Bryan Hall (Author of Containment Room 7)

Bryan Hall wrote a new blog post: The Vagrant

If you haven't heard by now, The Vagrant is now live on Amazon for the Kindle. This roughly 10,000 word novellette is the first trip into the worl... read more »

Bryan Hall is now following Billie Mosiman's reviews

Bryan Hall gave

to:

Dakota
by Todd Brown

My rating:

Todd Brown is known for his zombie books, but his fans would do well to take a closer look at Dakota. I won't rehash the synopsis, but I will say that everything I expected to be a problem in this story ended up being wrong. It works perfectly.

The ti...more

Bryan Hall gave

to:

Etched Deep & Other Dark Impressions
by David Niall Wilson (Goodreads Author)

My rating:

Most short story collections are really hit and miss, but David Niall Wilson's "Etched Deep..." hits far more than it misses. The stories are all well thought out and have none of the constantly appearing, overused tropes that so many collections hav...more

Bryan Hall gave

to:

The Hellbound Heart
by Clive Barker

My rating:

I've loved Clive Barker's stuff for years, and can't believe it's taken me this long to read the Hellbound Heart. Different enough from the film Hellraiser to still hold my interest, the true spectacle in this novella is Barker's writing. He writes p...more

Bryan Hall gave

to:

The Flesh of Fallen Angels
by R. Thomas Riley

My rating:

This book roped me in from the opening and never let me go. Booth and Riley have created a great character in Gibson Blount, and a great world to explore. It's great to see such a fresh take on the horror western, and this is just that.

But best of al...more

Bryan Hall added:

Books of Blood 1-6
by Clive Barker

My rating:

Bryan Hall added:

Books of Blood 1-3
by Clive Barker

My rating:

Bryan Hall gave

to:

Dying Days
by Armand Rosamilia (Goodreads Author)

My rating:

I admit that I go into any zombie story with some measure of trepidation. It's one of those genres that is clogged with the same old stories, same old characters, and same old cliches. It's also the one genre that seems to have the most junk in it -...more I admit that I go into any zombie story with some measure of trepidation. It's one of those genres that is clogged with the same old stories, same old characters, and same old cliches. It's also the one genre that seems to have the most junk in it - nearly anyone seems to think that they can write a zombie story.

Dying Days surprised me, in a good way. From the other reviews and the description I kind of expected the main character to be a cliched zombie killing machine a la Alice from the Resident Evil films. And for the first few pages I thought that was exactly what I was going to get. Luckily, Armand Rosamilia knows better. He added depth and honesty to the character that helped her stand out as something else. Just little things like her being out of breath after a short run actually do mean a lot to me when reading in this genre. The zombies are different, too, and while I won't say how I'll just say to pay attention to the tagline when it mentions 'extreme'. It's good to see people doing something different.

There are also very few of the editing, grammar, and formatting errors that bog down and ruin so many indie releases - so few that I'm actually struggling to give an example right now. With more indies showing up in the market, it's nice to see a book that someone actually took the time to turn into a finished product instead of throwing out a rough draft.

I'd actually give this a 3.5 star review, but that's probably because I'm a picky guy. 3.5 is a great book in my opinion, however, so I'm rounding up to four. What are the criticisms, you ask?

There's a lot of the dreaded 'telling, not showing' going on. It lessens as the book goes on and more people are introduced, but for the first little bit it's present - however, with a book where there's only one character for lengths of time it can be a tricky task to accomplish. I just wish instead of blocks of information it was given in a more...organic way, if that makes sense. Like I said - it gets much better as Mr. Rosamilia finds his footing and the book goes on.

My only other criticism is simply that there are a few genre cliches in there. Some cheesy one liners, characters that you know are gonna show up and either survive or die right away, etc. HOWEVER, this is a book that kind of embraces its excess, and the cliches are handled well enough that they don't ruin the book in the least. It stands out as something different throughout the book, so it makes it a little more glaring when those things pop up.

