CONFESSIONS OF A REVIEWER TOP FIVE 2015: THE THRILLERS!

Welcome back to the Confessions of a Reviewer’s top five lists!

Tonight we have the top five Thrillers! My definition of a thriller for this list is a novel written by a single author that would obviously not fall under a category like horror or romance. Some books that I would class as a thriller will have other elements in the story, such as crime, mystery or even the paranormal. To me thriller covers a very large range of writing as you will see in my list.

This list is made up of books I have read this year so the books may not necessarily have been published this year.

I have judged these books purely on the basis of how much they entertained me individually. The books will be listed first, with links to reviews and links you can use to buy them. At the bottom of the page you will find all the info you need on the individual authors.

So let’s get to it and don’t forget to buy buy buy!

GUEST POST: Confessions of my Past, Present and Future #13 - Jason Parent

Confessions of my Past, Present and Future

by

Jason Parent

The Past

The book that floored me, that gave me my love not only for reading horror but for reading in general—the book that I will argue to this day should be an American Classic, required reading over that shite that happened at Walden Pond, or at some goddamn West Egg or East Egg or Egg Nog (mmm… I actually do like egg nog)… and by the way I’ve never once seen a Grape get angry, Holden is a reason for blue balls, not the name of a main character, and did anyone seriously know that Tom Sawyer went abroad? Personally, I always thought he had a thing for Huckleberry, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Who gives a damn how many gables a house has and what shade of red your letter denoting your alleged “whore” status is? If you say you’re going to kill a mockingbird, then get ’er done (I’d settle for a mocking jay) and fuck you, I will not call you “Ishmail” no matter how many damn times you tell me to. Isn’t bad enough your friend had to go through life named “Queequeg”?

Ah, Nev, you have no idea how good you had it growing up in a country that actually cares about “football”. Now that I’ve offended, oh, well, everyone… the book! That’s easy: The Stand, by Stephen King. Granted, I’ve read the book three times: original once, extended/unabridged/whatever-you-call-it twice. All three times happened many years ago. But I am not alone in this opinion of the book. I wonder, if I go back and read it now, knowing now what I did not know then… I would be a time traveller who would immediately begin betting on famous sports events. But with respect to the book, I wonder if I would pick it apart.

SHOW-OFF AND TELL #3 - Jason Parent - Seeing Evil

In keeping with the theme of the week, this weeks entry in the Show-Off and Tell feature is my copy of Seeing Evil by Jason Parent.

I was over the moon to receive this review copy in the post from Jason not only because I so desperately wanted to read and review it, but also because I know this man is destined for huge things in the future and I want to be able to say I have followed the journey from the very beginning.

INTERVIEW: THE JASON PARENT VIDEO INTERVIEW

Well here it is. Confessions of a Reviewer’s first ever attempt at a video interview. I’m so glad it was Jason Parent. This guy put himself on the line with this one. He was prepared to answer anything that was thrown at him, and I mean anything!

Giving the logistics of trying to pin someone down who is three thousand miles away from me, this had the potential to turn into a nightmare. I must thank Jason for his patience while some technical difficulties where ironed out and also for giving up his time for what turned into a very long night. It was, however, a night full of answers that will give you all you need to know about Jason’s new book Seeing Evil, his life and writing in general and of course the fun side of Jason where he put his very existence on the line in the 18+ section.

REVIEW: Jason Parent - Seeing Evil

Genre: Thriller / Supernatural

Publisher: Red Adept Publishing

Publication Date: 4^th August 2015

Pages: 234

MY REVIEW:

A copy of Seeing Evil was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author Jason Parent in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by Red Adept Publishing.

I have not read a lot by Jason Parent, just his stories as part of the mighty crew that gave us the collections, Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love and Bad Apples: Five Slices of Halloween Horror. I have known him for a while now and have to say he is a decent bloke. I admit to that solely for the purposes of this review. I want it made quite clear that even though I do know him, he is also quite clear that garners no favours when I review books. He knows that I am honest about what I read, no matter who wrote it.

To that end I have to say I was hugely disappointed with what I read in Seeing Evil. Read on and I will tell you why.

Sam Reilly is a detective in the Major Crimes Division. She isn’t exactly orthodox and has a bit of a reputation as being somewhat of a maverick. She is sent to a gruesome murder/suicide where she comes across a small child sitting on the floor in the middle of a pool of blood. His family has been killed in the crime.

The child was Michael Turcotte. 11 years later, he has been in and out of various foster homes, struggling with growing up in a system that sometimes doesn’t care. His only true friend is Sam. She has stuck by him during the years since his family was murdered.

Michael has a secret. It’s so secret he has just discovered it himself. He has visions. Visions of things that are going to happen to anyone that he touches, flesh to flesh. He truly sees evil. When he tells people and Sam about his first vision, they don’t believe him. When it comes true and someone dies, Sam starts to listen to anything Michael tells her.

Tessa Masterton also has a secret. A secret life that no one but her and her father know about. She has heard about Michael’s visions and approaches him to see if he can tell her what her future holds. What Michael sees is something he cannot possibly tell Tessa. He tells Sam though.

What unfolds is a race against time, a race against evil and a race to stop a cold and ruthless killer that won’t let anyone stand in his way. That includes Sam, Michael and Tessa.

DO YOU KNOW JASON PARENT? HAVE YOU READ JASON PARENT?

Would you like to know more about Jason Parent or indeed read more of his stuff?

If the answer to any of the above is yes then this could be your big opportunity!

I wanted to do something for Jason to help promote the launch of his new book Seeing Evil, out 4^th August. Now I have already interviewed Jason on Confessions of a Reviewer so needed to come up with something a bit different for a second interview.

For better or for worse, Jason has agreed (the fool) to take part in a Skype interview with me. Now I have never done this before so it is fraught with danger. Number one, will Jason understand my Irish accent? Number two, will I understand his accent? Number three, will he behave himself? Number four, will it actually work? Number five, the list goes on and on.

NEW BOOK TRAILER: Seeing Evil by Jason Parent

I have never shared a trailer for a book before but a while back I missed a cover reveal for Seeing Evil by Jason Parent due to being incapacitated (read: off my brains on drugs) (for a bad back I may add, nothing like.. illegal stuff).