Book Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

The Dead-Tossed Waves are a natural part of Gabry's life.  Living in the lighthouse at the edge of Vista, Gabry and her mother lead relatively quiet lives, as quiet as anything can be after the Return.  When Gabry makes a fateful decision one night, she little realizes how much a life can change in just one moment.  Will Gabry find the strength to follow her mother into the forest to save those she loves? Things I Liked:When the action picked up, I was sucked into it.  I kept reading into the night, biting my nails as I worried about the characters I came to love.  This is probably the only zombie series I've ever...

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Posted in 4 stars , dystopian , forest of hands and teeth , paranormal , Young Adult

Ghosts of Manhattan

If you have been following our not-so-humble blog, you know we like George Mann. So when we got our paws on his GHOSTS IN MANHATTAN, published by Pyr, we knew we were in for a treat.GHOSTS is set in America during the roaring 20's, but with a Steampunk bent, and as if that isn't cool enough, George Mann inserts enough Urban Fantasy elements to create a sweet mesh of the two genres. Actually, the genre almost does a complete swap in the last third of the book. It was a little jarring, but the pace of the book swept us along, without giving us time to let the change bother us.Let us say, right up front, this book won't be for everyone. The violence...

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Posted in Books We Like , George Mann , Steampunk

Changes

Dear Jim Butcher: we apologize for doubting you. Seriously.You all may remember last year when we reviewed TURN COAT. In short, we were pissed. It just wasn't that good. In fact it was one of the books we hated most last year. We had decided to swear off reading Butcher forever. Steve even sold his Dresden Files collection. It was a sad day. Luckily that anger faded, and we decided that we should read Butcher's latest Dresden Files novel, CHANGES.When we found out the title of this book, Nick said to Steve, "Changes? There damn well better be." Really, the title was the epitome of what we wanted in the series. Progression from characters and...

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Posted in Books We Like , Jim Butcher , Urban Fantasy

Feed

At this point, even the most rabid zombie fiction fan has to be thinking, "Okay....seriously...I'm getting kind of tired of all the zombie stuff..." We are included in that group. Yes, even Steve. So when we picked up FEED, by Mira Grant, we began reading with trepidation and skepticism. After all, no matter how much you eat a food you love (this is not in reference to the dietary habits of zombies), if it is a course often served, you will get tired of it. This is how we approached FEED. Not very lucky for poor Mira, who could have, easily, been subject to one of our hate reviews.Lucky for her, and for you, and for us, FEED isn't just a flavor...

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Posted in Books We Like , Horror , Mira Grant

Windup Girl

The Hype Machine strikes again.In case you didn't notice, the Hugo Award Finalists were announced just a bit ago. Among the contenders was listed WINDUP GIRL, by Paolo Bacigalupi. There has been all sorts of hype about this novel. People are heralding it as a masterpiece, or as a frightening look into our future. And it's true, on the surface the ideas that make up the setting seem pretty outstanding.WINDUP GIRL takes place in a future Bangkok in a post-oil era. Genehacking and generipping have helped create some deadly virus mutations that kill people, animals, and plants alike. It is in this future that the most valuable commodities to the...

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Posted in Books that are Mediocre , Paolo Bacigalupi , science fiction

Retribution Falls

Being the diligent readers that we are, we often browse through the import selection of various websites (imports to the US that is). After all, it is usually only a matter of time before the book get published here. But, every now-and-again, we get a tad impatient (We want books NAO!). This was the case with Chris Wooding's RETRIBUTION FALLS.It's hard to say what genre RETRIBUTION FALLS, uh, falls under. It is SF, with some magic, and religion, and a retro-futuristic world, airships, pirates, gun-fights, sword-fights, and dog fights. It is truly a mix of everything. Usually, this is a recipe for disaster. Wooding, on the contrary, makes...

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Posted in Books We Love , Chris Wooding , science fiction

Mister Slaughter

Robert McCammon is probably best known for his Horror novels. Some of his best work, however, is in the genre of Historical Fiction. Hopefully you have read his two previous novels involving the character Matthew Corbett, SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD and THE QUEEN OF BEDLAM. If not, you have been missing out. The novels take place 1699 (and progress over the following years) in colonial America. McCammon's newest Matthew Corbett novel, MISTER SLAUGHTER (such a great title), was released earlier this year by Subterranean Press.MISTER SLAUGHTER, at its core, is a manhunt story...a very good manhunt story. Our PoV, Corbett, is an understudy problem-solver...

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Posted in Books We Like , Historical Fiction , Robert McCammon

Boneshaker

Steampunk. You can hardly go wrong with it. It's that genre that is filled with airships, goggles and adventure. With the novel BONESHAKER, Cherie Priest tries her hand at the steampunk genre. We had heard a lot about this novel. Authors, editors, and readers everywhere called it amazing. We had heard it called one of the best steampunk novels ever written. Do you see where this is going? Yeah. We were let down. WAY down.We'll start with the premise. BONESHAKER takes place in Seattle during and after the gold rush in the Klondike. It is an interesting period in US history, and a great place to introduce a steampunk technology. The...

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Posted in Books that are Mediocre , Cherie Priest , Steampunk