Review: 68. The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge...

I picked this out because the cover called to me. There's such a haunting look to the cover girl that I had to find out what she's all about...

Title: The Iron Thorn (Iron Codex #1)
Author: Caitlin Kittredge
ISBN-13: 9780385738293
Hardcover: 492 pages
Publisher: Random House, 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Waukesha Public Library

drey's thoughts:
Caitlin Kittredge's The Iron Thorn is a YA steampunk/horror/fantasy set in the city of Lovecraft, where the Engine grinds all to dust and the necrovirus is blamed for the rampant madness and fantastical creatures that roam the nights. Aoife Grayson is about to turn sixteen, and everyone's watching to see if she'll succumb to the madness as her mother and brother did. Even her best friend Cal.

Then Aoife receives a letter from her brother Conrad, telling her to go to their father's estate in Arkham. So she sets off--Cal in tow--to find her brother.

I really enjoyed this first in Kittredge's Iron Codex series. There are airships and clockworks; faeries, elves, and ghouls; hideously scary monsters; and adventure galore along with the requisite time constraint. The world is fascinating, the storytelling crisp and descriptive. And of course, the numerous references to Lovecraft and Arkham tickled my fancy. Not because I've read his works (shame on me!), but because I've played Arkham Horror so many times that the monsters that show up remind me of the game. Yes, I'm a geek...

In addition to the above, I like Aoife. She's brave (going off to find her brother) yet scared (of succumbing to the madness, or failing in her quest), honorable (stands by her friends), and honest. And when she finds out she might've made a mistake, she sets off to set things right. What's not to like?

I am looking forward to the sequel--there is a sequel, right?

drey's rating: Excellent!

80. So Cold the River by Michael Koryta...

Title: So Cold the River
Author: Michael Koryta
ISBN-13: 9780316053631
ARC: 503 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company, 2010
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

FTC Disclosure: My copy of So Cold the River was provided by the publisher for this review, which I will admit, is late. I am an affiliate for IndieBound, The Book Depository, and Amazon, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.

drey's thoughts:
Oh. My. Goodness. I was completely and utterly sucked into So Cold the River--so completely sucked in that I went to bed absolutely way too late for a work night, could not sleep because I still had the creepy-crawlies from reading so late into the night, and spent the next day only half-awake, trying only somewhat successfully to focus on work.

Eric Shaw is a photographer hired to document the life (& history) of a dying old man. But when he travels to the old man's hometown, he finds himself entranced by the town's history. Shuttling between researching the old man's past and trying to figure out the mystery of the bottled mineral spring water that he drank, Eric's life will never be the same. If he survives this adventure. So Cold the River is layered with plot and character, and peels those layers back one at a time, exposing a sordid past intertwined with a current-day mystery. The question: Who is Campbell Bradford? The answer: Read this and find out. But if you're prone to creepy-crawlies, don't read this at night. Now don't say I didn't warn you!

drey's rating: 4/5 Excellent

Challenges: 100+, Pub

TLC Book Tours: 60. Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon...

It's tour time! Jennifer McMahon is touring with TLC Tours for Dismantled...

FTC Disclosure: My copy of Dismantled was provided by TLC Tours for this blog tour. I am an IndieBound and Amazon affiliate, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.

About the Author:

Jennifer grew up in her grandmother’s house in suburban Connecticut, where she was convinced a ghost named Virgil lived in the attic. She wrote her first short story in third grade, graduated with a BA from Goddard College and then studied poetry for a year in the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College. A poem turned into a story, which turned into a novel, and she decided to take some time to think about whether she wanted to write poetry or fiction. She quit her last real job in 2000 to work on writing full time. Find her online at http://www.jennifer-mcmahon.com/.

Title: Dismantled

Author: Jennifer McMahon

ISBN-13: 9780061689345

Paperback: 422 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2010
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon

drey's thoughts:
Dismantled took me a while to get into. The first part was a bit slow, for me, and I almost didn't keep reading. The premise behind the story is of a group of four who band together and carry out acts of civil disobedience. Calling themselves the Compassionate Dismantlers, their manisfesto is "To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart".

