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kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
An anthology of 15 short stories within the paranormal / urban fantasy worlds revolving around home improvement.
Series:
"If I Had a Hammer" (Sookie Stackhouse, 13.25
"Through This House" (October Daye, 4.5)
"Rick the Brave" (Downside, 3.5)
"Gray" (Mercyverse, 0.6)
"Full-Scale Demolition" (Spellcrackers.com, x.5)
The Stories
Charlaine Harris' "If I Had a Hammer" was a blip into Sookie's life. More particularly an incident involving a remodel of a few rooms in Tara and J.B. Du Rone's home to accommodate their twins, Robbie and Sara.Victor Gischler's "Wizard Home Security" is a clever story that reminds us to beware of fraudulent door-to-door salesmen. I thoroughly enjoyed Gischler's descriptions of the security setup which Broahm had to survive as well as his well-aimed revenge! Very nice. I'll have to check out more of Gischler's work!
Seems Gischler is in the process of writing a novel based on the characters he created for this short story…yeah!!
Patricia Briggs' "Gray" is absolutely lovely!! A sweet yet sad romance encompassing the start and state of Elyna Gray's life as a vampire and the condo she's rehabbing with the help of moonlighting policemen.
Rochelle Krich's "Squatter's Rights" is just creepy! Krich really caught me up in this story of a lovely young couple who start out so very happy with their lovely new…very creepy house that slowly drives her mad. Truly horrible and incredibly well done!
Heather Graham's "Blood on the Wall" finds a young cultist caught up in a horrible series of murders in New Orleans. Funny with an appropriate sideline.
James Grady's "Mansion of Imperatives" starts with a clever charity dodge and thoughts of marital infidelity and goes downhill in every way you can imagine from there. My first thought was how stupid this story was, but then I started to wonder if Grady was being clever in how he depicted the group's disintegration. Unfortunately, I'm not interested enough in the story to explore this…
Melissa Marr's "Strength Inside" is a homey look at home improvement intended to protect the children…and ends up improving the neighborhood when this "nest" of littles incorporates the petty tyrant from the neighborhood's architectural review board. Ahh…such a fitting end. All who have suffered from stupid neighborhood associations will empathize…and consider the possibilities! Too funny…albeit in a rather morbid manner…snicker…
E.E. Knight's "Woolsley's Kitchen Nightmare" is, oh lord, morbidly, hysterically funny…and finally explains all those missing people. Hmmmm. It's a paranormal "Gordon Ramsay" hired to perform a restaurant overhaul which undergoes some unexpected, yet very welcome changes.
Seanan McGuire's "Through This House" finds Toby and friends breaching the Wintergreen knowe only to come under fire from its current inhabitants.
S.J. Rozan's "Path" is all about the Buddhist path to reincarnation with its primary characters spirits and ghosts protecting a religious site in China. The spirits want a particular artifact returned by the museum which took it. While I didn't care for the story, the premise of repatriation of museum artifacts to their countries of origin is definitely a plus. It's also a rather sweet if somewhat comic peek into Buddhist culture.
Stacia Kane's "Rick the Brave" is a blip into Terrible's boss' business. This time, it's a building rehab that goes wrong for an electrician, Rick, who discovers that an encounter with ghosts requires particular handling.
Suzanne McLeod's "Full-Scale Demolition" is a strong peek into Genny Taylor's work life at Spellcatchers. I have got to pick up this series! She's fae and she has a particular skillset that makes her perfect for cleaning up after pixies. Which "appears" to be the reason her latest client has hired her…uh-huh… Good thing Tavish comes along to help, especially since he's the one who set her up!
Simon R. Green's "It's All in the Rendering" has a strong start and a weak end. Peter and Jubilee (a human and a fae) have a fascinating and interactive homelife living as the custodians of a safehouse perched between our reality and others. Until they and the house come under attack from a human architectural review board AND a fae one. It's as though Green got up a good head of steam and someone told him he's only allowed χ number of pages. At which point, Green lost all steam and just ended it. It was too easy. Clever, but a letdown.
Toni L.P. Kelner's "In Brightest Day" finds Dodie Kilburn raising a dead architect up to finish a class-act of a charity house amidst a cluster of cookie cutter crap even as she comes underfire from her associates for her less-than-professional attire — it's those jeans and slogan-bearing T-shirts that have her fellow houngans upset.
The Cover and Title
The cover is definitely representative of the stories within with its Tim Burton-like cover: a screaming red sky, a zombie's arm rising up out of the sod holding a hammer, and the Mother Hubbard house perched on the lawn.
The title is the theme of this anthology with each story having its own take on what constitutes Home Improvement: The Undead Edition.
Series:
"If I Had a Hammer" (Sookie Stackhouse, 13.25
"Through This House" (October Daye, 4.5)
"Rick the Brave" (Downside, 3.5)
"Gray" (Mercyverse, 0.6)
"Full-Scale Demolition" (Spellcrackers.com, x.5)
The Stories
Charlaine Harris' "If I Had a Hammer" was a blip into Sookie's life. More particularly an incident involving a remodel of a few rooms in Tara and J.B. Du Rone's home to accommodate their twins, Robbie and Sara.Victor Gischler's "Wizard Home Security" is a clever story that reminds us to beware of fraudulent door-to-door salesmen. I thoroughly enjoyed Gischler's descriptions of the security setup which Broahm had to survive as well as his well-aimed revenge! Very nice. I'll have to check out more of Gischler's work!
Seems Gischler is in the process of writing a novel based on the characters he created for this short story…yeah!!
Patricia Briggs' "Gray" is absolutely lovely!! A sweet yet sad romance encompassing the start and state of Elyna Gray's life as a vampire and the condo she's rehabbing with the help of moonlighting policemen.
Rochelle Krich's "Squatter's Rights" is just creepy! Krich really caught me up in this story of a lovely young couple who start out so very happy with their lovely new…very creepy house that slowly drives her mad. Truly horrible and incredibly well done!
Heather Graham's "Blood on the Wall" finds a young cultist caught up in a horrible series of murders in New Orleans. Funny with an appropriate sideline.
James Grady's "Mansion of Imperatives" starts with a clever charity dodge and thoughts of marital infidelity and goes downhill in every way you can imagine from there. My first thought was how stupid this story was, but then I started to wonder if Grady was being clever in how he depicted the group's disintegration. Unfortunately, I'm not interested enough in the story to explore this…
Melissa Marr's "Strength Inside" is a homey look at home improvement intended to protect the children…and ends up improving the neighborhood when this "nest" of littles incorporates the petty tyrant from the neighborhood's architectural review board. Ahh…such a fitting end. All who have suffered from stupid neighborhood associations will empathize…and consider the possibilities! Too funny…albeit in a rather morbid manner…snicker…
E.E. Knight's "Woolsley's Kitchen Nightmare" is, oh lord, morbidly, hysterically funny…and finally explains all those missing people. Hmmmm. It's a paranormal "Gordon Ramsay" hired to perform a restaurant overhaul which undergoes some unexpected, yet very welcome changes.
Seanan McGuire's "Through This House" finds Toby and friends breaching the Wintergreen knowe only to come under fire from its current inhabitants.
S.J. Rozan's "Path" is all about the Buddhist path to reincarnation with its primary characters spirits and ghosts protecting a religious site in China. The spirits want a particular artifact returned by the museum which took it. While I didn't care for the story, the premise of repatriation of museum artifacts to their countries of origin is definitely a plus. It's also a rather sweet if somewhat comic peek into Buddhist culture.
Stacia Kane's "Rick the Brave" is a blip into Terrible's boss' business. This time, it's a building rehab that goes wrong for an electrician, Rick, who discovers that an encounter with ghosts requires particular handling.
Suzanne McLeod's "Full-Scale Demolition" is a strong peek into Genny Taylor's work life at Spellcatchers. I have got to pick up this series! She's fae and she has a particular skillset that makes her perfect for cleaning up after pixies. Which "appears" to be the reason her latest client has hired her…uh-huh… Good thing Tavish comes along to help, especially since he's the one who set her up!
Simon R. Green's "It's All in the Rendering" has a strong start and a weak end. Peter and Jubilee (a human and a fae) have a fascinating and interactive homelife living as the custodians of a safehouse perched between our reality and others. Until they and the house come under attack from a human architectural review board AND a fae one. It's as though Green got up a good head of steam and someone told him he's only allowed χ number of pages. At which point, Green lost all steam and just ended it. It was too easy. Clever, but a letdown.
Toni L.P. Kelner's "In Brightest Day" finds Dodie Kilburn raising a dead architect up to finish a class-act of a charity house amidst a cluster of cookie cutter crap even as she comes underfire from her associates for her less-than-professional attire — it's those jeans and slogan-bearing T-shirts that have her fellow houngans upset.
