Skip to main content

Alt Vegas: Nuclear Dreams by Wren Cavanagh Book Review

 

 Title: Alt Vegas: Nuclear Dreams

Author: Wren Cavanagh

Genre: Horror

Published: September 28, 2024

I received a copy for review from the author. 

 

Kyle and Mandy have dreams making a profit by developing when they purchase land in Esperville, Oregon. Soon they find out the land is home to a portal to another dimension stuck in 1950s Las Vegas. It is a hard place with unforgiving desert and fiendish creatures.

This a fantastic creature feature horror novel with an alternate dimension flair. The characters, Kyle and Mandy, did not seem sympathetic at first as foolhardy newlyweds taking on more than they can chew. However, throughout the story they become more and more endearing. They are great underdog characters to root for. The portal to Alt Vegas allows for such contrasting settings. The lush and overgrown Oregon with the desert landscape outside 1950s Vegas. The last fourth of the book could have used another round of line editing, but overall this was a fantastic thrilling novel. Its biggest asset is its amazing creatures. Killer plants, and another creatures which I will not be able to get the image out of my head for a long time. These creatures create some unbelievable scenes of absolute pandemonium. This is a must read novel for fans of creature features.                                                                                                                                  

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Swarm: Replugged Book Review by James Flynn

  Title: Swarm: Replugged Author: James Flynn Genre: Science Fiction Published Originally 2/1/2021 by the author, now with an new revised edition. Thank you to the author for providing a copy for review. In the second edition of Swarm, the city of Rachton is riddled with crime. A victim of crime, Eric Trammel, has turned to a life in the GLC to help fight against the criminals ruining his city. The answer the GLC comes up with is a new prison where prisoners can by connected to a hive mind to harvest their consciences to create answers to their hardest questions.  Swarm: Replugged is a great science fiction thought experiment of the possibilities of the human mind as well as the consequences of harvesting it. I read both editions of this book at the same time to compare. There are a lot of revisions that make the prose tighter though I really enjoyed both versions. Eric Trammel is a great sympathetic character to follow the story of best intentions gone wrong. I really enjoyed...

Review: The Light of the Fireflies by Paul Pen

Book Title: The Light of the Fireflies Author: Paul Pen Translator: Simon Bruni Genre: Fiction, Thriller Rating: 4.5/5 stars Goodreads A haunting and hopeful tale of discovering light in even the darkest of places. For his whole life, the boy has lived underground, in a basement with his parents, grandmother, sister, and brother. Before he was born, his family was disfigured by a fire. His sister wears a white mask to cover her burns. He spends his hours with his cactus, reading his book on insects, or touching the one ray of sunlight that filters in through a crack in the ceiling. Ever since his sister had a baby, everyone’s been acting very strangely. The boy begins to wonder why they never say who the father is, about what happened before his own birth, about why they’re shut away. A few days ago, some fireflies arrived in the basement. His grandma said, There’s no creature more amazing than one that can make its own light. That light makes the boy want to escape, to know t...

Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

  Title: Don't Fear the Reaper Author: Stephen Graham Jones Series: The Indian Lake Trilogy Book 2 Genre: Horror Published: Feb. 7, 2023 I received a copy for review through Negalley. Jade Daniels is back in Don't Fear the Reaper after 4 years away. This time around there is an escaped serial killer on the loose in the aftermath of a terrible blizzard.  Jade and Dark Mill South are both super unforgettable indigenous characters. Dark Mill South is on a rampage of revenge. He is such an imposing antagonist. Jade has grown a lot in the last 4 years through trauma. She no longer wants to live a slasher, because she has already been through one. She will have to utilize her boundless knowledge of the genre against such a formidable opponent.  Small town Idaho in a freezing cold blizzard creates a fantastic backdrop for a whole bucket load of carnage. There was a frozen lake, mountains of snow, depending on snowmobiles to get around. I could feel the cold on every page. It...