aceofknaves88's reviews
536 reviews

Goblins by Charles L. Grant

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The Last Book on the Left: Stories of Murder and Mayhem from History's Most Notorious Serial Killers by Ben Kissel, Marcus Parks, Henry Zebrowski

dark informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

Gwendy's Final Task by Stephen King, Richard Chizmar

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Gwendy's Magic Feather by Richard Chizmar

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The Stardust Grail: A Novel by Yume Kitasei

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A combination of Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones and Ocean's Eleven, this sophomore novel is the exciting tale of "one last job", but to save a species from extinction and a society from being thrust back in time (metaphorically speaking). 

The characters are interesting and their relationships complex. It's a novel that truly embraces the alien-ness of its alien beings and the difficulties that could exist having relationships across species, and I love it for that. It also embraces the alien-ness of how its aliens appear, which is a plus. We have too many humanoid aliens in sci-fi!

Full of adventure, action, mystery, friendship and even some academia, this book has it all!

Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Joe Ledger: Unstoppable by Jonathan Maberry

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

When I heard a while back on a Stephen King podcast I listen to that Chuck Tingle was the guest I was surprised. The guy who, for about a decade, has been something of an online celebrity and joke for writing bizarre gay erotica with titles like "Pounded In The Butt By My Book 'Pounded In The Butt By My Own Butt'" did not seem like a guy who had a lot to say about King to me.

Boy was I wrong. And ol' Chuck had a lot of interesting things to say about horror in general and about queer culture.

Enter his 2022 debut horror novel, "Camp Damascus", a riveting, horrifying book about religious trauma, bigotry, neuro-divergence, found family, gay conversion camp and demons.

Great horror, great social commentary, and a main character you are behind and root for all the way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Lesbophobia, Car accident, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Death

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0