Starving Review: The Left-Hand Path: Mentor by T. S. Barnett

The Left-Hand Path: Mentor by T. S. Barnett (Amazon, Goodreads)

Welcome to another installment of the Local Author Smorgasbord (yes, I never remember the previous term and change it), where we cut through the offerings of the Gulf Coast’s chefs!  This week a course of urban fantasy/horror is ready to be eaten as we tuck into The Left-Handed Path: Mentor.  Promising witches, magic, scares, and surprises, will Mentor teach us a new lesson or will it be the same things we learned last year?

Before we enter the classroom, let us finish our punishment by writing down the Starving Review rules one-hundred times:

1. I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan of the genre
2. I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible

Starving Review: The Building by Ceri Beynon

The Building by Ceri Beynon (Amazon, Smashwords, Goodreads)

As the shadows grow longer outside the Starving Review Kitchens, what better luck could I have but to pull a meal promising horrors and an encounter with the Devil himself?  With Halloween just over a week away, we have the promise of the horrors of the 21st century set to mix and mingle with some old-school, ancient horrors.  Add to that what the blurb would suggest is partly a haunted house tale, a true classic recipe, and it looks to be a meal to relish.  But does The Building live up to the promise?

Before we find out, let’s set the Starving Review ground rules:

1. I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan of the genre
2. I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible

Starving Review: Apple by R. A. Black

Apple by R. A. Black (Amazon, Smashwords, Goodreads)

Gothic horror!  Now that’s a taste I haven’t pulled out of the pantry for some time.  Today’s meal is Apple served up by chef R. A. Black, promising us tragedy, horror, and all manner of terrors.  Will the taste rival the promise or will I be cutting up this apple to make a better apple pie?

Before we find out, let us put our hands on our hearts and recite the Starving Review creed:

1. I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan of the genre
2. I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible

Starving Review: Terror Beyond Measure: A Norton Pumblesmythe Short Story by Ian Clements

Terror Beyond Measure: A Norton Pumblesmythe Short Story by Ian Clements (Amazon, Goodreads)

Some literary foods are full meals, heaping quantities to be ingested and enjoyed at a table over a course of time.  Others, however, are tender morsels, snacks meant to be gulped down quickly in this fast ‘on-the-go’ world we live in.  Terror Beyond Measure is one of those snacks.  Does its small size mean it lacks flavor or is it a taste-filled delight in a minute package?

Before I answer that, let us remember the Starving Review creed:

1. I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan of the genre.
2. I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible.

Starving Review: Dust and Sand (The Dust Series Book 1) by Sean P. Wallace

Dust and Sand (The Dust Series Book 1) by Sean P. Wallace (Amazon, Smashwords)

Literary genre fusion is much like culinary cuisine fusion.  It can combine to make fantastic new delights, taking in the best concepts of two or more different sources, or it can ruin an otherwise tasty treat, mixing conflicting flavors until the whole thing is a muddled mess.  Both of those possibilities wavered in my mind as I cracked open Dust and Sand, a book with fusion concepts from Westerns, horror, and fantasy, and sunk my teeth in.  Did Dust and Sand deliver a wonderful new taste sensation or did it go down like its namesake?

Before I answer that question, let us remind ourselves of the Starving Review creed:

1. I attempt to rate every book from the perspective of a fan of the genre.
2. I attempt to make every review as spoiler-free as possible.