Month: July 2014

The Devil’s Hour

I was supposed to read The Devil’s Hour, by Raymond Esposito, months ago and post a review, however….well, having no Internet since the end of April has put a cramp in my style (whatever that is). My limited Internet time went for school. Now that my summer classes are over, I’m hoping to get caught up on a lot of things. My apologies to Raymond for the delay.

The Devil's Hour, by Raymond Esposito
The Devil’s Hour, by Raymond Esposito

Raymond Esposito writes stories tinted with edge-of-your-seat horror, and that also explore the darker, hidden side of people. He is the author of the Creepers Saga, which currently consists of You and Me Against the World and All Our Foolish Schemes. His newest work is The Devil’s Hour, a book certain to keep the reader up at night.

Sam Drake has a pretty good life…if you consider being divorced and supported by your ex wife while you write about thing that go bump in the night good. He has a big house in a nice neighborhood, neighbors that he likes, and a few he doesn’t. Life, so far as Sam is concerned, is good, now that the divorce is behind him and he’s finally moved on with his life. But “good” vanishes in moments when a car crashes in Sam’s neighborhood, and a wall of black smoke wipes out the outside world.

The car crash is bad enough. The things inside the wall of black smoke are worse. Suddenly, being outside in this crazy new world is more than Sam and his neighbors can handle. But not everyone makes it back inside. And those that do must face creatures from their worst nightmares. Sam’s neighborhood is no longer a sanctuary from the world. Now it’s a demented funhouse filled with terrifying things that used to be familiar and ordinary. And not all of the nightmares came from the cloud of black smoke. Some of them were hidden in the neighborhood all along….

The Devil’s Hour is not for the faint of heart. Creatures straight out of nightmares haunt these pages, stalking both the characters and the reader. Fear comes alive on the page, as the reader becomes comfortable with Sam, a man haunted by fears like any other person. Except his fears live and breathe, instead of merely keeping him awake at night. The pages fly by, racing from one crisis to the next, leaving the reader breathless with adrenaline… and fear.

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Raymond….I know I told you I don’t do horror very often, being something of a chicken (More accurately, I have an overactive imagination and a lot of things scare me that shouldn’t. Chickens, for example….) But seriously? This book creeped me out a lot. I found myself staying up way too late reading it…and flinching every time the air conditioner clicked on. You took some of my worst fears and brought them to life. (Clowns AND dolls? Are you kidding me? Are you a mind-reader? Maybe I need one of those tinfoil hats…) In all seriousness, this book scared the crap out of me, but I couldn’t put it down. Well done, sir. Well done.

City of Heavenly Fire….and what’s been going on

I moved at the end of April, and have not yet successfully managed to find an Internet company that can get us service in the house that is just outside the city limits and in a slight valley (making it impossible to get a signal from the towers).  I need recommendations for satellite internet company!

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City of Heavenly Fire, by Cassandra Clare (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
City of Heavenly Fire, by Cassandra Clare (Margaret K. McElderry Books)

City of Heavenly Fire, the sixth and final installment in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, released in May. Cassandra Clare has also written The Bane Chronicles and The Infernal Devices, series also set in the Shadowhunter world. The first book of The Mortal Instruments series, City of Bones, was made into a movie, as well.

I am coming.

Half threat, half promise, the words Sebastian left behind haunt Clary as they will soon haunt all Shadowhunters. Along with Jace, she and her friends are the only ones who realize just how dangerous her brother, Sebastian is, just how ruthless he can be. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants: power and Clary at his side. Even when the first Institute falls, the Shadowhunters still refuse to listen to Jace and Clary, despite the horrors Sebastian visits on them, using the Mortal Cup.

Nothing in this world can stop Sebastian, so Clary and her friends must leave this world behind as they search desperately to find a way to destroy Sebastian, who is threatening the uneasy peace between Shadowhunters and Downworlders. With their world crumbling around them, and those they love falling to darkness, Clary and Jace must find a way to put a stop to Sebastian for good, before he destroys everything the Shadowhunters have fought for over the centuries.

City of Heavenly Fire brings all the promises from the first five books of the Mortal Instruments series to life in this riveting final chapter. The fear and despair of the characters breathes from every page, laced with adrenaline and whispers of hope. Love is lost and friends fall as the Shadowhunters battle the evil and darkness of Sebastian and his allies.

The action is non-stop in this final installment to the best-selling Mortal Instruments series. The characters readers have come to love are all here, although not all of them will make it out alive, as the Shadowhunters battle Sebastian in the final face-off.