[REVIEW] Poltergeeks – Sean Cummings

Sean Cummings
Poltergeeks (Poltergeeks, Book 1)
Strange Chemistry (US & CA: 2nd October 2012; UK: 4th October 2012)
Buy (US Kindle Edition) Buy (US Paperback) Buy (UK Kindle Edition) Buy (UK Paperback) Buy (CA Kindle Edition) Buy (CA Paperback) Buy (Worldwide)

This is not a bad book. It’s firmly 2.5 stars, and whilst in earlier times I would’ve rounded that up to 3, I’m a grumpy old woman now so I’m rounding it down to 2.

This is a wonderfully unpretentious novel – it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and seems presented as an escapist read, and that’s fair enough. Still, escapism can be difficult to achieve: It has to be light enough to distract the reader from their personal troubles, but with enough heart to actually connect with the reader. And I didn’t connect with Poltergeeks at all.

Admittedly, magic is not my favourite part of urban fantasy, but I figure that’s only because I haven’t read the kind of magic that would best suit my logical/scientific inclinations. That’s no reason for me to blacklist all novels featuring magic, so I am willing to try instead of giving up completely.

And yes, apathy is often a symptom of my mental illness, but I felt pretty good around the time that I read this (and that’s continued since then – so far, so good).

So Poltergeeks is squarely middling territory for me: I didn’t particular like it, but I didn’t particular dislike it, either.

Reportedly these two Poltergeeks books aren’t selling as well as the author’s self-published adult novels. And I don’t really think that has anything to do with this duology being traditionally published (by the now-closed Strange Chemistry) and young adult. Maybe it’s just that this book doesn’t really appeal.

That said I still plan to read the sequel, Student Bodies. After all, maybe it is my fault for failing to connect with Poltergeeks, and it’s only fair to give a second chance.

[GUEST BLOG] Sean Cummings on Writing STUDENT BODIES

This is a stop of the official Student Bodies tour schedule. Here you will find a guest post by Sean Cummings, and information on his books.

When I set off to write the sequel to Poltergeeks I had a very clear idea of what I intended because there has always been three books in my head and the second one needed to be the big jump into dark and terrifying waters. Where Poltergeek was light and cheery and quite funny, I’d always intended for Student Bodies to make readers of book one go “holy #@*! this is intense!” That was probably the biggest challenge, too, because I’m generally not a very “dark and terrible” kind of guy – ask my wife, she’ll tell you!

There is some seriously bleak stuff in Student Bodies and I wanted to do something that dealt with enthrallment from the get-go. At the same time I wanted to really ramp things up in terms of the tension between teenage daughter and her mother, so this book has a significant amount of that. Where Julie’s mother was in a coma for most of book one, in book two, she’s front and center and you get to really see the nature of their relationship.

You know, writing YA is a challenge because at least this author sometimes struggles with making the voice sound unique and genuine. At the same time, I’m mindful of the fact that 55% of YA readers aren’t teens at all – they’re grown ups. The challenge for an author, I think, is to keep in mind the age group you are supposed to be writing for – it does beg the question, though: if the majority of your readers aren’t the demographic that’s supposed to be reading it – is it really YA at all?

I struggle with that sometimes – I know I did when writing Student Bodies because there’s some seriously sad and hopeless stuff going on in the book. I’m tackling bullying head-on in this one – a bullied kid is central to the entire plot. Without the bullied teen there wouldn’t be a book at all, frankly. And as I wrote it, I kept thinking: is this genuine? Am I going to get skewered by the adults who are reading this because of what Marcus says about adults “not getting bullying at all”?

It’s a challenge to an author – I finally decided to say “the heck with it” and focus on the plot. I’m mindful there are always people who aren’t going to fall in love with the book – that’s cool. I’ve decided to remain true to my characters and true to the outline – what we have in the way of a finished product is a far more thrilling book than the first, some wild new characters, more hints about Julie’s past and an ending I guarantee that nobody is going to see coming.

So – do give Student Bodies a read, won’t you? It’s kick-ass Canadian urban fantasy with a twist!

Sean Cummings
Poltergeeks (Poltergeeks, Book 1)
Angry Robot Strange Chemistry (US & CA: 2nd October 2012; UK: 4th October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
15-year-old Julie Richardson is about to learn that being the daughter of a witch isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. When she and her best friend, Marcus, witness an elderly lady jettisoned out the front door of her home, it’s pretty obvious to Julie there’s a supernatural connection. In fact, there’s a whisper of menace behind increasing levels of poltergeist activity all over town. After a large-scale paranormal assault on Julie’s high school, her mother falls victim to the spell Endless Night. Now it’s a race against time to find out who is responsible or Julie won’t just lose her mother’s soul, she’ll lose her mother’s life.

