The Creeping by Alexandra Sirowy

Series: Standalone

Genera(s): Mystery/Horror

Subjects: kidnappings, murder, monsters, amnesia

Setting: Savage, Minnesota

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense: Stella

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 387 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster book for young readers

Summary/ product description: “Eleven years ago, Stella and Jeanie disappeared. Stella came back. Jeanie never did.

Now all she wants is a summer full of cove days, friends, and her gorgeous crush—until a fresh corpse leads Stella down a path of ancient evil and secrets.

Stella believes remembering what happened to Jeanie will save her. It won’t.

She used to know better than to believe in what slinks through the shadows. Not anymore.”

My Review: The Creeping is a pretty good horror story. It’s a standalone, so you don’t have to worry about waiting for sequels. It’s about a girl named Stella who was supposedly kidnapped with this other girl named Jeanie when they were six and Stella was the only one to return and she had amnesia. Stella is a pretty interesting narrator. A dead girl who looks like Jeanie is found in the cemetery and this set event into motion. Stella is more determined than ever to recover her memories of what happened when Jeanie was taken.

Stella’s current BFF is Zoey. They’ve been friends since they were kids and Zoey is very popular. Sam was  Stella’s old friend up until middle school. They see each other at a part and Stella tries to avoid the embarrassment of being seen with him because some leechy girls would start nasty rumors. Stella starts to get close to Sam again and romance blooms. I really like Sam. He’s a geek, but a very nice and good looking, even if poorly dressed, one. Also Daniel, Jeanie’s brother, is back in town.

I really liked the setting of this book. It’s set in Savage, Minnesota during summertime. It’s a real place, even though the author changed some stuff about the place. The real Savage, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, has a lot less woods. I checked on Google Earth. 

Blackdog Lake is not a state park, but part of a Wildlife Refuge. There is no cemetery next to in, no houses so close to it and no beach. Prior lake is real too. I’ve never been to Savage, but I’ve visited Minneapolis a few times and the Minneapolis zoo isn’t too far from Savage. I actually when to the zoo the day the bridge collapse happened and we were camping in the Rochester KOA. Unrelated, I know. I just like book with real settings that I’ve been to or near.

This book has twists and turn and lot of dark and creepy moments, but it isn’t super scary. I was kind of disappointed by the lack of ghosts and paranormal stuff. There’s talk of a monster and murderers. It’s closer to a slasher flick like Scream than the Ring. I did remind me of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Genevieve Tucholke, minis the devil stuff. This book is a murder/kidnapping mystery at it’s heart. I enjoyed it and it’s a perfect as a summery horror story or a Halloween tale.

Cover Art Review: The type treatment is interesting. The way the title is woven and layered in the branches. I wish the cover was more creepy though.

Ember & Ashes by T. M. Goeglein

Series: Cold Fury (bk. 3)

Genera: Action-Adventure Thriller/Sci-fi

Subjects: mafia/mob, mystery, missing persons, abilities

Setting: Chicago, Illinois

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Sara Jane Rispoli

Age/Grade Level: Teen 12+

Length: 321 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Penguin: Putnam

Summary/ product description: “Sara Jane Rispoli is on the wrong side of the Russian mob, but closer to finding her family than ever. And she's willing to do whatever it takes to finally end this terrible journey even if the price is her own life.

The very cold fury that has seen her through the worst of her troubles is now killing her; she knows the cure, but she can't sacrifice the deadly electricity until she's rescued her family. But when she finally does rescue them, it's not the happy reunion she pictured. And the torment doesn't stop there, not even when she finally discovers Ultimate Power. Only destroying the Outfit completely can end this terrible nightmare.

Old enemies return to seek vengeance, double-crosses abound, and even more mysteries are uncovered as we rocket toward an end no one saw coming.”

My Review:  Flicker and Burn is the finale to the Cold Fury trilogy. This series is action packed and show cases the city I am closet to: Chicago. This series is unlike any I’ve ever read. It’s a crime thriller, but has a paranormal/sci-fi element.

Sara Jane has an ability called cold fury. She can use it see a person’s deepest fear and make them see it too when she looks in their eye. She can use it to make them do what she tells them (compulsion). She also has electricity in her body because of some enzyme and the gold in her eyes. She can shock people with it, but it also hurts her. The author denied this was paranormal when I asked him. So, I’ll say its sci-fi.

