Rating: 
Summary: Underground Horror into the Mainstream
Review: An Interesting twist on the damned. Highly developed writing style with a unique voice. A definite addition to any Industrial Goths library. I found the book full of action and blood. Seat screamer. Black Death Books seems to be gaining an unprecedented headlong locomotion drive. An Industrial Gothic publisher crashing through the walls of the underground and slamming into the mainstream. This reviewer will keep an eye on this company and it's no nonsense approach to publishing.
Rating: 
Summary: A Waste of Reading Time
Review: Christian owns a thriving gallery, has a beautiful visage, and is wealthy beyond most people's dreams. Yet he is the most miserable being walking the earth. He is a three thousand-year-old demon who has no internal organs except a brain. His body contains uncountable scarabs (beetles), flesh eating bugs that must be feed every night otherwise Scarabus, as he calls himself, knows the pain of the damned.Scarabus was not always like this. Once he was a man who lived and loved in Middle Egypt. The Scarabus cult performed a magical ritual on him, hoping to create a demon they could bind to their will so they can use him to rule upper and lower Egypt. Their plan failed and Scarabus killed all his creators including his own father and father-in-law. Now he walks the earth searching for a way to end his existence and halt the use of his body as a vessel of the scarabae who want to bring him under their control. Scarabus the demon is a monster who killed over two million people in his lifetime but yet readers will not feel contempt towards him as if he was Hitler, Stalin, or Pol Pot. They will pity him for he did not choose his existence, but was betrayed into it by the very people that he thought loved him. His perspective of humanity throughout the ages is fascinating and readers will understand his desire to end his unholy existence. Karen Koehler has written an enthralling, cutting edge novel that will please fans of horror novels. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: cutting edge horror novel
Review: Christian owns a thriving gallery, has a beautiful visage, and is wealthy beyond most people's dreams. Yet he is the most miserable being walking the earth. He is a three thousand-year-old demon who has no internal organs except a brain. His body contains uncountable scarabs (beetles), flesh eating bugs that must be feed every night otherwise Scarabus, as he calls himself, knows the pain of the damned. Scarabus was not always like this. Once he was a man who lived and loved in Middle Egypt. The Scarabus cult performed a magical ritual on him, hoping to create a demon they could bind to their will so they can use him to rule upper and lower Egypt. Their plan failed and Scarabus killed all his creators including his own father and father-in-law. Now he walks the earth searching for a way to end his existence and halt the use of his body as a vessel of the scarabae who want to bring him under their control. Scarabus the demon is a monster who killed over two million people in his lifetime but yet readers will not feel contempt towards him as if he was Hitler, Stalin, or Pol Pot. They will pity him for he did not choose his existence, but was betrayed into it by the very people that he thought loved him. His perspective of humanity throughout the ages is fascinating and readers will understand his desire to end his unholy existence. Karen Koehler has written an enthralling, cutting edge novel that will please fans of horror novels. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Good for Anne Rice fans
Review: Dark, dreamy gothic novel about a young man named Tjanefer who falls under the spell of a sect of evil sorcerers in Ancient Egypt. They manipulate him into murderering the king, then proceed to mummify him alive. Unfortunately, their spells fail and after being transformed into an immortal monster made up entirely of scarab beetles, Tjanefer escapes and seeks revenge on the priests that made him. Half of the novel covers the events leading up to Scarabus' transformation, the other half is set in modern times as Scarabus searches for a cure for himself and tries to help his reincarnated wife remember her past life with him. The story is very lush with detail and reminds me of Anne Rice at the top of her craft. There's elements of The Vampire Lestat, Servant of the Bones and Memnoch the Devil here. Plenty of gothic fare to enjoy. Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Scarabus
