What Craziness Did I Just Read?

TITLE: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees

AUTHOR: Patrick Hovarth and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (letterer)

PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing

PUBLISHING DATE: September 17, 2024

PAGES: 152   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: Live, laugh, shed blood. Dexter meets Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy Town in this twisted debut graphic novel. 

Don’t murder the locals—this is small-town serial killer, upstanding citizen, and adorable brown bear Samantha Strong’s cardinal rule. A sea of potential victims is in the city just beyond the forest, but when you’ve worked as hard as Sam to build a cozy life and a thriving business in a community surrounded by friendly fellow animal folk, warm decor, and the aroma of cedar trees and freshly baked apple pie, the last thing you want is to disturb the peace. So, imagine Sam's indignation when one of Woodbrook’s own meets a grisly, mysterious demise. You wouldn’t blame her for doing anything it takes to hunt down her rival before the town self-destructs and Sheriff Patterson starts barking up the wrong tree.

MY THOUGHTS: I ran across this as a recommendation on Hoopla for a read for Spooky Season.  I knew as a graphic novel, it would be something I could read in one sitting, so I grabbed it last night and off to the races I went.  I also have to add that I am always seeing comparisons when books are recommended and this one is pretty spot-on with the "Richard Scarry meets Dexter."

Samantha Strong owns the neighborhood hardware store and seems to be pretty much love by all.  She is familiar with a lot of the town residents and kids seems to flock towards her.  But little does anyone know that every few months, she travels to a neighboring city for supplies, with a side of murder.  Samatha is handling her double-life well until someone brings murder and mayhem to her lovely little town of Woodbrook.  Before Samantha knows, she is being framed for murder - ones she isn't responsible for.  Can Samantha find the real killer before her extra-curricular activities catch up with her?

I won't call this a cute read because honestly, I don't know if it's the juxtaposition of adorable animal characters and blood, murder and mayhem but I found the book rather jarring.  Of course, it was also right up my alley and I loved it. The story was interesting and engaging and the artwork and lettering pleasant.  Overall, it was very muted colors, all except for the red blood that is.

If you like graphic novels and are looking for good spooky read, then definitely consider this one.  Just be warned, it does contain cute cartoon animal deaths.

MY RATING: 4 PAWS

Feed Your TBR - Wolf Season

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

October 20, 2026

FROM GOODREADS: It’s been seven long years since Everett Johnson set foot in the wilds of Killdeer, Montana. But his father, the sheriff, is missing, and Everett is determined to find him…or bury him.

In the weeks before he vanished, Sheriff Dale Johnson was investigating the murder of Orsie Armel, a beautiful young girl found naked in the woods, shot with her own gun. Orsie came from a family of reclusive, powerful women whose prime acreage has long been the target of many people’s speculation – and ire. She also happened to be the cousin of Bernadine Armel, the only woman Everett ever loved. His return thrusts him headfirst into the minefields of estranged family and neglected friendships, and back into the arms of Bernadine, who is still as beautiful and mysterious as ever.

But as he delves deeper in the family’s past, he uncovers a sinister pattern of murders and hints of supernatural phenomena he can’t explain. In the end, Everett’s search for truth forces him to confront the past that has haunted him all these years—and the impossible secret beneath it all.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT:  Technically I'm just now noticing this came out yesterday, but I still want to share it.  I'm saving this from the winter season and am interested in the supernatural element, whatever that might be.

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK???

Feed Your TBR - The Off Season: A Novel

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

April 20, 2027

FROM GOODREADS: Ben Getty is an LA cop banished to rural Maine, and now finds himself patrolling the streets and forest roads of Little Enoch. It’s an unremarkable town with a small summer tourist trade and a camp across the lake. For Ben, it’s his last chance.

However, there’s something that Ben’s new employers didn’t mention. The summer camp and its surrounding forest are the hunting grounds of a serial killer that has stalked the woods for decades, leaving a trail of bodies that stretches back to the first camp massacre fifty years ago. Only by following an ironclad list of rules that everyone in town already seems to know are the townsfolk kept safe… mostly.

But as the killings increase, Ben must choose between keeping the job he loves and discovering what really happened that night half a century ago. Between obeying orders and learning the dark secret behind the masked killer. Between protecting unsuspecting visitors from an inhuman monster and maybe becoming the latest victim himself. And perhaps most importantly...learning why everybody in town seems okay with it.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT: I won't lie, the cover initially caught my attention.  But when I read the blurb, I realized I really needed to learn more about the masked killer and the woods near the campground.  

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK????

Go Gators! (And I Don't Mean University of Florida's Football Team)

TITLE: The House Built on Alligator Bones

AUTHOR: Sophia Huneycutt

PUBLISHER: Dutton

PUBLISHING DATE: October 6, 2026

PAGES: 384   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: Dartrine Beaumont believes her mother’s sudden death has left her alone in the world—until she learns of long-lost wealthy relatives living in Florida. Confused but delighted by the possibility of extended family, Dart travels to her grandmother’s stately Gilded Age mansion on Amelia Island for answers, just in time to stake a claim on an unusual inheritance: an alligator farming empire. 

