Daniel R. Robichaud (Author of P is for Poltergeist)

Daniel R. is now friends with Chris Kester
Sep 25, 2026 07:32AM · like
Daniel R. and 2 other people liked Thomas's review of The Curse: "I used to be a huge horror buff. It was pretty much all I would read, and it wasn't until I discovered Neil Gaiman that I started to branch out into other genres of fiction. Now, I read very little horror, since truly effective horror novels are so h" Read more of this review »
Sep 25, 2026 07:32AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Curse by Charles L. Grant. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Curse by Charles L. Grant <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Daniel R. and 1 other person liked Kevin Lucia's review of The Curse: "Excellent, of course....with even MORE of a Charles Grant cliffhanger than I'm used to! Definitely as good as anything else he wrote, and an interesting, early exploration of Native American myth, a forerunner to "The Nestling." Should be read, absol" Read more of this review »
Sep 25, 2026 07:29AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Curse by Charles L. Grant. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Curse by Charles L. Grant <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Daniel R. rated a book really liked it Killer Vibes (Peter Key Mystery Series, #1) by Jack Friday (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Pothead, bisexual Peter Key has just gotten himself kicked out of crashing in his cousin’s garage. That’s the last family member he could have begged crash space from. What’s a down and out loser to do? Luck is on his side: a lawyer arrives with the ...more
Jul 14, 2026 06:29PM · like · see review
Daniel R. rated a book really liked it By Dawn's Early Light: A Supernatural Thriller (Jack Carlton Thriller Book 2) by Graeme Reynolds (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jack Carlton is recovering from his previous adventure, trying to be a better father to his teenage daughter Stephanie, coping with the death of one dear friend and the maiming of another, while also trying to quit drinking. It’s all a pain in the ar ...more
Jun 30, 2026 07:49PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of By Dawn's Early Light by Graeme Reynolds. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — By Dawn's Early Light by Graeme Reynolds <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Daniel R. rated a book really liked it Dark Is When the Devil Comes by Daisy Pearce (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Hazel has come back to her parents’ home following a bad break with her husband Joe and a short stint in a psychiatric hospital. Her folks are going away for a few weeks and need someone to feed the cats. Seems like the best way to take some time for ...more
Apr 21, 2026 12:32PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Dark Is When the Devil Comes by Daisy Pearce. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Dark Is When the Devil Comes by Daisy Pearce <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Daniel R. rated a book really liked it The Lady in Chains (How to Survive Camping, #2) by Bonnie Quinn (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Kate is the park manager for the Goat Valley private campgrounds, and while the views are scenic, the location remote, and the forests verdant and lush … they also happen to be an ecosystem unlike any other. In addition to the typical fauna to be fou ...more
Apr 21, 2026 12:24PM · like · see review
Daniel R. rated a book really liked it Morsel by Carter Keane (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Lou has a tough time with things, including a sick mother and a demanding job in real estate appraisal. However, her boss Ellis Katsaros offers to lighten things up a bit, offering some travel and low effort work doing pre-appraisals and assessments ...more
Apr 14, 2026 11:24AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Morsel by Carter Keane. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Morsel by Carter Keane <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Daniel R. rated a book it was amazing Cat on a Hot Tin Woof (Chet & Bernie Mystery #16) by Spencer Quinn (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Bernie Little is a private eye, and his partner is his best friend and intensely loyal dog Chet. The two have handled quite a few cases together, and although Chet can’t always remember the details about those cases after time has passed, he is never ...more
Apr 14, 2026 11:17AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Daniel R. entered a giveaway Cat on a Hot Tin Woof (Chet & Bernie Mystery #16) by Spencer Quinn (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 14, 2026 11:16AM · like · see giveaway · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

Daniel R. is now friends with Chris Kester

Daniel R. and 2 other people liked Thomas's review of The Curse:

"I used to be a huge horror buff. It was pretty much all I would read, and it wasn't until I discovered Neil Gaiman that I started to branch out into other genres of fiction. Now, I read very little horror, since truly effective horror novels are so h" Read more of this review »

Daniel R. and 1 other person liked Kevin Lucia's review of The Curse:

