McCarty GriffinRezensionen

MY REVIEW: ******contains spoilers********
I must admit, I am not a huge fan of horror stories. This book sounded interesting therefore I thought I would try it. I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed this book. Some of the more grisly descriptions of ripped up body parts had me closing my eyes and shuddering, however, overall, a great story. I loved the way the author told part of the story from the viewpoint of the monster. I've seen this in other books but not done as well as here. A nice change in a horror story, especially since ***spoiler**** the monster is eventually aware of his previous life.
The action in this book begins immediately with the dead rising from the earth. This would be a great Sci Fi channel movie!! The one thing I didn't care for was the constant introduction of new characters. It can be somewhat confusing keeping all the characters straight. I began to think of them as "red shirt characters" Remember the old Star Trek TV show? You always knew the guys in red shirts were going to meet their doom before the end of the show. They are a necessary part of any story, the expendable people.

Overall, this is not my normal genre of book but I'm glad I read it. I look forward to reading more by Ms. Griffin

See the full review at: http://topublishornotto.blogspot.com/2011/09/indie-book-review-mccarty-griffin.h...

See the full review at: http://topublishornotto.blogspot.com/2011/09/indie-book-review-mccarty-griffin.h...

A tribe of cats has been living alone on an old farm for many years. The tribe is led by two cats Tia and Bella. There is only one cat in the tribe that has any positive memories of humans and that cats name is Daca. So you can imagine when two legs( humans) start coming to the farm the tribe believes no good can come of it. When the humans move to the farm things start looking up, the female human starts putting out food and water in the hopes of gaining the cats trust so that she can eventually catch them to have them spayed and neutered. While the tribe watches the humans with trepidation, Daca decides the only way to protect her kittens from a coyote that is hanging around is to move them in with the humans. When Bella and Tia are attacked by the coyote they soon come to realize that not all humans are the same.
I loved this book! The author does an amazing job of telling the story not only thru the eyes of the cats but also thru the eyes of the humans. It was so easy to understand the fear that the tribe had of the humans. Bella and Tia were convinced that the humans would kill and eat them. The bond between Tia and Bella was heartwarming,and the way the tribe members looked out for each other allowed the reader to see the bond that had formed between the members of the tribe. You could easily imagine the longing Daca had for her former human owner, and she sort of became the ambassador cat traveling between the tribe members and the humans. I found the message of spaying and neutering very appropriate, but not preachy at all. A quick read that would make a wonderful gift for cat lovers, or anyone who enjoys a great animal story.

A complimentary copy of this e-book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

How far is too far seems to be the question raised in Half-Inch by McCarty Griffin. Pammy Hilts is an abused wife. Her husband, Bobby, has moved out and filed for divorce. Pammy has put up with 12 years of physical, emotional, mental and verbal abuse. She has been cut off from all of her friends and has no skills. All that's left are her dreams and she is beginning to dream of revenge.

Pammy knows that Bobby isn't going to leave her alone even after a divorce. Although Bobby has moved out and apparently has a new love interest, she knows the abuse will continue. What's a girl to do other than get rid of the problem permanently? Pammy has obvious problems with the notion of taking a life, no matter the circumstances, and most of this short tale deals with this conflict. At first glance Pammy may seem to be a poor, downtrodden and ignorant woman, but she proves otherwise. At times sad and other times funny (tongue-in-cheek), Half-Inch is a story about survival. This is a quick read that is perhaps perfect for a lunch break or a lazy afternoon.

Author McCarty Griffin gives an authentic voice to main character, Pammy, a woman conflicted about killing her abusive ex-husband. This is more than a tale about a woman wronged. Half-inch is a short work exploring the complexity behind feeling trapped and setting yourself free. It examines what it means to be caged by another person's actions and also by our own. It is debatable and worth discussing if Pammy's solution brings her any true freedom or peace -- or does she simply transfer from one inescapable circumstance into another? Every action and decision has a consequence. Do we make choices based on what is best, or what is less worse? Do we only think in terms of what is tolerable verses intolerable? Sometimes morality is separated by a half-inch and it is the unforeseeable that exists in this space that determines the direction our future takes.½

