Time for some mini-reviews! What are mini-reviews, you ask? As the title suggests, these are short reviews, consisting of one paragraph tops, about a book. It’s a way to catch up on the books I’ve read a while ago, but never got around to reviewing.

Townhouse

Title: Townhouse

Author: Brian Rowe

Genre: Horror

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase: Amazon

Twenty-four-year-old Sara Crimson isn’t happy that she’s moving into a shady apartment complex with a man she barely knows. But after discovering she’s pregnant with her first child, she decides to try to make a relationship work with the baby daddy Max, an up-and-coming talent agent, who proposes marriage and asks her to move in with him. An aspiring novelist, Sara at first is elated with the additional free time she has to focus on her writing. But as the days turn to weeks, she starts to suspect that something peculiar is happening in the Executive Townhouses of North Hollywood, California. People start disappearing, strange noises echo down the corridor, and an old, creepy tenant finds his entertainment value in staring at her from afar. But what Sara doesn’t know is that the hidden horrors that lie inside the apartment complex are far worse than anything her overactive imagination could have ever conceived…

Review: Townhouse is definitely not afraid to throw in some gore while writing this horror novel. Sara Crimson, our protagonist, is struggling with moving, and with her new relationship and being pregnant – the confusion feels realistic, as does the struggle. The book is creepy, and has plenty of suspense. Recommended to fans of horror who don’t mind some gore.

The Curse of Malenfer Manor

Title: The Curse of Malenfer Manor

Author: Ian McChesney

Genre: Paranormal, Mystery, Fantasy

Rating: 5 stars

Purchase: Amazon

Those in line to the Malenfer estate are succumbing to terrible ends – but is it a supernatural legacy at work, or something entirely more human and evil?

Young Irish mercenary Dermot Ward headed to Paris at the close of World War I, where he drinks to forget his experiences, especially the death of his comrade, Arthur Malenfer. But Arthur has not forgotten Dermot. Dead but not departed, Arthur has unfinished business and needs the help of the living.

Upon his arrival at Malenfer Manor, Dermot finds himself embroiled in a mystery of murder, succession, and ambition. Dermot falls in love with the youngest Malenfer, the beautiful fey Simonne, but in his way are Simonne’s mismatched fiancé, her own connections to the spirit world, Dermot’s overwhelming guilt over the circumstances of Arthur’s death… and the curse.

Review: A rich, detailed account about the Malenfer estate, reminiscent of “The Witching Hour” by Anne Rice. The book is complex, the world-building is great, and the characters sparkle on the pages. It’s an amazing gothic mystery, recommended by all fans of the genre.

Plague

Title: Plague

Author: Lisa C. Hinsley

Genre: Horror, Dystopian, Apocalyptic, Science Fiction

Rating: 3 stars

Purchase: Amazon

A new strain of bubonic plague is diagnosed in London. Before it can be contained it spreads through the population, faster and more deadly than anyone could have imagined. Three weeks is all it takes to decimate the country.

Johnny tells Liz not to phone the NHS when their young son starts to show symptoms. But she ignores him and a few hours later the army arrives and boards them into their house.

Now Nathan is dying and there is nothing they can do to help him. Hours pass like weeks as their little boy grows weaker and weaker. All Liz wants is that they die with some dignity but the authorities refuse to help. Then the broadband dies and the phones stop working. Cut off from the world and boarded into their house, the family try their best to cope. But there is nothing they can do to stop the plague.

UK Vine Voice and Top 50 Reviewer Shaun Horrigan said: Plague is one of, if not the best story I have read so far this year.

Review: An intriguing horror novel about society crumbling, about humanity on the verge of despair, and about how far people are willing to go to protect their loved ones. It was an interesting book, at times a little gory though, and the dialogue is clumsy at best. The ending is a tad too abrupt.