C.B. Calsing's Blog, page 3

Review of A.S. Thornton's "Son of the Salt Chaser" (audiobook)

I listened to the first book of this series, "Daughter of the Salt King" in June of last year. I realized I didn't post the review here, though. I've put it at the end so you can see my feelings on that as well.

A.S. Thornton’s “Son of the Salt Chaser,” the sequel to “Daughter of the Salt King,” is a fantasy romance that draws on the lore and motifs of the Middle East. 

Saalim, the genie Emel loves, has become human, and with this transformation, has forgotten their shared past. Now Emel is a refugee, following him to this city by the sea. She hopes she can rekindle their relationship, but his betrothal to a girl from the other side of the ocean may make that difficult. Instead, Emel finds comfort with Kas. But all is not as it seems, and Emel and Saalim slowly uncover secrets and information that will change their futures. 

Like the first book, this is a very solid fantasy romance with lovely world-building and wonderful settings. I really enjoyed the developing relationships in the new setting, how old ones changed and new ones sprung up. I thought it was going to follow a similar romantic arc to Sarah J. Maas's “A Court of Thorns and Roses,” where a new love interest enters in the second book, but it doesn’t exactly follow that template. 

The narrator, Vaneh Assadourian, made her return from the original story. I was very happy to have her back. I don’t like it when the narrator doesn’t do the next book in a series. She did an excellent job yet again with the tension and the voices of the various characters. 

A.S. Thornton’s “Son of the Salt Chaser” is a great romance for a chill afternoon. I would recommend it to any fantasy romance lover. I received it from NetGalley. 

And now my review of "Daughter of the Salt King"A.S. Thornton’s "Daughter of the Salt King" is a romantic, fantastical romp. It possesses some grim details, but they add to the dire stakes.
Emel is the daughter of a king. Her one role in life is to secure favorable allies for her father through marriage. If she does not do this before her twenty-third birthday, she is cast off. When her fiance is killed trying to protect her father from rebels, Emel finds herself in possession, for a brief time, of her father’s jinni. Slowly they fall in love, even as the king continues to try to marry off his daughter. Because Emel freed the jinni from his vessel once, she can make wishes, but what are the right wishes to make? What consequences will she face for her decisions?
This was a tight, fun story that I thoroughly enjoyed. It probably could have used a couple of trigger warnings for other readers (Emel is not always welcoming of the advances of her suitors). But it is a solid romance with an exotic flair. More authors should explore the fantasy and folklore of parts of the world other than Europe in the world-building.
The narrator of the audiobook, Vaneh Assadourian, did an excellent job with the source material. She was able to flesh out the different characters and perspectives well. It was easy to tell the difference between the characters, and her accents added to the flavor of the story.
Overall, I enjoyed Daughter of the Salt King by A.S. Thornton. It would make for an excellent vacation read, perfect for any upcoming summer vacation. I received this audiobook from NetGalley.

A Review of Hunter H. White's "Treasures of the Lochs" (audiobook)

Hunter H. White’s “Treasures of the Lochs” was a fun, fast-paced read that anyone who liked “National Treasure” will enjoy.  

You know the trope: a less-than-perfect son, Carter Porter, is dealing with a mystery surrounding his recently deceased father. Between Carter’s drinking, divorce, deaths of his daughter and father, and an attack on the historical site he was supposed to be guarding, Carter is having a bad run. It gets even worse when his car share driver is shot to death. When a mysterious letter arrives with the promise of a first-class ticket to Scotland, Carter takes it without thinking. In Scotland, inn worker Hassie Douglass is dealing with her own loss: her grandfather’s terminal lung-cancer diagnosis. When she finds some gold coins on the edge of Loch Ness, she believes they’ll help get her father better care. Instead she is drawn into a plot to find and steal a centuries’ old treasure meant to help the Jacobites put a Stuart king on the English throne. She and Carter, along with a dog and an amateur historian, fight to save the Jacobite treasure along with exploring one of the oldest stories in Scotland: Is Nessie real? 

