"Dead in the Family" Book 10 of the Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries by Charlaine Harris

"Dead in the Family"
Book 10 of the Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries
by Charlaine Harris
Read by Johanna Parker
Produced by Recorded books
Approx 9.5 hours

In each of the books in the Southern Vampire Mysteries the title of the book will tell you what to expect in the story. This time around "Dead in the Family" hits the nail on the head. It seems as though every character major and minor ever mention in the series has a family problem in this one.

To sum up what has happened so fair; The Fairy war is over, Sookie's great-grandfather Niall (a powerful fairy) has closed most of the portals between the Fairy world and the human world. Sookie's cousin Claude (a fairy) chose to remain with the humans. The two natured (were-wolves, shape-shifters, et. al.) have revealed themselves to the world and it's not quite as positive a response as when the vampires did it. The government is trying to get the two-natured to register, even though they have been citizens and veterans all these years. Louisiana's Vampire territory has been taken over by the "King" of Nevada and Eric Northman Sheriff of area five of Louisiana, and Sookie's boyfriend is the last remaining member of the former Queen's "court."

With all this happening the future is pretty much unsure, the Shreveport, La. werewolf pack is under pressure from the government to get registered, and the government is just looking for a reason to lock up all two natureds. Alcide Herveaux, leader of the pack asks Sookie's permission to have the monthly pack run on her land since his is being watched. When the run is over Sookie is told that there have been fairies running around her land recently and a dead body. One of the fairies can be explained in that Sookie's cousin and full fairy, Claude has moved in with Sookie because he needs to be near someone like him, even if she's only 1/8th fairy. The dead body is that of Debbie Pelt, Alcide's former girlfriend, whom Sookie killed. The other fairy scent, needs to be explained.

Eric & Sookie's relationship seems to be building, at least until Eric's maker shows up with his latest progeny, Alexei Romanov, only son of the last Czar of Russia, who as an adolescent witnessed the Bolshevik Revolution, including the slaughter of his entire family. Alexei seems to be bordering on the brink of insanity (who could blame him?). Eric returns to Shreveport, but not before sending a tracker to find out who the other fairy may be.

This tracker discovers another body. This second body is new and has been buried on Sookie's land to frame her for murder. Who is this other body? Who killed them? Why is Sookie being Framed? All these questions get answered and but they don't solve anything. This just creates more turmoil in Sookie Stackhouse's life.

"Ascendance - Part 2 of 2" Book 5 of "The Demon Wars Saga" by R. A. Salvatore

"Ascendance - Part 2 of 2"
Book 5 of "The Demon Wars Saga"
by R. A. Salvatore
Multicast Performance
Produced by GraphicAudio
approx 6 hours.


R.A. Salvatore's epic tale of the Land of Corona just keeps getting more and more exciting, and GraphicAudio's productions keep these books exciting with the superb audiobook productions. "Ascendance" is book five of the series and tells the tale of Aydrian Wyndon, the lost son of Elbryan the Ranger and Jilseponie the warrior. When Jilseponie was battling with the demon possessed Father Abbot Dalebert Markwart, the supreme leader of the Abellican Church, she thought through his magic Markwart killed her unborn son. The truth is that Lady Dasselrond, leader of the Touel'alfar, the elves, rescued the baby from Jilseponie's womb, and raised him as a Ranger among the elves.

In Part one of this book Aydrian escaped the land of the elves and set out to make a name for himself. As fate would have it Aydrian crosses paths with Marcalo De'Unnero, the former Bishop of Palmaris, who has been possessed by the were-tiger spirit, and is the man that murdered Aydrian's father. De'Unnero begins plotting against Jilseponie, who is now Queen of Honce-the-Bear, in the land of Corona. De'Unnero's plan is to put Aydrian on the throne, topple the church and put himself back in power. Aydrian, powerful with the magic gemstones used by the church and an equally powerful Ranger, goes along with these plans and even develops a few of his own.

To further the cause, De'Unnero places himself among the nobles in the kingdom and running the long con gets the Duke Callis to hold a series of contests as a show for the King's 50th birthday. Bringing to mind scenes from the classic tale of Robin Hood and the movie "A Knight's Tale," nobles and peasants alike compete in melee battles, jousts and sword fights to prove who is worthy of the King's Pennant. Aydrian defeats the strongest man in the Kingdom Duke Callis by killing him on the field. But before he does this the Duke says he battles for the King and in a show of rebellion Aydrian says he battles not for the king but for Queen Jilseponie.

Salvatore has a great skill of weaving this tale that includes many subplots that come together to produce a extremely exciting climax to the story. GraphicAudio combines their cast of talented actors with realistic sound effects (especially during the jousts and sword fights) and music that seems to build to a climax along with the story to the very end. I found myself on the edge of my seat while listening to all the battles and then at the end I felt as though I were going through those battles and was experiencing an adrenaline high from the excitement fueled by GraphicAudio's superb production.

Super exciting fantasy novel, not sure how Salvatore and GraphicAudio can top this, but the next book, "Transcendance," is sitting by my side as I write this ready to continue the adventure.

"Ascendance - Part 1 of 2" book 5 of "The Demon Wars Saga" by R. A. Salvatore

"Ascendance - Part 1 of 2"
book 5 of "The Demon Wars Saga"
by R. A. Salvatore
Multicast performance
Produced by GraphicAudio
approx 7 hours


Being a big fan of science-fiction, fantasy and supernatural stories, I jumped at the chance to begin reading the "Demon Wars Saga" by R. A. Salvatore. I first looked at this series and saw there were seven books in the series and knew it would be a fun adventure. I then found out they were available as audiobooks from GraphicAudio and knew that was a convenient way to get into the saga. When GraphicAudio first produced these I was so enthralled by the story that they couldn't release them fast enough. I then thought well, just go read the books. That didn't work because GraphicAudio had me addicted to their superb production quality and presentation that I just HAD to hear these masterpieces of audiobook production.

You see, GraphicAudio has a slogan, "A Movie in Your Mind," and they take it pretty seriously. It shows from the first words spoken in these audiobooks. The full cinematic feel of these stories is pushed along with superb voice acting and sound effects that come exploding out of whatever sound-system you hear these productions on. They really know how to suck you into the story. The storytelling prowess of R. A. Salvatore is enhanced a thousandfold through GraphicAudio's production quality. The nice thing is that GraphicAudio separates the books into 2 or 3 parts keeping each edition to about 6 or 7 hours in length. This is nice in that the books can be absorbed in chunks and then give you time to recover from the experience before continuing.

So let's talk about this book. This is book 5 of the 7 book saga that is "The Demon Wars," years have passed since the "Miracle of Avelyn" occurred on Mount Aida healing the country of the Rosie Plague. The Abellican Church is well on its way to canonizing Avelyn, even though he was once called a heretic.

Jilseponie after losing her husband, the Ranger, Elbryan (Nightbird) Wyndon, has settled in to becoming Baroness of Palmaris and serving the people. The Abellican church, who realize that with her talent of magic using the holy gemstones would better serve the Church and the folk of Palmaris by becoming a Bishop of Palmaris. The Bishop being a representative of both secular and church interests. At this same time King Danube Brock Ursal, king of Honce-the-bear wishes for her to become his wife and Queen. The King is actually in love with Jilseponie, but the church seems to have a hidden agenda.

