Book Review: Keyport Cthulhu, by Armand Rosamilia, Chuck Buda and Katilynn Rosamilia

For fans of Lovecraft inspired stories

Keyport Cthulhu by Armand Rosamilia

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A nice little addition for anyone fond of Lovecraft inspired stories

This was a great read, especially for a .99 cent ebook. It’s a series of short stories about, as the title says, Cthulhu, if he resided off the coast of Keyport NJ. 

I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the homage. Each short story had its own tone, from children’s story (yes, you read that right) to steampunk, to something in the realm of hard boiled detective with a hint of Burroughs. 

I have to be honest, though and mention that I felt the main story (the meat of the collection and maybe long enough to be considered a novella) felt incomplete. I was hoping for a more solid end to that one before I was thrown into the next chapter, which wasn’t a chapter but a new short story.

As a whole, though this collection of Cthulhu inspired stories was a fun read. 

Book Review: The Institute -- Stephen King

First of all, it doesn't really matter what I have to say about Stephen King's novel, The Institute. King is an established author with an established following. Some consider him to be the voice of Modern American horror. This book was destined for the bestseller lists before it was a twinkle in Mr. King's eye.

And I'm a fan. I grew up on Stephen King. His work influenced my own work in that I found a passion to write about, well...horrible things. But here I am, a huge fan of King's early works, that have gone on to become iconic horror movies, and I'm only giving The Institute a 3--okay, 3.5 but not quite a 4.

I like it. It was a fine story. Some reviewers have--and will want to make comparisons to the TV series Stranger Things, but let's face it. Stranger Things is a homage to King's work, so you can't really go about saying, "Hey, he's just trying to ride the coat tails of Stranger Things with this one."

What I am going to do is categorize this story as Mainstream Horror. There are truly better horror stories out there right now with a much harder edge to them. I've reviewed a few. And as mainstream horror that will appeal to the masses, this book is fine. It's about a kid with special powers who gets abducted by a secret government organization, to be referred to as The Institute, then is forced to undergo horrible experimentations in order to be used for global political reasons. There are other kids forced to undergo the same treatment, but our MC Luke has a goal--to find a way out.

I admire King's underlying message here--that kids are our future and we need to trust their capacity to change the world for the better on their own, not use and abuse them because of our own fears. Something like that. It's a great theme.

But too much of the story felt too familiar to me, with King relying on tropes and characterizations that are so common in his older works that here they feel like a recycling of old material. I enjoyed reading it. If you're a sporadic reader of King's work, you might enjoy it too. But I wasn't riveted. Like I mentioned, this horror story with scifi elements is on the mild side of the horror salsa spectrum.

You can find a copy of Stephen King's The Institute pretty much wherever books are sold.

Something to Tweet About!

 

The Chain:Francisco Pizarro is a pilot episode for a historical fiction drama. That's all. That's the tweet. Thank you, Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards!

IndieReader Approved! And an Interview to Boot!

I am more than willing to admit that I have yet to master the art of self promotion. I've written three self-published books so far, but haven't submitted them to many book competitions other than Readers Favorite, which is part of the package I opted for through BookBaby. I've invested in a few editorial reviews through Kirkus and IndieReader, and I've been fortunate enough to garner some actual reader reviews that run the gamut between the one ⭐Dull, I don't see the point of this, to the five ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thanks for the original and thought provoking horror series.

But because IndieReader's editorial reviews have ranked a couple of my books as "Indie Author Approved," I got to fill out their author interview questionnaire. Kind of cool! check out the link below:

IR APPROVED AUTHOR DIANE M. JOHNSON: “THERE’S A LEVEL OF VALIDATION THAT COMES FROM BEING ACCEPTED BY A TRADITIONAL PUBLISHER.”

 

Book Review: The Only Good Indians

Make no mistake, this is more than a horror novel with a Native American inspired monster. There is an underlying theme in The Only Good Indians, one that shines a light on what it means to be a Native American trapped in modern America. Trapped by what the white man expects you to be and finding no way out of it, no way off the reservation except to die. Or maybe there is hope. I guess you'll have to read the book to find out.

There is plenty of gut wrenching horror here, and the characters are not always likable, except they're trying. They’re trying to be better than what they were born to be in the eyes of the rest of America. And the diehard horror fans will probably catch a too obvious hint near the end concerning which final characters live or die.

But that's okay. The deeper meaning that I got from the story is what pushed me to rate it from a four to a five. Well worth the read.

You can find out more about this book--and about Stephen Graham Jones HERE.