. She soon discovers the world is much more dangerous than her mother feared.

I’m kind of proud of the fact that I’m not a “judge a book by its cover” kind of reader, so I never pick a book by the cover alone. That doesn’t mean that I can ignore a beautiful cover when I see it, it’s just not the total draw in my decision to pick up a book. In the case of Constellations of Scars, I’m not ashamed to admit that the cover definitely grabbed my attention. The description pulled me in enough to make it hard to resist. I love it when the inside of a book is as beautiful as the outside. ❤

This is my first read by Melissa Eskue Ousley and it was well worth taking a chance on a new to me author. I have to admit that it wasn’t at all what I expected, but that’s not a bad thing. Constellations of Scars is much more than it seems on the surface. It’s a book where the real monsters are disguised and not everything is as it seems. There are also a lot of twists and turns and some things that I never saw coming. As much as I’d love to wax poetic about what I truly loved about this story, I don’t want to give anything away.

Just know that parts of Amelia’s story isn’t easy to read, but it’s totally worth the heartbreak. There were characters that I adored and characters that I most definitely didn’t. There were times that I didn’t even like Amelia all that much – at least not some of the decisions that she made, but regardless of her uniqueness, she was still only human – flaws and all. There were even some lessons to be learned in Constellations of Scars – which ironically brings us right back to that “judging a book by its cover” thing. ❤

Dinner at the Blue Moon Cafe by Rick R. Reed

A monster moves through the darkest night, lit only by the full moon, taking them, one by one, from Seattle’s gay gathering areas.
In an atmosphere of spine-tingling fear, Thad Matthews finds his first true love cooking in an Italian restaurant called The Blue Moon Cafe. Sam Lupino is everything Thad has ever hoped for in a man: virile, sexy as hell, kind, and…he can cook!
As the pair’s love heats up, so do the questions. Who is the killer preying on Seattle’s gay men? What secrets is Sam’s Sicilian family hiding? And, more important, why do Sam’s unexplained disappearances always coincide with the full moon?
When the secrets are finally revealed, is Thad and Sam’s love for one another strong enough to weather the horrific revelations revealed by the light of the full moon?

For the record, one of Rick R. Reed’s horror stories is not supposed to include tears. Emotion, sure. Terror, totally expected. Romance, probably. But tears? I in no way expected a story about blood thirsty, vengeful driven werewolves to bring me to tears. *sigh* That’s not a bad thing though. I consider any book that can draw that kind of emotion a worth-while read. It just kind of caught me off guard.

Dinner at the Blue Moon Cafe was told by several different POVs. It definitely kept things interesting, especially considering one of the POVs was from the killer. That didn’t surprise me though. Rick R. Reed has a knack for getting inside the heads of his most terrifying characters. I’m not sure what that says about me or him, considering his horror stories are among my favorites that he writes.

Thad and Sam were pretty much attracted to each other from the time that they met. Thad always had feeling that there was something different about Sam. A lot of that came from his self doubt though so it was easy to ignore… until it wasn’t. I think what I liked most about Dinner at the Blue Moon Cafe was that there was the possibility that love wasn’t enough. Some things are just too much to overcome and Thad had every right to walk away. That thing that I liked so much? Yeah, it’s what broke me too. It was obvious that Sam really cared about Thad, but…

Yeah, no spoilers here. You’ll just have to read Dinner at the Blue Moon Cafe and find out who the real monster was. 😉

The Man from Milwaukee by Rick R. Reed

It’s the summer of 1991 and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has been arrested. His monstrous crimes inspire dread around the globe. But not so much for Emory Hughes, a closeted young man in Chicago who sees in the cannibal killer a kindred spirit, someone who fights against the dark side of his own nature, as Emory does. He reaches out to Dahmer in prison via letters.
The letters become an escape—from Emory’s mother dying from AIDS, from his uncaring sister, from his dead-end job in downtown Chicago, but most of all, from his own self-hatred.
Dahmer isn’t Emory’s only lifeline as he begins a tentative relationship with Tyler Kay. He falls for him and, just like Dahmer, wonders how he can get Tyler to stay. Emory’s desire for love leads him to confront his own grip on reality. For Tyler, the threat of the mild-mannered Emory seems inconsequential, but not taking the threat seriously is at his own peril.
Can Emory discover the roots of his own madness before it’s too late and he finds himself following in the footsteps of the man from Milwaukee?

A book by Rick R. Reed when he’s in thriller/horror mode is not for the faint of heart. What’s it say about this reader that those are the books that I enjoy the most by him? It’s probably best to not dwell on that – especially when I admit that he has a knack, especially in the case of The Man from Milwaukee, to make me sympathize with the “bad” guy in the story. *sigh*

To be fair, it wasn’t hard to sympathize with Emory, especially in the beginning of The Man from Milwaukee. He didn’t have it easy at home and he had little or no social life and his sister gave him no support at all, aside from sticking around their apartment until he got home from work. He was sad and lonely, so when Tyler came into his life – even as just a friend, it should have turned things around for him. Just a little bit anyway.

Tyler saw something in Emory that it seemed no one else did. He had a niggling fear that things weren’t quite right with Emory, but he couldn’t resist trying to reach out to him. Things inevitably took a drastic turn and Tyler soon learned that he should have trusted his gut before it was too late.

I’m not sure what Rick R. Reed has in store for horror/thriller fans next, but I can’t wait to find out. 😉

the Bachmann Family Secret by Damian Serbu

Jaret Bachmann travels with his family to his beloved grandfather’s funeral with a heavy heart and, more troubling, premonitions of something evil lurking at the Bachmann ancestral home. But no one believes that he sees ghosts.
Grappling with his sexuality, a ghost that wants him out of the way, and the loss of his grandfather, Jaret must protect his family and come to terms with powers hidden deep within himself.

I had no idea what to expect from The Bachmann Family Secret because Damian Serbu is a “new to me” author. It didn’t take long for this book to draw me in. It had it’s slow spots and a couple of little road bumps, but it ended up being a book that I really enjoyed.

Jaret is coming to terms with the realization that he’s gay. Coupled with other things that set him apart from the rest of his family, it’s not an easy revelation. He doesn’t think his family will disown him, but he’s also not hoping for total acceptance. They’ve been trying to “fix” him his entire life and adding his “gayness” to the mix isn’t going to make things any easier.

Since he can’t exactly tell his family that his dead grandfather doesn’t want him to travel back to the family home, he has no choice but to go along and hope for the best. It doesn’t take long for Jaret to realize that his grandfather’s warning was warranted. There is most definitely something about the house that isn’t happy with Jaret and the rest of his family – and it’s not subtle about getting that point across.

The only bright spots in The Bachmann Family Secret for Jaret are his sister, his dog and Steve, who he meets in town. Meeting Steve is an unexpected surprise in many ways. He doesn’t doubt what Jaret sees and gives him something he hasn’t had before – someone to talk to with no judgement.

With the help of Steve, his sister and some other unexpected allies, Jaret has to solve the mystery surrounding the hauntings at his grandfather’s home before it destroys them all.

Diary of the Damned: A Sequel to the Haunting Season

“Allison said that, in time, he’d come for you. For what it’s worth, Evy, I believe her.” 
Evy Breen has worked hard to forget her past. She’s changed her appearance and moved from her hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky, to Knoxville, Tennessee, where she does her best to fit in. 
Evy’s past catches up with her when she finds a package on her apartment doorstep. The package has no postmark, no return address. Inside is a note… and the diary of Evy’s missing best friend, Allison. 
The diary contains everything about their friendship, the bullying they endured, and Allison’s confinement at a psychiatric hospital for schizophrenia. Except Allison wasn’t schizophrenic. Allison was suffering from demonic possession. 
According to the note, that same demon now has its sights set on Evy. The mysterious sender claims that, despite sliding into madness and depression, Allison inserted clues into her diary that might save Evy’s life. 
As Evy reads her friend’s diary, she discovers secrets that Allison kept from her—the incidents surrounding the gruesome death of a former classmate and the truth behind a government agency more interested in embracing a demon than in exorcising it. 
If Evy is to survive, she must return home. There, she must confront a life she prefers to forget and fight off an ancient and powerful demon set on revenge—if only she can decipher the clues her friend left behind.

