To date I have read five books by Ronald Malfi (four novels and one novella). Of these, three were five stars (including the novella) and the other twTo date I have read five books by Ronald Malfi (four novels and one novella). Of these, three were five stars (including the novella) and the other two were three stars. So it's fair to say that his works are hit and not miss, but just okay for me. Unfortunately The Night Parade was a just okay one.
But it's worth mentioning that early on I was leaning towards DNFing it, because it was giving off big The Last of Us vibes, a TV series that I did not finish because I found it repetitive and boring. I wasn't excited for more of this vibe, but that morning I decided to give it a few more pages and I'm pleased to say that it sucked me in. I was also going on Malfi's track record here. Bone White, I thought, was magnificent. And since he wrote that, I am willing to stick with him.
All went very well until about the last hundred pages. I found that it got very corny and some of the dialogue was downright cringey. This is where the novel fell from perhaps a solid four stars to three. Also I didn't find it satisfying as a whole.
But not a big deal. Three stars does not mean it was a bad read. It just didn't mesh with me very well. And anyone who can write something like Bone White will always have my attention. I'll definitely keep reading him....more
I really like Paul Tremblay. His first three novels, Head Full of Ghosts, Disappearance at Devil's Rock, and The Cabin at the End of the World were alI really like Paul Tremblay. His first three novels, Head Full of Ghosts, Disappearance at Devil's Rock, and The Cabin at the End of the World were all five star reads for me. It just seemed he couldn't miss. Unfortunately he began to slip a bit for me after those. Survivor Song I couldn't even finish. But it wasn't because of his writing ability. It was simply an action-packed thriller that I am pretty much never in the mood for. I respected what he was doing, it just wasn't the type of story I go for. Then there was the Pallbearers Club, which I did admire, as far as the concept went, but his execution of it made it a tough go for me. I do appreciate that Paul Tremblay is a writer who likes to do totally different things with each novel, and it makes it exciting for his readers.
What I felt about the Pallbearers Club is exactly what I feel about Horror Movie. Great concept and interesting story, but for me the pacing and structure made it hard to stay immersed. I did stick with it and enjoyed it for the most part, but I have to say I am glad to be moving on to something else. AND, yes, I remain very enthusiastic about Paul Tremblay and can't wait to see what he comes up with next. I did like it well enough at a three-star level.
And now a brief rant about something. I wasn't going to mention it, but I've changed my mind. As I stated, this is an author I am excited about. So excited, that I bought this book only two days after its publication date because I didn't want to take the chance of stumbling upon any plot reveals. I love going into his books (any book, really) as blindly as possible. I like to post my pages progress on Goodreads as I go. Sometimes I can be a little apprehensive about doing this because any time I see a notification that someone has commented I'm a little scared that someone has blurted something out. It rarely happens because I think that I screen friend requests pretty well. Until last week. I posted that I was on page 38 and one of my Goodreads friends posted: "You will have to explain the ______ to me when you are finished" This item that was mentioned was something that was a plot point that I had not yet come to. So obviously my reading experience was permanently and irrevokeably altered throughout the entire novel. I can't even begin to tell you how angry this makes me. I responded to her to please not allude to any plot points and subsequently blocked her and deleted her comment. Hopefully noone else saw it in that time. As it turned out, it wasn't a massive spoiler, but it put something in my head that was ever present that altered (yes, spoiled) my reading experience.
Social media can be such a great thing but it's only as good as the people you choose to associate with. How someone couldn’t think that that would be an unwelcome thing to do is beyond me, but looking at her bio and the first thing she identified herself as gave me a good clue. Folks like that are invariably idiots or (ironically) nasty people. I'm usually much better at screening friend requests but I guess I was feeling charitable the day I accepted hers. Oh well, she's blocked and I've still got great friends here who "get it"....more
It's sure been a long time since I read Bird Box by Josh Malerman. I have always meant to get back to him, but it seems that a lot of his works are hiIt's sure been a long time since I read Bird Box by Josh Malerman. I have always meant to get back to him, but it seems that a lot of his works are hit and miss for a lot of people. I know I shouldn't let that sway me, but it does.