The elves of Touel'alfar took Jilseponie's unborn son (also son of Elbryan) and raised him to become a ranger even greater than his father and to, hopefully, be the salvation of the elves. The plans of the Touel'alfar go awry due to Aydrian's own arrogance, cultivated by a dark force he encounters at Oracle.

The focus of this book is on the development of Adryan and what could possibly be a dark future for all the residents of the land of Corona, elves and humans alike, and GraphicAudio delivers this story with a punch.

"Hurtling Wings" by L. Ron Hubbard

"Hurtling Wings"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast Performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
Approx 2 hours


I've got to tell you, these audio book releases from Galaxy audio are just plain fun. During the mid-20th century L. Ron Hubbard eked out a living by writing stories for the many pulp fiction magazines that were in heavy circulation at the time. He wrote the stories in various genres so he could cover a wide range of the publications and even used aliases/pen names for some of the stories. Some of the genres he wrote in are; Science-Fiction, Westerns, Mystery, Fantasy, and Adventure (the adventure could be further broken down to sea, air and orient adventures.) Galaxy Press began re-releasing these stories and packaging them down to books that cover the various genres. Galaxy Audio in turning these into audio books has gone a huge step further by creating some very entertaining audio drama with each book.

Each book contains one or more stories, and with the audio books these come out to about 2 hours of pure audio pleasure. Using a cast of very talented vocal actors, these stories come to life in full audio glory. The actors not only perform the characters they create the mood and express the action they make you HAVE to listen to the stories. The sound effects are not simply thrown in when the story asks for it but instead layered into the full production so that they fit perfectly in to make the full experience completely engulf the listener.

So with all that in mind I try out another genre in the Hubbard/Galaxy inventory and gave "Hurtling Wings" an air adventure a listen. Soon I was caught up in the action and enjoying the full theatrical spectacle that is this audio book.

Hurtling Wings was originally published in "Adventure" November,1934, and seems at first like a simple story about aircraft racing teams competing in various aerial events. But with Hubbard's stories from the Golden Age nothing is simple. Cal Bradley is a daredevil racer and test pilot and during the acrobatics section of the event loses his plane in what turns out to be sabotage. Speed Kyle's company which builds the best planes around needs a good pilot to show of his planes at this event. This National Air Meet is important because the winner of the meet could get a valuable air mail contract, which could pull Speed's company out of the possibility of financial ruin.

Cal happens to be dating Speed's daughter Georgia, and this means they could be together more, but the sabotage follows Cal as it turns that some of the other businesses competing are not very honest. During the various flying contests Cal battles sabotaged planes to keep them in the air and battles the saboteurs to keep everyone around him safe. The excitement of this story will have you on the edge of your seat the whole time and not until everyone is safe and back on the ground can you relax.

Check out this latest release from Galaxy Audio for some exciting air adventures from the Golden Age of stories.

"Strange Brew" Edited by P.N. Elrod

"Strange Brew"
Edited by P.N. Elrod
Multiple readers
produced by Audible Frontiers (2009)
approx 12 hours.


In continuing my search for more Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" stories I find another collection of short stories that have a few of my other favorite supernatural authors and I may have found a few more. This book features 9 stories all dealing with the supernatural, in particular witches, wizards and potions. There is no Professor Snape to let this lot know if they are doing it right or wrong, but for the most part they all get it right. The nice thing is that for most of the authors in this book, they have a running series and these short stories take place within the realm of that same series and for the die-hard fans, here's one more source for some quick pleasure while waiting for that next book.

Each story has their own reader thus giving this collection in audiobook form a better sound of being different stories from different authors. Now let's talk about each story one by one.

"Seeing Eye" by Patricia Briggs: Patricia Briggs returns to the world of Mercy Thompson, but follows an entirely new character – the witch (Wendy) Moira Keller. Tom Franklin, werewolf and second in the Emerald City pack, shows up on Moira’s doorstep asking for her help in finding his kidnapped brother Jon, Moira cannot refuse him, even though it could mean her death. For Moira is no ordinary witch, and she has a dark past connected to those who have taken Jon – the Samhain Coven, led by the cruel and power-hungry Kouros. Together, Moira and Tom set out on Jon’s trail, using her magic and Tom’s strength to discover Jon’s fate, and to face Samhain once and for all.

"Last Call" by Jim Butcher: Harry takes on the darkest of dark powers--the ones who dare to mess with his favorite beer. All Harry wants to do after a long hard day of wizarding and private investigating is have one of Mac's famous home brews and possibly a steak sandwich, but when Harry, walks into Macanally's, he finds the place in disarray, not the normal planned disarray but one which finds several tables turned over, customers and Mac,himself, unconscious. Harry then finds that the home brew has been tampered with and a deeper darker mystery unveils in which an ancient being wishes to take over Chicago. This story takes place between Small Favor and Turn Coat.

“Death Warmed Over” by Rachel Caine: This story takes place in a world where witches moonlight in extremely specialized fields. Holly Caldwell is one such witch with a rare affinity for resurrecting the dead, working at her day job when she receives a last minute email from her other boss, Sam – a request for a “disposable,” or a long-term resurrection from the local police department. Holly has sworn off disposables ever since her first and last job – because of the pain her impossible relationship with the resurrected caused her. Now, Sam and the police want Holly to raise the same man from her past, a powerful witch named Andrew Toland who died in 1875 fighting an army of resurrected dead gone violent (or more commonly, zombies). Though it pains her to reopen a relationship that is in all ways impossible, Holly breathes life back into Andrew. Unfortunately for them both, only later do they learn that someone has been killing resurrection witches, and Holly is next on the list. This turns out to be kind of a creepy love story of sorts that has a twist in the mystery unfolding.

"Vegas Odds" by Karen Chance: The longest story in "Strange Brew" is Karen Chance’s "Vegas Odds." The story bursts with excitement from start. Half-Were Lia and her boyfriend Were Cyrus destroy her house while under attack from a group of War Mages. From there the listener is thrwon into a world full of magic and a strong instantly likeable heroine while never letting up on the non-stop action.

"Hecate’s Golden Eye" by P.N. Elrod: Yes even the editor gets into the action with a story from her Vampire Mysteries series featuring the Vampire Noir, Jack Fleming and his partner Escott from 1930's Chicago. Fleming and Escott are asked to recover a stolen heirloom--a rare yellow diamond with a curse. Any man who touches it DIES. Of course, since Jack's already dead he should be immune, right? Maybe, maybe not. Mix in some con artists and a homicidally violent mad Irishman and see what happens! Just picture the old film noir detectives, but picture one as a vampire and you have this fun tale.

"Bacon" by Charlaine Harris: A beautiful vampire joins forces with a witch from an ancient line to find out who killed her beloved husband. This story has the funniest ending and is worth the purchase of this book alone. This story takes place in the world of Sookie Stackhouse (you know, from "True Blood" fame) featuring the vampire Dahlia. There was a previous Dahlia story in the anthology “My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding,” and Dahlia does appear in "All Together Dead."

"Signatures of the Dead" by Faith Hunter: The story is told from the perspective of Molly, a witch who is asked by the police to track down a group of killer vampires. The star of the story is actually Jane Yellowrock, skinwalker and vampire hunter, who has the job of actually finding and exterminating the vampires. This story is an introduction for the Jane Yellowrock character, who is going to be the protagonist of her own series of books.

