Book Review: Education of a Coroner by John Bateson

***This book as reviewed for the San Francisco and Seattle Book Reviews, and for Scribner via Netgalley Education of a Coroner by John Bateson tells the intriguing experiences of Ken Holmes, former coroner of Marin County in California. For forty-odd years, Holmes worked in the coroner’s office, first as a death investigator, then later as […]

Black Bird of the gallows

Black Bird of the Gallows by Megan Kassel

Black Bird of the Gallows, by Megan Kassel, is a haunting modern-day fable. Millennia ago, magic existed, a force to be reckoned with. It was purged from the land, though, and man’s memory of what was faded. Humans have such short memories. Magic still exists, in small pockets of being such as in the harbingers, […]

Book Review: Sleep, Savannah, Sleep by Alistair Cross

***This book was reviewed independently LEARN MORE  *  GUEST POST Sleep, Savannah, Sleep, by best-selling Alistair Cross is one spooky read! Set in modern day California, this ghost story has quite the Gothic feel to it. The eerie factor is upped by the old Victorian house drowning in ivy that they call home! Jason Crandall, […]

Book Review: The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire

The Brightest Fell is number eleven (!) in the October Daye urban-fantasy/paranormal series. Eleven! How is this the first time I’m reading this series? It has all the things I love. It’s got many types of Fae folk, including cait sidhe. I love cait sidhe! It has a sassy heroine, relatable and engaging characters, and […]

Book Review: Haunted Britain by JG Montgomery

***This book was reviewed for Schiffer Publishing via Edelweiss Montgomery’s Haunted Britain is a tour of the whole of the UK, looking into hauntings in a variety of places, from inns, to castles, to taverns, and more. Great Britain, comprising England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and several small islands, is rich with ancient history. In addition […]

Book Review: The Governor’s Daughter by Sambath Meas

*** This book was reviewed for Reader’s Favourite Meas’ The Governor’s Daughter is a beautiful historical fiction set in the backdrop of colonial Cambodia. Anjali, against the current cultural norms, works with her father in Siem Reap doing detective work. Til now, Anjali has work petty crimes, theft and the like. She’s ready for more, […]

Audible / Book Review: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Mary Russell c/o Laurie R King

I have read Ms Russell’s delightful Beekeeper’s Apprentice, and when I had the chance to snag an audible of it, I was thrilled. Ms Sterlin is a fabulous, creative narrator with a gift for voices. I particularly like Sherlock’s low drawl. I’m very picky about narrators, and happy that my favourite series has a most […]

Poem: Shadows on the Wall

© Aislynn d’Merricksson, 2017 Shadows on the wall, stained forevermore, ghosts heavy with the weight of the past. To see, to see- indifferent destruction waged from afar. People cease being real, mere numbers on a chart, faceless and distant. No chance to see- we are the same. Flesh and blood, hopes and dreams. Gone in […]

Book Review: The List by Patricia Forde

***This book was reviewed for Sourcebooks- Jabberwocky via Netgalley *Words are… tears of the sun, given shape.    Words are… Awen manifest; fruit of the soul.        Words are… arbitrary symbols of communication. Patricia Forde’s The List is a clarion call for the future, echoing the lessons of Fahrenheit 451 and Equilibrium. Set in a post-apocalyptic future […]

Book Review- Tune Up: Secret of Mylin by Joe Klingler

***This book was reviewed for the San Francisco Book Review Klingler’s Tune Up: Secret of Mylin is an intense mystery set in modern day California and Nevada. It begins with a questionable traffic accident that proves to be less an accident than premeditation upon closer inspection. An elderly Chinese woman is struck by a motorcycle […]