Wow, what a great writer John Boyne is. In all of his novels, he had engaged me with his lively and believable dialog, and composed narratives that havWow, what a great writer John Boyne is. In all of his novels, he had engaged me with his lively and believable dialog, and composed narratives that have glued me to the pages. And he's done it again with All The Broken Places.
Regret is a wasted emotion, but I really wish I would have read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas first. I had thought about it, but the impressions I was getting was that it was more of a very young adult novel and he had caught some fire over glossing over the horrible details of the Nazi death camps. Of course, I should always ignore stuff like this and read for myself. Anyway, I was anxious to read his latest, so I elected to read the plot outline of it and I was fine for All The Broken Places. This is indeed sufficient to enjoy this novel, but yeah, I really do wish I had just gone ahead and read the first, to give me even more of a complete feel of Gretel's character. Be that as it may, I don't feel shortchanged at all. It just would have been a nice extra.
The story follows the life of Gretel, who was the 12 year old daughter of the commander of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Her story is old from a few periods in her life, present day as a 91 year old, and her teens/adulthood since fleeing Poland.
The novel moved like gangbusters, with great plotting through all periods, and I could hardly put it down. There are very few authors who can manage to affect me emotionally, and John Boyne really hit me in this one.
Very highly recommended from one of the great storytellers of our time, and will definitely be one of my top reads of the year....more
Ordinary people, everyday life, family drama and dysfunction, delivered with excellent writing.
This is my jam.
Once again an author I had never heard oOrdinary people, everyday life, family drama and dysfunction, delivered with excellent writing.
This is my jam.
Once again an author I had never heard of enters my radar and after reading I am dumbfounded at how I had never heard of them before. Thanks to the new book podcast Book Talk, Etc. I now know about Jonathan Tropper.
Similar to Tom Perrotta's great suburban novels, This is Where I Leave You is another fine entry into the genre. This was published almost twenty years ago, and again: how the hell have I never heard of this guy? Looking in the wrong places, obviously.
Tropper's story follows the aftermath of the death of a patriarch, whose last request was for his family to sit shiva, despite the fact that he was hardly devout. For those who don't know (I didn't), shiva is a seven day period of grieving by the family. The four adult children are forced to stay and honor this, and with their emotional baggage in tow, the stage is set.
There are so many good aspects to this book. A little tragedy, some poignancy that stopped me in my tracks, excellent dialogue, and tenderness that rang true. Interspersed throughout was humour. At one point, not simply humour but uproarious laugh out loud raunchiness that had me snorting with tears down my cheeks. This is NOT an exaggeration. In the first 30 or so pages I had never read anything that funny before and I was already set to give this five stars for that alone.
This book had everything I look for in domestic fiction. Not even the first person present tense (which I have come to loathe but am forced to reluctantly accept) was enough to take any enjoyment out of this.
Absolutely 100% my jam and five big stars. I am looking so forward to reading him again....more
I finished this book yesterday morning and it's taken a little while to get to writing a review. Which works out fine because it's given me time to thI finished this book yesterday morning and it's taken a little while to get to writing a review. Which works out fine because it's given me time to think about what I want to say.
I wasn't really sure it I would read Emily St John Mandel again after Station Eleven. I liked the book well enough, but went middle of the road with a "strong" three star rating (I recall as I sat down to write the review, some details that had faded began to come back and the overall feel of the story coalesced in my head quite nicely. The sign of a very strong writer). Station Eleven was marketed as a literary novel, which generally means lyrical or atmospheric (or at its worst, poetic) writing that commands attention from the reader, but what struck me about that novel was the outbreak of the pandemic at the beginning. Rarely does a novel make me breathless and cause my heart to race, but that did it. I almost gave that book four stars for that alone. I probably should have, in retrospect.
I listen to a couple of very good book podcasts. Lately The Glass Hotel has been the one that was making the rounds in them (I'm in catch-up mode), and based on other recommendations from them, this was a hard one to ignore. But again with the literary tag as a warning to those of us who are just looking for good stories with good characters. And a vague tag at that: try looking up a definitive description of what literary fiction is. Are you back? What did you find? I bet you found a lot of "hard to define; the boundaries are mixed". I hate artistry in writing. Grammatical gymnastics that force re-reads of paragraphs or vocabularies that are ridiculous (I downloaded a sample of Leave the World Behind and I was sent to the dictionary FOUR times in six pages! I am almost 60 years old, fairly well educated and read. Words I have never heard of, all in place of words sane people would use? Forget it, pal) have no place in my reading life. As a result of bad experiences, I see that literary fiction tag on books that sound interesting to me and that tag makes me balk and I bellyache over whether to commit my precious reading time to even samples of them. Which sucks! Because some of my favourite novels have been designated as such. Look at Descent by Tim Johnston. A "literary mystery" but all that l-word meant was the brilliant sense of place Johnston put me in. His attention to details with his characters. It was everything I look for in a book but it stayed on my to-read list for two years.