"Ginger: A Nocturne City" by Caitlin Kittredge: This is the story of werewolf detective Luna Wilder’s witch cousin Sunny Swan. This thriller is a morality tale of sorts showing how doing the right thing can get you into more trouble then you can imagine, and that in everyone is the will to get done what needs doing. Who knew that the small task of supporting her cousin by visiting the trial she is testifying in will lead her into the dark depths of Nocturne’s City underworld?

"Dark Sins By" Jenna Maclaine: Recently turned vampire, witch Cin Craven may be the strongest witch in existence if she knew how to use her magic. This small fact allows for the imprisonment of Cin and her companions The Righteous a group of vampires that act as judge, jury, and executioner of their own kind.

So if witches are your cup of tea, check out "Strange Brew."

"13 Bullets" by David Wellington

"13 Bullets"
by David Wellington
read by Bernadette Dunne
produced by Blackstone Audio
approx 11.5 hours

If you're tired of the recent trend of vampires being used to tell stories of teen angst or of eroticism, and think it's time to get back to staking those bloodsuckers, then I have just the book for you. David Wellington not only gets back to hunting down of these undead but also throws in a bit of a twist in the story that doesn't detract from the true vampire horror fans have come to enjoy. In fact, Wellington takes us back to the Nosferatu type of vampire, bald, rows of sharp teeth, pointy ears and pale skin. Not only does Wellington bring back a terrifying look of the vampires, but his words create a terrifying story that will keep you looking into the shadows.

Bernadette Dunne does a smashup job of voicing this audiobook. She not only differentiates the characters with subtle vocal changes , but she captures the mood of every scene and presents the horror with her vocal tempo. This creates not only a great audiobook experience but also sucks (pardon the pun) you into the story so you don't want to stop listening.

In "13 Bullets" vampires are not mythical creatures but have been known about for centuries. The vampires in this world cannot simply swap blood to create other vampires, the victim must commit suicide to complete the transition into undead status. The vampires also create an army of minions by bringing back their victims and creating half-deads to do the vampires bidding. The half-deads are weak, have no skin and scare easily, but they will do the vampire's every demand.

The story begins when a Fed named Arkeley has tracked down the vampire Lares and in the process of trying to capture him, the vamp wipes out a SWAT team and nearly takes out Arkeley. Lares takes Arkely as his "hostage" to a boat where in 3 coffins are 3 other vampires, these vampires, however, are in a severly deteriorated condition. When Lares begins disgorge all the blood drained from the SWAT team onto the near skeletal remains of the vampires, Arkeley realizes Lares is trying to bring back the other 3 vamps. Arkeley destroys Lares and 2 of the remaining 3 remains. One vampire, Malvern, is taken into custody and is being studied. This is the opening action of this book, with the chase the fights and the horrific scenes the listener knows they are in for a great scare fest.

The book really takes off when a state trooper running a sobriety check point on a highway meets a half dead with a trunk full of dismembered bodies. She calls in the feds and Arkeley is the one who takes over. That night the trooper, Laura Caxton, is visited by one of the half-deads and when she tells this to Arkeley, he realizes they want more from her, but what?

Caxton and Arkely then team up to try and destroy at least 3 known vampires and "13 Bullets" will take you on a journey through some dark places and unravel a classic vampire tale.

"The Great Secret" by L. Ron Hubbard

"The Great Secret"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
approx 2 hours

During the mid-twentieth century L. Ron Hubbard earned his living by writing short stories that were published by many of the pulp-fiction magazines of the time. He wrote in many different genres; westerns, air adventure, sea adventures, science-fiction and more. Recently Galaxy Press has reprinted these stories in their own pulps, each one featuring one or more stories from a given genre. Galaxy Audio has taken these pulps and turned them into audio-pulps by turning them into multi-cast performance audio books.

The production of these audio books is simply superb. They each feature excellent vocal talents and acting, subtle and perfect sound effects and original music. These create a theatre of the mind performance much like the old radio programs from the same time as these pulp magazines.

I kept putting off listening to this audio book because it would be the last of the 6 sci-fi releases from Galaxy Audio. I have listened to several books from the other genres but sci-fi is my absolute favorite. But recently I took a 2 hour road trip and had a car load of differing audio tastes. So I decided this would fit in perfect. The reason this fit in was two-fold, first the sci-fi stories all feature great adventures that are fun to follow and second that this particular audio-book featured four different stories. I don't know about the rest of my passengers but this road trip was made shorter thanks to some exciting stories.

# The Great Secret, published in "Science Fiction Stories," April 1943, and tells the story of Fanner Marston, a man out to discover the secret which will make him the ruler of the universe. Marston's ship crash lands near Parva, a city of the original race of the Universe. Being the only survivor that means the secret will be his and his alone. Pushed ahead by his mantra, "Women, Liquor, Power" and under the searing rays of the world's double sun, Fanner Marston, wracked with thirst and exhaustion, pushes on toward his goal. Soon his mantra changes to "Water." When he finally finds the city and the great secret. What he finds though isn't what he expects.

# Space Can, published in "Astounding Science Fiction," July 1942 is an exciting space battle story. This story tells of an Earth destroyer up against the larger Saturnian ships. The destroyer is riddled with holes, on fire, unable to maneuver, and is an obvious hopeless wreck in the midst of a space battle, there's only one way out: take over the heavier enemy ship. This space adventure not only shows off Hubbard's talent at keeping a story exciting but also shows how much Hubbard pulled from his stint in the Navy by using lots of Navy jargon and ideals to describe the battles.

# The Beast, published in "Astounding Science Fiction," October 1942 is basically a story of a hunter in space. In the jungles of Venus, the mysterious Beast has to be killed—not only because it has murdered, but because it has stolen something Ginger Cranston can't live without—an intangible, absolutely necessary thing: Cranston's courage.

# The Slaver, published in "Astounding Science Fiction," June 1942, Is yet another future look into a time when Earth becomes a slave colony for aliens. Captured by space slave traders, befriended by a slave girl, our hero Kree Lorin outwits his captors, frees the girl, and regains his spaceship.

"Directive 51" By John Barnes

"Directive 51"
By John Barnes
Read by Susan Ericksen
Produced by Brilliance Audio
approx 21.5 hours

All you cyber junkies, technophiles and just anyone enjoying today's modern comforts, enjoy them while you can, because if John Barnes new novel "Directive 51" is a glimpse into our future we could easily find ourselves flung back to times where technology doesn't exist. "Directive 51" takes a look at an America where terrorists, both foreign and domestic all attack at once and not only are the creature comforts threatened but so is the Constitution of the United States of America.

The year is 2024 and many factions are tired of America's slothfulness and reliance upon technology. This time they all band together in a movement called Daybreak and bring not only America but the world to its knees. Think about this in today's political world, there are many factions of those that want things to change in America. You've got the potentially violent militias, KKK, and other political factions such as; the tea party movement, Greenpeace, PETA, and many more. Now picture that on one day all these groups got together and since the big picture was to bring down the government and big business they all "attack" in their own way, all at the same time. Throw into this mix a Muslim terrorist group that has secretly infiltrated this domestic movement, all at once and our government would be scrambling, not knowing which side the enemy was hitting from. Being slightly set in the future John Barnes has created some nasty domestic weapons that these Daybreakers use. Weapons such as nanoswarm, which are tiny microscopic robots that attack electronics using the parts to reproduce the swarm and get carried along in the wind destroying cars, computers, mp3 players and anything electronic. Next we throw in a bio weapon that destroys plastics and other man made compounds reducing them to a smelly pile of mush. That would definitely put a hurt on today's society.

