847. "Trapped" by Amanda Byrd -- 2-Stars

Trapped  by Amanda Byrd – 2 Stars

Publisher: Blacksheep Press

ISBN: 9781619848160

This book was tagged in the Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy categories.

When I think of horror, I think of books I read from Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Bentley Little, Peter Straub, Clive Barker, Anne Rice, Bram Stoker. Thus, I would not characterize this as a horror story. Sci-Fi? Certainly not approximating stories by Ray Bradbury, H.G. Wells, Mary Shelly, Michael Crichton, David Golemon, Dan Simmons. But, it does fit the Fantasy category – with a werewolf, vampire, gargoyles, and a chimera why wouldn’t it?

I did find the conversations between Miranda’s three entities – Human, Werewolf, and Vampire – humorous and necessary to keep this book somewhat entertaining. Plus, the characters are interesting, each with strange personalities and roles. The overall story one could say is a very good “campfire” story fantasy.

The entire book was written in a matter-of-fact way. Almost like an explanation of a very short period of someone’s time without any content beyond the confining lines. I’m sure some people would love to read a book ONLY to get to the end in a hurry. This would be for them. Not for me. I was expecting much richer depths. Why build up to a battle of mythical entities and then have the battle last less than a couple of pages and exactly like already planned with no deviation, suspense, or intrigue? Dull! Likewise, the human Miranda needed to satisfy her other two entities. A slam, bam, kill ‘em, eat ’em, of, maybe three, individuals could have been greatly enhanced to fulfill the hidden “evil” fantasies within the reader.

So, the book was good from a I-don’t-have-much-time-but-do-have-some-time-to waste point of view. It is readable and somewhat funny. But it definitely lacked any depth or richness. The Introduction was quite confusing. I took it as just an Introduction; whereas, my wife was thinking there must have been other books in the series preceding this one. The Introduction, a short summary of how Miranda became a 3-way freak, could have been a prequel book in itself – well, with about another 350-400 pages.

If I consider a 3-Star as good, 4-Star as very good, and 5-Star as exceptional, I could have rated this 3-Star. However, if I compare it to all the other books I have read in all three of the categories, I struggle to rate it more than a 1-Star. So, let me just give it a 2-Star.

Reviewer: Rich