Knife Fight and Other Struggles (David Nickle)

Synopsis:
A young man at loose ends finds he cannot look away from his new lover's alien gaze.
A young woman out of time seeks her old lover in the cold spaces between the stars. The fleeing worshippers of an ancient and jealous deity seek solace in an unsuspecting New World congregation.
In a suburban nursery, a demon with a grudge and a lonely exorcist face off for what could be the last time.
And when a big city mayor who delineates his mandate by the slash of a blade faces an unexpected challenger, it turns into a struggle that threatens to consume everything.
In Knife Fight and Other Struggles, David Nickle follows his award-winning debut collection Monstrous Affections with a new set of dark tales that span space, time, and genre.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review. 
If you're thinking of reading this book, just prepare for a serious roller coaster of horrifying stories.
In the beginning, there's an introduction by Peter Watts that really sets the tone for the whole book. In it, Watts explains right from the start that the short stories in this book aren't exactly straight-up horror... and he's entirely right! They would be less terrifying if they were. They are the kind of horror that crawls under your skin and just lingers, keeping you up at night thinking about them. All of them cast a new light on things and really give you another perspective to look at reality, and that terrified me most of all. They are bold and fast and rude and don't leave you indifferent. Every one of them gave me something to think about and really meditate on what I would do if I ever found myself in those situations, and let me tell you that some of them were completely insane and crazy!
My favourite stories have to be 'The Nothing Book of the Dead' and 'Drakeela Must Die', which were also the two shortest stories. I really wanted more and if the author ever writes a full book based on those two (doubtful, but one can dream) I will read them for sure!
Also, at the very end we get a prelude to 'Volk', a book that is coming out in 2016 and that I will get my hands on as soon as possible! That story, entitled 'Orlok' said everything it wanted, leaving us there believing that all of that actually happened. Again, what a fearless and thought provoking piece of literature.
I highly recommend this book if you like being shocked and provoked with every turn of a page. Just read it, but know what you're getting into, because you won't be able to forget about it anytime soon!

The Field (Ed Brisson, Simon Roy - Illustrations)

Synopsis:
An underwear-clad amnesiac; an ex-bible salesman on a meth induced murder spree; a seedy biker gang on a revenge mission; and a group of cosplayers out to save the world.
What more do you need to know?
Collects The Field #1-4, and includes never-before-seen extras, including extra comics.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review. 
Wow... This is my next favourite thing!
First of all, this was such a badass book. It messes with your head in ways you can't even imagine, so beware when you're going into it. To be honest , it's like waking up from a horrific nightmare you never want to see become reality, but that you think is a great idea for a book: this was it!
It was just so gory and violent and I absolutely fell in love with it from the very beginning... so much blood and death and unanswered questions: right up mu alley!
I was so hooked: I couldn't figure out what story to believe in, who I could trust and by the end I still couldn't figure that out.
The art, the colors, the plot, the way it was conceived, you could tell this guys know what they are doing... such a rich story and I wanted it to go on forever, but I also desperately wanted to know how this would wrap up!
That ending left me there not knowing what to do... I need to read more by the authors, like, right now.
Then, after 'The Field' itself, we were presented with some extras, and we got to find out how this story came to be and the process of doing the actual comics, which I think it's fascinating.
After all this, I can only assure you I will definitely be buying the physical copy as soon as I get a chance to do so!

Stuff You Should Know About Stuff: How to Properly Behave in Certain Situations (Tripp Crosby, Tyler Stanton)

