Author Archives: karenjvjohnson

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Extinction Evolution

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25957736

Extinction Evolution (The Extinction Cycle #4)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am completely blown away by this book. I loved it! The story is being built upon in such an effortless way that it is almost as if it is happening right in front of me. The characters continue to grow and expand as individuals as more are introduced who come forth as full blown people. The tension continues to build pulling you further into their world and their lives. Though this is just as much a medical thriller as it is about zombies/infected, the language does not hold it back and keeps it where you can understand what they are talking about all the time. I was into the story from the first page and only slowed down when I had to sleep mainly.

Staff Sergeant Jose Garcia is commanding officer of the Variant Hunters, so named because they have gone after them and survived more than any others. They are a part of the strike group on the George Washington Carrier and consider themselves to be Americas last best chance to survive. He and his team have seen a lot of action, including first hand knowledge of the changes taking place to the Variants in various locations.

Master Sergeant Reed Beckham and his men had to take charge when an outsider murdered their CO and tried to take over. They are now waiting for the consequences of their actions to arrive on the Island. What happens is far from consequences and the Island gets some much needed support but it is also left without its center. Kate and Ellis are working on their newest attempt to kill the Variants but get word that a new threat may make their work obsolete before it is even deployed. Fitz and Apollo are placed into danger with green recruits and find that they can do more than they thought. What happens while Team Ghost is away is enough to break any man.

Two teams manned by some of the best the world still has to offer will come together to stop what has become the last gasp of mankind. The question is can they do it and if so at what cost.

I cannot stress how much I believe that this series should be read. It is one of the best in the genre! I was crying by the end because I lost some friends in this book and I was so sad to see them go. This is what I want from a book, to make me feel so much for the characters that I forget they are fictional. If you haven’t guessed, I recommend this book highly! 🙂

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‘Salem’s Lot

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13480263

‘Salem’s Lot

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Stephen King at his best. This is a vampire story that does not have a happy ending or nice vampires. These are the old vampires who just want to kill and create more as they go. The characters are good and very realistic for the time and place that they occupy. It is very much a product of the time that it was written in but does still hold up well.

Ben Mears has returned to Jerusalem’s Lot to exorcise the ghosts of his past. He had a terrifying experience in the local haunted house as a child and wants to write that terror away. What he could not have foreseen is that a new terror has come to take up residence in the Lot and it is something he would never believe could happen. The haunted house has been bought by some foreign gentlemen and soon things start to happen. People are missing for no reason that anyone can figure out at first, but then it becomes plain what is happening.

This may not be one of the greatest novels ever written to some but it is one of my favorites because I love a good vampire story and he told one here. This had an evil vampire who wanted to take the town and everyone in it as his own. There was more than one hero, though Ben was the main one, and they are flawed but brave in the face of certain defeat. It does kind of remind you of Bram Stokers Dracula with a modern face on it. Look at the characters and you can actually line them up from book to book. I have read both and like it. I would recommend it!

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Wolf at the Door

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22609974

Wolf at the Door (Shifter Town Enforcement Book 4)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I do love a good shifter story! I fell in love with the Shifter Town Enforcement from the first book that introduced them. The characters are always believable and draw you in with their personalities. There is also a nice balance between new and established characters, so that you always have someone that you are getting to know while you learn more about someone you have met before. The plots are always interesting even though you know that there is going to be a love match between two of the characters, usually someone you know from a previous book. The stories do pull you in though and that is the important thing. You cannot help but want to see that things work out for the best because there is likely a killer on the loose and he is not going to be easy to find

Timber Kearney is a wolf shifter who had the bad luck to come to the attention of a man who wanted more than anything to be turned. He takes Timber and for a full year tortures her and forces her her to bear witness as he murders other young she wolves. When she finally escapes all she wants is to help others and forget what was done to her, if only her subconscious would cooperate.

Brandt Lawrence worked on the Wolfman case all those years ago and he was never caught. Brandt knew that they were looking for a human who tried to kill like a wolf but that did not make it any easier. Now the killings have started again, even though he is in a new state, and he is sure it is the same man but he is now a real wolf. This time he has someone who has first hand knowledge and a name of the killer, but can he keep her safe long enough to capture a man/wolf who seems always to be one step ahead of them.

