CONFESSIONS IS TAKING A BREAK!!

Call it a holiday or call it a much needed rest, Confessions will not be around for the next couple of weeks at least.

Us reviewers will still be working in the background reading your wonderful books but no posts will be going up.

All current commitments will still be met but no new submissions will be picked up.

See you on the other side!

Nev!

REVIEW: Mercedes M. Yardley - Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing

Publication Date: 4^th March 2016

Pages: 121

REVIEWED BY CHAD

A copy of Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love by Mercedes M. Yardley was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the publisher, Crystal Lake Publishing, in exchange for an honest review. This is said review.

Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love by Mercedes M. Yardley is a fun take on several different genres and manages to take brush strokes from each in a brilliant effort to create a new, uniquely molded book.

The book has two main characters. As the story opens, Montessa is on her way home from work when she is fallen upon and abducted by serial killer, Lu. He figures out very quickly that Montessa isn’t like any other women he has killed before. She is captivating to him and surprisingly, as the story shifts over to Montessa’s point of view, we find that she is becoming just as taken with Lu. In each other, Montessa and Lu discover the holes in their lives they had never realized were there in the first place.

Soon, Montessa no longer travels along with Lu as his victim, but rather as his partner and his lover.

REVIEW: Stuart Park - Marked

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Sinister Horror Company

Publication Date: 6^th August 2016

Pages: 174

REVIEWED BY NEV

A copy of Marked was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author, Stuart Park, in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by The Sinister Horror Company.

Well, that’s nearly true but with a slight variation. I actually picked up a copy of Marked from the Sinister Horror Company stand at this year’s Horror Con. It was from someone new and you can never have enough books so I grabbed it. A short time later I was contacted by Justin Park to see if I could review it for Confessions. Of course I agreed. I already had a copy so went for it.

Stuart Park is Justin Park’s brother. On one hand you would think it fortuitous that his brother is one third of the SHC, but on the other hand, if you know Justin and the rest of the guys, this would grant Stuart no special favours. The book would still have to be quality for them to put it into print.

So how does it fair? Let’s find out.

Mark and Kim are at the seaside with their four-year-old twins, Ben and Kaylyn. In a freak accident or tragedy or as it turns out, unexplained mystery, Kaylyn goes missing.

Twenty years later and the memories are still very strong. Especially for Kim and she constantly struggles with her broken heart.

It is a time of wonder. Venus and her sister planet are coming to the end of a three-thousand-year cycle and the stargazers are going crazy for the phenomenon.

They don’t appear to be the only ones going crazy!

GUEST POST: Confessions of my Past, Present and Future #44 - Calum Chambers

Confessions of my Past, Present and Future

by

Calum Chambers

The Past

From a young age I suffered from an undiagnosed form of narcolepsy; this would mean my days felt like I was walking through treacle as my brain attempted to shut down. Doing anything at school was a challenge, paying attention, a Herculean task. It was only when I got to go to bed that I would get a burst of energy which would mean I would struggle to get to sleep.

But, I have to look at the positives, it was during this time that I learnt to love horror. Now was the time I would sneak the spare TV into my room to watch shows like Stephen Volk’s amazing Ghostwatch. I became schooled in late night TV and as a teenage boy this didn’t mean flicking through channels for a bit of late night side boob. Instead I was drawn to horror. Mostly, I seemed to be drawn to B-Movie horror, Them, Basket Case, Piranha, Frogs, these were my night time treats. Occasionally at 3am BBC would put a re-run of M.R James’s Whistle and I'll Come to You. Those nights were the best.

When my Dad caught on and took back the spare TV I turned to books. I was always a reader; my Mum drilled it into me from a very young age that books are vital to a young mind. I had read things like Lord of the Rings and most of the Sherlock collection but these books (love them as I did) were the books that my parents owned, they weren’t my choice. Sure, I had other books; it wasn’t like I was left wanting. I owned the entire run of Goosebumps and Point Horror, I had picked up every Dick King-Smith book I could find, Roald Dahl overflowed from my shelves. But now, now I had a taste for adult Horror.

REVIEW: Daniel Marc Chant - Aimee Bancroft and The Singularity Storm

Genre: Sci-Fi

Publisher: The Sinister Horror Company

Publication Date: 20^th August 2016

Pages: 73

REVIEWED BY NEV

A copy of Aimee Bancroft and The Singularity Storm was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author, Daniel Marc Chant, in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by The Sinister Horror Company.

So, Daniel Marc Chant, or Mr Posh to his friends, has a new book out. This one. He sent me a copy for my own pleasure and not necessarily for review but I couldn’t resist. I had to change reading mode for this one as it is, wait for it, NOT HORROR! How very dare he. But, on the flip side, this is a perfect excuse to get to see how he writes stuff other than the scary ones. This is a sci-fi tale. To be honest I didn’t know anything about the synopsis before I started to read it but I was intrigued from page one.

This is what I thought.

Aimee Bancroft is a lady from the privileged side of the fence. She has had numerous adventures all over the world and has got a name for herself as a great explorer.

Her latest adventure is her most gruelling yet. She is attempting to row across the Atlantic single handedly. She would be the first woman to do so. A feather in her cap that she would like to show off to many condescending men.