I couldn't ignore the hoopla surrounding this latest release, though. And it was high time I got back to him.
All in all this was a pretty impressive book. I say this because despite the fact that there were aspects of it that typically annoy me as a reader, for example, the absence of quotation marks and the perspective of a young child which made for a jarring reading experience, I do appreciate what he did. From the onset of the novel I was pretty gripped into it, and it was quite frightening at times (it's hard to scare me at this stage of the game). But I did find that the story became quite repetitive and ultimately I found it predictable.
I'm giving this four stars because scaring me is no small feat and he did it. Well done....more
In a rare move, I don't think I'm going to rate this collection of stories.
I really like this author, if only because of his stellar The Fisherman, buIn a rare move, I don't think I'm going to rate this collection of stories.
I really like this author, if only because of his stellar The Fisherman, but I think it's unfair of me to give this collection a low rating. Because, frankly, I didn't enjoy having to plow through them. It's ironic because I'm not much of a short stories guy; I prefer novel length stories that I can really sink into and get involved with the characters. The irony lies in the fact that although these are short stories, they are rather lengthy. But I felt no real engagement with the characters. Langon's writing is brilliant, of that there is no doubt. In fact every one of this story showcases his versatility with different writing styles as well as taking on typical horror tropes with his own cosmic spin.
I delved into this one because I was in such a reading slump that I just couldn't find a novel that would grab me, and so I thought some short stories in the meantime would help me get past it. And if there was anyone I wanted to read more horror from, it was John Langon.
Unfortunately these stories didn't work for me. Stylistically, they were impressive, but personally that isn't enough to really engage me. I plowed through each one hoping the next would work better.
I've changed my mind. I do rate books based on my personal tastes, so I will go middle of the road with three stars. If you are a reader who appreciates what a man can do with words and style, this will undoubtably hit the five star mark for you.
Meanwhile I will wait with great anticipation for his next full length novel....more
I loved The Reformatory by Tananarive Due. It was one of my top reads last year, and upon completing it I decided I had to read everything by this ladI loved The Reformatory by Tananarive Due. It was one of my top reads last year, and upon completing it I decided I had to read everything by this lady. So I started with The Between, her first.
I didn't like it as much as The Reformatory, which is a bit unfair to it as this is a pretty high bar to set, but it was pretty okay. I will say that unlike The Reformatory, she didn't manage to engage me with these characters. I don't know exactly why; it just didn't happen for me this time. For this reason I was getting antsy for it to resolve because the story got to be quite slow moving and repetitive. I like slow burns as long as I have characters I am thoroughly interested in, but without that, it can wear on me. I was happy that I read it, and appreciated the story as a whole. I wonder if she had the movie Burnt Offerings in mind when she wrote about this. There a few things creepier than a grinning hearse chauffeur and thanks to that movie I was well creeped out by some scenes here!
I'm feeling 3-star energy for this one. I'm glad I read it, and I'm still looking forward to reading The Good House one of these days....more
In the past I've started a few of my rambling reviews with: Let me tell you why I read.
This review may also get rambley, but alternatively I'm startinIn the past I've started a few of my rambling reviews with: Let me tell you why I read.
This review may also get rambley, but alternatively I'm starting this one with:
These are not the reasons I read:
I don't care about an author's skin colour or gender. I will not read a novel only because it addresses an important issue, or that it's extra special important as it's an "own voice" novel.
If this makes me sound like a selfish reader, well you're only partly right. I value my reading time highly and all I care about is good writing, great characters, and a good story. I don't need to be preached to, because frankly you're preaching to the choir and any heavy-handedness will come across as contrived to me. I know there are many readers out there who are conscientious about their reading lives. They have their reading bingo cards and for sure this novel will check at least three squares. Heck, Goodreads even has a Race genre tagged to it. But to put Tananarive Due's latest novels into one of those squares targeting a person of colour, a female writer, a novel about race in America's South in the 50's, is an enormous disservice to her. And I'm terribly afraid that my even mentioning this is an awful insult to her. But it happens. Podcasters talk about it all the time and I'm sure their hearts are in the right place about it. But man, it just seems so condescending.
