Bound 4 Escape

Color Of Evil Series Boxed Set by Connie Corcoran Wilson

Publisher: Quad Cities’ Press (Aug 2017)
Category: YA, Psychological Paranormal Thriller
Tour Dates: Oct/Nov 2017
Available in: E-book, 725 Pages

THE COLOR OF EVIL series presents you with characters who live, breathe and die in small town Cedar Falls, Iowa. Tad McGreevy, the focus of the series, has a paranormal power, Tetrachromatic Super Vision, that allows him to see auras that tell him whether a person is good or evil. At night, in horrifying nightmares, Tad relives the crimes of the evil-doers. Eventually, he becomes the target of a particularly lethal antagonist, Michael Clay (aka Pogo the Clown) who wants to eliminate the teen-aged boy. In three books, we witness the power of evil faced off against a good-hearted young boy who just wants to protect those he loves.

Beginning with the first manifestations of this supernatural power at the age of 8, the book quickly takes us forward to the high school years of Tad and the band of friends we come to know well. We follow their progress from their junior year of high school through graduation with danger always lurking in the background. As others have said, it’s quite a ride.

Begin the journey today with this specially-priced trilogy: THE COLOR OF EVIL, RED IS FOR RAGE, and KHAKI=KILLER.

The Color of Evil Series on Amazon

My Reviews

I chose to read this series after receiving a free e-copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

The Color of Evil is the first book in the Color of Evil series. When he’s 8 years old, Tad finds out that he has some kind of power. He’s always seen auras around people and the color of the aura tells him whether someone is good or bad. But when he meets Michael Clay, he starts having nightmares about him torturing and murdering young men. When Michael Clay is arrested, it’s figured out by Tad, his doctor, and his family that he was having visions rather than nightmares. Now that the cause is in jail, Tad is able to return to a normal life…for 8 years.

When Tad is 16 years old, things go crazy quickly. There’s so much going on in the small town of Cedar Falls, Iowa, it’s difficult to keep up. There are spouses cheating on each other and neglecting each other, sexual predators, Tad’s best friend goes missing, and Michael Clay escapes from prison which means the visions are back. There’s something new around every corner and some of it is not for the faint of heart.

The Color of Evil is a psychological thriller that could be a great book with some serious editing. There are the usual grammar and punctuation errors that need attention but more than that, there’s a lot of repetition and a couple times names are confused by the author. I had to go back and read the passages because I thought I’d read them wrong.

Despite the problems listed above, I enjoyed The Color of Evil and look forward to reading Red is for Rage.

Red is for Rage is the second book in the Color of Evil series. It picks up at the beginning of Tad’s senior year in high school. The wimpy 8-year-old has become a football player, mainly because his best friend Stevie is still missing and his wannabe girlfriend was gone until the beginning of school.

Everything has changed for Tad but nothing has changed in his town. He’s trying to harness his powers while many of the people around him are crazy.

Again, there is a lot going on in the second book. Charlie Chandler, a retired policeman, has teamed up with Tad and they are searching for Stevie. Michael Clay has escaped from prison yet again and now he is after Tad. These are just the tip of the iceberg.

I liked getting to know some of the characters better. Not just Tad and Jenny but Stevie, Janice, and Charlie.

Again, Red is for Rage was a good read that could have been great with some serious editing. I was hoping this one would be edited but there were still grammar and punctuation problems as well as repetition and mixed up names.

I read Khaki=Killer in July 2014. I had always hoped to read the first two books in the series when I had a chance. It’s one of those books that I didn’t have to re-read because it has always stuck with me. My review from 2014):

This is the third book in the Color of Evil series but it is the first one I read. I was hoping to read the first two before I read this one, but I ran out of time. Khaki=Killer stands alone but I can tell that it would be even better if I’d read the other two books first.

This book is like two books in one, both based in the same town. One story is about Sean who is dealing with the possible loss of his wife, Melody, and his unborn baby. The second story is about the disappearance of Kelly and Heather and the search for them.

Khaki-Killer has a lot of drama, loving relationships, and suspense. It addresses several moral issues and is a good book to get young adults thinking about these issues.

