Steve Stred's Blog, page 91
May 10, 2019
The Homecoming Review! – PYPERMAYNIA!!!
If you’ve followed me on any of my social media platforms – you’ve seen me rave about Andrew Pyper and how he’s my fav author. If you haven’t – well… uh… he is!
I’ve read a number of his works and as I’ve said before, something about the way he writes connects and resonates on a different wave length for me.
As I’ve made my way through prior releases, each one has etched itself into my mental library. It started by discovering The Demonologist, then I read The Damned and The Lost Girls. When I read The Wildfire Season, I sat stunned when it was done. There were so many personal connections that I felt like the story had been written specifically for me. It vaulted to my fav read by my fav author.
Then I read The Only Child. Someone had asked me if I’d read it and I said ‘yup’ all confident, then realized I had it confused with The Lost Girls. So I snagged it, read it and was blown out of the water.
Pyper has a gift with using minimal words for maximum description. His prose flows so easily off the page that you are immediately sucked into the story and you begin to root for the characters almost from word one.
The Only Child had my favourite opening line of anything I’ve ever read. I didn’t expect it to be topped, and The Homecoming didn’t. But the opening chapter. Hells bells. Pyper goes straight to the jugular here and then its full throttle until the horrifying, heart breaking ending.
The Homecoming is one of the more unique tales I’ve read, but that’s with most Pyper books. Nothing is what it seems. Go read the synopsis of The Only Child as an example for that. His stories are complicated wrapped with technical aspects told with simple words. It’s the hallmark of a deft story teller but also a confident writer.
The premise is pretty straight forward – the often absent father, who lived a mysterious life, dies. His family is summoned to a sprawling piece of property in the Pacific Northwest where they find out that they will each receive a sizeable inheritance, but it comes with a catch. They must live at the property for the next thirty days, no contact with the outside world, no cell phones, no TV, no internet. No leaving the property. If they do they will be disqualified from their inheritance.
The property and house they’ve been brought to, is called Belfontain and the three grown children all have memories of the place – whether it’s actually being brought there when they were little or through stories they remember their dad telling them, the place has a fairy tale quality to it.
Pyper’s description of Belfontain actually reminds me of Blaylock Mansion near Nelson, BC. I grew up near Nelson and that mansion and property always had an air of mystery about it. If you’ve never seen it before, check it out – https://www.blaylock.ca/
Now, I’ll keep this review completely spoiler free, but within the first 20% of this book Pyper takes that simple premise and completely throws it out the window. More surprises from the father’s past make appearances, the dread and horror grow and Pyper keeps you guessing right up to the very end.
This book has elements of Frankenstein, A Clockwork Orange, The Island of Doctor Moreau and that’s just scratching the surface.
At the end of the day, this book was phenomenal and I would have read it in one sitting if time would have allowed.
I think even though Andrew Pyper is my favourite author, I read his work more critically than any of the other authors I love, because I have elevated my standards for what I expect of his writing. That sounds unfair, but I don’t think it is. I also know now, having read six of his books that I don’t expect to be disappointed.
I can’t say that Pyper has gotten better with each release he’s had, I would instead describe it as getting bolder, greater. There’s a quote floating around that says; “Pyper may be the next Stephen King.” I’ll second that but with two caveats. First – Pyper’s work is never bloated or overly detailed for page counts. The Homecoming is listed at 368 pages but reading it you feel like it could easily have been only 100. Every single word has a purpose and the story flows so freely and easily that you’ll be surprised at how much you’ve read in such a short time. The second is I’ve never read a Pyper book where I finished and went ‘huh?’ at the ending. Many people say King struggles to end his books, and I’ve come across that a few times, but never with Pyper. They always end purposefully. (Side note – Mr. Pyper, if you are reading this, feel free to write a 1000 page book. I’d read it!)
This is one review where I could go on and on, but I’ll wrap it up here. This was my first read for my PYPER-MAY-NIA celebration and tonight I’ll be starting The Trade Mission. When I reviewed The Only Child I said I put off reading it after I got it because I didn’t want it to end and not have a new Pyper book to jump into. To have The Trade Mission, The Gaurdians, The Killing Circle and Kiss Me lined up after brings a smile to my face.
In closing – I’m elated to read that The Homecoming is being adapted for TV. I’ve fallen out of love with watching TV but this will be one show I’ll make an effort to see. And for those at home keeping score or wondering – I can confidently say that The Homecoming has become my favourite Pyper release.
