Cavallaro's Cavalcade of Carnage
We did it! Nine months of waiting, and we can finally immerse ourselves in pumpkins, black cats, ghosts, vampires, witches...you know what I mean. HORROR. Lets get to business. I have some pumpkins to stare at.

19 books read in September:

1: THE RAVENOUS, Amy Lukavics. Very dark YA. Grade: B
2: HORRORSTOR, Grady Hendrix. My least favorite Hendrix, but not bad. Grade: C
3: DEAD TO HER, Sarah Pinborough. She is so consistently good. Grade: A
4: THE CIPHER, Kathe Koja. Unlikable characters; generally underwhelmed. Grade: C
5: THE DEATH AND LIFE OF ZEBULON FINCH, Daniel Kraus. I love Kraus, but was bored with this one. Grade: D
6: THE PLOT, David/Michael Moreci (graphic novel). Very good, gothic comic series. Grade: B
7: THERE ONCE LIVED A WOMAN WHO TRIED TO KILL HER NEIGHBOR'S BABY, Ludmilla Petrushevskaya (collection). Some gems here, but weighed down by the duds. Grade: C
8: STATION ELEVEN, Emily St. John Mandel. The constant shift in narration took me out of the story. Grade: D
9: DESCENDER, Jeff Lemire (graphic novel). One of the greatest sf graphic novels I've read. Grade: B
10: TIL WE HAVE FACES, CS Lewis. Boring boring boring. Grade: D
11: CLEAN ROOM: IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, Gail Simone (graphic novel). Totally bonkers. Loved it. Grade: B
12: THE FORCE, Don Winslow. My first Winslow, won't be my last. Excellent cop drama. Grade: B
13: RIDE THE WIND, Lucia St. Clair Robson. Historical romance. Figured I'd give it a shot. Burned! Grade: D
14: PRETTY DEADLY, Vol 1-3, Kelly Sue Deconnick (graphic novels). Weird western comic series. Grade: C
15: EARTH ABIDES, George Stewart. I know it's considered sf cannon. Philosophy-driven plot, if you're into that. Grade: C
16: THE COLLECTOR, John Fowles. 1960s thriller that has probably been ripped off a million times by now. Grade: B
17: THE BLADE ITSELF, Joe Abercrombie. Maybe fantasy isn't for me. Grade: D

WORST OF THE MONTH:

RIDE THE WIND, Lucia St. Clair Robson

I don't remember how this historical romance novel made it onto my TBR list. Can we just all forget this happened?

BEST OF THE MONTH:

DEAD TO HER, Sarah Pinborough

This was an easy decision, as it was the only book this month receiving an A grade. Pinborough has carved a nice niche in the already oversaturated domestic thriller stacks. I've read a lot of them, and if you're sitting there assuming Pinborough is just another writer going through the motions in that genre, think again. Admittedly, DEAD TO HER isn't near the top of my favorite Pinborough books, but that's only because her other books are so staggeringly good.

Now...let the ALL HORROR October begin! All horror book reviews for next month!

Reviews by Jason Cavallaro
jcavallaro42@gmail.com
Twitter: @pinheadspawn

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