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Book Review: Cure by Kali Metis

Cure by Kali Metis

Running Wild Press, 2022

ISBN: 9781955062312

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy:  Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com

 

Cure is an entertaining, fresh take on werewolves in today’s world.  It isn’t the standard “bite and claw” wolf-fest, but focuses more on their place in the present.

 

The plot is the best part, due to the nature and overall scope.  Luna Auber is an expert confectioner at a specialty bakery.  She has a normal life, except for the nerve problems and shaking she occasionally experiences.  Her brother’s suicide and last request lead her to Sweden, where she learns of her lycanthropic heritage, which explains her shakes– they’re the first step of her transformation.

 

The tale expands into a country-wide story involving two different werewolf societies, and that’s a big part of the book’s appeal.  This isn’t just one wolf or pack running wild, decimating an area.  Instead, the focus is the competing philosophies of the two groups, and how they believe werewolves should behave in the modern age.  Luna is the lens the reader sees both groups through as she learns more about them, and she  eventually has to choose a path.  This is a bit like a political thriller: it’s an unusual and intriguing way to write a werewolf story.

 

Luna’s character, with her unpredictability and her own doubts, drives the story effectively, She isn’t an anti-hero, but isn’t a fighter for justice either– at least not all the time.  She is emotional, impulsive, and makes some stupid decisions with her newfound abilities, like most people would probably do.  She sometimes uses her powers for her own benefit, without respecting the gift (or curse) she has been given.  This goes a long way towards making her a realistic character, and fits well with the overall narrative.

 

Some minor quibbles: the chapters are VERY short, and there is a lot of back and forth between two timelines in the first half of the book.  That might be good for the short attention span that so many younger people seem to have, but I found it frustrating.  There are also times where the sentences seem fragmented.  Tweaking that would have helped the flow of the reading.

 

Cure is a good story that takes the old  ‘howl at the moon’ model of werewolves and does something different with it. It’s worth reading. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

 

 

 

Posted on December 22, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni

Cover art for The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni

The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni

Random House, 2024

ISBN: 9780593595321

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

 

 

Part mystery, part puzzle, and all thrills, The Puzzle Box is a knockout.  For all those that loved The Da Vinci Code, this one’s for you.  With maddening puzzles, a genius as the protagonist, and a wild pursuit around the country of Japan, it’s just as good, and in some ways, better.

 

The lead, Mike Brink, is a mathematical genius with an eidetic memory, who gained his ability after a brain injury.  It’s called “acquired savant syndrome”, and it’s a real thing.  Mike is contacted by the Emperor of Japan for help in solving a sacred puzzle box that has bedeviled the imperial family for centuries.  Inside may be a secret important to the future of Japan as a nation.  The problem is that the puzzle box is not only difficult, it’s lethal.  If Mike makes a mistake opening it, he can’t try again: he won’t be around for another attempt.

 

What makes this a great story?  The pace is frenetic: it never slows a whit, right up to the end.  The author does an outstanding job of incorporating the history of  Japanese emperors, shoguns and samurai into the story.  The book’s setting, with ancient shrines, forgotten buildings, and snow-covered bamboo forests, is the perfect backdrop for a treasure hunt, much better than just using a series of cities, as in The Da Vinci Code.

 

The pursuit angle adds urgency to the pacing, as the Emperor isn’t the only one interested in the puzzle box contents.  Artificial intelligence is a big part of the chase, and the story credibly shows how AI can easily be more dangerous than any mortal element in our technology-enslaved world.  A cautionary tale, perhaps?  As for the puzzles… it’s more than the puzzle box itself:  that’s just the start of the clues that lead Brink and his cohorts across Japan, racing to beat the clock.  There is a window of time that the puzzle can be solved in, which helps drive the book’s pacing even faster.  The puzzle box itself doesn’t do anything magic, but it’s just as dangerous as the Lemarchand Configuration from the Hellraiser series.  Mistakes opening the box (and some of the other puzzles) can lead to amputated digits, poisoning, and more.  The puzzles are the perfect backbone to build one hell of a thrill ride on, and The Puzzle Box is all of that, and more.

 

What more do you really need to know?  The chances of readers not liking this book are approximately zero. It should take the country by storm the way The Da Vinci Code did…and that’s the BOTTOM LINE!  Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on December 21, 2024 by , Reply

Book Review: Creatures of the Night: Vicious Vampire Tales (Dark Tide, Book 17) by Simon Clark, Kevin J. Kennedy, and Gord Rollo

Creatures of the Night (Dark Tide, vol. 17) by Simon Clark, Kevin J. Kennedy, and Gord Rollo

Crystal Lake Publishing, 2024

ISBN: 9781964398181

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Amazon.com 

 

With the Dark Tide horror novella series, Crystal Lake Publishing seems to have found a winning formula.  Each volume has three novellas that center around a particular theme, with one story per author.  In this case, the theme is vampires.  Overall, it’s worth the purchase: you don’t need to be a Nosferatu nut to enjoy the stories.  In order, the three stories are: ok, good, and outstanding. The last one alone (which, thankfully, is the longest) is enough to make the whole book worth it.

 

“Return of the Blood Feeders” by Simon Clark, deals with a strange type of Norse vampire. There’s nothing wrong with the writing or plot, but this one just didn’t click for me.  It might be because the last monster seemed a bit over-the-top, and out of place in the story: it just didn’t fit.  Other readers may feel differently.

 

Kevin J. Kennedy’s “Perspective” is one of those stories that attempts to ‘”humanize” vampires, and it does it well. These aren’t goody two-shoes vampires like the undead in Twilight.  In this story, they may have human emotions like love, sadness, and loss, but they know how to kick serious ass-and serious ass they do kick!  There is a wonderfully messy fight towards the end with vampires, werewolves, and demons ripping off heads and sending body parts raining down everywhere, a great smash of a conclusion to a well written tale.  It’s a good combination of drama, mystery, and messiness, as well as a tale of vampires trying to find a reason to exist.  They do find it, and it’s a good reason to endure immortality.

 

Gord Rollo’s “Beneath Still Waters’” is a true house-shaker, a pure rollercoaster of excitement, from beginning to end.  It has all the elements: a remote Canadian town with a tragic past, Native American folklore, and one very unpleasant underwater monster.  There’s a decent amount of the story that takes place on or under a remote lake, and that’s where the writing really shines.  The author knows his stuff when it comes to putting fear and excitement in underwater sequences.  Diving can be nerve-wracking, with the claustrophobia of cave-diving and limited visibility.  The author clearly knows this, and puts the natural dangers of diving to very good use in the story.  There’s also a good twist to the ending.  Sure, maybe the heroes may be a bit foolish with some of their plans to stop the creature, but who cares?  It’s a thrill ride that keeps you hooked, and that’s all that matters.

 

Bottom line: it’s worth it.  Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on November 10, 2024 by , Reply
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