Because Tananarive Due doesn't need it. She is one terrific writer who satisfied all of my selfish reader demands.
I don't even know where to go from here. Stream of consciousness writing coming up. This may get messy.
Tananarive Due (now that I know how to spell her name, it's fun to do.) wrote this novel based on an actual reform school in Florida in the 1950s, during the despicable Jim Crow era. She writes this from the heart as her great-uncle was a prisoner (there is no other word for it) at the actual school and lost his life there at age 15. The story follows Robert Stephens' experience as a 12 year old boy sentenced to six months for defending her sister with one kick to a white teen, and his family's efforts to get justice for him.
I could barely put the book down. Due is a terrific storyteller whose writing reminded me of Stephen King at his peak. There were some parts that were agony to get through and this is a testament to her skill as a writer. As a white Canadian man, it should go without saying that I couldn't possibly understand the black experience during the Jim Crow years. But in this novel I could feel it. I could feel white eyes on me as a black person and I have such a hard time accepting that. I don't think I'll ever shake it now. As a white man I can also say I can't for the life of me understand the hate these white people had, and the hate a lot of them still have to this day.
Anyway, I didn't mention the ghosts. There are ghosts in this story as well, and in a way that is totally acceptable to the story. How can there not be ghosts with the amount of black blood soaked into Florida soil (paraphrasing her) and the lives lost at the Reformatory? This was an exceptional read and the suspense of the last hundred pages or so drove me crazy.
I've had Tananarive Due on my reading list forever, for The Good House, which was ridiculously expensive for Kindle ($28 a few years ago!) and now that it is at a reasonable price I'll read that very soon. Although after reading The Reformatory, I'm less hesitant to pay a lot of money for her. Heck, I have to read all of her books.
Five stars don't do it justice at all. Best book of the year....more
Mainly the writing, really. Nat Cassidy writes a lot like Stephen King, in the way he takes care with characThere's a lot to like about The Nestlings.
Mainly the writing, really. Nat Cassidy writes a lot like Stephen King, in the way he takes care with characterization. Also with structure and certain manners of phasing, it's not hard to tell that Cassidy is a fan. And that is not a bad thing. It's pretty much impossible to find any review that doesn't describe this novel as 'Salem's Lot meets Rosemary's Baby. Even Cassidy himself writes that this is what he was aiming for. I will say that it's the Rosemary's Baby angle that really hooked me into this one. Like Levin's classic, we have a young couple with their first child who get an opportunity for an apartment in Manhattan, in a prestigious building. Of course, creepiness abounds very early on and I was all in.
Where Cassidy really excelled for me was the relationship between Reid and Ana. There were some great dynamics at work here and his dialogue was very real and believable.
Where the novel began to lose its grip on me was other angle of this horror mashup. Present me with a creature feature or a psychological horror and I'm taking psychological horror every single time. Not to say that this wasn't done well. It was. This is just a matter of personal preference.
Throughout a good half of the novel I was feeling 5-star energy, but ultimately I'm feeling 3.5 only because story subject evolved into something that didn't really do much for me.
I really like his writing, though, so I'm pretty sure I'll be reading him again....more
I read this entirely on a whim after seeing a post on the Books of Horror Facebook group and when a couple of other people chirped in favourably I figI read this entirely on a whim after seeing a post on the Books of Horror Facebook group and when a couple of other people chirped in favourably I figured it was a good bet. And it is September and horror reading season is approaching its peak.
It was a good bet. The haunted house trope has been done and redone again and again, so it really takes something unique to stand out from the pack. For the most part this really was unique in a few ways. There were several instances where I was very creeped out and it's a rare thing nowadays for novels to do that to me. Huge props to the author for continuing this unease throughout most of the book. Another thing that made this novel stand out was that not only was it a haunted house story, but it was also tightly focused on family dynamics and psychology. Little wonder as Carissa Orlando has a doctorate in clinical-community psychology, and it showed very well.
