I found both Simon and Mimi to be unlikable characters. The story was not really very interesting because there was no context I could see. Simon was a selfish rich guy who found everybody to be less than expects. Mimi was full of herself without any good reason . The story just had no action, no interest, no nothing.
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
This was a great idea but it was never really fleshed out. You did not get the idea that any of them were afraid or anything else. It was a one girl show with no action, very little talk, and no idea of what was happening. The characters were vague simple shells of people. I could not relate to anyone. I did not like the format, it reminded me of an essay more than a book.
While it did not appeal to me it might work for someone else.
My rating: 1.5 of 5 stars
This was a short but very good story that had me interested pretty much from the beginning with a start that I would not have expected. The characters were a bit vague and I did not really get to know them like I would have liked to but the psyche of the main character was easily figured out. The blurb and story do not tell the same tale, I kept waiting for them to at least be similar. There is a good lead up to the finale and it keeps you reading waiting for the punch line you may or may not have seen coming.
Carlton is a sex addict who has bedded so many women he can not keep the faces straight. He has a philosophy that works for him but not always the women who he picks up. When he starts to remember one girl in particular over and over he at first dismisses it as hallucinations or stress. But when things start to happen that he cannot explain he finds things changing in his life and not for the better.
While there are no scares involved you do have an atmosphere of heavy anticipation and menace.. The ending is perfect.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Decent story, decent characters, and decent set up. This was a short that moved fairly quickly and with a good flow. The characters were all a bit thin as far as who they were but still had enough presence to keep you reading.
Agent Calico Burns is with FBI when he is assigned to a case that seems to involve a werewolf. He is sent in with a new partner and as they investigate find that there is something strange going on.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
While I did not dislike this it would never make my top one hundred either. There are what I hope are numerous typos, if not someone does not know how to spell a lot of words. The grammatical errors are fewer but still a bit distracting. This is a short story and should have gotten my attention immediately but sadly did not. There is no real tension or feeling of menace, the characters are generic and do not elicit any feelings one way or the other.
For a diversion or something to do this can suffice but other than that I can’t say much for it.
A platoon of soldiers goes into a Vietnam village because a biological weapon has been detonated above it. They are sent in to police the bodies and get first hand information on what the weapon does. It does a lot more than they would have ever expected.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I liked the ideas behind the story and I enjoyed the story itself for the most part. This is an under short story so you expect that a lot goes unsaid, but because of that fact you have to make sure that the structure is totally coherent. There were quite a few sentences that I could not decipher and so had no idea what it was supposed to mean. The characters were bare bones but I got an idea of who they were and maybe who they would become.
Gretchen is a quiet woman leading a relatively quiet life when she becomes the object of a werewolves attention. Her life is going to change in ways she never expected.
Worth reading.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A Dark and Sure Descent: Being a True Account of the Long Island Outbreak
by Saul W. Tanpepper
While this did not grab me right out the box the story did still finally grab me. The main problem was that the characters were not very likeable or well thought out really. Cassie is cold and unfeeling to both her husband and child, Ramon is wrapped up in his work and does not give enough to his wife and child, the kid was just there for sympathy it seemed to me. Though the main characters were not all that great, the story itself was what won me over. There was enough happening that I did not really care that much about them, even if I did pay attention to what they did.
In the summer of 2030 the government started the roll out of the Stream, a new digital network, which is pegged to replace the internet on Long Island. They are also using the Omegamen to help set up the hardware for this endeavor. With all this happening outside Lyssa and Ramon Stemple have started new research at their lab that somehow manages to land them in the middle of a murder investigation that morphs into the deaths being linked to a new virus sweeping Long Island. Their tiny lab is said to be ground zero for the infection and even though they know its not true, the government is selling it to the masses.
The biomedical disaster that changes the world does not begin with a bang but with a bite.
I do have to qualify some of my animosity to the characters by saying that of the reason I feel so strongly about them is the fact that are written very well. But it is always better if you like the characters so that you can be more vested in whether or not they survive. The fact that I did not like them just means that other things had to keep me interested in the story because they did not. I also found the book to be overly long, it could have been wrapped up in half the time if some of the extraneous stuff had been cut out. I also found the ending to be a bit abrupt, even though it was being used to tell the story of how things started after the fact.