If you're looking for a solid, well written zombie tale then this is one to pick up. It's not the same old run of the mill thing and it's certainly worth spending a few hours with. The ending is perfect, and leaves you ready to check out the next book in the series. I highly recommend it for zombie or horror fans!(less)

Bryan Hall gave

to:

Swan Song
by Robert R. McCammon

My rating:

This book's a big, thick, juicy monster but one that's well worth sticking with until the end.

The story's epic in nature, a little bit more so than The Stand or other PA books since there are a few sudden jumps forward in time - one portion suddenly...more

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	Containment Room 7 3.71 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2011	My rating:
	Whispers From The Dark 3.71 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2011	My rating:
	The Vagrant (Southern Hauntings Saga) 4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2012	My rating:
	Containment Room 7 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2011	My rating:
	The Arguments of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason by Bryan Hall (Goodreads Author), Mark Black (With), Matt Sheffield (With) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2010 — 2 editions	My rating:

Bryan Hall wrote a new blog post: The Vagrant The Vagrant If you haven't heard by now, The Vagrant is now live on Amazon for the Kindle. This roughly 10,000 word novellette is the first trip into the worl... read more »
11 hours, 32 min ago · like
Bryan Hall is now following Billie Mosiman's reviews
May 25, 2012 05:11am
Bryan Hall gave to: Dakota by Todd Brown	My rating:
Todd Brown is known for his zombie books, but his fans would do well to take a closer look at Dakota. I won't rehash the synopsis, but I will say that everything I expected to be a problem in this story ended up being wrong. It works perfectly. The ti...more
May 14, 2012 09:51am · see review
Bryan Hall gave to: Etched Deep & Other Dark Impressions by David Niall Wilson (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Most short story collections are really hit and miss, but David Niall Wilson's "Etched Deep..." hits far more than it misses. The stories are all well thought out and have none of the constantly appearing, overused tropes that so many collections hav...more
Apr 29, 2012 01:52pm · see review
Bryan Hall gave to: The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker	My rating:
I've loved Clive Barker's stuff for years, and can't believe it's taken me this long to read the Hellbound Heart. Different enough from the film Hellraiser to still hold my interest, the true spectacle in this novella is Barker's writing. He writes p...more
Apr 26, 2012 04:48pm · see review
Bryan Hall gave to: The Flesh of Fallen Angels by R. Thomas Riley	My rating:
This book roped me in from the opening and never let me go. Booth and Riley have created a great character in Gibson Blount, and a great world to explore. It's great to see such a fresh take on the horror western, and this is just that. But best of al...more
Apr 24, 2012 01:25pm · see review
Bryan Hall added: Books of Blood 1-6 by Clive Barker	My rating:
Apr 24, 2012 11:14am
Bryan Hall added: Books of Blood 1-3 by Clive Barker	My rating:
Apr 24, 2012 11:14am
Bryan Hall gave to: Dying Days by Armand Rosamilia (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
I admit that I go into any zombie story with some measure of trepidation. It's one of those genres that is clogged with the same old stories, same old characters, and same old cliches. It's also the one genre that seems to have the most junk in it -...more
Apr 21, 2012 06:50am · see review
Bryan Hall gave to: Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon	My rating:
This book's a big, thick, juicy monster but one that's well worth sticking with until the end. The story's epic in nature, a little bit more so than The Stand or other PA books since there are a few sudden jumps forward in time - one portion suddenly...more
Apr 19, 2012 11:35am · see review

Bryan's Bookshelves

Bryan's Friends (9)

Bryan's Fans (2)

Bryan Hall

Goodreads author profile

12 postsBryan Hall's Blog

combine editionsBooks by Bryan Hall

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rssBryan's Recent Updates

Quotes by Bryan Hall

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12 posts
Bryan Hall's Blog

combine editions
Books by Bryan Hall

rss
Bryan's Recent Updates