I enjoyed most of this book. It’s a pretty tropey treasure-hunter adventure with likable characters who are fairly three-dimensional. The magical element was fun, but I think there was a missed opportunity in rooting it more firmly in Scottish and Gaelic folktales and mythology. The biggest issue I had was some of the dialogue. One interaction between several of the characters was so rife with exposition that I sort of tuned out to a lot of it. The dialogue just didn’t sound natural. 

Laura Darrell supplied a great narration. She had to switch between several accents: American, Scottish, Russian, Italian, English... The tension she imparted to the story worked great too. I listen at 1.5 speed, and the pace was appropriate for the narrative.

This seems to be the author’s first published novel, and I look forward to seeing what Hunter H. White does in the future. I received this audiobook from NetGalley.  

A Review of Rande Goodwin's "The Witchfinder's Serpent" (audiobook)

Rande Goodwin’s “The Witchfinder’s Serpent” is a fun, contemporary witch’s tale appropriately set in New England. The cast of characters and tropey plot are perfect for fans of Halloween-season movies and shows like “Hocus Pocus” or “Sleepy Hollow.” 

After Nate and his little brother lose their father to cancer, a mysterious aunt takes them in, moving them into her large, Connecticut house. Things seem normal as the two boys start at new schools and begin making friends. But when Nate's brother steals his aunt’s key to the mysterious locked room, things start to go very wrong, very fast. 

I enjoyed the mix of high school drama and Stephen-King-like macabre description in this story. Parts are not for the faint of heart, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to teen readers who love horror with a splash of romance. The narrator, Nick Mondelli, did a fine job (even with the female character voices) and added the right amount of emotion and tension to the story. 

I am looking forward to the next installment in Rande Goodwin’s The Witches of Windsor series, as there are definitely loose strings to be tied up. I’m also invested in the characters and their relationships, and I want to see where it all ends up. I received this audiobook from NetGalley.  

William Friend’s "Let Him In” is quite possibly one of th...

William Friend’s "Let Him In” is quite possibly one of the creepiest slow-burns I’ve read in a long time. Told from shifting perspectives, it has the reader constantly questioning what exactly is happening and who is to blame.  

Widower Alfie is trying to raise his twin daughters after their mother’s odd and tragic death. Of course they are going through some stuff processing their grief. And luckily, their mother’s twin, Julia, is a psychiatrist who is more than capable of treating them. When an imaginary friend joins the girls, Julia dismisses it at a as coping mechanism at first. Then the imaginary friend, Black Mamba, starts causing problems. Is Julia going to be able to help the girls with their psychological issues, or is something deeper and darker afoot? 

Twins, an old manor house, a mysterious death... “Let Him In” gives us plenty of tropes we know and love from the horror genre. This is more than just a plain rehashing of old ideas, however. The tropes work to draw the reader in, but the author creates a fresh and dark take that keeps the reader involved. While reading this, I had a new puppy. I’d get up to put him out in the middle of the night. Normally, I’d want to go right back to sleep. With “Let Him In,” however, I found myself opening my Kindle and reading for another half-hour or more! I really wanted to see where the story was going, and it kept me engaged. 

I definitely recommend this book to horror fans, and I look forward to the next story from William Friend. I received this book from NetGalley.  

A Review of Nancy Gardner's "Dream Stalker" (audiobook)

I thoroughly enjoyed Nancy Gardner’s “Dream Stalker.” It’s an entertaining cozy mystery with a touch of the paranormal. 

Lily Scott is an herbalist who’s gone through some rough patches. Her husband has died, and her daughter has just been released from prison after stabbing an abusive boyfriend. On top of that, Lily witnesses the suicide of her childhood friend, Kitty. But there seems to be more to the death than first appears. Lily must use her special ability, entering other people’s dreams to see their repressed memories, in order to solve a mystery that encompasses the town of Salem, Massachusetts. 

