Book 77 of 2009: Wolf Tales 9 by Kate Douglas

Wolf Tales 9, the latest release in Douglas' Chanku series brings all of the Chanku together in Montana. Tia is getting ready to give birth to the twins that she and Luc have conceived and everyone has gathered to support her. The labor is a long process and Luc is very concerned for her. In order to help pass the time and relax the nervous couple, the rest of the Chanku family decides to tell stories about various stories about their past lives. When the time of birth grows closer, Logan realizes that one of the babies is under some distress and takes Tia on back to the birthing room to monitor her while the others continue their stories to keep Luc calm.

This was probably my favorite book of Douglas' series so far. The way the Chanku all came together as one united family to help at Tia and Luc's time of need showed just how strong the Chanku love truly is. The stories that were told from the various members of the pack helped fill in some of the gaps that I had been wondering about through the story thus far... especially the bits about Mik and Aj... talk about hot!!! This book did lack the mystery/adventure aspects that most of the other Wolf Tales books had in them, but this was a special book and didn't need that. This series is like following the adventures of a family that you have watched grow together and Wolf Tales 9 really brought everyone closer together, especially at the exciting conclusion when the babies were born. Highly Recommended!

Contains: Adult Language, Adult Situations, Graphic Sex

Review also posted at MonsterLibrarian.com

Book 76 of 2009: Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris

Book 75 of 2009: Santa Claus Conquers the Homophobes

Book two of the Santa Claus Chronicles by Robert Devereaux starts off where Santa Steps Out leaves off. Santa's new stepdaughter, Wendy, has a mission every Christmas Eve alongside of Santa where she visits one hundred children. Upon each visitation she shows the children a glimpse into their future. On one particular visit, one of the boys she visits, Jamie Stratton, leaves her disturbed, and she glimpses suicide in his future due to torment he has dealt with because of the fact that he is gay. She discusses this with Santa and asks for his help in order to save Jamie's life. Together, Santa and Wendy go on a special journey to "fix" all the people that affect Jamie's life and make them less prone to homophobia. Of course, the Tooth Fairy isn't going to make this task easy for them and intervenes where she can. But when all is said and done... if they can expunge the homophobia of just a few people... will that be enough to appease Santa and Wendy or will they want to do even bigger and better things?

Santa Claus strikes again in this second round of adventures from Robert Devereaux. This novel is a lot different from the first release as it's lacking all of the sex that was included in the first, but it still could be considered offensive to some as it focuses heavily on bigotry and religion. I had hoped to read more about the Tooth Fairy in this book, but after the way Santa Steps Out ended I knew that was something not to expect. I did enjoy the addition of some of the new characters though (in particular, the imps) and also the fact that the elves got a bit more time in this book than the previous release. I am curious to see what Devereaux will have up his sleeves for a third release down the road! Highly Recommended!

Contains: Adult Language, Adult Situations, Minor Sex, Violence

Review also posted at MonsterLibrarian.com

Also available at MonsterLibrarian.com is a review I did with Robert Devereaux.

Book 74 of 2009: Santa Steps Out by Robert Devereaux

Santa Claus spends every Christmas Eve delivering presents to boys and girls and spreading Christmas joy, but have you ever wondered what else goes on at the North Pole with good ol' Santa? Robert Devereaux tells us just that with his tales of wonderment in Santa Steps Out. We learn about the trials and tribulations that Mr. and Mrs. Claus suffer within their marriage and how Santa turns to the seductive Tooth Fairy, yes, I did say the Tooth Fairy, in order to get his jollies off. And lurking not far from all the sexual adventures, is the voyeuristic Easter Bunny. What? You didn't know that about the Easter Bunny? Well... now you do! That poor bunny though... he's a bit jealous, and when he runs off and tattles on dear old Santa, you should see what happens when the missus finds out...

Robert Devereaux has created the ultimate fairy tale for adults with Santa Steps Out. I never would have thought ever such a book could have existed before this landed in my hands. Every chapter I was amazed at what naughty things he had my old "fairy tale friends" doing. Deveraux stretches the limits as far as possible with this book and I commend him for that, as some authors wouldn't go to such extremes. This novel is one-of-a-kind and couldn't have been written by anyone else half as well as Devereaux. Some people re-read A Christmas Carol every holiday season, me... I think I'll be reading Santa Steps Out! Highly Recommended!

Contains: Adult Language, Adult Situations, Graphic Sex, Violence, Rape

Review also posted at MonsterLibrarian.com

Also available at MonsterLibrarian.com is a review I did with Robert Devereaux.

