Category: Supernatural

Review of Josh of the Damned Triple Feature by Andrea Speed

Rating: 5 stars

Josh Caplan is not just  your average convenience store clerk.  But that’s ok because the Quik-Mart where he works the night shift? Well, it has a hell portal out back, werewolves peeing on the outside ice machine, and an endless parade of weird customers from hell. Whether it is the zombies buying frozen burritos or a love lorn yeti, Josh handles it all with a commendable nonchalance and sangfroid far beyond his years. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that his oh so hot boyfriend is a 300 year old vampire with powers out the whazoo!  Can anything upset Josh’s unflappability?  Why yes, there is.  All it takes is a visit from a voracious facial hair, an attack from an overcompensating Cthulhu, and a visit from the Hell Boss herself with a mission for Josh to make a job at Wendy’s look promising.  It’s all here.  Read it for yourself.

While it is true that I am addicted to all things Andrea Speed, Josh Caplan holds a special, albeit warped, place in my heart.  With each new customer that walks the aisles to the freezer section, Josh is ready for anything, even if it’s a few extra cents from the Take A Penny tray to help him/them/it complete their purchase.  That lovesick yeti from Peek-A-Boo (Book #2) is back and Josh calls him Professor Bobo as a nod to one of my favorites MST3K.  Great smacks into wonderfulness!  Josh has gotten fond of him and who wouldn’t?  Then there is Colin, his vampire boyfriend who is fond of sweets, Bailey’s Irish Creme and  rock n roll.  He’s handy to have around when the  hell customers get frisky or the human customers pose a threat.  Yep, you read that right.  Most of the time, it’s the humans that cause the most problems. Ok, that is par for the course at convenience stores anywhere. Moving on.

Triple Feature contains three new Josh of the Damned stories. Night of the Mustache, I Was Cthulhu’s Love Slave, and Interview With The Empire where we finally learn why Josh is so special.  I started giggling from page 1 and didn’t stop until the end.  I mean really. Stan Cthulhu? Stop it.  Really, I mean it.  Now I am going to have to start reading all over again.

Reading these stories are like munching on bonbons stuffed with weed.  Oozy chocolately goodness on the outside, mindbending surprises on the inside.  Combine all that with snappy dialog, outrageously memorable characters, and all too short stories and you have the Josh of the Damned series.  Throw in some added sweetness as well, because it’s there too.  I just love these books.  Just thinking about them makes my day.  Pick them up, and give them a read.  Josh and company will make your day too.

Cover:  Cover artist is LC Chase.  The cover is just one more treat in this veritable basket of goodies.  I would love to have a framed copy.  Just outstanding.

Available from Riptide Publishing, Amazon and ARe.

Check out Andrea Speed at http://andreaspeed.com/

Review of Caleb Moon Lake Wolves #2 by Jade Astor

Rating: 3 stars

Caleb Lyall goes off to college hoping to research his family’s lycanthropy in order to better understand werewolves and perhaps find a cure.  Immediately he meets Desmond Quinn, good looking graduate student and his TA in psychology.  Desmond offers to show Caleb around campus and introduce him to his professor and advisor, Dr. Arden.

Everything seems normal, until it’s not.  Dr. Arden has a reputation for being creepy and interested in the supernatural.  People are reporting weird animal attacks on campus, and Caleb is starting to have blackouts.  Could he be changing and not know it? Desmond just might be his mate but is he involved in the strange things happening around campus? Nothing is as it seems and its up to Caleb to unravel the mysteries before its too late.

Not having read the first book in the series, I was unfamiliar with the characters and their backgrounds. However, the first couple of pages gives you a synopsis more or less so I don’t feel that is a hinderance in reading the book.  There are too many other problems for that to be a concern. The main problems I have with this book are bland, one-note characters, and a plot with more holes in it than swiss cheese.

Caleb is a twenty six year old, so I would expect some measure of maturity from his character but time and again, he behaves like a coed in those Scary Movies.  He has a family that supports him, but he doesn’t call them for help until the end of the book.   Caleb and Desmond spot their professor naked inside a circle of naked students (during a study session) doing naughty, and for one student objectional,  things to each other.  Do they inform campus security?  Or the college president or anyone?  They do nothing.  What not even a YouTube video?

Desmond is a TA but he doesn’t notice anything odd going on?  Why is his professor having all those arguments with his honor students? And when one of those students runs screaming up to him for help? He closes the door on him! Doesn’t even ask questions.  Dorothy Parker had that wonderful remark about a young Katherine Hepburn where she states  “She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B”.  Here they run the gamut of emotions from A to A (with my apologies to Dorothy Parker). Desmond is a mere outline of a person, so why have any expectations of him at all?

Neither Caleb or Desmond do anything other than react to the situations around them.  They are so passive and flat like cardboard cutouts it is hard to care about them. And the villain of the piece is spotted immediately but seems less threatening than Snidely Whiplash. There is nothing remotely plausible about the plot and the characters sleepwalking their way through it.  I finished it and then found it hard to retrieve names and events.  Unremarkable, unbelievable, and finally unreadable.  What a shame.

Cover:  I like the cover and think they did a great job.  The models are in keeping with the characters and the graphics are lovely.

Available from Silver Publishing, Amazon, and ARe