Blurb from Amazon.com
Includes a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse
story!What could be scarier than the first day of school? How about
a crash course in the paranormal from Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner,
editors of Home Improvement: Undead Edition? Your worst school
nightmares—taking that math test you never studied for, finding yourself naked
in school assembly, not knowing which door to enter—will pale in comparison to
these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to whole new
realms.
In #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris’s
story, "Playing Possum," Sookie Stackhouse brings enough birthday cupcakes for
her nephew's entire class but finds she's one short when the angry ex-boyfriend
of the school secretary shows up.
When her guardian, Kate Daniels, sends
her undercover to a school for exceptional children, teenaged Julie learns an
all-new definition of "exceptional," in New York Times bestselling author
Ilona Andrews's "Magic Tests."
For those who like fangs with their
forensics, New York Times bestselling author Nancy Holder offers "VSI,"
in which FBI agent Claire is tested as never before in a school for Vampire
Scene Investigation.
And in New York Times bestselling author
Thomas Sniegoski's "The Bad Hour," Remy Chandler and his dog Marlowe find evil
unleashed in an obedience school.
You'll need more than an apple to stave
off the creatures in these and nine other stories. Remember your first lesson:
resistance is fruitless!
Includes stories by: ILONA ANDREWS, AMBER
BENSON, RHYS BOWEN, MIKE CAREY, CHARLAINE HARRIS, DONALD HARSTAD, STEVE
HOCKENSMITH, NANCY HOLDER, FAITH HUNTER, TONI L.P. KELNER, MARJORIE LIU,
JONATHAN MABERRY, THOMAS SNIEGOSKI
Hi all two of you - I just finished the anthology compilation by Charlaine Harris called An Apple For The Creature. Now this is a book put together with a bunch of other authors where they pick a theme and everyone writes stories about it. Mrs Harris has done a number of these over the years. I think the most recent one was done with the theme Home Improvement. This one is a theme (and a play on words) for schools - get it - an apple for the creature (teacher). Ok, moving on.....So along with this compilation is a new Sookie Stackhouse story along with some other short stories from beloved other authors characters. I have to admit, I really only wanted to read this for the Sookie Stackhouse story and the Ilona Andrews story. So those are the ones I'll be reviewing otherwise we'll be here all day, LOL.
So now that that's done, on to my review.
So the book starts with Sookie's story - Playing Possum. This story basically just involves Sookie and her cousin Hunter. Hunter has asked Sookie to bring goodies to his kindergarden labor day party and chaos ensues. I have to warn you, this story involves a school shooting. I found it very disturbing that this would be the story to kick off the anthology but it's not my book, so I digress. I still found it in bad taste to start off a book with school based themes with a school shooting. I felt the build up to the event was a bit boring, I found the subject matter predictable and I found I really didn't care about any of the school characters. I almost wanted the "crazy man" to shoot the sniveling woman who gets hidden in the closet while Sookie plays possum. The whole story felt like it was just thrown together with a quick idea. I realize that in an extreme situation, sometimes the best thing to do, is hide or play dead but from a reader stand point, it was boring.
Anywho, on to the next story.
Ilona Andrews - Magic Tests. I actually really enjoyed this story. It follows Julie and her ongoing battle with trying to find a school. If you're a fan of Ilona Andrews, you'll know that this is a recurring theme when dealing with Julie. She is the ward of the two main characters in the Kate Daniels stories. Julie is forever not fitting in at school and tends to not stay in one for very long although this time, it seems she may have found one she'll stick with. So the story starts off with Julie visiting a school. The beginning isn't quiet clear to me as to why she gets roped into searching for a missing girl/being shown around but I probably just need to reread it. Anywho, she ends up helping find a missing girl and making friends along the way. I can totally see this sprouting into a YA offshoot or just being a good thread for the other books. I actually really enjoyed the build up, the characters and the resolution. It was nice to see Julie growing up and putting her powers to good use. We have only really heard about her powers but there wasn't much use for them in the Kate Daniels books. In this short story, she uses them to help her play detective and ferret out the bad guys. There is also some great new characters introduced along with a possible future love interest for Julie although it could be just a nice future friendship.
Between this story and the other story it was like night and day. They both are great authors but you can really tell who had fun with the story and spent time within the theme and who just slapped it together. I'm actually fairly happy that Mrs. Harris has decided to end the Sookie books with the last book coming out next year. I love the books and of course the TV show but I do have to say that the last couple books have really gone off course and it looks like even the short stories have too. I hate seeing good characters basically put to pasture. On a positive note, if you like anthologies and you want some Back To School fun, give "An Apple for the Creature" a try.
Gave it 3 out 5 only because some stories were great and some sucked
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