In "Directive 51" this happens along with the kidnapping of the vice president. As the plane is hunted by the military, the nanoswarm and plastic eating biotes are wreaking havoc on the system. The V.P.'s plane is found flying back in to the U.S. through the Baja Peninsula in Mexico and just as the plane is being tracked Daybreak strikes again taking out the radar systems on the west coast. The plane is loaded with a super powerful nuclear fusion bomb and headed to the final game of the World Series in Anaheim, California. Before the plane reaches it's destination it is shot down over the California desert, killing the V.P. (if he weren't already dead.) This devastates the President who was lifelong best friends with his V.P. and the President loses his mental faculties and resigns. This is where the governmental structure of America begins to deteriorate much like the plastics.

In searching for the next successor the turmoil begins. The actual next successor is not a natural born citizen so, according to the Constitution cannot hold the office, the next in line is a senator that has been around since the 1970s and is a cantankerous liberal Democrat. He immediately begins promising jobs soon and not listening to the reports of food riots, violence and the deteriorating infrastructure in America, instead he rides around in a limousine and makes promises. Thanks to technology getting destroyed by Daybreak, the only form of mass communication is a newspaper set up by a woman that remembers the days of newspapers, but when she begins supporting the Republican candidate in her paper (yes it is also and election year) the acting president sends his newly formed special group of guards to arrest her and cease the operations of the newspaper.

This book goes on with many more turnovers in the government while at the same time Americans are having to struggle and reform without the use of any technology. Just when you think the book is about to come to a peaceful "happy" ending, the author throws another wrench into the works. Such as 5 strategically placed fusion bombs which destroy Washington D.C. and the new government, and Chicago, Jerusalem, Shanghai, China and most of Europe.

This book takes what is best about the U.S. Government and people and puts them to the test, showing that the culture can survive but it is not easy. Even through a possible civil war it is the Constitution that keeps America alive. John Barnes shows this extremely well in what can be called a thinking man's sci-fi novel.

The reader, Susan Ericksen, has a tough job in reading this one, but she pulls it off beautifully. I've listened to other audiobooks read by Ericksen and have always been amazed by her ability to create many different characters with her voice and in this book she carries on with that same talent. Each character is given their own vocal qualities and not only does it make it easy to discern who is talking or thinking but also Ericksen makes the vocal qualities match the personality.

This novel will have you entertained, enlightened and constantly thinking about society and politics. Great combination of social commentary, political debate and sci-fi are worked into "Directive 51."

"The Ghost Hunter's Field Guide" by Margie Kay

"The Ghost Hunter's Field Guide"
by Margie Kay
Published 2010 by 7th Planet
204 pages


With the emerging world of digital technology, especially audio and video, it seems that ghost hunting is the thing to do. You see it all over cable television and for years many communities have some sort of paranormal society or ghost hunters. If you think you may want to take up the night vision goggles and camera and find your own phantasm, this may be the book for you.

Margie Kay has put together a handbook for the professional or amateur ghost hunter with a personal touch. Through her years of ghost hunting (33 or so to give you an idea) Margie has had her share of experiences in the paranormal. She is a trained psychic and paranormal investigator and has been instrumental in solving over 30 missing persons cases, numerous homicides and thefts using her unique clairvoyant, clairaudient, clairsentient, and remote viewing abilities, which she has honed over the years with amazing results. She has amazed investigators and law enforcement with her abilities and accuracy, in some cases getting names, addresses, streets, and license plates as well as descriptions of victims and perpetrators. And she still finds time to hunt ghosts.

In this book she not only gives a great checklist of the items to take on your next paranormal adventure, but she even provides hints on how to acquire some items, even when budgets are tight. Such as some children's toys that could be helpful, or even checking out eBay for some good deals.

Margie uses her experiences to tell the reader how to handle different situations and what to expect in many situations. Through the book are stories of how many of her haunted experiences have gone, from her team being called in to investigate dark shadowy figures haunting a house to what could be recorded impressions from past events while setting up shop in historical downtown Independence, Missouri.

Not only did this book provide nice how to information but also what to do to invite the spirits to "show" themselves. Many of the television shows about ghost hunters approach with a view to try to debunk the hauntings first, kind of like a scientific approach. Margie uses that but also throws in the mix a spiritual/psychic level to the experience so that maybe all that cannot be explained can be observed in a reasonable light. While the information was very nice, I have to admit reading the various experiences she talks about was some fun reading that sometimes, I had to make sure the room from where I was reading was well lit.

Margie closes out the book with an extensive list of haunted sites you can visit and do your own phantasmagorical research. In this list she provides contact info as well as whether or not the sites are open to public or if you have to call in advance to arrange private sessions.

There are also listings of Radio/TV ghost hunting broadcasts that you can tune in and get hints.

So, whether you are a professional Ghost Hunter, hobbyist, or simply curious this book would be the perfect handbook, to keep in your bag of tricks.

"Cattle King for a Day" by L. Ron Hubbard

"Cattle King for a Day"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
Approx. 2 hours


I've recently discovered the short stories written by L. Ron Hubbard during the mid-20th century, through Galaxy Audio and Galaxy Press. They have been releasing the stories that were originally published in pulp magazines of that era, creating their own pulp magazines, and even audio pulp. All the audiobooks are about 2 hours in length and most contain 2 or 3 stories. This release, scheduled to be released October, 2010, brings back a couple of stories from the old west.

I originally was intrigued by these books by the science-fiction genre and then I checked out some of the other genres, such as; mystery, air adventures, tales from the orient, and sea adventures, and have never heard a bad story. Hubbard was a master storyteller and could weave a tale that not only kept you on the edge of your seat but as these releases prove pass the test of time. I have never had an interest in western stories but with the enjoyment I've had from the other stories released by Galaxy Audio, I thought I'd give them a try. My old friend that tried to get me interested in Louis L'amour stories is probably saying, "I told you westerns were fun." Well, thanks to L. Ron Hubbard and Galaxy Audio, he's proven right.

Most of the props would have to go out to Galaxy Audio because without the superb production value in these audiobooks, I might not have given the westerns a listen. Galaxy provides a talented cast of voice actors, mix that in with perfect sound effects and original incidental music these stories just flow through you making you feel you are in the middle of the action.

This release contains 2 stories from the golden age both telling tales from the old west dealing with men who have been snookered out of inheritances. One story takes place in Montana the other in Wyoming, which Hubbard used his personal experience of growing up in the area in the turn of the century.

"Cattle King for a Day," originally published in "Western" magazine March, 1937 tells of Chinook Shannon who comes to Montana from Arizona after hearing his grandfather has died unexpectedly and has left him the family's Slash S cattle ranch. Chinook has always wanted to be a cattle king and arrives in Montana ready to run the ranch. The only problem is that the ranch will be foreclosed on in 24 hours. While it may only be one day, as it seems, Chinook is ready to run what he can. As it turns out a mining company using cyanide mining methods has killed off the cattle and not much is left, however, Chinook finds that all things aren't right in the area and that his grandfather's death was caused by a murder. Chinook has 24 hours to find out who murdered his grandfather and save his family's ranch. Be ready for double and triple crosses as Hubbard weaves the tale with the expected twists and turns that are always found in his stories.

