P. D. Cacek

Sometimes you need to eat something that isn't very good for you. [b:Canyons|1626614|Canyons|P.D. Cacek|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1312029188s/1626614.jpg|1620658] is pure cotton candy. Poor (Cat) Catherine Mosselle works for the QUEST a Weekly World News type of downscale newspaper. One snowy evening she is attacked by a meandering crack-head and just happens to be saved by the alpha male of a very important Denver lycanthrope family. On the one hand she doesn't have to make show more up news stories anymore but on the other how is she supposed to find the Denver Werewolf again for a follow up story? Little does she know that through her little news item she has unleashed the hatred and will to dominate of two Colorado were-clans.

See if you were taking this too seriously there would be a problem, but we're just having fun here. Like a good amusement park ride it is a fun anticipation and a whole lot of fun riding, but once it's over it's alright to not take it very seriously and even forget about it. However while you are on, it is a whole lotta fun.

Cacek has just the right blend of humor and horror and suspense to pull this off. I'm not sure if a second ride with her wouldn't be "I've already seen this before," but it works here.

So I like [b:Canyons|1626614|Canyons|P.D. Cacek|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1312029188s/1626614.jpg|1620658]. It was a real page turner for me. The only problem is if you read this stuff too much, it'll rot your teeth. show less

I despised this book despite it being hard to put down and starting off on a semi-promising foot. This book keeps dipping into different genre pools so much that I can't figure out what it's trying to be. Sometimes horror, sometimes paranormal romance, ending horror, it's just odd.

It would have been a three star rating if not for that killer ending that gutted the rest of my enjoyment out. What a douchebag the main male character ended up being, and it made a lot of the storyline no longer show more make sense. Plus the mating with all in the pack including the daughters when they come to a certain age? Uber ick.

The sarcastic female lead is sort of fun and probably the best part of the story, but her storyline ends up so unfair and trapped it leaves me irritated at the end. Humor works only until a point to where I get pissed off instead. It’s nifty to have dark twists at the end IF they work, but in this case it clearly didn’t for me.

If you’re a horror fan this one is brutal with dark humor, but I think the level of romance may be a turn off if that’s not your bag. On the other hand, if you’re a romance or PNR fan you will want to veer away from this one due to the second half crushing the heart of any potential bondings. Yech.

Of course the biggest issues with this (horror?) novel is the abuse with the children later as well as the bizarre werewolf incest. The author certainly doesn’t shy away from villain cruelty.

If I had to say something positive, it’d be that at least the characters are relatively well-fleshed out, even if they aren’t likable….which brings me to another problem. Why did the author spend so much time trying to convince the reader a semi-unrealistic bond exists in the first place, to throw it away as pointless later anyway and take away all the story development between the two?

There’s horror, but then there’s stories that detail sexual violence toward children horror, and nope – doesn’t work for me. show less

This novel is a spellbinding and original exploration of reincarnation in which lives that were cut short return from the dead, not as newborns and not with new lives, but in the bodies of the recently deceased. Imagine losing a loved one, but not being able to lay them to rest because a stranger now inhabits their body. Imagine having lost a loved one years ago but finding out they are now alive in a body that you don't recognize. Now imagine being that person, perhaps a child that was run show more down in the street waking up in the body of an elderly dying man. This is the wondrous concept brought to life by P.D. Casek.

I received an advance copy for review. show less

This isn't quite what I was expecting, but it is certainly a most extraordinary book. The cover makes it look to be a somewhat scary story, but I found it played on other emotions and brought me close to tears several times.
Initially I thought I might lose track of all the different characters, but they're all so well rounded out and individual that there wasn't a problem, especially after pairs of story lines merged. You really get to feel for these characters and the situations they're in. show more Difficult, emotional situations which all have different outcomes.
This one took me by surprise, and is likely to stay with me for quite a while.

Many thanks to Flame Tree Press for the ARC. My review is my honest, voluntary opinion. show less