Plague World by Dana Fredsti
The Ashley Parker trilogy comes to a bad end. The zombie plague has gone airborne, Ashley’s sly humour and sarcasm grate on the nerves and the baddie is obvious with his smirking intentions and not so insinuatingly devised plan. Ashley does not have cool and ironic detachment just an inordinate skill at being annoying. In fact all the characters lack pragmatism preferring to go on rants rather than do anything constructive. There are ridiculous plot twists and a totally unnecessary dig at Brad Pitt’s ‘World War Z’. The unending pop culture references annoy. Gabriel is ever useless. Ashley finally meets the big bads behind the zombie plague and they are not slimy and cunning, just dumb caricatures. This was disappointing, anticlimactic and the grim ending isn’t. Also Fredsti lets us know she doesn’t like the ‘Star Trek’ reboot.
Best Line:
“It got bad really fast.”
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The Secret Circle Book 1: The Initiation by L.J Smith
Cassie Blake moves to New Salem where she is shunned by fellow students because she lives on Crowhaven Road and is bullied by the in crowd until the leader Diana befriends her. Secrets are revealed to Cassie: she is a witch and the 12th member of Diana’s coven. She also learns of Black John, the Master Tools and how the coven controls their isolated community. This was iffy and bears no resemblance to the TV show it inspired.
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The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero
This isn’t a ghost story. The dubious heir to Axton House and his companion think they are living in a ghost story. But as they delve into the secrets of the House they uncover nightmares, ciphers, a secret society and eldritch doings. This was good apart from the manic pixie dreamgirl Niamh.
Best Lines:
“Niamh was anacondoing a meatball as big as her head.”
“Wasting their lives serving honey tea to eccentric occultists.”
“It stank in a very dignifying way.”
“Ruins might have been always ruins; some human skeletons were never human.”
“An intruder from myths.”
“Became of those jobless characters from Jane Austen novels whose only work is writing letters.”
