Levi Stoltzfus series by Brian keene buddy read (spoiler warning)

[Jonathan]

I had mixed emotions for Ghost Walk at first, but I felt like it really picked up in the second half of the book. Hope it does for you as well ESLR!

[Mehmet]

Here we are finally :-) I need to try and finish my current book Raising Steam so I can start Gathering of crows comfortably. We are having a unusually warm February here in London. Hope everyone is good and happy :-)

[Adam]

Hey Everyone. So my free time has almost went to zero and had little time to read these books. Good thing I have read them before. A gathering of Crows was probably my favorite but The Last of the Alba Witches is a close second. Im going to try and be more involed from now on but I was trying before haha. Don't be mad. I have started planning my wedding.

[Jonathan]

No worries Adam! Please chime in when ever it is convenient! There is no pressure!

Congratulations on the wedding! :)

[Mehmet]

Congratulations on your Wedding also Adam :-) hope you are both very happy.

[Mehmet]

It's fun but not as gripping as first two books so far !

[Jonathan]

I am almost 75% I like it more then Ghost Walk!

:)

[Eat.Sleep.Lift.Read.]

Hey babes,

Finished up Ghost Walk. Wasn't blown away, but something about Keene's writing made me keep turning the pages.

Gonna read The Shining before I start on the next book.

(view spoiler)[ The 'final fight' in Ghost Walk was pretty crappy...agreed? (hide spoiler)]

[Jonathan]

Spoiler for Ghost Walk
(view spoiler)[I thought the final fight was best part of Ghost Walk. Even though I knew Adam was going to get killed off, I thought the execution was a very emotional one. What did bother me was the events leading up to it, if anything I wished the final fight was longer and the steps toward it were shorter. (hide spoiler)]

[Mehmet]

Just 30% through the book so far, I not as engrossed into the story as I was for the first two books. The enemy in the book is really cool though !

[Jonathan]

Spoiler for Gathering of Crows.
(view spoiler)[I finished Gathering of Crows this morning. It was definitely more intense then Ghost Walk. While Ghost Walk was more of a paranormal mystery thriller, Gathering of Crows is more like a serial killer horror story. They are both very different from each other, sometimes certain parts were repetitive if you are reading Ghost Walk and Gathering of Crows back to back.

Overall I think I enjoyed Gathering of Crows more, because it just seemed like a much more terrifying situation. In Ghost Walk Levi pretty much had the upper hand the entire time, so the danger wasn't really there. In Gathering of Crows I felt like Levi and the other protagonists were in scarier situations and the threat was more formidable. (hide spoiler)]

[Eat.Sleep.Lift.Read.]

Ghost Walk final fight

(view spoiler)[ The emotional part of the final fight was fine. The actual 'action' was pretty lame and lacked tension. And yea, it was pretty obvious Adam was going to get it. (hide spoiler)]

[Mehmet]

Interesting turn of events at 35%

(view spoiler)[Randy has magic powers, one of the Crow men commented on him say you have the touch plus he gets the cars running although the whole town is disabled under magic.<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

[Jonathan]

Final Thoughts on Ghost Walk.

(view spoiler)[Different strokes for different folks I guess. I agree that I wished Nodens actually killed some of the other main characters. Like maybe the owner of amusement park. The climax could of used another death of a main character to show Nodens meant business. I guess I'll see more of that in Darkness on the Edge of Town so I forgave that missing part.

For me the sacrifice of Adam was delivered in a way that normally doesn't happen in horror that I usually read. It left me feeling "wow" at the end of the book and a little sad for his death. I guess I was more forgiving because of that emotional impact for me. Adam was a very tragic character in my eyes, probably because I read a lot of Brian's autobiographies I suppose.

Thanks for reading with us anyway though. =) I enjoy talking about what people don't like and do like about these books. (hide spoiler)]

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime]

How far along are we? I intended to start, got sidetracked with Review Mountain, etc.

[Jonathan]

We're only up to the third book, but a few people are on the second book. (Ghost Walk)

You should totally still join in! =)

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime]

All right! I'll go get one and start. Usually I do pleasure reading evenings, and review reading daytimes, which is why I haven't completed Jango yet.
Looks like I've read 1, 2, 5. So I'll chime in on 4&5.

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime]

Congrats to you and your bride-to-be, Adam!!

[Jonathan]

Mallory Heart wrote: "
Looks like I've read 1, 2, 5. So I'll chime in on 4&5. ..."

Oh. so you've already read Dark Hollow, Ghost Walk, and Gathering of Crows?

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime]

Jonathan wrote: "Mallory Heart wrote: "
Looks like I've read 1, 2, 5. So I'll chime in on 4&5. ..."

Oh. so you've already read Dark Hollow, Ghost Walk, and Gathering of Crows?"

Not Gathering nor Albat...have read Darkness, Ghost walk Dark Hollow.:)
So I just bought Gathering and Albat. Already had a copy of Darkness.

[Eden]

I just want to say sorry that I haven't been active in the topic lately. My family is having really bad financial problems and I have been trying to figure out ways to get more money. I recently started a GoFundMe and have been trying to promote it.

I'll start reading A Gathering of Crows soon and try to comment more in here.

[Mehmet]

It's ok Eden we understand, family always comes first. Wish you all well and hope you get through this hard time

[Eat.Sleep.Lift.Read.]

Don't get me wrong, I didn't 'dislike' Ghost walk.

Like I said in my short review - There's something about Keene's writing that made this book better than it's parts.