When one of their foursome dies, the remaining three decide to bury her body and move on. Now, Henry and Tess' child, Emma, has an imaginary friend--Danner--who spouts stuff that she shouldn't know, who prompts Emma to send a postcard to the other remaining member of the Compassionate Dismantlers. And when that last of the foursome commits suicide, it triggers questions into what happened a decade ago.

But who is Danner? And how does she fit into this story? This is like I Know What You Did Last Summer meets, um, (insert malicious-spirit-returns-to-haunt-those-who-killed-them movie here). Is Emma schizophrenic? Possessed? I'm still not sure.

I cannot say I enjoyed this book--I felt like I had to work too hard to get to the end of it. But, I did finish it. Anyway. Take a look at the other reviewers' opinions, before you take my word for it. It might be biased because I spent too much time in the sun and my head is still fried.

drey's rating: 2/5 Ok

I found this trailer on Jennifer's website. It's pretty cool!


Challenges: 100+

49. Tour: Firefly Rain by Richard Dansky...

Today's tour is for Firefly Rain, the latest offering from the multi-talented Richard Dansky!

About the author:
By day, Richard Dansky works as a professional video game designer and writer for Red Storm/Ubisoft, with credits on game series like Splinter Cell, Far Cry, and Ghost Recon. By night, he writes fiction, with his most recent novel being Firefly Rain. Richard lives in North Carolina with his wife and their three inevitable cats. Find him online at www.richarddansky.com.  

Title: Firefly Rain
Author: Richard Dansky
ISBN-13: 9781439148631
Paperback: 343 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2010
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon

FTC Disclosure: My copy of Firefly Rain was provided by Pocket Books for this blog tour. I am an IndieBound and Amazon affiliate, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.

drey's thoughts:
Firefly Rain tells the story of a small town boy who grew up and left that small town, never returning until after both his parents have passed away, and the life he's built for himself starts to crumble. Jacob Logan moves back to his hometown five years after his mother's death, to try and collect himself so that he can start out again. He figures that it would be a nice change of pace, and being home would provide an environment for him to regain his footing.

However, once there, it seems as if the house he grew up in, and the town itself, is reluctant to let this prodigal son out of its clutches again. His car is stolen. His belongings are lost in an accident. I'm surprised his phone line isn't cut within the first 50 pages... And the amazing thing is that it takes Jacob quite a few days to figure out that not everything is hunky dory in Maryfield. Once he does, I had quite a few "d'oh!" moments with him (but then they say girls are smarter than boys, ha ha!). You know those moments--the ones where you're saying to the character, "What're you doing?? No, don't go there!! Aargh, too late!!"

Firefly Rain grips you from the first few pages, and has you in that grip until the very last word. There are no wasted words here--every single one either contributes to character development or building suspense. "D'oh!" moments notwithstanding, Firefly Rain is a satisfying read indeed.

drey's rating: 4/5 Excellent

Challenges: 100+, Pub

47. The Family Bones by Kimberly Raiser...

The Family Bones sounded like an interesting read - a horror/thriller/mystery surrounding a family who moves to the small town that the father came from. Where, apparently, there are lots of secrets surrounding his past.

A New Home, A Loving Family, A Dark Secret...
Will they stay? Will they survive? The Weavers have inherited family property in Astral, Pennsylvania, a town so small that Mrs. Weaver can find no mention of it on the Internet, save for a tiny spot on Google Earth. Hoping for a simpler, small-town existence for their young family, Steven and Tara eagerly head to Astral to see what they hope will be their dream house. As they explore their potential new home, the Weavers begin to discover secret passageways, secret rooms, and long buried family truths; some difficult truths are reveales and no longer kept in the far reaches of the closet. There are reasons for everything, and sometimes the explanations are so simple. But sometimes, simple can also be horrifying.

The family is a normal 4-person mom, dad, boy, and girl. The "uncles" that they find at the guest cottage are suitably creepy, as are the proprietors of the corner store. The story gets interesting as soon as they find the house, too, which had me confused at first. This was a sufficiently interesting read, even if there were some predictably predictable parts (heh). The unpredictable parts were a little "off" to me, and seemed particularly far-fetched. Some of you might enjoy the twist, though. For me, that made this so-so.

Title: The Family Bones
Author: Kimberly Raiser
ISBN-10:
ISBN-13: 978-0-615-24625-3
Paperback: 178 pages
Publisher: Delvling Press, 2008