If you laughed at that description, you should definitely pick up Starter Villain by John Scalzi. He’s kind of hit or miss for me, but this was a lot of fun. Charlie Fitzer is in a bad place. A former business reporter for the Chicago Tribune who found himself out of a job when the newspaper industry tanked, Charlie is… Read more
Holmes, Marple, & Poe by James Patterson
You know I love my detectives, and this series is going to give me three new detectives to devote myself to: Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple, and Auguste Poe. Now, what are the chances that three descendants of the most famous detectives of all time are opening their own detective agency in New York City? Well, since Miss Marple was a… Read more
Interview with the Devil by Michael Harbron
The thing about reading on a Kindle is that you always know precisely where you are. That’s how I know that it took 83% of the book before the author GOT TO THE POINT. By then, I was pretty irritated. To be fair, the last 20% of the book is very engaging, but the build-up, the first 80%, was a… Read more
Review: A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
According to the Acknowledgements, author Elizabeth Hand was approached by Shirley Jackson’s estate and asked to write a novel that revisited Hill House. After reading A Haunting on the Hill, I have the urge to go back and re-read the source material. It’s been years since I read the original, but I’m sure the local library has a copy. In… Read more
Review: Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks
So, a little background on this before I get to the 5-star review: I recently started a new job and I knew from our very first team meeting that I was in the right place. We spent half the meeting trading book recommendations! And this was one of the recommendations and I am very, very grateful for it: Devolution: A… Read more
Review: Ghost Radio by Leopoldo Gout
I went to a lot of trouble to get this book. It showed up on my Kindle Daily Deals page for $3.99, but clicking on the link only showed it at full price. I spent way too long chatting with customer service and I ended up having to buy it at full price and then Amazon refunded me the difference.… Read more
Review: Seven Demons by Aiden Truhen
Hopefully, you took my advice and gave yourself a rest before digging in to this one. It is every bit as good as The Price You Pay (and this review has spoilers for that book, so beware) and you’ll need to rest up and hydrate. When we last saw Jack Price, the Seven Demons had destroyed his artisan cocaine empire.… Read more
Review: The Price You Pay by Aiden Truhen
Imagine my surprise when I found a series by Nick Harkaway that I hadn’t read! I’d missed them because they were written under a pen name, but still – new Harkaways! I was excited. Now, let me give you a piece of advice: Read The Price You Pay and then take a little time off. Don’t jump immediately into the… Read more
Review: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Oh, this one was good! I do love a book with a twisty, bendy plot that keeps you guessing. Toward the end, I could see how the pieces were coming together, but it still had some surprises in store. Theo Faber is a psychotherapist working at a facility called The Grove. His goal in taking the job was to work… Read more
Review: Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay
Thirty years ago, a group of young filmmakers made a guerilla-style, low budget horror movie. The plot was simple: three teenagers take a fourth friend to an abandoned school. They take his clothes, leave him locked in a storage room, they abuse him. They have a goal in mind that is slowly revealed as the movie progresses. The filming was… Read more