Sean Cummings
Student Bodies (Poltergeeks, Book 2)
Angry Robot Strange Chemistry (US & CA: 3rd September 2013; UK: 5th September 2013)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
For fifteen-year-old Julie Richardson and the city’s resident protector from supernatural evil, the Left Hand Path doesn’t give a damn if you’ve found true love for the first time in your life. There’s someone lurking the halls of Crescent Ridge High School with enough malice to unleash an epidemic of Soul Worms – supernatural larvae that feed on the very fabric of a victim’s humanity. After witnessing the death of one of the most popular kids at school, Julie and über-genius boyfriend Marcus find themselves in a race against time to find out who is behind the attacks. All the evidence points to a horrifying plot at the City Weir during the Winter Solstice; the place where icy waters of the Bow River and a thunderous spillway will mean the deaths of more than a hundred of Julie’s classmates. If she has any hope of saving their lives, she’ll need a little help from a coven of white witches and an Aboriginal mage whose snarky attitude is matched only by her magical prowess.

Sean Cummings
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Pinterest

Happy Canada Day!

It’s July 1st, and you know what that means…Happy Canada Day! Here are some books by Canadian authors on my wishlist – perhaps they’re on yours, too:

R. J. ANDERSON Quicksilver
KELLEY ARMSTRONG Thirteen/13 Forbidden Omens Wild Justice Sea of Shadows
JES BATTIS Bleeding Out
MEGAN CREWE The Lives We Lost The Worlds We Make
SEAN CUMMINGS Poltergeeks Student Bodies
KATHLEEN PEACOCK Thornhill
CHERYL RAINFIELD Parallel Visions Stained
MICHELLE ROWEN Bloodlust Countdown
EVE SILVER Rush
AMANDA SUN Ink

2nd October 2012 Releases

Happy Release Day to:

Steve Bein
Daughter of the Sword (Fallen Blades, Book 1)
Penguin Roc (US & CA: 2nd October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Mariko Oshiro is not your average Tokyo cop. As the only female detective in the city’s most elite police unit, she has to fight for every ounce of respect. While she wants to track down a rumoured cocaine shipment, her boss gives her the least promising case possible. But the case – the attempted theft of an old samurai sword – proves more dangerous than anyone could have imagined… The owner of the sword, Professor Yasuo Yamada, says it was crafted by the legendary Master Inazuma, a sword smith whose blades are rumoured to have magical qualities. The man trying to steal it already owns another Inazuma, one whose deadly power eventually comes to control all who wield it – or so says Yamada. And though he has studied swords and swordsmanship all his life, Mariko isn’t convinced. But Mariko’s scepticism hardly matters. Her investigation has put her on a collision course with a curse centuries old and as bloodthirsty as ever. She is only the latest in a long line of warriors to confront this power, and even the sword she learns to wield herself could turn against her.

Rachel Caine
Black Dawn (Morganville Vampires, Book 12)
Penguin NAL (US & CA: 2nd October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Ever since the draug – mysterious creatures that prey on vampires – took over Morganville, the lives of student Claire Danvers and her friends have been thrown into turmoil. Most of the town’s residents have evacuated, but Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael have chosen to stay and fight. Using the city’s water system to spread, the draug have rapidly multiplied. Things in Morganville look grim, especially since vampire Amelie – the town founder – has been infected by the master draug’s bite. Now, if Claire and her friends don’t figure out how to cure Amelie and defeat the draug, it looks like Morganville will become little more than a ghost town…

Sarah Crossan
Breathe (Breathe, Book 1)
HarperCollins Greenwillow (US: 2nd October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
The world is dead. The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen–rich air. Alina has been stealing for a long time. She’s a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she’s never been caught before. If she’s careful, it’ll be easy. If she’s careful. Quinn should be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it’s also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn’t every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her. Bea wants to tell him that none of this is fair; they’d planned a trip together, the two of them, and she’d hoped he’d discover her out here, not another girl. And as they walk into the Outlands with two days’ worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

