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Adam Frankenstein: Search for a Soul
![Adam Frankenstein: Search for a Soul: A Collection of Short Stories (Adam Frankenstein Short Stories Book 2) by [Sheila English]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kbPm6sqxL.jpg)
A more modern and brutish man than one may expect, this monster embodies both of his namesakes rather well, the innocent first man of lore and the man-made of many. The monster we meet in the collection Adam Frankenstein: Search for a Soul by Sheila English is all at once stoic and terrifying—yet he counts Mary Shelley and Van Helsing among his friends here.
In this continuation of a story we thought we knew, meet the man-made man for hire, Adam Frankenstein. He is not without his charms, however hideously disfigured. Some characteristics we may remember do remain; he is a man of few words, gigantic in stature, and will kill in terms of black and white logic. Adam has an unsettling presence yet, is profoundly gentle.
Poetically, and by murky gaslight, Sheila English dazzles the reader with pressing adventures and a companion by our side. Adam travels with his loyal dog Bella, who he protects to the bitter end of all who cross them.
In the first novella, Marked, we meet the street-wise Sabine and her charge, the young Celeste, who require help though at a glance we know they must have tremendous problems as both are more than capable of defense and have made their way through dark city streets until now, however they could.
Then, a monster’s point of view short story Last Man Standing leads the reader through a terrifying nightmare as an angry mob hunts Adam. Written in first-person, the shift is not as jarring as expected. This story is at least a refreshing change of pace and being the shortest story does not overstay its welcome. We land again on the cobblestone streets of London in another tale where we meet a vampire ally in The Madame and the Madman. While this is another kind of Dracula all together, the weaving of cherished horror stories together always makes for an entertaining read, and here is it done with both flair and grit. The reality of the sooty and smelly 19th century is used to brilliant effect in describing not only the fast-paced and bloody action, but what scant leisure time Adam is afforded. Between the two, English gives the reader a glimpse into what our hero sees in mankind when looking out of a monster’s eye. A very thoughtful creature Adam Frankenstein is, and one that readers of historical fiction and horror alike will be glad to have met.
When we come to the modern world of 1976 in Freak Show, the stage is set since we now know Adam and his cut and dry way of reasoning. Considering the people he encounters, it is a balancing act in each story to decide which of the two sides are truly flawed – questions that good fiction raises in a reader reflecting on society, and our wants and needs as earthly inhabitants. While there is a bonus story in this collection, Doll Therapy, that fits in bleak outlook and poetic prose and is presented separately. Other stories by the same author feature the titular Adam Frankenstein and with luck, there will be a larger collection for them all someday. It would be an opportunity to update the cover art as it does not reflect the high-level character crafting and adventurous ideas here that lead to wanting to read more. Adam Frankenstein himself is all five stars of five in here and recommended for a highly entertaining read that puts a cavalier edge on this classic human monster.
Pages: 138 | ASIN: B07RG7JZ42
The Seven Experiments
![The Seven Experiments by [Stephen Kanicki]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DxWIwiySL.jpg)
Gary Miller is a religion and philosophy college professor living a pretty average life. He hardly gets by on his meager salary, has a wife he doesn’t love and struggles with a sexual orientation that conflicts with his faith. But his life takes an interesting turn when Bob, his long-time friend and former colleague, introduces him to seven experiments. They are designed to help Gary manifest his wishes with the power of his mind. Skeptical at first, Gary takes on the challenge and goes through each experiment. As he progresses, his belief in this new discovery grows. It appears better days are ahead and he could finally get all he wants out of life. But how far will Gary go in using his newfound power to satisfy his longings?
Stephen Kanicki weaves an intriguing tale in The Seven Experiments. It’s been a while since I read a story with a healthy dose of eeriness like this one. It’s nothing too close to horror, but it’s just creepy enough to make your skin crawl. Set in present-day New York City, The Seven Experiments is a fictional novel that examines religious, pseudoscientific and metaphysical themes.
Kanicki’s interest in placing religious beliefs on the spot really jumps out. His main character Gary asks some difficult questions of the Christian faith. The book’s context adds a fascinating spin to many of these subjects. For example, Gary’s success at wishing things into reality leads him to question the need for prayers. He wonders if praying to an unseen God is anything more than a waste of time. Maybe we are inherently self-sufficient and can get whatever we want without any external interference. These are Gary’s thoughts.
Somehow, Kanicki was able to take a conservative college professor and transform him into a frightening maniac. I never saw that one coming (that’s the point of a good story, but Gary made quite the jump from super cool to super not-so-cool). Gary’s downward spiral is another suggestion that given the right opportunity and enough motive, we all are capable of much evil. And I couldn’t help but imagine if our strongest beliefs still exist because they’ve not faced real conflict. I mean, how deeply have you questioned your values? Or are they shallow platitudes just waiting to be uprooted by the slightest problem?
