Escape to Death by Stephen Perkins

 

 

I will start off by say this is a very very long book that is not a quick easy read. There is so much that goes on in this story, from political corruption to zombies to witchcraft and voodoo.... pretty much everything is in this book. I will also say that the author is able to weave together multiple storylines with lots of shock and awe that will keep any reader on their toes and guessing how it all will end. this guessing goes all the way up to pretty much the very last page. the book is also written very well, but I will say that some of the storylines it did have me wondering what their point was in the full scheme of the novel, and now that I have finished it I still feel that some of the people and their stories were not needed and just took up space unnecessarily. I also feel like there was too much going on, like stated above you have so many things going on that some things were not explained and given proper spotlighting that it deserved, this felt like this one book should have been broken up into multiple ones, a series. Also, with having things like witches and warlocks and zombies and corrupt business men, corrupt politicians, and so much more as a reader you don't really know who is the bad guys and who are the good ones, and those that you think are good turn out be bad or die. Just so much of so many things.

 

In conclusion, I give this a 3 out of 5. If it had been condensed more, the unnecessary storylines and people removed so that there could be more suspense and more focus on the true storylines and people it would have been a fantastic book. One that would be hard to put down and could have sparked a new series and a new hero.

SURVIVOR BY SAMANTHA K. DUKE

 

I will just start off by saying I really did enjoy this book, but just a heads up it is a young adult novel that is set in high school. So that is the target audience, but there is enough drama, action and comedy to keep the attention of those that are unfortunately no longer young adults, but at the same time it should not be held to the standards of adult mystery/horror writers.

The basic premise of this novel is like a combination of Revenge of the Nerds meets Case of the Body Snatchers, this is due to the fact that is set in high school around a group of freshmen misfits that are constantly being picked on by the “popular” kids, but when a group of spirits, that suck the life out of kids in the high school and sometimes even enter then in order to stay in existence, come into the school these misfits save the day. Most of the target age audience probably would not get these references so that is another part that does make it enjoyable for older audiences.      

Another part that I highly enjoyed was each of the characters themselves, each has his or her own unique personalities and quirks, but at the same time these quirks play off each other for some very funny moments.

One thing I would change about this book those was plot development. I really wished the author would have made it a bit more suspenseful by drawing out some of the more tense moments, it seems that so much was focused on the characters and the beginning that the ending felt a bit rushed, but other than that I feel this is a really great book.