Monday, September 24, 2012

Review - An Apple for the Creature

An Apple for the Creature
Edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner
Publisher: Ace Books
ISBN: 978-0425256800
Pub. Date: September 4, 2012
Pages: 352

I had kept an eye on my local library's online catalog when An Apple for the Creature would come in and luckily the library actually got a new book on the week that it came out. I rushed over to the library and checked it out. I only wanted to read the new Sookie Stackhouse story, but I ended up reading the entire book.

Playing Possum by Charlaine Harris finds Sookie Stackhouse arriving at her nephew's (Hunter Savoy, who is actually her cousin) classroom with cupcakes to celebrate his birthday. She meets his new teacher Ms. Yarnell, who happens to be a witch! Hunter assists Sookie by going out to her car and getting the rest of the party stuff. The school's secretary’s psycho ex-boyfriend has arrived at the school with a gun. Sookie tells Hunter to return to his classroom and tells his teacher to get the students under their desks. Sookie hopes to stop the madman before anyone gets killed.

The story isn't as boring as other reviewers have stated. Unlike most of the paranormal plots that Sookie gets involved withh, this plot feels real and it could happen to anyone. Plus, we get Sookie and Hunter using their telepathic powers together.

Spellcaster 2.0 by Jonathan Mayberry is a complete bore from start to finish.

Academy Field Trip by Donald Harstad is interesting blend of a police procedural and vampires, but it held down by its slow pacing. It does have a neat little twist at the end.

Sympathy for the Bones by Marforie M. Lu is a creepy tale about a young girl who is kidnapped by a witch and forced to kill people with a voodoo doll. The story is one of the better ones from this anthology.

Low School by Rhys Bowen is about a girl going to a new, weird school. There is nothing "new" about this story. The plot has appeared in countless books and movies.

Callie Meet Happy is by Amber Benson, aka Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where the main character Callie is a grimkeeper and she unleashes a wormwhole in her classroom. I'm not for sure why this story is even in the anthology as it is written more for middle graders than for adults.

Iphienia in Aulis by Mike Carey is a strange story about a little girl at a military/school that is isolated by everyone else. It is a well written story, but it is depressing.

Golden Delicious by Faith Hunter gives a new twist on the werewolf storyline as the main character is a werewolf detective. The story is slow paced, the plot is great, but it doesn't fit in with the other stories.

Magic Tests by Ilona Andrews is set in the Kate Daniels world and involves a missing girl that Julie is searching for. The plot is clichéd, but well written.

An Introduction to Jewish Myth and Mysticism by Steve Hockensmith is a boring and overall just a horrible mess that doesn't go with any of the other stories.

Vampire detectives in training is the main plot of VSI by Nancy Holder, who has written countless Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-ins, is an interesting tale full of romance, mystery and blood. It is one of my favorites from this anthology.

Pirate Dave the Captain's Ghost by Toni L. Pl. Kelner is the second the part of the story that started in the anthology Death Takes a Vacation. I've never read the first part, so I was a little confused about what was going on.

There are a few great stories in An Apple for the Creature and then there are several that should have never been written for this anthology. I'm sure the editors had a great premise about supernatural happenings in a classroom, but I don't think some of the authors understood the theme. I'm glad that I checked the book out at the library instead of buying it.



CymLowell

1 comment:

  1. I didn't realize this was out!! And I love these anthologies by Harris and Kelner!!! Most of the time I just get a kick out of the theme they pick. If you haven't read their other ones... go pick them up!!

    Angie
    Angela's Anxious Life

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