"Come and Get It," originally published in "Western" magazine October, 1938, finds another man getting rooked out of his inheritance when he comes from "out East" to inherit his father's Wyoming land. This time however the hero learns nothing is left of the land and takes on a job as a cook to go undercover to find his father's murderer. The real twist in this story which made me smile at the end of the book was the identity of the inheritor.

Two great westerns (I never thought I'd say that) by the master story teller L. Ron Hubbard from the Golden Age of Stories

"Sunstorm", book 2 of the Time Odyssey" By Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter

"Sunstorm", book 2 of the Time Odyssey"
By Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter
Read by John Lee
Produced by Blackstone Audio
Approx 10.5 hours


One of the greatest science fiction collections has to be Arthur C. Clarke's "Space Odyssey" series (2001, 2010, 2065 & concluding w/ 3001). In what would be his final decade here on Earth, Clarke teamed up with Stephen Baxter to write the "Time Odyssey" series. Clarke said that this series was neither a sequel nor prequel but rather an orthoquel (a neologism coined by Clarke for this purpose, combining the word sequel with ortho-, the Greek prefix meaning "straight" or "perpendicular", and alluding to the fact that time is orthogonal to space in relativity theory).

In book one of the series, "Time's Eye," Bisesa Dutt is taken from her time on Earth along with a few from her time and many others from throughout Earth's history such as Alexander the Great, Kubla Khan, by beings who call themselves the firstborn. The firstborn create a patchwork of Earth from various timeframes and Bisesa and her companions call this new planet Mir, a Russian word for peace but can also mean world. A war is fought between Alexander the great and his ragtag army of various armies from various times and on the other side Kubla Khan and the Mongols. After this war the Firstborn return Bisesa to her time, but only after some warning of what she has in store. She is shown a scorched Earth during an eclipse. Also Bisesa and her friends realize that from the collection of various times on Earth her time (2037) is the latest no one from after that year.

"Sunstorm" answers those clues and more so. Before I go any further into the story of what happens during this novel, I would like to point out that while this book is part of a series, it reads as though it is an independent novel, very little knowledge from book one is needed. There are hints but this book could be read as its own story.

When Bisesa returns to Earth, June 9th, 2037, a major solar flare has wiped out most of the planet's electronics. Being the future this is a lot, from smart cars to communication devices. The Earth is plunged into a world-wide disaster, but recovers relatively well. This is not the bad part, sure there are areas that struggle and human life is endangered, but not nearly as bad as what is to come. A scientist studying the sun has discovered that this sun event is a precursor to one that will come April 20, 2047. This event will be a sunstorm that upon its eruption will destroy the planet, burning a living things on the planet and evaporate the Earth's oceans. Unless human kind can do something about it.

It turns out that human kind is more crafty than some may think. Soon the planet's scientists converge and collaborate with the planet's Artificial Intelligence that is recognized by law as a living intelligent creature, a super computer known as Aristotle and create the a Shield that will be large enough to protect the Earth from space. This major task has to be created and functioning with in 5 years.

During the planning and construction of the shield Bisesa contacts some of those in charge and tells her tale of the Firstborn. She is at first thought of as a bit touched, but when it is discovered this upcoming sunstorm is the product of intelligent beings, the Firstborn. The Firstborn plunged a Jupiter sized planet into the sun around the time of the birth of Christ, (bright & morning star) in preparation for the sunstorm event to destroy humanity.

What turns out to be a great sci-fi race for time, "Sunstorm" will have you on the edge of your seat while listening to this fine classic audiobook.

"Blockade Billy" By Stephen King

"Blockade Billy"
By Stephen King
Published 2010
by Cemetery Dance Publications
144 pages

As many fans know, Stephen King is a baseball fan, especially of the Boston Red Sox, having written the book "Faithful..." chronicling the Red Sox' 2004 season. This time around King has mixed his passion of baseball with his talent for writing chilling stories. "Blockade Billy" takes a fictional baseball team that could have been contenders for the series if not for the dark tale of their strange catcher, William "Blockade Billy" Blakely.

This story goes back to the golden age of baseball and tells the struggling tale of the New Jersey Titans. The 1950s was a decade of real baseball heroes and Blockade Billy was on the road to become one of those heroes. The Titans seemed to have problems with their catchers during spring training. The star catcher was arrested for killing a woman due to drunk driving and another was severely injured while taking a collision to put a man out at home. The Titans send out to their farm team to find someone to at least start their season, until a replacement can be found.

Turns out that replacement is sent to them from Iowa. "Blockade Billy" gets his name during his short stint in the big leagues because the road to home was closed due to his blockade style. Billy was also a great hitter so the package deal came in with this young farm boy. During one exciting play at the plate a player gets cut and while nothing can be pinned on Billy the equipment manager has his concerns.

King mixes in some of the notable players at that time to make this story seem true and the constant reference to how the record of the team being erased from the books due the dark history behind Billy makes you want to look up the player roster for the New Jersey Titans. In fact the early publications of the hardcover of this book came with a promotional baseball card depicting "Blockade Billy." The story is told in a way that seems as if King were sitting in a home interviewing the old equipment manager and he is reliving the memories.

This book also comes with a second story, "Morality." This second story is that of a struggling young couple, barely able to pay their bills get an indecent proposal of sorts. The wife is a nurse that has taken on a job of taking care of a pastor after he as suffered a stroke. The husband is trying to bring in money by taking on substitute teaching jobs while trying to write a book.

The pastor is about to die and says to the wife that if she were to help him commit one sin he would pay her over $200,000. This money would allow them to move to a better home and allow the husband to finish the book. Is the 2 hundred grand worth the cost? I won't tell you the sin, but I will tell you it changes the young couple forever.

Two great stories from a master of suspense. Enjoy.

"Sense and Sensibility and Sea-Monsters" By Ben H. Winters & Jane Austen

"Sense and Sensibility and Sea-Monsters"
By Ben H. Winters & Jane Austen
Published 2010 by Quirk Books


Having read a few other "mashup" books; "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies," "Dawn of the Dreadfuls," and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," I thought I'd give this one a try. I'm sorry to say I found this one hard to get through. I'm not sure what it lacked, but at times when the sea-monsters sections were introduced they seemed forced. I admit though it did have its funny moments but I would have done better to avoid this book.

The premise of the story is the Dashwood family from the Jane Austen novel continue on as Austen wrote them but with many dangers lurking in the waters of the world. An event known as “The Alteration” has turned the creatures of the sea against mankind, this unexplained event spawns numerous “sea monsters,” including sea serpents, giant lobsters, and man-eating jellyfish. Those are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, but you get the idea.

Basically, Henry Dashwood is out to find the cause of the "Alteration" and upon his return is attacked by hammerhead sharks. Before he dies from the wounds inflicted Mr. Dashwood inscribes a message in the sand for his son to take care of his mother and sisters, since they will be females and have no legal recourse to the inheritance. The Dashwood women are not taken care of due to the son's wife's greediness.

They move to Pestilent Island where the two older sisters are soon to find suitors. One suitor, Colonel Brandon, is inflicted with a disease in which his face is sprouting tentacles. Just picture Davy Jones from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. Another suitor is Willoughby which is actually very close to the presentation in the original novel, but in this book he as a sidekick of an orangutan. The people who were kind enough to let the Dashwoods stay in a shack on their island are the Middletons. Lady Middleton was captured in Africa and carried off against her will to become Sir John Middleton's wife and she's always trying to escape.