"Excellent, of course....with even MORE of a Charles Grant cliffhanger than I'm used to! Definitely as good as anything else he wrote, and an interesting, early exploration of Native American myth, a forerunner to "The Nestling." Should be read, absol" Read more of this review »

Daniel R. rated a book really liked it

Killer Vibes (Peter Key Mystery Series, #1)
by Jack Friday (Goodreads Author)

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Pothead, bisexual Peter Key has just gotten himself kicked out of crashing in his cousin’s garage. That’s the last family member he could have begged crash space from. What’s a down and out loser to do? Luck is on his side: a lawyer arrives with the Pothead, bisexual Peter Key has just gotten himself kicked out of crashing in his cousin’s garage. That’s the last family member he could have begged crash space from. What’s a down and out loser to do? Luck is on his side: a lawyer arrives with the sad news that an uncle he hardly knew died some time ago. This news arrives along with the silver lining: that uncle left Peter his $1.1M dollar house in an affluent Austin suburb. And the silver lining comes with qualifiers: the house is a pit, it’s got back taxes to the amount of $40k, and his uncle’s $500k loan to the bank is past due and the house is collateral. Another silver lining: he can sell the house, pay off the debts, and pocket the rest of the money.

Does Peter sell? Nope. Not even when his new neighbor reveals he’s a realtor and can sell the place no sweat. Not even when a pretty girl in riding boots offers to do the same thing. Not even when his uncle’s lawyer urges him to take that very course of action. Not even when the loan officer for the bank urges him to sell.

Peter hasn’t had much of a home since leaving his dearly departed mother’s house. This is his, now. He wants to keep it, and he’ll need to look into the situation. After all, that half-a-million bucks didn’t just evaporate into thin air. It’s got to be … somewhere.

However, his uncle’s death is far more mysterious than it seems, a couple of goons in a sedan are tailing him (they also might’ve been present when the uncle died), and there’s danger in the air. Peter is no expert in such things, so thank goodness a private eye shows up in his life. Austin local Grady Bernaise has been hired to keep him safe, and while that would usually mean selling the house, he offers to take Peter on as employee, working his case on top of clearing his own backlog. And they will have to be smart if they’re going to put one over on Austin’s most dangerous gambler, a man known as the King of Diamonds. After all, that guy is part of the 1%, and as Grady explains, you don’t tick off the 1%. Jack Friday pens a humorous and suspenseful crime fiction story with Killer Vibes.

I love crime fiction. I love fiction set in my proverbial backyard. I love fiction that’s not afraid to indulge its sense of humor which is also not afraid to get gritty and suspenseful. Killer Vibes is right in my wheelhouse, and Jack Friday (a pseudonym) has the chops to deliver one hell of an entertaining read. This is compulsive reading on par with Joe R. Lansdale (though less scatological in its humorous metaphors), with a quirky ear for dialogue on par with Gregory Macdonald or Elmore Leonard, and with the engaging queer characterizations of vintage paperback writer Michael McDowell (who co-wrote The Valentine and Lovelace series with Dennis Schuetz under the penname Nathan Aldyne).

Killer Vibes has the right blend of weird and wealth, the spirit and the sass of a proper Texas narrative, and I laughed along with its funnier moments, tensed for its suspense, and enjoyed the thing from start to finish. It went down in five large gulps, thanks to short chapters that manage to be brief without indulging in James “You’ve got to be kidding me” Patterson’s succinctness. The prose is allowed some room to breathe. Peter and his allies and adversaries are bigger than life but approachable characters with clear motives and clever repartee.

The fact that the protagonist is not exactly sympathetic from the get-go might turn some readers off. He’s a human leech, living off relatives and essentially behaving like a man-baby. His growth takes him out of this to something we can cheer for, but it does take a short while. Readers looking for a protagonist who is more giving and compassionate and empathy-worthy from the start may want to take a pass. However, readers looking for a quirky fun crime novel with grounded characters will find plenty to enjoy here. Think Freaky Deaky but set in Texas, and you won’t be far off.

Killer Vibes is a fun read, and a quick page turner. I am certainly looking forward to more from this author. Sure, Killer Vibes is the start to a series, but it works just fine as a standalone novel. This one is worth picking up. ...more

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By Dawn's Early Light by Graeme Reynolds

By Dawn's Early Light: A Supernatural Thriller (Jack Carlton Thriller Book 2)
by Graeme Reynolds (Goodreads Author)

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Jack Carlton is recovering from his previous adventure, trying to be a better father to his teenage daughter Stephanie, coping with the death of one dear friend and the maiming of another, while also trying to quit drinking. It’s all a pain in the ar Jack Carlton is recovering from his previous adventure, trying to be a better father to his teenage daughter Stephanie, coping with the death of one dear friend and the maiming of another, while also trying to quit drinking. It’s all a pain in the arse, but the fight is worth the effort … maybe. So, he’s glad to get another case, investigating a missing journalist whose wife is dreading Another Woman. However, while reviewing those cases, Jack discovers evidence of the occult matters he’s encountered before. Could this journalist have stumbled onto another occult situation?

Meanwhile, a cold case from Jack’s time with law enforcement has come back. After ten years of silence, the serial killer known as the Witchfinder has struck again, targeting young women with savage torture. Not a simple copycat, either, the latest murders have included elements that were kept out of the press, including a scrawled message about not suffering witches to live.

It also turns out that the protections Jack received in his previous encounter with the horrific entity called The Nameless might be working against him, as well. He can’t sleep well, and he’s steadily getting more and more off-balance. How long before he breaks? And can he receive some help from Naomi, a therapist he met at AA who is oddly of the occult world most people aren’t aware exists? Or is she running her own agenda?

And what about the Nameless itself? Currently trapped inside the body of a pet rodent, it is scheming, scheming, scheming … It is only a matter of time before the powerful creature escapes this diminutive form and wreaks havoc upon Jack’s life and loved ones. The time is creeping steadily closer, and only Jack and his friends can stop it.

Graeme Reynolds juggles a lot of balls while penning a propulsive second supernatural thriller in his Jack Carlton series with By Dawn’s Early Light. The result is another enjoyable journey into the dark side with a paranormal sleuth and his cadre of allies.

A lot of supernatural PIs have the world-weary thing going for them. Seems to come with the job (along with a smart sense of humor). However, Jack is a special case because he’s earned his weariness by battling and besting—at least for now—a cosmic horror entity in the previous book and becoming aware of how his ways are leading him along self-destructive routes. He’s got a good support network now, and he’s got a reason to change, but it is not the road to wellness is not an easy one to follow. So, the character has plenty of internal demons to overcome.

However, the troubles don’t start and stop with what Jack’s carrying around. He’s got killers, vindictive demons, mysterious witches, angry teens, a self-entitled jerk across the street, and missing kids cases piling on top of those internal demons. A lot for anyone to handle.

Of course, readers love to see their series protagonists overwhelmed. Down time is for between books. Graeme Reynolds does not disappoint with the number of troubles his character is facing, and (even better) the author doesn’t let his character off lightly. Decisions have consequences, and his fate may involve his cadre of allies, but it is the character’s own strengths and weaknesses that are tied to the resolution of his troubles.

The book builds toward a large, complex confrontation between the different powers at play. It’s another epic, but we never lose sight of the people who are playing parts in this narrative. No one is perfect (least of all the protagonist) and while there is some development for Jack and his crew, we know that there are miles to go.

The author was already tying together his different works into a shared universe, so while we got a few nods to his werewolf-themed High Moor series in the previous book, there are more here. No one needs to read those books to get the sense of scope of understand this book, but if they are half as much fun as this one, then why not give them a go? I’m bound to do so when I can get a bit of clear time in the schedule.

The language may throw some readers. Jack Carlton is no stranger to four letter words, and a first-person perspective that relies on such language choices may well drive a few readers away. However, that’s just Jack.

