Review: Led Astray by Kelley Armstrong

Book Blurb:

Two brand new tales anchor this wide-ranging collection from one of urban fantasy's most successful authors. Here is the first time that best-selling fantasy, YA, and crime author Kelley Armstrong has had her stories collected from Otherworld and beyond. With her signature twists and turns, Armstrong gives a fresh spin on city-dwelling vampires, werewolves, and zombies, while also traveling further afield, to a post-apocalyptic fortress, a superstitious village, a supernatural brothel, and even to feudal Japan.

With tales that range from humorous to heart-stopping, these are the stories that showcase Kelley Armstrong at her versatile best.

My Review:

5 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Another-World, Ghosts, Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, Zombies--

This was a collection of short stories that I have never previously read anywhere else. Some were from the Otherworld series, a few from the Cainsville series, one from the Age of Legend series and quite a few that were standalones. As with all of Armstrong’s works, I loved this book and the tiny snippets I received. Armstrong is one of the few authors that can make me actually like a short story (which I usually despise). Even in just a few pages, I become immersed in the author’s writing and lose myself. I have devoured all of the Otherworld books, and have her other series on my wishlist to read and this collection has upped them on my next-to-read-list (especially the Cainville series with the gargoyles and strange people).

A few standout stories were:

A Haunted House of Her Own- I found the book to be scary and kept me on my toes, the twist I never saw coming and the ending was perfect.

Bamboozled- This ended up being my favorite story in the entire collection mainly because I am a sucker for werewolves. It was set in the Otherworld universe, but back in the old west, focusing on a gang that swindled people who may or may not have deserved it.

Harbinger and the Collector were also standalone stories that did an awesome job of setting a creepy ambiance and drew me in for crazy endings I never could have predicted.

The Door- I was intrigued as to what was really going on and then the ending left so many blanks for me that I would love to have this been a full length story.

Branded- This book stated that it was part of the Otherworld universe but nothing that was described could be related to what I know, so I am not sure how it ties in except for werewolves. I would also like to have a longer story for this plot because it raised a LOT of questions.

Screams of Dragons- This was such a disturbing story. Anytime kids are involved I am already on alert, but the longer the story went on, the more horrifying it became, yet I could not put it down. This tale has increased my need to read the Cainsville series STAT.

V-Plates- I was hoping to read about some of my favorite characters so I was happy to see that there was a Pack story featuring Nick. It was a fun quick read, and I love that Nick is the “coolest dad”. I would love to have more books about Reece and Noah in the future. (hint hint)

After reading this collection I realized that Armstrong has the skill to create pretty terrifying plots and settings and I would love to read some horror by her. I was surprised by how much I loved the standalone books since I expected to like the familiar story lines better. Overall, I am in love with everything this author writes and look forward to more.

I received this title from the publisher in return for my honest review.