Hell's Beginning by John T.M. Herres; Bloody, Graphic, Paranoiac Horror/Thriller About a Unique Killer

 Hell's Beginning by John T.M. Herres; Bloody, Graphic, Paranoiac Horror/Thriller About a Unique Killer

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I will have to reveal a very important plot twist so I will reiterate that this review has VERY IMPORTANT MAJOR HEAVY DUTY SPOILERS!!!!

 What can be worse than facing a creature that defies human explanation, has superhuman abilities, has origins that date back to ancient times, has no compassion, empathy, or human emotions, and is seemingly unstoppable? How about one who is all of that and one that you can't see and could potentially be anyone around you?

That is the concept surrounding John T.M. Herres’ Hell's Beginning, a graphic, bloody, paranoiac Supernatural Horror about a hunt for a creature just like that.

In the beginning of the book, we receive a first person narration from a very creepy character who is planning to rape and abduct Sharon, a woman whom they see in a bar. After that happens, they pursue a group of young people at a make out session. When one of the kids at the session, Tammy, is reported missing, the search is on for her and Sharon's kidnapper and potential murderer.

Okay, not bad, not good but familiar. It’s from the point of view of a serial kidnapper, possibly killer, a human serial kidnapper and their victims. We’ve read that before. 

The book alternates perspectives. The Abductor gives theirs as they psyche themselves up before they put their awful thoughts into action and the victims give theirs as they struggle to survive and fight this terrifying ordeal.

The book is very tense and there is definitely a sense that The Abductor is driven by uncontrollable obsessions and compulsions. “It's just a Psychological Thriller,” we might be heard to say, “Just a very real frightening human Psychological Thriller.”

Then something happens that completely changes how we see The Abductor and the society in which they live. When The Abductor is murdered in retaliation by Mike, one of Tammy's friends, a blue mist emerges and enters inside Mike. Suddenly, Mike has a different voice and outlook and is also compelled by a desire to claim and destroy everything around him.

Hell's Beginning shifts from a Psychological Thriller to a Supernatural Horror. What was once human now is something demonic. It was someone with a form, a shape, and a body.

There may have been a reason, an actual origin for their hatred and what they did. While it's hard to get into the minds of a serial killer, at least you know what might happen when you're in there. At least a human psychotic can be stopped by a bullet, their own hand, or a prison cell. We know what the characters are getting into when they confront them. It may not end up well for everyone but at least they can be defeated.

Now what we read about is something completely different. A human killer is replaced by a demonic force that enters a human body and forces it to commit violence. The human host has completely mentally disappeared leaving the parasite demon in its place. 

This exchange with Mike isn't the first and only time that The Demon has done this. It's done this before and since several times throughout the book, hopping from body to body and controlling one mind after another.

Just think about it. This Demon can't be killed because it goes from the victim to the murderer. It takes a different form and voice and is smart enough to access its new host’s memories and experiences to imitate them flawlessly and gain access to their stuff. Its pursuers don't know who it is inside next. 

It could be in anyone and anywhere. A bystander, a witness, a family member, even their own spouse or partner. The paranoia is justifiably thick as characters have to face an enemy that is potentially all around them.

There is an interesting subtext concerning the Demon. It slips between human forms when the human kills the previous body. Perhaps The Demon is a metaphor for violence itself. Jumping from body to body suggests that we all have the capacity to commit violence. 

That urge lays dormant inside us and is just waiting for an outlet to bring it forward. Whether because of hatred, vengeance, self-defense, or commitment to patriotism and justice, sometimes we want to hurt others. This demon is just a manifestation of our worst desires to do so.

It's easy to defeat a monster that exists outside of oneself. It's a Hell of a lot harder to fight the one within.

Weekly Reader: The Protrectress by Ayura Ayira; Erotic Power Play Between Demigoddess and Mortal Is Sultry, Sexy, and Surprisingly Sweet

 

Weekly Reader: The Protrectress by Ayura Ayira; Erotic Power Play Between Demigoddess and Mortal Is Sultry, Sexy, and Surprisingly Sweet

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Erotic Fiction often consists of sexual power play between two or several parties. It often is a one on one battle in which the characters use their most basic weapons of their body and sexuality to score against their rival turned lover. Their attraction towards each other is delayed until the end when the struggle is over and the lovers are separated or move their relationship from the sexual to the emotional.

The Protectress by Ayura Ayira is one such example. It's an erotic novel which is actually a power play between a demigoddess and a mortal man that is sultry and sexy, but ends up being surprisingly sweet.

Tilelli, the Protectress of the Golden Kingdoms, is at war against invading armies that would turn her beloved kingdom into a dystopia. She is a leader and inspiration for her people and is destined to lead them to a new future. If she is removed, all is lost. During a strategic attack when she and her army claim victory only to find themselves retaliated by their cunning enemies, Tilelli is left unguarded and unarmied. Left alone, she is rescued by Bashir, a seemingly loyal stranger. It turns out Bashir is hardly a convenient knight-errant in the right place at the right time. In fact, Bashir is an opportunist who seizes a golden opportunity for himself when he makes the Protectress his prisoner and tries to make her his sex slave.