Book 73 of 2009: Sausagey Santa by Carlton Mellick III

Sausagey Santa is the story of the Fry family and what happens to them one Christmas season. The Fry family is made of Matthew Fry, with "the sly guy" hairstyle, his wife Decapitron, who thinks she is a Transformer, and their four children. Matthew would love to not be married to Decapitron, but he knows that anything he does against her wishes will cause her to annihilate him, so he is stuck where he is. On Christmas Eve Decapitron allows sits around telling the kids Santa stories. One in particular is about Sausagey Santa and Matthew doesn't approve of his children hearing the story. The tale describes Santa as being made out of meat goo and linked together in order to form the shape of a man. However, this particular Christmas, Santa made quite a ruckus showing up at the Fry household and when Matthew and Decapitron go downstairs to investigate, Matthew is shocked to find that it is Sausagey Santa rather than Santa Claus that is in their house and instead of drinking milk he prefers beer. Santa enjoys a short visit with the Frys and is about to head off when he hears a lot of noise stirring up outside. He informs the Fry family that they are all in danger. They later discover that it is an anti-Christmas spirit that is after Santa and trying to ruin Christmas. Now, with the help of the Fry family and his elves, Sausagey Santa is attempting to salvage Christmas this year!

Readers like to get in the spirit of the season by reading a holiday novel or two, but some don't like those feel good, mushy, happy-go-lucky romance books and such that are easy to find on the shelves during the holiday season. Sausagey Santa is the answer for that are looking for those hard to find books! Also, if not familiar with Carlton Mellick III and/or the greatness of the horror sub-genre, Bizarro, this is a great introduction to both! I can only imagine what possibly inspired the ideas for some of the scenes that are depicted in this novel. In particular, I would one day like discuss with Carlton Mellick III exactly where he came up with the idea for "Television Cake" and that's something you read about in just the first chapter of this treasure of a book. There is much more hidden within the pages of Sausagey Santa and every chapter contains something to make your jaw drop and you're mind to ask "What the f---?!?!" So buy up a copy, make some hot cocoa, and snuggle up in the blankets and read this book! And afterward, I guarantee you'll be hoping that it's the "Original Santa Claus" coming to visit you Christmas Eve rather than Sausagey Santa... unless, of course, you are REALLY twisted!

Contains: Adult Language, Adult Situations, Violence, Sex

Review also posted at MonsterLibrarian.com

Book 72 of 2009: Under the Dome by Stephen King

Not going to bother writing up a review for this one after all. I honestly wasn't all that impressed in the end. Kinda wish I hadn't wasted my time. At least I only spent $9 on the hardback edition and not $20+ like some people...

Book 71 of 2009: The Resurrectionist by Wrath James White

Wrath James White starts us off into the world of The Resurrectionist by vividly exploring a scene where a young boy listens intently from outside his parents’ bedroom door as they fight. The boy continues to listen as his dad beats up his mom and he even listens as his dad kills his mom. Then he decides to call the cops. Once the cops arrive, even more chaos takes place as the boy is escorted out to a cop car and the cops go in to see what has taken place. He watches them one by one stagger out of the house getting sick and finally he runs back into the house to find his father dead, shot by the cops, and his mom skinned alive by his father's hand. He climbs over to his mom and starts giving her mouth-to-mouth. Slowly she starts to breathe again and then her skin starts to rejuvenate. The cops come back in then and can't believe their eyes. The woman sitting with him can't possibly be the woman that was just lying there skinned alive, can it? But he claims it's his mommy. What special powers is it this boy holds and what else could he possibly use those powers for in the future?

The Resurrectionist delves deep into the life of one very demented and warped individual. The main character, Dale, has so many "issues" that as a reader it's hard to decide whether to sympathize with him or hate him for what he is doing to the victims in the book. I was honestly torn throughout on my opinion of him, yet leaned more to the negative side because it was just hard to fathom any person could do the things he was doing to other beings. White has written a novel so graphically depicted and so intense that you actually feel like you're "living" the nightmare that is taking place within the pages. I would recommend those with a queasy stomach to pass this book by and move on to a more "user-friendly" horror book as White does describe extremely graphic scenes of mutilation, torture, and rape, which might offend some readers. To those that can handle it, however, this is a must read! I was unable to put the book down once I opened it up and I think any lovers of extreme horror will feel the same. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Contains: Gore, Rape, Sex, Mutilation, Torture, Adult Language, Adult Situations

Review also posted at MonsterLibrarian.com