Slapdash & Sundry

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Review: An Ordinary Sort of Evil

An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's/Minotaur for the pre-release copy of An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong. Below is my honest review.

This is definitely one of my favorite entries in the series thus far! I loved the mystery, I actually didn't guess the solution, I enjoyed the case-related characters (especially Art), and I absolutely adored the development of our main characters and their relationships.

If you haven't read this series and you're a mystery fan, you should definitely pick this series up. Start now before it gets even longer and you're behind that much more!

If you're a fan of time travel or things like Outlander or The Chronicles of St. Mary's, you're probably going to enjoy this series.

Five stars, highly recommended.

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Review: The Dorians

The Dorians by Nick Cutter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for the pre-release copy of Nick Cutter's The Dorians. Below is my honest review.

What a ride! I really enjoyed this one by Nick Cutter, my first by him but not my last, mostly because I really cared about (some of) the characters and was hoping for something happier for them. It's hard to hope when the book literally starts with them on the verge of death!

But what happens when someone without the maturity or social awareness or ethical foundation decides to play god and mix the dna of some creatures/plants that defy aging? Nothing good or happy, let me tell you that much!

This one would make a great movie, especially in today's CGI age where they could cast a younger group and age them up for the beginning part.

Highly recommended, five stars - mostly for horror/thriller/sci-fi fans.

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Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Review: A Parade of Horribles

A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the pre-release copy of A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman. Below is my honest review.

WHAT A RIDE (literally)!

This one takes place on two floors of the dungeon, floors ten and eleven. Ten is like Wacky Races, the old Hanna Barbera cartoon, but with death and destruction and dismemberment and disgusting things. Our crawler fam find themselves on random mounts/vehicles, racing through weird places, hoping to avoid awful deaths, all while working through quests and storylines that the AI has been setting up all along AND attempting to rescue as many sentient beings from the dungeon as possible.

I won't spoil how that turns out, but then comes the Parade of Horribles, also known as floor eleven, and a weird little reenactment of past events and the crazed AI's pontificating... followed by an Arena where CHAOS HAPPENS, of course.

And of course, the way our faves get themselves out of messes is wildly entertaining... and leaves me ready for the next installment and really dreading the long wait.

Five stars, highly recommended for DCC fans, fans of talking cats, and fans of silly fun extremely ridiculous awesome LitRPGs. But do yourself the favor and start at book one if you haven't read them all!

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Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Review: Archangel's Eternity

Archangel's Eternity by Nalini Singh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the pre-release copy of Archangel's Eternity by Nalini Singh. Below is my honest review.

So I'm torn on this one. It was a great tie-up to a fantastic series. It gave us reunions, rebirths, new births, updates, new matchups, etc. But it didn't really have a plot. It literally felt like a giant epilogue to the series, rather than its own separate installment. Lots of loose ends tied up. Lots of happy moments. Lots of setting up a long-term joy for almost all the characters. But no plot, no story thread that made it its own novel.

This is definitely a good one if you're a fan of the series. In fact, it's mandatory. You must read this and enjoy reaping the benefits of 17 prior books of fight, struggle, danger, war, and overcoming obstacles. But just be prepared going in for the fact that it's an epilogue. Knowing this, you'll enjoy it much more.

Four stars - one star off for not really having a plot, but the other four for being a perfect epilogue to a grand series.

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Review: The Masked Truth

The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Tundra Books for the pre-release copy of The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong. Below is my honest review.

I'm so happy I was able to snag an ARC of this updated rerelease of The Masked Truth. It's one of Kelley Armstrong's YA books that I hadn't been able to get my hands on yet, so I was super excited to have the chance to read it.

I really enjoyed it. The danger definitely felt real for the characters as they were trying to find a way out of the locked building, full of gunmen. The you-know-what definitely hit the fan. The stakes were high, the losses were many, and the plot got more and more tangled as the story went along - in a good way.

The resolution was brutal. The explanation was devestating. But there was still hope.

The characters, at least Riley and Max, were really fleshed out and had depth, and I appreciated following the story in both of their minds. Armstrong handled a delicate subject and representation with grace and aplomb.

Definitely recommended, especially for Armstrong fans. Four stars.

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Review: I Know a Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours

I Know a Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours by Nat Cassidy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Shortwave for the prerelease copy of I Know a Place by Nat Cassidy. Below is my honest review.

Nat Cassidy is a new to me author, but I've heard so many of my current favorite horror authors talk about him and his work, so I was aware of him. When I saw this available on Netgalley, I knew it would be a good start to figuring out if his work was for me - multiple stories showing multiple aspects of his style and wit.

This one knocked it out of the park. The collection starts with Rest Stop, which was brutal and compelling and hard to put down. It should totally be a movie! The rest of the stories then kept me going deep into the night, with some favorites being The Art of What You Want, Come, and Laughlines. But overall, they were all strong stories, and it looks like by TBR will be growing, thanks to adding the rest of his works.

5 stars, highly recommended for horror and thriller fans.

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