Overall – Steve’s top five fav books – 1) The Homecoming 2) The Only Child 3) The Wildfire Season 4) The Art of Racing in the Rain 5) The Neverending Story.
This is a must read for all fans of the horror/thriller/suspense and was an easy book to score 5/5.
May 6, 2019
National Poetry Month: Six Shots (To Redemption)
Hey friends! Second blog post today!
Erin at Hook of a Book was kind enough to share/host one of my poems for National Poetry Month (which was technically last month, but every month is a good month for poetry!)
So click through to check out my western poem – Six Shots (To Redemption)
Part 1 – Jane: the 816 Chronicles and Invisible.
Four weeks to go until the release of The Stranger. Today I’m pleased to start the cool festivities leading up to it’s arrival!
Gavin from Kendall Reviews has invited me over for a four part series exploring my previous eight books!
For part 1 we discuss the makings of Jane: the 816 Chronicles and Invisible!
Take a read and hope you enjoy!
May 3, 2019
PYPER-MAY-NIA BEGINS!
Hello! I’m back with a real blog post today.
Now don’t worry – this blog post will be 100% free of Game of Throne and Avenger: End Game spoilers! The biggest reason is that I still haven’t watched season 7 of GOT and still haven’t seen the second Avengers movie yet! hahah! So consider this blog a safe spot and spoiler free!
We’re about a month out from the release of The Stranger! My next novel is a (surprise, surprise) dark, bleak story set at a campground. It was a story I needed to tell and so far the folks who’ve read it have appeared to connect with a few of the key themes I focused on!
If you haven’t seen any of my posts about it yet, here is the Goodreads link;
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45134451-the-stranger
Over the next four weeks there will be a number of cool features coming out in the lead up. Over at Kendall Reviews, Gavin did an extended interview with me, where we chatted about each of my prior releases. I think these will be something you’ll really dig!
I’m working on the back end and will announce when the ebook preorders are live!
As well – there will be one of the coolest contests I’ve ever done coming up. So keep an eye out for that!
PYPER-MAY-NIA!
As previously announced, I’m dedicating the month of May to sharing my love of Andrew Pyper with the world!
So on May 1st I began reading Mr. Pyper’s newest The Homecoming.
For details on that release, please check out the Goodreads page here;
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40538904-the-homecoming
I’m 20% into the book and already it’s turning out to be a phenomenal read. His prior release ‘The Only Child’ has my favourite opening line in a book ever, but the start to this novel is outstanding. Pyper’s prose is so easy going that he quickly sucks you in and within only a few chapters you find that you’ve become deeply invested in what is going on.
Can’t wait to see where this goes.
What I’m Reading;
I’m one of those readers – where I have multiple books on the go at any one time. So as well as The Homecoming I’m also reading;
We Sold Our Souls – Grady Hendrix. I’m 50% into this read and it’s a mixed bag. Aspects I like and aspects I don’t. Hope it pulls together.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37715859-we-sold-our-souls
Mr. Sticks – Jeffrey Hale. I’m not familiar with this author but it was offered to us at Kendall Reviews and the synopsis was really intriguing. The story is just starting to pick up, but the opening chapter was creepy as hell.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37715859-we-sold-our-souls
Netherkind – Greg Chapman. I’ve previously read The Followers by Chapman and really enjoyed it. This was offered up at Kendall Reviews as well and I snapped it up. 20% in and really digging where this is going.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44888094-netherkind
Artemis One-Zero- Five – Christopher Henderson.
I have to admit – this one was never on my radar originally. Christopher is a big-time supporter of all things Kendall Reviews, so I checked out his profile on Twitter and saw he’d released a book. I really like supporting folks who support me so I snagged his book. So far it’s a really unique slow-burning sci-fi/horror. I’m 50% in and from the last few chapters it’s evident the gas pedal is about to be hit.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39779015-artemis-one-zero-five
Tunes I’m Jamming:
This week’s been all about groove. Listened to a ton of rocking heavier stuff. So here’s four tracks to make you bang your head and possibly break the speed limit with it cranked.
Revocation – The Grip Tightens.
Revocation always puts out top notch metal, but this track just hums along. The video is great.
Knocked Loose – Mistakes Like Fractures
You looking for a really heavy band that brings the bangers every time? Look no further.
Power Trip – Executioner’s Tax
Power Trip is probably the leader of the next wave of thrashers. These guys write solid slabs of heavy. Hornet’s Nest is my fav song from them, but I’ve featured that before. This track though is a close second.
Abbath – Calm in Ire of Hurricane
Of course I had to feature this! New Abbath. Are you kidding me. When it was first announced that he’d split from Immortal we all held our breath.
