Home » Archive by category "Uncategorized" (Page 282)

Book Review: Three Minutes by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom

Three Minutes by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom

Quercus, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-1681444130

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

 

Scandinavian thrillers have thoroughly invaded the bookshelves of North American readers. Roslund and Hellstrom have exploded onto the scene, first with Three Seconds and now with the sequel, Three Minutes.

Unknown settings make for exciting reads. Scandinavian thrillers are typically set in Scandinavian countries, but Roslund and Hellstrom change things up; Three Minutes is almost entirely set in South America.

Piet Hoffman is an ex-convict who has been recruited by the DEA as an informant. He has a brutal job; he is the bodyguard of a cartel master. His hands get pretty dirty, and the authors hold nothing back in the details. Hoffman is a beautifully fleshed-out protagonist/antihero, in the mold of Daniel Craig’s James Bond and F. Paul Wilson’s Repairman Jack. Hoffman is an intriguing main character, who, despite his actions, is entirely human; his flaws bleed onto the page.

Hoffmann finds himself in a wild plot where the Speaker of the House is kidnapped and held prisoner. The United States takes the low road, thankfully, in composing a kill list that targets much of the cartel – and their families. Hoffmann is definitely on the list, as is his family, provided with protection in the relocation due to his job. Since the DEA’s operations are black, the government doesn’t acknowledge Hoffman as someone who needs to be saved.

What ensues is a story that does not let up, from the shocking first chapter until the last page. To say more about the plot would be to name spoilers, and with the number of twists and turns in the authors’ story, the reader will want to experience it for the first time without clues.

The linchpin to any foreign novel is the translation. Elizabeth Clark Wessel’s fluent translation reads as if the novel was originally written in English.

Next up for this reviewer is to seek out and read the rest of the books in this series. Highly recommended for thriller lovers!

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

 

 

 

 

Posted on November 3, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Buffy: The High School Years: Parental Parasite by Kel McDonald, art by Yishan Li

Buffy: The High School Years: Parental Parasite by Kel McDonald, art by Yishan Li

Dark Horse Comics, 2017

ISBN: 9781506703046

Available: print, Kindle, and comiXology ebook

Into every generation, a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one.

So begins the story of Buffy, Angel, Giles, Willow, and Xander chasing down a demon who possesses adults, driving them to only take care of it. The demon takes the form of an adorable young child, but it as we all know with demons in the Buffy-verse, it is anything but. At the same time, Buffy and her mother are struggling with their own mother-daughter relationship. Joyce wants to spend more time with Buffy, but the Slayer heeds the never-ending call to protect Sunnydale. However, when Joyce becomes hypnotized by the child demon, Buffy faces a new kind of battle—one to save her mother from the clutches of evil. Can Buffy and Scoobies defeat the demon before it kills Joyce?

This book is set during season 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is the third installment of the Buffy the High School Years series. The artwork is great and very manga-ish. This is definitely a good supplemental YA title if you’re introducing your kids to the Buffy-verse. The relationship between Buffy and Joyce is depicted as strained, but they clearly love each other. Buffy’s devotion to her Slayer responsibilities is obsessive, which I seem to remember her desire to protect overrode her need for education or familial duties to her mother in the television series. Frankly, it made me want to revisit the series. Admittedly it has been quite some time since I’ve seen it. Pick this one up if you want to explore content set in the early years of the Slayer! You won’t be disappointed. Highly recommended for die-hard Buffy fans and newbies alike.

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on November 3, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: In the Valley of the Sun by Andy Davidson

In the Valley of the Sun: A Novel by Andy Davidson

Skyhorse Publishing, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-1510721104

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

In the Valley of the Sun is Andy Davidson’s first novel. It walks a thin line between the genres of Southern Gothic and classic Western. Andy Davidson has a gift for building atmosphere; at times, West Texas drips off the page like humid air. The world is made vivid: you can picture the rust of the trucks,  the stress on the sheriff’s belt, and the smells of the badlands. There are plenty of grim settings, balanced by gorgeous prose.

It is absolutely a monster novel. The story kicks off with the main character, Travis, waking up covered in blood. While is isn’t immediately clear, once the reader realizes what’s happening, the story takes on a dangerous, otherworldly edge. While the word “vampire” is never specifically mentioned, as the story progresses, there is no doubt what monsters we are dealing with.  These are not Anne Rice’s “sexy” vampires; Travis is in trouble.

In addition to his supernatural worries, Travis has financial problems. He doesn’t have the money to park his truck and camper at the campground run by Annabelle Gaskin. Many of the best moments in the book are Travis’ conversations with Annabelle’s ten-year-old son. These moments are both tense and emotional, adding depth to the story.

Davidson does an excellent job in jumping between different characters’ third person point-of-views. and a variety of time periods. It all works, and is not jarring at all.

In the Valley of the Sun is a close cousin of Stephen Graham Jones’ Mongrels. While the two books focus on different monsters and cultural backgrounds, both take the same off-color look at the American South.

This is not the kind of horror novel that would benefit from a marketing department blasting out its nature. Davidson definitely has the potential to become a powerful writer in the genre of literary horror. The reality is that this is a fine debut of a strong new voice in horror fiction, and a book that can appeal to both horror and mainstream readers. In the Valley of the Sun is a thought-provoking and entertaining read that should be in every library collection. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by David Agranoff

 

Posted on November 2, 2017 by , Reply
First « 280281282283284 » Last