Tag Archives: Horror

book reviews, novel

The Band by David Kummer. A Review .

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OVERVIEW

An exciting tale of violence and mystery.

WHAT AMAZON SAYS

Because of Johnny, I went with the band. Because of Kate, I stayed. They played anywhere, all through Appalachia. They were the best show for miles around. But even I didn’t expect Oakville to be the end.Oakville, WV. It was supposed to be a quiet place: to catch our breaths, to fall in love. It was a chance to know each other completely. As long as Johnny didn’t find out.It would also be the last show they ever played.In a foggy Appalachian town, one of us wouldn’t make it home. And everyone else would never be the same.

STORY

This is a tale told in the first person. The protagonist is a young man, Aiden, who is the sound engineer with a band that is trying to break into the big time.

The Band have left their homes in Tennessee to travel around getting gigs wherever they can.They all have problems and reasons for wanting to spend the summer away from their families.

Tensions abound between the band members, but when they reach the small town of Oakville, things come to a head.

They play an impromptu gig outside the Courthouse one hot afternoon, which leads to a Saturday night gig in one of two bars in the town.

They find a week’s lodging in a run-down basement flat belonging to a mysterious old lady.

Then some gruesome murders take place. Rumour has it the old lady had killed three husbands and buried them in her garden.

Who has been killing the teenagers? Was it the old lady? Sam, a young man who appears to be following the band around? One of a biker gang, with whom the Band had an argument?

Nothing more shall be said by me as I don’t want to write a spoiler.

CHARACTERS

Aiden is the sound man for the Band. He has joined them because of problems at home. Like others in the Band, he’s running away from a dysfunctional family.

He has a thing for the only female in the band, but is lacking in confidence, so says nothing.

Johnny is the leader of the band. He is a very mixed up kid. With his family background making him crave attention, he is easily pushed into jealous outbursts if someone appears to be getting more than what he considers their correct amount.

He’s a bit of a loner, and often goes off on his own.

Kate, otherwise known as Echo, when in the Band, is a young woman who is an amazing singer. It’s she who ensures the Saturday night gig in Oakville. Whenever she sings, the place comes alive with her energy.

She enjoys nature and walking and often persuaded Aiden to go with her on her rambles. Sometimes she seems to reciprocate Aiden’s feelings, and at others she appears to think of him as just a friend.

River is a very good looking young man. The girls all fall over themselves for his attention, and he enjoys this aspect of being in the Band.

He is the most talented guitarist of them all, and also has a superb voice. He has his share of solos.

Finally, Bobby. He is known as Pistol in the Band, and is the drummer. He always wears a cowboy hat, and Aiden thinks he sounds ‘country’ when singing. He has ambitions to play guitar, but Johnny tells him he’s not good enough, so he sticks to the drums.

He seems to be about the most ‘normal’ of the Band.

The characters are all well-drawn and fully rounded, having both positive and negative traits. I’m not going to go into the others or this will never finish.

WRITING

David Kummer does an excellent job of building up the tension in this book. There are several places where I couldn’t have put it down if asked.

He uses the setting well to add to the tension. Hot sultry weather, sudden rain, rickety bridges etc.

There are a few typos, and some grammatical errors, but not enough to make me stop reading.

I did, however, get a bit irritated when he used ‘lay’ every time when it should be ‘lie.’ But as this is a very common error, I don’t suppose it would annoy most people.

I give it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4*

My ranking of books.

In order to get a particular number of stars, it is not necessary to meet all the criteria. This is a guide only.

5* Exceptional. Wonderful story. Setting well drawn, and characters believable–not perfect, but with flaws. Will keep you up all night. No typos or grammatical errors.

4* A thoroughly enjoyable read. Great and original story. Believable setting and characters. Very few grammatical errors or typos.

3* I enjoyed it. Good story. Characters need some development. Some typos or grammatical errors.

2* Not for me. Story not very strong. Unbelievable and flat characters. Setting not clearly defined. Many typos or grammatical errors.

1* I hated it. Story almost non-existent. Setting poor. Possibly couldn’t finish it.

book reviews, novel

A Review of The Misery House by David Kummer

2 Comments

Overview.

I wish I hadn’t read this book yet. It is the first part of a trilogy and I can’t wait for the other books to come out. I am captivated by the story, and chilled at the same time.

Story.

I am finding it difficult to summarise the story without spoilers.

There is an abandoned house on a hill just outside the town of New Haven. There is something frightening about it, and no one goes there.

The Woods family farms just outside the town, and their son, Nate, is on the baseball team. When a new family arrives, the son also joins the team, but there is something the other boys find odd. 

Then a shop burns down with the owner and his son inside. The sheriff immediately suspects the newcomers, even though they were all at the baseball game. 

On a bicycle ride near the house, Naomi Woods and her son, Nate, see mysterious lights and are chased by a strange animal.

When Kaia Woods’ best friend disappears, things come to a head. 

I’m saying no more.

Characters.

Mr Kummer has given us a variety of characters, each one different.

Cliff Woods, the father of Kaia and Nate, wants to farm his land in peace and do the best he can for his family. He does not always make the correct decisions, though.

Naomi is a sensible woman. She tries to do the right thing, and she stands up for the new family. But she is afraid of the house because of something that happened to her when she was foolhardy enough to go into it.

The sheriff is a prejudiced man who is suspicious of anything new.

Kaia cares for her friend who has married a strange young man, but she is impulsive.

Nate is a typical young boy who would rather play on his x-box when not playing or practising baseball.

On the whole, the characters are believable with flaws we can all relate to.

Writing

Mr Kummer builds the tension excellently. I felt quite afraid in the parts where the house was involved.

The story is written from multiple points of view. Each point of view has its own chapter. When we are with a member of the Woods family the writing is in the first person, which is the majority of the book, there are chapters which don’t involve them, and they are in third person.

I did not find this a problem as it’s made quite clear in the chapter headings.

One negative in the writing is the overuse of the word ‘just’. It appears several times on most pages and it did become a distracy, especially since in most cases it wasn’t needed.

This was not enough to reduce the rating, and I give it 5*.

My ranking of books. In order to get a particular number of stars, it is not necessary to meet all the criteria. This is a guide only.

5* Exceptional. Wonderful story. Setting well drawn, and characters believable–not perfect, but with flaws. Will keep you up all night. No typos or grammatical errors.

4* A thoroughly enjoyable read. Great and original story. Believable setting and characters. Very few grammatical errors or typos.

3* I enjoyed it. Good story. Characters need some development. Some typos or grammatical errors.

2* Not for me. Story not very strong. Unbelievable and flat characters. Setting not clearly defined. Many typos or grammatical errors.

1* I hated it. Story almost non-existent. Setting poor. Possibly couldn’t finish it.

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Maria and Tom have bought an antique table for the old cottage they bought. On hearing strange noises in the night that sound like crying, they worry their house is haunted, but the sounds seem to come from the table.

They set about trying to find what is causing the disturbances. The answer is stranger than either of them had thought.

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Review of The Greenland Diaries, Day 1-100 by Patrick W. Marsh

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Overview

I think that the title of this book is misleading. I thought it would be set in the country of Greenland, but it is set in Minnesota. I think that the Greenland refers to the growth of plants turning everything green. Perhaps if Mr Marsh had called it The Green Land Diaries, it would have been better.

Blurb

“It began with a drum. Then the monsters came. I’ve been hiding ever since.”

The following collections of journals were recovered from a caravan outside of Duluth, Minnesota. The exact date of recovery is not known nor is the origin of the speaker. The Bureau for the Restoration of History (BFRH) would like help in identifying the man who kept these records. This unedited record of events is still considered the most accurate history of the apocalypse that occurred on April 15th, 2011.

Story

Something came. The writer of the diaries calls them the Unnamed. Every night a drum sounds all night long, and then come the Unnamed. They seem to be intent on wiping out humankind. They search for them and tear them to pieces but they themselves are wispy and no-one can see their faces.

Accompanying them is a growth of vines that cover and wreck everything.

This is the story of how one man escaped from them. Sadly, though, it is all rather samey. There is an increase in the pace towards the end, though, and a few questions were asked, but none were answered. I feel that even in a series, there should be some sort of closure at the end.

There are 4 books in the series, and I don’t think I can manage to go through 4 books in order to discover what the Unnamed are and where they came from. (Besides, the ebook is rather expensive at £4.33)

Characters

This mainly revolves around one man—the writer of the diaries. His character is rather flat, and he doesn’t change much throughout the book. There are a few other characters. An old man called Gerald, whom the protagonist becomes friends with, a young boy called Timothy who is not what he seems, and an older man called Francis, who is also an enigma.

The best character is the protagonist’s little dachshund, called Snowy. (Yes, it’s an odd name for a brown dog, but it is explained in the story.)

Writing

The writing is not good. There is an overuse of the word ‘just’, which to me screams Amateur. Far too many superfluous prepositions, and many spelling mistakes. (scrapping instead of scraping, for example.) Mr Marsh also uses wrong words in some places and does not know when to use ‘lay’, and when to use ‘lie’. Some people might be able to ignore these things, but I find it grates and spoils my reading experience.

Conclusion

This book could have been shorter. If the others are the same, then, with the elimination of the superfluous words and speeding up the action, it could probably have been fitted into three books and be a better read. The premise is good, and this book could be excellent and very scary, but the writing lets it down.

I give it only 2*

Have you read this book? If you have , I would be interested in your thoughts about it. There are quite a number of positive reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. How much does the writing matter?

Leave your comments in the comments box, please.

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Maria and her husband, Jack, have moved into an old cottage. They want to furnish it with period furniture and buy a medieval table.

That’s when the mystery begins. Strange sounds in the night. Have they bought a haunted house? But a medium tells them it is not a ‘lost spirit’, but something else she does not recognise.

What is it that is causing them to lose sleep? The answer is more unexpected than anyone thought.

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