Her arrival at Greer House isn’t everything she hoped. Without warning, Dart finds herself in fierce competition with her grandmother’s arrogant heir-apparent, and tensions rise as threatening acts of vandalism escalate on one of the farms. More unsettling is her hostile grandmother’s fanatical belief that the danger stems from a curse; according to legend, a larger-than-life alligator hunted down by a bloodthirsty ancestor still haunts the family. Yet Dart can’t deny that the farm’s placid alligators hiss only at Greers, or that a shadowy figure creeps through the mansion’s halls, plaguing her with suspicions that the mythical alligator and monstrous, long-dead matriarch may have unfinished business. 

As Dart uncovers the truth about her violent birthright, she faces a terrible accept her place in her family’s grim legacy or forge a new path by slaying a different beast entirely.

MY THOUGHTS: Let's just be honest.  I completely requested this book based on the cover.  In fact, it is probably one of my favorite covers of the year so far.  I couldn't wait to dive into its pages and while I found some of the animal abuse, which I will speak more about later, a bit much, it did further develop the story, and I found this a thoroughly enjoyable debut.

Dart's mother has recently died following a surgical complication.  Most of Dart's life, she has been isolated by her mom, and she is somewhat reeling being on her own.  She wants desperately to fit in and is surprised to find out that before her death, Dart's mother was contacted by her mother.  Dart had no idea she has any family anywhere, so she reaches out and soon thereafter, finds an unknown aunt waiting for her on her apartment steps when she arrives home from work. 

Aunt Virgina offers for Dart to come to Amelia Island to visit the family estate for several months, even going as far as saying she will cover the rent for her empty apartment back in Savannah.  Desperate to learn more about a family she did not know existed, Dart agrees.   When she arrives to Greer estate, Dart is met with the fact that her family has owned an alligator farm for generations and the family is well-off.  Dart starts learning more about the business but also learns more about the shady doings of her family.  In addition, her grandmother Gazzie is not extremely welcoming as she is about to name the family heir, and she believes Dart has ulterior motives for her sudden arrival. 

What ensues is a thriller/horror/family drama that kept the pages turning and the atmosphere and suspense amping up the more the story develops.  Dart straddles the line between likeable and unlikeable, but I really was cheering her on at the end.  I will also say that this book is another Gothic thriller with some paranormal aspects rather than a straight-out horror, but there were a few creepy scenes and I loved the swampish Florida setting.

Now for the hard part.  This book is about an alligator farm.  I know that implies some degree of death and dismemberment but added with Gazzie's cruelness, and the descriptions of some of the acts, and I found myself really feeling sorry for the poor gators.  So much so that I had no problem with human causalities.  So, if you do decide to read this book, just be prepared.  Everything really did tie into the story and I didn't get the feeling the author included it just for shock value, but at times, it really was a lot.

All that being said, I found this to be a strong debut novel, and I will definitely read more of this author's work as it releases. 

MY RATING: 4 PAWS

Two Bloggers One Series -

 

So, Stormi and I finally got around to reading another book in the Krewe Hunters series by Heather Graham.  The number of books this author has is astounding and while I like her writing, I sometimes don't always find her books to be a complete hit.  So read on for my thoughts on our latest buddy read and then hop over to Stormi's and check out hers.  

TITLE: The Unspoken (Krewe of Hunters #7)

AUTHOR: Heather Graham

PUBLISHER: MIRA

PUBLISHING DATE: July 31, 2012

PAGES: 328   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: 1898: Bound for Chicago, the freighter Jerry McGuen goes down in Lake Michigan, taking with it every man aboard. But what other fate could befall a vessel carrying the ill-gotten sarcophagus of an Egyptian sorcerer? 

Now: A veteran diver and "ghost ship" expert is exploring the legendary wreck for a documentary. He dies inexplicably inside the freighter's main saloon. Then another diver is killed and panicked rumors rise like bubbles from the lake: ancient demons have awakened below! 

The expedition's beleaguered financier calls paranormal investigator Katya Sokolov to Chicago to save the film—and perhaps some innocent lives. Along with media forensics guru Will Chan, Kat plumbs the depths of an evil that may date back to the time of the Pharaohs. But some secrets are best drowned in the seas of the past.…

MY THOUGHTS: As I have mentioned before, these book kind of all follow the same formula.  A new case arises in a new location, members of the team, some old, some new or some from different locations, join together to solve the mystery.  Then someone falls in love and on to the next book.  Because they have a supernatural element, I usually enjoy them for the most part.  However, this was definitely my least favorite of the first seven.

Fresh off of the last books Egyptian mystery, Katya is sent off to Chicago to look into another Egyptian mystery.  A boat carrying Egyptian artifacts, sunk years ago and recently the wreckage has been uncovered. The dive and recovery are to be made into a documentary but when the man who made the discovery turns up dead, everyone wants to blame an ancient Egyptian curse.  However, Katya, and Will Chen, a Krewe Hunter from another branch, start investigating, they learn the death may not have been an accident after all. More people start dying and the mystery starts to unravel, and will Katya and Will fall in love in the process?