What I'm getting at here is that The Glass Hotel is also one of those literary novels by sheer virtue of being great writing. Great writing to me is not artsy for the sake of it, it is not a showcase of the writer's extensive vocabulary or ability to twist a hundred word sentence back on itself (ooo, you so clever!). No, it's just great writing, and this is what great writing means to me: attention to the little details of life that can stop you in your tracks (my wife: "you've sighed a lot." Me, not realizing: "Oh...this is really good."), a cohesiveness to story that lingers long after finishing, a cast of characters who are all interesting. Literary novels are characteristically recommended for those times that you can dedicate for more attentive reading. To read slowly and savour what the author is doing. This is true somewhat, but I found Mandel's writing to be so compulsive that I could hardly put it down. This is about a Ponzi scheme and its fallout, and it begins with a woman who falls overboard from a cargo ship. There are several characters throughout and since finishing it, over a day now, I still find myself thinking about each one of them. I may have overhyped this novel but it really, really worked for me and was exactly what I was in the mood for when I picked it up. So far this year I have only rated a novella five stars. This is my first five star read for a full novel (did I mention it was only 300 pages? Magnificent). So yeah, I'm a bit jacked about it. I can't wait to see what she comes out with next....more
But that's the thing with Colleen Hoover, at least from my extensive two novel experience from her. She has the gI absolutely burned through this one.
But that's the thing with Colleen Hoover, at least from my extensive two novel experience from her. She has the gift of writing in a very propulsive style. The only other thing I have read from her is It Ends With Us, which I five-starred. I loved the characters and the story was irresistible.
Verity follows the story of a fairly struggling writer who is given a pivotal opportunity to siginificantly boost her career, to take on the completion of Verity's hugely successful thriller series. I don't want to divulge any more of the plot than that.
There are a few reasons I am giving this one five stars.
For one reason, I almost can't read my favourite genre anymore. The psychological suspense genre is incredibly oversaturated and with the same tiresome tropes, over and over again: ubiquitous twists, unreliable narrators, you know what I'm talking about. The unexpected has become the expected. Yet, I still hold out hope with the few on my to-read list that there are some that will stand out from the bulk. And this one does.
Another reason is that Colleen Hoover is known as a romance writer. And a successful one at that. However, I had never heard of her because of this segregation of labels until her novel It Ends With Us was mentioned on a podcast and they had talked about how this was a somewhat of a departure for her, and, the remarkable solid five star AVERAGE rating over thousands of reviews. This is something that stuck with me and I read It Ends With Us and loved it. Verity was touted as yet another departure for her, only on a much darker scale. It got added to my to-read list immediately.
Boy, was this dark. In fact, this was one of the more disturbing novels I've read: I don't think I can even recommend this to my wife. To think that a lady from the romance shelves can shed that genre and knock something like this out of the park is nothing short of amazing.
Hoover excels at dialogue and pacing. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. And the plot? Well, very addicting and very satisfying to the end. I must say that I was about a hundred pages to the end of this and it occurred to me that I knew exactly where this was going and had suspected so from the very beginning. I was dead wrong.
So that makes her two for two for me. Five stars once again. Now what am I going to do? The rest of her books are romance!
Hoover is now on my immediate radar. I sure hope she continues to write outside romance because when she does again, I'll be all in.
It's worth noting that her acknowledgments notes are also worth the time.
Labels. While it does serve its purpose of distinguishing genres for readers, it does provide a disservice as well. Segregating books into specific geLabels. While it does serve its purpose of distinguishing genres for readers, it does provide a disservice as well. Segregating books into specific genres guarantees that there will be people who will completely ignore anything from these sections. Obviously there are those that are certainly square pegs in square holes, your space operas, fantasies, angst ridden YA, your bodice-rippers, but there are without a doubt those that bleed out of these pigeon holes by sheer virtue of being great stories and characters and subjects that have much wider appeal than the boundaries of their assigned or presumed genre. Look at The Hunger Games or The Book Thief. Outstanding reads for anyone open to defy the YA stamp on those.
Which brings me to Romance. Me? Not bloody likely. Even though I'm not a stereotypical male reader (I hate battle scenes, military stuff, I'm more about human dynamics than action), Romance is a genre that has no appeal to me. Mention Romance and I see a cover with a guy with flowing blond hair and in dire need of a shirt. Sappy love and drama? Ugh. I'm not a stereotypical reader, but I'm still a guy. A manly guy. I play hockey for God's sake. I chop firewood.