If you have read the original novel and you pick this up you can tell some of the events are forced however there are some funny moments that will cause you to chuckle. I would say bypass this one and enjoy the other mashup novels with vampires and zombies.

"Infinity: Chronicles of Nick book 1" by Sherrilyn Kenyon

"Infinity: Chronicles of Nick book 1"
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Read by Holter Graham
Produced by Macmillan Audio
Approx. 8 hours.

I think I have just listened to the next juvenile fiction craze. Okay it's really hard to figure out what today's youth will read, but if the recent trend of supernatural series is any kind of sign this series will glide right in. This one not only has vampires and werewolves, but within this first in the series (or rather sub series, but I'll explain that later) the hero getting bit by and then chasing zombies, befriended by demons, getting suspended from school and worse yet getting grounded by his mother.

Nick Gautier (pronounced Go-shay not Go-tee-ay or Goat-chay, that has an extra H in it and as Nick's mom says, "We're so poor we couldn't afford the extra letter.") is your typical high school freshman. Okay, typical in some aspects, like full of sarcastic wit, worried about bullies, and fully aware of girls. Now he's not so typical in that his mom dances at a strip club on Bourbon Street to pay for Nick's tuition to a private school that because he tested so high got somewhat of a scholarship and is the only reason he is in a school where everyone else constantly reminds that he doesn't belong.

Nick also has one more secret, one that he doesn't know himself, he's not quite human. It is never revealed fully what he is but it is powerful. His father is in prison and is the secret behind what Nick is and what Nick could become.

One day before school Nick's mom gives him a hideous Hawaiin shirt, Nick knows he's going to be picked on, AGAIN, and the shirt will be the cause, but, because Nick loves his mom so much he doesn't argue with her to protect her feelings. When he arrives at school, sure enough he's picked on. This time Nick takes the taunting about his shirt. He even takes the taunting about his being poor. But, when the taunting by the school's football team bullies becomes about his mom Nick fights back. This fight gets him suspended and grounded. His mom only allows him to go to work, but he feels so bad about letting his mom down so he skips work to go apologize to her. On the way back he runs into some friends that say that if he stands lookout while they pull a job they'll pay him 200 bucks. This will be the biggest deposit in Nick's miniscule college fund ever, so Nick decides to help. When he the "friends" proceed to rob a couple of tourists at gunpoint, Nick helps the tourists escape and then gets beat up and shot by the "friends."

This turn of events is witnessed by Kyrian, who turns out to be a Dark Hunter. Here's where the idea of the "sub-series" comes in. Sherrilyn Kenyon has written numerous books about the Dark Hunters, the Dark Hunters are death to those that prey upon humans. This book is the first in a series in which Kenyon is writing for a younger audience. The nice thing is that as a writer when the readers get older they can discover her earlier works which are actually later in the life of Nick and the Dark Hunters. But for now this series is full of fun, thrills, zombie chases, crazy rednecks and very strange supernatural beings of all sorts.

Kyrian takes Nick on as an assistant to help Nick on the right path. Before Nick can fully enjoy his job he discovers Kyrian and his many friends are demons or supernatural beings. He also discovers his uncle is a demon that stays hidden to keep him safe and to aid in his training, that some demons love to eat humans with barbecue sauce, the football team is made up of shape shifters and the world is not what it seems. Then again this all takes place in New Orleans, and New Orleans has never really been what it seems.

The reader of this audio book, Holter Graham, does a superb job of interpreting this book to audiobook form. He captures Nick, with all his sarcasm, angst and discovery perfectly and captures all the characters in their own uniqueness, from the redneck zombie hunter, Bubba, to the extremely wealthy upper class of Kyrian. Some of you old-schoolers may recognize the name Holter Graham as the kid from the Stephen King movie "Maximum Overdrive." He has grown up and honed his talent to becoming a great voice actor that brings this fun novel to life.

So, if you are a fan of the Dark Hunter series and would like to share the series with your younger friends and family, or just want to know what made Nick, Nick put this one on your list. I you like reading supernatural fiction, no matter what your age this is one I highly recommend you give a listen.

"The Trail of the Red Diamonds" by L. Ron Hubbard

"The Trail of the Red Diamonds"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio, 2010
Approx. 2 hours.

This September marks another month where Galaxy Audio and Galaxy Press release another set of "Stories from the Golden Age." This audio pulp will take you on an adventure with a couple of tales from the Orient. The book is also availaby from Galaxy Press in a pulp version you can hold in your hand and read but this review covers the audio book version.

All the audio books from Galaxy Audio have all been a pleasure to hear. I started out with my interest in Science Fiction (which Hubbard wrote some really fun sci-fi) but since discovering these releases from Galaxy Audio, I have been testing out all the genres. I'm still waiting to sample some of the westerns, but I have a feeling that'll be coming soon. I mean it's gotta be good if any of the others are a sign. All these audio books have superb voice acting, original music and subtle yet effective sound effects. These all combine with the excitement and thrills of the twists and turns of Hubbard's writing to make for an experience that will leave you looking for more.

The two stories in this collection are:

"The Trail of the Red Diamonds," originally published in "Thrilling Adventure" magazine January, 1935 and is a story of betrayal, espionage, death and adventure. This story was originally written under the pseudonym of Lt. Jonathan Daly, who by chance, but more likely by design, is the main character in the story. This story mixes in a lot of reality in that the authenticity comes from Hubbard's many experiences in China.

Lt. Daly translates an original manuscript of Marco Polo's travels and discovers that Kublai Khan was buried with some rare red diamonds. The diamonds were to light the Kahn's way to heaven. Lt. Daly sets out to follow Marco Polo's directions to find the red diamonds. Along the way are double crosses, death and deception. At what cost to Daly is the trail to these diamonds? Untold riches sound good but when the Chinese army and renegades want those riches for themselves, Daly has some competition.

"The Hurricane's Roar," originally published in "Thrilling Adventure" magazine April, 1939 is another story of betrayal, espionage, death and adventure. Hubbard's second story about the man the Chinese call “Feng-Feng” or “Wind-Gone-Mad" the true interpretation for the Chinese slange for hurricane, actually pilot-adventurer Jim Dahlgren—and a conspiracy to incite a provincial war. "Wind-gone mad" plays both sides of a provincial war against each other to have them discover they have already been played against each other, along the same lines he stops a war by creating a war between the provinces. As you can tell this story is full of twists and turns and double crosses that only L. Ron Hubbard does so well.

These two stories are a perfect pairing for some adventures in the orient that will be the perfect companion in your next audio adventure.

"Eternity In Death" (novella) book 29 of "...In Death" series by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)

"Eternity In Death" (novella)
book 29 of "...In Death" series
by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)
read by Susan Ericksen
Produced by Brilliance Audio
approx. 3.5 hours

Okay, I've been reading a huge batch of vampire, zombie and werewolf novels and thought I'd go back to listening to one of my favorite futuristic detective novels. Once again I visit the "...In Death" series by J.D. Robb and the thrilling world of Lt. Eve Dallas of the NYPSD as she solves another series of murders. Well guess what? This book, which I just picked out of the blue as one in the series I haven't read yet, has vampires. Either that is synchronicity at work or just luck, either way this book was great to hear.

