Book Review! Author: Chris Dougherty

Y'all, I'm friends with a lot of authors...and I've done them an accidental disservice by not publicly reviewing earlier! 

I'm slowly attempting to remedy that. Patience grasshoppers. (Why are you bugs? Gross) 

NEXT UP is Chris Dougherty. We have been Facebook friends for quite some time. Like, back from my Beachbody days. Back before Sarcastic Parenting even existed. 

​From the Amazon Author page: Chris Dougherty lives at the edge of the Pine Barrens in rural south Jersey. An award-winning author of more than a dozen novels and numerous short stories, Chris writes primarily in the genres of horror, thriller, sci-fi, and paranormal. 

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Faith was three the first time her twin sister died. 
The second time, she was ten. 

Faith and her twin sister depended only on each other, bonding deeply through telepathy in the midst of their tumultuous childhood, but when her twin dies, Faith becomes a shut-in, deciding to ignore the world that seems to have no place for her even as she ignores the odd form and contours of her newly developing body. 
Lotte, the mysterious woman who takes over the care of Faith, eventually coerces her back into the world and that is when Faith meets Joe, the proprietor of Jungle Joe’s, who alludes to a peculiar past that includes himself, Lotte, and Faith’s grandparents. 
When Faith gets an accidental glimpse her twin sister, her unsteadily assembled world is turned upside down and Faith is forced onto a path to discover where her sister is and in the process finds out just who (and what) she is herself.

This was the first Chris Dougherty book I read...and I was drawn in by the first few lines of the description. What do you MEAN her sister died twice? How does that happen? I had to know. 

I read this a long time ago so a lot of the details escape me...but I do remember being unable to put it down and raving about it on Chris's Facebook wall the second I finished. If you want a good standalone sci-fi style book...pick this one up. 

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​Could the Devil, Himself be our ultimate hero? 

This is the brutally told story of how the Devil, after countless millennia of strictly doing God’s will of punishing sinners in Hell, decides to lay down a Judgment of his own. 

Compelled by the horrific case of a young mother who murdered her child and the lawyer who gets her set free, the Devil comes to Earth seeking justice. Lesser Demons, Patron Saints, and seemingly, God, Himself, conspire against him and then, the biggest complication of all: he meets Kelly, and the Devil, Himself falls in love. 

But is Kelly, herself more than she seems?

Trigger warning for this book: Child Murder

I remember this being heart-wrenching at times. I remember loving this book till the bitter end though.

I'll tell you it's worth it and another good standalone horror book. It's terrifying and beautiful at the same time. This isn't one to miss. 

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Blood Run – First Promise 
It is 1985 and the United States is reeling from a disease that has taken huge, bloody bites out of the country as people are changed into vampires. The survivors have grouped together in remote outposts and the National Guard is the lifeline that runs between the outposts, bringing news and supplies. 
In Wereburg, New York, a young woman named Destiny Riser has lost her parents in the plague but saved her little brother, Chance. But the outpost she brings him to is still young and learning and in an accident of fate, it is ravaged by vampires. Destiny sees her brother bit and changed and from that moment on, rechristens herself ‘Promise’ and vows to release Chance from his nightmare, nighttime existence. 

This was another one of those books I gave a side-eye too when I first downloaded it...because vampires. 

I ended up thoroughly enjoying this series. It's an interesting take on vampires and they do. not. sparkle. *celebration*

The ONLY issue with reading these back to back is having to skip the exposition during the latter books. Sort of like having "previously on" when you've been binge-watching a show. "Yes, I know what happened. I need more story!!" 

The heroine is well written. She seems older and acts older but does show her age at times, especially when she's emotional. It's wonderfully done. The connection did happen a bit fast for my taste but it made sense in the story. 

Chris has a Facebook page and I, of course, urge you to head on over and check it out! 
There are LOTS MORE BOOKS by this author! Be sure and check out the Amazon Author page linked above and finding something you enjoy. Read something by this author not included here? Write up a guest post and we'll work something out!