Review: I read this book in one day. I wasn't going to review it but I saw the other review and decided I had to set the record straight here. Don't listen to anyone that claim that Scarabus is like Interview with the Vampire. This is MUCH faster paced than Interview. Anne Rice can't condense 3000 years of history into a little over 300 pages. It's much faster than Anne's beatufiul but plodding narrative. And yes, it's very lush. Scarabus is a demon, a scribe and a wanderer. He "lives outside time and space" and he feeds on victims but he's much more than a vampire. Along the way we learn how he was created and how he's survived the centuries. Scarabus has a really great romance inside of it. I only wish more of the story dealt with the relationship between Scarabus and Aneksi/Elspeth/Victoria (she's an avatar, a reborn spirit). Talk about devotion, they've been together for 3000 years! I really thought Scarabus would lose Victoria at the end, and was pleased to learn that Koehler didn't end Scarabus with a downer like she did Slayer. But you'll have to read the book in order to find out what happens to them! I hope Koehler plans on continuing the story. I think there's still a lot to tell about Scarabus and Victoria and I wouldn't mind reading a sequel that tells things from Victoria's perspective. A+
Rating:
Summary: Powerful
Review: I'm totally in the dark as to what the other reviewers who read this book and gave it one star were reading. Maybe it wasn't this book. It doesn't seem so. Scarabus is a really powerful piece of fiction, one of those books when you sit down and open it up, then look up at the bedside clock and realize you should have been asleep hours ago. Except you want to keep going, just to the end of the chapter you're on. The way it moves back and forth between then (Ancient Egypt) and now (Chicago) is highly remiscent of Anne Rice, but that's a great thing if you love Rice, and I do. I'm just getting back into her and have recently picked up Blackwood Farm. I wasn't going to because Memnoch the Devil let me down, but after I finished Scarabus I realized I still had the hunger for historical fiction. I'll probably go back and dive into Blood and Gold soon, having bypassed it because of the reviews. Read Scarabus, then go read Blackwood Farm and see what you think. If you just go by reviews, like I did, you're going to cheat yourself. Koehler's turning into a great sounding board for the work of Anne Rice.
Rating:
Summary: A Waste of Reading Time
Review: It's hard to find a good Gothic novel these days. A friend loaned me Karen Koehler's novel, thinking I might like it. Wrong. Poorly-written is an understatement. There's a reason this book wasn't published by a real (that is, not POD or vanity) publisher - it isn't good enough. Koehler's prose reads like Anne Rice in high school and is, at best, more a caricature of the form than an actual Gothic novel. Save your money.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully written with attitude and sensual flair!
Review: Just received my copy of Scarabus and Slayer. I was floored. I love Koehler and her writing style! I have read almost every book in the Gothic Industrial movement. This book scores a 10 on my scale. I love that Scarabus is a truly original idea. If your gonna read a book why read something where your gonna know whats gonna happen at the next turn. This book kept me on the edge of my seat. From the ultimate sadness and lonelyness that the character feels to his present struggle and dealing with imortality. Scarabus was well shaped and a delight to read. The character was well thought out, with plently of insight and deveopment. The Egyption themes pulled me in. If you love such movies and books like "The Mummy" you'll find this read exciting. To bad the scale only goes to 5 stars. Love the attitude and flair of this book!!! I can't say enough about it. It truly stimulated my senses. RaZoR (...)
Rating:
Summary: A "Mummy" For The New Millennium!
Review: Scarabus isn't Imhotep or Ramses. He's unique unto himself. And
so is author Karen Koehler, who goes from Gothic Punk Vampyres
to Gothic Punk Mummies in this fascinating, fast-paced and just
plain FUN novel! As in Koehler's previous books on The Slayer,
I read this while visualizing a dark Japanese Anime film. All
in all, a wonderful read--get it!
Rating:
Summary: awesome sexy romance
Review: Scarabus rekindled my interest in paranormal romance. It is a romantic horror story set during the golden age of the Egyptian empire. Both sad and strangely uplifting, it made me want to dust off my old manuscript and bring it back to life! Tjenefer is in love with Aneksi but is too poor to wed her. Instead he writes her ballads until the day arrives when his father is murdered at Karnak. Tjenefer goes to investigate and discovers his father was part of a vast cult called the scarabae. Immediately the scarabae capture him and turn into the monstrous Scarabus, a creature part man and part demon, doomed to live forever and survive on the death of others. His wife, his child and his whole family is aliented from him in time. Aneksi, who is Victoria in this lifetime - his reincarnated love throughout time - was truly original, stong but incredibly vulnerable and confused at times. Used by her father, torn by her fear of her centuries-old demon lover. I loved this about her. The chemistry between them was real and their supernatural connection through the centures made sense. They fit together so perfectly/imperfectly the way real lovers do. I look forward to more from this couple, and from what rumors I've heard, Scarabus and Victoria may return in not too long.
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