Tilelli is a woman of great strength and power, one whom Bashir severely underestimates. He is of the limited opinion that being a woman and royalty that she will be easy to break. He clearly does not know her. Bashir may have pined for and grown obsessed with her, but he will have a difficult time getting her to submit. She is clearly the dominant presence in the story despite her captivity. 

Bashir puts Tilelli on edge. He alternates between being charming and being brutal. He has long lusted after Tilelli and until she practically fell into his vicinity. He uses his masculinity to bring her down to his level. But what turns her on is not sexuality, but his humanity.

As expected with erotic fiction, the sex scenes are plentiful and passionate. The characters' sexualities are used as weapons against each other. Each scene is like a small battle or challenge between them where one is a victor only to be the loser next time. It is a passionate dance with no clear winner except each other.

Normally, I am not a fan of erotic fiction where one character kidnaps another and forces them into bondage sexual situation (I mean how consensual can it be if one of the parties is forced into it?) However, in this situation because the two characters are equals in temperament and control one, is not wholly dominating over the other. It's more of a competition between two strong minded individuals trying to bring each other down and then find that they enjoy the conflict and becoming worthy opponents rather than sexually charged enemies on opposite sides.

Surprisingly, this spicy novel has some sweetness when Tilelli and Bashir join forces. Their sexual biplay transmogrifies into a real partnership. They no longer seek to dominate one another. Instead, they bring the best in each other.

The Protectress is a novel that has plenty of heat and spice but just a small amount of sugar to make not only the sex sell but the characters as well.

New Book Alert: Witness by Simon Maltman; Character Driven Suspense Thriller About Past Crimes and Sins

 

New Book Alert: Witness by Simon Maltman; Character Driven Suspense Thriller About Past Crimes and Sins

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Witness, Simon Maltman's suspense thriller, shows in graphic detail the proverbial Road to Hell along with the Good Intentions in which said road is paved.

Witness is a tense, edgy, but also character driven novel about Pastor Tom Carter, a Belfast-based minister with the International Church of Tertulian's Trinity (ICOTT). When he was a young man, he was a part of terrorist organizations. However, he has put that all behind him. He is a popular man of the cloth with a large following. He is happily married to Cherry and the father of an adorable daughter, Becky. He even has some far reaching plans to build a youth center that would help street kids, like he used to be, get a new start in life. He just needs some extra money to help build the center.

In a desperate attempt to get that money, Tom appeals to "Uncle" Paul, an old family friend and fellow former terrorist. Well Paul isn't as former as he appears. Even though he had been released from prison, he still has a toe in the old world as Tom learns. Paul says he will hand over the cash if Tom does him a favor.

Meanwhile, there is an extended kidnapping plot in which an unnamed family is abducted by two ruthless kidnappers. At first this subplot is suspenseful but appears unrelated to the main plot until we later learn who the players actually are and how they are linked to the rest of the story.

Maltman captures a Northern Ireland that is still struggling to recover from the violence that played into almost 100 years of their history. While on paper, tensions have cooled down and laws have been set to improve relations between Protestant and Catholic factions, the human heart corroded by decades of hatred is not always so easily swayed. Many of the characters are still caught up in their prejudices and lust for violence and people like Paul love to play into that. 

Paul is like a mob boss knowing others' weaknesses and using them against them. In his conversations with Tom, Paul is like a chess master playing against a new opponent. There are subtle suggestions that his allegiances to his former ways have less to do with national pride than they do with controlling his enemies and quenching a sadistic pleasure for blood. Tom is just one of many that he likes to control and force them to do exactly what he wants.

Tom is also a fascinating character. Unlike many religious figures in fiction, he sincerely practices his faith and wants to live a good life. He does everything that he can to repair the damage that he was instrumental in causing in his youth.

However, when Tom encounters Paul, he realizes that the more he tried to run from his past, the more it catches up to him. It is all too easy for him to be seduced back into that life because those feelings were still there. He tried to be a good faith driven person to hide what had been inside all along.

Once Tom follows Paul, his actions interfere with the rest of his life. He becomes a man easily swayed by darker impulses that were simply buried and just waiting to come out. He has an affair with a barmaid and the guilt eats away at his marriage to Cherry. He blackmails a fellow pastor with pederastic tendencies when he gets too close to the church's financial transactions and the sudden generous donation. While Tom still suffers from intense guilt, he goes along with these actions almost like an addict who can no longer stop himself.

The title Witness refers to a crime that Tom saw when he was a child that he had buried, but had changed his life forever. He is also a witness to his own self destruction as the good man that he tried to be is swallowed by the man he once was. He is helpless to stop his own transition into villainy until the end when he finds a way to stand up to Paul and go from the witness to the actor.