By Dawn’s Early Light is an entertaining and enjoyable exodus into the realms of dark fantasy and horror. Jack has evolved into a crass curmudgeon, the kind of protagonist readers may well enjoy spending a few more books with. Although By Dawn’s Early Light ends with plenty of loose threads and a clear opening for the next book in the series, it is a solid standalone entry with plot threads that start here and end here. Readers eager for a supernatural sleuth who walks similar dark streets as Simon R. Green’s Nightside and Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files may well find a new hero worth tagging along with in Jack Carlton. ...more

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Dark Is When the Devil Comes
by Daisy Pearce (Goodreads Author)

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Hazel has come back to her parents’ home following a bad break with her husband Joe and a short stint in a psychiatric hospital. Her folks are going away for a few weeks and need someone to feed the cats. Seems like the best way to take some time for Hazel has come back to her parents’ home following a bad break with her husband Joe and a short stint in a psychiatric hospital. Her folks are going away for a few weeks and need someone to feed the cats. Seems like the best way to take some time for herself, rekindle her relationship with the sister she drove away, and maybe look for mushrooms. She’s an amateur mycologist, and there are some terrific examples of the fungi from her illustrated guide to be found around town.

While she’s getting her feet again, she runs into an old classmate—Suzie White (neé Trelbath)—who is happily married, has a stable job as a pharmacist, and is eager to catch up. As well, Hazel reaches out to have lunch with Cathy both to reconnect with her sister as well as possibly meet her nephews, Danny and Scout. And to cap it all off, the owner of the lonesome, decrepit house he is trying to refurbish where her white whale of fungus regularly grows has invited her out for a looksee. She’s welcome to go up anytime, and he even offers her a ride.

It’s that last item that lands her in trouble. Andrew Garrison is not the friendly fellow he seems to be, revealing his true colors only after he’s locked Hazel in the cellar of that old horror house. He sees her as another iteration of the women he’s tried to help before, ones that carry demons in their skulls in need of releasing. And if Hazel doesn’t behave and act quickly, she may well wind up in one of the secret graves he’s inhumed them in on the familial grounds. What Andrew doesn’t realize is that he’s quite right, Hazel has a demon. However, it may not be a simple psychological projection or manifestation of id-like impulses. It could well be a real thing. This entity she refers to as her other sister has been tied to pain and suffering before … and if she’s not checked, this other sister might unleash her horrors upon new victims. Daisy Pearce pens a psychological horror yarn with sly supernatural elements in the beautifully titled Dark is When the Devil Comes.

The opening chapters of the book are rich with setups and lane changes. When the volume opens, we suspect the book will focus in on Hazel’s grief and marriage issues. Well, not quite. Then, we wonder if it’s a ghost story. Also, not quite. Then, it veers into psychological suspense with an unsettling yet oddly cheery psycho, though it does not quite follow the Robert Bloch mode or those who’ve walked in his footsteps ever since. And finally, it appears to be a story about a woman trapped in a gloomy place who might well be imaging devils in the darkness. Well, not quite. The other sister seems to nod equally to Neil Gaiman’s Coraline or Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House as well as Japanese horror entries like Dark Water. In fact, the final story draws from each of these sorts of stories and influences, stirring together disparate elements into a terrific witch’s brew that stands apart from many of the horror and thriller offering’s I’ve encountered of late.

As we pass from one possible narrative thread to another, one subgenre to the next, we get a sense of author Pearce’s glee with subverting expectations. In addition to the many switch-ups and focal shifts in that opening handful of chapters, she’s got a few more tricks to pull as the narrative rockets toward its conclusion, an unsettling and honestly surprising twist or two along the way.

The book is actually told through several points of view. Hazel is our main character, and her chapters are all told first person. When the perspective shifts to that of Cathy or Suzie, the narrative assumes a third person point of view. Each of these women is a distinct in terms of personality, but they also resonate together and separately in ways that evoke the Freudian trinity: Cathy is a creature of instinct and rude habit, Suzie is a character who is driven by higher ideals of behavior, and Hazel is somewhere between these two, harried by both sides of the equation (made manifest by that other sister figure). One could easily read these as the id, superego, and ego from Freudian theory and run with the comparison. Of course, this shortchanges the layered approach Pearce brings to the characters. Still, readers with a critical bent will find some intriguing areas to dig into and explore. One wonders if the author was making a deliberate attempt to fuse the Freudian and the Jungian approach—after all, the other sister draws clear parallels with the latter’s theories about the shadow. However, it could all be a lark, just like playing around with genre expectations themselves. So, even though the book delves into some creepy and dark corners of the human experience, there is also a playfulness to the prose and subtext, which is fascinating.