Kanicki does a great job of passing his message and keeping the reader engaged. However, a couple of characters were unsolved mysteries. I couldn’t really wrap my head around who they were or what their motives were. But that aside, you’d enjoy The Seven Experiments if you fancy spooky but thought-provoking stories.
Pages: 213 | ASIN: B07X4KM2CY
The Doom Murders
![The Doom Murders (The Inspector Sheehan Mysteries Book 1) by [Brian O'Hare]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Ch+1YnxhL.jpg)
The Doom Murder’s book by Brian O’Hare is a novel that is engaging from the beginning to the end, with a lot of suspense. This book amazed me with all that was tightly packed in a murder mystery, police drama, a little love story, and ending with a redemption. In this book, Mr. O’Hare’s writing is engaging and on point, helping to keep the reader engaged in the story. O’ Hare puts a vivid picture in the readers’ minds about the detectives who are working on the cases to help the reader understand the senseless murders’ that have taken place.
The Doom Murder’s is an interesting novel about a serial killer, who had a religious motive. This story is based in Ireland and follows a series of gruesome murders’ involving the Catholic church. The author does well to ensure the murders’ are sensational, even detailing the killer’s habit of numbering the bodies. These types of chilling details, coupled with religious undertones, gives the story a uniquely horrifying perspective.
The novel begins to unfold as the main character (DCI Jim Sheehan) discovers new clues and information from witnesses. The story for the most part is told from his point of view. This allows the reader to learn new things and uncover shocking truths right along side him. As the suspense continues, a Catholic Bishop was found beaten, naked, and even oddly posed in his Belfast study.
All of the victims are Catholic, hold different positions of leadership and all seem to have not followed the killers’ notion of what God wants in those entrusted to uphold the faith. Each victim is killed and posed in ways that reflect their sins. The exceptional story telling and and dark mystery remind me of the first season of the TV show True Detective. Another aspect that adds to the enjoyment of the book for me is the budding romance of the cathedral organist Margret Sands and Inspector Sheehan. This happy relationship, provides a needed counterpoint to the ugliness of the murders in this novel. The main characters are generally well written and realistic, though I did feel like there was an excessive amount of characters, especially when it came to Sheehan’s immediate team of detectives.
I enjoyed this book as a whole, from the Police procedural, Northern Ireland, the Murder, and the mystery at the heart of this story all came together to deliver and unique and gripping story. I found that the investigations, interviews, the characters, and the scenes all played a significant role in this book, and I found I was just as desperate to find the killer as the detectives were. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes detailed murder mysteries that are grounded but thrilling. Fast paced and intriguing, The Doom Murders is consistently entertaining.
Pages: 374 | ASIN: B0176IW9B6
Alathea: Goddess & Empress
Alathea: Goddess and Empress by Dylan Madeley is an adventure-filled fantasy novel that is sure to please fans of epic fantasy like the Game of Thrones. The name of Madeley’s novel intrigued me from the very beginning, and the novel kept me engaged through the closing pages with its fast-paced chapters and unexpected plot twists. Reading this in 2020 when many of us are stuck at home with few options for escape, it was certainly a treat for me to follow the adventures of the characters in Alathea: Goddess and Empress across the Coast Empire and through the streets of Port Selumer.
The novel centers on its namesake, Alathea, who is the young heir to the Coast throne. Alathea’s age is vague, she is not a girl although net yet a woman. Alathea is educated in the ways of the world by her sage tutor, Rheb, yet she has much to learn if she seeks to assume control of the throne. Alathea’s father, Emperor Maximian, is an abrasive character who frequently lets his rage get the better of him when dealing with both friend and foe. As the course of events unfolds, Alathea finds herself taking on the responsibilities of the throne and defending her kingdom from enemies at many angles who wish to usurp her power. With the support of Rheb and Einar, a young warrior from a northern clan, Alathea takes on new powers, both earthly and mythical.
With Alathea: Goddess and Empress, Madeley has created a novel that you can hardly put down due to the excitement and action contained within its 300-odd pages. I frequently found myself staying up past my bedtime to finish a chapter to see how Rheb and Alathea triumphed over their challenges, and Madeley does a good job of keeping the plot fresh and surprising. The novel struggled, though, with its main character: Alathea is not particularly likeable, and I frequently found myself feeling annoyed with her actions and her gratuitous self-indulgence. I struggled to relate to her emotions and felt she was a bit too unsympathetic of a character to be a protagonist for whom I would want to cheer. Thankfully, Alathea is surrounded with good people, and Rheb and Einar are strong supporting characters. Rheb was perhaps my favorite character, and I would love to read a novel by Madeley about his development and experiences. His vast knowledge and mysterious aura really appealed to me, and every chapter from his perspective was a delight. Madeley also excels in his descriptions of hand-to-hand combat – these scenes truly blew me away with their detail and expertise!