It’s evident we are now privy to the best of both worlds. Stunning Immortal and phenomenal Abbath.
What’s Up in Life?
Life’s been busy and pretty hectic lately, but when isn’t it? haha!
Those who follow me on the various platforms saw that our son got a strider bike, so he’s been really digging that a lot.
We’ve been getting some spring snow, which for most is awful, but I love the snow!
After work today I’m driving to Fort Mac (about 5 hrs north) to help my In Laws pack and move down to Edmonton this weekend, so that’s super exciting!
That’s all for now!
Next week I’ll have two features on Kendall Reviews so watch for that!
Have a great weekend!
Steve
April 30, 2019
National Poetry Month
Today marks the end of National Poetry Month. I was able to take part in it by sending in my poem “Haunted Homecoming” to Curtis over at Cedar Hollow Horror Reviews!
Take a look and let me know what you think!
{Poetry} Haunted Homecoming by Steve Stred
April 26, 2019
April comes to an end!
Hello, and holy hell, I feel like I’ve been gone away forever.
Between the conference in Vancouver, Easter and working at clinic, my blogging efforts sure have sucked!
So here we go!
The one beauty of April ending is that May arrives and that means the start of Pyper-May-Nia!!!
I’ll be reading all of Andrew Pyper’s works I’ve yet to read and will also have a feature interview with the man himself!
I’m starting with his latest The Homecoming, which I’ve been saving for a special occasion!
Don’t have it yet;
Moving on – The Stranger.
My next release will see the light of day in 5 weeks! Wahoo!
I’ve already been blessed to receive three pre-release reviews over on Goodreads and so far it looks like folks are liking the tale!
Take a look here;
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45134451-the-stranger
I’ve also had a really good response to a Hardcover version. I’ve actually just ordered the first 15!!! OH MY GOD. I’ll be in touch with the first group of folks and get the back end sorted. It’s going to look gorgeous.
I’ll have a neat surprise as well, so watch for that.
What I’m Working on;
The Stranger – honestly a good portion of my most recent time has been spent on The Stranger. Formatting the ebook, the paperback and the hardcover. Being an indie author can be a lot of work at times, and this book, which I love to bits and pieces, has probably been the most demanding one yet. Worth it!
Ritual – I’ve talked briefly about this one already, but this is my expected October release. I’m still grinding away on it and am about 75% through it now for the last go through.
I’ve also put down 15,000 words on my first release of 2020 and am working through last go through of my second release of 2020. Exciting stuff!
What I’m Listening to;
This should come as no surprise, but I’ve been jamming the new Darkthrone tune like crazy. Chadwick St. John did the artwork for The Stranger, and he’s also done the artwork for Darkthrone’s next release.
Darkthrone – The Hardship of the Scots
Abbath – Harvest Pyre
Former Immortal front man Abbath has returned to unleash the newest song from his next release. Harvest Pyre is an amazing piece of black metal.
Dark Funeral – Unchain My Soul
Really been digging Dark Funeral lately and this is a fun song from their last album.
Solstafir – Silfur-Refur
I’ve posted about Solstafir before, but my god they are stunning. This Icelandic group, to me at least, has the atmospheric feel of Pink Floyd. They create so much emotion through their music. Just phenomenal.
That’s it for me this week. I’m going to skip the ‘What I’m reading” section for now. I’m swamped and have no time!
In closing, have you seen this amazing contest?
Kendall Reviews in conjunction with Chris Sorensen are having a contest where you could be a character in his newest book!
Really very cool.
Cheers, friends.
Steve
April 16, 2019
Announcing PYPER-MAY-NIA!
Hello friends! Welcome back!!
I feel awful because it’s been a few weeks since I gave a real, actual blog post – what with the cover launch of The Stranger and then last week I was away at a work conference for most of the week! I’m doing a full blog post today, for a few reasons. I won’t have time tomorrow with a few odds and ends I need to finish up at work, Thursday I work away at a satellite clinic so won’t have computer access and Friday I’m off for Easter. So today makes sense and I didn’t want to skip it for three weeks!
So this week’s blog will focus on two main parts.
The first is the directly related to that picture/banner posted there!
This May I’ve decided to celebrate my Favorite Author – Mr. Andrew Pyper. You’ve all probably seen my admiration for him on social media. I could go on and on about why I love Andrew’s work, but I think at the core of it he speaks to in a way most other authors can’t. His Canadiana, if you will, runs underneath his prose and I always feel a connection with his words. Even when it’s set overseas (The Demonologist, The Only Child) I’ve felt that undercurrent running through his stories.
