The Corner of Her Eye: Book Two: The Road by J.J. Carpenter

Genre: Horror Suspense/Historical Mystery

Format: eARC

Pages: 262

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis: 

THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO THE KEEPER IN THE CORNER OF HER EYE SERIES.

"If you fail...much worse things will happen...much worse things, will come for you."

Charlie White thought this was the end. She thought once she accepted her fate as a Keeper of Purgatory, her story would conclude. But she's just scratched the surface; this is only the beginning.

As she grapples with an ever-expanding new world beyond the grave, she begins to draw imbalanced, disturbed and helpless spirits to herself in greater and greater numbers. How deep must she venture through the layers of purgatory? And who else — or rather what else — lurks in the shadows of limbo?

It's not just Charlie whose sanity, life and reality are under threat anymore. But just how much rests on her shoulders? And will she figure out how to fulfill her duty before she runs out of time

Review:

"La vie, c'est comme une bicyclette, il faut advancer pour ne pas perdre l'equilibre."

Charlie has returned to continue her journey as a keeper of the spirits. The mysteries of the spirits become deeper as Charlie must discover more of how to keep the balance. Her encounters begin again as she was taken to the Old Great North Road. A road built by convicts by hand all while shackled. The task was laborious and dangerous. They were treated poorly, often beaten, and starved. Their spirits linger, tethered to their past, unsettled, and pained. Charlie must figure out who they are and free them so at last they may be at peace. The effects on Charlie are weakening her strength and she is pulled into the dream more often. She must use all of her strength to stay tethered to her friend and the outside world or become lost in the dream world.

The spirits continue to connect to Charlie much more often which has caused her to solve more than one mystery at a time. It has her questioning the connection and the encounters of certain spirits of which she is not familiar. She must protect the balance, for if she fails, it will cause much worse to occur putting her in more danger and possibly the lives of her dearest friends.

Steeped in the deep history of the Old Great North Road and Australia's First Nation People, the story brings us on a dark journey of mystery and pain. The corruption of the corrections treating the convicts as life with no value, overworked, beaten, starved, scourged, and often put to death by hanging. 

Taken back during a time of unrest added a foreboding atmosphere, but also a richness into the history of Australia.

As Charlie delves deeper into the mysteries, the loss and pain can be felt deeply as it unsettles the heart and soul. Emotionally felt moments causing me to take some time to pause and reflect. But there is so much more. Deepened friendships, love, trust, and protection. 

Charlie is a character that is most intriguing as her story is unique and takes us into places of the unknown. It sparks the imagination and stirs the curiosity. 

I have enjoyed book one and book two and I am quite looking forward to book three!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/

Amazon Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/JJ-Carpenter/author/

Bookbub Author Link:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jj-carpenter

About the author

JJ Carpenter has been writing books since she was six years old - a collection of kooky tales she would staple together and hide in a shoebox under her bed. Penning her first novel at the age of 12, her love of all things creepy, supernatural and wild has never left her. Join JJ as she journeys through haunted places and chilling mysteries across the beautiful country, and rich history, of Australia.

JJ was born in Canberra, Australia. She spent her childhood in various locations, including the Barossa Valley, South Australia, and Hampshire, England. As an adult, she's spent much of her career living and working in the South Pacific: Solomon Islands (twice), Vanuatu, Fiji and beyond.

Review Links:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/

https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/

Lost (PLZ Tethered Version) by Linkin Park

Just a scar somewhere down inside of me
Something I cannot repair
Even though it will always be
I pretend it isn't there (this is how I feel)
I'm trapped in yesterday (just a memory)
Where the pain is all I know (this is all I know)

And I'll never break away (can't break free)
'Cause when I'm alone

I'm lost in these memories
Living behind my own illusion
Lost all my dignity
Living inside my own confusion

But I'm tired, I will always be afraid
Of the damage I've received
Broken promises they made
And how blindly I believed (this is all I know)

I will never break away (can't break free)
'Cause when I'm alone

I'm lost in these memories
Living behind my own illusion
Lost all my dignity
Living inside my own confusion

I try to keep this pain inside, but I will never be alright
I try to keep this pain inside, but I will never be alright
(I'm lost) I try to keep this pain inside, but I will never be alright
(I'm lost) I try to keep this pain inside, but I will never be alright

I'm lost in these memories
Living behind my own illusion
Lost all my dignity
Living inside my own confusion

Words Made of Flesh by R.A. Busby

Genre: Horror

Format: Paperback ARC

Pages: 114

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis:

New Bedford, 1899

Harrison Quire has a problem. Haunted by memories of his lover, he's only lingered on the periphery of a life. When he visits the Whisperers' Club to hear a few horror stories, he never expects he'll become one.

Late one winter night, Harrison hears old George Burgess tell his tale of an unusual book. The book, Burgess explains, is made of flesh. It is alive. And so hungry. Harrison is soon enthralled by the story, but will he be consumed by it?

Words Made of Flesh is the latest novella from Shirley Jackson Award-winning author R. A. Busby.

Review:

"You have chosen this book, but you see...it might just choose you back."

This is a story about an insidious book. A book where words come to life upon the page and must always be preserved, for if not, the consequences may be catastrophic. George Burgess is in possession of this book, and it is now his duty to pass it on to another. 

Harrison is the chosen receiver of this book to protect and preserve. As he sits and listens to George's story, he learns the truth of the horrors of what lies within, and the haunted life of his dear friend. 

Set in 1899, the atmosphere sets us into old Victorian homes and old book shops where the most coveted books fill the shelves. Candlelight gatherings among friends sharing dark stories. It's a haunting tale of forbidden love, and hidden secrets. An abusive relationship between father and child that lingers deep within. But, as with all books, secrets are revealed and the words come to life within our minds and our hearts. 

