Book Review: Demon Freaks by J.R.R.R. Hardison

Demon Freaks by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison Fiery Seas Publishing, 2017 ISBN-13: 978-1-946143-16-7 Available: Paperback, Kindle edition   Jim Hardison’s Demon Freaks pits high schoolers on the eve of their SAT exams against wicked would-be wizards and monsters, with the fate of the world at stake.  The story is written with irony and humor from the viewpoint of teenagers.  The […]

Groot #1

Groot and Rocket are hitchhiking across the galaxy for a visit to Earth. Rocket is only there for support, of course, and witty repartee with our limited-vocabulary hero. Groot wants to visit Earth because he’s never been, well, as a tourist. But along the way their ride breaks down, there are (endangered) space sharks, alien […]

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

My Best Friend’s Exorcism is set in the 80s, a time of big hair, awesome music, and the Satanic Panic. Abby Rivers and Gretchen Lang have been best friends since they were thrown together at Abby’s tenth birthday party. Now in high school, they are experiencing the awkwardness and discomfort of growing into teenagers, and […]

Hexed: The Harlot and the Thief volume 2 by Michael Alan Nelson

Lucifer is settling into the changes in her career (she steals magical items for humanity’s safety), like the fact that she accidentally turned her adoptive mother’s intern into a necromancer and now has to teach her about the underworlds. As the trio try to begin to recover from the devastating fire that burned through Val’s […]

The Outliers by Kimberly McCreight

High school junior Wylie has always had anxiety issues, but since her mother’s death four months earlier she is unable to even leave the house. Her father, a researcher in emotional intelligence, unsure of how to handle her problems, buries himself even further in his work. Cassie, her best friend for six years, has exhibited […]

If You Like Divergent & Hunger Games…

Even though the media-generated excitement over teen dystopias like the ones in The Hunger Games and (to a lesser degree) Divergent, has died down a bit, anyone living through the past year can see that dystopian fiction is still terrifyingly relevant. Some days it really doesn’t feel like we’re all that far from living through […]

Review: The Dare by Brett Williams

Walking to school the day before Halloween, Davey and Dennis spot a cat hanging in front of the old, abandoned Bentley place.  Dennis tells Davey the story of how the Victorian house is said to be haunted after old man Bentley killed his family several years ago and that their ghosts still live within.  Davey […]

Review: Sleepless by Thomas Fahy

After a trip to New Orleans, the students of Saint Opportuna High begin to have nightmares: horrible nightmares about killing people. The only problem is that they aren’t just nightmares. After several nights, the students wake up to realize that they actually have killed people. Emma Montgomery and her friends, who have all had these […]