The other reason I truly adore his writing – is that I’ve never found his work to be complicated for complications sake. Andrew writes thrillers and cross genre’s like a DJ mixes musical styles. ‘The Wildfire Season’ is a blistering work about a forest firefighter battling inner demons but also the wrath of Mother Nature in a small town. It had so many elements interwoven – simply stunning.
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(My completed collection of Pyper’s physical releases! The Wildfire Season, The Only Child, The Homecoming and both copies of The Demonologist are personally signed by him to me!)
So – this brings me to May and my anointment of the month as PYPER-MAY-NIA!
I’ve read a number of his works already – The Demonologist, Lost Girls, The Damned, The Wildfire Season and The Only Child.
For the month of May – I’ll be reading the rest, in this order; The Homecoming, The Guardians, The Trade Mission, Killing Circle and Kiss Me. I’ll be updating you as I go along and will review them each on their own Pyper-meter!
I’d also love it, if you haven’t, to check out one of his works in May. If you need a starting off point I’d recommend any of the books I’ve already read haha! Although – The Only Child is my all-time fav book, so you could start there. I don’t do group-read along’s, I just don’t function that way, but let me know if you are going to be joining me in PYPER-MAY-NIA!!!!
As a massive bonus – Andrew has agreed to do an interview for the celebration! I’m beyond excited. The questions have been submitted, so once the answers are returned I’ll get it set up and let you know when to watch for the feature!
Can’t wait to celebrate and maybe even introduce some of my book friends to Andrew Pyper’s work!
Now the second part – The Stranger.
I’m actually pretty blown away by the early response already. We had the cover reveal two weeks ago over on Kendall Reviews, and comment after comment, message after message about how awesome the cover art was, was very cool!
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So – because of that, I’m entertaining an idea and I need to gauge peoples interest. If you haven’t read the synopsis yet, you can pop over to my Novels tab and take a look, or check it out here on Goodreads;
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45134451-the-stranger
Now the response as been such that I’m considering looking into doing a very limited edition hardcover run of this release!
It would be slightly different than the ebook and the paperback version of The Stranger.
It would open with the short story ‘The Tooth Collector’ which directly leads into The Stranger
It would then have the normal novel approx 230 pages
It would end with a new story specifically written for this release and will probably never seen the light of day otherwise!
I would also be numbering and signing each one
I would also do a new hardcover edition foreword that would accompany this edition only, while still including the normal foreword.
Now – I’ve always been an upfront, open and honest writer for you all. I talk about what a lot of people don’t discuss – sales, costs etc etc.
So – to do the hardcover, I’m looking at each book retailing for $35 US + $15 for shipping and handling world wide. Charging a flat rate is far easier because Canada Post has a small box for shipping that is $15/flat rate world wide! That would be a total of $50 US to order one. From all of that, I’d be looking at making roughly $2-$3/book in profits. So on my own, really not a big money maker, but hey – that’s typically what I make on ebook and paperback sales already!
I’m looking at doing 20 copies of this edition, maybe 30 max, if the interest is there.
I really don’t have a time line for this to be launched as I want to gauge the interest and see who would be looking to get one of these. Ideally I’d be looking at having them ready to ship out closer to release date (June 1st) with people wanting to purchase one sending me the money via paypal or etransfer.
So if you’re interested, please DM me, email me, text, whatever! And let’s make this happen!
What I’m Reading;
Little Black Spots – John F. D. Taff – still making my way through this fun collection of short stories! About 55% done and it’s a collection I think most folks should check out!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41100259-little-black-spots
The Bledbrooke Works – John F. Leonard – big fan of John’s and this is another companion piece/continued piece in the world and mythos he’s building. 30% in and loving the set up.
Woom – Duncan Ralston – also 30% into this story and so far it’s just starting to ramp up. Feel like horrible, horrible things are happening and I can’t wait!
So I’m going to wrap it up here. I’ve already submitted Tunes From the Crypt Episode #2 to Gavin over at Kendall Reviews, so watch for that coming up!
Otherwise, I’ll see you all here next week!
Cheers!
Steve
April 9, 2019
Apologies – no real blog post this week!
Hey all! Apologies – I didn’t do my normal blog post last week due to the cover reveal of The Stranger over on Kendall Reviews!
This week I’ll also not be doing one. I have a work conference in Vancouver, BC which I’ll be attending from Wednesday until Saturday, arriving home very, very early Sunday morning.
