Location: United Kingdom
Member Since:
March 09, 2011
Gerard K
Biography
Love horror especially the likes of Rhiannon Frater, David Moody and anything by Permutated Press.
Gerard K's favorite authors on Smashwords
Smashwords book reviews by Gerard K
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Dying to Live: Last Rites (Book 3)
on April 02, 2011
This is the third book of the series and takes the location of this series out of the town that the second book was based around and enters the wider post apocalyptic world. We see our protagonists travel and arrive in dire need of assistance in a very human camp, there they are offered the trappings of the old world. The idea behind these books is extremely good as it take a well trodden route and hits it in the face, living side by side zombies is not on the agenda for most books in this genre and so brings something fresh. I do not know if it was the authors intention, but for me I got a Romero’s "Dawn of the Dead” vibe for the underlying message, that is to say that we live in a consumer society that is not necessarily all it is cracked up to be and instead of looking at the beauty of people we look for thrills and excitement beyond what should be acceptable to a society. This idea is subtly delivered and not an in your face statement about the way you live your life. The book is very well paced being told from four different perspectives for most of time with sufficient overlap to make you have to enter the next chapter before you put it down. A final twist to the story (as all good horror movies should give) is good to see and adds sadness to the various emotions you will feel during the reading of this book. Sadly for me the book does bring some finality to the series and I very much look forward to Kim’s next project which I hope will see some cross over characters and also develop the premise that this series has offered, please Kim more organization from the Zombie hoards! Well thanks to Kim and Permuted Press for keeping up the good work and if you have not read the first two books, support the author and buy the trilogy now!
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Empire's End
on June 23, 2011
Welcome to the second and final part of the Empire saga (although hopefully just the start of a Reaper universe). The first book took the unusual premise that in a post apocalyptic zombie world there are people fighting to survive (most live in large "protected" compounds) and a reaper walks around looking for a purpose to death! In this book, the reaper has found his cause, but zombies can get smart plus organised and some have a taste for immortality. This book follows on from Empire and moved the story forward; it introduces new characters in both human and zombie form and actually expanded the universe quite a bit. The reaper gets a bit more venerable but that's balanced off by some pretty cool weaponry! There is a good insight into human nature and the dregs of a society struggling to survive, I love the way that the author created some of the most despicable characters, you end up wanting to shoot them yourself and at some points I was even on the side of the zombies, but maybe that's just me! I was frustrated during the whole of the book as I was hoping for more of the Reaper/Adam and had mentally planned for a front to back cover rip roaring first person view, this was not the case. However, once I finished the book and sat back to review it was a whole, I find myself amazed at how much the author moved on from the first book. I had found myself wrapped up in the antics of the circus troupe and the Omega and wanting even more of their story. The book is extremely well balanced between the different threads and they are all pulled together nicely, this means you need to set yourself enough time to read the last 100 pages in one go. Because of my frustration with the first reading, I immediately re-read the book and found it to be even more rewarding, if there are other reaper mad fans out there, I would recommend that you do this as well. Without adding any spoilers, the book ends with its own apocalyptic conclusion and a great twist that ties up almost all loose ends, which is nice as some authors don't seem to be able to end a series (think of Dean Koontz's Frankenstein). Finally, at the end of the ebook you get a fantastic short called After Dead and I hope this is an indication to where the authors work is going. In summary, this is another great read from David Dunwoody and in addition to the first book you will have a story that you will go back and re-read again and again. This young author has created his foundations with this amazing set and I will be standing in the line when his next publication is due.
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The Spirit Clearing
on Nov. 28, 2012
(no rating)
The Spirit Clearing by Mark Tufo sees what I believe to be the third incarnation of Michael Talbot. This time the book is very much a stand alone effort so we do not have to have the continued stalking of his website and Facebook page to check for the next installment. There is no need to have read any other Michael Talbot novel before reading this one (although you should have). This effort sees Mike as a much more downbeat character, rather than getting out of the scrapes in earlier life the consequences of his actions hit him squarely in the face (literally). The results lead Mike on a journey of loneliness and grief until he finds the love of his life. As the story unfolds we twist and turn through circumstantial events with the normal humor and color that Mark Tufo brings to his books, mother in-law hatred is taken to a whole new level and brutal events show that Mark is more than prepared to make sacrifices to take a story forward. Characters are pulled from his previous work and as always, even though you have a mental picture of how they physically look the personality is always different to some degree. The second half of the book see Mike drawn more and more into a dark world which he cannot comprehend and leads to an astounding ended which had been done before but you will not see coming! With this book Mark has shown that he can delved into even more areas of the horror genre and I for one cannot wait to see what he comes up with next (although I would like to see another ZF and/or IH first!). If you like Mark Tufo's other work, I do not need to tell you to buy this book as you probably already have bought it. If you like ghost and supernatural stories you should buy this book, if you like it make sure you check out the authors other work to explore the characters which you met here more.