And another thing that made this stand out for me was this, and it's rather spoilery so I'll use tags: (view spoiler)[ With novels of this type you can pretty much guarantee that either one of two things will happen: You will be left wondering if this was all in her head or was this really happening? Or, It was all really happening, but she is left as the only one who sees everything and so everyone decides she is losing her mind.
But no, none of these things happened. Instead, just as all hope is lost for her, all is revealed to her daughter and the police. (hide spoiler)] This was very refreshing for a change.
Unfortunately what didn't work for me was the resolution of it all and all the carnage preceding it once the shit hit the fan. That's okay though. She chose that path and that's one that will work for a lot of people. I would have prefered something um...well...else. I'm ranking this 4.5 stars for the whole thing. For the first 75% I was pegged at 5 stars.
One thing is for sure, I will be watching for her second novel. There was a lot to love about this, and it's not easy making something stand out in a saturated subgenre. Well done!
I started reading this novel in the midst of a really bad cold. I had previously attempted about six other books from my to-read list but in my miseraI started reading this novel in the midst of a really bad cold. I had previously attempted about six other books from my to-read list but in my miserable state nothing was grabbing me. So it's really saying something that this book, which wasn't even on my list, grabbed me immediately.
I had heard about it of course, but nothing out there was really driving me to read it until a recent posting to the r/horrorlit subreddit sparked my interest. Well, for about 40% of this one I was blown away. This is an insanely original plot that I was enjoying so much because I had heeded many comments about it recommending that the reader go in absolutely blind. These are the type of books that make reading such a joy, that sense of wondering what the heck could possibly happen next. And you really are thrown in blind. You are thrown smack dab in the middle of things which may throw off some readers. But the reveals happen soon enough and it's pretty gratifying early on.
There were a lot of moments in this one that stopped me in my tracks. One that comes to mind is the mention of Rachel and her ghosts and how that came to be. Unfortunately, this amounted to no more than one sentence, and I was really wishing there would have been backstory there.
One thing that was unexpected was the humour throughout. I have to say though that given the story and the stakes, it didn't really work for me, and neither did a lot of the lighthearted dialogue. This was a really dark story and I wish it would have kept the pedal down. Oh well, a minor quibble. A not so minor quibble is that there were parts in the middle of this novel that really dragged on and I was almost at the point of skimming to get to the main storyline, but you know, with a story like this, you're afraid to blink and miss anything.
I really wish this was a five star read for me. I really seemed like that for almost half, but the things I just mentioned took away a lot of the impact. I loved the concept, though.
Four stars, which means I still liked it a lot....more
I finished this novel several days ago and got nailed with a very nasty cold. Not Covid but miserable nonetheless. Thus the late review.
I'm only just I finished this novel several days ago and got nailed with a very nasty cold. Not Covid but miserable nonetheless. Thus the late review.
I'm only just getting the gumption to write a something up, so this will be a quickie just to get something down for it.
The Echo Wife was on my radar for a long time after hearing about it on a podcast. For some reason I decided to take it off my list and had forgotten about it until I heard about Just Like Home, by the same author. A couple of podcasters had this one in their favourites of the year and I can't resist a good, original haunted house story. Well, as far as originality goes, I was not disappointed. Sarah Gailey thought up a pretty unique concept for this story and there was a lot of creepiness throughout it. A lot of people took issue with the ending, and I didn't have much of a problem with it because I kind of expected things to turn that way.
