Book 50-Absolution by Dawn Ius

This book is another novel that has not been released yet to the public, but I am giving you all a little peek at this book written by my best friend Dawn.

Now I read this book when it was still in the "works" and thought it was amazing then. After some feedback from her agent and editors, Dawn had to make some changes. I was pretty upset with the changes (basically taking out all the gore and good stuff), but after reading this "new and improved" version I am pleasantly surprised.

I find the book so much better without the gore, and violence (GASP! Can't believe I am saying that!), it seems to flow better and is more complete...if that makes any sense :)

The book is a story about Cait, a reporter, who is forced to quit her job after her car is blown up by Nico, the person who she is doing a report on. Nico is a private investigator to the stars and Cait knows he isn't working between the lines of the law.

Cait is offered a job with Skeptic magazine. This job sends her to Italy to do a story on the Nivola, a ceremony in the Catholic Church where a Bishop retrieves a nail from the crucifixion of Jesus, and it is said to grant miracles. Many people have witnessed this ceremony and attest to the miracles. One lady was cured of cancer, another got pregnant after trying for seven years. Cait's job is to find two sides of the story, believers and non believers, but someone has a different plan for Cait...and it has nothing to do with her writing about the Nivola.

Father Amadeo Duretti on the eve of the Nivola ceremony, is forced to listed to Nico Pasquali's "confession". Nico is Amadeo's brother in law, and Amadeo is forced to decide which is more important to him, his love for his sister, or his love for his God.

All of the characters stories wind together into a "miracle" of a story, that moves at a solid pace, and keeps the reader enthralled.

Dawns use of description in the book really gives you a good view of what the city of Milan looks and feels like. You can almost feel the air whisper through your hair, see the greatness of the Duomo, and smell Nico's cigars.

When this one hits the shelves I definitely recommend picking it up. For those of you who are into the psychological thriller genre it is definitely a keeper. And I'm not saying this because she is my BF, I'm saying this because I REALLY enjoyed this book!

Watch out world! My buddy Dawn is coming to the fiction world! Future New York Times bestseller here!

Book 49-Rusty Nail by J.A. Konrath

I've said it many times on this blog...I love J.A. Konrath, and with every book I read by him I love his characters and writing style more and more.

Rusty Nail is the third book in the Jack Daniels mysteries. This one takes place after the events of Bloody Mary. Jacks mother is in the hospital suffering from a coma, Latham, Jacks beau has left her, and her cat Mr. Friskers is running amok in her home as usual. Jack is trying to keep her personal, and professional life together when a video tape shows up at her work.

The video shows a woman tied to a chair, naked. The woman struggles against her binds, but then a person walks slightly into view, and slices her throat. Jack is struggling to figure out why this video seems very, very familiar....

This story was one of the better Daniels novels. The story line really shows how much of a kick ass cop Jack is, but also how she is a sensitive and caring individual. I love how Konrath can take Jack from a sarcastic smart ass (reminds me of myself) to a dead serious police officer working to get the job done. She is able to dish the butt kicking out, but also able to take some beats as well. I totally respect (and love) her character.

Reading the kill scenes in this book made me smile. The killer is one twisted S.O.B. who enjoys peeling the skin off his victims while they are alive, cutting a small hole in the stomach and feeding intestines to the victim (Choo, Choo here comes the train!), and other wonderfully gorey death scenes filled this book. Konrath definitely has a knack for describing the gore factor in words, he does an absolutely "fandibulous" job.

Finally we have the humor. All the Jack Daniels books have a nice mixture of intensity, gore, romance, and laughs. I actually caught myself laughing out loud as some of the crazy things the characters say and do...I loved Harry with the midgets! To know what I am talking about, go pick up the first book in the series, Whiskey Sour, and get to know Jack. You won't be disappointed.

I was planning on reading the next book in the Daniels series "Dirty Martini". I want to catch up on the series as I have been given a copy of "Shaken" the newest book in the series via email by Joe Konrath (It was a surprise to all of us who pre-reviewed Draculas. Thank you Joe!) but my BF Dawn just read what sounds like an amazing YA novel called "Under My Skin". It sounds really good! If you want, check it out on her blog, it tells you about the book! http://dawn-ius.blogspot.com/2010/10/book-49-under-my-skin.html

Dirty Martini, or Under my Skin...decisions, decisions...

Book 48-Draculas by J.A Konrath, Blake Crouch,Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson

Wow...that's all I have to say. Wow! This book was freaking amazing!!! An absolute smorgasbord of blood, guts and all out mayhem. What a change from the usual horror novel writing.

Draculas was the effort of 4 horror novelists: My personal favorite J.A Konrath, along Jeff Strand, Blake Crouch and F. Paul Wilson. These 4 put together create a masterpiece of a vampire book. We aren't in Forks Washington anymore people, there are no sparkly vampires here. No! We are in the Blessed Crucifixion hospital, where it all begins.

Mortimer Moorecook, a retired wall street tycoon, is dieing of cancer. He is a millionaire with money to spare, and he hears of a strange skull found in a Romanian farmers field. The skull has baffled researchers and the rumor is that it is a vampire skull. Mortimer is trying to beat death, and pays millions to have the skull shipped to him. He hires Shanna an anthropologist to look at the skull and tell him if it is in fact a vampire skull.

The day comes that Mortimers investment comes to his home via Fed Ex. Shanna and him are looking at the skull and trying to figure out if it is a fake. Mortimer takes the skull and clamps it on his neck...and all freaking hell breaks loose.

The book doesn't have all that much in depth to it. It's not going to give you some life long lesson to live by (besides stay the heck away from people with REALLY big sharp teeth), but it will churn your guts, and make you wince. The introduction states "If you are easily disturbed, have a weak stomach, or are prone to nightmares, stop reading right now. There are no sexy teen hearthrobs herein"

You have been warned.

Now come on, who wouldn't want to read a book with those words in the introduction?!?!

I can't say enough about how super the gore factor is in this book. It's is all about the blood, brain matter, balloon animals made out of intestines (SWWEEET!!) and an 8 month old fetus chewing it's way out of it's mothers belly (I will say it again SWWEEET!!!).

You can download the first few chapter here via amazon: http://www.amazon.com/DRACULAS-Chapters-Upcoming-Release-ebook/dp/B0042ANZBU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AZC9TZ4UC9CFC&s=digital-text&qid=1286642937&sr=1-2. This is a teaser trailer for the book. Or you can purchase the entire book (which I so recommend) here: http://www.amazon.com/DRACULAS-Novel-Terror-ebook/dp/B0042AMD2M

If you haven't been made all "froofy poofy" by nice vampires like Edward Cullen, and can handle a whole lot of blood and guts (or if you're like me and relish in it) then Draculas is the book for you to read. I can see it becoming a classic in vampire literature.

Here's to you J.A Konrath, Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson!!! You have brought the scare factor back to the vampire!

I have no idea what my next book will be...I think I'm going to sit and wallow in the greatness of Draculas.

Book 47-The Hearts Filthy Lesson by Sheldon L'Henaff

Ok first of all I have to say this book is by a co-worker friend of mine. Sheldon is part of the team where I work here in Edmonton Ab. He has been working on his writing career for a few years now and published his first novel "Drowned World" a year or so ago.

The books he writes are not my usual literature choice, but to be a supportive friend I am always asking him if he has anything new...and I have to admit his books interest me. Yes they are works of fiction, but they have such a "real life" kind of aspect to them, that you can't help but continue to read.

The Hearts Filthy Lesson is a book about two best friends Dutch and Eli. They are both homosexual young men working in the call centre of Go! Credit. The story reads basically like a month in the life of these two. The good, the bad, and yes...the very ugly.

Dutch and Eli are two individuals that are an unlikely pair, kind of like oil and water. Eli is an absolute dirt bag, having sex with anything that moves pretty much, and living on meth, cocaine, and ketamine. The best words I can use for Eli are "morally bankrupt" as one of the characters in the book state. Eli, doesn't care what he does, or who he hurts as long as he is satisfied both sexually and personally. Dutch is a quiet individual who also is addicted to ketamine, cocaine and meth, but he is able to hold himself together, and is a decent human being, but he is in love with Eli.

I don't know what drew me to not stop reading this book. I couldn't put it down. I told Sheldon it must have been morbid curiosity (there are quite a few gay sex scenes in the book) or maybe it was just my NEED to see something really NASTY happen to Eli. Honestly you can't help but hate the guy, and really feel for Dutch.

This book has not been released as of yet, but I recommend everyone to go and pick it up (unless you suffer from homophobia), it really is an enjoyable read.

My next book will be Draculas by J.A Konrath. I am just dieing to get home from work so I can download it!

Book 46-Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

The blog "Reading Teens"rave review of Beautiful Creatures gave me the push to pick up this book on my Kobo. I had seen the book many times at the bookstore, Wal Mart and the grocery store and always thought "Damn I need to pick that up, it looks good." So after reading the review on Reading Teen, I decided I would venture to Wal Mart to pick the book up. Alas, there we no copies..which really ticked me off, as I had been there 20 times before and had seen it! So I turned to the Kobo store, where they are never out of stock! :)

Beautiful Creatures takes place in the small town of Gatlin, Texas where everything is the same day in and day out. Until, Lena Duchannes, niece of the town recluse, comes to live. Everyone is against her, and finds her weird, with her crazy clothes, and strange jewelry. But Ethan Wate is having dreams about Lena where she is calling to him to save her. He sees her hand pass by him, as they both fall into an abyss. After these dreams Ethan feels a need to "know" Lena and figure out the truth of why he is dreaming about her.

This book has a nice supernatural twist to it, that has broken away from the usual vampire craze. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE vampires (c'mon who can resist Damon Salvatore?), but this book brought in witchcraft, incubuses, and other otherworldly delights. The book really didn't appeal to me at the beginning, but as you read you are sucked into the town of Gatlin, and are forced to root for Lena and Ethan in their quest.

The second book in the series (I have always been a sucker for the series) Beautiful Darkness comes out very soon, and I think it will be the next one for my Kobo.