More marvellous plaudits

8th June 20198th June 2019 Jay Raven

I’m thrilled to say that Day 2 of the Game of Crones blog tour has produced a crop of great feedback.

Radzy Writes and Reviews commented: “Every short story in this collection has that out of the box twist, and never once reaches a weird, unrealistic place. I found the stories satisfying and uplifting when I didn’t realise.

Fans of great endings will be very happy with this book, as will fans of fantasy, medieval, steampunk, and the like. It ticks all the boxes for me, and I’ll be checking out more of Raven’s work ASAP.”

Jazzy Book Reviews wrote: “I think my favorite story out of them all was the one involving the scarecrow. That one was pretty horrifying, but that might be because I have a thing with scarecrows. They’re ridiculously creepy.

All of the stories were entertaining and amusing, though. I enjoyed that most, if not all, had a revenge aspect to them. Never cross a witch, that’s for sure.

If you’re a fan of short stories, horror, witches, or all of the above, then you’ll want to grab a copy of Game of Crones. I’d recommend it. 4 stars!”

And Mai’s Musings reported: “Game of Crones is filled with vivid imagery, with the author painting such a clear image of the landscape surrounding each story that you could actually feel that you were there. Achieving this at the same time as creating characters that you really cared about in each story in so few words is a true talent, and one that I wished I possessed.

“Game of Crones is a book that I would definitely recommend both to people who wouldn’t normally read short stories, and also to those who normally avoid the creepier books. This book is a great introduction to both, and is a great showcase of the author’s writing skills.”

Wow – many sincere thanks to the reviewers who took the time to give their thoughts on the collection. I really appreciate it. More reviews tomorrow…

Crimson Siege blog tour – day 2 and more plaudits.

18th August 201819th August 2018 Jay Raven

Great day on Friday (the second day of the week-long blog tour organised by Rachel’s Random Resources). Two bloggers reviewed Crimson Siege and gave it a huge thumbs up.

Jess at Jess Bookish Life wrote:

“With Crimson Siege, Jay Raven gives us a book full of excitement, action, horror, vampires and crazy moments that I can’t even describe because the book was so good.

It was so different from all the other vampire books I have read, and that made it refreshing to me. It’s that Gothic vibe that I quite enjoy in a vampire book with that touch or horror that just makes it scary and unexpected. And it made me remember the first time I read Dracula, and how wowed I was about it.”

To read her review in full, please click HERE.

As well as her kind words, she shot this marvellous picture. I love it.

Meanwhile, on Birdie’s Bibliotheca, Birdie wrote a very considered appraisal:

“This book was slow for me to get into. I think it was just me, though, because as I got into the meat of it…I fell in love. Vampire books are pretty common, but rarely do I find one where there is no clear good guy/bad guy. Vampires are either good guys (ethically taking blood without death) or bad guys (psychopathic killers). Jay Raven manages to make all the characters in his book human. NOBODY is perfect and everybody has a history.”

She goes on: ” The whole thing reads as literature and not popular fiction, delving deep and depending on personal conflict to move the story along. The tone is reminiscent of some of my favorite Russians.”

Wow! Praise indeed.

Read the full review HERE.

MORE NEWS

The other great thing that happened yesterday – although not directly linked to the blog tour – was that I featured in a fun, fast paced, Meet The Author slot on the Black Books Blog site. Many thanks to Simon for organising this.

Check it out HERE to find out why I’d love to have dinner with Mrs Beeton, where I get inspiration for my chilling historical horror novels, and what surprising career I’d be following if I couldn’t be an author.

Tale of terror takes to the road

15th August 201815th August 2018 Jay Raven

There’s a big seven days coming up for me and I’m inviting you to share in the excitement and the tension. Starting tomorrow (Thursday August 16) Crimson Siege – my Gothic horror novel of blood, vengeance and treachery – is being showcased on a 21-stop tour of top book blogging websites.

Every day for a week, three bloggers will be putting the first Blood Riders supernatural thriller under the microscope and sharing their opinions with their readers. And I’m hoping they’re going to love it.

And you’ll be able to find out what they think because each day I’ll be putting excerpts from the previous day’s reviews on this blog so you can get a flavour of what the bloggers are saying – and how kindly or cruelly! And I’ll include links to their websites so you can read the critiques in full.

The idea of the mass reviewing event is to give my work more visibility – bringing it to the attention of horror fans who might (surprising!) not have heard of me yet. So please feel free to share the reviews on your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

The tour is being organised by Rachel’s Random Resources and I’m hugely grateful for all the work that’s gone into organising it – and for this special tour banner below.

Don’t forget, pop over here every day to see the latest verdicts. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it’s a 5-star triumph.

Fancy getting free horror books?

7th August 201819th August 2018 Jay Raven

Want to read the very best in Gothic horror and historical chillers – and not have it cost you a single penny?

I’m currently recruiting additional members to bolster my wonderful Advance Review Copy team. Could it be you? You’ll be able to download my latest books for free – weeks before they are released. All I ask in exchange is that you leave an honest online review.

Whether it’s vampire thrillers, tales of sorcery or terrifying werewolf novels, you’ll know you’ll be one of the first to enjoy it and that your review will be helping make the launch a success.

Being an ARC member is fun and there’s no pressure. You won’t be rushed – you’ll have plenty of time to read the book before publication (or the date of any special promotion for already published titles).

And you can be as candid as you like in your review. It’s your true opinion I want you to share with my fans. It doesn’t matter if you don’t feel a title deserves 5-stars. Amazon decides on how much visibility and promotion to give a new title based on how many reviews it garners, not how many plaudits.

Tag: reviews