Review: PLAYING POSSUM

Playing Possum by Charlaine Harris
Published in the An Apple For The Creature anthology
Book 11.1 short story in the Sookie Stackhouse series
Format: hardback
Genre: adult urban fantasy

About An Apple For The Creature:

Includes a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story!

What could be scarier than the first day of school? How about a crash course in the paranormal from Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, editors of Home Improvement: Undead Edition? Your worst school nightmares—taking that math test you never studied for, finding yourself naked in school assembly, not knowing which door to enter—will pale in comparison to these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to whole new realms.

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris’s story, "Playing Possum," Sookie Stackhouse brings enough birthday cupcakes for her nephew's entire class but finds she's one short when the angry ex-boyfriend of the school secretary shows up.

When her guardian, Kate Daniels, sends her undercover to a school for exceptional children, teenaged Julie learns an all-new definition of "exceptional," in New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews's "Magic Tests."

For those who like fangs with their forensics, New York Times bestselling author Nancy Holder offers "VSI," in which FBI agent Claire is tested as never before in a school for Vampire Scene Investigation.

And in New York Times bestselling author Thomas Sniegoski's "The Bad Hour," Remy Chandler and his dog Marlowe find evil unleashed in an obedience school.

You'll need more than an apple to stave off the creatures in these and nine other stories. Remember your first lesson: resistance is fruitless!

Includes stories by: ILONA ANDREWS, AMBER BENSON, RHYS BOWEN, MIKE CAREY, CHARLAINE HARRIS, DONALD HARSTAD, STEVE HOCKENSMITH, NANCY HOLDER, FAITH HUNTER, TONI L.P. KELNER, MARJORIE LIU, JONATHAN MABERRY, THOMAS SNIEGOSKI

Source: Info in the About An Apple For The Creature was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13543159-an-apple-for-the-creature on 10/10/2012.

My Thoughts:

This tops Sookie's too stupid to live (TSTL) act! You are in a crisis situation with an armed gunman and everything is about to go to hell. You know this because you've read the mind of the perpetrator. You have your car and your car keys. So what do you do? Normally people would opt for survival and head for safety. But, Sookie? Nope, that is too much to ask! She takes her nephew to hide into the middle of the danger zone instead of hopping into the car and heading for safety, i.e., the nearest police station. Don't that beats it all!?! This is the book which made me stop buying this series.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story Telling Quality = 3
World Building = 3
Character Development = 0.5
Plot = 0
Pace = 3
Story Itself = 0
Ending = 0

Overall Rating: 1 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Sookie Stackhouse series:

Review: MAGIC TESTS

Magic Tests by Ilona Andrews
Published in the An Apple For The Creature anthology
Book 5.1 of the Kate Daniels series
Genre: urban fantasy

About An Apple For The Creature:

Includes a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story!

What could be scarier than the first day of school? How about a crash course in the paranormal from Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, editors of Home Improvement: Undead Edition? Your worst school nightmares—taking that math test you never studied for, finding yourself naked in school assembly, not knowing which door to enter—will pale in comparison to these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to whole new realms.

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris’s story, "Playing Possum," Sookie Stackhouse brings enough birthday cupcakes for her nephew's entire class but finds she's one short when the angry ex-boyfriend of the school secretary shows up.

When her guardian, Kate Daniels, sends her undercover to a school for exceptional children, teenaged Julie learns an all-new definition of "exceptional," in New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews's "Magic Tests."

For those who like fangs with their forensics, New York Times bestselling author Nancy Holder offers "VSI," in which FBI agent Claire is tested as never before in a school for Vampire Scene Investigation.

And in New York Times bestselling author Thomas Sniegoski's "The Bad Hour," Remy Chandler and his dog Marlowe find evil unleashed in an obedience school.

You'll need more than an apple to stave off the creatures in these and nine other stories. Remember your first lesson: resistance is fruitless!

Includes stories by: ILONA ANDREWS, AMBER BENSON, RHYS BOWEN, MIKE CAREY, CHARLAINE HARRIS, DONALD HARSTAD, STEVE HOCKENSMITH, NANCY HOLDER, FAITH HUNTER, TONI L.P. KELNER, MARJORIE LIU, JONATHAN MABERRY, THOMAS SNIEGOSKI

Source: Info in the About An Apple For The Creature was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13543159-an-apple-for-the-creature on 10/10/2012.

"Parenting, kick-ass Kate Daniels style."

My Thoughts:

Magic Tests is a short story in the Kate Daniels series featuring the experiences of Julie, Kate's adopted daughter. The story is also narrated from Julie's point of view (POV). It is very short and doesn't have much room for a lot of things, so the world building in the story is minimalist. So minimal that a lot of the readers who are not familiar in this world would miss a lot of the subtle nuances in the story. So this story is solely for old Kate Daniels followers. Even if this is a short novella, I still have to admire Ilona Andrews for thier ability to create a solid plot and good story building! I believe this to be one of the main reasons why I found this novella a very enjoyable read! More than any other story in the anthology. And this is a short story right? Plus, factor in the fact that the story telling quality is very very good... which makes this story feel like a one-minute read. Pace-wise? Very quick indeed! But please keep in mind that I am not un-biased, I am an old Ilona Andrews die-hard fan.

For this story alone, I would say that this anthology was worth buying for.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story Telling Quality = 5
World Building = 3
Character Development = 4
Plot = 4.5
Pace = 5
Story Itself = 5
Ending = 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Kate Daniels Series:

Review: CLICK CLACK THE RATTLEBAG

Click Clack The Rattlebag by Neil Gaiman
Read by Neil Gaiman
Genre: middlegrade short story freebie for charity
Format: audiobook

About Click Clack The Rattlebag:

"Click-Clack the Rattlebag" is your Halloween treat from Neil Gaiman and Audible, FREE through October 31. It's not available anywhere else, and for a limited time, each download from Audible benefits educational charities at BookTrust.org.

A few words from Neil: "Why tell ghost stories? Why read them or listen to them? Why take such pleasure in tales that have no purpose but, comfortably, to scare?

"I don't know. Not really. It goes way back. We have ghost stories from ancient Egypt, after all, ghost stories in the Bible, classical ghost stories from Rome (along with werewolves, cases of demonic possession, and of course, over and over, witches). We have been telling each other tales of otherness, of life beyond the grave, for a long time; stories that prickle the flesh and make the shadows deeper and, most important, remind us that we live, and that there is something special, something unique and remarkable, about the state of being alive. Happy Halloween!"

"'What kind of story would you like me to tell you?' 'Well,' he said, thoughtfully, 'I don't think it should be too scary, because then when I go up to bed, I will just be thinking about monsters the whole time. But if it isn't just a little bit scary, then I won't be interested. And you make up scary stories, don't you?'"

So begins this subtle, witty, deceptive little tale from master storyteller Neil Gaiman. Lock the doors, turn off the lights, and enjoy!

©2012 Neil Gaiman (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Source: Info in the About Click Clack The Rattlebag was taken from http://www.audible.co.uk/pd?asin=B009VHO11W on 02/11/2012.

My Thoughts:

First I would like to thank Tales Of Whimsy for giving me the heads-up about this freebie short story for charity! Next I would also like to thank Neil Gaiman for giving away his talent for free for a good cause! And for that alone I would have listened and downloaded this audiobook. And for a freebie it wasn't bad at all! However the biggest merit of this book is the fact that it is for charity! The next bestest thing about it is Neil Gaiman's narration. Heck! If he ever wants to moonlight as a narrator I think he would be raking in the money. He's good! And so I enjoyed listening to this little audiobook and would recommend to everybody to download it too!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries