Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders by Gyles Brandreth Review

by Gyles Brandreth
Touchstone Press
ISBN:978-1439153680
Review by:Gina Desory
Review posted 06/16/2011

It all starts with a conversion between Oscar Wilde and his friend Robert. A conversation in which Mr. Wilde seems to have forgotten key situations and incidents that are about something weird, something not normal. Robert encourages him to publish his findings, Oscar does not remember what they are. Then Robert hands him a file with all the information in it. We then go to Oscar at a party for the Duke and Duchess of Albemarle. A telling of where Oscar meets Rex LaSalle, who he believes is a vampire.

The story of Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders is told through various flashbacks, through letters, invitations and a whole slew of characters that give us a backdrop of what Oscar Wilde did while not writing.

Without falter, Brandreth gives us another look into the literary great.
When I first opened this book I was a bit worried. There are so many books out now combining vampires or zombies with some classic author. However, this book did not disappoint. It was not only different from those many other books that at times we are now groaning over, but it was interesting to see how Oscar's life was portrayed during such an ordeal of vampire chasing and clues that came from the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle.

Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders is no ordinary mystery, nor is it a horror book. It is filled with excitement, some bizarre moments and certainly will fill you personally with a want for more.

Lakewood Memorial (Zombie Trilogy, Book 1) by Robert R. Best Review

by Robert R. Best
Library of the Living Dead Press
ISBN: 978-1448644193
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 06/14/2011

Lakewood Memorial is the first book in Robert R. Best's trilogy.

We start the story with Angie Land, a nurse aide at Lakewood Memorial. She does her job, sometimes hates it with certain doctors and has two kids with very different attitude problems. On this particular night's shift, she feels something is off. Her two kids get a babysitter, even though her daughter objects, and Angie walks around in a haze wondering why she feels something is off.

Then it starts. The strange injuries that start to come in; gashes, bloody bites and several other wounds Angie can't figure out where they came from. Soon afterwards, the monsters come, the people who were bitten, chewed or dead from one of these wounds, sprouting up and attacking. Angie, along with Park, Kristen and Kristen's cranky father who is in a wheelchair, fight for survival in the hospital against these awful things.

What was different about this story was not a typical zombie story. In most cases there is blood, guts and gore, a bit of shooting and wham zombies down. However, this book has depth, feeling for the characters. I caught myself several times as if I was watching a horror movie and yelling at the characters in there not to do something or why did you do that?

The book was a short account of what I assume to be a longer zombie outbreak. But what's wrong with that? In the first few moments of a zombie breakout what would you do? Perhaps, worry about your kids or fight your way through the mess or maybe just sit there and complain like Kristen's father in the book always does. Either way, Best has done an amazing job of showing all sides of fear, anger and just plain being fed up.

You never know what lurks in a hospital. I know I will be looking around more if I ever have to go to a hospital again.

A Conflict of Interest by Adam Mitzner Review

by Adam Mitzner
Gallery Books
ISBN:978-1439157510
Review posted 06/10/2011

Alex Miller is a defense attorney, married and the father of a young daughter. His father just died and he travels down to Florida to attend the funeral. It is there he meets his father's lifelong friend, Michael Ohlig, who asks Alex to represent him in a criminal case against a company Michael had set up.

What Alex is not aware of is what this defense of his father's lifelong friend will bring up and then starts a series of personal and public turmoil, such that Alex feels his life turning upside down.

A Conflict of Interest brings the reader into the life of the character Alex Miller with such ease and then force, that you are leaning against something to hold on. Adam Mitzner puts you into the legal process of defending a client and even throwing some interesting things in there about a so called 'judge lottery.'

The writing in this story is striking and even for some readers who may know little about a lawyer's life or what they do without joking about it, will find this book fascinating and well worth diving into. If all else, Adam Mitzner has been a new tone on Lawyer and court drama, one in which his mark on the publishing world will never be forgotten.

LEGACY BOOK ONE OF THE BLOODLINE SERIES by Michelle Bredeson Review

by Michelle Bredeson
Pill Hill Press
ISBN: 978-1617060663
Review by:Gina Desory
Review posted 06/09/2011

Carly Morneau is a teenager who just lost her mother and her father has a new job that has moved them to a small town of Sterling. She starts to have dreams of a wolf and snow, not sure where they are coming from she puts it aside. Then on her first day of school, she meets a boy named Gabe. He and his friends seem nice enough and she starts to hang out with them learning the legends of the caves by her home. These legends are not only part of the Sterling community, but part of Carly's past. As time goes on Carly learns the secrets of her family and what it means to be part of the group of friends she now has. Her journey through what 'shape-shifting' means changes Carly's life forever.