Alright, that's it for now. This cold knocked the heck out of me, and I'm still tired. I may revisit this review with more thoughts...or not :)
Suffice it to say, this book had a lot of 5-star quality to it for the most part, but overall I'm feeling 4 stars. And given the imagination and execution of most of the story, I now have a renewed interest in The Echo Wife....more
This is the best book I've read in quite a while. Why? Because it delivered exactly what I was looking for. It's October, and of course that means theThis is the best book I've read in quite a while. Why? Because it delivered exactly what I was looking for. It's October, and of course that means the perfect time to delve into horror. Now, horror means different things to different people. Me, what I look for are novels that will niggle under my skin and stay in my head when I'm away from it, and linger on long after finishing it. Blood and guts and chases don't cut it for me. It took a while for me to nail it down but it seems that the one subgenre of horror that really does it for me is the paranormal. Look at the obvious: The Exorcist, Burnt Offerings (the movie especially), these stories were the ones to really affect me. Heck, I saw Burnt Offerings when I was 14 and I am now 60 and the chauffeur STILL haunts me.
I was breezing through the horrorlit subreddit (highly recommended, kids) for something good to read and saw a post asking for recommendations for pretty much the same type of horror I like. I knew I was in the right place when I saw someone mention Wylding Hall (five stars, I loved it) and The Last Days of Jack Sparks as two that they loved. So this was a no-brainer.
From the onset I knew this was for me. It is somewhat a book within a book format, which I love, and with some opposing narrative throughout. The writing? Fantastic. Jason Arnopp has that gift of writing that absorbs so easily that the physical act of reading is unnoticable. There is a lot of dialogue that rings very true and this is something that really makes the pages fly by. Humour? Okay, here's the thing. I had mild concern when I started seeing raves mentioning how funny it was. I don't want humour in my horror. I want to be unsettled and stamping humour on a horror novel is most likely to push me away. But still, the premise was too enticing to pass up and the Kindle sample hooked me into buying it. So the humour in this: it was there, somewhat, but what worked for me was how natural it was. It wasn't forced on the reader in order to get laughs, rather it was there much in the way it is in real life. People will be snarky in all situations and in this novel it really worked well and did not in any way cool down the dark things that were happening.
It takes a lot to creep me out, and Arnopp did it. I also have a hard time buying into some wild concepts (and hooboy, things got wild), but I totally bought into them. I bought into this entire novel, and freaking loved it. What a great October read and I am vastly excited to read more of this guy.
Five Freaking Stars and will very likely make my top five of the year.
P.S. Don't skip the afterword and publisher's note snuck in behind the free samples of other novels....more
This is the second novel I've read from Christopher Bruehlman. I had read The Lesser Dead a few weeks ago and was impressed with his ideas to the tune This is the second novel I've read from Christopher Bruehlman. I had read The Lesser Dead a few weeks ago and was impressed with his ideas to the tune of a 3-star rating. That it wasn't 4 or 5 is due to my tastes as a reader. I'm inclined towards 3 stars for this one as well.
This was a story concept that was hard for me to resist: set during the Black Plague and in the background the fallen angels (that's the inhabitants of Hell, kids) are at war with Heaven. I stuck with the story in anticipation of an epic and mind blowing payoff. Unfortunately by the time I had finished, I was simply glad to have done with it and move on. He's a good writer, and literary at times, which can take a little patience, but having said that there were several times when pronoun following was a challenge. What I mean is there were some scenes where in a paragraph I wasn't sure which "he" he meant and had to retrack. Probably a failing on my part.
But what really didn't work for me is I found most of the execution towards the last third to be kind of muddled. And I really wish he would have given more of a feel towards the angels and demons. None were characterized as they truly were and this left me without a sense of what was at stake, despite knowing that the stakes here were ultimate.
It's too bad because I loved his concept through the whole thing. I suppose if you can summon a sense of epic consequence on your own, you'll enjoy the heck of this cover to cover. Look at the average rating; it's clear many did, so your mileage may vary. Despite the shortcomings I felt, though, I have to give the guy credit: there are some incredible scenes in here. Some that I'm still thinking about hours after finishing.
So, three stars again, and I still kind of like the guy. The Blacktongue Thief has just as high a rating as this one and it's totally different again. I may wait to see how the second in that series is received and then I'll check it out. ...more
I was pretty excited going into this one. Horror is a genre that has lost me recently. There just doesn't It's October and time for some horror reads!