There were quite a few twists and turns in this story, with plenty of red herrings as well. The setting of Salem around Halloween had me wishing for cooler temperatures and fall festivities. I enjoyed many of the secondary characters, though a few of them could have been fleshed out a touch more. The narrator, Karen Krause, gave me Bernadette Peters vibes, which I loved. I completely believed her as the voice of Lily Scott. 

I hope "Dream Stalker” is the first in a series because I would love to see what else Lily gets up to, learn more about her sister and daughter, and definitely dive deeper into her powers as a dream walker. I received this book from NetGalley.

A Review of Kevin Lucia's "The Horror at Pleasant Brook"

“The Horror at Pleasant Brook” by Kevin Lucia is a trope-filled, small-town horror with plenty of gore. 

Pleasant Brook is a hamlet in the Adirondacks with a constable and a few businesses. Only a handful of people have ever left the small town, and when they do, they tend to return. When one of these wayward residents comes back to find a creepy mask in an abandoned house, quiet life in the small town quickly unravels. Fighting the slowly growing evil is a teenager who conveniently knows a lot about horror plots, the town librarian, and the constable. To the reader, it is obvious this force is woefully inadequate, and we must wonder if Pleasant Brook can be saved at all. 

This book took me a long time to finish. I had a hard time getting back into it every time I picked it up. I enjoyed the construction of the evil. It was an interesting take on a new monster, integrating Celtic mythology and maybe a little alien invasion. My main complaint is the same as a few of the other reviewers: A new character is introduced in a chapter, lots of backstory on them, and they die by the end of that chapter. Each victim has the same description of their attacker, the same sensory experience, and a similar death. These chapters were very formulaic, and when you started one, you knew exactly how it was going to end. That took some of the excitement out of the narrative for me. Though filled with classic tropes I love in this type of story (the rag-tag band fighting the evil, the small-town feel, the stereotyped characters), they weren’t carried through to the end. The main drunk that joins the rag-tag team for a while, for instance, doesn’t get to make it to the end for his redemption. He’s sober from the beginning, never backtracks, and never has to prove himself to the rest of the team.  

Reading Kevin Lucia's "The Horror at Pleasant Brook" taught me something about crafting horror novels, so I can still recommend it to readers who are interested in a deep-dive into the genre and its tropes. I received it from NetGalley. 

A Review of Delas Heras's "The Nine Lives of Bianca Moon" (audiobook)

Delas Heras’s “The Nine Lives of Bianca Moon” is a book perfect for any fan of hard-boiled detective novels, but who wishes those novels were populated by cats and dogs instead of gumshoes and dames. Also, the book possesses a light-hearted paranormal element that adds a new twist to the genre. 

Junior Detective Morton Digby, a border collie, and his partner, a Scottish terrier, are trying to solve the murder of one journalist, Flint Lockford: an Irish Wolfhound. Bianca Moon, Flint’s cat girlfriend, is also trying to track down the killer. Cats have nine lives in this story, getting resurrected wherever they were born each time they are killed. Bianca’s investigation doesn’t go so well, and there’s a question whether she’ll get out of it alive. On the other side of the veil, recently deceased Flint Lockford is trying to adjust to life after death while finding his killer and protecting his girlfriend. I mean, “fiancée.” 

This was a fun, quick listen. It follows almost all the tropes you would expect from a detective novel, but the addition of the paranormal elements was entertaining. There is a lot of stereotyping of breeds: hounds make the best cops, terriers are tenacious, bulldogs drool... The author offers us a nice selection of red herrings, and the supporting characters all serve their function. 

The narrator, Price Waldman, did a good job portraying all the different characters, though I didn’t take to a couple of the female voices. They felt a bit too trite. 

This was a fun read and, being the first in the series promises to be followed by some more creative content. Being the owner of both a border collie and an Irish wolfhound, I enjoyed the fact that they were the main characters. I would definitely check out the sequel if I wanted something that promised to satisfy and didn’t take too much heavy literary lifting. I received this book from NetGalley.