We get an interesting story of government conspiracy, corporate intrigue, biomedical thriller, and family drama. I would recommend this even if you have not read from the beginning. This gives you an idea of where the story will take you.
My rating: 4.25 of 5 stars
A hand reached up out of the darkness, followed by a masked head and shoulders. The coveralls pulled tight against the man’s shoulder, as if snagged on something inside the hole, so that a larger slice of skin was now exposed. Clearly visible on his neck was a wide gash. Lyssa gasped. But the snagged shirt came free and covered it up again and suddenly she wasn’t sure she’d seen what she thought she had. It could’ve been dirt or oil. In fact, it was most likely to be that. The liquid dripping down his shoulder was thick and black. It hadn’t looked anything like blood at all. “They’re not dead, honey. Don’t think that.”
Mile 81
by Stephen King
As short stories go this was a good one. The action takes a short time to start and though you don’t get e chance to get to know the characters well you still like them. This is more like the King I have always loved then some of his more recent endeavors.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Don of the Living Dead
by Robert DeCoteau
This was supposed to be an extension or so I thought of the Primrose Apt novellas that came before. They made one reference to the fact that he lived at those apartments and moved on quickly, I had thought they were going to play a part in this novel, not. I would have given this 5 stars but it didn’t hit all the marks for me when it comes to my zombies, but it came pretty darn close. I would have liked to have gotten more with some of the characters since they were there and gone so quickly they did not have a chance to fully register before they were zombie chow. I liked the idea behind how these zombies came into existence but it would have been nice to give a little more information since it was mentioned. Our main character was written with great detail and definitely elicited a number of reactions both good and bad.
Don is a guy who does his job well but is not going to go out of his way for it or anything or anyone else, or so he tells himself. On this day, which starts out like any other, Don has had to track down the sandwich girl and now he is going for his after lunch dump on company time when things get strange. While not the best way to get caught when the dead start to walk at least he has a door between him and them. It takes some time for Don to figure it out but he realizes he is trapped in the bathroom with zombies and has to get out in order to try and get his son and ex-wife away from the madness. What happens next is complete craziness with some heroics by a guy you would not expect it from.
I was totally ready to hate Don because he seemed like a sexist, racist, annoying, full of himself jerk. He hooks up with people who are also survivors and at first seems not to like them and in a blink he is professing to think of them as friends. Long story short Don turns out to be a good guy and even though a lot of the people he started out with do not survive he manages to keep it together even though he may not make it. Nice ride with a few laughs and some serious gross out moments. Good zombie fun!
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Zombie Tales: Primrose Court Apt. 205
by Robert DeCoteau
This is one of three short stories set in the Primrose Court apartment complex. The story centers on a man with agoraphobia who has not left his apartment for ten year. We get his full background and the story of why he ended up there, and how he feels about his neighbors. What you do not have is any amount of zombies here really. Only on the last few pages do you get even a glimpse of zombie action.
If you want a tale of zombies running around eating people, do not read this. On the other hand if you like a narrative with limited carnage you may enjoy it.
All the books have a few chapters from the book “Don of the Living Dead” which is set in the same locale. They can be seen as a lead in to the major story. These books can be read in any order but I would say start here because it introduces you to the next characters you will meet.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Zombie Tales: Primrose Court Apt. 305
by Robert DeCoteau
Ok, this time I knew what was coming. The story here centers around a couple, their marital problems and how they play out. You have the same lack of zombies until the end of the story but a nice bit of karmic justice. There is not a lot to say about this since it has no major scenes of carnage or zombie rampage.
The story is good for what it is.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Zombie Tales: Primrose Court Apt. 502
by Robert DeCoteau
I liked this story more than the others because Tommy seemed so sympathetic. This placed you more directly into the world of the novel and gave a view of the start of the zombie onslaught from above. I say enjoy the short and go for the main event. I think it may be interesting to read the full length book.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
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