had a blast reading the deliciously creepy remember me this away by sabine durrant, about a woman who starts learning the increasingly disturbing truth after her husband dies in a late-night car crash. durrant does a masterful job of slowly kindling suspense gently before applying the bellows. her main character, lizzie carter, is complicated and sympathetic, and it was hard to keep my heart from breaking as her discoveries are detailed. we also get a parallel telling of events through her late husband zach's diary, which creates a really nifty perspective, perspective that deepens the characterizations of the two. utterly fantastic.
just finished triptych, the first karen slaughter novel in her will trent series. i'm still reeling over the end of the last grant county novel, so it was nice to begin investing in new characters in the slaughter-verse. trent is an excellent protagonist, flawed and complicated, and slaughter builds him up believably. all of slaughter's characters both bear and bare the scars of their lives, and slaughter's attention to character development ensures an exceedingly unpleasant and tense climax. there are references to grant county, and we do get some country time, but triptych is mostly set in atlanta, and slaughter does a fantastic job of breathing life into that amazing city. another powerful, entertaining, and, as always, thought-provoking novel by slaughter, one that creates characters that are easy to care about, and one that pulls away the veil to reveal both ugly truths and amazing resilience.
Zero Day - Ezekiel Boone. The finale in The Hatching trilogy. It was actually pretty disappointing and anticlimactic. Mainly continuing/reiterating a lot of what began in Skitter, it has a shockingly sudden and brief ending and a lack of exciting arachnid activity.
The Summer is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved - Joey Comeau. A let down after the brilliant and different novel One Bloody Thing After Another. This one felt more like it was clipped out of the middle of a bigger story, lacking explanations or conclusions for the two storylines going on.
fractured by karin slaughter. the eccentric georgia bureau of investigation agent will trent must track down a violent, deviant abductor while a teenage girl's life hangs in the balance. along the way, trent is partnered with faith mitchell, a new slaughter character who is as complicated--and haunted--and most of slaughter's major character's. trent and mitchell work wonderfully together, constantly engaged in insightful dialoguing as they attempt to crack this case. another somber and darkly violent affair from slaughter that i was more than eager to devour.
HEX - Thomas Olde Heuvelt. Interesting concept, average-at-best execution. I think the story would have been more interesting and believable had it simply been translated from Dutch, still taking place in Holland instead of being completely rewritten in English and taking place in upstate New York.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer - Michelle McNamara. By pure coincidence my turn finally came up on the wait list from the library for this one right after the suspect was apprehended. A really terrific book that has one tragic flaw in that it wasn't completed before McNamara's untimely death, resulting in some unevenness and unfinished thoughts/sections due to that fact. The publisher and two of her friends did their best to complete the book based on her notes, but one can only imagine how much better it would have been had she completed it herself.
After way, way too long i've decided to give in and read the harry potter books, had them in my collection for years but never felt the need to read them after seeing the movies but here we go.
undone by karin slaughter. dyslexic gbi agent will trent and his pregnant, diabetic partner faith mitchell cross paths with dr. sara linton, who is still very much dealing with the events at the end of out of reach. i was so thrilled to get a little more time with sara, who i felt abruptly torn away from at the conclusion of the grant county books. so, believe it or not, a total deviant is doing horrible things to people, and our trio must figure out who they are before it's too late. lots of engaging forensics in this one. as one reviewer very aptly put it, slaughter writes with a razor, which describes her take-no-prisoners prose perfectly. somehow, undone features more than a few laugh out loud moments.
Finally got around to reading Clive Barker's Hellbound Heart. Not sure if it counts, considering it's a novella, but it was pretty good. Waiting for The Scarlet Gospels in the mail now.