Legacy is a story that takes the reader through a fantastical world of change in not only shape-shifting, but life itself. As with the likes of Mercedes Lackey, Bredeson shows us that life is not just life, but wonders beyond our imagination can exist. This story holds the reader tightly, and a want to help Carly and be her friend is strong. Bredeson awesomely lets us into her world and allows the door to be open, but seriously, after reading Legacy, who would want to leave?

Warm Bodies: A Novel by Isaac Marion Review

by Isaac Marion
Atria Press
ISBN:978-1439192313
Review posted 06/07/2011

A young man, well, not a young man anymore, but a recently turned zombie, who is called R, lives in an airport with others like him. They travel in pacts to hunt, they can think, somewhat, memories are in bits and more of them are just from the human's brains they eat.

R takes his turn in eating brains in a hunt with the others. However, this particular human, named Perry, who's brains R eats, leaves more than just memories, leaves his emotions and thoughts. Perry's girlfriend, Julie is nearby and R suddenly finds himself feeling emotions he can't remember feeling since his new condition.

Warm Bodies is a charming tale of love. For a hardcore zombie fan as I am, I was curious on how love could be put in the same category as zombies. However, this tale does the trick. It warms your heart to the core to see how R handles his feelings, how he awakens his senses and how even though he is a zombie, Julie, his love interest, seems to think of him of not so much a zombie.

This story tells of how no matter what, the human core is compassion. In the fight to survive, love can be there no matter what you are or could be. There is hope within us all to be alive.

Warm Bodies has changed my outlook that monsters can't love or the stereotype that Zombies just need to fall apart or munch on brains.

It is the love of the author for his story that allows me as a reader to feel the same passion for this book and its characters as I know you will if you just turn the first page.

HEINOUS by Jonathan Moon Review

by Jonathan Moon
Library of Bizarro Horror Press
ISBN:978-1461096221
Review posted 06/05/2011

Imagine bodies laughing as they are mutilated, blood spurting everywhere. You are walking, but behind something that looks like another version of you. Is it real or just a dream?

In Heinous by Jonathan Moon, the dreams of Gavin Wagner become true. After a small trip into the forest with a friend, Gavin discovers a stone in which he can't let go of. His friend warns him of the danger that seems all around them, but Gavin holds on to the stone. Then, something like no other thing goes into Galvin. Spikes, unthinkable feelings, takes a hold of him. Now like no other time, he becomes what this creature wants him to be, pure evil.

Dive into the mind of Mr. Moon. It is a scarey place filled with horrors only thought of by the masters such as Clive Barker. The thrills, the chills, the blood, and let's not forget the gruesome nightmares, are all part of thoughts that invade our souls as the pages turn and our fear becomes part of reality. Unlike anything since Clive Barker, have we experienced such impacting writing and a want to have the hell literally scared out of us.

Picking up the Ghost by Tone Milazzo Review

by Tone Milazzo
ChiZine Publications
ISBN: 978-1926851358
Review by:Gina Desory
Review posted 06/04/2011


Cinque was a young boy who dealt with his cousin's constant harassment and living with his mother who was now going to school at night. He didn't know his father, as he left when he knew Cinque's mother was pregnant with him. However, one day a letter comes for Cinque informing him his father has died and all of his father's estate is his. He argues with his mother and than makes a choice to go to Chicago where his father had lived.

But the story doesn't stop there. A world unknown to Cinque suddenly opens up. A world with an African witch Doctor and a creature that shows up from time to time. In this world Cinque discovers several things about himself and those around him chasing the ghost of his dead father.

At first when I picked up this story, I thought it would be just that another ghost story. But, not only was I surprised, but was delighted to learn the depth of Milazzo's talent. In each page I was taken into the world this author created, finding myself drifting along with Cinque and wanting to know how he would deal with the strange things that kept popping up as the story evolved.

A must read for anyone who wants a story that gets you involved and wanting to know more.