The prose is stunning and thought provoking. I often returned to many passages and pondered upon the effect that it was having, yearning for more. Not a story to be rushed through for every detail leads us through a whole experience. It unsettles and stirs the heart and soul. 

Beautifully haunting! 

Highly recommended as it has all the reasons why we love books and reading. How important the written word is and how we hunger for the stories. How the words written upon the pages live on forever.

"Books are hungry things. They yearn for our attention, demanding we sit for hours and hallucinate a shared dream. Despite the separation of cultures and centuries, the minds of the writer and reader are fused through the words."

**My thanks and appreciation for the complimentary advanced readers copy from Cemetery Gates Media.

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/R.A.-Busby/author/

Author Website Link:

https://rabusbybooks.weebly.com/

About the author

Author of Corporate Body and Words Made of Flesh, R. A. Busby is the winner of the 2020 Shirley Jackson Award for short fiction. When not writing stories to scare you, R.A. Busby goes running in the desert with her dog.

Publisher Website:

https://cemeterygatesmedia.com/

Review Links:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/

Through the Ravenous Night We Ride by Calvin Demmer

Genre: Horror Short Stories

Format: eBook

Pages: 117

Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis:

Secret societies, serial killers, malevolent criminals, and other evils stalk these pages.

Review:

“Leave the others out of your plight. They’ve earned their place and are here to watch. If you disobey, they will draw close around you, like a noose around your neck, until you’re dancing in the flames.”

Death and darkness. Sacrifice and purgatory. Humanity served up as monsters. Punishments doled out against the sinners that cross the lines of the despicable. The thirst of the games played amongst those who must be the winner. 

"Through sickness and health, for better or worse, and sometimes not even at death shall we part."

Where dreams become reality. The places where one must prove that they are worthy. Blood paints the walls of happy homes. Immortality, bad trips, and murders abound in visceral, blood-soaked fright.

 Death has been visited upon mired souls. 

It takes talent to be able to write a short story and wrap it up in just a few pages. To make it make sense and give it an ending that stays true to the story. I always enjoy CD's short stories. The stories here are more focused on the horrors of humans, the monsters they could become, abhorrent acts occur that are brutal, and that is what adds the fright factor. 

Recommended for an entertaining quick read!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/

Amazon Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Calvin-Demmer/author

Author Website Link:

https://calvindemmer.com/

About the author

Calvin Demmer is the author of The Sea Was a Fair Master and Dark Celebrations. When not writing, he is intrigued by that which goes bump in the night and the sciences of our universe.

Review Links:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/

https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/

The Black Testament (Book of Shadows 4) by Michael Penning

Genre: Occult Horror

Format: eBook

Pages: 249

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis: 

Hell grants nothing without sacrifice...

Haunted by the tragic loss of her mother, fearless occultist Anna Jacobs now carries on their ghost-hunting legacy alone. When a cryptic message from beyond the grave leads her to an abandoned village wrapped in silence and shadows, she crosses paths with a tormented family living in hiding. But they have dark secrets of their own. Anna's arrival awakens something ancient, something that should have stayed hidden, and she soon becomes entangled in a mystery much older and more sinister than any she has encountered before.

Beneath the eerie calm, the desolate village guards an unholy relic: the Black Testament, a grimoire gifted by the Devil himself to one of history's most infamous witches. The infernal book has claimed many lives through the centuries, weaving a legacy of death and destruction — but it may also be Anna’s only hope of saving her mother’s soul from damnation.

Prepare to be spellbound and return to a world of fierce women, dark magic, and terrifying evil in this newest chapter in the bone-chilling Book of Shadows series!

Review:

“In the dark, the shadows crawl. The night’s embrace consumes us all. The weeping trees, they call my name, and in my dreams, I play his game…” “Voices call from below; ancient power, the seeds I sow. The moon weeps blood, the stars turn black; the Devil’s hand guides my track…”

In a long-forgotten village, where there is an enshrouding darkness, where shadows linger, there is an ancient evil waiting for its release from the deepest depths beyond the veil of life. 

A family living in seclusion to protect their lives from persecution. 

A ghost hunter who is called from beyond the veil must travel to the abandoned village because there is something there that she needs to uncover. Something with a power so dark and evil and unholy it has claimed the lives of the innocent through centuries of time. 

The Black Testament: a grimoire, gifted by the devil himself to an infamous witch.

As all their lives entwine, they must battle the evil that surrounds them. It whispers malicious intentions to follow the darkness that lies deep within, causing them to do unthinkable harm against each other, weakening the bonds that have served as their protection.

The atmospheric writing pulls us into a dark and foreboding tangled web of secrets and lies. The secluded home of the family lying at the precipice of a dark haunting forest filled with deathly whispers is claustrophobic, bleak, and gravely disturbing. The characters are intricately woven into insidious despair as they fight for survival.  It's a layered tale of mystery and buried motives. 

I enjoyed this so immensely, it was exciting, captivating, and the dreadfulness seeps into the bones. I am completely intrigued to read the other books in this series as I know there is so much more to learn and be enchanted by within the Book of Shadows. 

Excellent, compelling, and a definite top 10 contender in my reading journey!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/

Amazon Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michael-Penning/author/

Author Website Link:

https://michaelpenning.com/

About the author

Michael Penning is a bestselling author and award-winning screenwriter of horror and dark fiction. He has been obsessed with all things dark and spooky since before he could finish his own sack of trick-or-treat candy. When he's not coming up with creative ways to scare the hell out of people, he enjoys travelling, photography, and brewing beer. He lives in Montreal with his wife and daughter.

Review Links:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/