I guess overall the mystery element was intriguing, I just didn't need back-to-back Egyptian curses.  The main issue was that I did not like Will at all.  He was introduced as an egotistical pig and when he and Katya started getting closer, I kept asking myself why did her opinion of him change so quickly? He was more tolerable toward the end and the relationship more believable, but they are definitely not my favorite Krewe couple.  I did find myself liking some of the side characters in the book quite a lot, especially some of the elderly men who were in the Egyptian society club that played a role in solving the mystery.

If you've enjoyed previous books in this series, then you will probably find this one enjoyable as well.  I think the mystery was much more solid than the relationship, but because it was another Egyptian related one, my interest was weak right off the bat.

MY RATING: 3 PAWS

I Will Definitely Be Skipping Drinks from this Bartender

TITLE: The Dive Bar at the End of the Road

AUTHOR: Kelley Armstrong

PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Press

PUBLISHING DATE: October 6, 2026

PAGES: 288   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: A forested road at night, slick from the pounding rain and eerily illuminated by flashes of lightning. Just before midnight, a car swerves to avoid something—or someone—mysteriously standing in the road, only to slam into a fallen tree instead. In the pitch black, four more cars follow in a pileup no one can seem avoid. 

Stumbling out of the wreckage, soaked from the rain and nursing various injuries, five strangers find themselves in a backwoods dive bar, waiting for daybreak and hoping for cell service. But as tensions rise and the storm rages on outside, the occupants of the dive bar start to notice that not everything is as it seems. Time is moving differently, and they quickly learn that going outside—whether to assist another accident victim or to hike for help—is a very bad idea. 

There’s something in the woods, something that isn't natural. Could the figure in the road have been a warning? Or something more sinister? None of this is normal, and they'll need to work together to figure out what’s happening if they have any hope of surviving through the night.

MY THOUGHTS: I love Kelley Armstrong.  She is one of my favorite and most-read authors.  She writes a variety of genres, and I've read tons of her urban fantasy, a few mystery/thrillers, a few romances and a few horror.  Of course, when I saw this one was coming out, I immediately requested an arc and I'm so glad I did.  While this didn't end up being al all-time favorite, it was a solid read and one I enjoyed getting lost in for a day or so.

Ellie has recently lost her job and is traveling back home to her parents so she can get back on her feet.  She has always felt she has never reached her full potential and she is struggling to determine what to do next.  She ends up taking a detour through a woodland backroad in a horrible rainstorm and ends up slamming into a tree in order to avoid a mysterious woman standing in the road.  However, once she is able to get her bearings, she cannot locate the woman and is panicking that perhaps she killed her.  While Ellie is trying to figure out what is going on, she ends up getting rear-ended by Henry, an off-the-clock paramedic also traveling to meet up with some fishing buddies.

With no cell phone service, Henry and Ellie decide to walk for help.  Henry is able to patch Ellie up enough for the journey and soon the come across a bar in the middle of nowhere.  Seeking shelter from the storm, the bartender offers them a few drinks and the only other patron is a mysterious woman, who Ellie believes just might be the woman she encountered.  Before the reader knows it, the pileups continue, some people show up, some people get killed by mysterious creatures, and the bartender starts to show his true colors.  

Ellie and the others fight find a way out of this "pocket universe" but everything seems to be a constant struggle and their nightmares seem to be coming alive.  What exactly is happening and why?  Who will be standing at the end?  And who is this mysterious woman?

I've seen this book compared to Final Destination and Cabin at the End of the World. Neither of those comparisons sold the book to me as much as just the author and my love for her writing.  I would say this book definitely gave me vibes of the MGM series, From. Now that is a comparison that would have sealed the deal.  I loved Ellie as a main character and seeing her and Henry bond so quickly to try to figure out what is happening was an added extra (but I'm not talking insta-love because this definitely isn't a romance).

I have yet to read an Armstrong book I didn't enjoy. My only complainant was this one seemed a bit repetitive at time, which I'm sure was needed to expand the plot and further the suspense and action.  However, it did irritate me a bit - but not much! I am sure I have recommended many books by this author over the years, and this one is no different.  This horror is perfect for spooky season and releases tomorrow, just in time to land on everyone's TBR.  I can't wait to see what this author releases next!

MY RATING:  4 STARS

Feed Your TBR - Death at the Dog Hotel

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

November 19, 2026

FROM GOODREADS: Having achieved local fame due to their crime-cracking exploits, Charlie Boardman and his fellow dogwalkers are delighted to receive invitations for a festive stay at a new dog-friendly boutique hotel on the outskirts of seaside town, Framstone.

A chance to enjoy some luxury and pampering, not to mention spending Christmas together, is gratefully accepted. That is, until one of their fellow hotel guests turns up dead in his room.

The dogwalkers soon realise they’ve got their paws on a murder. A rare White Christmas is now stained with red.

But who checked into the Dog Hotel with murder in mind?

WHY I CAN'T WAIT:  I just reviewed the first book in this series Monday and mentioned I hoped there was a sequel planned.  Well, unbeknownst to me, it was recently announced and it is coming out in less than two months. As this one centers around the Christmas holidays, it will definitely be read sooner rather than later, and I believe I may even have to preorder a copy!

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK???