REVIEW: David Bernstein - Goblins

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Samhain

Publication Date: 4^th August 2015

Pages: 208

MY REVIEW:

A copy of Goblins was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author David Bernstein via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by Samhain.

So David Bernstein is lucky enough to have two books coming out within a month of each other with two different publishers. I have just finished his other book Skinner and the review is written. I decided to read this one straight away after enjoying Skinner so much. I was hoping for more of the same. I think this one is better!

Marcus Hale is Chief of Police on Roanoke Island. He moved here for a quiet life after a messy divorce and a disaster on his last case as a detective. His career so far on this sleepy island has been just that, sleepy.

Children start to disappear. The pattern is always the same. Shortly after they disappear, their parents are brutally murdered. Butchered would be a better description. When Hale and some of his men stake out the house of the current victims to try and catch the murderers in the act, it all goes horribly wrong when the murderers turn up. They don’t appear to be human. Although he can’t believe it, they appear to be Goblins.

According to the town drunk, this is connected to something that happened in the 16^th century and if it isn’t stopped, the lives of every single person on the island are in danger. Hale has to firstly try and believe what he is being told then secondly, try and keep his men alive as they try to defeat the ancient evil.

INTERVIEW: DAVID BERNSTEIN: PART TWO

Welcome to Part Two of Confessions of a Reviewer's interview with David Bernstein.

In tonight’s section, David starts by answering some specific questions on his new books Skinner and Goblins, continues to talk about his writing and life in general and tackles The Ten Confessions (Nine in his case)

It’s Monday so go grab something boring like lasagne, a coke, sit back, but most of all……enjoy!

COAR - Moving on to Skinner, where did the idea come from for this one? What did you want to get out of it?

DB - My parents had a summer house on Lake Champlain in upstate New York. We used to go there during the winter, too. We had to travel over a mountain and I remember when it snowed how treacherous it could be. Who would save us or even find us if we tumbled down into the forest? And I love tales—book or movie—that take place in the snow. I love '80's slashers and survival horror. I had written Witch Island—another '80's-like slasher that takes place on an island in the summer involving high school kids. I wanted to write something similar that took place in the mountains in the winter, but make it different at the same time. Both books are quite complimentary of one another. But with Skinner, I wanted to give the feeling of total hopelessness and seclusion.

INTERVIEW: DAVID BERNSTEIN: PART ONE

Welcome to Part One of Confessions of a Reviewer’s interview with David Bernstein.

I must admit to not knowing an awful lot about David before this interview so if you are like me then you are in for a treat.

In tonight's section, David will be answering questions on his life in general and his writing and influences. As you will read, he has already led a very interesting life. In Part Two, tomorrow night, David will be answering specific questions on the two new releases he has coming up, Skinner and Goblins.

On night three I will be publishing my review of Skinner.

It’s Sunday so sit back and relax, get the roast dinner in front of you but, most of all………enjoy!

COAR - Whilst doing my research for this interview I discovered there is very little about your personal life to be found on the internet so, tell everyone a bit about yourself in general?

DB - I come from a small town located about an hour north of NYC, but now I live in NYC. I prefer small town life, the woods and less crowded places. The city has a lot to offer, but I dislike all the chaos—sirens, honking horns and traffic. I studied numerous martial arts throughout my years. I started out practicing Karate, then Aikido before moving into the Chinese arts of Kung Fu—White Crane, Choy Li Fut, Wing Chun, Hung Gar, and finally Tai Chi. Real, made-for-combat Tai Chi. It looks pretty and has lots of health benefits, but it's probably the most deadly. Internal energy is so much more powerful than muscle energy.

I also enjoy camping with friends, watching movies of all types—if it's good, it's good. But I do prefer horror and dark thrillers. Heck, my mother is a horror fan and got me into Alfred Hitchcock when I was a wee little one!

ANNOUNCEMENT: UPCOMING INTERVIEW WITH DAVID BERNSTEIN

I am delighted to announce that starting this Sunday (tomorrow. Sorry for the short notice), I will be posting an interview I managed to bag with Mr David Bernstein.

This is part of the build up to the launch of David’s two (yes two) new books. Part One of the interview will be posted Sunday 19^th July with Part Two the following night Monday 20^th July. Night three on Tuesday 21^st July will feature my review of the first of the books to be released, Skinner, which is out on Tuesday itself.

The interview will also see David answering some questions on his second book, Goblins, to be released on 4^th August. I was originally going to publish the review of Goblins as part of this feature but decided to keep it until its actual release date.

As always, the interview will feature some very candid questions all about David’s life in general, his writing, the two new books and of course The Ten Confessions although I am calling this one The Nine Confessions because no matter how hard I try I cannot squeeze an answer from David for one of them.

Please remember to drop in for this interview and review with another Confessions virgin and tell anyone you know that would be interested in finding out about David.