To sum up Lt. Eve Dallas has escaped a childhood of torture only to become the best homicide detective on the New York Police and Securities Department in the mid 21st century. She is assisted by a wonderful cast of characters including her husband, Roarke, an Irish immigrant that now seems to own half the world and even a few planets and satellites, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much of one. Other fun characters are here detective assistant Delia Peabody, Peabody's main squeeze Electronics Division Detective McNabb, the Chief of Electronics division, Feeney (her former partner in homicide) and Psychologist/Profiler Dr. Mira. The setting of these books is just far enough into the future to have some really cool sci-fi toys to work with or contend with, yet close enough where real detective work is still done.

The entire series is read by Susan Ericksen, who does a smashup job of capturing each and every character vocally. Sometimes I wonder if Ms. Ericksen doesn't suffer from some sort of personality disorder with all the voices that come out of her. Each character is distinct and acted vocally to perfection.

This book opens with a young, famous-for-being-famous, socialite anticipating the visit of a dark stranger that has promised she will keep her 23 year old youthful appearance, but first she has to die.

The next morning the socialite's body is discovered drained of blood and two punctures on the neck. Lt. Eve Dallas is called to the scene where the adventure into the darker side of New York City begins. Dallas, in no way believes in vampires, but her assistant, Peabody, does get the creeps on this one and starts wearing a cross.

The clues lead to a vampire themed club in New York's seedy underground. In Eve Dallas's time New York's Underground is a place where even the police have no jurisdiction. A club called "Bloodbath" is where the socialite recently frequented and the owner of the club seems to have some strange powers. Eve must pull in all her resources to ignore the supernatural beliefs trying to sneak into her thoughts and bring down a murderer masquerading as a vampire.

Once again J.D. Robb (a.k.a. Nora Roberts) creates an exciting detective thriller that you can't stop until the last word is spoken. Once again I will point out the single downfall of the entire series and that is the explicit sex scenes. I realize that J.D. Robb is a pseudonym for Nora Roberts, and Nora Roberts is a romance writer, but come on, enough is enough. The scenes are totally unnecessary. The story moves great without them and they add nothing to the story, plot or characters. The good side of this novella is that it is short and only one of these scenes is in the book. In audio format I just fast forward and lose nothing in the missed scene.

"Carnival of Death" by L. Ron Hubbard (audio book review)

"Carnival of Death"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast Performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio
approx 2 hours.

I would never really say L. Ron Hubbard was a horror writer, for the most part he wrote some great Sci-fi, but Hubbard did write a lot of fiction from various genres back in the golden age of pulp-fictions in the mid-twentieth century. In one of those genres, mystery, some of the stories tended to branch out into the horror realm. This book is one of those that branches out and adds a little of the horror genre of fiction into the mix.

Galaxy Audio has taken Hubbard's short stories that were published through various aviation, sports and pulp magazines and have created a series of somewhat audio pulps. These audio books are all about two hours in length and contain one or more short stories within a given genre. The production mixes subtle sound effects, original music and an extremely talented cast of voice talent to create a cinematic audio experience that provides the perfect audio escape from reality.

This book includes the following two stories:

"The Carnival of Death," originally published in "Mystery/Detective" magazine November, 1934, starts out as a bit of a horror story but with the twist and turn expert of Hubbard's typewriter becomes a spectacular mystery in which a drug ring is thwarted. A Carnival has recently imported four "Headhunters" from Darkest Africa to scare the audiences in America. When the 4 escape and headless corpses begin showing up US Treasury Agent Bob Clark working undercover as Security for the carnival must solve the mystery and before the horror of headless corpses continue.

"The Death Flyer," originally published in "Fantasy" magazine April, 1936, is a great ghost story that would be worth listening to around the campfire, especially if there is a train track nearby. Jim Bellamy, finds himself stuck to a train track where decades before a train crashed killing dozens of people. He cannot free himself from being stuck before a train begins bearing down on him. Suddenly the train stops and the engineer yells down for Jim to hurry aboard they've been waiting for him. It seems Jim has found himself on-board a ghost train, but for what reason? Give this one a listen and you'll never hear a distant train whistle the same again.

A couple of stories from the Golden Age, by L. Ron Hubbard that provide some nice chills of horror, nothing too scary.

“Dog Blood” A Novel by David Moody (audio book review)

“Dog Blood” A Novel
by David Moody
Read by Gerard Doyle
Produced by Blackstone Audio
Approx 9 1/2 hours

David Moody has created a thrilling joyride through an apocalyptic world of zombies, but without an apocalypse or zombies. This may need some further explanation, so bear with me. First of all this novel, “Dog Blood” is the sequel to Moody’s previous novel, “Hater.” In “Hater” the world changed. Many people suddenly began killing other people, it was soon discovered that a percentage of the population was changing into what was being labeled as Haters.

The Haters would kill for no reason using only their bare hands in most cases. The book “Hater” followed Danny McCoyne as he tried everything he could to protect his family, but near the end of the book Danny, became a Hater. The change in him was sudden as if a switch was thrown. Once he had changed he immediately felt the urge to destroy the Unchanged. One of the Unchanged was his father-in-law. When his wife witnessed this she knew he had become a Hater. As she gathered the children to make their escape Danny looked into the eyes of his 5 year old daughter and knew she was like him, but by then he was incapacitated and could do nothing. This left the novel “Hater” with either the most thrilling ending ever or a serious hint at a sequel.

As it turns out David Moody has written this novel, “Dog Blood” and continues the story with such a a delivery that you get tired as if YOU are the one running around and trying to survive. The story creates such a unique insight into the world of Haters and Unchanged, that not only do you read about the battles, the survival, the lack of governmental control but Moody writes in such a fashion you feel as if you are part of the story. The reader, Gerard Doyle, does such a great job that he further presses that urgency and emotion that is within the story it is as if the story were written with him as the intended reader. Doyle at times when the story calls for it can be emotionless but within a splitsecond the story telling turns to a rage fueled story and Doyle makes those shifts perfectly clear with some very artistic voicework.

In “Dog Blood,” Danny McCoyne continues the bloody kills to destroy the Unchanged but this time he is also looking for his five year-old daughter, Ellis. Danny makes his way back to the city from which we was taken to where his wife and daughter could be hiding/surviving. Danny was taken to a camp where the Haters where being mass slaughtered not unlike the German concentration camps of World War II. After escaping Danny learns of the Haters, led by a former politician, grouping to form an army to destroy the Unchanged. The biggest obstacle in this is that as a Hater organization is hard to come by because all killing is done by instinct, not unlike a zombie horde. This is where the zombie aspect comes in, the Haters act as vicious as any zombie from any zombie movie or story, but they can think and they don’t eat their victims, well, not always.

Moody also takes us through the lives of the Unchanged by jumping into the story of Mark Tillotsen as he helps the military to scout for food and survivors in the area. Mark gets extra rations for this volunteer work, which he needs because he has recently taken in a family member and his wife is pregnant.

Survival, hordes of violent attackers, and the possible end of the world, “Dog Blood” takes up where “Hater” left off and I will warn you the ending keeps you questioning. I will warn you also to make sure you allow extra listening time when you approach the end of the book, the last few chapters are so exciting you CANNOT stop listening. Actually, you won’t want to stop the book at all once you start.

