Mindy's Book Journey

Title: Mutation Author: Roy Hunt Published: Twilight Books Genre: Horror, Thriller I was given an ARC from Twilight Books through NetGalley. May 1997 Bacteria are earth’s oldest inhabitants. They are all around us and inside us. They help us clean up our planet; they are the reason we can continue to live on this earth. So what happens when we manipulate and abuse them? What happens when we make them angry? Driven by grief at the loss of his wife, an old man has gone out onto an Irish midlands lake to end his life. Only the sight of a burning cruiser stops him. He might want to die, but others on board the stricken vessel might not. The vessel is called Clothra and the crew are engaged in a desperate struggle. There is something very bad in the water, a vile creature that is killing the lake’s users. They have to destroy it. But not all of them feel the same. Forced to abandon the vessel for a lifeboat, the crew attempt to lure the creature in the water to follow them, b...

Title: The Siren and the Specter Author: Jonathan Janz Published: Flame Tree Press, Sept. 6, 2018 Genre: Horror, Ghost Story I was given a copy from Flame Tree Press through NetGalley for review. When David Caine, a celebrated skeptic of the supernatural, is invited by an old friend to spend a month in “the most haunted house in Virginia,” he believes the case will be like any other. But the Alexander House is different. Built by a 1700s land baron to contain the madness and depravity of his eldest son, the house is plagued by shadows of the past and the lingering taint of bloodshed. David is haunted, as well. For twenty-two years ago, he turned away the woman he loved, and she took her life in sorrow. And David suspects she’s followed him to the Alexander House. FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launching in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices. Goodrea...

The Graveyard Book  Author: Neil Gaiman Illustrator: Dave McKean Published: HarperCollins 2008 Genre: Middle Grade, Dark Fantasy, Ghost Story Rating: 3.5/5 stars After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own. Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family... Goodreads My Thoughts The Graveyard Book delivers the dark fantastical world of the afterlife. The mood of the book fluctuated between creepy, funny, adventurous, and even heartwarming. The plot was very...

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...

Book Title: The Dead House Author: Billy O'Callaghan Genre: Fiction, Gothic, Horror, Ghost Story, Thriller Goodreads This best-selling debut by an award-winning writer is both an eerie contemporary ghost story and a dread-inducing psychological thriller. Maggie is a successful young artist who has had bad luck with men. Her last put her in the hospital and, after she’s healed physically, left her needing to get out of London to heal mentally and find a place of quiet that will restore her creative spirit. On the rugged west coast of Ireland, perched on a wild cliff side, she spies the shell of a cottage that dates back to Great Famine and decides to buy it. When work on the house is done, she invites her dealer to come for the weekend to celebrate along with a couple of women friends, one of whom will become his wife. On the boozy last night, the other friend pulls out an Ouija board. What sinister thing they summon, once invited, will never go. Ireland is a country haun...