However, the author’s text is first and foremost a story told well, an entertainment that also happens to have a few things to share about how we define ourselves, how we are defined by others, and where the uncomfortably unstable truth lies between these poles. Hazel’s psychological trick for dealing with the creepy other sister voice or appearance is to recite “I am a rational woman. I do not allow my imagination to play games with me,” like a chant against her dark impulses. She is not driven by her imagination. However, she’s also considered a fragile treasure in need of protecting by her parents, an unreliable spouse by her husband. Only women in her own age group have something closer to the truth, that Hazel is haunted … but by what exactly? They are uncertain. A bad idea bear to be sure, since she can turn gleefully cruel at a moment’s notice ...

There is so much to enjoy here!

Dark is When the Devil Comes is a compelling read, a page turner told along three different parallel storylines, which each converge on the mysterious house in the woods and its current creepy owner. With touches of haunted house fiction, “sour ground” evil, and both supernatural and psychological horrors, the novel is a smorgasbord of frights. While it might not satisfy readers looking for more gruesome and gory passages in the first chapter or two, Daisy Pearce’s novel is nevertheless a richly composed page turner. It’s a lovely, dark read that looks deeply into the nightside of the human heart and reaps both terror and sympathy. ...more

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The Lady in Chains (How to Survive Camping, #2)
by Bonnie Quinn (Goodreads Author)

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Kate is the park manager for the Goat Valley private campgrounds, and while the views are scenic, the location remote, and the forests verdant and lush … they also happen to be an ecosystem unlike any other. In addition to the typical fauna to be fou Kate is the park manager for the Goat Valley private campgrounds, and while the views are scenic, the location remote, and the forests verdant and lush … they also happen to be an ecosystem unlike any other. In addition to the typical fauna to be found in such places, this land is old and cursed. There are supernatural and often immortal presences to be found here. Kate is the latest in a lineage dedicated to preserving the land, keeping campers safe, and minding the otherworldly. Most of the time, this is relatively easy—after all, unlike her predecessors, Kate has made a manual to provide information both about the art of camping itself as well as interacting with the known entities and groups. When meeting The Man with the Skull Cup, for example, take a drink when offered, but don’t eat or drink anything for twenty-four hours after in order to stave off the stomach cramps … or worse.

However, every so often there is a bad year. And as this camping season kicks off, Kate discovers it is shaping up to be a very bad year indeed. The frost that grows by itself is moving much faster, the twisted, faceless surgical horrors known as Harvesters are losing their numbers, and a new presence is waiting out there in the dark. The Lady in Chains is upping the threat level both for unwitting campers as well as the other supernatural creatures that also walk these woods.

With the coming medieval reenactment society’s annual Seasonal War of Royal Divisions (SWORD) camping event, there will be a lot of people around for the sinister forces to take advantage of, to butcher, or to use unless Kate makes some kind of stand. And with the darkness leaking into the nearby town, what hope of success does she really have?

Perhaps Kate can find allies among the immortals. The Man with the Skull Cup seems to like her, and the Lady with Extra Eyes seems to be a protector of the mortals. Can any of them be trusted for long, however? And what is the Lady in Chains’ agenda? One known truth about all supernatural entities is this: They have rules they abide by, and when those rules are known, they can be used to walk safely among them. Bonnie Quinn crafts a deliciously dark fantasy in the cozy horror vein with the second installment of her How to Survive Camping books, The Lady in Chains.

I was utterly unfamiliar with this author or her series when The Lady in Chains popped up as suggested reading over at NetGalley. Sounded fun, however, so I added it to my TBR list and dove right in. Sometimes for a Book Two entry, I will track down the previous volumes. This time, I decided to see how I would fare without the previous book. Inspired by my eight-year-old’s stubborn refusal to accept chronological order as a requirement, I suppose.