I was pretty excited going into this one. Horror is a genre that has lost me recently. There just doesn't seem to be anything out there that fits my particular tastes. I'm all about strong character development and psychological suspense when it comes to this genre. Something that will unsettle me, wriggle under my skin, and stick in my head long after I've finished it. So few can deliver it for me, unfortunately. But I never give up.
This author has been flitting into my radar for quite a while now. Once October hit I was looking for something to hit the bill and The Lesser Dead came up in a review that seemed right up my alley: vampires in the NYC subway, promising a new take on the legend. Now, anytime I hear anything about a new take on the vampire legend, Brian Lumley's brilliant Necroscope series immediately comes to mind, so The Lesser Dead had some big shoes to fill. Note, in no way was this novel promoted as a contender to that, and in no way does it resemble that series. I don't know where I'm going with this, other than I've seen the best that can be done for vampires, so this better be good. And it started off very good indeed. Huge kudos for setting this in the decade of my formative years, the 70s, and enormous kudos for Joseph attending one of the legendary Led Zeppelin shows at MSG and fantasizing over the things he'd do to Robert Plant. I was a Zeppelin freak growing up, and despite my being a heterosexual guy, my man-crush on Robert Plant damn near busted some boundaries. I mean, you can't blame anyone for this can you? Robert Plant a la 1973 was the quintessential rock god. I will fight anyone on this. Anyhow, suffice it to say that this section of the book won me over to the point where I was able to overlook anything negative for a good third of the novel.
However, I had some issues as the chapters went on. For about half of this novel, each chapter would bring new characters in. By the time I was halfway through, I had a really hard time differentiating them. Also I had issues with the pacing in general. The narrative would frequently stop moving forward for backstory on this or that, and while I usually like that, it just seemed to jar the flow for me. It didn't help that at this point I was having difficulty with the number of characters, so I was already a little frustrated. Leaving the present timeline didn't help. Towards the end there was a considerable amount of chasing, fighting and action of the sort that frankly makes my eyes glaze over. This is a shortcoming of mine, not the book. I was really in the mood for something with a slow burn and a deeper psychological aspect and this book wasn't it.
I don't blame the book for being what it was, but the last half didn't work for me very well. It's no fault of the book, just me as a reader and what I like.
So take these three stars as something I recommend to those who would like the style. Read some other reviews (as I should have) and if it looks like something you'd dig, by all means you likely will. I did like a lot of the things he did for this story, and I am not disinclined to read him again. I have just added Between Two Fires to my to-read list....more
Paul Tremblay quickly became a favourite author of mine after I had three straight five star reads from him: Head Full of Ghosts, Disappearance at DeviPaul Tremblay quickly became a favourite author of mine after I had three straight five star reads from him: Head Full of Ghosts, Disappearance at Devil's Rock, and The Cabin at the End of the World.
Last year I tried his Survivor Song and unfortunately couldn't finish it. This has nothing to do with his skill as a writer, but what I look for in fiction. Survivor Song is a fast paced thriller and I discovered midway through that I simply wasn't in the mood for it. Lately I prefer things at a slow simmer.
It was with trepidation that I started The Pallbearers Club only because I loved his first three novels so much, so he's raised my expectation bar pretty high. Tremblay is striking me as a writer who likes to do fresh new things and I think his range is beginning to show. That's not a bad thing, of course. Unfortunately, The Pallbearers Club didn't quite do it for me the way he has before. I get what he was doing here, though. His writing voice is told via the first person, our protagonist Art Barbara. Art's prose can be very meandering with some overlong sentences, and to be fair, the character of Mercy calls him out on it. I found the prose hard to get through at times, and this made immersion difficult for me. However, as is always the case, I loved the concept of the novel and story. The execution just didn't click for me as a reader this time.
I'm feeling three stars for this one, and that's okay. I also can't wait to see what he comes up with next, because I'm sure another five star read from him is in my future....more
DNF'd at 72%. I refuse to spend another minute in it.
