aceofknaves88's reviews
541 reviews

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

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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

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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

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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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