William Todd Rose

I had no idea that this book contained two novellas when I requested it from NetGalley. All I saw was The Realm of the Dead and thought that this book seemed interesting enough to request.

Crossfades introduce the reader to Chuck Grainger, a Recon and Enforcement Technician that works The Institute. His job is to guide lost souls into the next life. What Chuck needs to do is project his spirit into Crossfades, the realm of the souls of the dead so that he can help them move on. The problem is that sometimes souls doesn't want to leave and they realize that they are dead and learn to control and manipulate the Crossfades. And, that is exactly what happens when Chuck is trying to help a little girl named Abigail to cross over suddenly her world is disappearing and a malevolent spirit is taking over. Now Chuck must fight the very dangerous spirit...

In the sequel Bleedovers must Chuck, who have survived the ordeal in Crossfades, stop a spirit that has managed to cross over to the real world. Some spirits know that they are dead, but doesn't want to move on instead they are trying to return home and sometimes every few century some manage to do that. And, now someone has crossed and is looking for revenge towards Chuck.

I did prefer Crossfades to Bleedovers, I found the story more intensive and more interesting. I did enjoy Bleedovers, it was just that I was pretty sure throughout the book that the spirit they thought they were trying to catch was not the one they thought it would be and I was right. It would have been too easy if it would have been and I suspected from the start that the spirit would be not the one Chuck thought it would be.

All and all, quite good. I liked the idea of a secret place where people worked to help bring souls over to the next would and I'm curious to how it all started.

Thanks to Hydra and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!… (más)

Apocalyptic Organ Grinder is a novella set in a post-apoc world where you have two groups of people: Sweepers, who hunt those infected with a virus known as the Gabriel Virus, and Spewers, the infected who are covered with sores that spew pus, which is how this virus is spread. In this story, Tanner Kline is a Sweeper who takes out an infected couple while patrolling, and Lila, a Spewer who is a friend of the couple Tanner shoots. Lila would rather kill him right away, but the rules of her village demand that she take him before the Elders as they are the only ones who can impose a death sentence. Needless to say, Tanner doesn't go easily, and Lila doesn't, either.

This is a very dark dystopian novella. Because it is so short, and so action packed, it was a very quick read. I thought it was very interesting that it was told from the point of view of both Tanner and Lila, and the back story of how the virus came to be was also told from the point of view of the Spewers and the Sweepers, almost like a fairy tale each group tells their young. This gave it a very interesting perspective. Also interesting was that you find yourself rooting for one of our protagonists one minute, and then the other the next, and then back again. It keeps you on your toes!

If you're looking for a short novella in the dark dystopian/post-apocalyptic vein, then you might want to give this one a try.

4/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Hydra, and William Todd Rose for the opportunity to read and review this book.… (más)

I received a free ARC from NetGalley.

I did not read the first book in the series, and I admit I was a little confused at first. I didn't know what was going on at first, and then found out we were in a dream. OK, that made a little more sense. I enjoyed the book more once Chuck got to work and began investigating the bleedover. I liked the concept of the Institute and the work they were doing. Going into the crossfades was really interesting. Overall, I liked the ideas contained in the story, I just thought they could have been executed better.… (más)