Alathea: Goddess and Empress is creative and engaging, with several very positive supporting characters. The world that Madeley has created in the Coast empire is one worth exploring and I hope for future installments in this literary world.
Pages: 288 | ASIN: B085LDXDZX
Literary Titan Book Awards August 2020
The Literary Titan Book Awards are awarded to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and we are proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and imagination of these talented authors.
Gold Award Winners
Silver Award Winners
Those Who Watch From Afar by Zack Hacker
The Art of Losing by Nooshin Mohajerin
Visit the Literary Titan Book Awards page to see award information and see all award winners.
Daemon Seer – Trailer
As a teenager, Lu Darlington attracted national attention when she and her friend Lisa escaped a sadistic killer known as the Professor of Death. She never told anyone about the daemon who saved her life that day.
Ten years later, Lisa shows up at Lu’s door, fleeing another psychopath stalker. But Lisa’s not the only one seeking Lu after all this time. One by one, the daemons descend:
Voracious Chama. Sinister Black Claw. Beautiful Talion.
Chama wants Lu, but Talion claims her. The women of Lu’s family have always belonged to Talion—and they’ve suffered deeply for it.
As the human threat draws closer, Talion demands that Lu bind herself to him in a harrowing ceremony that will destroy an innocent man and change her forever—but might save Lisa’s life.
Can she navigate the violent intrigues of the daemon world without being consumed by its terrible, all-consuming demands?
The Farm – Trailer
The Westons loved their farm, where they raised their children, and now grandchildren , and they loved their life. Nothing could prepare them for the sudden loss of Jack, the families rock, and the immense grief they all felt until he made his appearance from the other side.
It was twenty days after Jack’s passing when he first came through to his daughter, Lauren, and made contact with her. His wife Ellie, had seen him a few days later in the family room T.V. silently staring back at her, he had been trying to make contact with her, but found that to be more challenging. Lauren was epileptic and took anti-seizure medication that slowed her brain down and Ellie thought that’s how Jack was able to contact her so easily.
The next few months would bring many surprises and heartache communicating with Jack, he befriends another spirit he meets on their beloved farm that was murdered a hundred and seventy years ago by his parents who ran an unsavory business. Once Jack has Mathews trust, then all the other spirits come forward and want to tell the Westons about all the terrible events that happened out at the farm, and the brutality of the previous owners so long ago.
Most of the victims were young children and as many as five thousand perished there at the hands of the “runners” of the child sex trafficking operation that started around 1813 and operated for almost forty years. They had been waiting so long to tell their stories to the living so they could move on and they were entrusting Jack and his family with their kept dark secrets to set them free.
The Dark Age Chronicles: Eve of Darkness
Eve is a young woman caught between what she wants to do and what she must do. She has been marked, cursed if you will, and survived a childhood of abuse from her sadistic grandfather. A cruel taskmaster and slave owner, her grandfather, knows of her ability to see the future and perceive the true intentions of others. He has squelched her ability most of her life, and his fear of her has led him to regularly administer abuses to her that far outweigh what he shows his slaves. Now, also facing the idea of an unwanted arranged marriage, Eve receives a letter telling her that her help is needed–and her life has been a lie.
The Dark Age Chronicles: Eve of Darkness, by T.L. Bailey and performed by Wesley Bruff, has all the darkness professed in its title. The title character, Eve, lives a life so full of turmoil and fear it’s a true miracle she has the strength to face each day. Her grandfather’s evil nature is incredibly difficult to imagine, and it has created a magnificent strength in Eve that rivals that of any superhero. Her gift makes her a liability, but the more she is feared and the more she is pursued, the more invincible she becomes. Bailey’s choice to have Eve be a young nineteen-year-old girl is a fantastic one. These are formative years, and the horrors Eve is forced to endure would make anyone at this age crumble and give up on life.
The narration by Wesley Bruff is absolutely mesmerizing. Straight out of the gate, readers will appreciate the tone with which he delivers the story, the change of accent, and modulation. A dark and horrifying story calls for a performance that can communicate the atrocities effectively, and Bruff does that tenfold. His narration makes me forget who and where I am–honestly a stunning performance.
Readers who enjoy fantasy will find Eve’s plight enthralling. Her journey is one of resilience and determination, and her story is one readers won’t want to put down. I highly recommend Wesley Bruff’s narration, as well. It is not often you find an audio book so full of rich visuals. The Dark Age Chronicles: Eve of Darkness, the audiobook, is not to be missed.
Pages: 352 | ASIN: B07D58BB71
LITERARY TITAN 