Behind Blue Eyes

Plight of Madness by Jesse Teller My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Plight of Madness is Book Three of The Madness Wars , the penultimate volume of this epic sprawl covering a massive military conquest of the warrior nation Drine over its refined and cultured neighbor, Tienne. Continuing on the previous reviews of Onslaught of Madness , and Wrath of Madness , I found myself immersed in the struggle not only between these two nations, but a resulting series of conflict within each. War is Hell, and takes its toll on everyone involved, whether they’re winning or not. As with the previous volumes, Plight of Madness is split up into chapters with shifting point-of-view from a variety of characters. Continuing from Wrath of Madness are the chapters told from the perspective of Rextur and Aaron the Marked, who have been with us since the first book. Also continuing from the previous entry are Tarana and Saykobar, and we’re giv...

Dune: The Duke of Caladan by Brian Herbert My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine As the classic novel Dune by Frank Herbert opens, we’re introduced to the noble family of House Atreides, as they’re moving operations from their homeworld of Caladan to a new holding, the desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. We can immediately see that this family will be the source of our upcoming story, with the young protagonist Paul Atreides taking center stage. While it’s easy to pull for Paul and his family from the outset, it would have been nice to get to know these people a little before their great journey began. Dune: The Duke of Caladan gives us that experience. Set in the year leading up to the novel Dune: The Duke of Caladan centers on House Atreides before they embark on their voyage. Duke Leto and his concubine Lady Jessica have been together for some time, coping with the struggles that the Imperium forces on their relati...

Forgotten Island by Kristi Belcamino My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the second entry in the Gia Santella series, and was as enjoyable as the first. By the end of the first book, Gia had inherited a company and put in charge of a lot of money, and was witness to how the homeless of San Francisco are often buried under the political machines that drive the city's economy. Now that she has some wealth and influence, she has decided to build a new apartment complex to assist the homeless of the area in housing and job placement. Problem is, someone is killing off the homeless under the radar. And a journalist that Gia is friends with is kidnapped when she investigates the happenings in the neighborhood. So here's Gia to see what she can do to fix these problems.... View all my reviews

Afterland by Lauren Beukes My rating: 3 of 5 stars DNF @ 61% I was provided an e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This book is well written and interesting, it just isn't my cup of coffee right now. I'm trying not to force myself through books I'm not enjoying, as that will only bog down my overall reading and make it a chore to do so. If the blurb of this one looks good, I'd recommend giving it a try. It'll hit the right chords for someone, just didn't for me this time around. #ItsNotYouItsMe View all my reviews

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones My rating: 3 of 5 stars DNF @28% I was provided an e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This book is well written and interesting, it just isn't my cup of coffee right now. I'm trying not to force myself through books I'm not enjoying, as that will only bog down my overall reading and make it a chore to do so. If the blurb of this one looks good, I'd recommend giving it a try. It'll hit the right chords for someone, just didn't for me this time around. #ItsNotYouItsMe View all my reviews

Ink by Jonathan Maberry My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine The concept of a dream thief, or a stealer of memories is fascinating. A creepy villain with the ability to sneak in and access the mind of victims, especially in such a way as to be unnoticed, is quite scary. What Jonathan Maberry does in Ink is that, but he takes it to a higher level. In Ink the method of the villain’s access is as intriguing as the theft itself. He gets in by way of the victim’s tattoos. Several characters from different walks of life come together in the small town of Pine Deep, Pennsylvania. This is a town that Maberry has had as the central location for some of his works before, but it’s not necessary to read those first (I haven’t). There is a good bit of background, but the essentials are provided in story to cover the reader’s lack of experience. Monk Addison is a skip tracer, a private investigator specializing in tracking down those who h...

We Men of Ash and Shadow by HL Tinsley My rating: 4 of 5 stars #SelfPubFantasyMonth Review now live, at Grimdark Magazine We’ve all heard the phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” and I’d have to say this is good advice. The best artwork in the world won’t make a story engage the reader. What a great cover can do is catch the eye and stand out in an unending sea of books. We Men of Ash and Shadow did this for me, as one evening I was scrolling through social media and my attention was caught by the wonderful book cover. This got my attention enough to read the blurb, and I was immediately hooked. “It was the most highly recommended venue the city had to offer. It was called the Ring O’ Bastards and it had the lowest patron to murder victim ratio in a five mile radius.” That’s the opening paragraph to this fine novel. Within moments, I knew I had stumbled on something special. HL Tinsley didn’t disappoint me as I read further. Right away we are ...