Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Gratefully Undead by Rebecca Cesar

If you like zombies, this is the book for you. The main character, Laurah, is a young independent woman living in New York. After another hard day at work, she falls asleep at her desk only to wake up in the early morning hours to the streets filled with zombies.

She meets Marc in her struggle to survive and both team up to save themselves and the city of New York. They butt heads with clashing personalities, but each grow on one another to form a lasting friendship.

The Gratefully Undead demands a precise vocabulary which is appropriate for the subject. The story is a horror adventure as the reader routes for Laurah and Marc to survive. Do they? You will have to read it to find out!

My favorite part of the story is when Laurah has a dream. In these two pages I enjoyed the author’s true writing style. She uses beautiful words and descriptions as it is a delightful dream free of zombies.

The Gratefully Undead is labeled appropriately, however, if profanity was omitted, middle school students could have enjoyed the story.

Book Review by Mary Crocco

Friday, February 10, 2012

The Squirrel That Dreamt Of Madness by Craig Stone

There are two ways to view this book, one is as a crazy, fun, entertaining read. The other is as a serious, thought provoking, wake up call to the age old morals: Things aren’t always what they seem; don’t judge a book by its cover. Craig Stone skillfully intertwines both views with his readers in mind.

Against the advice of family and friends, Craig leaves his regular 9-5 day job and after work social life to become an unemployed, homeless man, living in a park in London.

Craig writes, “It can be a struggle sometimes balancing doing what you want to do with doing what everyone else wants you to do; especially when nobody really understands what you are trying to do including yourself.”

My favorite parts of the book are the serious, thought provoking parts, where Craig expresses his innermost feelings about what he is doing in the park, and I get to peek inside his brain. I enjoyed gaining insight to the man who turned his life upside down for ten days. At times I found myself thinking he was crazy, other times I felt he was brave and courageous.

This crazy, fun, read is more than entertaining as Craig’s imagination goes wild creating characters from the people he meets in the park. His writing skills are overloaded with metaphors and similes that I read over more than once, even jotting some down. One of my favorite similes: “If I am worried and thinking about my bags all day then no matter where I am I have not put them down; like a CEO going on holiday with his work blackberry.”

Share Craig’s ten days in the park by reading The Squirrel That Dreamt Of Madness. It will remind you of forgotten morals while at the same time entertain you with a very crazy, fun, story!

Book Review by Mary Crocco

Friday, February 3, 2012

Shadow of the Sun by Laura Kreitzer

As a precocious child, Gabriella matures into a young woman who secures an early career as a supernatural specialist. Regarded as a genius, her character lacks appropriate attributes.

The story is repetitious and if condensed would better keep reader’s attention. For this reason, at times it is difficult to continue. As the main character, Gabriella has inconsistencies. Being introduced to readers as being intelligent, her dialogue and decisions don’t typify her character.

The story itself has its merits and I applaud the author’s efforts. It shows Laura Kreitzer has a creative imagination that she will expound in future books.

Readers who enjoy an angel fantasy story will enjoy Shadow of the Sun. The grammatical, sentence, spelling, and omitted words are flaws; however, one can still enjoy the story if it’s an entertaining subject.