Kirk Warrington

What I really enjoyed about this story is the feeling that anything goes. There were moments where I laughed out loud and parts that made me say to myself: “What the hell!” Most books that you read seem to have a formula to it. A lot of them you can try to predict whats going to happen and in my opinion when you can’t guess what’s going to happen it makes for a good story. I never knew where the story was headed in Wandernaught but it was one fun trip.

I’m not big on fantasy books with the exception of the works of Terry Goodkind. Wandernaught had me wondering if I was missing out on a genre that I looked at as strictly for kids. I was familiar with Kirk Warrington’s Dark Age and wanted to give this one a try and I’m happy that I did.

This story has all the action you can handle and a group of characters that you wouldn’t expect in an action/fantasy novel. The main characters are a mother, father and three kids. None of them are warriors and seeing them trying to escape evil giant trolls and bloodthirsty pirates was suspenseful. The scenes with the trolls were excellent because I saw no way out for the Wandernaught crew. My favorite character was one of the kids named Emmitt. He is a know it all and a bully, but he changes quite a bit in the course of the story. My favorite scene in the book was when the mother named Molly harms Emmitt to save her family and then later on accidentally does something else that shocked me so much that I had to reread the scene.

What made this book great was that I got the impression that the author was wanting to entertain himself first and foremost. I think he was thinking to himself : What would I want to see most in a fantasy novel? The answer is: lots of action, mythological creatures, fantasy worlds that seem unbelievable, excellent evil villains and likable characters that you hope get a happy ending. This is the beginning of a series which has already shown can take you anywhere and that’s what fantasy is all about. Thanks to Kirk Warrington I won’t be looking at the fantasy genre as something that is just for kids. Wandernaught is one heck of a thrill ride.… (mere)

Imagine being trapped in a house with no way to escape. The attic has a satanic altar, there are spiders with eyes on their backs running around, blood is dripping from the walls, paintings and dolls come to life and a phantom stalks the hallways. These are some of the horrors that you will witness in Kirk Warrington's Endless Home.

The story begins with the main character Maya along with her boyfriend Neal, mother Thelma, sister Dawn and friend Leroy trying desperately to escape from the home of satanic serial killer Heston Graves. The windows won't break and the door won't budge. Things get worse for the unwilling house guests as the rooms start to fill with blood and they are forced to escape to the attic, which looks like a place where satanic rituals are performed.

Thinking that they have found safety in the attic, they start to look for a way out again and the wall opens up into a long hallway. The house is unnaturally large, there are doors that go on forever and behind every door knob is a nightmare waiting to be unleashed. Endless Home is like a haunted house on steroids and those trapped inside are going to have to go through hell and back.

One feeling I had while reading Endless Home was that this would make an excellent horror film. The imagery that the author uses is disturbing and you almost feel like your trapped in the house with the victims. There are some great suspenseful scenes in this book. I loved it when Dawn and Maya had to battle a room full of evil dolls and when creatures came out of a painting to stalk the trapped house guests. I constantly had a feeling of unease while reading because I didn't know what was going to attack Maya and the others next.

I also liked the depth of the characters in the story. You find out early on that Maya is pregnant with Neal's baby but she's not sure if she wants the baby or Neal. You felt sorry for her as she deals with everyone influencing her decisions and at the same time I felt mad at her for the way she treats Neal. One scene in particular that I really liked in the book was when it looks like Neal is about to die and Maya finds herself feeling sad, but then she gets mad at herself for feeling that way.

One of the things I didn't like about Endless Home was how all the characters got trapped in the house. I found myself rolling my eyes at the explanation given and I figured there would be more to it later on, but it never came. I would have also liked to hear more about Heston Graves in the story. I felt having a serial killer in the house would have added more suspense to the story but even without him there is a lot of good scares in this book. Endless Home has all the elements that you could want in a horror novel and was a really fun read, I highly recommend it.… (mere)