Jason Parent

Too bad Seb didn’t have the magic eight ball before he met with Ling and all hell broke loose. He took his chances in Vegas. If it wasn’t for bad luck, he’d have no luck at all and it will take his Hellcat Charger to survive.

Bloody and fleeing for his life…

I love that Jason Parent adds some humor to his horror and he is not afraid to kill off a character or two or three…His characters are quirky and his scenarios keep me wondering. The minute I think I know how the story will end, show more he throws in a surprise or two making me say…WTF.

WOW…Eight Cylinders was one wild ride with some of the worst characters being the best. This may be a novella, but it was filled with danger, otherwordly, nail biting, edge of the seat suspense and thrills.

Good job Jason. You had me going. The ending was worth a star itself.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Eight Cylinders by Jason Parent.

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You don't like spiders and fear they will be crawling all over the pages of this book? Don't let that keep you from reading it, though, as it is much more than just an arachnid creature feature. Though the story does start with an unfortunate incident, leading to an eight-legged lodger in Clive's head, it soon turns into kind of a psychological thriller with a dose of humor.

The characters are multi-layered and not too likable, which makes it much more interesting to follow them along. As it show more turns out, at the end the spider was one of the characters I liked most, simply because it was the most honest in both its intentions and actions (the other was a little girl).

While Clive, the main character, seemed decent enough at first, just your regular shy and unremarkable guy, I couldn't shake the feeling there was also something off about him that made him not so nice at all. Same could be said about his friend Morgan.

At the end I recognized that the title may not only refer to the arachnid resident in Clive's head, but also to the secret thoughts hidden within each of the characters. Once revealed, they turned out to be pretty creepy as well, reminding me once again of one of my favorite sayings: the real monsters are mostly human.

(Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of the book, all opinions are my own) show less

As assured a debut novel as any I've read, [b:What Hides Within|15828555|What Hides Within|Jason Parent|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1344971853s/15828555.jpg|21561970] defies both expectations and classification with cleverness and style. Is it horror? Comedy? Crime thriller? Supernatural mystery? The answer is difficult to pin down, but that didn't keep me from enjoying evey second of this book.

When I first started reading, I was expecting a light horror comedy somewhere in show more the vicinity of JOHN DIES AT THE END or THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS, maybe even shades of DIRK GENTLY'S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY.

But even though it is full of wit and humor, as the story progresses it subtley shifts to a different place - and in the end, Joe Hill's book [b:Horns|6587879|Horns|Joe Hill|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348768657s/6587879.jpg|6781405] comes to mind as the closest analogue, though thankfully WHAT HIDES WITHIN stays enjoyable throughout the duration and never slumps into pathos, not even for an instant. I'm not sure I'd completely categorize this book as horror, either - even though there are enough lurid shocks to turn the stomachs of more squeamish readers, certainly.

To me, in the end, this book is just the kind I keep searching for: something new. The story is fresh, the writing inventive and accessible, and the ending leaves the door cracked open for more spiders to enter our lives again someday if they so choose. I will be eagerly awaiting the next literary adventure from [a:Jason Parent|6505947|Jason Parent|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1377873108p2/6505947.jpg], and am so glad to have stumbled upon this amazing new talent. show less

4.5
Book source ~ Won in Goodreads giveaway

Something weird and dangerous is going on in the apartment building where Jaden Sanders lives. When the woman across the hall from him commits suicide Detective Royo is assigned the case with a rookie police officer. The scene doesn’t look right, but they can’t place their finger on what’s wrong. So the coroner rules it a suicide and they all move on with their lives. Until three guys break into Jaden’s apartment forcing him to defend show more himself. Jaden’s mental health, always precarious, takes a horrible turn for the worse and now he’s being tried for murder. Royo doesn’t believe Jaden did anything wrong defending himself, but he feels as if something else is going on. It bugs him. So he starts digging. And what he uncovers surprises him.

Wow. This is one hell of a book. Poor Jaden. This is a guy who just can’t catch a break. Just when he’s getting a handle on his mental health something comes along to derail him. His struggles seem very real. I was beginning to doubt what was going on. It’s like dropping down a rabbit hole. I really like the characters, especially Detective Royo and his rookie officer, Megan Costa, who don’t take the easy road when it’s offered to them. This whole book upset me, especially the ending. WTF?! It’s disturbing and horrifying and a totally awesome read. I highly recommend it. show less