During a storm, she gets sucked into a maelstrom, and faces certain death. Until she wakes up at the bottom of the ocean. This is the beginning of an adventure that Aimee will never forget.

REVIEW: Brett McBean - The Invasion

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Sinister Grin Press

Publication Date: 15^th May 2016

Pages: 368

REVIEWED BY NEV

A copy of The Invasion by Brett McBean was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the publishers, Sinister Grin Press via Hook of a Book Publicity in exchange for an honest review. This is said review.

The very excellent relationship between Confessions, Sinister Grin and Hook of a Book continues with Brett McBean’s latest novel being offered up for review. Another person that I have to admit to never reading before.

I have seen the name and heard the name before but just never got around to him. This one was not what I was expecting at all.

This is what I thought.

Debra is a writer. She lives alone now, after splitting with her husband Ray. She has friends and family over for a Xmas meal. This is a very mixed bunch so the night doesn’t exactly go to plan.

Once the party is over and she is the last one awake, she notices a strange noise. It’s almost like someone has entered the house.

It’s much worse than that. There are unknown people inside her house. She has no idea what they want or what to do. One thing she needs to try and do though is to survive The Invasion.

REVIEW: Matt Darst - Freaks Anon

Genre: Horror / Everything

Publisher: Grand Mal Press/Outside of a Dog Publishing

Publication Date: 29^th Feb 2016

Pages: 294

REVIEWED BY NEV

A copy of Freaks Anon was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author, Matt Darst, in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by Grand Mal Press/Outside of a Dog Publishing.

Matt Darst is a name I have seen floating around the world of social media for a while now. The cover for Freaks Anon kept appearing on my news feeds. An intriguing cover, one that had me interested but I just never got around to investigating any further. Until, a mutual friend suggested I should give it a read. He very highly recommended it and suggested that because all proceeds from the book were going to charity that it deserved a bit of highlighting.

I have discovered that whenever this mutual friend suggests books to me again, I am going to drop everything and pick up whatever he suggests.

This is what I thought of Freaks Anon.

It’s been a while; it’s BOGOF day! (Buy One Get One Free for those not in the know)

REVIEW 1:

Don’t waste your time reading my drivel below. Just go buy this masterpiece and give some well needed cash to charity and feel good about yourself. Or don’t buy it and feel very, very bad about yourself!

REVIEW 2:

Centurion is on the hunt. He is trying to track down a mysterious girl that seems to be connected with the death of his young sidekick, Henry. The police seem to have no clues, but Centurion nearly has her.

Chee and her father, Marcus are continuously moving towns. Chee thinks it’s because of his job. Marcus knows different. She can never understand how a lot of her friends seem to die tragic, unexplained deaths.

Following an ancient tradition started in the 1700’s, a secret government organisation uses individuals with special powers to hunt down other people with special powers that would be commonly known as witches. Some people think that this is to rid the world of these supposed demons but others know the true purpose of the hunt.

Centurion and Chee are on a collision course. No one knows what the outcome will be. No one knows what the freaks are capable of.

INTERVIEW: MATT DARST - PART TWO

Welcome to Part Two of Confessions of a Reviewers’ interview with Matt Darst. If you read Part One last night, you should have a pretty good idea of what Matt is about. If you haven’t, shame on you.

One thing that strikes me about this young man this week is that as well as having the talent for the writing game, he is an extremely intelligent fella with a very extensive knowledge of the book world.

In tonight’s section Matt kicks things off by talking about his latest book, Freaks Anon, then he will give you a bit more info about himself and finally takes on The Ten Confessions.

As with last nights, this one is funny whilst intelligent and informative and also very personal.

It’s only Tuesday but go grab some pizza and a beer, sit back, and mostly……enjoy!

INTERVIEW: MATT DARST - PART ONE

Welcome to Part One of Confessions of a Reviewers’ interview with a man that many of you may not have heard of before, Matt Darst. This is part of my mission to change that. You really need to get to know this man and read his books! They are absolute gems and need to be on more shelves!

If you don’t know a lot, or indeed anything, about Matt, then read on. In this interview Matt was kind enough to take the time out to give us some detailed, informative and funny answers to all the questions I threw at him.

In Part One, tonight, we find out some general information about Matt and his writing and influences. In Part Two, tomorrow night, Matt will give us some specifics on his latest book Freaks Anon, and also some more general life stuff, and of course will be taking on the mighty Ten Confessions!

On night three, as always, I will be posting my review of Freaks Anon.

Nothing left to say at this point other than go grab some nibbles and a drink and sit back, and most of all……enjoy!

GUEST POST: Confessions of my Past, Present and Future #43 - Matt Darst

Confessions of my Past, Present and Future

by

Matt Darst

There’s something very Wellsian about this “Confessions” format, the idea of going back in time to consider literary favorites, returning to the present to discuss current reads, and then jumping back in the time machine to travel to an imagined (and potentially post-apocalyptic?) future. And since H.G. Wells remains a favorite of mine, this confessional structure is especially fun. What a great opportunity to dig into the past for novels that have influenced me and share authors I love. Thanks for joining me on this journey. Caution: there may be Morlocks ahead!