The Cover and Title
The cover is definitely representative of the stories within with its Tim Burton-like cover: a screaming red sky, a zombie's arm rising up out of the sod holding a hammer, and the Mother Hubbard house perched on the lawn.
The title is the theme of this anthology with each story having its own take on what constitutes Home Improvement: The Undead Edition.
yodamom's review against another edition
4.0
If you enjoy ghost/paranormal stories and have ever worked on a home improvement project you should like this book. It was funny, scary and a nice break from the norm.
I totally enjoyed most of the stories, three i skipped, Just not my style of writing. A couple stand outs-Sookie's story was sweet and reminded me how good her and Sam are together. Stacia Kane's story with Terrible and Chess was not to be missed, love that couple. I really enjoyed Suzanne Mcleod's story and will look up her work.
I totally enjoyed most of the stories, three i skipped, Just not my style of writing. A couple stand outs-Sookie's story was sweet and reminded me how good her and Sam are together. Stacia Kane's story with Terrible and Chess was not to be missed, love that couple. I really enjoyed Suzanne Mcleod's story and will look up her work.
novelette's review against another edition
3.0
Not a bad set of stories. I like reading these collaborations, that way I can be introduced to new authors.
jennthegreat251's review against another edition
4.0
I REALLY liked this book and it gave me a sample of other authors I hadn't heard of before. I know have a very long list of To Read books ;)
gamergirl77's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
cheesygiraffe's review against another edition
Read "Through This House" by Seanan McGuire (October Daye series).
3/17/16
3/17/16
lisawreading's review against another edition
4.0
A cute short story set in the Toby-verse, featuring Toby, Quentin, Danny, and May on a quest to open up the knowe left vacant by Evening Winterrose. It's a fun adventure that fits into the overarching series storyline after book #4.
Merged review:
I only read the Patricia Briggs story in this collection, but it was definitely a good one!
Merged review:
I only read the Patricia Briggs story in this collection, but it was definitely a good one!
bmg20's review against another edition
3.0
⭐⭐⭐ Rick the Brave (Downside Ghosts #3.5) by Stacia Kane
⭐⭐ If I had a Hammer (Sookie Stackhouse #12.5) by Charlaine Harris
I'm a huge fan of her Sookie Stackhouse series so I couldn't resist a short story to get me by until her next full length novel. Sadly, I was super disappointed.
This short story involved Tara and JB and the recent addition(s) to their family. Not having enough space for their new twins they decide to renovate and do some 'Home Improvements'. Work comes to an abrupt stop when a hammer is found hidden in one of the walls they're tearing down... and it's covered in blood.
Typical of a normal Sookie novel I suppose, this blood hammer mystery is immediately solved, i.e. "Oh that must be the hammer that was used to kill *insert name here*". Kinda made me go all squinty eyed and say, "Really? Now how in the hell did you just pull that one outta your ass?" Considering this was a short story and all I suppose I can understand the immediate solution but still it was eye-roll inducing.
In the end everything is solved and everyone lives happily ever after... as can be expected. But wait. The story is over? But there weren't even any vampires!!!! Crap I say, crap.
⭐⭐ If I had a Hammer (Sookie Stackhouse #12.5) by Charlaine Harris
I'm a huge fan of her Sookie Stackhouse series so I couldn't resist a short story to get me by until her next full length novel. Sadly, I was super disappointed.
This short story involved Tara and JB and the recent addition(s) to their family. Not having enough space for their new twins they decide to renovate and do some 'Home Improvements'. Work comes to an abrupt stop when a hammer is found hidden in one of the walls they're tearing down... and it's covered in blood.
Typical of a normal Sookie novel I suppose, this blood hammer mystery is immediately solved, i.e. "Oh that must be the hammer that was used to kill *insert name here*". Kinda made me go all squinty eyed and say, "Really? Now how in the hell did you just pull that one outta your ass?" Considering this was a short story and all I suppose I can understand the immediate solution but still it was eye-roll inducing.
In the end everything is solved and everyone lives happily ever after... as can be expected. But wait. The story is over? But there weren't even any vampires!!!! Crap I say, crap.
vikingwolf's review against another edition
3.0
Basically I only got this book to read the Sookie Stackhouse story, which I liked. Sam and Sookie help JB and Tara create a new nursery for the twins but unleash an angry ghost and the cover up of a murder. It was quite interesting to see a little hint of Sam's true feelings for Sookie in this one as he agrees to go sniffing for evidence for her. A decent short read.