Thomas S. Flowers

Dwelling: Subdue, Book 1
Written by: Thomas S. Flowers
Narrated by: Rick Gregory
This is a book I requested and the review is voluntary.
I had bought the whole series and then I saw the offer for audio reviewers and I jumped on it and was very happy when I was picked. This is a very good book in character study. Each of these people are so well developed. The story is about a bunch of kids that grew up together and the guys went to war together. They all, but one, come back. But they don't come back the same. They see things... The widow of the one lost buys a house they all had seen as a kid. A spooky house that she seems to be drawn to but couldn't seem to remember much about as a kid except one picture of them all together outside of it. The book ends as a cliffhanger...ugh...I hate that but love this book. I normally knock a book down a star for that but this book has so much going for it that even having a cliffhanger, it still deserves the full 5 stars. The plot, characters, creep factor, the suspense, etc. This is one great book and I can't wait to see what happens.
The narrator really adds to suspense, the characters, the creepiness, and the overall feel of the book. He is the perfect narrator for this book. It would not be the same if I had just read this book. Awesome! Great job!… (meer)

Texas is known for many things, especially it’s barb-b-que. The Fleming family has a legacy of great bar-b-que to uphold with their restaurant Big Butt’s Bar-B-Que. Now that legacy is threatened as Titus has lost two of his sons and his third son doesn’t show much interest in carrying on the business. Others conspire to steal his hard-earned wealth.

This is a horror story first and foremost. If you’re squeamish, then this is not the book for you. Also, there’s a graphic rape scene. For me, this story was mediocre. The characters are archetypes for the most part, there’s some plot holes, and the tale is a bit predictable.

The most well developed character is Lavinia Fleming, who was once Luke Fleming. He’s Titus’s youngest son. His transgender status has made him the target of cruel words and acts. Titus doesn’t understand his son but he does want good things for him. Lavinia’s lover, Aaron, plays an important role in the story.

Then we have Anna, who was married to one of Titus’s sons. Unfortunately, she cheats on him, is caught in the act, is mutilated by her husband, and then made witness to his suicide. All that happens right at the beginning of the book so I don’t feel bad about telling you. Now Tamora, Anna’s mom, wants recompense from the Fleming family for the physical and emotional damage to her daughter. Or so she says. In truth, she’s a very selfish woman looking to gain whatever she can out of this. Tamora also has two sons that get to play brutal dunce caps for much of the story.

I didn’t really like any of the characters. They are all flawed and rather one dimensional. Still, I didn’t like the characters of Brave New World but I quite enjoyed the story. Here, not so much. The tale is rather predictable and I was expecting more nuance since it’s being marketed as inspired by Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. Also, there’s this rather glaring plot hole where certain characters believe they can get away with a certain crime… when there are plenty of ways to get info (like collecting evidence, talking to suspects, etc.). None of that was addressed and I felt a bit cheated by that. At one point, a character loses a body part and almost no one comments on it and the lose doesn’t seem to impair the character at all, which just isn’t realistic in this case.

In the end, we do get some real horror and not just drama and scheming. It was OK. I think if you have a book entitled Feast in the horror genre, you can guess right from the start where the tale will go. And it did. Then at the end a character shows some remorse over one of their actions but it’s a bit twisted. The character never really gets to explore their motivations for their horrendous actions and that left me feeling a little cheated as well.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Rick Gregory did a decent job with this narration. His female voices were believable though sometimes Lavinia’s voice sounds a bit childish. I especially liked his voice for Lavinia’s mom. Sometimes I had trouble keeping the voices for Tamora’s sons straight. There’s a few sexy scenes in this book and I felt Gregory could have worked on his sexy voices a bit for those. The pacing was good and there were no technical issues.… (meer)

Conceiving is the latest book, and the best so far, in the Subdue series by Thomas S Flowers. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't perfect, it needs editing to fix a few repetition issues, spelling errors and wrong words, but I enjoyed it much more than the previous two books.

A lot of my enjoyment was due to Luna's character, she felt real and relatable. I was actually interested in her and her story. I got to experience and enjoy her storyline without being sidetracked by too many characters. The whole reading experience flowed better, it wasn't as busy so there was less distraction, fewer side characters jumping in between me and the main storyline.

The pacing was better, the characters were better, and the storytelling was smoother. I got to know the characters better this time round. I experienced their stories rather than them being told to me like in the previous books.

There was a lot of my favourite horror elements in Conceiving. It had a touch of Rosemary's Baby and Frankenstein and as an added bonus there was a werewolf and some voodoo going on. I love me some voodoo in horror!… (meer)