This book wasn't for me, and wow, am I an outlier here. I kept going as long as I could because ofDNF'd at 72%. I refuse to spend another minute in it.
This book wasn't for me, and wow, am I an outlier here. I kept going as long as I could because of the five star reviews from sources I trust but at 72% I decided I just couldn't do it anymore.
And look, I think I get it. Most negative reviews are met by comments such as "But it's satire!" So okay, it's satire then. If that's the case it missed the mark for me. Kurt Vonnegut: now that is satire I can get behind.
But this? I don't care whether it's supposed to be satire or not. What I do care about are characters and that their actions are realistic, and this is what drove me nuts time and again.
For one thing, this setting seems to feel like housewifes in the 1950s, where they were more collectively under the thumbs of their husbands and social mores than the 1990s. That, I managed to get around by just imagining it was the 50s. But their actions were something else.
I'll put these gripes in spoiler tags. (view spoiler)[ Patricia had caught James in his van with a little girl red-handed. And yet, when the ladies are confronted with their husbands on what they were going to do, they expound on all sorts of evidence besides the obvious eye witness account. In a scenario such as this, it is inconceivable that Patricia does not completely lose it and start yelling "I SAW HIM!!!" over and over again. Right? Right? Come on, it's what ANYONE would do. That was bad enough, but for her husband to follow up by suggesting she take Prozak, and then she swallows the whole bottle of them? This seemed totally out of character. And then when she finally comes to in the hospital, loving husband's only reaction is to shame her for what she put the kids through. I should have stopped there.
But I kept going. Until she found Francine's body in James' attic. Kitty eventually shows up and James has left the house, and what do they do? Cover their tracks by spraying shampoo on the rug, waiting five minutes, and vacuuming it up (yes, I get this is a satirical scene of dutiful housewives). It was already stated earlier in the story that police response in their neighborhood is 3 minutes. You think it may have been a more realistic choice to call the damn cops immediately?? (hide spoiler)]
Done! Yeah, I get the satire. But come on, do it in a way that isn't ridiculous. I read something like this and it just serves to frustrate me. But like I said, I am an outlier with this one. Check out the many five star reviews for this and you will probably find kindred spirits there. I love outlandish and fantastic plots, but only if the characters are going to do things that make sense....more
After finishing The Paper Palace, a novel that just seemed to one of those right-place, right-time reads for me, I had a severe book hangover. So bad After finishing The Paper Palace, a novel that just seemed to one of those right-place, right-time reads for me, I had a severe book hangover. So bad that there were six novels afterwords that I just couldn't get into. I was in a state that I didn't even know what I felt like reading next. Great reads sure are a double-edged sword.
It got so my eyes would glaze over my all too familiar to-read list and nothing was calling out to me. So I decided on something that wasn't even on my official or unofficial lists. This one!
I had read Grady Hendrix once before (We Sold Our Souls) and enjoyed it to the tune of three stars. There were some plot issues that bugged me a bit, but the story idea was great and there was one scene that grabbed me in such a claustrophobic way that I had to admit this guy had some prime writing chops. So he never ventured too far off my radar. This one was a leap of faith. For some reason there wasn't a sample available for Kindle but it was under 10 bucks so I thought, enough is enough, I am going to commit to this blindly. I'm really glad I did. Having grown up through the 60s and 70s, my real-time experience through the 80s was being nostalgic for the 70s. I hated all the big hair, a lot of the new wave music, and seeing Robert Plant sport an unfortunate mullet for his first post-Zep album. But, looking back, the 80s were indeed fun. Hey, our old fart band plays a lot of 80s, and it's funny that as a musician you gain so much more appreciation for songs you never realized how great they were at the time. So it's always fun for me now to be nostalgic about a decade I wasn't fully on board with at the time. My Best Friend's Exorcism is steeped heavily in 80s pop culture. At times really over the top, but it never stopped being fun. I very much enjoyed his story idea focusing on four teen girls. Their friendships and coping with body image in a material world. Now throw in the spice of one of them experiencing lingering changes after the four of them drop acid for the first time. I'm all in. This book was a ton of fun. And as light as it seems, this did get quite horrific. I love that.
