REVIEW: Rich Hawkins - King Carrion - Review #2

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Sinister Horror Company

Publication Date: 17^th Sept 2016

Pages: 132

REVIEWED BY ALEX

A copy of King Carrion was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the publishers, Sinister Horror Company in exchange for an honest review. This is said review.

Getting back into the spirit of posting multiple reviews for the same books, Confessions gives you the second review of King Carrion by Rich Hawkins.

Tonight’s review is brought to you by Alex Kimmell:

If you’re a fan of horror fiction, chances are pretty good that you’ve read at least a couple of books about vampires and zombies. You’ve seen the movies, television shows and maybe even flipped through the overabundance of comic books out there. You are familiar with the end of the world tropes where all of us humans are scraped from the face of the Earth like so many crumbs from a plate of chocolate chip cookies. As the saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun, or even the moon.

However, there are a certain, special few who divert from these well-worn, shadowed paths just enough to impress new footprints in the muddy diversion of a fresh trail.

REVIEW: Duncan Ralston - Woom: An extreme horror

Genre: Extreme Horror

Publisher: Matt Shaw Publications

Publication Date: 6^th August 2016

Pages: 90

REVIEWED BY ALEX

This review came about in a slightly different fashion. Woom is a book of extreme horror. Extreme is not a genre that Nev likes to read. Duncan knew this and knew there was no hope of Nev ever reviewing it. But then along came Alex, who read it, and threw his review over to be posted on Confessions. So, lucky for Duncan, here is the fair and honest review of Woom: An Extreme Horror. This book is published by Matt Shaw Publications.

Let me begin this review with a warning. Not a gentle brush off or nudge like you might get from an older cousin about to tell a dirty joke in front of Grandma. This is a sucker punch to the kidneys in a darkened back alley type warning. This is a venomous red flag on fire next to the fuse of an atomic bomb warning. Do not put your playing piece on the board to approach GO if you are the least bit faint of heart or weak stomached. This book is not screwing around. Hence the warning labels written in bold letters right there on the cover. IT’S ON THE COVER!

That being said…

REVIEW: Alex Kimmell - the Idea of North

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Shadow Work Publishing

Publication Date: 22^nd Sept 2015

Pages: 197

REVIEWED BY NEV

A copy of the Idea of North was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author, Alex Kimmell, in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by Shadow Work Publishing.

*****DISCLAIMER*****

This was sent to Confessions and reviewed before Alex joined the team.

Bit of a story behind this one. If things had gone to plan, I would have had a review of this done last year when it just came out, but things happen sometimes and it takes a little longer to do. It had been on my radar for a while because it had been recommended to me by a few people. I have never read Alex Kimmell before and with the stature of the people recommending this book, I couldn’t wait to get my teeth into it.

So what did I think? Was it worth the amount of time it took for me to get to it?

Dalton plays the piano. A lot. He plays every day. Him on one piano while his two sisters, and mother, play on theirs as well. Music is very important in their family. Dalton has no idea why though.

Whenever the music plays, great storms ravage the country. Storm chasers capture an image of a man standing in the middle of one of these great storms. Who is he and what has he to do with Dalton?

He has no idea. Everyone else seems to know though.

REVIEW: Mercedes M. Yardley - Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel of Murder and Whimsy

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing

Publication Date: 4^th March 2016

Pages: 280

REVIEWED BY ALEX

A copy of Pretty Little Dead Things was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the publishers, Crystal Lake Publishing, in return for an honest review. This is said review.

In writing book reviews, I have made a solemn vow to never give any spoilers. No plot reveals or important, hidden character traits that drive the story. I rarely check out book reviews myself for the simple reason that I want to read the story myself and be surprised. I will, however, tell you my thoughts on the book and how it made me feel. I will discuss the writing style and do my best to persuade you to read it if I feel it’s worthy of such praise. If not, I won’t harp on the negative aspects to try and belittle the author as is done in social media too often these days...

The particular book I am discussing here, this singular experience of comforting horror unfolded with each word in an agonizing beauty of anticipation. From the first sentence of Pretty Little Dead Girls, Mercedes M Yardley announced the story would be painful. In a handful of perfectly chosen words, she announced plainly how scorchingly sad the pages ahead were going to be. In order to prepare myself, I read and re-read the first line over and again for two days before continuing on into the rest of the book. What I wasn’t, what I couldn’t be prepared for, was how densely gorgeous her writing was.

ANNOUNCEMENT: WELCOME OUR NEW REVIEWERS!!

So, whenever I set Confessions up, in February 2015, I did it for something to do. I was told I was quite good at this reviewing lark and I should do it, so I did. It started off as somewhere to put my reviews and keep them tidy. It led from one thing to another, and here we are today.

Sixteen months on and I have several features running alongside the reviews. 330 posts published. 63,500 hits. 22 interviews. I could go on and on with the stats.

Again I can’t thank you all enough for keeping coming back and keeping me going. To all the authors and publishers and presses that give up their time and energy and books, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Without your generosity I would have no content.