Mrs. Pulver's Book Reviews

Horror AND Suspense TMS

Cirque Du Freak. By Darren Shan

The first book in this Vampire series begins when Darren Shan allows his fascination with spiders take him to places he'd never dreamed to go. A traveling freak show mesmerizes him and a friend, Steve, with a giant tarantula. When Darren sneaks back to steal the spider, he overhears Steve talking to the spider's owner…a vampire. Steve begs for immortality as a vampire, but it is Darren who is sought by the “freak”. Join Darren and Steve as they encounter the vampire world and become bitter enemies battling each other in books to come.

Tenderness. By Robert Cormier

Eighteen-year-old Eric Poole, handsome, clean cut, and with an innocence that fools the public, is about to be released from the juvenile facility where he has spent three years for killing his mother and stepfather, who he accused to have abused him. That he murdered his parents without provocation and is a serial killer (who sexually assaults his girl victims) is known only to Eric himself, though it is a virtual certainty as far as veteran cop Jake Proctor is concerned. When Proctor's fails to keep Eric behind bars, the teen walks out of the facility, glorying in his cleverness and in great anticipation of renewing his obsessive search for "tenderness." Then the chase begins. Eric escapes to another town and Proctor anxiously watches and waits for the young man to make a mistake. Eric's undoing will come in the form of 15-year-old runaway Lori, who longs for affection and thinks she sees this mirrored in Eric's haunted eyes. Fascinated, she hides in his van willing to escape with him, ignoring the signs of his sick mind. Will she be his next victim? Will she be successful in seeking tenderness? Grab on to this Cormier page turner. WARNING Strong suggestive content. Parent permission required.

In the Forests of the Night by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Risika, a teenage vampire, wanders back in time when, as a human, she died and was transformed against her will. She is 300-years-old, born as a human named Rachel Weatere in 1684; but that was long ago. She has had centuries to adjust to what she has become, and has grown distant from the mortal world. Humans are prey, needed solely for nourishment. Risika cares only for Tora, a beautiful Bengal tiger at the zoo. When Aubrey, a powerful vampire and her age-old enemy, threatens to harm the animal, Risika takes her revenge.

Midnight Predator by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Turqoise Draka, a vampire hunter, is hired to kill the evil vampire Jeshikah. To enter his realm she must disguise herself as the human slave of Jaguar, a vampire and slave owner who is tormented by his own past. Will Jaguar release the humanity Turqoise long ago locked away?

Dreadful Sorry by Kathryn Reiss

Clementine Horn disappeared over 80 years ago. Why, then, is high schooler Molly Teague haunted by her memory? Her recurrent nightmares are of people and places she can't possibly know; an ominous melody invades her mind; and the image in the mirror is not her own. Her feeling of deja vu is overwhelming, as is her inexplicable terror of water. Molly tries to escape her fears and a nagging mother by joining her father and new stepmother in Maine for the summer. But their Victorian house only proves more confusing and frightening; her nightmares become vivid visions as she slips in and out of Clementine's life.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

14-year-old Suzy Salman states, "I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.". She narrates the story from heaven, viewing the devastating effects of her murder on her family. Each member reacts differently: her gentle father grieves quietly, intent on finding her killer; her aloof mother retreats from the family; her tough younger sister, Lindsey, keeps everything inside, except for the occasional moment when she tentatively opens up to her boyfriend; and her four-year-old brother, Bucky, longs for his older sister and can't comprehend her absence. Suzy also watches Ray Singh, the boy who kissed her for the first time, who represents all of her lost hopes, and Ruth Connors, who became obsessed with death and murder after Suzy's passing. Under Suzy's watchful eye, the members of her family individually grow away from her murder, each shaped by it in their own way. In heaven, Suzy herself continues to grapple with her death as well, still longing for her family and for Earth, until she is finally granted a wish that allows her to fulfill one of her dreams…

Are You In the House Alone ? By Richard Peck

Gail is harassed at school and while babysitting by a sinister individual who thinks he can get away with raping her. She must prove her assailant's guilt in order to see him convicted, no small task for a fourteen year old girl.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Having broken up an end-of-summer party by calling the police, high-school freshman Melinda Sordino begins the school year as a social outcast. She's the only person who knows the real reason behind her call: she was raped at the party by Andy Evans, a popular senior at her school. Slowly, with the help of an eccentric and understanding art teacher, she begins to recover from the trauma, only to find Andy threatening her again.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

Gabriel is raw and sharp like blood; Aiden is described as rich and smooth like chocolate. It's Aiden, sensitive and gentle, whom Vivian thinks she desires, but he is a "meat-boy," a human, and Vivian is a werewolf, a worshiper of the Moon and part of a small sect of werewolves living double lives in a contemporary Maryland suburb. Should Vivian reveal her proud, sleek animal self to the boy she loves? This violent, sexy novel is a seamless, totally convincing blend of fantasy and reality that can be read as a rites of passage novel, or as a reflection of the foibles of human nature.

The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause

One evening, when 17-year-old Zoe is sitting in the park contemplating her mother's imminent death due to cancer, her father's lack of support , and her best friend's move, she meets Simon. Simon is startlingly handsome and strangely compelling. As their friendship grows over time, Simon reveals to Zoe his true identity: he is a vampire, trying to kill his younger vampire brother. Never mind that his younger brother is a charming 5 year old who lures women into dark alleys. His evil must be stopped.

