Fall is starting to make it's presence known, while i love this time of year and it is one of my favorites.  I greatly miss the days when I can lay out and enjoy a book book, good drink and the beautiful weather.  Hopefully there will be a nice day soon that I can sit out in the cool crisp air and read a lovely book.

Record of the Fallen Vampire

This was an interesting manga series to say the least.  I had picked it up because the art work looked interesting and the idea of a vampire king looking for his queen seemed interesting to me.  What I got was something a little different.  What I got included half-vampires, an alien invasion and a vampire queen bent on revenge.  There seems to be a lot of stuff going on in this manga series.  A lot of weird things mixed together.  There were things that didn't make sense with the storyline, I don't think they needed the alien invasion part, but the author made it work with the storyline. 

I have always loved the art of different manga series' and this one is no different.  I love the art work of Fallen Vampire and fell in love with it from the first volume I read.  With 9 volumes, it doesn't seem like there is enough time for the author to appropriately tell the story.  There were times when things seemed to happen too quickly and other times when it seemed like nothing was happening.  Although the storyline felt flawed, I still fell in love with the story!  I was surprised at how much I simply loved this series I mean vampires fighting aliens, how bizarre is that?  But it still draws you in, maybe it is the artwork that sucks readers into the story like a succubus.

Overall it was an interesting idea, how well it would have been executed in a traditional novel, I am not sure.  I don't think it would have been as entertaining to read.  I would give this series a 3 out of 5 rating because it was captivating at times and you couldn't help loving the vampire king.

Scary Tales of Scariness by Chris Pisano and Brian Koscienski

Chris and Brian such interesting characters.  This year at Confluence I got to spend another day with them (I spent a day with them last year as well) and the shenanigans these to come up with...  I also go the chance to hear them do a reading or two from some of their books and there is nothing like hearing these stories come to life through these two.  This book contains a collection of short stories featuring Chris and Brian as well as Jeff  Young as they interact with the creatures that are supposed to be scary like vampires, spiders and the Devil.  But true to their nature, it ends up being funny rather than scary.

These two authors have a unique ability to bring humor to their writing regardless of the genre they are writing in.  Their character personas are true to their real life personas.  The speech patterns and actions are reflective of who they truly are.  It's fun seeing these characters come to life in different stories.  And knowing them personally adds a different dimension to the stories as well.  If you get the chance to meet them at a convention do so, they are a hilarious duo.  You can almost picture these two nuts interacting with things like the crocogator.  Just complete randomness and humor.

It was nice to take a break from series books and read something that would lighten the mood and bring humor into the day.  There are three or four more books in the Drunken Comic Book Monkey series and I do look forward to picking them up as well.  You never know what you are going to get when reading these two authors, or when you spend time with them!  If you enjoy books filled with humor and randomness then I highly suggest this book to you.  I give it a 4 out of 5 rating.  Love these guys.

The Mystery Box by Eva Pohler

Yvette comes home to a box sitting on the stoop, having been delivered by UPS.  When she opened the box she discovers baby clothing and a card addresses to a woman named Mona and a different address.  When she calls UPS the inform her that there was no mistake, that the box was to be delivered to her.  She decides to take the book to Mona, and discovers she is the neighbor who has been giving her a lot of troubles.  Mona tells Yvette that she has a story she needs to tell her and spend the next several days asking Yvette to come over in the afternoon to listen to her sordid tale of love, abuse, and kidnapping.  Throughout these visits Yvette believes someone else is in the house despite Mona claiming the sounds she hears is the cat.  Through her tale, Yvette learns of a shocking secret Mona has been carrying for several years.  Now Yvette needs to decide if Mona is truly friend or is she foe.


I was honestly blown away by this book.  I seriously could not put it down, and when I did it was ll I could think about.  Eva Pohler is truly a talented wordsmith and creates a story that will chill you to the core, but at the same time evoke sympathy and concern for the characters.  There are points when the reader isn't sure if they should feel bad for Mona or feel like she silly for getting involved with her professor, but regardless of poor decisions she makes, no deserves the things the professor puts her through.  Pohler describes everything in fine detail that makes the reader feels as if they are a part of the story listening beside Yvette.


I was almost able to predict what Mona's deep secret was, but at the same time there are things that were unpredictable and surprising.  The ending came up fast and seemed to wrap up faster than the rest of the story.  Pohler takes time to build up the climax so the ending came quickly for me and I wanted more from the story even though I know the characters found their appropriate ends.  Eva does a fantastic job with this book and I have added some of her other books like the Gatekeeper's Saga, and The Mystery Tomb to my to read lists.  I am excited to pick them up!  I give this book a resounding 5 out of 5 because it was truly a work of art.