Carnage by Sandra R Neeley – A Book Review

Posted July 27, 2019 by Booksandblurbs in PNR, Reviews / 0 Comments

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Carnage

(Whispers From the Bayou – Book 1)

by Sandra R. Neeley
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

PNR, Stand Alone within Series
Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Down and Dirty

An interesting story that seems to set the stage for the rest of the Bayou, history, purpose, etc, though it is a complete tale in and of itself. Free on Kindle Unlimited.

What is it about?

Raised by a father who curses the day she was born, Carolena finds herself in the swamps of south Louisiana under the guise of overseeing her father’s investments. In truth, she is making every attempt to avoid a forced marriage to a man chosen by her father.

Determination… and fate… land Carolena in the hands of a local backwoods family with ill intent. The eldest brother has decided to marry her in order to improve his lot in life, and if his brothers get a taste? Well, family shares, right?

It’s a fate worse than the machinations of her father, and one Carolena will brave the bug infested swamps to escape. Fleeing in the night, she trudges through the marsh… and runs headlong into a creature of myth, legend and nightmares.

A creature that has been watching her. And wants her for his own.

Thoughts on Carnage

This was a cute little story, rather like a beauty and the beast retelling with some twists.

A gargoyle, well… a few gargoyles, though only one is a love interest. Add in a vampire, an ancient and a shrouded settlement hidden from human eyes, then mix in said human and watch havoc ensue. It’s kinda fun, even if much of it makes little sense. I mean, the romance? It’s lacking. For most of the book Carnage isn’t even around Carolena, and then there is that language barrier that NO ONE attempts to solve!

Another thing? Editing!!! This needs to be gone over and culled… and it really, really needs paragraphs! Seriously, some of the run-on paragraphs are actually pages and there are far too many POV switches without preamble or separation. You will be in Carolene’s mind in one paragraph, then two lines later you may be looking through Carnage’s eyes, or Lore’s. It’s disorienting and took away from what could truly have been a fantastic tale.

I gave it a 3.5, despite the editing issues, because the foundation of the narrative is solid. There really is a decent story hidden amongst the ramblings, yet it feels like a future story… one that is still waiting to be told. This one just sets the stage.