I know, I know. You are thinking, "Roadkill, really? Why do I want to read a book about dead animals? That's gross. I'm an animal lover. I don't want to read about dead animals!"

Well, I'm an animal lover too. I am a huge animal rescue advocate. I've fostered kittens and puppies for multiple local shelters. I donate every month to animal charities near and far. I have multiple fur-kids at home. I'm such a sucker for animals and I hate to think about them hurt or injured, much less dead. I once hit (and killed) a squirrel in my vehicle. I bawled my eyes out...after I went back, got him out of the road and laid him under a tree. (I had visions of his little squirrel friends getting hit too, coming to check on him.)

Look. I'm a softie. I hate to see anything dead in the road but what if those now dead animals didn't die in vain?

What if their death can have a purpose?

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"I was born into crazy."
The first sentence explains a lot about this book. It's an adventurous ride full of magical objects, psychic gifts, a t-rex shaped demon, and the mob. Raz (Erasmus only to his father) helps run Stannick's Pawn Shop after school. Except this is no ordinary pawn shop. Managed by Raz's father, uncle, and grandfather, all the men in the family have the gift of psychometry, i.e. they can see the history of any object they hold.

This sounds like an exciting life but all Raz wants is to get out of town and away from the responsibility of his gift. When his dad decides to make a deal with a devil to keep his grandfather ticking, and the cursed item that makes it all possible is wanted by the mob, Raz is stuck in the middle.

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Roach the demon is low on the totem pole in the business of souls. Unappreciated and ridiculed by the upper management, i.e. Satan, Roach decides to go rogue and disappear to the Upper World. There, in various human disguises, and with the help of an IT demon named Scorch, he continues to wreak havoc. He's determined to prove to Satan that he is an important asset and that he never should have been overlooked during the writing of The Divine Comedy.

"There were times, like right now, one had to get the hell out of Hell."

Larry Kavanaugh is a whiny, self important jerk. Larry has a wife and kids, but nothing is more important to Larry than Larry. He has no idea how to even tell the truth. His entire career is a even a lie. He makes a deal with Roach to not get caught, which throws quite the wrench in the plan of reneging on the contract for his soul because of course, the devil is always looking for a loophole.

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Dr. Magic follows Detective Hatfield, who has been forcibly retired from the FBI due to an injury. While the case gave him notoriety and almost movie star status, he now works as a private investigator, riding the coattails of his previous popularity. Suddenly, all over the globe, reports and videos pour in of figures jumping off the tops of buildings only to spring back up unharmed. Detective Hatfield takes an interest in the mystery of a man he proclaims to be Dr. Magic. Refusing to play nice with his former FBI compatriots, he takes apart the mystery and identification of Dr. Magic. 

Seeking Dr. Magic is a fast read of mystery and magical pandemonium. Even though Detective Hatfield takes enjoyment out of his new found star status, he's a likable character. Dr. Magic, however, is not.

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Changeling: A changeling is a child who is suspected to not be a couple’s real child. 

As the myth goes, a changeling was substituted by fairies. (vocabulary.com)


Often shown in art and literature, the notion of changelings is centuries old. The Brother's Grimm wrote numerous stories about changelings. When the basis of these stories were typically children with developmental diseases or disorders, the rationale of a perfectly normal child having been replaced with a faery child is one that made sense to those living as peasants in pre-industrial Europe. Little Darlings takes this myth and gives it a horrifying modern-day makeover.

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Tangled Web is the third book in the Deadly Curiosity series set in Charleston, SC. Book one and book two, Deadly Curiosities and Vendetta respectively, also follow Cassidy and friends on escapades at Trifles & Folly. It's always iffy jumping into a series along the way and this is one of those that I think would better serve you to start at the beginning. The good news is I think the series is worth it.

Tangled Web is written in first person perspective from Cassidy's viewpoint. While the other characters are equally entertaining, we don't spend as much time with them as I would have liked. I'm sure more time is devoted to them in the other novels as this one put the spotlight on Teag and his abilities. With that being said, all of the characters have unique personalities. Even the supporting characters are appealing and kept my interest which is hard to do.

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"Keeping a job involves a few simple rules: Arrive on time. Work hard. And don't assault customers."

Tori Dawson is a firecracker. It's not that she has a bad temper. It's that she has a decided lack of tolerance to put up with other people's crap. When she loses her waitressing job (again), and is literally smacked in the face with a new opportunity, she takes a chance on bartending at The Crow and Hammer. Her first night there is interesting to say the least, but when her fiery temper makes a showing, she feels sure she'll be shown the door. She is stunned when instead they hire her! There's something a little strange going on though. The Crow and Hammer is a guild, full of real magic. Throw in the three sexy mages and this sassy redheaded human strangely has found a place where she fits in.

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Ghouls, revenants, zombies, the Undead. All of these have a million stories written about them. Yet I'm constantly amazed by the new angles that authors find to breathe life into old material. Flesh is one of those unique twists. Catfish Bob is an urban legend in the area. Tales of this giant catfish abound but there is no real proof that he exists. When a diary is found at the local museum, they realize exactly how far back the story of Catfish Bob goes.

I'm not exactly sure what Catfish Bob is truly meant to be but for the sake of the story, I don't feel that it's necessary that I fully comprehend it. Tales of giant catfish have played a part in almost every culture. The Japanese believed in an earthquake causing giant catfish called the Namazu. In Thailand, catfish of upwards of 600 pounds have been spotted, and treated with high regard and even given offerings during special rituals before fishing. In the U.S., myths of giant catfish date back to 1880's. Even in my region, I grew up hearing tales of giant catfish at the bottom of man-made Smith Mountain Lake. Do yourself a favor before you start reading and Google a little about catfish, especially the growls they make. I don't know what it is about the mythology of giant catfish that draws us, but I can't argue that the thought of them is a bit alarming.

The zombie genre is actually one of my favorites. I love all the different ways that it can play out. I know you are thinking, "Really, Valerie? Zombies eat people. They are all the same." Ah, but they are not. They can be mindless, shuffling creatures, or fast, with a herd mentality. The virus can cause immediate reanimation upon death, or be a wasting sickness.

In Planet of the Dead, the author chose Door Number Two. The zombies are created from a super flu type virus. People get sick and then they turn. The zombies are powerful and strong, but not the smartest. (They don't use doorknobs, for example, choosing instead to break down the door.) The virus is spread via bites and scratches, so even if you aren't bitten, you might still not be in the clear.

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Who hasn't watched (or read, for my bibliophiles) Jurassic Park?
One of my favorite quotes from the movie is by Dr. Malcolm, a mathematician whose region of study is the Chaos Theory.



It held true for Jurassic Park and it holds true for Cryptid Zoo. Some things should be left well enough alone. That's the situation created by Carter Wilde, a man who has more money than sense as we say here in the South. When employee Nick Wells and his family, along with many other employees, are flown out on a furtive flight to an undisclosed location, it turns out the fun is just getting started. What is promoted as a family friendly resort quickly turns into killer chaos.

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