I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program. I love all things werewolf/lycanthrope, so I was thrilled to win this contest. I'll avoid the back-of-the-book blurb and recap as that's freely available on this page, and others have covered it. The book falls firmly in the YA camp and the heroine is relatable, with enough white, black and grey to be intriguing throughout. I'd think most fans of paranormal YA or old Buffy or Grimm fans would enjoy the story.
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway program
As with many of the other reviewers my review finds itself in the company of, I found the collection of tales a mixed bag. Some of the authors I'd experienced before, and others were fresh faces to me. I didn't mind the supernatural elements of some of the stories contained herein, though I believe that may tweak the purists out there - I felt they were handled well enough. I enjoyed the book overall, though I felt some of the territory was handled better in Shadows Over Baker Street and Adams' anthology The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; not a sleight certainly, as those books were both stellar collections, but this collection fell just a bit short of that. If you enjoyed those, you'll find yourself in familiar territory here.
As with many of the other reviewers my review finds itself in the company of, I found the collection of tales a mixed bag. Some of the authors I'd experienced before, and others were fresh faces to me. I didn't mind the supernatural elements of some of the stories contained herein, though I believe that may tweak the purists out there - I felt they were handled well enough. I enjoyed the book overall, though I felt some of the territory was handled better in Shadows Over Baker Street and Adams' anthology The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; not a sleight certainly, as those books were both stellar collections, but this collection fell just a bit short of that. If you enjoyed those, you'll find yourself in familiar territory here.
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
An anthology based around the music? I wouldn't think it'd be my cup of tea...however throw in the guaranteed goodness of some of my favorite authors such as Jonathan Maberry, Gary Braunbeck, Simon R. Green, Christopher Golden, and Nancy Holder and you got a recipe for some of the sweetest tunes, er, prose to hit the page. I didn't doubt that Maberry would have the strongest entry in the volume, but when they got this band together they had a solid line-up.
Give this one a go.
An anthology based around the music? I wouldn't think it'd be my cup of tea...however throw in the guaranteed goodness of some of my favorite authors such as Jonathan Maberry, Gary Braunbeck, Simon R. Green, Christopher Golden, and Nancy Holder and you got a recipe for some of the sweetest tunes, er, prose to hit the page. I didn't doubt that Maberry would have the strongest entry in the volume, but when they got this band together they had a solid line-up.
Give this one a go.
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
I received a free ebook copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review
The premise of the shadowy employment agency Limbus continues in this second volume of tales. I felt the tales in this volume were not of the same caliber as the stories in volume 1, but they were still well-done overall. The wrapper story doled out between each tale was handled well, but the true belle of the ball was Maberry's offering "Three Guys Walk into a Bar" which blends his Pine Deep, Echo Team, and Sam Hunter universe in a story that closed out the volume in a tense action-fest...in other words, traditional Maberry fashion. That story alone would make this book worth the cover price.
Fans of the Maberry or Volume 1 of the series will find a lot to love here. There's tales aplenty by other recognizable authors such as Braunbeck, McKinney, and Lansdale among others. The stories span genres, so it's hard not to find something to love in this book.
The premise of the shadowy employment agency Limbus continues in this second volume of tales. I felt the tales in this volume were not of the same caliber as the stories in volume 1, but they were still well-done overall. The wrapper story doled out between each tale was handled well, but the true belle of the ball was Maberry's offering "Three Guys Walk into a Bar" which blends his Pine Deep, Echo Team, and Sam Hunter universe in a story that closed out the volume in a tense action-fest...in other words, traditional Maberry fashion. That story alone would make this book worth the cover price.
Fans of the Maberry or Volume 1 of the series will find a lot to love here. There's tales aplenty by other recognizable authors such as Braunbeck, McKinney, and Lansdale among others. The stories span genres, so it's hard not to find something to love in this book.
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
In the interest of transparency, I received an ebook copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
He Who Walks in Shadow is a continuation of the in-HPL-mythos fiction begun by Brett Talley in the wonderful That Which Should Not Be, though it stands completely on its own. The hero of that novel - Carter Weston - has gone missing, and is presumed to be dead by most. His friend and colleague Dr Henry Armitage still has faith that his old ally is still alive and has plans to find him. Henry knows that he'll need help in the quest, from someone familiar with the strange doings Miskatonic alumnae find themselves mixed in, and he recruits Carter's adult daughter Rachel to join him. Thus begins a globe-trotting adventure that Lovecraft would be proud to endorse.
The previous novel in the series, as mentioned above, was delivered in the form of multiple short stories - anthology style - with a nice fiction wrapper of Weston's trip to a nearby town under the guise of gathering local folklore. This novel, on the other hand, is deftly handled by journal entries by the various characters, historical books, etc. Even if you had skipped the first book, the characters are well-developed and the plotting well-done. For Lovecraft fans, the interweaving of existing Mythos (Henry Armitage, Erich Zann, Nyarlathotep, Miskatonice, etc) is seamless and it really feels like Talley took great effort to mold the story to logically build upon the previous Mythos authors' work, giving show more sound reasons for chronology, relationships, and theology beyond his own work.
I really enjoyed spending more time with Talley's characters. The eras spanned in the story felt true and realistic. The prose delivery via journal, reports, news clippings, etc. is nothing new, but it fit the overall feel of the book, and seemed a perfect fit. If I had any issue at all, some of the travels in the book seemed a little forced, but not heavy-handed, and again it's not a big quibble to have given the reach of the story and the span of what Talley's trying to bridge (Robert Chamber's King in Yellow, Lovecraft's Mythos, various theologies).
I recommend the book. Existing fans of the Mythos will find a comfort in the familiarity of the 'verse, and it's open enough that fresh fans of horror and adventure tales will have plenty to enjoy throughout as well. show less
He Who Walks in Shadow is a continuation of the in-HPL-mythos fiction begun by Brett Talley in the wonderful That Which Should Not Be, though it stands completely on its own. The hero of that novel - Carter Weston - has gone missing, and is presumed to be dead by most. His friend and colleague Dr Henry Armitage still has faith that his old ally is still alive and has plans to find him. Henry knows that he'll need help in the quest, from someone familiar with the strange doings Miskatonic alumnae find themselves mixed in, and he recruits Carter's adult daughter Rachel to join him. Thus begins a globe-trotting adventure that Lovecraft would be proud to endorse.
The previous novel in the series, as mentioned above, was delivered in the form of multiple short stories - anthology style - with a nice fiction wrapper of Weston's trip to a nearby town under the guise of gathering local folklore. This novel, on the other hand, is deftly handled by journal entries by the various characters, historical books, etc. Even if you had skipped the first book, the characters are well-developed and the plotting well-done. For Lovecraft fans, the interweaving of existing Mythos (Henry Armitage, Erich Zann, Nyarlathotep, Miskatonice, etc) is seamless and it really feels like Talley took great effort to mold the story to logically build upon the previous Mythos authors' work, giving show more sound reasons for chronology, relationships, and theology beyond his own work.
I really enjoyed spending more time with Talley's characters. The eras spanned in the story felt true and realistic. The prose delivery via journal, reports, news clippings, etc. is nothing new, but it fit the overall feel of the book, and seemed a perfect fit. If I had any issue at all, some of the travels in the book seemed a little forced, but not heavy-handed, and again it's not a big quibble to have given the reach of the story and the span of what Talley's trying to bridge (Robert Chamber's King in Yellow, Lovecraft's Mythos, various theologies).
I recommend the book. Existing fans of the Mythos will find a comfort in the familiarity of the 'verse, and it's open enough that fresh fans of horror and adventure tales will have plenty to enjoy throughout as well. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.