The other day I was out for a walk listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Sarah's Bookshelves Live (it's worth noting that the two podcasts I listen to are hosted by women and the majority of their guests are women, so it's inevitable sometimes the recommendations will have more of a feminine slant. But I've discovered the best book podcast reviewers have been women lately, and these ladies have recommended some great ones with wide appeal), and one of her guests had recommended this one by "Romance Writer" Colleen Hoover. I had zoned out a bit when they were discussing what this one was about (another nice thing about these podcasts is they are adamant about revealing as little about plot as possible), but my ears perked up when they mentioned the average rating of a solid five at Amazon, across five thousand reviews. They also mentioned that this was a bit of a departure from her typical romance novels, so this got me very intrigued. The beauty of Kindle reading is that you can download a generous sample of a book and start reading to see if it's for you. So I did. It didn't take long to know that this was for me.
Let me tell you my thoughts on romance, or rather stories that have love interests. I only look for two things when I want to read something great: great characters and great stories. Almost universally, these combine to develop human dynamics: relationships; be they conflicts, friendships, partnerships or love. All of these are part of the human condition, human stories and are relatable to everyone. Some of my favorite books have been relationship-centric: One Day or Us by David Nicoll or Fingersmith by Sarah Waters to name a few. Would I call these books Romance? No. Are they labelled as Romance? No. But they are about love and relationships when you get right down to it. What I'm trying to get at is I will read anything that I hear is terrific and when that's backed up with crazy-good ratings, I can't ignore it.
I'm glad I didn't because this was indeed terrific. I hadn't even heard of Colleen Hoover before this. This is where segregation gets you. But that barrier has been blown open now. I have already added Verity to my to-read list.
I don't want to reveal anything about this story. It is the story of a relationship and that's pretty much all you need to know going in. Know this: my predominant genre used to be psychological suspense, but this genre made me so sick of the overused tropes of (expected) twists, (expected) unreliable narrators, and unrealistic character motivations, that I'm now prone to avoid it. But, tension is such a driving force to reading, so I still give it a chance. It Ends With Us has its tense moments. But it is tension without the tropes. It is tension that comes with real life, scenarios that are not uncommon or unrealistic. There were moments where I feared she was going to fall into Romance tropes (like I read a lot of Romance, but...): she almost lost me with the appearance of Devin. No...not the token gay BFF, please. But thankfully that got nipped in the bud. There were also moments where there were some irrational thoughts or speculations, but then they were immediately countered with rational arguments. Also, it was refreshing that revelatory developments did not dramatically mark the end of chapters. Chapters kept their flow, which is a rarity these days. Well done! There was, however, one moment towards the end of the story that made my mind scream, BAD IDEA!!!! But I'll give her a pass on it: (view spoiler)[ Telling Ryle she wanted a divorce while he's holding their newborn. Are you out of your freaking mind, Lily!? (hide spoiler)]
Hoover tells this story from the first person of a woman's perspective. Her insight into the whys and hows of relationships come from an honest place (read her Author's Note at the end). I'm recommending this book very highly. Not only for its insight, but for her skilled storytelling and addictive writing quality. I'm recommending it to everyone, but mostly my Goodreads friends who are guys. Break out of your genres, don't let Goodreads Winner for Romance (ugh) stamp scare you off. The sheer fact that it's a woman's perspective shouldn't make this exclusive to Woman's Fiction. Just the opposite. Men should read this to understand (or simply start the thought process) of what a woman's perspective can be in a relationship such as this.
I sat and thought for a long time after putting this down. It also took me a long time to decide what to read after this. This alone usually warrants five stars from me. One thing I do know, I will absolutely, definitely, be reading Colleen Hoover again....more
Edit: two months later and I still think of this one a lot. And wondering why 4.5 stars instead of 5? So, bumping this to a deserved 5 stars.
Fair warniEdit: two months later and I still think of this one a lot. And wondering why 4.5 stars instead of 5? So, bumping this to a deserved 5 stars.
Fair warning to those who have read The Passengers and are planning to read The One next: there is a bit of an overlap to The One, and it serves as a bit of a spoiler to it. Not a big one, but enough to change my expectation of the story. Having said that, I am glad that The Passengers was my first Marrs read because it was such an excellent introduction to a new author that the only cure for that book hangover was hair of the dog.
Both of these books follow a similar structure, in that we are following several main characters at the same time. The One takes the concept of people finding their true love via DNA genetic matching. While it was a bit of a reach to have matches work out to be conveniently close by geographically (most, anyway), it's easy to give that a pass and enjoy living these people's lives. I found it remarkable how John Marrs pretty much covered everything, every emotion, across these characters. I won't list any examples, it's more fun to discover the little twists and turns along the way to their resolutions.
The One ranks a very solid 4.5 for me. Addictive and interesting. I'm excited to read more from this guy....more
I while back I wrote in a review that I was definitely more of a psychological suspense guy than a thriller guy.
I'd like to retract that statement, beI while back I wrote in a review that I was definitely more of a psychological suspense guy than a thriller guy.
I'd like to retract that statement, because that was after reading several over-hyped thrillers with the same old cliched writing styles. You know, the over-abundance of one sentence paragraphs at the end of chapters for those "Dun-dun-dun-DUNNN!" moments, the unreliable narrator trope, the ubiquitous HUGE TWIST, all part and parcel of Basic Thriller Writing 101. This attitude was before reading John Marrs' The Passenger. Having said that, I am still more of a suspense guy, but...this!
First of all, why have I never heard of this guy until I heard it mentioned on the Currently Reading Podcast (a new favourite), and how was this novel nonexistent for the Goodreads' Choice awards for Mystery/Thriller?
This is the best thriller I have read in a very long time. Marrs takes a plausible concept, the advent of autonomous-only vehicles on the road, and what happens should the systems get hacked. The result is a novel I could hardly put down, burning my eyes out in a mad rush to see how this is going to unfold. Very Black Mirror style. There are a few nice reveals along the way, and Marrs' pacing is quite masterful. There was one instance where I was reminded of a slight annoyance I had had with The Whisper Man, where a character was entering a building during a climactic scene, and the attempt to draw out the suspense by an itemized description of the surroundings was so deliberate that I had to roll my eyes. Marrs' scene had a similar technique to this, but it was absolutely perfect, and I can't even describe the subtleties of why it was. It just was.
This was an out and out terrific read. A perfect beach read, or sit by the fireplace read, or read while your frigging hair is on fire read, for that matter.
Thanks so much to the lovely ladies of the Currently Reading Podcast (I believe this was Meredith) for putting this one at the top of my to-read list, and boo to Goodreads for not even a glimpse at this one for its award.
I can't wait to read another by John Marrs but as is my tendency, I never like to read an author's books consecutively for fear of finding tendencies that may get too familiar. But damn, it's going to be really, really tough to hold off......more
Descent was on my to-read list for quite a while. The reason for this is unfortunate, and that is, once again, due to me being stymied by a mediocre aDescent was on my to-read list for quite a while. The reason for this is unfortunate, and that is, once again, due to me being stymied by a mediocre average rating. Anytime I would look at it and scan reviews, I'd balk at the words lyrical, literary, and poetic (that one's a killer) being present, and I would move on to something else. Each time the novel becoming more in danger of getting dropped off my list. But, I'm getting better at this. I am beginning to tell myself that I put it on my to-read list for a reason. It's worth noting here that I have a couple of lists going. One on my phone that lists those authors and books that are worth further consideration, and my Goodreads list here, in which every novel is there because of a very strong push I had from one place or another. So I kept telling myself that other opinions shouldn't matter. I need to give it a shot (when I'm ready) because there was obviously something there.
Now about that being ready part: I read Descent off the heels of a YA novel, a genre I have little interest in, but was convinced by a podcast that that novel would be different (it wasn't). In fact, the writing in that novel was so dumbed down that I felt insulted as a reader, and would have been even if I was of YA age, whatever that is, presumably anywhere over 18. So I looked at Descent. Yes, this would be the absolutely perfect time to appreciate a lyrical, literary, or even poeti - NO. I'm drawing the line there. No poetic prose. NO. I downloaded the sample to my Kindle and began.
And my brain lit up.
Whew. Okay, here's the thing. Those who balk at the so-called literary, lyrical novels should know there is nothing to fear here. I probably have the least amount of tolerance for purply prose, and find that for the most part novels with this quality tend to buckle under their own weight. But the points in which Descent shows these qualities, it is simply a matter of magnificent writing. And there is plenty of quick dialogue to even things out. And there's the enticing plotline of a family whose daughter goes missing in the Rocky Mountains. Tim Johnston takes his time with this story. There is a lot of branching out and this is something that seems to have annoyed some readers. Not me. Perhaps if this was bloated out to 600 pages, sure I'd take issue with that. But honestly, the amount of story, the cast of characters, the...redemption of some, I'm astounded that all of this was packed into 370 pages. I'm having a really hard time writing a review that doesn't sound like I'm making excuses for the writing. This isn't my intent.
Let me just say this: Descent is very well done. The writing, at times is glorious, and will light up your mind the way a good book should. The story is a terrifying one, at times wrought with melancholy (how could it not be?), and shouldn't be missed by anyone who enjoys the thriller/suspense genre. There's something for everyone here.
