A car load of white teens gets stranded in the middle of the Philadelphia ghetto after attending a concert. A few exit the car in an attempt to fix it, and they are approached by some local teens. They are fearful for their lives, and after shouting some racial expletives, they all take off running down the street. They search the neighborhood for some safe place to retreat while they wait for someone to rescue them.

They break into an old, abandoned run-down house at the end of the street. But it’s not abandoned. Shortly after entering the house, they are attacked by a “mutant” man. One of the youths is killed instantly and the remaining teens fight for their lives. They quickly learn that the “man” that attacked them wasn’t the only occupant of this dark, deserted home. The house is full of inhuman “creatures”at various stages of deformity.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood teens have noticed where the “outsiders” have run to. They know the reputation of this house: no one who enters has ever come out alive. They go to the house of a veteran of the neighborhood and seek his assistance. They call the police and await their response. While they wait, Perry, the veteran resident, reminisces about the neighborhood, and recalls a time when the neighbors knew and talked to one another, a time when the police responded when there was an issue. He discusses the sad state the neighborhood is in now, and then decides to take a stand. The group decides to break into the home and rescue the trapped teens.

Keene does another stellar job with this newest book. He consistently succeeds at horrifying his readers. The perseverance that each of the trapped teens exhibits is commendable. The initial stereotypes they each have eventually fades away as they attempt to survive this house of extreme horror. I recommend this to any fan of horror fiction, but due to the level of gore, I sincerely warn those with a weak stomach to avoid it!

Thank you to Dorchester Publishing for providing a copy of Urban Gothic for review.

Eleven-year-old Bess de Montacute is infuriated when she discovers that she is being forced to marry thirty-two-year-old Hugh le Despenser. Hugh comes from a family of traitors, and isn’t very happy about the arrangement either. For the past several years, he has been having a love affair with a woman he would never be permitted to wed.

After being imprisoned after his father’s execution, Hugh realizes he must accept this gift he has been presented. The two are forced to come together and perservere despite the challenges placed before them. Young Bess is allowed a reprieve of one year after she weds before she must share a bed with her husband. An appalling thought in the current time, but a very common practice in the 14th century.

Even though they eventually grow to love one another, their love is continually tested. A war separates them and threatens to systematically destroy those they love. And just when it appears as though it can’t get any worse, they are faced to deal with an unforgiving and indiscriminate plague-pestilence. Just how much can their love withstand?

Hugh and Bess is truly a coming of age novel. We watch each of the main characters grow and mature as their love blossoms and they become remarkable people. Higginbotham does an outstanding job of growing her characters. She makes this historical fiction/romance an interesting one. At no point was I overwhelmed or bored with the historical facts that were relayed. Higginbotham overcomes this by the incredible dialogue she creates between the characters. Most of the history is relayed by the characters themselves, and not some dull and dry narrator. I’m a huge fan of historical fiction, but not typically historical romance. But I can’t say enough about this powerful love story between two people forced together by marriage. I was so enamored by this love story that I read it twice! Those that know me understand that I can count on one hand the books I have had a desire to read more than once! Higginbotham is an author I will continue to follow.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing a copy of Hugh and Bess for review!

It’s 1498 in Venice, Italy. Luciano is a homeless street beggar. He survives by pickpocketing and stealing food from street merchants. Until one day he is literally dragged from the streets by the Ferro, the top chef to the Doge. Luciano is brought into the Doge’s palace as an apprentice to Ferro. He goes from begging for his meals to three hot meals a day and a warm, dry place to sleep.

Luciano witnesses a murder and immediately reports it to the Chef. The Chef doesn’t seem to be very surprised. There has been discussion about a mysterious book of knowledge, a book that, among many things, reportedly has a spell for everlasting life. The doge, suffering from syphilis, becomes obsessed with finding the location of this book. The Catholic Church wants to obtain it because it’s said to contain the missing books of the Bible, and if these land in the wrong hands, the Church will lose it’s strength over the populace. And finally, Luciano himself is interested in the “love potion” the book purportedly contains, for he has fallen in love with Francesca, a young nun.

Luciano soon learns that book everyone is searching for is not some spell book, but one that is right under their noses.

The Book of Unholy Mischief is a very descriptive and engaging story. It is evident that Newmark did her research, for the descriptions of Venice and of Rome are detailed and accurate. The descriptions of food are so vivid, I swear I could taste and smell the lavish meals.

Critiques of this book mentioned its similarities to The DaVinci Code. I don’t believe this to be a fair comparison, for The Book of Unholy Mischief has much more depth. The characters are more compelling and developed. It’s not only a story about the hunt for a mysterious book, but also deals with the lives of the two main characters and how fate seemed to have brought them together.

Bottom line, this is a book I waited far to long to discover!

Thank you to the author for providing a copy of this book for me to review!