I liked this one a lot more than We Sold Our Souls. While not five star quality, it was really well put together and kept me engaged, which was a tall order this time. I'm definitely reading more of this guy....more
About 60 pages into this, it struck me how repetitive the narrative had become. It wasn't until I started reading other reviews that I feDNF'd at 10%.
About 60 pages into this, it struck me how repetitive the narrative had become. It wasn't until I started reading other reviews that I felt vindicated that it wasn't just me. I knew going in that this novel had a long buildup, and most times I love that. As long as the characters are well drawn and the prose & narrative are engaging. At this point, I find the characters dull, the dialogue slightly awkward, and many points (facts or otherwise) being repeated so often that I was feeling my reading time was being wasted.
The novel has a fantastic premise, but the execution just doesn't do it for me and I can't keep this going for several hundreds of more pages. Many people love this one, so I'm an outlier. I recommend you try this one out for yourself....more
My feelings about this book and writer ran the gambit as things went along. Let's walk through them:
50 pages in: Oh, this is a good writer. Nice obserMy feelings about this book and writer ran the gambit as things went along. Let's walk through them:
50 pages in: Oh, this is a good writer. Nice observances of some behaviours.
100 pages in: I'm struck with the sense of eerie quiet the author has given me while inside the house. Nicely done.
150 pages in: The author clearly adores cats. Okay, I'll put up with Adrienne's attention to her cat.
250 pages in: I don't care what the cat is doing.
255 pages in: Ooo. That some nice impressive detail.
283 pages in: The detail of each and every mundane task has exhausted me.
300 pages in: I am finally struck by the light characterization here, which probably explains why I'm now rushing through this. Also skimming through the action sequences. And again.
I found a lot to like about the writer's attention to detail and observances early on in this novel, but once I realized how thin these characters were, my interest began to wane. Other things began to bug me, like a lot of predictability and that a lot of the supporting characters were so simplistically done that they were unbelievable. Ultimately this was a fast read (except for the painstaking detailing of Adrienne doing this or that, which I also ended up skimming), but one that didn't really impress me much. A lot of good points, sure, but not enough to convince me to read more of her. Just too lightweight (emotionally speaking) for my liking....more
Mr. Harrigton's Phone: The best of the bunch. A strong 4/5. The Life of Chuck: Another 4/5 for the cool concept. If it Bleeds: No idea. I refuse to readMr. Harrigton's Phone: The best of the bunch. A strong 4/5. The Life of Chuck: Another 4/5 for the cool concept. If it Bleeds: No idea. I refuse to read anything else that has Holly Gibney in it. She's too annoying and unbelievable for me. Rat: Pretty good and creepy. 4/5 stars again.
All in all a good collection to kick off my vacation. It's always great to have Stephen King for my days off. Based on his author's note I fear there will be more Holly in the future. He just loves her. I wish he would have let her go after the Mr. Mercedes series, but whatcha gonna do? ...more
Well, this couldn't have been 190 pages. Seemed more like 80. And that's okay.
Once again my horror itch flared up and Tim Curran is my go-to for fun cWell, this couldn't have been 190 pages. Seemed more like 80. And that's okay.
Once again my horror itch flared up and Tim Curran is my go-to for fun creepiness. And, once again he gave me a good scratch.
The story is simple enough. A gambler with ice in his veins is in debt to a heavyweight to the tune of fifty large. There is an easy way he can pay off the debt, though. Spend one full night aboard a haunted freighter. As always, Curran wastes no time getting to the meat of the story. There was plenty of unsettlement to be had and a few parts had me squirming. The ending was great.
Tim Curran should be much more famous than he is now. Dead Sea remains one of the best horror novels I've read with one scene that still bothers me years after reading it. Deadlock was a fun way to spend an afternoon....more
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