The Lady in Chains stands well on its own. There are obvious ties to the first book, including some kudos for defeating the menace there. As well, there are a host of characters to keep track of and creatures that might’ve gotten more page time in the previous volume. However, I was never lost. The author has an engaging writing style and a good ability to weave the important details into Kate’s first-person narrative to give readers a good chance at keeping up with the wonderfully conceived and complex mythos at work here.

I rather adored how the ecosystem of the camping grounds worked. It’s home to a variety of humanoid and utterly inhuman beings, jellies, stalking surgeons, dancers, living chains, spreading frosts, fungal blights, shapeshifters, spidery nasties, and other things. Quinn’s worldbuilding gives them room to live together, irritate one another, work their own agendas or follow their instincts. It’s a pleasure to explore this strange, dark world. I look forward to backing up to the first volume as well as exploring the upcoming entries (three and four have been announced as of this writing).

In particular, I was enamored with the love for storytelling. Kate’s document and some of the episodes with the otherworldly provide a kind of campfire story, a little cautionary tale about being aware of where you are and what’s going on around you. These sequences express an appreciation for the power of storytelling both as a delivery system for information as well as an emotionally grounded means of making that information stick. And it walks the walk as well as talking the talk …

How to Survive Camping is a deliciously dark time, sometimes gross, sometimes creepy, sometimes heartbreaking, but wise enough not to dwell too long on these moments. The result is an engaging dark fantasy adventure story about a hidden-in-plane-sight location where the otherworldly can rub elbows with the mundane. Also, major kudos to the author for invoking the Society for the Creative Anachronism, whose annual camping event (Penzig) is a hoot and a subject rife for fictionalizing … but which, to my knowledge, never has been. ...more

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Morsel
by Carter Keane (Goodreads Author)

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Lou has a tough time with things, including a sick mother and a demanding job in real estate appraisal. However, her boss Ellis Katsaros offers to lighten things up a bit, offering some travel and low effort work doing pre-appraisals and assessments Lou has a tough time with things, including a sick mother and a demanding job in real estate appraisal. However, her boss Ellis Katsaros offers to lighten things up a bit, offering some travel and low effort work doing pre-appraisals and assessments for conservation groups. This sounds suspicious to Lou’s friend Emma, who offers caution instead of congratulations. After all, a nice thing headed off into the woods far from anywhere notable is how a lot of cautionary stories and true crime podcasts start … and she does not want her friend to wind up maimed or worse by some serial killer.

Still, a job is a job, and Lou is determined to make good on all the sacrifices her mom made to see her into a college and career. So, off she goes to the remote McLaren property, in the Appalachian Mountains of quaint Laurence County, Ohio. She’s not alone, bringing her dog Ripley with her. However, she’s not prepared for what she finds, including a coyote who is slathered with liquid gunk and behaving like it is rabid.

Fleeing that critter, Lou discovers escape is not as easy as it ought to be—someone has sabotaged her car. So, she continues making her way on foot to a neighbor’s house and meets Clarence, an oldster who offers help. He’s actually a good fellow, though the same cannot be said for the new Sheriff Cory, who promptly takes Lou away and reveals that she is caught up in bigger, far more dangerous events than she realized. She escapes custody, fleeing into the wilderness with Ripley, and struggles to make contact back home. However, the woods are home to strangeness and a creepy cult that worships the strangeness for their own agenda. Will she escape the crazy scenario, or will she instead be pulled kicking and screaming into a ravenous world she never asked to be a part of?

Carter Keane spins a peculiar tale involving cult activities, savage satire, and folk horror touches in the delectable horror novel, Morsel.

