REVIEW: Adam Cesare - The First One You Expect

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Broken River Books

Publication Date: 31^st Jan 2015

Pages: 77

MY REVIEW:

So earlier in the year I read Mercy House by Adam Cesare. You can read my review of it here. I think it was around that time that The First One You Expect dropped to 99p for a while. After reading, and loving, Mercy House, I thought I would risk a quid and pick this little one up as well.

This is a short story and you will have it read in about an hour and a half. Probably take me longer to write my review. So was it worth the one Great British Pound I spent on it?

Tony Anastos hasn’t got a lot. He works part time at his local Stop and Shop and lives in his parent’s basement. Apart from this, he makes ultra-low budget horror movies with his friend, Burt. These normally involve hiring ultra-low budget, ageing strippers to play the roles of the victims with Burt being the killer.

His new co-worker, Anna seems to be very interested in his films. She is young and sexy and eager to appear in his movies. She wants to be famous. Tony sees this as a way out of having to hire the old girls and brings her on board.

When they start a Kickstarter for the next movie, Anna’s methods for the introduction video seem a bit extreme, but they work. From here on in, Tony is just a passenger as everything kicks off around him with devastating effect.

REVIEW: Adam Cesare - Mercy House

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Hydra

Publication Date: 9^th June 2015

Pages: 280

MY REVIEW:

I received an advance copy of Mercy House from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by Hydra.

Not read much by Adam Cesare but loved his contribution in Jackpot and heard really good things about Mercy House so grabbed my chance to get a copy from NetGalley. What a journey this turned out to be!

Don and Nikki Laurel are on a road trip to Mercy House. It’s an old people’s home. They are taking Don’s mother Harriet there but she really doesn’t want to go. She thinks Nikki is to blame for her going there and hates her with a vengeance.

Sarah Campbell is a nurse in Mercy House. She does everything by the book to make sure all the residents have as much of a pleasurable stay as they can.

Arnold Piper is eighty five and an ex-marine. He served in Korea and is now seeing out his last years in Mercy House. He hasn’t been able to move much for a long time but suddenly he feels fitter. He can move more. He is getting some life back in his old bones.

Something is in the air. No one is quite sure what it is but when it starts to affect the residents in ways that no one could ever expect, it spells disaster for anyone unlucky enough to be staying in Mercy House, or even just visiting.

REVIEW: David Bernstein / Adam Cesare / Shane McKenzie / Kristopher Rufty - Jackpot

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Sinister Grin Press

Publication Date: 23^rd Sept 2014

Pages: 142

MY REVIEW:

A copy of Jackpot was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the publishers, Sinister Grin Press, in exchange for an honest review. This is it.

Booker is a serial killer. He wants to win the lottery. He picks his numbers by randomly selecting victims, torturing them, and using their ages for his numbers. Tonight’s jackpot is over $200 million and he has just won it.

Enter Frank. He is a lowest of the low lawyer who wants a slice of the winnings. He intends to get his share by offering his services to Booker, or to be more exact, conning him and also expecting to play on the fact he thinks Booker is none too intelligent.

Enter Winona. This meek little old lady believes the money should be hers. She intends to get her hands on it by any means necessary, using her inbred family to help.

The hunter, Booker, has now become the hunted. Who will finally get their hands on the cash and at what cost?

Well now. Where do I start with this one? Definitely do not open this to read as you sit down to eat. What we have here is the definition of a gore fest. Torture on virtually every page. Blood on every page. Large amounts of blood I may add. Some of the subject matter in this story is probably at the very extreme of the spectrum of my tolerance levels. But do you know what? I “bloody” loved every bit of it!