Mystery Summary Alan Conway is a bestselling crime writer. His editor, Susan Ryeland, has worked with him for years, and she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. Alan’s traditional formula pays homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. It’s proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job. When Susan receives Alan’s latest manuscript, in which Atticus Pünd investigates a murder in an English manor house, Pye Hall, she has no reason to think it will be any different from the others. There will be dead bodies, a cast of intriguing suspects, plenty of red herrings and clues. But the more Susan reads, the more she realizes that there’s another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript—one of ruthless ambition, jealousy, and greed—and that soon it will lead to murder. Review My first exposure to Anthony Horowitz’s novels was through the recommendation of a co-worker. He told me about a book he was reading called The Word is Murder, and although I wasn’t really into mysteries at that time, I was intrigued enough to pick it up. It’s not too much to say that that book was one of my gateways into the mystery genre. I’ve been following the series ever since (which continued with The Sentence is Death, A Line to Kill, and the upcoming The Twist of a Knife). Magpie Murders has been on my to-read list for a while, but it’s only recently that I read it, and I’m a bit ashamed to say that it’s because of TV that I finally did so. The show Masterpiece Theater has begun running a series based on this book, and after the first couple of episodes, I had to know whodunnit. This book is a two-for-the-price-of-one kind of book: Roughly the first half is a story about a detective named Atticus Pünd and the case involving the murder of a country gentleman, but the second half abruptly moves into the “present day” and follows the editor of the book you’ve just been reading. Susan Ryeland has realized that the novel is missing its final pages, and so she has no clue who Pünd finally names as the killer. And as everyone knows, you can’t have a whodunnit if you never find out who done it. Her quest to find the missing pages is complicated when the author dies, apparently by suicide… or was it? Admittedly, I was a bit taken aback by the fact that the novel doesn’t interweave the stories more, but I can see where the book’s structure wouldn’t work for a TV show. Once I got past that realization, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Pünd comes across as a gentle soul, dedicated to the truth after having seen the ultimate evil in the Nazi concentration camps. Ryeland, something of an alter-ego for Pünd, is intelligent and driven, and…
Tag: Fiction
Point of View by Patrick Bard
Summary The first time a link to a porn video pops up on his computer screen, Lucas is startled. He was simply trying to stream a superhero movie. Transfixed by the scene that unfolds, he experiences his first stirrings of arousal. Lucas soon realizes that he wants to recapture that same excitement, and it’s not long before he starts down a path that takes hold of his every thought—day and night. Review I want to preface this review by saying that this is a novel that was translated from its original French. I wasn’t aware of that when I picked it up, and that wouldn’t have affected whether or not I read it, but I feel like I need to note this. I think this fact has a lot of bearing on my opinion of this book. And mostly, my opinion isn’t that good. I highly applaud the author for tackling the subject matter–porn addiction is a real thing, and it can happen to teens as readily as it can to anyone else with an internet connection–but I found the writing style to be annoying. This is why I mentioned that it’s a book in translation, because I wonder how much of this is due to the fact that I’m not reading it in its original form. I also have to acknowledge, however, that translation alone wouldn’t account for the writing. Chapters from Lucas’s point of view often read as clunky, and the rule of “Show, don’t tell” is broken fairly often. It does get better as the book progresses and the author isn’t trying to sum up several years’ worth of addictive behavior in a short amount of time. Once Lucas is in a recovery program, the narrative flows a little more smoothly. Also, I wanted to punch his father. There’s a secondary plotline about how Lucas’s mother suffers from depression, and Lucas’s father treats her terribly. Yes, living with someone with depression can be challenging. No, it does not help to treat that person like their condition is a character flaw. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that the effect of that kind of environment on the family was addressed really well, and that annoyed me. This is a teen novel that I have to give a hard pass to. Tackling an issue like this is tricky, and Bard didn’t do it very well.
Feed by Mira Grant
Summary The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.Now, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives—the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them. Review Zombie novels have show up on bookshelves more and more lately. They’ve even invaded the classics, as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies can attest. But how often are these tales any more than spatter-fests? Mira Grant–a pseudonym of Seanan McGuire–has transcended the normal tropes to write Feed, a socio-political story about a world after a zombie apocalypse. The cures for cancer and the common cold have combined to create a virus that literally uses any mammal over 40 pounds as a mule: Once dead, the body will rise again, seeking to infect others and sustain itself by feeding on living flesh. There is no cure, and no hope of escaping the inevitable rising, short of a bullet to the skull. Siblings Georgia and Shaun are news bloggers, sharing their views on a United States infected with the living dead. After winning a coveted slot to follow a senator on the campaign trail for the presidency, they begin to realize that the world may be even more complicated than they knew. And there’s more to the presence of the infected than anybody could imagine, even in their worst nightmares. Georgia and Shaun may be putting their lives on the line for a chance at the truth. Grant has done a stellar job of creating an America populated with zombies. She has thought through the events leading to this calamity, the social aspects of a country forced to face such a crisis, and the political ramifications of a presidential campaign in such a world. In fact, the majority of the novel focuses on the culture itself, and not the zombies, and this works wonderfully. And yes, there’s plenty of zombie killing to satisfy bloodthirsty readers. Once one-third of the way through the book, I knew it was a strong candidate to become the best zombie novel I’ve ever read. The prose reads like the best action flick; the events are gripping and realistic; and the characters face dangers that will make readers cringe. I’m not ashamed to say that I cried twice while reading. So, if you like emotionally affecting stories with a smattering of the undead, be sure to choose Feed. It’s edgy, challenging and emotionally affecting.
Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
Summary ZaraCorp holds the right to extract unlimited resources from the verdant planet Zarathustra—as long as the planet is certifiably free of native sentients. So when an outback prospector discovers a species of small, appealing bipeds who might well turn out to be intelligent, language-using beings, it’s a race to stop the corporation from “eliminating the problem,” which is to say, eliminating the Fuzzies—wide-eyed and ridiculously cute small, furry creatures—who are as much people as we are. Review Jack Holloway works alone, for reasons he doesn’t care to talk about. Hundreds of miles from ZaraCorp’s headquarters on planet, 178 light-years from the corporation’s headquarters on Earth, Jack is content as an independent contractor, prospecting and surveying at his own pace. As for his past, that’s not up for discussion. Then, in the wake of an accidental cliff collapse, Jack discovers a seam of unimaginably valuable jewels, to which he manages to lay legal claim just as ZaraCorp is cancelling their contract with him for his part in causing the collapse. Briefly in the catbird seat, legally speaking, Jack pressures ZaraCorp into recognizing his claim, and cuts them in as partners to help extract the wealth. But there’s another wrinkle to ZaraCorp’s relationship with the planet Zarathustra. Their entire legal right to exploit the verdant Earth-like planet, the basis of the wealth they derive from extracting its resources, is based on being able to certify to the authorities on Earth that Zarathustra is home to no sentient species. Then a small furry biped—trusting, appealing, and ridiculously cute—shows up at Jack’s outback home. Followed by its family. As it dawns on Jack that despite their stature, these are people, he begins to suspect that ZaraCorp’s claim to a planet’s worth of wealth is very flimsy indeed…and that ZaraCorp may stop at nothing to eliminate the “fuzzys” before their existence becomes more widely known. Being a fan of the original novels, I approached this retelling with a little trepidation. I know that Scalzi is an excellent writer, but would his vision of the fuzzies and their world work for me, either by itself or as compared to the original? I’m happy to say that it does both, and wonderfully. While the bones of the original novel remain in this new novel, there are some significant changes. Jack Holloway was conceived by Piper as an older man, well past his prime. Scalzi paints Jack as a man in his mid-thirties, and he gives him the background to allow him to actively participate in the fight to prove the fuzzies’s sentience. This brings a lot more tension to the final scenes in the courtroom, as it allows the main character to be right in the middle of the action. I enjoyed watching him whip out legal arguments and wield them like weapons. There’s also a change in the history of the fuzzies themselves. Without giving anything away, Piper’s novels glossed over something that could be seen as a plot loophole invalidating much of what…
Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield
“Awakening in a bleak landscape as scarred as her body, Cass Dollar vaguely recalls surviving something terrible. Having no idea how many weeks have passed, she slowly realizes the horrifying truth: Ruthie has vanished. And with her, nearly all of civilization. Where once-lush hills carried cars and commerce, the roads today see only cannibalistic Beaters…
VIII by H. M. Castor
“VIII is the story of Hal: a young, handsome, gifted warrior, who believes he has been chosen to lead his people. But he is plagued by the ghosts of his family’s violent past and once he rises to power, he turns to murder and rapacious cruelty. He is Henry VIII.” I have an odd fascination…
The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
“It starts with an itch you just can’t shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you’ll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in. And then you’re dead. When sixteen-year-old Kaelyn lets her best friend…
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
“You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart—no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon’s presence, even for the briefest of moments—even at the risk of one’s life—is a delight that, once experienced, can…
A Higher Education by Rosalie Stanton
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that first impressions are a bitch. In a sea of college freshmen, Elizabeth Bennet feels more like a den mother than a returning student. She’d rather be playing Exploding Kittens than dodge-the-gropers at a frat party, but no way was she letting her innocent, doe-eyed roommate go alone. Everything…
The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams
“Bobby Dollar is an angel—a real one. He knows a lot about sin, and not just in his professional capacity as an advocate for souls caught between Heaven and Hell. Bobby’s wrestling with a few deadly sins of his own—pride, anger, even lust. But his problems aren’t all his fault. Bobby can’t entirely trust his…