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dg_reads's review against another edition
4.0
I received a complimentary ebook of THE CAPTIVATING FLAME OF MADNESS by Jeff Parsons as part of a book tour from Blackthorn Book Tours! Thank you to Blackthorn Book Tours and Jeff Parsons for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review!
THE CAPTIVATING FLAME OF MADNESS is a short story collection which promises to examine what happens when one turn of events changes life forever “like a moth to the flame”. The stories are varied, but center on dark themes. A German submarine in 1944 is attacked by supernatural forces exacting revenge for the sub’s occupant’s actions during the war. In 2023, a new party is in power and no crime is permitted, but is the world nearly as perfect as it is made out to be? A hacker attempts to hack those who have what he wants, but is what he wants really worth getting?
I was impressed with the variety of stories, from historical to futuristic, from the drought in California suddenly hit with rain to a plane in mid-flight which encounters the unexpected. The cast of characters includes monsters, ghosts, aliens, gods, pirates and more!
As with any story collection, some stories resonated with me more than others, but overall I really enjoyed reading this collection over the last few weeks. I always enjoy keeping short stories on hand to pick up between longer reads and this is a collection I would recommend for just such a purpose!
I am not a reader that is easily scared by a book, so I wouldn’t say that this collection frightened me. That said, the author did a great job of building up the spooky atmosphere in many of these stories even in the relatively small number of pages allotted to a short story. For me, this makes this a a perfect read for a chilly, fall evening!
If you are looking for a good mix of creepy stories perfect for the fall season, this is a collection to add to your TBR. THE CAPTIVATING FLAME OF MADNESS by Jeff Parsons is out now!!
THE CAPTIVATING FLAME OF MADNESS is a short story collection which promises to examine what happens when one turn of events changes life forever “like a moth to the flame”. The stories are varied, but center on dark themes. A German submarine in 1944 is attacked by supernatural forces exacting revenge for the sub’s occupant’s actions during the war. In 2023, a new party is in power and no crime is permitted, but is the world nearly as perfect as it is made out to be? A hacker attempts to hack those who have what he wants, but is what he wants really worth getting?
I was impressed with the variety of stories, from historical to futuristic, from the drought in California suddenly hit with rain to a plane in mid-flight which encounters the unexpected. The cast of characters includes monsters, ghosts, aliens, gods, pirates and more!
As with any story collection, some stories resonated with me more than others, but overall I really enjoyed reading this collection over the last few weeks. I always enjoy keeping short stories on hand to pick up between longer reads and this is a collection I would recommend for just such a purpose!
I am not a reader that is easily scared by a book, so I wouldn’t say that this collection frightened me. That said, the author did a great job of building up the spooky atmosphere in many of these stories even in the relatively small number of pages allotted to a short story. For me, this makes this a a perfect read for a chilly, fall evening!
If you are looking for a good mix of creepy stories perfect for the fall season, this is a collection to add to your TBR. THE CAPTIVATING FLAME OF MADNESS by Jeff Parsons is out now!!
wellwortharead's review against another edition
2.0
I'm afraid this book did not quite live up to my expectations. As an avid horror reader, if you promise me nightmares I'm expecting something far scarier.
While I did enjoy a couple of these stories, for the most part I found them more disturbing than frightening and more draggy than dramatic. The thing about short stories is that you have limited time to engage the reader before the ending. Only a couple of these stories hooked me right away. Others may enjoy this more than I did, but I found myself wanting to skim or skip ahead in search of a scare that never really materialized.
I received a complimentary copy for review.
While I did enjoy a couple of these stories, for the most part I found them more disturbing than frightening and more draggy than dramatic. The thing about short stories is that you have limited time to engage the reader before the ending. Only a couple of these stories hooked me right away. Others may enjoy this more than I did, but I found myself wanting to skim or skip ahead in search of a scare that never really materialized.
I received a complimentary copy for review.
honestmamreader's review against another edition
3.0
This is not just one book but a glorious 22 short stories. I often find I have a few minutes spare every now and again in my hectic life this book is perfect to pick up and read a tale of weirdness.
To write a short story you must captivate your audience from the start. Parsons has achieved this perfectly. Each story is filled with great plot and character despite being short we still get everything we need. It's basically punches you in the face hard.
Jeff Parsons imagination is overflowing with wackiness. And it's all comes pouring out into this one great book.
This is a cracking book. A perfect coffee table book where you can pick up and read a short thrilling story in 5-minutes and being mesmerized by the ingenious talent of Parsons.
Thank you to Blackthorn tours and Jeff Parsons for allowing me to participate on this blog tour.
To write a short story you must captivate your audience from the start. Parsons has achieved this perfectly. Each story is filled with great plot and character despite being short we still get everything we need. It's basically punches you in the face hard.
Jeff Parsons imagination is overflowing with wackiness. And it's all comes pouring out into this one great book.
This is a cracking book. A perfect coffee table book where you can pick up and read a short thrilling story in 5-minutes and being mesmerized by the ingenious talent of Parsons.
Thank you to Blackthorn tours and Jeff Parsons for allowing me to participate on this blog tour.
sarahsbooklife's review
4.0
I received a copy of this book from Blackthorn Book Tours for free read and review as part of this Book Tour
One thing that I love about collections of short stories is that you get varying stories of genres and characters. And I really enjoyed reading this collection of short stories. I loved the variety of stories that captivated my imagination.
Each of these stories were amazing to read, with varying degrees of tension and shock that made my spine tingle. There were some that I felt were somewhat predictable until the page or paragraph of that story. I thought that it was really clever that many of the stories made you think that the story was headed in one direction but then went seamlessly into another. Or a character turned out to be completely different to how they were first introduced. These twists made me enjoy these stories even more because it just changed the whole narrative. Sometimes in only a few word or a sentence. Which I thought was so clever and well done.
I loved how so many of the stories in this collection were essentially very simple. As the revolved either a very small group of characters, a single character, a small series of events or even just one. Some of them were set over longer periods of time, such as a number of weeks, whereas other were much shorter, some appeared to be set under or around only a few hours long. I really loved how the stories centred around supernatural elements, everyday horrors and science fiction. It made these short stories so enjoyable and made them feel very believable as so many of them where rooted in reality that had been altered and filtered through fear.
There were some stories that I didn’t enjoy as much, but that is kind of to be expected with collections of short stories, not all of them are going to be 100% to your tastes. I liked so many of the stories that I can’t pinpoint a favourite, but here are a few of the ones that I can’t get out of my head The New Order, Control, Witches’ Hill.
I would really recommend reading The Captivating Flames of Madness. Especially if you like reading spooky kind of creepy stories, or if you’re still the mood for reading more spooky books right after Halloween, then I think that you’ll really enjoy this book.
One thing that I love about collections of short stories is that you get varying stories of genres and characters. And I really enjoyed reading this collection of short stories. I loved the variety of stories that captivated my imagination.
Each of these stories were amazing to read, with varying degrees of tension and shock that made my spine tingle. There were some that I felt were somewhat predictable until the page or paragraph of that story. I thought that it was really clever that many of the stories made you think that the story was headed in one direction but then went seamlessly into another. Or a character turned out to be completely different to how they were first introduced. These twists made me enjoy these stories even more because it just changed the whole narrative. Sometimes in only a few word or a sentence. Which I thought was so clever and well done.
I loved how so many of the stories in this collection were essentially very simple. As the revolved either a very small group of characters, a single character, a small series of events or even just one. Some of them were set over longer periods of time, such as a number of weeks, whereas other were much shorter, some appeared to be set under or around only a few hours long. I really loved how the stories centred around supernatural elements, everyday horrors and science fiction. It made these short stories so enjoyable and made them feel very believable as so many of them where rooted in reality that had been altered and filtered through fear.
There were some stories that I didn’t enjoy as much, but that is kind of to be expected with collections of short stories, not all of them are going to be 100% to your tastes. I liked so many of the stories that I can’t pinpoint a favourite, but here are a few of the ones that I can’t get out of my head The New Order, Control, Witches’ Hill.
I would really recommend reading The Captivating Flames of Madness. Especially if you like reading spooky kind of creepy stories, or if you’re still the mood for reading more spooky books right after Halloween, then I think that you’ll really enjoy this book.
ellasbookcorner's review
3.0
As you can tell by the description, this is a collection of thrilling short stories. I’m usually not one for short stories, since they always leave me wanting more, but I was pleasatnley surprised for most of these!
They’re all chilling, perfect for a late night read. So many of these left me, shocked, horrified and even a bit queasy. By far the one that probably got me the most creeped out was Control. Anything to do with puppets is a no go for me, it was told in such a way that intrigued me.
There were a few stories that fell a but flat in comparision to the other. Either because the ending was so abrupt, that I couldn’t digest it quick enough. Or because the story lacked a bit of power.
However, I can assure you that these are stories that shake you. Some stories, had me questionaning if it could eve happen in real life. For example, the vile, was fantastic, it was a quick one, but it packed action. My heart thumped with worry and expectation for what could happen next!
I can definitely see many of these made into longer stories, maybe into small novellas, or better yet, being turned into short films! I was so intrigued by these stories that I had to pace myself, and only let me read a few stories a day.
They reminded me a lot of the stories I would hear as a kid, the ones you would make up with friends during a sleepover, with the lights out.
If you’re looking for creepy and thrilling reads, I recommend you check these out!
They’re all chilling, perfect for a late night read. So many of these left me, shocked, horrified and even a bit queasy. By far the one that probably got me the most creeped out was Control. Anything to do with puppets is a no go for me, it was told in such a way that intrigued me.
There were a few stories that fell a but flat in comparision to the other. Either because the ending was so abrupt, that I couldn’t digest it quick enough. Or because the story lacked a bit of power.
However, I can assure you that these are stories that shake you. Some stories, had me questionaning if it could eve happen in real life. For example, the vile, was fantastic, it was a quick one, but it packed action. My heart thumped with worry and expectation for what could happen next!
I can definitely see many of these made into longer stories, maybe into small novellas, or better yet, being turned into short films! I was so intrigued by these stories that I had to pace myself, and only let me read a few stories a day.
They reminded me a lot of the stories I would hear as a kid, the ones you would make up with friends during a sleepover, with the lights out.
If you’re looking for creepy and thrilling reads, I recommend you check these out!
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