Hell Reviews - Supernatural: Rite of Passage

Synopsis: As young children, Sam and Dean lost their mother to a mysterious supernatural force. In the years that followed, their father taught them about the paranormal evil that exists in the dark corners of America, and taught them how to kill it. As adults, after their father s demonic death, they eventually discovered that they were descended from a long line of hunters and now continue their mission. Laurel Hill, New Jersey, is beginning to look like one of the unluckiest places on Earth when a succession of mishaps, outbreaks and disasters hit the town. But Sam and Dean Winchester suspect that the events are more than just bad luck and decide to investigate. Along with Bobby Singer, the brothers question witnesses and check accident scenes and soon realize that a powerful Japanese demon is encouraging the chaos. But the demon has bigger plans than just spreading disorder and carnage, and Sam and Dean are going to need to make their own luck to stop the impending catastrophe. A Supernatural novel that reveals a previously unseen adventure for the Winchester brothers, from the hit TV series!

Once again John Passarella...you did good.
This is yet another enjoyable novel by someone who is fast becoming my favourite author of the Supernatural novel series.
Yet again, the brothers in the hands of this author shine through and feel like the ones we'd been acquainted to for about six years at the point this book had been published.

The case is one that really pulls you in, from start to go I found myself interested and wanting more. Unlike other novels where I felt like I'd been reading for years rather than a few hours.
I think it seems fair to say that this particular storyline would fascinate me however, it involves a Japanese demon and if there's one thing Hell loves, it's Japanese mythology and demons.

As I'd expect with John's novels after the last one, Sam and Dean were pretty on point in comparison to their TV series counterparts.
Once again the bond was there, the playful little quips at each other and the typical Winchester co-dependence, only this time they were accompanied by an old friend who wasn't just a throw in, once off character for the sake of plot.
It was nice to see Bobby along for the ride too, as far as I'm concerned we don't see enough of him.
I admit that I am a Bobby fan, if they made a spin off with Bobby and Rufus, I'd watch the hell out of that! I'd rather have that than the Wayward Daughters crap most seem to want. (This may be mostly because I find Claire insufferable.)
I understand personal preference, but the Bobby and Rufus duo is beyond one of my favourites.
To read about him interacting with the boys really made this novel all the more better, not perfect by a long shot, but it added a lot more to the story than you perhaps my realise.

Part of the books focus is also about Sam coping with the break in the wall that's keeping him walking.
Seeing Sam struggle to keep grips on reality and tell what is and what isn't fictional was interesting, yet it also didn't take over the whole storyline which is the kind of focus you want on something like that.
As with the series I felt pretty bad for him, it seems like a terrible thing to have to live with.

Overall, it was pretty damn enjoyable, one of the better novels in the series and worth a read.
I look forward to checking out his next one.

Hell Reviews - Supernatural: The Unholy Cause

Synopsis: A Supernatural novel that reveals a previously unseen adventure for the Winchester brothers, from the hit ITV series!Twenty-seven years ago, Sam and Dean Winchester lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. In the years after, their father, John, taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America…and he taught them how to kill it. Way back in April 1862, Confederate Captain Jubal Beauchamp leads a charge across a Georgia battleground… Fast forward to 2009 and a civil war re-enactment becomes all too real. When Sam and Dean head down south to investigate they find that history has got somewhat out of hand… ar battle re-enactment has gone very badly wrong...


The Unholy Cause was actually a pretty good book, Joe Schreiber made a good addition to the series of novels.
The case is somewhat memorable, not the most memorable of the collection but it's definitely up there with some of the better written books.

As someone who doesn't know much about re-enactments this book really did help give insight into how they work and what takes place, Joe went into great detail to set the scene and it helped a re-enactment newbie like me to picture everything without any prior knowledge.
The great thing is that there's plenty of detail but it never gets to the point of being boing or tedious, nor does it seem to take away from the case or side track to the point where you forget what you're initially reading.

