Christian authors Shelley Shepard Gray, Patrica Johns, and Virginia Wise have come together to bring us a new anthology - An Amish Second Christmas. Published by Kensington Books, the book features three romantic tales:

Their Second Chance

by Shelley Shepard Gray

New York Bestselling Author

There's no way a relationship between Amish nanny Hannah Eicher and the handsome English fireman could overcome her family's objections—and their personal differences. But when she saves her from a sudden blaze, Hannah longs to see if they can turn holiday hope into a lifetime of happiness.

His Amish Angel

by Patricia Johns

As advice columnist "Miss Amish," outspoken Maggie Lapp helps Amish and English with their romantic problems. When her tradition-minded former fiance accidentally reveals her secret, she'll need more than a miracle to make things right—and find a perfect love for all the Christmases to come . . .

An Heirloom Christmas

by Virginia Wise

Rachel Miller won't let her disability keep her from being independent. She certainly doesn't need reckless Joseph Webber working at her greenhouse—and their surprising holiday partnership might just blossom into forever joy.

There are many book bloggers who'll crank out a review as soon as they finished reading the final pages of whatever they're reading. Well, that's not me! I tend to reflect on what I've just read. If I'm not emotionally connected to the story, then I'll write my review within a few days. However, if I am emotionally connected, it takes me a bit longer to gather up my final thoughts.

I finished reading The Institute by Stephen King nearly a month ago and it's one of those reads I needed to sit on before talking about.

The Institute is a mix of Carrie and Firestarter, and centers around Luke Ellis, a bright young boy who's taken from his suburban Minneapolis home in the middle of night and wakes up at the Institute in a room that closely resembles his own. It seems a government organization is experimenting on children with telekinesis and telepathy and Luke happens to be one of them.

Along with the other kids, Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris and Avery, in the Front Half, Luke tries his best to play by the rules which are set by the sinister Institution's director, Mrs. Sigsby. However, one by one, each kid is moved to the Black Half and are never seen again. To save himself, as well as Avery, the youngest of the group, Luke must find away to escape this hell.

Final Thoughts

AMAZON

Yeah, I know what you're thinking - "Why is Billy featuring a Back to School Reads!" post in November?

Well, that's a great question and I do have an explanation for it. I had requested a review copy from the publisher prior to the book's release date, which was Sept. 9th. I never received a reply from the publisher. Due to my past experiences with publishers, I just naturally assumed there were no review copies available. It was a not big deal to me as I'm a James Paterson fan so I would eventually buy the book anyway. However, the publisher did send me an uncorrected proof copy in early October. By that point in time, I was a little busy getting ready for my 13 Reads of Horror! event, so I pushed the review for this title until the beginning of November.

Max Einstein: Rebels With A Cause (Jimmy Patterson; 336 pages; $14.99) is the sequel to last year's Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment, which both are co-written by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein with illustrations by Beverly Johnson. It's the first children book series to be official authorized by the Albert Einstein Archives.

Max Einstein is a twelve-year-old genius orphan who used her hacking abilities to enroll herself into college. How did she get the last name Einstein? She's a huge Albert Ein­stein fan and is constantly referring to his theories. She even imagines having conversations with him. To make a long story short, Max is recruited by the Change Mak­ers Insti­tute, an organization with a headquarters in Jerusalem, who collect the best young intelligent minds from around the globe in the effort of making the world a better place. And then there's the evil Dr. Zimm, who will do anything he can to persuade Max into joining his "Corporation" so he can use her mind to wreck havoc upon mankind.

Rebels With A Cause centers around Max and her young genius pals going on a quest to fix a water crises in India and Ireland. Max is always up for finding a solution to any problem but she might be a little bit over her head this time as her nemesis, Dr. Zimm has a kidnapping scheme up his sleeve.

Final Thoughts

It should be no shock to anyone that I'm featuring the Halloween II novelization as my 13th and final review of 2019's 13 Reads of Horror! as my favorite movie of all-time is the original 1978 classic slasher John Carpenter's Halloween.

Halloween II, directed by Rick Rosenthal based on a screenplay by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, was released to theatres on October 30, 1981, which I was just short of being two-months-old at the time. I wouldn't go on to watch the movie until I was seven-years-old. Nice babysitting, Grandma!

Like many other films in the 1980s, Halloween II received a novelization written by Dennis Etchison under the pseudonym Jack Martin and published by Kensington Books, featuring several black & white pictures from the movie. Unlike 1979's novelization of 1978's Halloween written by Curtis Richard (which attempted to explain why Michael Myers kills), Halloween II stays pretty close to sequel's screenplay.

Halloween II has a short introduction to set up the"Halloween" atmosphere. Then first chapter shows shows Dr. Loomis scaring Lonnie and his pals near the Myers home (from the first movie), followed directly with Dr. Loomis running into Tommy Doyle and Lindsay Wallace (a.k.a. the two little kids from Halloween). Then Dr. Loomis saves Laurie Strode by shooting Michael Myers six times.

Laurie is sent to Haddionfield Memorial Hospitial. Dr. Loomis goes a bit nuts on his quest to hunt down and kill the Boogeyman. Meanwhile, Michael gets a new knife and heads to the hospital to continue his killing spree.

Final Thoughts

Whenever I run across a book with a jack-o-lantern on the cover, there's a really good chance I will buy it. That pretty much sums up how I got my hands on the 1992 horror novel Hell-O-Ween by David Robbins.

When I write reviews, I typically do a little research on the authors if I'm not already familiar with their writings. To my shock, I learned David Robbins has written many westerns under several pen names, including Ralph Compton, David Thompson, and Jon Sharpe. More than likely I have probably read one or two of his westerns. David has always written several other horror novels, including Prank Night and The Wraith.

Hell-O-Ween centers around eight high school students going into the "Caverna del Diablo" (a.k.a. The Cavern of the Devil) late at night to play a cruel trick on the class nerd. However, things go horribly wrong and six of the eight teenagers are murdered by 7' tall nude demons.

Final Thoughts