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Hell on Earth

Hell on Earth

List Price: $22.00
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Well, if you want a quick read that isn't too bad
Review: I like horror novels, I like fantasy novels and so I figured I'd give "Hell on Earth" a try. I read this book in a few hours, it's not complex or hard to understand and the print is large. It's a good day at the beach book. "The Stand" it's not.

This isn't a bad book at all, it's entertaining and scary and suspenseful even. The writing is pretty good and I think that a few books down the line could be really good.

The book takes us through the lives of several characters - Colin the mysterious demon hunter, Liz the former tabloid writer who is being stalked by a serial killer and Terry, the bodyguard with a hidden past. Each of their lives becomes connected as they move toward a demonic convergence with apocalyptic proportions.

Amusing, entertaining and an easy read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: awesome!
Review: Michael Reaves just tries too hard. The premise of the book and the first chapter certainly intrigued me, but the rest of the book is just poorly executed. The plot's okay, but always left me with a sense of "Why?". Although multi-character story lines can be very rewarding, here they are just convoluted and muddy the waters. The (merciful) ending of the book was such a amaturish let-down I, truly, drove straight to Good-Will and dropped my copy of the book into the donation bin. If you want books on a very similar theme (I'm sure Reaves was attempting a knock-off), please try the novels of Neil Gaiman. Gaiman is a brilliant writter who pulls off multi-arc biblically-obsessed stories without effort. Do yourself a favor and stay as far away from Hell on Earth as humanly possible.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: *yawn*
Review: Michael Reaves just tries too hard. The premise of the book and the first chapter certainly intrigued me, but the rest of the book is just poorly executed. The plot's okay, but always left me with a sense of "Why?". Although multi-character story lines can be very rewarding, here they are just convoluted and muddy the waters. The (merciful) ending of the book was such a amaturish let-down I, truly, drove straight to Good-Will and dropped my copy of the book into the donation bin. If you want books on a very similar theme (I'm sure Reaves was attempting a knock-off), please try the novels of Neil Gaiman. Gaiman is a brilliant writter who pulls off multi-arc biblically-obsessed stories without effort. Do yourself a favor and stay as far away from Hell on Earth as humanly possible.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very good story!!
Review: Reaves has created an outstanding character in Colin, a modern day sorcerer with a mysterious purpose and an interesting past. The author weaves the fantasy story quite well into our current time period. I'll leave the story synopsis to others, but if you like fantasy or demonology or sorcery, you'll enjoy this book! It moves right along, after a bang up beginning, and comes to a somewhat satisfying conclusion. Leaves you wondering about the circumstances, past and future, of some of the characters, particularly Colin and his interesting past, but that's a good thing. A sequel is a sure thing, and that's a good thing also!!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Define "anticlimax"
Review: The book started out great -- it didn't even lag through the middle! I eagerly flipped the pages until I got to the ending, and when I was done reading that... I threw the book against a wall. This isn't a spoiler, but man! That ending was weak and amateurish. I just hope he uh... comes up with a sequel... because there needs to be some closure to this whole thing...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Generic Horror wannabe
Review: The title and synopsis was enough to make me pick this book up on a slow day, but I quickly discovered that they had little to do with the actual story within. To begin with, the writing style itself is very amateurish, written by someone more focused on the visual medium of TV or film than the more subtle nuances of the page. The moment I read about Colin's black leather motorcycle jacket and ray-ban sunglasses, I knew that literary talent would be in short supply.
One could almost see that Reaves had an entire back story in his head about this character and literary universe of the Shadowdance and black school, but he failed to inform the rest of us what it might be. It was like picking up a novel from the middle of a series and not knowing what is going on.
If anything, this is just a slasher movie on page rather than film, with the same level of character development, dialogue, plot development and, ultimately, originality. Normally I would encourage a writer to continue to improve, but after having written, and shockingly having had published, the number of books Reaves has, I do not see that happening. I would keep away from his work and, if horror is your interest, stick with authors like F. Paul Wilson and H.P. Lovecraft.


Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Review: This is a good, solid read about the supernatural. It won't set the world on fire (Bad pun! Bad!), but it's a very enjoyable book. The author weaves together serial killers, angels who lie, coffee-scoffing demons, nuns with machine guns and much, much more. I picked up this book despite the author's credit for a Star Wars book on the cover (I am not a sci fi fan), but after finishing this book I'll be looking for some of his other supernatural thrillers.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing supernatural thriller!
Review: This is the best fantasy thriller I've read in a long time. It's horror with a touch of fantasy--or fantasy with a touch of horror...but whatever you call it, it's a thrilling, page-a-minute adventure in a world where magic and angels and demons are real, though most of us don't know it. The main character, Colin, is cool and sexy and mysterious; the supporting players come completely alive, so you share their fears and their victories. The angels and demons are particularly interesting, making me want to know a whole lot more about the supernatural world hidden behind our world in this book. Reaves writes with a natural flow and smooth style. I couldn't put this down. I hope there are more books to come about Colin and his mysterious calling. Michael Reaves is definitely an author to watch.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Epic horror fantasy
Review: Three strangers find themselves pawns in a battle between hell and earth: A bodyguard who loses one of his clients to something supernatural. A journalist who finds herself stalked beyond the grave by a serial killer named The Maneater. And a third who has lived his life between three worlds-- Hell, Heaven, and Earth-- and is a practitioner of an ancient art called The Shadowdance. All of them will have to confront two battling demons where the winner takes all. Before it's all over there will be help from above and below. But will they be too late?... Michael Reaves gives us a wild modern-horror-fantasy that is epic in scope, but delivered in a meager 280 pages. Things move in a kind of staccato fashion and with some tongue-in-cheek humor that sometimes hurts the story's credibility. (Even though I laughed out loud a few times.) But the imagination of the author and a rich background that we're only given a glimpse of, makes it worthwhile and hints at more to come. Overall, an engaging and inventive book that I recommend for horror-fantasy fans.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not worth my time
Review: When I read the title and jacket I was very interested. After the shocking first chapter which was pretty gross I was very disappointed. The book was filled with "demonology" terms and was very fustrating. I keep flipping back pages looking for the explainations to terms that were constantly thrown out as if the readers had a B.S in the history of spells and magic. With the exception of the opening chapter and a suprise near the end, the book was very disappointing. To sum it all up. This was the first book about Colin( the main character) but I felt like I was reading a sequel and was totally out of the loop. Too many questions and not enough answers is how I felt when I finished. The door was left open for a sequel but I won't be reading it.


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