This will be one of my top reads of the year for sure, and I'm looking forward to his next, The Current, soon....more
This is the third novel I've read by John Boyne. The first two, The Absolutist and The Heart's Invisible Furies, I rated five stars. A Ladder to the SkThis is the third novel I've read by John Boyne. The first two, The Absolutist and The Heart's Invisible Furies, I rated five stars. A Ladder to the Sky is the best I've read from him, so another five stars for you, John. Three for three.
I'll go back once again with one thing that bothered me about the last two novels,the same situation he pulled off in both stories, and I threw back my head with an "Arrrrrgh!" when it happened AGAIN in this book! I won't go into details about that, you can read those reviews and peek into the spoiler tags if you wish, but despite that I had still rated those as five star reads. However, immediately after it had happened in A Ladder to the Sky, I reeled myself back in a bit and forgave the character based on the time and place in history, and the raging hormones of a 17 year old boy in love.
But enough about that. This is a stupendous read. Unlike the previous two, A Ladder to the Sky is more of a psychological suspense story, surrounding a writer and his goal of becoming highly recognized and successful. I could hardly put it down. John Boyne has a style that made this such a compulsive read, it was all I could do to get through the work day and grab precious time over lunch and the commutes to and from work to get back into this, totally losing myself in this story.
Very highly recommended, and as is always the case, I fear another book hangover coming on and some DNFs in my immediate future. Such is the price when you read something as terrific as this....more
**spoiler alert** It's something I am loathe to do, and something that will make me indiscriminately unfriend and block those who do it: talk about th**spoiler alert** It's something I am loathe to do, and something that will make me indiscriminately unfriend and block those who do it: talk about the ending of a book or even hint at the fact that there is something that happens that will throw you for a loop. Even the mere mention of a twist or saying you never saw that coming is against my philosophy. As far as I'm concerned, that in itself is a spoiler, and a terrible one. For that reason, I will follow my philosophy to a point by shielding this review with an overall spoiler tag. This review is safe to read if you are already aware that there is a huge buzz about the ending. I do not spoil any of the details.
However, even the most high level browsing of this novel reveals buzz about the ending. Heck, look a the first line of the promotional description. The #WTFthatending was virulent on Twitter. I consider it a miracle that I hadn't stumbled on the big reveal by accident, since I've had this book on my radar for a while. I do enjoy Sarah Pinborough's books a lot (well, I've only read two others: the terrific duology of Mayhem and Murder, both five-star ratings by yours truly, but still), and I felt I was on borrowed time the longer I let this slide: it would be inevitable that I'd stumble on some twit who would ruin this for me.
A couple of weeks ago it was my wife's birthday. We were at my folks' place and my Mom had, to my surprise and delight, bought this for her. My wife started reading it a couple of days later and was loving it. This was the perfect opportunity for me to join her in a buddy read, although at that point she was probably 3/4 of the way through.
Well. Well, well, well. Despite knowing that there was THE ENDING that was messing everyone up, I am delighted to report that Ms Pinborough totally blindsided me (and my wife, and she can see things coming a mile away, admittably to my annoyance sometimes). There was one aspect that I had suspected and it turned out I was right about it, and then THAT.
Ha! Fantastic.
One thing very much worth noting here. If I hadn't known it was her, I would never have guessed that this was Sarah Pinborough's writing. Her Mayhem and Murder novels were very well written, and in a straightforward storytelling style. These days, most suspense novels incorporate the alternating perspective style written in the first person, present tense. It could be a genre unto itself. Pinborough absolutely nailed the style, a total departure from what I had been used to from her before. Her versatility alone is something to be impressed about.
But the story as a whole? It's been a couple of days since I've gotten around to writing this review and I still can't stop thinking about it. Damn. Freaking brilliant.
Ho-hum, another five-star read from the lovely Ms Pinborough. That be three for three, says me....more
I haven't read a lot of cosmic horror but it's something that I've wanted to be able to experience (in a book). There were a few attempts here and theI haven't read a lot of cosmic horror but it's something that I've wanted to be able to experience (in a book). There were a few attempts here and there but nothing really seemed to catch for me. Either the stories were just too outlandish to buy into, or the author used an over-descriptiveness that lost me.
Until.....now!
This was really good. You know why? Because John Langan, using perfect measures of descriptive prose, painted scenes that I could visualize fully. Also, the pacing of the story (and story within the story) was terrific. The dialogue was realistic, and, well heck: the guy's just a fabulous writer.
