A fantastic take on imaginary friends and what kind of beings they truly are. Neil thought that a particular chapter of his life was well behind him, however as with most things, it comes around when you least expect it.

Writing a review for the book wasn't really fare. The download was bad and when I tried to scroll down it would move through half the book. I tried to read it. I just couldn't. What I could read was great.

I'm sorry I was unable to read this book but it wouldn't download correctly on my Kindle. I tried looking for a copy on Amazon but it says that the page doesn't exist. I even looked on my local library's app but it's not there, either. If you can tell me another way to get a copy of it, please do and I will be happy to read and review it. Thank you.

Changing drug dealers was the start of it all.

Neil, Matt, and Sam are school friends who enjoy their pot smoking. Well, Neil did until his dad got lung cancer and Neil realised it was time to rethink certain things in life. Their dealer, Staubach, hangs around with Noakes, who is affiliated with the hard local gang and Staubach is no stranger to using violence to sort issues out. Sam decided to get some stash from Sticky, another dealer, and when Staubach finds out, he decides to pay the boys a visit. After a confrontation where Staubach believes he was humiliated, the friends know they are marked.
Incidents happen at school that make them realise that they are safe nowhere, which saddens Neil as he has finally mustered up the courage to speak to Lindsey, a girl he has had a crush on for a while. Just being around Neil might not be safe for her. As they contemplate how to deal with the situation, Neil sees something that reminds him of a time when he was young and saw what he believed was an imaginary figure. This being, a giant toad named Frogmore, came through from another world once upon a time, and would do anything to keep Neil’s friendship. Anything including killing.
An untimely death sparks a war between the friends and Staubach and the gang that escalates into a frenzy of violence, retaliation, and outright hate. To save the friends, Frogmore might be back, but doing things his way. And his way, could mean disaster for everyone.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when reading this, which left it open for me to just enjoy the story as it flowed. The violence is quite graphic and it was a shock to see how the level was “acceptable” – not in the book, but by the characters towards each other. I enjoyed the way the supernatural element ran parallel to the main story in a very believable way. Very often too much artistic licence is taken but in this, the reasoning behind it almost seemed plausible!
I found the fact that the POVs from the “bad guys” was also offered made for interesting reading. It gave you an insight into some of their actions and also some of their regrets. Having Sam explain why he smoked as much as he did, gave his character a deeper understanding instead of glossing over the stoner image. Frogmore was quite a character to accept. His manipulation of people and situations made you want to hate him but also in a macabre way cheer him on. And the ultimate explanation of where he was from and the beings there gave a new meaning to “we come in peace”.
The one thing that needed fixing on this script was the formatting. It looked as though it had been set for print as there were page numbers in the ToC and the drop caps were not aligned. Sometimes big spaces cropped up in the middle of a page and the author’s name randomly appeared. This was very offputting.

Ultimately though, I did enjoy this book as its premise was not one I’ve read before. Yes, there were things that could have been added or taken away, but as a read without thinking too hard about it, this was an interesting one!

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

What if your imaginary childhood friend could come to life and deal with the bullies making your life miserable? That the question that Daniel James explores in his latest self-published novel. Neil Karp and his friends are your typical teenagers in their senior year of high school when they run afoul of the local drug dealers.  As the dispute escalates, Neil is shocked one evening to see a figure dancing on a rooftop.  It Frogmoore, his tweed wearing, talking imaginary friend who defended Neil from bullies once before. Except that in teaching the bullies a lesson, Frogmoore killed them leaving Neil traumatized and on medication. It seems that Frogmoore has once again appeared in Neil's time of need. But his murderous appetite has only grown while he has been away. Neil now struggles between wanting his bullies gone and not wanting Frogmoore to kill on his behalf.  

This is a really quirky and unique novel. It has a definite 1980's feel to it.  It would have been perfectly at home as a horror flick during my years in high school.  I love the idea of an imaginary friend coming back and becoming homicidal.  But the tale of the murderous Frogmoore gets overshadowed by the constant increase of hostilities between Neil an his friends and the drug dealers.  I didn't really need to have chapters form the bad guys' point of view. It felt unnecessary. They're bad guys. They don't need depth.  It's not that kind of novel.  It felt like Frogmoore was overshadowed and used too sparingly.  I wanted more of the serial killer frog! He's much more interesting than common drug dealers. Overall, James has a talent for recreating teenage dialogue, making it feel natural. Some of the best scenes are of Neil and his stoner friends sitting around getting high. The interactions between Frogmore and Neil are also compelling. I just wish that there had been more of them.

Totally different kind of tale - what would happen if your imaginary friend was real and evil! An engaging take on the "bully revenge" with a satisfying conclusion. A fast read because you have to find out what happens next - recommended.

Fable

[Blurb goes here]

Neil has an imaginary friend, a very... protective imaginary friend, that has been out of the picture for years. When Neil and his buddies end up being the target of local drug dealers, his friend comes back to help, but that is not necessarily a good thing.

I enjoyed this book a lot, the characters are well thought out, the good guys and the bad guys have their own flaws and problems. The author took the time to give us a glimpse into the lives of all involved, which makes the story —for me at least— three dimensional. There's a certain rhythm to the dialogues, specially the ones between Neil and his buddies.

I wouldn't think of this story as only a horror one, it has definite splashes of gore and fantasy and Sci Fi. I found it hard to put the book down, since every time things got a bit quiet, chaos ensued, so I kept on reading.

I had a lot of fun reading Fable, and I do recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley for the free copy.

I was intrigued by the cover of this book and the description made me want to read it. Unfortunately, when I actually delved into the book itself, I was disappointed.

The writing style is reminiscent of a "how to write a novel" book. There are so many similes it got annoying to read after about 30 pages. Find some descriptive words! Use a thesaurus! Use Google! While some were clever, I appreciated the jab about the student "built like a tapeworm" but other times it felt like the writer was grasping at straws (sorry for the idiom...) to try and paint the reader a picture.

I did not like any of the characters, even the ones that were supposed to be "good." The good guys reminded me of the stoners from Dazed and Confused and Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the bad guys totally smacked of the T-birds in Grease, only with more drugs and less singing.

The other thing that puzzled me is that this book is clearly written by a British author and the book takes place in Michigan. I am not saying one needs to stay on their own side of the pond but if you're a Brit and you're going to pass this off as an "American" novel, no teenager says "whilst" over here. EVER. We use "Z"s in words like "realize" and at noontime we have LUNCH, not dinner. I could not figure out why these guys were in a high school cafeteria eating "dinner." I am not in anyway saying that one version of English is superior to the other, just know your setting and try to match what you're selling.

Overall, I found this book to be tedious and there was little that could save it. I think with a lot of editing and revision, this could be a good story, but it needs significant work.

I seriously LOVED the friendship with Neil, Matt, and Sam! They made me laugh out loud so many times. This book is a weird weird one but in a good way. If you love books that have a weird sense of humor this is a good one to read. Sometimes the characters got on my nerves but they are teenage boys so that's bound to happen. There is a lot of talk about drug use in the story but I can see it's to full the story. The ending was kind of just okay for me.

Like I said the story felt more grounded in the 90s for me. At times it felt like this book reminded me of the movie Dazed and Confused but instead of a beating on the last day of school it's a beating for hitting the drug dealer. I could definitely see myself checking out other stuff from the author

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for this copy. All thoughts are my own.

This was an interesting horror sci-fi read!
I personally liked it. It was quick chapters, good writing. Enjoyed the characters.
The story is what held my attention!