As Morsel opens, the horror is relatively far off. Instead, we get the look at a woman stuck in regular worries who is also performing a balancing act of doing her work and trying not to seem to uninterested in the Ascent group that has taken a dominant role in the lives of her coworkers. On the surface, Ascent seems like any other positivity training program, instructing those who follow it as to the balance between intention and action, between positive causes and rewarding effects. However, it strikes Lou’s mom as crazy cult stuff, and as Lou herself learns it really is a lot deeper and messier than it seems. The character describes it as a “personal development and self-help multi-level marketing scheme.” (location 89) The people who buy into this scheme really believe it. So, there is a level of satire at play here about the corporate world and the hive mentality found there. This is not a pure reflection of the real world, of course, it’s an artistic approach that tries to emphasize the loss of individuality (if not the punishment of the individual in favor of the collective), but it’s bubbling along in the backdrop of our point of view character grappling with big problems and feeling overwhelmed by them …

It's almost a relief to get back to nature. Lou is a person who has a healthy distrust of wealth and those who crave it. However, that relief is cut short soon enough by run ins with suspicious people and even stranger circumstances, as the folk horror elements come into play. By the end, the satiric edge and horror ones have come together, as we discover that the mentality that propelled Ascent in the workplace isn’t all that different from the one that makes bloody sacrifice to otherworldly presences in the woods.

Keane pens a story that is taut and propulsive, does not mince words or employ lengthy descriptions. Morsel is pared to the bone, covering a lot of ground in its brief page count (just over 200 pages total), and taking quite a few satiric swipes along with delivering suspenseful set pieces aplenty. The theme of hunger is there, and the yearning for sustenance takes on many shades and shapes throughout Lou’s story.

The writing style is good, but the author’s inability to apply subtlety to some of the hot button topics may well drive some readers up the wall. This is a book that feels like it has a few particular agendas—anticorporate, holding the viewpoint that honestly helpful men are a rare occurrence, suspecting the comfortably well-to-do of malfeasance, holding up the salt of the earth as somehow innately noble in ways people who have not known poverty never can be—written for an audience who takes such approaches for granted. I tend to agree with many of its points, but the terseness of the first-person narrative can lead such elements to feel about as subtle as a jackhammer to the toe. When they creep up, the story dead stops for a few seconds while the author hits the mark, and then when that’s done, the narrative is allowed to continue. More than a little eye roll inducing.

Lou is a solidly written, flawed character. She has a little bad idea bear voice that shows up irregularly, which she refers to as her goblin. That voice seems antagonistic at the opening, but coming to terms with it might well be a lifesaver as the narrative progresses. She’s not prepared for what happens, but Keane manages to make her choices organic and relatable.

Told across twenty-three chapters broken irregularly by in-universe documents, including true crime podcast transcripts, phone messages, and excerpts from the Ascent training programs, Morsel has a lot to offer its readers. Along with the propulsive first-person narrative, the author delivers a wonderful sense for the weird and an intriguing mythology. Lou winds up in the meat grinder of a supernatural thriller that offers some nods to Lovecraft’s pulpy “The Shadow Over Innsmouth.” While we hope she will make it through with body and soul intact, sometimes such a goal seems impossibly lofty. What better way to keep us turning the pages? Keane also manages to stick the landing set up in the opening chapters. So, aside from a few moments of eye-rolling oration about this or that hot button issue, Carter Keane’s novel offers a thrilling, chilling rollercoaster ride into the realms of satiric and shocking fright. ...more

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Cat on a Hot Tin Woof (Chet & Bernie Mystery #16)
by Spencer Quinn (Goodreads Author)

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Bernie Little is a private eye, and his partner is his best friend and intensely loyal dog Chet. The two have handled quite a few cases together, and although Chet can’t always remember the details about those cases after time has passed, he is never Bernie Little is a private eye, and his partner is his best friend and intensely loyal dog Chet. The two have handled quite a few cases together, and although Chet can’t always remember the details about those cases after time has passed, he is never anything but attentive during the case. Unless there are treats or powerful distractions, of course. But Chet knows that Bernie is a genius and always on top of things. He’s the best.

Their latest case is a real pickle, however. They are looking into the disappearance of social media star and opinionated cat, Miss Kitty. Mother and daughter team, Evelyn and Beatrice “Bitty” Pond turned her Zen stares into a thriving business, which nets $75k a month (and rising!) thanks to numerous corporate sponsorships and millions of followers. That makes the cat a feasible target for kidnapping. Err. Catnapping.

Though Chet is hesitant to want to get involved—he’s a dog, after all, and has no interest in looking into anything to do with cats—Bernie takes the case, and they are off to the races.