Cosmic horror is something that can be really tough to take in unless you are able to suspend disbelief and let it take you along. Langan's landscapes seamlessly transition to these other places and as a reader I was able to slide in with full acceptance. And he knocked the ending out of the park, bumping that 4.5 he had going to a full on five star rating. It's been a couple of days since I read it now, and it is still niggling away at me. You want cosmic horror served easy? Here it is. An excellent Halloween season read....more
I had given five star reviews to Head Full of Ghosts and Disappearance at Devil's Rock, and now another five star review for TThat's three for three.
I had given five star reviews to Head Full of Ghosts and Disappearance at Devil's Rock, and now another five star review for The Cabin at the End of the World. And this one is the best of the three, in my opinion. Yeah, Paul Tremblay is the real deal. And what makes him so interesting to read is that these three novels are written in totally different styles of not only story, but narrative. Head Full of Ghosts was a supernatural sort of thing, with social media styles interspirced throughout, Disappearance at Devil's Rock was more of a mystery/suspense/supernatural thing, and now his latest has more of a Blake Crouch intensity to it, but with very unique differing perspectives (which, alone I found to be pretty brilliant. A couple of those sections were unlike any POV style I've seen before. Usually something like this can distract my sometimes OCD mind, but not this time. It seamlessly enhanced the storytelling).
The Cabin at the End of the World is the perfect vacation or beach read. The suspense is relentless and you will be consumed by the whole WTF-ness of it all. I finished it in two days (only because I had to pull myself away from it because of real life intruding), and now that it's over I have no idea what to read next because I have no idea what reading mood I'm in now. It's stunned me.
Hopefully I can snap out of it soon and move on......more
As I start typing this review, I am unsure whether this is going to be a five or four star read.
So for starters, let me tell you why this is a five stAs I start typing this review, I am unsure whether this is going to be a five or four star read.
So for starters, let me tell you why this is a five star read:
Taking this story at a high level, I'd have to say that this is, hands down, the best haunted house story I have ever read. Four prominent horror writers agree to be interviewed by an Internet media mogul at a reputed haunted house. Each of these writers have their own trademark style and I could easily identify each one as writers in our own world. These characters are richly developed, and Scott Thomas has taken a tired trope and woven something so clever and unique that I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see how he was going to end this. The fact that this is a first novel is something remarkable.
Now, let me tell you why a part of me is leaning to four stars:
As I said above, I couldn't turn these pages fast enough to see how he was going to end this. The bad news is that the climactic scene towards the end seemed to go on for a hundred pages. Also, it really bothers me when a character can essentially turn off pain, as in a badly broken ankle, and continue to elude danger and save others. I can suspend disbelief, like supernatural stuff (anything goes there, the weirder the better), but the heroic effort that a character does under what can't be anything less than excruciating and crippling pain? Sorry, I just can't get past it. There were also some minor writing annoyances that I feel should have been picked off by an editor, such as the countless times any character "cocked his head" to hear something.
The evidence is in. My verdict: Five stars. Like I said, this is the best haunted house story I've read. I love how he got this inventive story going and developed it. The quibbles are minor and probably due to me being impatient to reach the end because the concept was so freaking good....more
This will not appeal to those of the thriller ilk, there are no silly chase scenes or climatic explosions. No, this iJust an outstanding little novel.
This will not appeal to those of the thriller ilk, there are no silly chase scenes or climatic explosions. No, this is much more unsettling.
Wylding Hall is a slow burn of a haunt, and therefore the type of story that fits right in my wheelhouse. Combine this with the fact that it centers around the members of a folk-rock band from the early 70s and mix in everything that goes with that, playing LPs, smoking hash, and putting a new album together, well, this just filled that wheelhouse of mine. The story is told from the present day, with all characters relaying what happpened that summer from their perspectives. There is a lot that people my age will connect with, what with all the references to my 70s idols. The story really brought to my mind Led Zeppelin's retreat to Headley Grange when they recorded their third album. Lots of similarities to these days were brought forth by Elizabeth Hand here.
Like I said, the story is a slow burn, and what makes this a five star read is not only the compulsive readability of it, but the lingering the story leaves in your head for hours after (and I suspect I will still be thinking about it for days to come).
An excellent read. Thanks so much to Char, whose review put this book on my radar....more
I've been holding off reading this one, because once I read it, I'll have read everything to date from Donald Ray Pollock. See, thDamn, this was good.
I've been holding off reading this one, because once I read it, I'll have read everything to date from Donald Ray Pollock. See, this guy worked over thirty years in a paper mill in Ohio before releasing his collection of short stories (Knockemstiff), and then his excellently depraved The Devil All the Time. He is now 65 years old, this marvelous writer with but two novels to his name. I am impatiently waiting for more.