Release Date: November 4th 2014 

Synopsis:
Do you know how to properly conduct yourself in a public restroom? What about while in the midst of a profoundly awkward silence? Have you perfected how to get out of helping your friend move?
If you answered no to those questions, then you need Stuff You Should Know About Stuff, the book that future anthropologists will no doubt call "the Rosetta Stone of handling trivial life situations."
From the guys who created the viral videos “Sh*t Nobody Says” and “Things You Can't Do When You’re Not in a Pool," Tripp and Tyler bring you the written word in Stuff You Should Know About Stuff, a guide instructing you how to navigate the treacherous waters of life’s extremely trivial situations.
There are even photos and illustrations for people who enjoy photos and illustrations and stuff like that. You can read it from cover to cover or you can choose to educate yourself only in conjunction with your bowel movements. Totally your call there.
Stuff You Should Know About Stuff places the priority on the trivial experiences of life, because that's where we spend most of our time; trying to recover from going for the fist bump when a casual acquaintance wanted a high five.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review. 
Who says life doesn't come with instructions? We all know how we should behave at a funeral or a wedding (maybe), but what about choosing a picture for your Facebook profile or when it is inappropriate to say 'That's what she said' (spoiler alert: never)? These guys asked the perfect questions and came up with a manual for the trivial moments in life when we find ourselves wondering what to do, and they did in the funniest way possible.
I would say I related to about 90% of this book (the urinal part is not my forte) and that really helped to read through it in a sitting. I can't remember a single moment when I wasn't smiling or laughing hysterically or nodding in agreement.
On the other side, I kind of felt sorry for poor Neil in the examples and conversations used in this, but then a funny comic would appear to illustrate the point and I would be laughing so hard I forgot all about him.
The references in this were spot on and made this something incredibly special.
All this said, this is a pretty honest and useful book, an I can think of a great deal of people who could really do with a bit of these glorious tips...
I have since then researched more into the authors and I surrendered to their youtube channel. What a great time! Some of the parts in this book are from videos they made and I found the 'You're Doing Twitter Wrong' one just perfect!
I don't think everyone would enjoy this or find it funny, but I would seriously recommend this to anyone with a good sense of humour and that understands level 56 sarcasm.

Kill Shakespeare: The Mask of Night (Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery)

Release Date: December 2nd 2014 

Synopsis:
Volume 4 of the award-winning series returns with a high seas tale of pirate battles, vengeance, and lost love.
Hamlet, Juliet, Othello, and Shakespeare become pawns in a deadly game of survival between the legendary masked pirate Captain Cessario, his first mate Viola, and the new terror on the water, Titus Andronicus’ forbidding war ship The Lavinia.

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review. 
Shakespeare and pirates. Who wouldn't want to read that?
I hadn't read the previous volumes, so it started quite confusing and abruptly for me, but I got hold of the story pretty quickly from then onward.
The illustrations were as they usually are: amazingly powerful and put us immediately in the right atmosphere that is necessary to a storyline like this. They were also vert graphic and violent. Very violent. I would not recommend this to everyone.
As for the story itself, I thought it was original, rude and badass. I felt like I was in a parallel universe where Shakespeare's characters were badass pirates and Juliet was in love with Hamlet and Viola was the bravest, most awesome pirate captain I have ever seen, yet they all talked in Shakespearean style!
With an explosive ending (in every sense of the word), I will get my hands on the previous volumes as soon as possible.
A retelling/adaptation well done, in my opinion.

The Boy in the Cemetery (Sebastian Gregory)

Release Date: October 29th 2014 

Synopsis: 
This is the story of a girl who didn’t want to live…
Carrie Anne is desperately unhappy. Tangled in a web of abuse, she seeks solace in the cemetery that backs onto her garden. But something creeps between the gravestones. Carrie Anne is not alone… 
…and a boy who cannot die.
The cemetery is home to a boy. He has guarded these forgotten bones since meeting a gruesome end two hundred years ago. Neither dead nor alive, he has been watching for a long time. And now, he finally has the visitor he’s been waiting for…

Review:
I got this ebook from Netgalley in return of an honest review. 
Going into this book I was expecting a funny, light hearted story about the friendship of a girl and boy who happens to live in a cemetery. Nothing like that!
This actually surprised me positively. From the first page I knew it was going to be more than I first thought it would, and that got me excited.First of all, the characters were fascinating, but that is not the same thing as likable. I found both the boy's and the girl's fathers to be detestable, but most of all, I hated Carrie Anne's mother. She knew what her husband was doing, yet she did nothing. Carrie Anne almost got killed on the first day of school and she got abused by her father, and yet her parents just kept asking where she had gone wrong, what was wrong with her. I really felt sorry for her.
And even though we only got to read one chapter of the boy's story, I felt really attached to him, especially when he makes his appearance in Carrie Anne's life.
From that moment on, this book took a turn. It became a really eerie, creepy, dark, sinister, odd, cute and sad at the same time. And that was alright, it worked really well with the way the story progressed.
The ending caught me off guard. I reckon it ended in the perfect place, making this such an incredible tale. It touched serious matters and made the situation of the people living them very understandable to someone who doesn't know them. In fact, I believe this book was quite the allegory!
I recommend this one hundred per cent, and I really hope to read more by this author in the future.