Armageddon Summer by Jane Yolen

Teenagers Marina and Jed both end up on Mount Weeupcut , Massachusetts , with a millennial cult, the Believers, led by the charismatic Reverend Beelson. Marina , struggling with doubts about being a true Believer, arrives at the encampment with her mother, whose religious fervor is prompted by marital bitterness. Jed, on the other hand, has no doubt about what he believes: only by joining the group on the mountain with his father, who's been at a total loss since Jed's mother left, can he save his dad from "Nutcase" Beelson. He has everyone convinced these are the END times, but when Armageddon arrives it is by the camp leaders' truckloads of artillery. These young teens know they are the only sane people on this mountain and must work to get all of the children in the camp away from danger.

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

The National Security Agency (NSA) is the setting for this exciting thriller; another is Seville , where on page 1 the protagonist, lately dismissed from NSA, drops dead of a supposed heart attack. Though dead, he enjoys an afterlife in the form of his computer program. Digital Fortress creates unbreakable codes, which could render useless NSA's code-cracking supercomputer called TRANSLTR, but the deceased programmer slyly embossed a decryption key on a ring he wore. Susan Fletcher, a brilliant mathematician and her lover, David Becker, Dr. of linguistics, work tirelessly together to break the ingeniously complex code that could cripple US intelligence.

Sabriel by Garth Nix

The mage Abhorsen is an "uncommon necromancer," who, rather than raising the dead like others of the art, lays the dead back to rest or binds those that will not rest. Sabriel, his daughter, has been sent for her safety to boarding school outside the Old Kingdom , where she is in her last year when she receives her father's sword and necromancy tools, which means that Abhorsen is either dead or trapped in the realm of Death. Determined to find her father, Sabriel enters the Old Kingdom , which is under attack from the minions of Kerrigor, an evil being who once was human. There, with the aid of Mogget, a Free Magic elemental who is bound in feline form to be the servant of Abhorsen, and Touchstone, a young man whose past harbors a terrible secret, Sabriel goes up against Dead spirits… This exciting fantasy series comes in a pack of three…

Dark Secrets; Legacy of Lies by Elizabeth Chandler

Visiting her grandmother for the first time, Megan finds herself recognizing places and people she has never met before, and begins to suspect that she may be the reincarnation of her grandmother's sister who died as a teenager.

Fallen Hearts by V.C. Andrews

Gothic (dark) Series: This novel continues the saga of the Casteel family, as the recent marriage of Heaven and Logan is threatened by the guile of Tony Tatlerton and by the ghosts of Heaven's past

Look for Me By Moonlight  by Mary Downing Hahn

Sixteen-year-old Cynda has seen very little of her father since his divorce and remarriage, but now she's spending the year with him and his new family at the old Maine inn they run. Lonely and unsure of her place, Cynda is grateful for the friendship of Will, the grandson of the inn's cleaning woman. But her attraction for Will fades when Vincent Morthanos comes to stay at the inn. Sophisticated, yet bold, Vincent is particularly attentive to Cynda, sympathizing with the uncertainty she's feeling. Naive Cynda has no idea Vincent's attention comes with dangerous strings.

Companions of the Night by VivianVande Velde

    Kerry Nowicki finds herself caught up in a life-and-death chase after she helps an injured young man escape from some men who claim that he is a vampire. And that, it turns out, is exactly what he is. Can she trust Ethan Byrne not to kill her or turn her into a vampire as they search for the man who assumes she, too, is a vampire and has kidnapped her father and little brother?

Hahn keeps readers in suspense until the very end, and can't help but feel admiration for Kerry as she teters on the edge of survival.

The Darkangel  by Meredith Pierce

Pierce has written two fantasy trilogies. The first book of her Darkangel trilogy is The Darkangel about a slave girl named Ariel whose mistress, Eoduin, is carried away by the vampire Darkangel, who wishes to drink her blood, steal her soul, and add her to his harem. While trying to rescue Eoduin, Ariel instead becomes a slave to Darkangel and his wives. Ariel sets off on a quest for the talisman she needs to free the vampire from his evil ways. In the second book, A Gathering of Gargoyles , Ariel marries the redeemed Darkangel, now named Irrylath; however, the marriage is not happy. Ariel sets off on another quest, hoping to find the magic that will earn her Irrylath's favor. In The Pearl of the Soul of the World , Ariel continues her quest, but this time the stakes are even higher. The world is dying of drought, and only Ariel can persuade the White Witch, the mother of seven darkangel sons, to end it.

Summer of Fear  by Lois Duncan

Why is Rachel the only one to sense the evil that surrounds Julia?

From the moment Rachel's cousin Julia arrives that summer, she seems to be more of an interference than a welcome relative.  To make matters worse, everyone else is enchanted by her--including Rachel's boyfriend. But what does Julia really want? Rachel is convinced she is a witch and must be stopped before she unleashes her evil plans within her family.

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Who Killed My Daughter by Lois Duncan

    This is the true story of how Lois Duncan's daughter was murdered in what police called a random drive by shooting.

Lois does not believe this, and wrote the book to share her own investigations which included some parapsychology, a private investigator, and a plea to anyone reading her book to share information they may have.  Lois' belief in reincarnation is revealed as a result of her intense search for her daughter's killer.  Don't miss this one!