Way back in 2011… wait, that can’t be right… only 5 1/2 years? So yeah, the time frame doesn’t really matter, what does matter is that in 2011 I was introduced to the writing of Michelle Muto by winning a little book titled, The Book of Lost Souls. I’m still waiting for Ivy and gang to make a reappearance, but until then, I’ve managed to read everything else this author has written. Which by the way, covers a fairly wide range. It all started with witches, warlocks, werewolves, vampires and more wrapped up in a sweet young adult read with a touch of evil and danger and a few surprises in between (The Book of Lost Souls). Heartbreak, tough issues including teen suicide that ends in a surprising ray of hope (Don’t Fear the Reaper). Then there were Gargoyles in Of Shadow and Stone. There was also an anthology thrown into the mix that ended in a tear jerker that I still haven’t quite forgiven the author for (Nature’s Fifth Season). Which leads us to the horror of The Haunting Season. If you’re reading this review and you haven’t read The Haunting Season, don’t read Diary of the Damned until you do. That sage warning is mostly because a lot of what happens in Diary of the Damned won’t make sense unless you’ve read The Haunting Season first. So, now that I’ve gotten all that out of the way…

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Diary of the Damned. I mean, I knew it would be scary. That was a given. It is, after all, a sequel to one of the scariest books I’ve read in a while. (FYI- I like reading an occasional horror story, but it is most definitely NOT my go-to genre. In other words, I’m a wimp.) What I should have expected, but still took me totally off guard, was the emotion. There are parts of this book that broke my heart for both Evy and Allison. This book made me forget how much I really disliked Allison through much of The Haunting Season. (Again, you really have to read that book first to really get it. – Trust me.)

There were characters in this book that I wanted to hug and comfort, but there were just as many that I wanted to scream at in defense of the characters that I wanted to hug. Yeah, did I mention that there were emotions? Lots and lots of emotions. There were some crazy teenage bullies, but honestly, I wasn’t much more impressed with the adults that should have been there for these kids. As usual, the author slipped in some important life lessons within the scary pages. On a side note, there were a lot of characters in The Haunting Season that the author could have chosen to tell their story. Allison wasn’t the main character, but she was an integral one. Her story was important and I’m really glad that readers were treated to not only her diary but introducing them to someone who really cared about her.

In a nutshell, pick up The Haunting Season if you haven’t. If you have, Diary of the Damned should be next on your reading list. It’s not quite as scary as The Haunting Season, but I still only read it during the day.

Into the Hollow (Experiment in Terror #6) by Karina Halle

Perry Palomino has fought her demons – and won – but the battle is far from over. She’s now left broken and on her own, leaving behind her life and family in Portland to focus on giving Dex Foray – and the Experiment in Terror show – a second chance. But their past mistakes continue to tease and test their relationship, as does the wild and desolate terrain of the Canadian Rockies.
The snow-covered peaks and ravenous forests hide an urban legend too unbelievably frightening to be true and the only way the duo has a chance of surviving is if Perry can let in the very man who sent her to hell and back.

It definitely says something about a series when you finish one book and immediately purchase the next… (sometimes even BEFORE you finish 😉 )

I think it goes without saying that I absolutely love this series. It’s smart, sexy and absolutely scares the pants off me. I’m not a huge fan of horror, but when you throw Dex and Perry into the mix, how can I resist?

Dex definitely had his work cut out for him in Into the Hollow. Not only is his job on the line, but, more importantly, his relationship with Perry. He knows she has a right to hate him, but he had his reasons for acting the way he did. He uses the opportunity of them being alone to his advantage. He needs to convince her that he loves her and always has, but there’s the little obstacle of a real life monster that gets in the way.

There are a lot of reasons why this book is my favorite in the series so far. Both Dex and Perry’s feelings are raw and the hurt is fresh. The danger is crazy because they’re battling the weather and terrain, their feelings, a monster and at least one crazy person. I have to admit that even though I understood Perry’s reluctance, Dex won me over a lot faster than he won over Perry and that kind of frustrated me. Maybe it was being in Dex’s head in the Dex Files where readers got a glimpse into what Dex had gone through up until the beginning of Into the Hollow. Whatever the reason I was ready for Perry to give him a chance. *sigh*

Both Perry and Dex went through unmistakable changes in their trip through the veil and there are more consequences to that than even they know. They came a long way by the end of Into the Hollow, but they still have a long way to go. Stay tuned for reviews for Come Alive and Ashes to Ashes, as well as the Dex’s last novella, And With Madness Comes the Light. Yeah, I’m a little behind in my reviews, but once I got going, I couldn’t stop 😉 