The Spider and the Fly: A Reporter, a Serial Killer, and the Meaning of Murder by Claudia Rowe. A true crime book that's a third about the killer, a third about the author and a third of randomness that seems out of place or crammed in for a purpose it never really satisfies. It felt more like a blog about personal bad decisions. OK, but not great.
backwards and in heels by alicia malone. this is a nice examination of woman in film, tracing back to the dawn of making movies to the present. malone looks at the contributions of woman behind the camera and in front of it, with focus on those who altered the course of filmmaking, and affected the culture at large. it's fascinating to see how much more involved women were in hollywood back in the twenties, thirties, and forties, especially as writers, editors, and technological innovators (boom mike? thank you dorothy arzner). it's shockingly depressing to see where things went after that, though regrettably, not at all surprising. a wonderful book, malone writes with equal parts admiration and awe, and her enthusiasm is infectious. i came away with lots of knowledge...and lots of movies to track down, as well as a heaping reminder that mary pickford was a badass.
broken by karin slaughter. dr. sara linton, who has relocated to atlanta, returns to grant county for thanksgiving, and, of course, turkeys aren't the only ones being ruthlessly slaughtered. the case requires gbi involvement, so will trent comes a calling. this book was pleasantly small in scope; the body count was pretty modest and without sexual violence, so it really allowed for examination of sara, will, and lena adams. the end is fairly uplifting, and i hope and pray this is not the last of dr. linton.
Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant. Finally, a creature feature with an original take on its central monster - the mermaid. Although the book is a bit long and starts tailing off midway, overall it was a very satisfying old school monster horror that is engaging throughout. I highly recommend this book.
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just finished triptych, the first karen slaughter novel in her will trent series. i'm still reeling over the end of the last grant county novel, so it was nice to begin investing in new characters in the slaughter-verse. trent is an excellent protagonist, flawed and complicated, and slaughter builds him up believably. all of slaughter's characters both bear and bare the scars of their lives, and slaughter's attention to character development ensures an exceedingly unpleasant and tense climax. there are references to grant county, and we do get some country time, but triptych is mostly set in atlanta, and slaughter does a fantastic job of breathing life into that amazing city. another powerful, entertaining, and, as always, thought-provoking novel by slaughter, one that creates characters that are easy to care about, and one that pulls away the veil to reveal both ugly truths and amazing resilience.
Zero Day - Ezekiel Boone. The finale in The Hatching trilogy. It was actually pretty disappointing and anticlimactic. Mainly continuing/reiterating a lot of what began in Skitter, it has a shockingly sudden and brief ending and a lack of exciting arachnid activity.
The Summer is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved - Joey Comeau. A let down after the brilliant and different novel One Bloody Thing After Another. This one felt more like it was clipped out of the middle of a bigger story, lacking explanations or conclusions for the two storylines going on.
Jury. Executioner. Judge.
HEX - Thomas Olde Heuvelt. Interesting concept, average-at-best execution. I think the story would have been more interesting and believable had it simply been translated from Dutch, still taking place in Holland instead of being completely rewritten in English and taking place in upstate New York.
Jury. Executioner. Judge.
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I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer - Michelle McNamara.
By pure coincidence my turn finally came up on the wait list from the library for this one right after the suspect was apprehended. A really terrific book that has one tragic flaw in that it wasn't completed before McNamara's untimely death, resulting in some unevenness and unfinished thoughts/sections due to that fact. The publisher and two of her friends did their best to complete the book based on her notes, but one can only imagine how much better it would have been had she completed it herself.
Jury. Executioner. Judge.
Just finished this one...really is such a damn good book!
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Now on to this one. I am really enjoying this one so far. This guy also wrote the book Audition. I will be tracking that one down soon.
The Spider and the Fly: A Reporter, a Serial Killer, and the Meaning of Murder by Claudia Rowe. A true crime book that's a third about the killer, a third about the author and a third of randomness that seems out of place or crammed in for a purpose it never really satisfies. It felt more like a blog about personal bad decisions. OK, but not great.
Jury. Executioner. Judge.
broken by karin slaughter. dr. sara linton, who has relocated to atlanta, returns to grant county for thanksgiving, and, of course, turkeys aren't the only ones being ruthlessly slaughtered. the case requires gbi involvement, so will trent comes a calling. this book was pleasantly small in scope; the body count was pretty modest and without sexual violence, so it really allowed for examination of sara, will, and lena adams. the end is fairly uplifting, and i hope and pray this is not the last of dr. linton.
Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant. Finally, a creature feature with an original take on its central monster - the mermaid. Although the book is a bit long and starts tailing off midway, overall it was a very satisfying old school monster horror that is engaging throughout. I highly recommend this book.
Jury. Executioner. Judge.