Monday, May 3, 2010

Karen Wiesner, Woodcutter's Grim Series, Classis Tales Of Horror Retold, Volume One

Title: Woodcutter's Grim Series--Classic Tales of Horror Retold, Volume I

Author: Karen Wiesner

Rating: Four And A Half Stones

Genre(s): Romantic, Paranormal, Horror; Novella Collection

Keywords: Romance, Romantic Paranormal, Romantic Horror, Novella, Time Travel, Collection

Page count: 357 pages

ISBN for Print: 978-1-60313-256-5

ISBN for E-Book: 978-1-60313-257-2

Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press

Buy link: http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/fiction6.html

Author Website: http://www.karenwiesner.com

For the ten generations since the evil first came to Woodcutter’s Grim, the Guardians have sworn an oath to protect the town from the childhood horrors that lurk in the black woods. Without them, the town would be defenseless…and the terrors would escape to the world at large.

Reviewer: Trent Kinsey

Summary/Blurb(s):

Papa (Book 1)
(Originally published in Shadows in the Heart, A Jewels of the Quill Halloween Anthology, Copyright September 2007)


A wickedly horrifying rendering of the classic children’s story “Hansel and Gretel”, in which modern revenge is served up sweet...

Less than a year after Randall Park left his family for elementary school teacher, Amy, the unthinkable happens—his ex-wife and two children are killed in a car accident. Ever since the accident, Amy has had terrible nightmares in which Rand’s son and daughter return to exact revenge on their father and Amy herself (the wicked step-mother) for abandoning them. When Rand convinces her to come away with him for a healing respite to an isolated cabin in the woods, Amy’s guilt-filled nightmares turn into pure horror.

Blood of Amethyst (Book 2)


A blood-curdling answer as to why the childhood-nightmare creature Rumpelstiltskin so wanted a child of his own...

Amethyst Phillip’s father—her only family—disappears in Woodcutter Grim’s evil woods. Town Sheriff and Guardian Gabe Reece sends out a search party and eventually they find the body, completely drained of blood. A devastated Amethyst refuses to do anything but carry on all by herself in the isolated area she grew up.

But something strange is happening, and Gabe realizes it every time he drops by to check on the woman who’s held his heart for long years. She’s grown pale, cold. She’s sleeping all the time, waking only in the night, when her taste for blood overwhelms her. Then Gabe becomes aware that something in the woods is calling to her, something that’s stealing her life...

Gabe will face his deadliest foe yet when the woman he loves falls prey to a nameless creature who wants her very soul.

Dancing to the Grave (Book 3)


Exclusive to this volume! Never before published!

Loosely based on “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.” The children of Woodcutter’s Grim are changing...and only one person, music teacher Diana Anders, realizes the truth. Can she and her husband, Kurt Jones, a member of the ancient lineage of the Protectorate’s Chosen Seven, save them and the future of their town?

The Amethyst Tower (The Final Chapter)


Exclusive to this volume! Never before published!

Loosely based on “Rapunzel.” The isolated maiden meets her knight in a time-traveler who’s come into the future to rescue her from the Warlock Lord holding her captive in the amethyst tower. Where else but in the fairy-tale-horror town of Woodcutter’s Grim?

Review:


There's a town somewhere in America where evil lurks. Escaping through a portal in time, the darkness torments the town of Woodcutter's Grim by performing acts of mischief and harm by warping those fairy tales most of us grew up reading and enjoying. But, though the townspeople feel this evil in their being, the Protectorate works tirelessly to keep the evil behind the scenes. It is up to them to protect the people from the evil as well as figure out what mischief is being conducted.

Getting right to the point: This is a must read! Being one of those people, who've grown up on fairy tales such as Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin and the likes, I found it so very intriguing how the author not only reminds the readers of past tales, but incorporates the same look, feel and even more emotion for a modern-day audience with a very modern approach to each.

This is not a story for kids! There is love, romance and steamy scenes that play so well into these stories. I loved the characters and how each played into the overall story, how each story played into the overall book. Karen Wiesner has taken me for a ride into her world and I have to admit, I was saddened to leave Woodcutter's Grim when I finished the book. Karen made my blood boil, my nerves fray and even more importantly, my heart ached for her characters.

Though I noticed a few minor errors in this book, I would suggest all read this as soon as possible. By all means, sit in your favorite chair on a nice night and let Karen take you for a ride! This is one of those books I would love to have in hard cover, sitting on my bookshelf to pull out at any time to sit and enjoy.

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