I loved The Devil All the Time. It was exactly the type of story structure I enjoy, with converging storylines, but hooboy, the damaged characters. It was one of those books you had to be careful who you recommended it to. But so great to those of us who dig the low places vicariously.
The Heavenly Table is, gloriously, his best work yet.
This is set around 1917 Ohio, and mainly focuses on three brothers just, tryin' to git along... As is Pollock's style, there are a few storylines and side characters in the mix and all will converge eventually. Throughout reading this, tearing through this, I couldn't help thinking how the presentation of story was so much like the brilliant Fargo series, and movie for that matter. Hey, throw some Pulp Fiction similarities in there, too. I could totally see the Coen Brothers making this novel a smash hit.
I'm not going to divulge a word of plot, you all know me better than that. But, do note that Pollock will make you squirm. He will also make you feel compassion for the most unlikely of characters. This is brilliance.
The only unfortunate thing about this novel is I now have a severe case of book hangover. Five easy stars and likely to be one of my top five of the year (no pressure there, to-read contestants, but the gauntlet's been dropped).
When you've reached a certain age and read a certain number of books, you begin to recognize the same tropes coming up time and time again in genre fiWhen you've reached a certain age and read a certain number of books, you begin to recognize the same tropes coming up time and time again in genre fiction. In the hands of lesser writers, these tropes can get tiresome to the point where you wonder if you've outgrown your once favourite genre. Horror can certainly fall victim to this.
Then you read something like this.
I think Bone White is classified as horror but I think that's unfair. There are aspects to the novel that can easily be defined as suspense, mystery and crime fiction. Oh, but there is horror, my pretties.
But back to my little statement of reading "something like this". Allow me to elaborate. There is another novel, one of my favourites of all time, that I couldn't help thinking of the entire time I read this (except for the ending), and that novel is The Silence of the Lambs. Note that even though Bone White shares the same characteristic of combining suspense, mystery, crime and horror, that's too simplistic a comparison. No, what Malfi did here to remind me of that classic was more subtle and intricate than that.
It was mood.
From the onset, there is a darkness that permeates every page. The concept of the story, the well developed characters, and oh, the settings of rural Alaska:
The sky to the north looked like hammered tin.
Damn.
Malfi pulls the reader through this story of a man trying to locate his twin brother who had gone missing in the Alaskan wilderness a year earlier. The remoteness of rural Alaska is palpable and somehow claustrophobic as the story follows his search amid recent crimes and local superstitions. Bone White had everything I look for in crime fiction and horror, and Malfi has massive skills at settling the reader into the story's environment.
This is the first novel I've read by Ronald Malfi. So here's another fine author I can look forward to reading again.
I'm having a hard time kicking this review off, because there is just...so much.
I finished this novel last night and have started another, but my headI'm having a hard time kicking this review off, because there is just...so much.
I finished this novel last night and have started another, but my head is still full of this story.
When I was about 3/4 through the story, an image came to mind. You know when you place a drop of oil on a water surface and then that drop expands out? That's how this story structure seemed to evolve.
Beach Music starts off with the main character talking about his wife, who had jumped off a South Carolina bridge to her death. He has started a new life in Rome with his young daughter. As Jack struggles to come to terms with his wife's suicide and recent developments in his life, the past is slowly revealed to us. His Southern past, and his friends and family's past. I thought Pat Conroy's story structure and even his pacing was brilliant.
I say "even his pacing" because some of the more negative reviews I've seen have called this novel bloated and tedious. And that can be a fair assessment depending on how you approach it. I picked Beach Music off the to-read list after rejecting a good chunk of suspense novels that have started to dominate my list. At the time, the genre was becoming tiresome to me. The predictability of unreliable narrators, the obligatory twists, my eyes just glazed over them. I was in the mood for just a novel. Just a story with family drama and characters I could care about.
I was tired of fast paced plotting. I was tired of racing through yet another hype of the month. Pat Conroy's Prince of Tides was one of my favorite novels ever (Lords of Discipline, not so much), so it was time to give him another shot. I was ready to settle back, and let a story unfold in my head. This story: I felt like I lived it.
Pat Conroy was in no rush to tell this story. There are many paths taken and thoughts to consider, so the reader should not be in a rush to have the story (stories) told. My head is full. So many parts to this story will continue to linger with me and in some ways it's a burden...I want to move on and enjoy my next read. But in other ways it's wonderful. I must say that the only negative thing here was how I felt about the second-last chapter or so...the "gathering" was a bit of a reach for me. But this is a very small thing in the grand scheme, and easily forgettable (I had completed this review and forgot to mention it...until just now).
It's going to take a while to shake this novel off. Five stars for that. A brilliant read that I would recommend to anyone....more
I had read three of his before, No Time for Goodbye (4 stars), Never Look Away (3 stars) and Too CloseThe best Linwood Barclay novel I've read so far.
