Home » Posts tagged "horror book reviews" (Page 55)

Book Review: The Detainee by Peter Liney

  The Detainee (The Detainee Trilogy, Book 1) by Peter Liney

Jo Fletcher Books, 2013

ISBN13: 9781623651084

Available: Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook

 

I am a sucker for a good dystopia. In fact, I often complain about “end of the world” stories that don’t have enough gloom. However, although there are plenty of good elements here, and the book ranks high on other review sites, I have to admit it didn’t connect with me.

The first person narrative style was the first strike against novel for me; I felt this slowed the pace. 70 pages in, I still had no idea who the main character was. He was just an amorphous “I”.  The book went on at length about the setting, and a few unfortunate events, but I didn’t know the protagonist’s name. I had to look it up in an online review. This really bothered me. I needed to have a strong sense of who the narrator was by now. That is a bad sign.

Clancy, the protagonist, is considered undesirable by the hyper-capitalist society he lives in, and has been exiled to a giant trash heap of an island for “unproductive” people. “Unproductive” includes the elderly, so the island contains many people of an advanced age, like a reverse Logan’s Run world. The setting provided the potential for this to be a fantastic dystopian novel, my favorite kind of science fiction/horror crossover. It’s a great concept; I like the point of view and the message, a warning of what could happen if the right wing’s stance against social programs and welfare were taken to an extreme.

However, this is a novel, not an essay. No matter how interested I am in the socio-political philosophy of inevitable dystopia, a novel has to be a story first. I admit I found myself skipping entire paragraphs, which is not typical for me. It just didn’t hold my interest. To be fair, this book has lots of great reviews. It’s been promoted as a Hunger Games for adults, and certainly many responded to the book’s take on ageism. Because the themes are so timely and well defined, libraries should make it available despite my personal dislike for it. Recommended for ages 12-adult.

 

Reviewed by David Agranoff

Posted on November 3, 2014 by , Reply

Book Review: Jagannath by Karin Tidbeck

    Jagannath:Stories by Karin Tidbeck

Cheeky Frawg Books, 2012

Kindle Edition

ISBN-13: 978-0-9857904-2-4

Available: New

 

Jagannath is a collection of short stories by Swedish author Karin Tidbeck. Several of the stories were collected in the original Swedish in Vem är Arvid Pekon?, and some have appeared in translation in magazines and anthologies, but this is Tidbeck’s first full-length collection in English. It’s no surprise that the collection is published by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s imprint.

The stories in Jagannath are a little hard to categorize, but are best described as “weird tales”. ”Who is Arvid Pekon? ”, evokes a Philip K. Dick-like feeling of empty, absurd bureaucracy (and the resulting existential anxieties). Elsewhere, stories such as “Augusta Prima” and “Aunts” use a warped fairy tale landscape to unsettle the reader. “Aunts”, particularly, is a rather disturbing tale that uses grotesque imagery to great effect.

My favorite stories in the book are the ones that make clever use of Swedish geography and tradition. “Brita’s Holiday Village” and “Reindeer Mountain” are the clearest examples of this. However, in my opinion, the strongest story of the entire book is “Pyret”, which blends unsettling, weird, fictional folklore with an unconventional narrative technique. Interestingly, Tidbeck translated her stories herself, and the book includes an afterword by the author on the process of translation. This is an added bonus and enhances enjoyment of the collection. Highly recommended for fans of the weird tale, ages 12 to adult.

Contains: some sexual references, some violence, cannibalism

Reviewed by Hannah Kate

Posted on November 3, 2014 by , Reply

Book Review: Suspicion by Alexandra Monir

   Suspicion by Alexandra Monir

Delacorte Press, December 2014

ISBN: 978-0385743891

Available: Pre-order (hardcover and Kindle edtions)

 

Hot on the heels of her two previous books (Timeless, Timekeeper), author Alexandra Monir gives us Suspicion, a tale of secrets and suspense that lurk behind the iron gates of a modern day “Downton Abbey,” the magnificent and mysterious Rockford Manor.

Imogen lived in New York as a young girl, but she would often spend summers in Wickersham, England with her family at the grand estate known as Rockford Manor. One summer, while Imogen, her cousin Lucia, and friends Sebastian and Theo, are busy helping the groundskeeper plant flowers, Imogen accidentally discovers that she has supernatural powers – and a remarkable green thumb.

One night as she and Lucia are asleep in the boathouse, Imogen wakes to a raging fire in the garden, and sadly, both girls lose their parents to the devastating blaze. But not before Imogen’s father reveals there’s something special hidden within the garden’s curious maze. It’s decided that young Lucia will stay on at Rockford Manor in the care of her grandfather and a house full of servants, while Imogen is whisked back to New York, to live with friends of her family.

Over the years, the girls lose touch. Yet right before her high school graduation, Imogen’s past catches up with her. She receives word that both her grandfather and cousin have died, making Imogen sole heir to Rockford Manor and all of its twisted secrets.

For fans of The Princess Diaries or the classic Rebecca, this is a good fit —  and it looks like the author has left some wiggle room for a sequel, too. Recommended for ages 12 and over.

Contains: Teen Romance

 

Reviewed by Tina Mockmore

 

Posted on September 28, 2014 by , Reply
First « 5354555657 » Last