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls" by Steve Hockensmith

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls"
by Steve Hockensmith
read by Katherine Kellgren
produced by Brilliance Audio
approx 9 hours

So you've read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, what next? I highly suggest following up with this novel, the prequel. The zombie smashing mashup that mixed the undead with Victorian primness was hilarious and yet a bit educational. Sure you were reading about zombies, but by golly, Jane Austen's classic was still in there so you got some culture. This time around, though, there is no classic literature involved. I will give you a heads up in that this book still captures some of that same mood and writing involved in Jane Austen's style. This time around there is a lot more humor. I know, humor and zombies, what is he talking about? Trust me, there are many laugh out loud moments.

Let me first give the proper praises to the reader, Katherine Kellgren. She read/performed this book with the same Victorian delivery, trying to keep the culture in the story telling, but when it came to zombie howls and moans and the Bennet sisters' battle cry, she delivered with uncanny realism. So while listening you feel high-brow until the carnage begins and the battles roar.

Basically in the first book we learned that England has been over run by zombies, or rather the "unmentionables," because no proper English person would ever speak the "Z" word. The Bennett sisters have been trained, like their father, in the "Deadly Arts." They were trained int the fashion of Shaolin monks, with skills in the martial arts, katanas, nun-chuks, and throwing stars, in order to defeat the undead scourge sweeping the country. In this prequel we learn not only the hows but the whys of their training and of their prejudices in finding suitable men to marry.

As the book opens the Bennett family is attending the funeral of a friend. All is quiet and solemn until the deceased rises from his coffin and begins to moan. Mr. Bennett, having fought the undead in the previous war, knows what is happening and more importantly knows what must be done. Ushering everyone, except his two oldest daughters out of the church, Mr. Bennett then begins the process of separating the unmentionable from his head. However he has his daughters do the dirty work so they can begin to be trained in what must be done because the zombies have returned.

Returning home from the funeral and beheading of the zombie, Mr. Bennett reclaims his Dojo (Mrs. Bennett has turned it into a gardening shed, hanging tools from the various swords and arsenal), and begins the Bennett girls' training in the Deadly Arts. At this time he also alerts the nearest officials that the zombies are back, and sends word back to his master that he needs someone to train his daughters.

This book is full of fun and zombie smashing once the troops arrive. The troops are all very young boys led by a recently promoted captain who has no arms or legs. To make up for the lack of appendages he is wheeled around by some soldiers referred to as "Limbs." When he needs to shake someone's hand he orders, "Right Limb, shake that man's hand." This creates many comical moments. It also seems that the Captain and Mrs. Bennett have a history that works in some more fun. The troops are accompanied by a mad scientist. This mad scientist is out to catch a zombie and try to turn him back into a proper Englishman.

The Bennett sisters begin their training once the Master arrives from the Far East, and during their training sessions there is more hilarity, especially having to deal with the different personalities of the sisters.

The book leads up to Elizabeth Bennett's coming out ball and a zombie invasion in which they all seem to be doomed. But knowing that this is a PREQUEL, you know the important characters survive, but you will be on the edge of your seat while listening to this supremely funny horror classic. I would have to say that this book is more fun than the first book but keep in mind the first one was a mashup in which Jane Austen's writing was the basis.

"Last Sons" by Alan Grant

"Last Sons"
by Alan Grant
Multicast Performance
produced by GraphicAudio
Approx 2 hours

With the help of superb audio book production I have recently become a DC comics fan. I used to only be a Marvel fan, but hey even Stan Lee did some stuff for DC a few years ago, so I can bend a little. The thing that really got me was the "Movie in your Mind" created by these audio books from GraphicAudio. They take excellent voice talent mix in out-of-this-world sound effects and original incidental music and blend it all in to become a cinematic audio production of some great novelizations. They cover other genres of literature, but my favorite by far is their productions of DC comics novels.

This book has sold me even more on DC comics in that I have found my new favorite DC Character. Most of DC comics superheroes are square-jawed, do gooders in tights but this time we are introduced to the bounty hunter, Lobo. Lobo is meant to be DC's answer to Marvel's Wolverine. I think DC also took a bit of Lobo's personality from Marvel's "Merc with a mouth," Deadpool. Deadpool is my all time favorite hero or rather anti-hero, because he is quick to crack wise and has a psycopathic disposition that sometimes leads him to have witty conversations with himself. One thing Deadpool does that I have yet to hear Lobo do is break the fourth wall, you know, turn and talk to the audience. But maybe in the future when Lobo gets his own comic that can happen. There has been a short run of Lobo comics, but I have yet to read them.

In a recent audio book produced by GraphicAudio, "52," there was a slight mention of Lobo but not enough to really note. This time Lobo is the main character. Lobo is a psychopathic bounty hunter that only thinks about 3 things; himself, booze and broads, in that order. I guess you could throw in mayhem and finding the next criminal to bring in. Lobo is an expert biochemist and has the uncanny ability to know exactly what to do next, mix this in with his super healing factor and the ability to track any molecule via sense of smell and his super strength, this makes for one bounty hunter you hope you never have after you. He used his biochemical expertise to wipe out his entire race/planet and become the last known survivor of his planet before moving on to become a bounty hunter.

This book opens with Lobo bringing in a gang of thugs but as he's rounding them up they manage to blow up his space bike, oh yeah Lobo is also a biker, and to fix the bike, which is no ordinary bike, he uses the brain of one of the thugs to replace the destroyed brain of the bike. Yeah, it's a pretty cool bike. As he returns he finds that he has been requested to bring in J'onn J'onnzz (The Martian Manhunter) with a 1 million cred reward. This would provide some serious booze and broads for "The Main Man," as he refers to himself.

If you don't know, J'onnzz is the last remaining of his species from Mars. He prides himself on being on the side of justice and could never break any law. After a brief battle between J'onnzz and Lobo, Superman (the last son of Krypton) intervenes and after Lobo presents the warrant, he and J'onnz decide the warrant is legit and J'onnzz decides to allow to be taken in and find what the mixup is about. Superman is wary but allows his friend to be taken in. In being wary Superman heads to the office where bounty hunters are dispersed and finds that no crime is listed. He then follows the 2 to where J'onnz is to be delivered.
The delivery point is a planet where the race of beings are excellent at carving rocks. An artificial intelligence, calling itself Alpha, has latched on to these beings, making them its slave and forcing them to create a body so the electrical based artificial intelligence can inhabit. From there the Alpha begins making the planet into a giant supercomputer/space ship (similar to the Death Star in Star Wars). Alpha also has the beings carve out spacecraft which it plans on using to destroy all live in the universe.

Lobo is heading to the Alpha's planet not knowing what the Alpha is planning, but just wanting to collect the bounty. When he arrives he sees J'onnzz placed into a prison cell and the Alpha declares that he is keeping J'onnzz because he is the last of his race. Knowing he is also the last Lobo prepares to battle his way out, but is not able to act fast enough before being subdued and imprisoned himself.
This leaves Krypton's last son, Superman to try and save them, but the Alpha is prepared and has Kryptonite on hand to subdue Supes. J'onnzz, Superman and Lobo have to put aside their differences and team up if there is to be any hope for the survival of the universe. Once again through some great battles and with even greater witty rapport on the part of Lobo this story creates a fun adventure in the world of DC comics.