I like Connie Corcoran Wilson’s writing style. I did have trouble once in a while keeping track of the timeline if I forgot to read the chapter title.

The thoughts and feelings of the main characters are well described. These teens are more mature than many teens in the “real world” although everyone in their town has been through so much that I can see how they could be mature beyond their years.

Khaki=Killer is a good book and I recommend it to both adults and young adults. I do recommend reading the first two books, which I will be doing as soon as I can.

Praise for Color Of Evil Series Boxed Set by Connie Corcoran Wilson

“THE COLOR OF EVIL series is old-school psychological horror, artfully blended with new-school shocks and twists. Bravo!” —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author, multiple Bram Stoker winner.

‘The book has all the elements of a compelling mystery and an inventive paranormal twist. One must credit Wilson for treating her teenage protagonists with respect, as they face adult dilemmas and resolve them with maturity and grace.”- Kirkus

“Connie Corcoran Wilson weaves a deftly fine scalpel in an age where a crude blade is more the norm. Her work is a smooth, subtle hybrid mix of science fiction, thriller, and horror that realizes a unique and pointed vision in the great tradition of Phillip K. Dick and Ray Bradbury. Her voice is a wonder to behold, at once dark and somber while maintaining a glimmer of hope that shines in the hearts of her heroes, who cling to the light. Like Stephen King, nothing escapes her discerning eye, the result of which is tale after tale that bleed life onto the page, both literally and figuratively.”–Jon Land, bestselling author of the Caitlin Strong Series

“Wilson’s characters come alive on the page. Comparisons to Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Philip K. Dick aside, Wilson has spent 33 years teaching students in this age range. She knows what she is talking about.”–Gary Braver, author of “Flashback” and 8 other thrillers.

About the Author

Connie (Corcoran) Wilson (MS + 30) graduated from the University of Iowa and Western Illinois University, with additional study at Northern Illinois, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Chicago. She taught writing at six Iowa/Illinois colleges and has written for five newspapers and seven blogs, including Yahoo, which named her its 2008 Content Producer of the Year. She covers politics and entertainment and writes for The Movie Blog, QuadCities.com and her own blog, WeeklyWilson.com.

She is a member of ITW (International Thriller Writers) and a member of IWPA (Illinois Women’s Press Association, Chicago chapter), which awarded her its Silver Feather Award in 2012 and 2014, MWA (Midwest Writers Association), AWP (American Writing Program) and MWC (Midwest Writing Center), which named her its Writer of the Year in 2010. She has won numerous E-Lit awards, a NABE Pinnacle award, an ALMA (American Literary Merit Award), Lucky Cinda competition and two IWPA Silver Feather Awards (2012, 2014).

Her stories and interviews with writers like David Morrell, Joe Hill, Kurt Vonnegut, Frederik Pohl, William F. Nolan, Anne Perry, r. Barri Flowers, Valerie Plame, Allen Zadoff and Jon Land have appeared online and in numerous journals.

Her work has won prizes from “Whim’s Place Flash Fiction,” “Writer’s Digest” (Screenplay) and she has 30 published works. Connie reviewed film and books for the Quad City Times (Davenport, Iowa) for 12 years, wrote humor columns and conducted interviews for the (Moline, Illinois) Dispatch.

Connie has three ongoing series: THE COLOR OF EVIL, HELLFIRE & DAMNATION (short stories organized around the crimes or sins punished at each of the levels of Hell in Dante’s Inferno) and THE CHRISTMAS CATS, which she writes for her granddaughters. (TheColorOfEvil.com; RedIsforRage.com; KhakiEqualsKiller.com; HellfireAndDamnationTheBook.com; TheXmasCats.com)

Connie lives in East Moline, Illinois with husband Craig and in Chicago, Illinois and Austin, Texas. Son Scott and wife Jessica and granddaughters Ava and Elise live in Austin and her daughter, Stacey, currently flies for Southwest Airlines and flies from Denver, Colorado.

Connie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConnieCWilson
Connie on Facebook: https://facebook.com/pages/Connie-Corcoran-Wilson/275020829241869
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