 

Old Blood (Experiment in Terror #5.5) & The Dex Files (Experiment in Terror #5.7) by Karina Halle

Old Blood

A haunting novella from the Experiment in Terror Series…
From her harrowing introduction in Darkhouse, the spectre known as “Creepy Clown Lady” has been a constant fixture in Perry Palomino’s life. But beyond the horrid makeup and piercing stare lies Pippa, a woman just like everyone else.
Well, not quite.
When Perry discovered Pippa’s message to her and Dex on the EVP recordings, she thought she heard the last of the old woman’s message. She was wrong. In the novella Old Blood, Pippa relays the tale of her troubled and tortured past, revealing how an aspiring actress and loving mother fell into madness and how an unfathomable betrayal led to her untimely death.
For Perry, the repercussions of her message are life-shattering.
Old Blood is #5.5 in the series and occurs between books #5 On Demon Wings and #6 Into the Hollow

Okay, so I really didn’t think I could dislike Perry’s mother any more than I did when I started this novella, but I was wrong. I also didn’t think that I’d miss the Crazy Clown Lady if Perry and Pippa managed to get rid of her, but I was wrong about that too. Don’t yell, because there’s not a whole lot more I can say about Pippa, Perry, her mother and Dex without giving something away. 😉

The Dex Files

The truth is out there…
The Dex-Files is a compilation novel that accompanies the Experiment in Terror Series and is not to be-read as a stand-alone. In the Dex-Files we find a variety of scenes and chapters from the enigmatic Dex Foray’s POV from books #1-6 in the series. Some of these scenes have been previously published, albeit from Perry’s POV, while other scenes are completely new.
In addition to it not being a stand-alone, the novel also contains some major spoilers and should be read only by those who have read all the published books in the series.
Book #1 – Darkhouse
*Lighthouse Meeting
*Pie Scene
*Jenn and Dex
Book #2 – Red Fox 
*Bar Scene – extended
*Playing Nurse
Book #3 – Dead Sky Morning
*Strippers
*Truth or Dare
*Tent Scene
Book #4 – Lying Season
*The Big Question
*The Xmas Party
Book #5 – On Demon Wings
*A Phone Call
Book #6 – Into the Hollow
*Bailout

Oh Dex… Dex, Dex, Dex… By the end of Lying Season, I wasn’t sure whether I was more frustrated with how Perry handled things or Dex. I wanted to hug them both as much as I wanted to knock some sense into them. After being in Dex’s head for just a little while in each book, I fell in love with the crazy guy. There was a lot revealed in these short little snippets, so take my advice and don’t skip them as you read through the series. And please, don’t read them before you’ve gotten to On Demon Wings. I did read it before I picked up Into the Hollow, but that was actually kind of helpful. What happens in Bailout kind of leads into Into the Hollow.

On Demon Wings (Experiment in Terror #5) by Karina Halle

When the life you wanted has crumbled beneath your fingers, there’s nothing left to do but pick up the pieces and soldier on. You’ve done this before.
But what happens when you no longer feel like yourself anymore? When fires spontaneously start-up around you, when you hear growling coming from underneath your bed, and you no longer recognize your face in the mirror. What happens then?
Ghost-hunter Perry Palomino doesn’t have much time to find out. Now, the evil she used to hunt is a lot closer to home. It’s inside of her, taking over her life bit-by-terrifying bit, and there’s only one person who can help her.
If part of her doesn’t kill him first.

So, it’s been a while since I read this book, but my initial reaction still stands… I thought that the last book ended in a cliff hanger? Yeah, right…. It seems that Karina Halle just can’t leave well enough alone…

Perry isn’t in a good place throughout much of this book. She’s trying to put up a good front and be everything to everyone that they expect her to be, but it isn’t working. She desperately wants to get over Dex, but that’s easier said than done. She’s not quite sure who she can trust and who she can’t and the ‘ghosts’ from the past aren’t helping.

A couple of mysteries are solved in On Demon Wings, but nothing is quite resolved. Those people that she should trust totally aren’t quite the people she thought they were and there are a few new dangers coming from unexpected places. It takes a while for Dex to make an official appearance in this one, but once he does… yeah, did I mention that there is a cliff hanger?