So – I figured I’d offer this up as a quick bit of news!
I made it a priority to get it done and I did! About an hour ago I finished the final read through of The Stranger, created the review Mobi files and emailed them off to the normal folks who are always so kind to check out my stuff and promote it/review it!
If you’re not on my normal list and would really like to check out something – drop me a line – DM, contact form here or email (stevestred@gmail.com) I’m pretty easy going!
The reception for the cover art for The Stranger has been staggeringly amazing! I hope you all dig the tale within as well!
So – I’ll be sporadically around on social media the rest of the week! Take care of yourselves and I just saw I hit 800 followers on Twitter! WOWSA!
Next week I’ll be doing a Wednesday blog post, as Thursday at work at a satellite clinic and Friday I’m off work for Easter!
Cheers
Steve
April 5, 2019
COVER REVEAL!
Cover reveal time friends!
Over on Kendall Review, they’ve kindly hosted the cover reveal for my next novel The Stranger, which will be dropping on June 1st, 2019.
For full details about the cover, the synopsis and the gorgeous artwork – click the link!
http://kendallreviews.com/cover-reveal-steve-stred-returns-with-the-stranger/
I won’t be doing a normal blog post today. Today is dedicated completely to the cover reveal.
Next week I’ll be away at a work conference from Wednesday to Sunday, so I’ll be doing a double blog post on Monday and Tuesday.
And because I feel guilty about not sharing a bunch of stuff with you today – I’ll be sharing something really exciting at the start of the week.
It just … might … be ….
Another cover reveal.
April 1, 2019
Book Review- Tesla: Obliterating the Deep State Series Book 1 – Jason Walker
I admit it. I’m a massive fan of conspiracy theories. I love the alternative history stuff for a number of reasons, but mostly for the unknown. The what-ifs?
I came across this book on Net Galley and the synopsis and cover had me intrigued. It was a fast read, and for the most part a very fun read.
The story is split into two parts. The main bulk of the story follows former SAS officer Darren Mathews and his wife/soulmate Anna Mathews. Darren met Anna on a top secret mission and they fell in love. They have a daughter Dana who, throughout is discussed but never has dialogue.
Darren’s story is a good one. He’s in charge of recovery operations. Working now for a classified division of the CIA, Darren heads to remote locations and helps archaeologists and anthropologists etc retrieve things found at newly discovered sites. The majority of the sites throughout the book are pyramids deep underground or crashed UFO’s.
The other split in the story is a systematic fictional look at Tesla as he attempted to develop a few of his experiments. I have to admit, the parts with Tesla were done well and added some intrigue to the story, but I didn’t find it necessary and a bit of me found it taking away from Darren’s part of the story. I wanted to get back to his stuff whenever Tesla’s side came up.
The ending of the story was a fun romp through some underground tunnels, and at first I found it a bit of an odd twist, but knowing this was “Book 1” I let it slide and hope we get to see deeper down the stairs in Book 2. I also felt like the ending of the Tesla story line left a lot open for Book 2 or further. So I’ll patiently wait.
Two last bits here, and its two bits I normally never discuss in reviews.
Firstly – the foreword. It was one of the few forewords that I enjoyed and I think it really worked to warm me up towards where the author was coming from. He did make note of finding ‘others’ on Fivrr and it has me wondering if this was some of his stuff and some ghost writer stuff. At the end of the book, I’m still not sure. I found some stylistic changes occurring throughout, as though someone wrote it and sent it to someone else to finish a section. It wasn’t jarring, just something I noticed.
Second – the editing. There are a lot of issues with misspelled words etc throughout. I’m easy going about it and normally I wouldn’t even bring any of it up… BUT one of the key parts of alien lore was misspelled and it irked me. I constantly was googling stuff on my phone. Like I said, I love conspiracy theory stuff, and there’s plenty of mentions throughout. One thing that I’ve heard of before was ‘The Greada Treaty.’ This is proposed meeting between Eisenhower and Aliens about their technology. It was spelled The Grenada Treaty. I felt annoyed that something that important in the alien conspiracy theory world wasn’t spelled correctly.
Saying that – I did receive this through Net Galley and while I didn’t see that this was created as an unedited advance copy, I’m taking it to be that. I’ve also not knocked any marks down or anything due to these issues.
Overall, I did enjoy this tale and I’m looking forward to the series continuing. This is a fun, fast read for conspiracy and alternative history fans, and as I mentioned before, you’ll be googling and researching a number of things that the author brings to light!
Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for an ARC to review!
4/5
