The Watchers - Jon Steel

one sentence summary
An unlikely group team up to fight against evil...

review
I really wanted to like this book, I loved the style of the writing, I loved the descriptors of the setting but I HATED all of the characters. I know I was supposed to feel sympathetic and relate to them but I didn't. I tried to, but they were such crap I couldn't get over it. The plot was interesting but Steele let the details get in the way, the story could have been better told at half the length (much like my opinion on LotR). The pacing we terrible, 100 pages of descriptors followed by 5 pages of moving the plot forward, rinse repeat. It was so frustrating because I wanted to enjoy it but just couldn't

4/10

The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor - Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga

one sentence summary:
Where did the Governor come from and how did he come to rule Woodbury with such streangth

review:
This tells the back story to the Governor (the main villan for a good portion of the graphic novel series). It is well written and brings a lot to the Walking Dead universe. I don't want to give anything away so all I will say is, if you are a fan of the series READ THIS BOOK.

6/10

Blood Lite - ed. Kevin J Anderson

one sentence summary
a collection of short, often witty, paranormal stories.

review
these stories range in quality from "why the hell did I waste my time reading that" to "wow, listen to this..." with the majority being in the first category. I was disappointed by most of the stories but Butcher's was really good and Snell's was interesting (if not particularly well executed) but that was pretty much it for good writing. The more I know the author the more disappointed I was in their story.

2/10

Next - Michael Chricton

One Sentence Summary:
 in an era of genetic manipulation what happens to the "miraculously" cured?

review:
I thought this was a hilarious, over the top look at a genre I enjoy, near-future sci-fi. An eccentric wealthy evil scientist sends a bounty hunter matching all the stereotypes after a humble scientist you cured his own disease by testing on himself, there is also an intelligent talking parrot.  And the list or over the top tropes goes on and on. That said there is truth in stereotypes and the corporations portrayed in the novel make you think and become a bit paranoid. If you enjoy sci-fi and have the ability to see the humour in over the top characterizations I recommend this for you. This received mixed reviews both from the bloggers and the pros.

7/10

Angelfall - Susan Ee

one sentence summary
Angels have been sent to earth to destroy the modern world. A true apocalypse.

review
I was surprised at how well written and well thought out this book was. It is categorized as young adult but has more violence than the Hunger Games series by far. The plot is enthralling and fast paced. The characters are very sympathetic (I dare say I feel more for Penryn (this book) than I did for Katniss (hunger games)) and well written. The novel also touches on mental illness and some of the less glamorous aspects of a post-apocalypse world that most novels skim over.  If this quote makes you squeamish I do not recommend you read this book, "six butter knives stick out of his chest in a circular pattern. Someone has drawn a powder-pink lipstick pentagram with the knives at the end of the points. Blood bubbles up...My mother is safe. She has purposely missed his heart, and he will slowly bleed to death." I highly recommend this novel to anyone who still want's to read it after reading the above quote. It is beautiful and haunting, violent and full of compassion. It is an all around good read.

8/10

Needful Things - Stephen King

One sentence summary:
they say money can't buy everything but in this shop you can
Review:
one of Stephen King's strongest works, relying on the horror of human nature rather than the supernatural to get his point across. The writing is fast passed and the characters are all really well plotted out (better than is typical of King). I recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys horror, or thinks they might like it. As I said it isn't the typical supernatural story but the horror of it is even more terrifying than that, but it didn't give me nightmares.
8/10

if you enjoyed this check out Dean Koontz, James Herbert and more by Stephen King

The Passage Trilogy - Justin Cronin

The Passage

One Sentence Summary:
The world as we know it has ended and one girl is the key to the future... also vampires.


Review:
I loved this book. Getting sucked into the story and not losing interest in it (via bad writing or plot holes or characters I don't like) until the book is over is not something that happens very often. I read this before I heard the hype, it seems that the hype brought the book up to be more than it is so it is disappointing if you bought into the "best book of the century" talk but it is brilliant for what it is; a horror story with adventure, intrigue and unreliable science. It is well written with characters that I fell in love with. The setting, while following the traditional post-apocalypse route also introduces what I see as more realistic futures. I highly recommend this book if you like that sort of stuff...

8/10 (Horror / Action)

Notable Quotes:

“We live, we die. Somewhere along the way, if we're lucky, we may find someone to help lighten the load.”

“So perhaps the greatest worry of all was that one day you would realize that all the worries of your life amounted to one thing: the desire to just stop worrying.” 


The Twelve 
have not read yet... waiting for the paperback

If you enjoyed this you should read:

World War Z - Max Brooks
Oryx and Crake - Margret Atwood
Blindness - Jose Saramago
The Vampire Chronicles - Ann Rice