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Book Review: Bloody Kids by Andrew Holmes

Bloody Kids by Andrew Holmes

Sasquatch Books, 2017

ASIN: B078437KK2

Available: Kindle edition

 

Bloody Kids by Andrew Holmes is a gory thriller about a rural English town that is rotten to its core.  A rich farmer controls the town and most of its inhabitants, including the police, much as lords of the manor did in medieval England.  He entertains and controls many of the village men with annual hunting bacchanals and a clandestine brothel at the Lizard Farm.  A sadistic widow runs the Farm and is the madam for comely ‘cleaning women’.  She physically and psychologically abuses her orphaned or abandoned ‘foster children’, who work the Farm.

 

Things begin to go awry when the widow becomes demented, and loses control over the once-cowed children.  As they take control of the Farm, their base instincts come to the fore.  Think of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.  The children begin to abuse and torture the prostitutes.

 

The rich farmer’s son-in-law takes his young son on a winter picnic in a field near the Farm, and the boy disappears.  An intensive search leads nowhere, and a local veteran Detective Inspector is ordered to investigate.

 

It’s a tangled web.  The DI has had a midlife crisis and an affair with a hostess-prostitute at the bacchanals, who is also the nanny/cleaning woman for the children.  Although she ends the affair, she still communicates with the DI by cell phone, until the boy disappears.

 

A boy’s body is found in a gravel pit.  It seems that no one is innocent.  Mutilations (yes, even with a chainsaw), torture, and murder, crescendo to a gory, blazing denouement on a bone-chilling, snowy night.  As in a morality play, most of the malefactors get their just deserts.

 

The story is fast-paced, and keeps the reader engaged.  Setting his story in England, Holmes treats the reader to many English colloquialisms, such as “twee” (quaint), “gutted” (upset) and “gob” (spit, mouth).  Holmes has written many other action/adventure/fantasy/horror novels under the pseudonyms Oliver Bowden and A. E. Moorat.

 

Recommended for teens and adults

 

Contains: violence, gore and sex

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on November 29, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Subhuman: A Unit 51 Novel by Michael McBride

Subhuman: A Unit 51 Novel by Michael McBride

Pinnacle, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-0786041589

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook, audio CD

Subhuman is the first book in a new series, Unit 51, and if the signs are correct, this will be one of the most exciting thriller/horror series in several years. Imagine Michael Crichton and F. Paul Wilson teaming up to write “The Thing”, and you’ll have an idea of what Michael McBride has accomplished in this book. This entertaining story with tons of fascinating science and history takes the reader on an exhilirating ride through the thrilling plot, with plenty of adventure and horror.

Five of the top scientists in the world have been are invited to investigate something strange in Antarctica. A billionaire has built a research facility  that has broken through the ice, and discovered something that will change both the past and future. Strange, misshapen skulls have been found all over the globe, and clues have pointed to an ancient race that may signal explanations for many of the mysteries which have plagued mankind for thousands of years. The scientists find the remains of a long-lost civilization under the surface, and later, when microbes are examined, the scientists find that some of the race from the lost civilization  may not be completely extinct. The cells under the microscope fight death, and may shatter conspiracy theories everywhere.

It will be great to see where this series goes next as, while the science can be heavy at times, it never overwhelms, and the action scenes breeze by with skill. Subhuman doesn’t skimp on anything that makes a thriller thrill and has just the right amount of horror. A great mix of genres that will keep fans awake late at night, and frustrated that the ride is over too quickly. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

 

 

Posted on November 17, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Doubleday, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-0385541992

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

If you grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, the title of this book tells you exactly up to expect, but even if you don’t pick up on the reference, Meddling Kids is a fun, suspenseful read.

The Blyton Summer Detective Club fell apart after the Sleepy Lake monster case, when another scummy criminal was unmasked and sent to prison after being foiled by those… well, you know.  Now, 13 years later,  Andy, the kickass girl of the team, is on the lam, and seeking out the rest of the gang of mystery fighters; Kerri, the genius, now drinks away her days with her loyal dog at her side; Nate, the oddball is in a mental hospital, recovering from the events he believes were real; and Peter, the leader of the group, who killed himself years ago and is now visible only to Nate.  Gathered together again, they learn that something else might have been active in their last case, other than the criminal they caught… something that feels somewhat Lovecraftian.

Edgar Cantero is very careful not to name the cartoon he lampoons here (it rhymes with Roobie Roo), but he has penned a crackerjack story that, for the kids of the 1970s and 1980s who grew up watching the show on Saturday mornings, is pure gold. The novel’s references to the cartoon will transport fans of the show back decades, with plenty of laughs and headshakes.

Fans who grew up with the original gang will love the story, with horror and cartoon references abounding. It’s exactly what we expect to read about the future of the characters from this favorite show. Prepare to read through this book with a grin on your face and hands gripping the pages. Here’s hoping that Edgar Cantero keeps the adventures coming.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

Posted on November 9, 2017 by , Reply
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