Friday Featured Spotlight ~ Untreed Reads

Founded in 2008, Untreed Reads is a digital-first publisher and ebook distributor with one of the largest distribution channels in the industry, supplying titles to over 200 retailers and 98 percent of libraries worldwide. With a catalog of works covering nearly every genre and the option for publishers to distribute their content through its network, Untreed Reads is a full-service location for authors and publishers.

Today's Selection from Untreed Reads

Title ~ The Clearing of Travis Coble
Author ~ Jonathan Janz
Publisher ~ Untreed Reads
Published ~ 5 March 2013
Genre ~ Horror/Short

Book source ~ Many thanks to Untreed Reads for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating ~ 4 bites out of 5

It’s been 20 years since Travis Coble was acquitted in the murder of his two younger brothers, Ike and B.J. Dick Meyers, a psychology professor at a university in Chicago, wants to write a paper about Coble, how being acquitted by a jury of his peers yet still seen as a murderer by the locals has affected his life. The only important question that needs to be answered however is whether Meyers will come out of the interview unscathed.

Right out of the gate this story caused my skin to crawl with every word, every sentence, every paragraph, until I just wanted to yell at Meyers to get the hell outta there. That this wouldn’t end well. Oh boy, I hate when I’m right.

Title ~ The Needles Highway
Author ~ John Stewart Wynne
Publisher ~ Untreed Reads
Published ~ 26 October 2012
Genre ~ Horror/Short

Book source ~ Many thanks to Untreed Reads for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating ~ 4 bites and a nibble out of 5

Jed Ackerberry, a screenwriter, is enjoying a relaxing drive home to L.A. after a visit in his hometown of Needles, California when a skeleton in a pick up truck starts dogging him. Scared and freaked out, he heads back to Needles, but nothing is as it seems and Jed can’t remember why he was even in Needles to begin with. Who is the skeleton and more important, why is he chasing Jed?

This story starts out all la-di-da, a nicely written tale about a nostalgic man having a leisurely drive home on a desert highway when, BAM!, a skeleton in a pick up truck shows up and the adrenaline starts pumping. The unease spread up my spine until the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end. What the hell is going on? I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out the answer. And the answer? Wow. Weird. And creepy.

Title ~ The Third Man
Author ~ Malachi King
Publisher ~ Untreed Reads
Published ~ 28 February 2013
Genre ~ Horror/Short

Book source ~ Many thanks to Untreed Reads for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating ~ 4 bites out of 5

Jarvis Suluk and Tom Hurley, two young men living in Seldovia, Alaska, are primed for outdoor adventures. Becoming fast friends they shared many explorations but none would compare to the one the one that almost ended their lives. Deciding they wanted to go see the wolf den on Elephant Point and not finding a boat to take them across Seldovia Bay they choose to take Tom’s homemade raft across since it had proved seaworthy on many trips on the water. However, as smart as Jarvis was about the great outdoors they forgot to take into consideration the turn of the tide. That’s where their adventure goes horribly wrong.

A simple fact overlooked can sometimes cause the biggest problems and heartache. This story tells the tale of Tom and Jarvis as they struggle to survive what should have been a simple overnight excursion. Was the third man real or just a hallucination brought on by hypothermia, hunger, dehydration and exhaustion? I love stories about Alaska and even though this one is full of anxiety it is very well-written. I felt as if I was there with them in the cold and snow. I even thought I saw the third man for a moment.  I wonder how many see a third man, too yet fail to live to tell the tale? Chilling.