Carl Alves

What do you get when you cross inquisitive kids, an Ouija board and a spirit hell bent on revenge?

I was intrigued when I heard this novel is like a cross between Stranger Things and The Exorcist. I have a soft spot for kids taking on the supernatural aspects of life and this novel delivers. Kenna and her friends decide to play around with her brother’s Ouija board one afternoon and start the process of unleashing an evil presence into their world.

Kenna is around 10 years old and her maturity level was very refreshing even though she effectively comes off as a younger sibling (if that makes any sense). Jake, her brother, is the logical rock of the story. Supportive, calm and loyally protective with a future in professional fighting. As they set out to fix what they did the reader is drawn in by the fierce family bonds and loyalty of friends. Fun fact, like most horror movies, the parentals always seem to be MIA.

Even though this novel has elements of violence and possession the author also wove underlying themes that focus on fixing your mistakes, pushing forward when times are tough, forgiveness and sticking together.

Overall this was a quick and easy read. The characters are lovable. There is graphic violence, sexuality, possession, spirits and drugs. I honestly think the creepiest part was the opening chapter and the rest was more a supernatural thriller.

Thank you to the author, Mr. Carl Alves, for the opportunity to read and review this novel for an unbiased opinion. I recommend this book for readers who enjoy creepy reads with younger MCs!… (altro)

REVIEWED: Reconquest: Mother Earth
WRITTEN BY: Carl Alves
PUBLISHED: January, 2014

“Reconquest: Mother Earth” is a military science fiction thriller with plenty of action, suspense, and just enough romance to soften the hard edges of SEAL-cum-hero Mitch Grace. Mitch is a throwback to archetypical heroes of noble swashbucklers or chivalrous knights; he is a warrior able to face the most daunting of foes, challenge the downtrodden with grand speeches of freedom to raise themselves up, and all the while brush off physical advances from any admirer as he stays true to his only love, Deborah. Though not marketed as YA, this would fit well into the genre, and in a good way. Carl’s writing bridges the YA and adult worlds. At times the plot could turn a bit predictable and flat, but Carl makes up for that with the vast universe he’s imagined, filled with far-flung worlds and its array of colorful denizen aliens, some good, some evil, and some—surprisingly—compassionate to Mitch’s cause, as the last freedom fighter of Earth. Overall, it’s a fun read, and though satisfactory closure is found by the last page, one may hope that Carl revisits his characters and continues their adventures in a follow-up sequel.

Four and a half out of Five stars
… (altro)

Life is not good for Andy Lorenzo. He’s overweight, has no friends, no social skills, he drinks too much and he gambles away his money. He does have one skill though. He’s the most powerful exorcist in the world and demons fear him. Unlike the old exorcism rites that priests use, Andy can enter people’s souls to fight and kill the demon possessing it.

Andy was raised by the church but he isn’t necessarily religious and some priests don’t like him, but they can’t argue with the results of his work. He’s destroyed hundreds of demons but his luck is about to change. His newest client is a young girl named Kate but as he enters her soul he finds that there is more than one demon waiting for him. He then finds out that the church has kept secrets from him which will change his life. He’s in for the fight of his life and he’s going to need all the help he can get as he decides what’s really important to him.

Battle Of The Soul by Carl Alves is a supernatural thriller that’s a little different from other horror novels based on exorcisms. While the church and religion does factor into the story it isn’t the main plot. This is about how a looser finds that he is much more than he thought and then he is left with a choice of what to become as he finds the secret to his powers. My favorite part of this book was Andy. He’s the ultimate underdog and he has just one thing he’s good at, killing demons. Andy reminded me of Ash in the Evil Dead movies but we do find out that Andy has a big heart and it’s his biggest weapon.. We hear of him bringing candy and comics to orphans and how he plays with Kate when she is in remission from her possession and we see that even though he is a misfit he cares. The author shows Andy as flawed but when the chips are down he always does the right thing. Andy is an easy character to relate to because he’s just a regular guy playing the hand of cards that life has dealt him.

As I was reading Battle Of The Soul I found myself thinking that this book has the feel of a superhero story. It looks and sounds like it would be a horror novel but it’s more of an action packed thriller. The fight scenes are well described almost to the point where you feel the author could have left a little to the imagination. Also the demons come across more like super villains and not overly terrifying. This isn’t to say that this was a bad read, it just came across as more action than horror. This book is a fresh spin on an idea that we see a lot in the world of horror. I think the concept of a man entering a soul and becoming a superhero is a great idea and I hope Carl revisits this idea in future books.… (altro)