Aftereffects: Zombie Therapy - Book Review

Title: Aftereffects: Zombie Therapy

Author: Zane Bradey

Released: Feb. 26, 2012

Print Length: 232 pages

File Size: 288 KB


Goodreads info here

Visit the author's website

Intriguing Twist to the Zombie Genre!

In Aftereffects: Zombie Therapy, author Zane Bradey provides a unique twist to the zombie genre. A cure is created and administered to the zombies, returning them to their normal human state. The only problem is, they can remember the things that happened and who they ate while they were zombies. That’s where Dr. Victor Frenzel comes in; he is a therapist who offers counseling to those who were infected. But Dr. Frenzel must battle his own issues as during the height of the zombie epidemic he watched in horror as the zombies ate his wife. Now with each new patient he takes on, he is left to wonder if they were one of the ones that consumer her while he was left watching helplessly. 

I have to admit at first I was a bit skeptical, as I don’t usually read zombie stories. They just don’t generally appeal to me. But I was intrigued by the fact that these zombies have been cured and that the story was going to be more about the psychological aspects of how to deal with what they have done as well as the good Doctor treating those that may have been responsible for his wife’s death.

Bradey managed to bring these aspects of the novel out wonderfully and I could feel the horror and disgust that some of the patients felt for the things they did while infected. I do wish there would have been a bit more character development with the patients even though this is more the doctor’s story than theirs. I felt it would have added to some of the scenes where the reader gets to see what happened when they were infected etc.

Another aspect that irked me a bit was the sudden end. I can’t really expand on it without giving away some major spoilers. It left a lot of questions and a bit of confusion as to what was going to happen next. At the time I didn’t realize there was a sequel in the works and couldn’t fathom why an author would end a story so open ended without one. The book felt incomplete with the ending and left me a bit frustrated, but that’s just me. I know lots of readers enjoy cliff hangers, especially when there is a sequel as it lets them imagine all sorts of things while they wait.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the book and I will definitely be reading the next installment.

Buy here:

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes&Noble | Smashwords

Read Me Dead - Pre-release Book Review

Title: Read Me Dead

Author: Emerald Barnes

Released: April 25th, 2012

Print Length: ?

File Size: 403 KB

Goodreads info here and visit the book's website

Disclaimer: I did win a free advanced copy of this book from the author during an event. This however did not influence my review in any way.

Here's the official trailer for the book:

Now for the review:

In her newest book Read Me Dead, Barnes gets the reader to ask themselves a tough question. If you knew a deadly secret, would you keep it, even if it meant a killer might go free? Alex has kept a secret from everyone, including her twin brother for 7 years, but soon the truth will have to come out. She was there the night her parents were murdered and has been haunted by the memories of that night. She’s been afraid the man who shot them would come back for her as he promised if she ever breaks her silence. In an attempt to keep him safe, Alex breaks up with her boyfriend even though she is still in love with him, and as an extra twist she soon becomes attracted to one of their best friends. The question is who will she pick and will they ever be safe? 

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot of the book and once the action started I couldn’t wait to see what was going to come next. I wanted to know who the killer was and if Alex and her friends/family would all make it out without harm. Unfortunately I didn’t quite feel a connection with Alex as a character as much as I hoped I would. I’m not sure if it was the character or if it was the style the book was written in, but even though I wanted to know what happened to them, I wasn’t emotionally invested. The main character was a bit on the weak side throughout the majority of the book (granted I might have been too if I thought I was going to die at any moment) but for some reason I just couldn’t feel sympathetic towards her (or her incessant crying). I often felt that she went a bit overboard with the waterworks and that was a big turn off for me, though I’m sure there are many who don’t mind it.

The writing style was a tad over descriptive for me as well. It was almost like reading a script where it details step by step each action taking by each character. I know there are many who enjoy the large amounts of descriptions but I often found myself either getting lost in them or wanting to skip over them entirely. Again, it’s just not my cup of tea style wise. I still give it four stars however because the plot is there, and once things really got going about midway through the book I was hooked and couldn’t wait to read the ending (which was a complete surprise by the way). I’m glad I read it and was definitely worth taking the time to read it. I really did enjoy it, it just wasn’t a “new fav” novel for me.

Available Tomorrow (April 25th, 2012)!

Buy here:

Amazon US

The Forever Girl - Book Review and Giveaway!

Title: The Forever Girl - Sophia's Journey (Book 1 of the series)

Author: Rebecca Hamilton

Released: Jan. 26th, 2012

Print Length: 352 pages

File Size: 869 KB

Goodreads info here, visit the book's website

Disclaimer: I did win a free copy of this book from the author during a Twitter event. This however did not influence my review in any way.

Here's the official trailer for the book:

Now for the review:

Most Refreshing Take on Vampires Since Christine Feehan Created the Carpathians! 

In her New Adult paranormal/urban fantasy novel, The Forever Girl: Sophia’s Journey author Rebecca Hamilton brings a fresh and exciting twist to the classic vampire and shape shifter saga. Sophia Parsons discovers a whole world of immortal creatures exist alongside humans when she attempts to rid herself of the constant static that invades her mind. She casts a spell hoping to quiet the noise, but instead the noise changes into murmurs and whispers that she can’t quite understand. Along the way Sophia is thrust into this strange and dangerous cast of characters while trying to rid herself of the family curse causing the noise, including Charles whom she feels an instant connection with. She quickly learns that no one is who she thought they were, and popular myths of witches and vampires have a bit of truth to them.

Hamilton definitely did her research for this novel and accurately depicts the Wiccan rituals and beliefs, right down to the discrimination Wiccans face in towns so small that there’s no escaping the rumor mill. She also does a wonderful job with the dialogue, and I loved some of the off the cuff remarks made between Sophia and Charles, as well as Sophia’s internal thoughts. I quickly began to feel the emotions racing through Sophia, especially when it came to her hesitations in the romance department and the fear of being hurt.

The only reason I did not give the book 5 stars, and I wanted to very much, was there were a few times where I wanted to reach through the pages and strangle Sophia and her insecurities. The back and forth waiting to see if Charles and Sophia were going to finally give in to their feelings drove me crazy. It was just a tad much for me, but for fans of romance novels it may not be. There were a few more elements that were a little hard to believe but I can’t go into too much detail without giving away spoilers, so suffice it to say that I work with law enforcement during my day job and once or twice things didn’t happen as it would in the real world. These are easy to overlook in the scheme of things and didn’t ruin the novel for me at all, but felt I had to note it J. Overall I loved the book and I cannot wait for the next in the series!