The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

 

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum -370 pages

Suburbia. Shady, tree-lined streets, well-tended lawns and cozy homes. A nice, quiet place to grow up. Unless you are teenage Meg or her crippled sister, Susan. On a dead-end street, in the dark, damp basement of the Chandler house, Meg and Susan are left captive to the savage whims and rages of a distant aunt who is rapidly descending into madness. It is a madness that infects all three of her sons and finally the entire neighborhood. Only one troubled boy stands hesitantly between Meg and Susan and their cruel, torturous deaths. A boy with a very adult decision to make.

Surprisingly as a horror fan this is only the second book by this author I've read.  I'd heard this on was great, and boy was it.  I just could not put this down, I finished it all on one rainy day.  What was done to Meg was hard to read at times and was definitely harsher than I'd expected, but, it is a horror book after all.  Fans of horror, if you haven't read this one yet, pick it up and give it a spin.

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen

 

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen - 405 pages

After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now.

For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined. Even as others were drawn into their mother’s dark and perverse web, the sisters found the strength and courage to escape an escalating nightmare that culminated in multiple murders.

Harrowing and heartrending, If You Tell is a survivor’s story of absolute evil—and the freedom and justice that Nikki, Sami, and Tori risked their lives to fight for. Sisters forever, victims no more, they found a light in the darkness that made them the resilient women they are today—loving, loved, and moving on.

This is a heartbreaking story of torture and abuse of not only three girls but the murder of three individuals at the hands of this horrible, sadistic mother, Shelly Knotek.  She is a master manipulator and pure evil.  What these victims endured is mind boggling.  It is heartwarming that the sisters came together to put a stop to her terrible ways.   

Beyond by Mercedes Lackey

Beyond by Mercedes Lackey - 378 pages

Founding of Valdemar #1

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Within the Eastern Empire, Duke Kordas Valdemar rules a tiny, bucolic Duchy that focuses mostly on horse breeding. Anticipating the day when the Empire’s exploitative and militant leaders would not be content to leave them alone, Korda’s father set out to gather magicians in the hopes of one day finding a way to escape and protect the people of the Duchy from tyranny.

Kordas has lived his life looking over his shoulder. The signs in the Empire are increasingly dire. Under the direction of the Emperor, mages have begun to harness the power of dark magics, including blood magic, the powers of the Abyssal Planes, and the binding and "milking" of Elemental creatures.

But then one of the Duchy’s mages has a breakthrough. There is a way to place a Gate at a distance so far from the Empire that it is unlikely the Emperor can find or follow them as they evacuate everyone that is willing to leave.

But time is running out, and Kordas has been summoned to the Emperor's Court.

Can his reputation as a country bumpkin and his acting skills buy him and his people the time they need to flee? Or will the Emperor lose patience, invade to strip Valdemar of everything of worth, and send its conscripted people into the front lines of the Imperial wars?

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

 Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter - 394 pages

Twenty years ago Claire Scott's eldest sister, Julia, went missing. No one knew where she went - no note, no body. It was a mystery that was never solved and it tore her family apart.

Now another girl has disappeared, with chilling echoes of the past. And it seems that she might not be the only one.

Claire is convinced Julia's disappearance is linked.

But when she begins to learn the truth about her sister, she is confronted with a shocking discovery, and nothing will ever be the same

A Night in Terror Tower (Goosebumps #27) by R.L. Stine

A Night in Terror Tower (Goosebumps #27) by R.L. Stine-129 pages

In "A Night in Terror Tower," Sue and Eddie are on a sight-seeing tour in London, England while their parents are at a meeting at the Barclay Hotel. They convince their tour guide, Mr. Starkes, to take their tour to Terror Tower, where hundreds (if not more) of people have been tortured in the past. However, after making it to the very top of the tower and being told a story about the Prince and Princess of York being brought to the top to be executed by the King (their uncle), Sue and Eddie lose their tour group. Soon, they are chased by a tall, burly man in a black cape and black wide-brimmed hat. Who is this man and why is he chasing them?

Half Bad by Sally Green

Half Bad by Sally Green - 397 pages

Nathan is persecuted daily by the White Witches who look down upon his half White, half Black status as the illegimate son of the evil Black Witch Marcus.  Eventually he is caged, beaten, and trained to kill Marcus as part of a prophecy.  But Nathan doesn't want to kill Marcus.  He wants to find him and get his Gift from him.

This is the first in a trilogy by Sally Green.  I can't say if liked this book or not.  There is really no "good" character in the story that I could find.  Still, I am intrigued enough that I plan to read the next book.

God Save the Queen by Kate Locke

God Save the Queen by Kate Locke, 354 pages
(Book 1 of Immortal Empire series)

This was a great read and I'm looking forward to finishing the series. Xandra's youngest half sister, Dede, has gone missing and she will do anything to find her. Nevermind that the authorities found a body that her sister and brother agree is Dede. Xandra senses something odd is at foot and starts out on a road that will lead her to startling discoveries about herself and the world she lives in. Xandra is a halfie - half human and half vampire. Vampires rule this world controlled by the Monarchy. Queen Victoria is still alive and kicking - ruling for 175 years now. Goblins, Werewolves and other creatures that go bump in the night are very much real. This is your classic Sci-fi/Fantasy Steampunk novel complete with twists and turns that will keep your head spinning. To say anymore would give too much away. This is a definite - must read for yourself book. It does have language, violence, torture, sex and some pretty graphic parts, but considering you have vampires, werewolves, goblins and humans ... it's kind of hard not to.

Against Their Will - Nigel Cawthorne

Against Their Will: Sadistic Kidnappers and the Courageous Stories of Their Innocent Victims by Nigel Cawthorne - 358 pages

Depraved kidnappers, Horrific ordeals, courageous survivors. True stories of twisted criminals who hold their victims in endless captivity to satisfy their perverse desires, Against Their Will is a comprehensive compendium of the most disturbing kidnappings of all time.