This was a really good entry with a killer who was a worthy adversary for Brandt. I can only hope that we will get more in the future because there are some great twists and turns within each story. They also feature some truly strong women who go through hell but always manage to pull themselves through whatever has been thrown at them. I like these for that in particular, even though they have low spots, the women never really give up. This is a fun series with some seriously hot moments which do not take away from the serious business going on around them. Well worth a try!

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The Stand

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13492880

The Stand

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

 

I listened to this book this time around after having read it 3 times over the years. It is a story that you find something new in each time you read it. The characters are well written and fleshed so that you get to know them on a deep level. The story is not really scary but has elements that can make you feel uncomfortable or want to look over your shoulder for the bad. Even though it is only a story you can imagine it happening in your world. This seems to be a character study of sorts because you have so many personalities.

A deadly virus is let out into the world because our government cannot seem to keep their word about not creating things that could kill large numbers of people. Around the country people are dying from a superflu and while some are immune they start to dream of two people who they cannot be sure are real. One is an old black woman named Mother Abigail to tells them to come see her in Nebraska, the other is a dark man who scares most but is calling people to him in the west. The good and the evil are bringing together their forces to battle, or so it seems.

For me this is one of his best but I have read most of his work and love it. Try this if you have not read anything else by him.

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4 stars No Review

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Each book has a hot story with great characters who are very human.  You have demons, vampires, and just plain people in situations they would not have chosen for themselves in most cases. I really liked each of these and even though I did not recommend them at the time I cannot see why anyone should miss out on them. This is escapism at its hottest with a real story behind it. Enjoy!

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Mayor of the Damned

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20879961

Mayor of the Damned (Sven the Zombie Slayer, Book 3)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
When I read the first book in this series I did not expect that I would get to the third one and feel a bit underwhelmed. I am assuming that this is the last book, though it may not be another in the works somewhere. These stories grabbed me with the first book I picked up but they have gotten a little less interesting as they have gone along. I had a very hard time getting into this book even though I liked the characters. This was not what I would have expected from the characters and it made it a very hard read. The plot was a little convoluted and could not hold my interest because I really didn’t care about them like I did before. There was no real action, though more than the last book which took place in the three locations our mains were in.

Sven makes his way out of City Hall only to be faced with more of the infected and no easy way to get home to Jane and Lori. While he is trying to make his way across the city he runs into someone he had thought dead or at least one of the infected. Milt is infected but has evolved in a different way from the others, he has decided that the world needs to be evolved and that Sven and his friends should join him.

The creator of the virus which has caused all the chaos is on the move and wants to observe how his Desi is causing trouble. He also wants to see how it has mutated and what it might do as it travels around the country.

Milt plays a little like a cartoon villain, its the way he talks and acts. He is not a likable character at all. I would have liked to have seen more of the vegan, he is a character who got a serious short look in every book but was an interesting kind of guy. Maybe in the next book if it happens. You have to read this if you have read the first two.

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Books with No Review but 5 stars

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18166667  21509141  15781825   13477321  Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter - The First ... by Laurell K. HamiltonLaurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter - The First ... by Laurell K. Hamilton  Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake Vampire Hunter – The First Death # 1 & 2 ( Marvel Comics) by Laurell K Hamilton (Author), Jonathan Green & Wellington Alves (Illustrator)

Each of these books is really good as far as I am concerned. Each is from a slightly different genre so there should be something here for most tastes.

 

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Enraptured

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25645269

Enraptured (Vampire Awakenings #4)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am so in love with this series! I love the characters who continue to grow and make me care for them and what is happening in their corner of the world. I was pulled into this story pretty fast and did not want to stop reading until the end because something was always happening to pull me along. Even though they are vampires they are more human than some that they come in contact with. The new characters are always fully fleshed out with a background that makes sense for their interaction with our mains. The language of each character is right for them and does not cause a drag on the overall story. Everything flows very well and the story moves forward at a pace that builds the tension and gives you a chance to follow and figure things out for yourself.

Ian reached maturity 11 months ago and has seen his sexual appetites go off the charts. He only has a few more months until graduation and then he will not see a lot of his college friends again since he has stopped aging, and will have to devise a new way to find women to bring to his bed. While his older sister and brother have found their mates, he does not think he will be doing so for a while and so must simply endure.