Sean Cummings
Poltergeeks (Poltergeeks, Book 1)
Strange Chemistry (US: 2nd October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
15-year-old Julie Richardson is about to learn that being the daughter of a witch isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. When she and her best friend and uber-geek, Marcus, witness an elderly lady jettisoned out the front door of her home, it’s pretty obvious to Julie there’s a supernatural connection. The house is occupied by a poltergeist and in order to reclaim it, Julie’s going to have to exorcise the spirit. Of course, she’ll need her mother’s help and what teenager in their right mind wants that? Surely she can do this on her own – right…? But there’s a whisper of menace behind increasing levels of poltergeist activity all over town. After a large-scale paranormal assault on Julie’s high school, her mother falls victim to Endless Night – a dark spell that rips her mom’s soul from her mortal body. Now it’s a race against time to find out who is responsible or Julie won’t just lose her mother’s soul, she’ll lose her mother’s life.

Erica Hayes
Revelation (Seven Signs, Book 1)
Penguin Berkley (US & CA: 2nd October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Blind faith is for fools. That’s what Dr. Morgan Sterling believes. And she’s going to prove it by curing the zombie plague ravaging her city’s slums. She’s certain it’s not a sign of the End of Days, but a nasty disease – until an angel appears in her morgue in a flash of glory. Luniel is not just a fallen angel. He’s a powerful warrior sworn to fight evil in hopes of a chance at redemption. He’s after the demon princes who are stealing the seven vials of holy wrath which, when perverted, will unleash eternal hell on earth. To stop the plague, Luniel needs Morgan’s help, and her faith. But Morgan believes science is their salvation. If the zombie plague is a demonic curse – and if Luniel is true – he’ll have to prove it. Even if he loses his heart to true love or his soul to Hell…

Darynda Jones
Death and the Girl Next Door (Darklight, Book 1)
Macmillan St. Martin’s Griffin (US: 2nd October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Ten years ago, Lorelei’s parents disappeared without a trace. Raised by her grandparents and leaning on the support of her best friends, Lorelei is finally beginning to accept the fact that her parents are never coming home. For Lorelei, life goes on. High school is not quite as painful as she thinks it will be, and things are as normal as they can be. Until the day the school’s designated loner, Cameron Lusk, begins to stalk her, turning up where she least expects it, standing outside her house in the dark, night after night. Things get even more complicated when a new guy – terrifying, tough, sexy Jared Kovach – comes to school. Cameron and Jared instantly despise each other and Lorelei seems to be the reason for their animosity. What does Jared know about her parents? Why does Cameron tell Jared he can’t have Lorelei? And what will any of them do when Death comes knocking for real?

Caragh M. O’Brien
Promised (Birthmarked, Book 3)
Macmillan Roaring Brook (US: 2nd October 2012)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
After defying the ruthless Enclave, surviving the wasteland, and upending the rigid matriarchy of Sylum, Gaia Stone now faces her biggest challenge ever. She must lead the people of Sylum back to the Enclave and persuade the Protectorat to grant them refuge from the wasteland. In Gaia’s absence, the Enclave has grown more cruel, more desperate to experiment on mothers from outside the wall, and now the stakes of cooperating or rebelling have never been higher. Is Gaia ready, as a leader, to sacrifice what – or whom – she loves most?

October 2012 Releases

Done with September 2012 Releases? Here are October 2012 Releases. For future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

7 New Covers (Armstrong, Baggott, Black, Cummings, Lu, Pearce)

4 New Deals (Cummings, Jay, Rowen, Stiefvater)

Sean Cummings‘s Poltergeeks to Angry Robot in a 2-book deal. Poltergeeks is due out October 2012, with the sequel to come in 2013. World English rights, print & electronic. Julie is an apprentice witch – or so she believes. When a dark power comes stalking out of the past to haunt her & her mother, Julie learns that she is far more than just a witch. With the help of her best friend Marcus & a rather unusual Great Dane, Julie has to race against time to ensure she can defeat the bad guy, save her mother & avoid being grounded – again!

Stacey Jay‘s futuristic retelling of Beauty and the Beast to Delacorte (NA) in a 2-book deal.

Michelle Rowen‘s Countdown to Harlequin Teen. Previously published as adult fiction, to be revised & retitled for young adult. A street thief & a convicted murderer must work together against the clock to beat a deadly reality game.

Maggie Stiefvater‘s 4-book The Raven Cycle series, beginning with The Raven Boys, featuring a rich boy at the Aglionby Academy.