James Grady | Earth and Skye

Image result for home improvement undead edition book cover

Title: Home Improvement: Undead Edition
Author: Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner, Victor Gischler, Patricia Briggs, Rochelle Krich, Heather Graham, James Grady, Melissa Marr, E. E. Knight, Seanan McGuire, S. J. Rozan, Stacia Kane, Suzanne McLeod & Simon R. Green
In: Home Improvement (Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Short story collections, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 7th June – 24th October 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Anthology
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: Two weeks after their first post they met in the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Larchmont.

There’s nothing like home renovation for finding skeletons in the closet or otherworldly portals in the parlour… And when you add in a hefty dose of the supernatural, the normal, everyday challenges of home D-I-Y become even more hazardous!

International number 1 bestseller Charlaine Harris has joined forces once again with award-winning mystery writer Toni L.P. Kelner to construct a brilliant anthology of fourteen forays into the frightening world of home improvement.

This is a great and fun collection. It’s amusing and light. Filled with lots of gorgeous paranormal stories and just seriously fun. What I love most about it though is that each and everyone of these stories features the process of home renovations in some way, shape or form. And, as a home owner myself… I can attest to the fact that sometimes home improvements are literally hell…

I love that this collection brings the supernatural and paranormal into our everyday experiences. Everyone has a home and, in the case of these somewhat more magical lives… after all, even vampires and witches and the fae still need a home… but their complications are a lot worse than the ones that I have had to face…

This collection had some authors and series that I’m familiar with. And some that are new to me. As with many of the good anthologies that I read, my wish list has grown yet again. Which is really what I want when I read a good anthology.

<- In Brightest Day

If I Had a Hammer ->

Image source: Hachette Australia

Title: The Mansion of Imperatives
Author: James Grady
In: Home Improvement (Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror
Dates read: 11th August 2020
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: We could clean it up.

Five people enter the house. Who will be allowed to leave?

So this is a super dark and powerful and uncomfortable story. It’s kind of awesome. But definitely give you the heebie jeebies as you read it. It’s pretty obvious that it’s going to be like that from the very beginning though. There is no misleading from that first sentence that this is likely to be a fun or light-hearted story. Actually, from the first sentence I kind of just assumed that they would all die…

Although I was expecting a lot of death throughout this story. I still wasn’t expecting the depth of insanity and craziness throughout this story. It was somewhat surprising and a little confronting in some places. A little bit about hidden desires. But also the First Imperative… the Will to Survive.

After finishing this story, I had a bit of a mad urge to jump up and go sit out in my backyard. The only thing that quite honestly stopped me was the fact that it was dark, raining and cold. Otherwise, something about this story would most likely have led me to sit outside and just stare at my house and wonder about it for a little while before getting the guts to come back inside…

<- Blood on the Wall

The Strength Inside ->

Image source: Hachette Australia

Earth and Skye

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Tag Archives: James Grady

Home Improvement: Undead Edition edited by Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner

The Mansion of Imperatives by James Grady