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Book Review: The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne

The Naturalist (The Naturalist Series Book One) by Andrew Mayne

Thomas & Mercer, Seattle, 2017

ISBN-13: 9781477824245

Available: Paperback/Kindle ebook

 

The Naturalist is a mystery and thriller about a serial killer.  But, is the killer an animal or a human?

 

Theo Cray, a professor of bioinformatics (biology and computer science) is in a remote town in Montana, when a young woman, a former student of his, is found mauled nearby.  Cray has an unusual approach to research.  He uses his knowledge of biology, skills in computer science and a unique imagination to look for unexpected patterns in nature, such as the behavior of frogs and large apex predators.

 

The local law authorities at first suspect that Cray is the killer, but soon decide that a rogue grizzly bear is responsible.  But Cray’s knowledge of bear behavior tells him that they are wrong, and that a human made the killing look like an animal attack.  What’s more, he finds a report of a young woman who was similarly mauled nearby 6 years ago.  He suspects that these are not the killer’s first murders.

 

Cray created an artificial intelligence computer program for his research.  It can analyze reams of seemingly unrelated data to reveal the probabilities that underlying patterns exist.  Cray enters data about missing persons and population.  He finds that Montana and Wyoming are among the states with the highest number of missing persons per capita.  He filters the data for young women and interstate highways.  The program identifies possible patterns around certain highways, not unlike the feeding circuits of great white sharks.

 

Using this information Cray investigates the cases of missing young women in the area.  When he finds evidence that some were not run-aways, but might have been murdered, the authorities come after Cray again.  For Cray, it’s now a race between avoiding the law and a finding serial killer, who has murdered over a hundred persons over two decades and is coming for him.

 

Mayne does a good job drawing in the reader as Cray systematically works through the many steps in identifying the killer.  The pace of the plot is steady and fast, and the characters are appropriately sympathetic or chilling. Highly recommended.

 

Contains: moderate gore.

Reviewed By Robert D. Yee

 

 

Posted on October 22, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories, adaptation and art by Gou Tanabe, translated by Zach Davisson

H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories, adaptation and art by Gou Tanabe, translated by Zach Davisson

Dark Horse, 2017

ISBN: 9781506703121

Available: print

Gou Tanabe, known in Japan for using manga to adapt literary works, has adapted three tales of the macabre in H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories. This volume includes “The Temple,” “The Hound,” and “The Nameless City.” Each of the tales includes information regarding when the story was written and published. Dark Horse hopes to publish further volumes of Tanabe’s Lovecraft adaptations in the future.

In “The Temple”, a German submarine crew is driven to madness by a mysterious influence. The captain eventually discovers an underwater temple. Will he, too, fall prey to the madness? Two decadent young men are obsessed with the practice of grave robbing in “The Hound”. Their midnight escapades lead to a deadly discovery. An explorer in the Arabian desert discovers an ancient city when he passes through a mysterious doorway into “The Nameless City.” What he sees on the other side is pure nightmare fuel.

H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories is the first manga I have read by Tanabe, and I need to pick up more of his work. This is a must for Lovecraft fans. The dialogue is minimal, leaving Tanabe’s artistic work do much of the communicating. The artwork is all in black and white which lends to the oppressive and macabre atmosphere of the source material. Recommended.

Contains: images of the macabre

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on October 20, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Lady of the Tarot by Juli D. Revezzo

Lady of the Tarot (Reign of Tarot, Book 2) by Juli D. Revezzo
Createspace, 2016
ISBN-13: 978-1537434148
Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

Lady of the Tarot is a historical Gothic novel set during the French Revolution. I reviewed the audiobook version of the book. Although Lady of the Tarot is the second in a series, it stands alone just fine. I didn’t read the first one and don’t feel like there was any parts that were confusing. Book one might enhance it, but it didn’t feel necessary.

Strangely, this relates to the last book I read:  The Sandcastle Empire. The plots were very different, but the aspect of falling from high status was a theme in both. I feel that this book addressed it a lot better, and that was refreshing. Where Emilie came from, and her current status, is constantly on her mind, and I think this would be true in both stories.

The romance didn’t interest me, but it seemed to follow a classic triangle formula. Emilie had to choose between the “right” choice and the one she actually loved. Normally, love triangles really irritate me, but this one was fine, since she wasn’t waffling about her feelings, just trying to figure out if she could somehow be with one she really wanted instead of who she should be with.

The horror is of the lurking type, always in the background, and does not come to the fore until the final act. I wish it were more present throughout. There were vast stretches of the story that only dealt with the mundane horror of losing status, and not the supernatural horror that Emilie ultimately has to battle. I did like the small horrors that showed up from time to time, but I would have liked to see more of them.

Despite the shortcomings it was a fun read.

Reviewed by Nathaniel Olsen

 

Posted on October 20, 2017 by , Reply
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