I had read three of his before, No Time for Goodbye (4 stars), Never Look Away (3 stars) and Too Close to Home (3 stars).
No Time for Goodbye was very good and I was excited to have a strong start with an author who was new to me. But the next two were a bit short off the mark: Too Close to Home got a little too long in the tooth and convoluted towards the end, and Never Look Away? I had some major issues with the last 50 pages that bugged me so much I was hesitant to read him again. That was four years ago.
One thing about all of those novels though: Noone can lay out a plotline like this guy. The best parts of his books are for the first half or so, wondering where the heck things are going to go and what is going to be revealed.
Lately I noticed his Promise Falls trilogy was getting a lot of love and he's back in the spotlight again with his latest novel. I had been planning on reading Trust Your Eyes for a while and I was at the point where I was having a difficult time choosing from my to-read pile. So I picked it.
And devoured every. last. word.
Like his other novels, again the plotline is trawled out brilliantly and again, you're wondering where the heck he's going to take you. There is a lot of dialogue in this story, which really moves things along at a brisk pace, and some of his character development is fantastic, particularly Thomas.
Any misgivings that I had had with the previous two novels were completely dashed by this one. It's a terrific plot that stayed strong right up until the last page, with some characters behaving badly but believably. I hated putting this one down for any length of time and couldn't wait to pick it up again. It's a perfect vacation read (I wish I had started it earlier than the last day of mine!) so highly recommended.
This was stellar entertainment. What more do you want? Five stars, easy. ...more
Magpie Murders will not only go down as one of my favourites of the year, but one of my favourites of all time.What a way to cap off the reading year.
Magpie Murders will not only go down as one of my favourites of the year, but one of my favourites of all time. It was Arah-Lynda's review that got me to add this one to my to-read list, right from her first paragraph where she mentions how Horowitz's writing reminds her of her love of books and reading. That's similar to what was going through my mind as I was reading it: that this is why I read. For sheer entertainment and the love of being absorbed into a story. What could be better than that? I'll tell you: how about being absorbed into two stories in the same book? Most people who have heard of this book know that this is the clever hook to it. A mystery within a mystery. I won't reveal anything of the plot, and I highly recommend you avoid reading reviews where synopsis is expanded upon. But know this: I have read some pretty complex mysteries, and far too frequently I'll find myself feeling stupid having to flip back to re-read some detail or remind me of some character. Once I've dismissed the "I'm stupid" idea, I usually come to the idea that the author is to blame (it can't possibly be me!) by simply driving too much information into my head in a manner that is hard to track. Here lies the brilliance of Anthony Horowitz. There are two stories at work here. And, as is the required case for mysteries, both mysteries contain many characters and details to keep track of. At no point during this book did I feel confused or did I feel my memory was lacking. The brilliance is that Horowitz is able to present both stories that are easily manageable by the reader. He does this with common sense: write with a narrative that is addictive, has realistic dialogue, and make every single character interesting.
I can't say enough about this novel. Let's just say that this novel exudes everything I love about reading, and I wish I could erase my memory of it and read it over again for the first time. I think that is the best thing I can say about any novel.
How else can you describe a novel that seems to be barely moving in plot, but at the end of it all you come to realize that so muSublime storytelling.
How else can you describe a novel that seems to be barely moving in plot, but at the end of it all you come to realize that so much has happened? I was probably a quarter through Empire Falls when it started to occur to me that as this won the Pulitzer Prize, there was a pretty good chance that I was in for another three quarters of the same...simply very good writing, but ultimately a novel to bore you to tears...much like other prize novels I've suffered through. But I pressed on, mainly due to the fact that a couple of GoodReads friends whose tastes fall in line with mine, raved about it. And it didn't hurt knowing there was an acclaimed HBO series made from it with a stellar cast.
Well.
It really didn't take much longer than a quarter through this to realize I was into something really special here, and by the time I was halfway through I couldn't put it down. Empire Falls is an exquisitely written (and easily readable - this is his brilliance) story about a blue collar mill town that has fallen on hard times. It's simply a story about these people, but ultimately it is not a simple story. These are complex characters, and I can't stress highly enough how well drawn they are. It's a serious novel but with some humour thrown in (I laughed out loud several times - Max has an uncanny similarity to Frank in Shameless, if you're familiar with that show...).
I had a very hard time getting this novel out of my head, and two days later I still can't stop thinking about it. Empire Falls, I predict, will be the best novel I've read this year. It is already one of the best I've read in my life. It is that good.
Maybe I'm over-hyping this. Maybe not. Who cares. THIS makes the reading experience sublime. 10 stars. I am outta here....more
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