Obviously by reading the synopsis you can tell this book is pretty unique, since over half of the story is told from the cats' point of view. I wasn't sure what to expect going into it but I wanted to give it a try since it's such a different concept. The story revolves around a "tribe" of feral cats living out in the country. The people that used to live at the house are long gone so they don't have to worry about any interference or cruelty from the "two-legs". The eldest of the tribe is Tia and so all of the other cats look to her for wisdom and advice. Her closest friend, Bella, is a lot more cynical in her thinking and has somewhat of a temper. Most of the cats on the farm have never known or seen a two-legs in their life, but suddenly they have company; Susan and her husband Rob decide to move onto the farm and fix it up. Little do they know that it already has occupants, and a lot of them at that.
Like I said, the two main cat characters are Tia and Bella; they are best friends but also very different in personality. Maybe it's due to her age, but Tia is more mellow and open to new ideas, whereas Bella is more temperamental and opposed to change. She doesn't want anything to do with the two-legs, convinced that they mean to kill and eat all of them. There are a lot of secondary cat characters, but I think one of the most important is Daca, who used to be a domesticated cat; she ended up with the tribe after her owner died and she was subsequently thrown out on the side of the road to fend for herself. She acts as sort of a mediator between the rest of the tribe and the humans, because she knows that not all humans are bad and mean to harm them. As for the human characters, Susan is the point of focus. She is a major animal lover who has worked with feral cats before, removing them from a bad environment and helping them get adopted. Unfortunately in those cases, most of the cats are not adoptable because they are so wild, so when Susan discovers all of the cats on the premises she decides to handle things on her own. Her mom helps her out a lot with all of her plans and I swear her husband is a Saint, he just agreed with whatever Susan wanted to do and helped her out when he could even though he's not a cat person. I liked the characters in this book, I just didn't love them. I had trouble forming connections with them which made the book a little difficult to get into.
I thought some of the cats' observations were clever. Especially about the water hose, they thought it was a snake and they couldn't understand why Susan grabbed it and dragged it around the yard every day (and why it would let itself be dragged around!) and why it spit out water. I thought they were so cute, because you can imagine that may be what cats actually think is happening.
This book also brought some awareness to organizations such as PAWS (Pets Are Worth Saving) which is great. I love animals and hate to see them mistreated or in danger of being euthanized. In the book Susan takes matters into her own hands by deciding to care for the cats herself, feeding them, getting them vet check-ups, and spaying/neutering them all to control the population. I don't even want to imagine what something like that would cost, even with a vet discount, but I think any animal lover would probably at least try to save all of these animals too in any way they could.
Overall I liked this book, I just didn't love it. I couldn't seem to really get into the story, at least in the first half. It was a cute, unique read though, giving you a look at the world from an entirely different perspective. I think animal lovers (especially cat lovers) will really enjoy this book.

I was so psyched to read this book because I can't tell you how long it's been since I've read a thriller. It's been too long, but luckily this book came along to scare the crap out of me. In it we meet Christy, who moves back to West Virginia after inheriting her grandmother's cabin. At first there are some reports of wild animal attacks which set her and the rest of the town on edge. Then it becomes clear that no animal could rip a person limb from limb. In order to stop the killings, Christy and her close friends have to first admit that maybe the stuff of nightmares isn't legend after all.
I really enjoyed the characters in this one. Christy was tough, even when she was scared she stood her ground and refused to just run away from the problem. I think most people would just choose to leave West Virginia and never look back but she knew that someone had to stop the creature and the law enforcement wasn't likely to believe that a mythical creature was behind the massacres. I think my absolute favorite person in the book was Christy's friend Graeme, a flamboyant city boy who decides to help Christy move to West Virginia and stay for a couple of weeks to keep her company. Some of the things that came out of his mouth literally made me laugh out loud, especially some of the banter between him and Christy. He's definitely someone I would want to be friends with and he showed himself to be a loyal friend by sticking by Christy's side even though he was scared out of his mind. The rest of the "hunting party" consisted of Christy's father, her good friends Tess and David (who also happens to be a Deputy Sheriff), and Will, a conservation officer. They were all were very strong supporting characters and added some different dimensions to the story, as it was told by several different characters' points of view throughout.
This book is certainly not for the faint of heart. There were several times while I was reading that I got chills all over and had to get up to check and make sure the doors were all locked. It's been awhile since I've been affected in that way by a book and I have to say I enjoyed it. The death scenes were extremely bloody and gory, so descriptive I could easily picture the scenes in my mind which made it every more horrifying. The thing I really loved about this book is it was genuinely scare; none of those cutesy, nice supernatural creatures anywhere to be seen. Not that I don't enjoy those kinds of books too, but it was a nice change of pace to read about a terrifying, bloodthirsty killer.
The romance between Christy and Will definitely isn't a focal point of the book, but it's a nice little touch thrown in. Although for my taste they fell for each other pretty quick considering they hardly knew each other. Then again, under those kinds of circumstances it might make you re-evaluate your life and figure life is too short to take it slow.
I really enjoyed reading this book, with it's mysterious, brutal killer and heart-pounding, terrifying scenes of death. I enjoyed getting goosebumps while reading, knowing that the book could affect me in that way. It gave me the creeps and if you like a good scary story then you should definitely check this book out!