I love the setting so much because I live in Chicagoland. I like picturing places I’m familiar with. There’s a part in the book where Sara Jane and some student take a field trip up to the sky deck on the Sears Tower (or now the Willis Tower). 103 stories up. I’ve never been on any of the sky decks downtown, but I can imagine it’s amazing. The photos I’ve seen are amazing. Also, lots of tunnels, trains and driving on streets in the story. I’ve been on the Blue Line and the Red Line trains only. Going under ground to board a train is kind of scary. Definitely had an easy time picturing the setting.

The character are great of course. Sara Jane is like Maximum Ride and Katniss Everdeen, except in the contemporary world and with a strange power instead of wings. Sara Jane is a boxer, so she can kick butt. She’s very tough and somewhat serious, but she uses sarcasm. She’s friend with Dough, who’s gay and used to be fat, but lost weigh because of some drugged icecream in the previous book. He’s awesome and obsessed with movies. He’s got a little more serious, mostly because the drug withdrawal. He stupidly takes up smoking even though Sara Jane keep telling him how bad it is.

There’s so much action and mystery in the story. I love the mystery of this “ultimate power.” Sara Jane has a note book and some clue and they have theories to. It’s a surprise what it is. There’s so many crazy events and plot twists. This book is such a mind-blowing finale. I don’t think I could’ve asked for more. The ending is perfect. I waited a year to read this. Should have read it sooner. I read both the first 2 books as ACRs, and met the author at a Pre-Pub event. He’s cool. All three books are signed. If Cold Fury wasn’t offered as an ARC at Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, I doubt I would have ever discovered this great series. I’m so happy I did.

Cover Art Review: Fits the subject. Like the Chicago photos.

Beware the Wild by Natalie C. Parker

Series: Beware the Wild (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Southern Gothic

Subjects: swamps, folklore, supernatural, mystery, missing persons, memory, siblings

Setting: Sticks, Louisiana (A town near a swamp/Bayou)

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense: Sterling Saucier

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 327 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “It's an oppressively hot and sticky morning in June when Sterling and her brother, Phin, have an argument that compels him to run into the town swamp -- the one that strikes fear in all the residents of Sticks, Louisiana. Phin doesn't return. Instead, a girl named Lenora May climbs out, and now Sterling is the only person in Sticks who remembers her brother ever existed.

Sterling needs to figure out what the swamp's done with her beloved brother and how Lenora May is connected to his disappearance -- and loner boy Heath Durham might be the only one who can help her.

This debut novel is full of atmosphere, twists and turns, and a swoon-worthy romance.”

My Review:  I went into Beware the Wild without knowing what it was about. I only knew that it was paranormal and set in the Louisiana bayou. With such a creepy cover, I couldn’t help but be interested. I started out by introducing us to our main character Sterling whose brother disappeared into the swamps only hours before. She’s pretty different from the usual heroines I read about. She’s was starting to develop an anorexic eating disorder ever since her brother decided he was going away to college. Her father was abusive and her brother protected her. Now they have an African American stepfather who’s a deputy of their town’s police department. Her mother is much happier with Darold that she was with Sterling’s dad.

Sterling and her best friend Candy are looking out at the swamp and talking about Phin. Sterlign sees swamp lights and Candy tells her it’s called the Wasting Shine, and usually only the drunk and crazy claim to see it. Candy is a very logical girl. When Sterling is at home and by her self in her yard, a girl comes out of the swamps and everyone believed her to be Sterling’s sister and everyone has forgotten Phin. A person disappears and you are the only one who remembers then, and they are replaced. People though Sterling was losing it to heat stroke or lack of food. They say Lenora May has always been her sister. Sterling knows she’s not crazy. I wanted to know what happened and with that the story pulled me in. It was like something out of the Twilight Zone. That’s only about 30 pages into the book. It starts out with a bang, for lack of a better phrase.

As the book goes on we find out what happened and who or what’s behind it. There’s lots of creepy, disturbing and heat wrenching things that happen. Also there some romance between Heath and Sterling. I love the complete uniqueness of this book. I realize it’s a standalone and I won’t get more, but wish there was more. It’s this amazing mix of mystery and southern gothic. It takes folklore to a new level. I love stories and show about the bayou and swamps. I never been to the south and now I’m intrigued. I would never venture into the swamp without being in a larger group because I heard all these stories on TV about people being lost forever, or losing time. Lots of ghost stories. And alligators, of course. There are gators in this book too.

If you pick up Beware the Wild, you are in for a unique treat. If you enjoyed paranormal stories set in the south, like Beautiful Creature, Ghost Huntresses, or TV shows like the Originals, you may enjoy this. Also, if you love anything related to New Orleans or Louisiana, swamps and gators, then check it out.

Cover Art Review: Love the creep title treatment for the word wild. The swamp tree background with the wasting shine looking like fireflies is very cool.