Paige has had a hard life after being attacked by a vampire and left for dead. She has aligned herself with the hunters because they have promised to help her track the vampire who scarred her. But as luck would have it she finds him and is not prepared but is lucky enough to be at the bar frequented by Ian who finds her being drained and rescues her, with no sign of her backup.

Paige wakes up and finds herself in a house filled with vampires, whom she believes to be nothing more than monsters. Here is where things get crazy for both as they try to find trust and safety for each other and family.

Another great entry and I am already jonesing for the next one. I want Aiden to hit his maturity next but it can be about one of the new guys we have met or even one of the Stooges (that would be a hoot). I enjoy the fact that the family is always in whatever story is being told because they really are a part of the whole. As usual there was a little hot sex, some great banter, laughs, tears, and heartache. These books take you through the wringer and leave you wanting even more. Highly recommend the series!!

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Blood of Angels

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17264134

Blood of Angels (Blood Hunters #2)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While I enjoyed the first book more this one was still enjoyable enough to make me want to continue the series. The characters, some of whom were introduced in the first book, get expanded on so that they take on a new dimension. I was drawn in more quickly this time because I was familiar with who they were and what was going on with the mains. The setting is maybe not exotic but it is very different and makes the players more interesting because of their location. The language works for the vampires and the humans as they banter.

Eighteen months ago István went to the Angel and got on the bad side of its owner Angyalka, who just happens to be a vampire, when he and a group of hunters went there trying to capture Saloman. Not long after this fiasco István was very badly injured in a fight at the hunter library which left him semi paralyzed with little hope. But he and his fellow hunters were saved by Saloman and so began their alliance with the enemy. He has recovered and is now on his feet once again and creating his electronic marvels again.

István returns to the Angel supposedly to research how to store psychic energy. He believes that Angyalka can help him with this even though she is not very old but appears to be very powerful. Angyalka has not forgotten the hunter who humiliated her in front of her patrons and is looking for some payback. What they find is that two people can sometimes come together over their mutual short comings even when they fight it.

I like the idea behind an alliance between vampires and those who have traditionally hunted them. You get to see both sides, those who are for cooperation and those who would like to see a war between them. The two sides are going to be clashing more and more as things progress. This was just a taste of how the sides can get along if they stop seeing each other as so different. The sex is hot but not over the top and appropriate for what is going on. I would recommend.

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Haunted

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7627361

Haunted (Harrison Investigation, #1) (Harrison Investigation #1)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have never read anything by Heather Graham though I had heard a lot of good things. While this book did not Wow me in a big way it did give me something to look forward to because I did enjoy it quite a bit. The writing was straight forward and easily understood. There were no major grammar issues or misuse of words. It was a bit slow to get where it was going but it got there eventually and the journey was nice enough that you can forget that there were patches that made you want to stop. The characters were well imagined because I felt them as real individuals who made me want to know them more, though one or two were a little less vivid they still managed to be interesting. These are modern people who talk like they live in the world of today and act the same.

Matt Stone inherited Melody House on the death of his grandfather and really wishes to keep it in the family and not a part of some historical society. In order to do this he has to open the house to tours in order to pay for the upkeep on such a large estate. His house manager conducts ghosts tours of the manor house even though he does not believe in the supernatural at all. Then a bride runs out of the room she has rented for her honeymoon stark naked and raving about a ghost who was threatening her. Matt has to do something, even though he does not believe in order to convince others that there is no such thing as ghosts.

Darcy Tremayne has worked for Harrison Investigations, a paranormal investigation agency since she graduated from college. Adam Harrison was the father of her best friend from high school and offered to help Darcy any way he could after the death of his son. When Adam is contacted by Matt, the grandson of his old friend to come and prove one way or the other that Melody House is haunted he jumps at the chance. Darcy is sent ahead to assess the situation with her special gifts and runs into opposition even though they were invited. Is there something paranormal happening in the house or is the threat more down to earth?

This has a nice feel of suspense as well as supernatural threat. The mystery of who the entity was haunting the room or if there were more ghosts was definitely good. I did not like Matt to start with because of his hatred of all things supernatural being carried over into how he treated people. There was a romance but it was very dysfunctional at the beginning. Worth reading but do not expect a lot.