However, what should be a simple cat napping investigation soon explodes into a far more complicated situation, involving a couple of corpses, a missing suspect, a pair of elderly, pistol packing cowgirls, rude bikers, a suspicious undersheriff, and other troublesome suspects. However, Bernie and Chet will wade through the suspect list as well as possible, thanks to grit, determination, know-how, and plenty of charm in Spencer Quinn’s comic detective novel, Cat on a Hot Tin Woof.

A writer working in third person has a challenging job of setting up the story, finding voices for the different characters, as well as hundreds of other details. Hemingway’s invisible prose is a default setting for many a writer, giving the narrative a more or less neutral quality and allowing individuals to shine through conversation, monologue, and occasional internal conversations. However, writing in first person adds extra layers of challenge because while the details get filtered through that perspective, the reader has to find the voice of that narrative all the more engaging. So, the book has to radiate a kind of personality we want to continue reading. This doesn’t mean we have to like the narrator, but we certainly have to find a quick investment in hanging around with that speaker for a few hundred pages.

That said, Spencer Quinn’s choice for the narrator of this series is pitch perfect and immediately engaging. Also, it’s a dog.

Chet talks to us, but he’s not some kind of supernatural beast. None of the human beings in the book can understand him, he’s just a clever dog. And the narration of the book presents him the same way. How are we hearing him? We are never quite sure. Has he written this book out on a typewriter/word processor/laptop ala Harold from the Bunnicula series or Howie from The House of Bunnicula series? Well, we’re never quite sure. We could simply be riding along in Chet’s conscious mind for all I know, but it doesn’t matter. The simple fact is: we hear his thoughts, his observations, his adoration of Bernie, and his good boy cleverness. That makes the reading experience all the more enjoyable, believe you me.

So much so, that I was wondering How is it that I’ve only just gotten into Chet and Bernie’s adventures with their sixteenth novel? There are fifteen more of these books that I have not yet read? I plan on rectifying that oversight soon.

This is the kind of series that is a hell of a lot of fun, quirky and endearing and beautifully written. Dog narrators are not necessarily a dime a dozen but a few have cropped up since loveable but often weary Harold narrated the James Howe’s beloved, middle grade Bunnicula books in the tail end of the last century, but Chet really is one of a kind, a beautifully realized narrator and a watershed character.

Chet is not a world-weary pooch, he’s not a dark stain upon the page, he is a very good, sometimes derpy, always endearing fella. A real good boy who loves his person, loves his work, loves his world. And through him, we get to share in those good vibes and good feels, even when the plot veers into darker regions of violence, greed, and murder. The positivity never flags because all of those negative elements are in the intrusive, antagonistic forces. Bernie is a complicated but good man, a former soldier turned private eye who uses his mouth to try to defuse situations but is no stranger to using his fists. And Chet is likewise … though he tends to used his jaws instead of his fists, but you get the idea.

The book is a chatty one, but not oppressively so. Chet is a talkative narrator, but he’s also a sweet one. And funny, too. Spencer Quinn’s dog-eye view of the world paints human foibles and flaws in a gentle light, but like the narrator when roused, it also has a powerful bite. When Quinn’s novel is at its best, it runs toe-to-toe with some of the greatest works by comic crime scribe Donald E. Westlake.

The mystery is a good one. The action and suspense are well composed. No surprise there. Spencer Quinn is a penname for Peter Abrahams, an Edgar-award winning mystery and suspense writer. The books are a delight however because of Chet’s voice, his doggishness, and the clever ways Quinn gets us into the headspace of an inhuman point of view.

Cat on a Hot Tin Woof is a riot of a read. Not necessarily a book that delivers belly laughs on every page, but a wise work, told with compelling language, a fascinating point of view, and with a deft sense for how to spin a crime and suspense yarn. There’s nothing gritty here. And you don’t have to be a card-carrying lover of the “four pawed nation within” to fall for the narrator, either. Though I am sure it helps. Midway through this book, I was already singing its praises to my wife and in-laws. Let me sing them to you, as well. What a wonderful read. ...more

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Cat on a Hot Tin Woof (Chet & Bernie Mystery #16)
by Spencer Quinn (Goodreads Author)

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