[Mehmet]

Do not worry ESLR everyone feels differently when reading a book. That is the point of goodreads to share our opinions :-) I personally enjoyed the first two books Dark Hollow and Ghost Walk a lot but Gathering of Crows has not gripped me in the same way. I read 70% of the book. I am enjoying it but I am sad some the characters from Ghost walk are not in the story.

[Jonathan]

Absolutely.

No one should feel pressured to agree with anyone else. I love seeing everyone's different opinions on the book because it broadens my own perception of the books faults and strong points.

[Mehmet]

Did anyone else check the history of


(view spoiler)[Roanoke the lost colony ? (hide spoiler)]

[Jonathan]

I did. I thought it was a cool idea for a main antagonist.

Gathering of Crows spoiler..

(view spoiler)[Not sure how far you are. But I liked how Levi tried to contact the dead. I also enjoyed the little hints toward his past and why he was kicked out of the Amish community. (hide spoiler)]

[Mehmet]

Yeah the enemy in this book is cool, seriously bad ass, plus I agree Jonathan the

(view spoiler)[back story of Levi really give meat to the whole character. Brian Keene knows how to create a likeable character. Even if he has demons !<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

[Mehmet]

Chapter 11

(view spoiler)[Levi took them to the world of Behemoths, ahhh brought back many happy memories of when we were reading Earthworm gods, white fuzz and all:-)<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

[Mehmet]

The ending was great, loved it :-) A gathering of crows was great fun. So now folks we must set a date for Last of the Albatwitches. Is next week to soon ? Or would 1st of March be best ? Let me know everyone :-)

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime]

I!d pref March 1--stil tryingtocatchup here and elsewhere:)

[Mehmet]

Ok Mallory :-) it would be best to give everyone a chance to catch up, so if everyone ok we set the starting date for 1st of March for 4th Levi Stoltzfus book. Great stuff

[Jonathan]

Mehmet wrote: "The ending was great, loved it :-) A gathering of crows was great fun. So now folks we must set a date for Last of the Albatwitches. Is next week to soon ? Or would 1st of March be best ? Let me kn..."

Awesome Mehmet I am glad you liked the ending as much as I did!

Gathering of Crows ending spoiler....
(view spoiler)[Taking them to the Behemoth's home world was so much fun! I loved how they tied in Earthworm Gods into it too! I'm happy you pointed that out. (hide spoiler)]

[Mehmet]

A lot of links were suggest! Enjoyed them all and knew you would love them too Jonathan :-)


(view spoiler)[the clickers, the rising, tequila sunrise and the lost level I think, although as not read it not sure. But the pic of the front cover came in to my mind during Gus's rant<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

[Jonathan]

My favorite part was...

(view spoiler)[ When that guy (Gus) went crazy from opening his eyes in the labyrinth. The stuff he was rambling about sounded crazy, but you and I know he was referencing other Keene books and Clickers!

You nailed all of the references though Mehmet! ^_^ (hide spoiler)]

[Mehmet]

Glad to see my old Brain is still running smoothly, even though it is almost 3am in morning in UK :-)

[Eden]

I've started reading A Gathering of Crows and I'm enjoying it so far.

Also, Brian Keene wanted me to tell everyone Hi. I posted on Twitter I'm reading A Gathering of Crows with a group on Goodreads.

[Mehmet]

Cheers Eden and it is a good book, the series is great.

[Jonathan]

Paul, Kevin and I created the Brian Keene Facebook fan page a few days ago.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/FUKU.BrianKeene

Please check it out if you have a Facebook account. I know Eden already posted on the page! ;)

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime]

I finished Crows last night and Loved it!! Made me eager to reread the first two, bc that was a few years ago. Plan to buy them in March.

[Mehmet]

Well done to Jonathan and co on the Facebook book, I not on Facebook but I had a peek and thought it looked great :-)

[Mehmet]

I agree Mallory it is a great series :-)

[Mehmet]

6 days lefts till our read of the 4th instalment of the Levi Stolzfus series. How is everyone doing ? Hope all ok ? I am reading the book Gone Girl, I saw the movie last year and my wife recommended the book to me. I am impressed so far but will wait till I finished before deciding fully. It's quite a insightful book which plays with our perceptions on gender and life in general. Took me a while to get use to the authors writing style, but once I did i really got into the story.

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime]

I started GONE GIRL years ago, couldn't get hooked, then later (long before the film which I haven't seen) tried again and really enjoyed it.

[Jonathan]

For those curious as to what happens to Adam Senft after the events of Ghost Walk, you can Brian Keene's short story House of Ushers.

[Mehmet]

Thanks for that Jonathan :-) which collection could you find this story ?

Also just a question for everyone, since we have two books left to read, how does the idea that we read them back to back sound ?

[Eat.Sleep.Lift.Read.]

Hey babes,

Just started on gathering of crows...hope to polish is off nice and quick.

[Jonathan]

I ordered a copy of Darkness on the Edge of Town from Amazon. Hope it comes in the mail by March 13th.

[Jonathan]

@Mehmet

Good question. :)
House of Ushers was in Conspiracy of One! But it will appear in his Complete Short Story collection! Look for All Dark, All The Time: The Complete Short Story Collection volume 2 to be announced this Spring 2015!

It will be on eBook and more affordable in that collection rather then Conspiracy of One which is out of print.

[Mehmet]

Great stuff Jonathan :-) I have his first collection of short story's on my kindle, so be getting the 2nd omnibus for sure.
ESLR - thanks for the update my man and enjoy!