Maurice Lawless

Found In Blood is a horror novel by Maurice Lawless and it tells the story of Nelson Kirch who is an exorcist. Nelson has a special gift that he obtained as a young boy which allows him to see demons and therefore those people who are possessed. As a man of faith he can exorcise those demons and send them back to hell, but this is all in a days work for Nelson until he is called in to assist in an investigation. Bodies are coming into the morgue with strange symbols branded into their skin then the dead bodies start mysteriously disappearing. Nelson needs to find out what the symbols mean and on top of this help find a missing girl.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first started reading this book as I haven’t read a horror book in a long time. I also tend to read books mainly by female authors with a female protagonist and this was neither but I do like stories about demons so I thought why not. Well why not indeed, let me tell you I thought this book was brilliant and even though it was pretty gruesome and scary at times I couldn’t put it down. It made a really nice change for me to read something from a male perspective too. We are immediately thrown into the story with the opening scene that of Nelson performing an exorcism. We are then taken on a journey into the investigation that kept me intrigued right up to the end. The story is vividly described and well written, sometimes it is a little too vivid with what those naughty sexed up demons get up to, also the descriptions of the demons as Nelson sees them are wonderfully creative. I liked Nelson straight away, he is a man of faith who is married to Carol and he has all the typical ordinary domestic problems like we all do like which kitchen cleaner to buy as well as those problems which are literally from hell. I enjoyed learning about his past as the story progressed and there was a touching scene with his ex fiancé that made me shed a tear. Not all of the demons are that evil and I loved Sam the pinstripe suit wearing blue rat incubus. There is a lot going on in this book and I sometimes got a little confused with the story line and kept forgetting that some characters existed until they popped up again. Whilst not a cliffhanger the ending has left me wanting to get hold of the next book Forged With Blood when it comes out next year. This is a book that made me laugh, cry and poop my pants, well not really but I did find some of it scary but then again I am a big wuss who watches movies from behind a cushion. A perfect book for this Halloween I would like to give Found In Blood 4 and a half stars.… (mere)

Wow this book was fantastic. I really liked the first book Found In Blood, in fact I gave it 4 and a half stars but this one just blew it away for me. As is normally the case the first book sets up the world building and introduces us to the characters so that the second book can really get into the nitty gritty of the story and that is what we have with Forged With Blood. I love the characters especially Nelson Kirch who is becoming a bit of a hero. He is a family man who deeply loves his wife and their unborn child but he is also a man who can kick a demon’s ass and send it back to hell. You see Nelson has a special gift that he received as a young boy that allows him to see demons and now the young girl Matilda is also developing a power similar to his and Nelson has to help her nurture her gift too and this story deals more with that. Another character that I really liked from the first book is the blue rat incubus Sam, only in this book Sam has changed a bit and has more power and is truly deceitful and nasty. Forged With Blood is a horror story and it really did scare me, it has very imaginative and gruesome scenes and wonderfully creative exorcisms. Mr Lawless paints his demonic characters in such vivid detail that it is like watching a film through words. I truly loved this book and if you like horror and being scared I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this to you. I would like to give this book 5 stars. I just hope that there will be a third instalment because Nelson Kirch I need to read more about you.… (mere)

Dreams of Gray isn't exactly a horror tale, though it incorporates elements of Celtic folklore and brings them forward into modern times and is graphic in some of the descriptions of transformations, it lacks the feeling of suspense or dread that a horror novel imparts. The novel is told in the first person, from the point of view of Dreama "Dree", who wakes up naked in the woods, with a Celtic tattoo on her back and no memory of the night before. The tattoo seems to have effected some changes in her - she's warmer all the time, and the tattoo feels like it burns during times of stress. A visit to her friend's uncle, a tattooist specialising in Celtic artwork, rapidly brings her to the conclusion that there is something deeply wrong with the tattoo. Meanwhile, her body undergoes additional changes, making life ever more embarrassing and complicated.

While the story begins with an interesting use of Celtic folklore, this isn't really developed in a meaningful way. Secondary characters feel ...flat, and not fully fleshed out enough to be believable (both PJ and the boyfriend are involved in Dree's life, but you could remove them from the story and not feel much an absence.) In a lot of ways this felt like an excuse to animalise a woman, write sex scenes, and then have the main character be dominated. In most of the scenes where Dree showed strength, there would be a sense of shame/guilt or she wouldn't have any clear memory of it, as if the only time she has strength is when she is out of control. So I was sort of weirded out by the author's treatment of his main character. Some of the explanations offered are flawed - the forgetting and the remembering in particular felt shaky, as well as some of the animalistic thinking. The story also felt pulled in five directions, leaving a number of things unresolved. Put together with a sequel or conclusion, I'd rate this higher - despite the flaws the story is good, and keeps you reading - but I'd be a happier reader with some fine tuning.

3.5 stars
Review copy received from the author a part of Librarything's Member Giveaway Program.… (mere)