Joe takes the well known characters and does a fantastic job in keeping them as themselves, an issue, as mentioned before, that many people seem to have trouble doing.
Even the professional show writers themselves.
Like the few before him Joe managed to capture the famous banter of the Winchesters and made you feel like you were just along on the ride with them, only this time you're accompanied by resident angel Castiel.
This was before the days where his character got a little tiresome and unneeded, in my opinion, but in the book he is a wonderful addition who helps push the story forward and doesn't over stay his welcome in the novel or become a completely pointlessly added background character.
I'm just counting my blessings that Ruby is only ever mentioned and never actually shows up.

All in all, it's a fun little case to read and it's great to once again see Sam and Dean in their element, it's not the greatest book in the lot but it is up there with one that I would re-read and not skip over if I chose to go through them all again.

Hell Reviews - Supernatural: Bone Key

This is a Supernatural novel that reveals a previously unseen adventure for the Winchester brothers, from the hit "CW" series!Monster hunters Sam and Dean Winchester head to Key West when an old acquaintance of their father calls to say that the coastal town's many ghosts seem to have gone into overdrive. Soon after the brothers meet the ghost of Ernest Hemingway, they discover that a demon couple who escaped from the Devil's Gate are supercharging the local spooks for their own purposes. But things go from bad to worse when the powerful spirits of a long-extinct Native American tribe decides to take its revenge on the "settlers". Join Sam and Dean on an unusual ghost hunt, in this original Supernatural novel.

 

I feel unfair reviewing this one as I honestly can’t remember a bit of it.

It’s the final book in this particular set, as the next moves on to the new cover format, but beyond that I don’t remember much of it to comment on.
Once again the author is Keith R.A. Decandido and I do remember him doing another wonderful job of keeping the book in it’s original Supernatural formula, with Sam and Dean acting in accordance to the shows painted personalities.
However beyond that, I find it hard to remember anything past the fact that I found it readable and didn’t get bored.
It’s worth a read, but not the strongest in the first trilogy, it was rather forgettable to me.
Sorry this one is so short, there's just nothing to say.

Hell Reviews: The Devil's Detective by Simon Kurt Unsworth

Synopsis: Welcome to hell....... where skinless demons patrol the lakes and the waves of Limbo wash against the outer walls, while the souls of the Damned float on their surface, waiting to be collected.
When an unidentified, brutalised body is discovered, the case is assigned to Thomas Fool, one of Hell's detectives, known as 'Information Men’. But how do you investigate a murder where death is commonplace and everyone is guilty of something?

This is a book my mum recommended to me on Goodreads at totally random, purely on the basis of me liking horror and I am so glad she did.

On a normal basis I don't do crime, but mixing mysteries and demons? That's right up my alley.
Saying this book doesn't hold back is an understatement, there's gruesome demons, tons of blood, lots of fire, shining angels and a nice array of characters.

One thing I tend to dislike about crime books is the detective work and initially I was worried that this book would be like a basic crime book just based in Hell, but despite the focus being on one of three Information Men in the book I didn't find the investigation segments dragged at all.
The added horror elements really made the background information more interesting than if it had been a basic human detective, the fact the entire story is based in Hell gave the author a whole world to explore and delve into and Simon wastes no time in creating his own awful place.
He created various races of demon, the differences of classes and treatments that parallel the modern rich against poor society we live in today with a devilish twist and that made it all the more interesting.

Our lead character, Thomas Fool, begins as a seeming novice at his job and slowly builds as a character as the book progresses and the characters he interacts with all affect him in some way. It was nice to see a character who doubted himself, perhaps a little too much at times which could get tiring at points, but compared to the amount of self assured, strongly independent and always right detectives you get in other books it was a pleasant change.

I like the look into the relationship between angels and demons and those souls belonging in Limbo.
Michael and Balthazar were strong characters in themselves and I enjoyed the short but many segments that they showed up.

The crimes themselves were interesting and I like how the killer used various methods to destroy his victims, although I did find myself figuring out what was going on before I'd reached halfway in the books, but I wasn't completely correct in my guesses and the need to find out what was going on amongst the demons and tainted souls pushed me forward towards the end.

I had very few complaints honestly, aside from Fool's constant doubt and moping about being rather useless I never found myself groaning, sighing or rolling my eyes at anything

It's a book I would definitely recommend for those who can hold their stomach on some sicker details and I for one am looking forward to buying the sequel.