There are two novellas between On Demon Wings and Into the Hallow, which I’ll be reviewing next. I’ll give you the same recommendation that was given to me… don’t skip the novellas! They may be short, but they’re packed full of little tidbits that add much more than expected to the series.

Maze of Souls (Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper #6) by J.L. Bryan

It’s October, and down at newly opened Pine Hollow Farm, the ghosts are running wild! This “genuine” old-time family farm offers a big heap of fun fall activities. You can drink cider fresh from the orchard, enter a pumpkin-carving contest, and explore the five-acre corn maze. At night, if you aren’t too scared, join the haunted hayride through the woods, featuring a genuine eighteenth-century cemetery. According to local legend, the ghost of a horseman has ridden the old dirt road through the woods for nearly two centuries, menacing travelers. Hayriders beware!
Then the real ghosts start to come out, threatening visitors to the farm and the family who live there. Paranormal detective Ellie Jordan travels out to the remote farm to root out the dangerous spirits. Ellie and her assistant Stacey must move fast, because the night is coming when all ghosts will be at full strength and free to roam—the night of Halloween.

So, it’s now officially Spring… and this book is set in October, but honestly, there’s no time set in stone to read a scary story, especially if it’s part of the Ellie Jordon, Ghost Trapper series.

As readers have come to expect from this series, there really isn’t any down time in Maze of Souls. A lot happens in this book. More than a few of those things Ellie and crew aren’t prepared for. Between the emotional moments and the scary moments, Maze of Souls may be my favorite installment in this series so far.

Ellie’s world is about to change and she’s not ready for it. She’s feeling abandoned by someone she’s close to, whether it’s logical or not, that’s how she feels. Her boyfriend semi-ignores her through a lot of the story and there are kids involved in the haunting she’s investigating, which is never a good thing. Throw in a hormonal, moody teenager and some seriously powerful ghosts and you have a story that pretty much covers it all.

There were also a few interesting twists in Maze of Souls that I never saw coming… at least not all of them. In the end (no spoilers, I promise) Ellie has to make a decision that leaves more than one person hanging in the balance. I almost forgot how good J.L. Bryan is at throwing his characters into situations that leave them just a little bit broken. (That’s an understatement in some cases – Jenny Pox (The Paranormals, #1) ) Needless to say, I’m hoping the next book can’t come soon enough.

The Lying Season (Experiment in Terror #4) by Karina Halle

Amateur ghost-hunter Perry Palomino has battled ghosts, fought off skinwalkers and skirted the fine line between life and death. But can she survive bunking down in Seattle for a week with her partner (and man she secretly loves) Dex and his perfect girlfriend, Jennifer? And can she do so while being tormented by a malicious spirit from Dex’s increasingly shady past? With love and life in the balance, Perry must discover the truth among the lies or risk losing everything she’s ever cared about.

I spent a lot of time in Lying Season not quite sure how I felt about Perry. For the record, that’s nothing new when it comes to this series. It’s not that I don’t like her, it’s more like I don’t really understand her. She does some really sketching things in Lying Season… but they’re for the right reasons… kinda, Dex, on the other hand… I gained a whole new insight on him. He kind of broke my heart just a little bit.

Lying Season dealt a lot more with Perry and Dex than actually delving into a spooky mystery. That doesn’t mean that there weren’t some spine chilling moments… like gaining a whole new respect for wasps. *shivers* Readers were also ‘treated’ to experiencing Dex and Jennifer together… (can you hear the sarcasm from there?) Jennifer was, well… you’ll have to ‘meet’ her to totally understand. Let’s just say that regardless of how I felt about Perry and Dex’s little tryst in Dead Sky Morning, by the end of Lying Season I was all for Perry and Dex being together. (For the record, that little tryst didn’t bother me so much as it gave me hope.) Even though they seem to try to sabotage that happening every single time. *sigh*

As much was revealed in Lying Season as new mysteries were brought up. Readers learned a little bit more about Dex’s past as well as Perry’s. Not enough to be satisfying though. Most of the revelations just made me want to know more.  Also, things were really left hanging for both of them at the end. And that’s where my reading procrastination comes in really handy. I don’t have to wait to pick up On Demon Wings. As a matter of fact, I loaded it on my Kindle by the time I was half-way through Lying Season. Right after that I also picked up Old Blood and The Dex Files because I was told NOT to miss the novellas in between the main novels.