A review of Lucy Holden's "Woven in Darkness" (audiobook)

Lucy Holden’s “Woven in Darkness” is an epic fantasy with some really interesting world-building. Zaria is a slave with no memory of her childhood. One day, she and some other children simply appear mysteriously along with bags of gold that fill annually to pay for their care. Her childhood is rough, working in a brothel, but she does have caring adults and she gets to attend school to learn to read and write. When the bags of gold fail to magically fill one year, Zaria must try to keep her family together while gaining her freedom before she can be sold. Harken, the Savage King, comes to her aid but not without strings attached. As they work together to achieve both their goals, their relationship grows. 

This book had a lot going for it. Some of the world-building elements were hard to get a handle on at first, but they became clearer as the narrative progressed. Because the story was told in first-person perspective, it would feel unnatural to give too much exposition as a third-person narrator could do. The challenges Zaria faces and her discoveries are intriguing and kept me reading. I was a bit put off by the age difference between her and Harken (same reason I never liked the Twilight series. What does an immortal want with a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old?), but other than that I enjoyed the story and the happily ever after. The narrator, Heather Takano, did an excellent job giving voice to Zaria and had me all the more engrossed. 

“Woven in Darkness” By Lucy Holden is a definite read for those who love fantasy romance, and I look forward to other titles set in this world. I received this audiobook from NetGalley. 

A Review of Eric LaRocca's "Everything the Darkness Eats" (audiobook)

Who doesn’t love a horror novel that begins with a cursed archeological expedition? That and other tropes make Eric LaRocca’s “Everything the Darkness Eats” a satisfying read for most horror fans. 

Before I go any further, however, this book does need some trigger warnings. Most notably for me, rape and hate crimes. Both are pretty graphic. Other reviewers had a hard time getting through the book as a result. 

In this story, we follow multiple perspectives of people living around a rural New England town. Several citizens have gone missing. A mysterious, dashing man who drives a Rolls Royce and claims to sell funeral plots is involved, as is a widower who has a spirit around his neck and a police detective who has been the victim of a hate crime. In different ways, they attempt to bring an end to the paranormal threat facing the town. 

This story, narrated well by Andre Santana, draws on a lot of tropes that will remind readers of Joe Hill and Stephen King: the car, the manor house, and the mysterious disappearances. LaRocca, though, doesn’t hold back with the graphic depictions of the struggles his characters are facing. The evil in this story is not just some supernatural being, but also the other people in the town who are bigots or disengaged. It’s a very quick listen if you can stand the darkness, and the ending is not as bleak as the rest of the novel. 

I enjoyed it, and though I can’t remember having read other works by this author, I will seek them out. I received this audiobook from NetGalley. 

A Review of Kaitlyn Davis's "The Raven and the Dove" (audiobook)

Kaitlyn Davis’s “The Raven and the Dove” is the first book in what is sure to be an epic fantasy romance series. Mistaken identities, prophecies, and mysterious plots all play a role in the drama. In a world where the goods grant people living on floating islands the wings of birds, but magic is forbidden, Lyana and her brother enter the annual courtship rituals of the royalty. Lyana thinks she has chosen one prince but finds out she has ended up with his half-brother instead. She and her best friend, Cassie, follow him to his land for the impending nuptials. There are other plots at work, however, and the ending is not the wedded bliss anticipated by Lyana and her betrothed. 

Narrated nicely by Sarah Sampino, this fantasy was an entertaining listen. The world-building was intriguing, and I look forward to learning more about the mechanics of magic versus the power of the gods as interpreted by the different cultures in the world. The love triangle between Lyana, Rafe, and Lysander was a little predictable, but it did its job in the overall story. There is no satisfying ending in this book, ensuring that you have to read it before you read the sequel. It doesn’t stand alone. I do look forward to what is next for the characters and how the conflict will resolve in the end.