I couldn't wait to read this book based on the synopsis, but at just under 70 pages I was worried I wouldn't connect with the main character well enough. I shouldn't have worried because that definitely wasn't an issue here. It was impossible not to form a connection with Pammy, who goes from timid abused housewife to calculating killer in a relatively short time.
Pammy has been beat down by her husband Bobby for over a decade and she knows there's nothing she can do to stop it. Or is there? Bobby surprises her by filing for divorce, but deep down she knows that she'll never be truly rid of him. The courts may grant them a divorce, however the fact of the matter is he would probably still come around and harass her, generally making her life a living hell. The only permanent way to make sure he's out of her life for good is to make sure he never takes another breath and thanks to watching hours of forensics shows she knows a lot about what to do and what not to do. Will she pull off the perfect revenge or will Bobby still win?
I was rooting for Pammy the whole way. I've never been physically abused so I can't even imagine what that would be like, especially for so many years. Bobby is your typical abusive husband, treats his wife like dirt and thinks she's dumb, but that's the way he likes his women because they're easy to control. Unfortunately for Bobby he severely underestimated Pammy and so of course he never suspected she was planning on killing him. I felt no compassion for Bobby what-so-ever and couldn't wait to see how Pammy's murder plan unfolded. I honestly don't want to give too much away, this is a pretty short book so if I can't go into as much detail without giving away main plot points.
I can say this though, I really enjoyed the author's writing style. The whole story flowed very nicely and her way with words kept me wanting to read more. I finished this book in about an hour and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The last part of the book is extremely intense and rushes toward an ending you won't see coming. Don't let it's short nature stop you from reading it; it may be small but it packs a wallop!

"The rule of thumb is that if someone is able to be verbally or physically abusive, he or she is able to understand that the behavior is wrong."
-- Edward T. Welch

I read this short story in just a few hours one afternoon. The book was well written and very detailed. Some individuals can relate to Pammy's dilemma with the abuse, and some can not. I can certainly see people watching true crime stories on the TV and trying to outsmart the perpetrator/law officials so as not to get caught themselves. I myself enjoy watching these types of crime scene/forensic shows, but I keep in the back of my mind that since it's on TV it didn't work out to well for them.

That being said, this short story was well written and articulate throughout. It captured my attention throughout the entire story and I wanted to know how it ended. By all accounts, throughout the book, you would interpret that Pammy got away with the dirty deed. Wait until you read the ending. Things aren't always what they seem.

Coming home for her grandmother’s funeral was something Christy MacCauley really didn’t want to do. She’d left a few years ago never intending to return. However, her gramma had been a good influence in Christy’s life and she felt she needed to say good-bye. She didn’t expect Gramma to leave her cabin, bank accounts and 30 acres of land to her! Her father wasn’t too thrilled as the land way ‘way to hell and gone out of town, all by its lonesome.
At the same time, hunters are being brutally murdered out by Misty Lake – pretty close to the cabin Christy just inherited. Also, in the fancier part of town Maria Fullard, widow of a judge is thinking it quite odd that someone had broken into the house and stolen things of Harold’s, nothing of hers. How does this all come together? Well, kids, hang onto your chairs because Monster Story will take you into really gory explanations of all of the above!
This book literally scared the bejesus out of me! It takes a lot to do that but McCarty Griffin managed – in spades. If you enjoy every-light-in the-house-on, come-up-behind-me-and-you’ll-get-popped, gasp- when-the-cat-jumps-on-the-bed books – this is the one for you. As some odd voiced guy used to say “You’ll be UP ALL NIGHT!” Seriously, this is one of the best horror stories I’ve had the pleasure to read and review. If you read the genre you’ll love it.

I did enjoy this book. Unfortunately when I was in the first page of the book, I found it difficult to get what the author try to say. The word choice that I got in the first few pages were difficult enough. Actually this book was written well. it described thing in a nice way. Let's blame it to my limited vocabulary. I was little bit afraid that I was not able to read till the last page. But I did not know why I just could not leave it.

I started to focus when the story brought me to the first scene when the slaughter took place. I kept searching for the next chapter which told me the same thing. Fortunately, there were a lot. Even when I felt enough with bloody scene. It was getting frightening. The creature that finally revealed as werewolf was so creepy. I could easily got the pictures of everything he did. Those dreadful chapters were so real. It looks like watching horror movie. I kept asking who would be the next victims and who would stay till the end. Another big question that haunted me, how to kill this monster.

Talk about the characters, I think the author wrote too many of them. I was annoyed by some of their appearance. From all of them I liked Graeme. I loved all his jokes. I caught myself giggling each time he said something. But I liked the relationship between them. Tess, I also adored her. Because from all of the characters, the only emotion that I could really feel were hers. Especially when she was so scared.

I have not read lots of book about werewolf. It made me wonder if all the werewolves out there were as vicious as the creature in this book.

Cover
I think it is fit enough with what the reader will find inside. The darkness is revealed just by looking at those red eyes.