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Book Review: Mina and the Undead by Amy McCaw

cover art for Mina and the Undead by Amy McCaw

Mina and the Undead by Amy McCaw

uClan Publishing, 2021

ISBN-13 : 978-1912979479

Available: Paperback (pre-order, April 1, 2021) ( Amazon.co.uk )

 

It’s 1995, and seventeen-year-old Mina is spending her summer visiting her older sister Libby, who moved from their home in England to New Orleans to attend college, and works in a movie-themed haunted house, owned by Thandie, who immediately hires Mina to work there for the summer. Libby has a girlfriend, Della (this relationship is wonderful), and two roommates, Jared (who also works at the haunted house) and Lucas, an artist. Despite a difficult relationship with Libby, Mina finds herself accepted into this group of older friends, who tour her around New Orleans, sharing its gruesome stories and history as well as its vibrant (and sometimes bizarre) current atmosphere. Marie Laveau, vampires, serial killers, fortune tellers, and more, fascinate Mina as she explores the city.  Shortly after she arrives, though, she discovers a co-worker murdered in the haunted house, one of several girls killed in ways described in stories from New Orleans’ past, by someone who may be a copycat of the serial killers John and Wayne Carter (or a vampire, or both, because this is New Orleans). As the friends investigate the murders, Jared and Mina quickly become romantically involved. Soon, however, events leave teenage Mina alone to navigate the city and save whoever she can.

Cons of this book: I wasn’t thrilled to see a seventeen-year-old girl romantically involved with a college-aged boy, although I appreciated that Mina at least had agency in her relationship with Jared.. I also didn’t think it was great that a high school girl was spending time in a bar, although given the setup of the story I don’t think it was unrealistic. However, as the police are significantly involved with Mina, Libby, and their friends, I had trouble believing that they would allow a minor with no adult supervision to wander New Orleans.

Having visited New Orleans, what I love most about this book is the way it brings New Orleans to life. It’s a love letter to the city, not just a setting but almost a character. Mina’s love of horror, which not only includes her own favorite movies, books, and enthusiasms, but holds her family together, from her mother’s Laurell K. Hamilton books to her sister’s job in a haunted house, is also a beautiful thing to see and I think there are many, many girls who will relate to her and have a blast joining her on this rollercoaster ride of horror, crime, romance, friendship, and betrayal.  Recommended.

Contains: Murder, torture, sexual situations, blood-drinking.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on March 18, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga (Jasper Dent, #1)

cover for I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga  (  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com )

Little, Brown, Books for Young Readers, 2013

ISBN-13: 9780316125833

Available:  Hardvover, paperback, mass market paperback, Kindle edition, audio CD

Jasper is the 17 year old son of notorious serial killer Billy Dent. The trauma of being raised by Billy teaching him the skills, knowledge, and thought processes necessary to become a successful serial killer has left him with significant holes in his memory, causing him anxiety over what he might have done in the past and may do in the future. His longterm best friend Howie and girfriend Connie are his greatest supporters, but Jasper constantly second-guesses himself over whether their relationships with him are really solid or are just the results of manipulation.

In addition to the anxiety Jasper feels about himself, he also is drawn to use his knowledge when a murder occurs in his town that appears to be a copycat of his dad’s first discovered kill.  Despite being discouraged by the police from interfering with the investigation, Jasper involves himself. While they initially object, when it becomes clear that the killer is a copycat, he becomes a resource for the investigation. Unfortunately this makes some of the people around him targets, including friends and teachers.  Jasper struggles to deal with his impulses and relationships and the effect trauma has had on him and the people around him. How unreliable is he, really? Is he, deep down, a serial killer? Will he become a killer by the end of the book?

For the most part, I was able to get past the completely unrealistic setup of the book (as compromised as social services may be, I have difficulty believing Jasper would be left with his grandmother, who obviously has dementia, or that Howie’s overprotective parents would allow him anywhere near Jasper, for instance) because this was a magnetic, compulsive read that left my hands shaking and heart racing, and a real tribute to friendship and the trust and protectiveness friends can feel for each other (something not often seen in depictions of boys’ friendships).  This is not an easy read; there is no way to climb inside the mind of a serial killer (or even a fictional character describing what climbing into the mind of a fictional serial killer is like) or a severely traumatized teen without being at least a little shaken up. But it’s a compelling, disturbing, and original tale that will appeal particularly to boys. I Hunt Killers is the first in a trilogy, so teens who get hooked don’t have to wait for another hit.  Highly recommended.

Contains: Mutilation, torture, body horror, murder, gore, animal cruelty, discussions of rape.

 

Posted on July 22, 2020 by , Reply

Book Review: My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

cover for My Sister, the Serial Killer

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite ( Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com )

Doubleday, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-0385544238

Available: Hardcover, paperback, audiobook, Kindle edition

 

My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Nigerian author Oyinkan Braithwaite, is set in Lagos, Nigeria. Korede is the dutiful, protective, perfectionist older sister to beautiful, selfish, lazy, and possibly sociopathic Ayoola. Ayoola has “accidentally” stabbed three different boyfriends to death, and each time she has called Korede to help with the cleanup. According to Ayoola, each time has been self-defense, but, Korede wonders, why is she always carrying a sharp knife if it’s accidental? Korede, following through in covering up the murder, reads his blog and sees his social media. He wrote poetry and obviously had friends and family who are worried about his disappearance. He seems like a nice guy, and Korede wonders if Ayoola really had to act in self-defense.

Korede is a nurse who is very good at her job.  She has a long-standing crush on one of the doctors,  who has always been a nice guy, and thinks she is finally getting somewhere with him when Ayoola breezes through the door,  making an unforgettable impression on him.  When Korede expresses her frustration with this, Ayoola tells her there’s no such thing; even so-called “nice guys”  like the doctor are after beauty more than they care about anything else, and she’ll prove it.  Ayoola then proceeds to sweep him away with her beauty, despite her selfishness, cheating on him, and criticism of him.  Korede, worried that he may become Ayoola’s next victim, attempts to warn him and instead of taking her seriously, he accuses her of jealousy, spite, and a lack of sisterly love, confirming Ayoola’s assertion that he isn’t really a “nice guy” after all.

Flashbacks to their childhood and current family relationships reveal that their father was an abusive man who punished Ayoola for being attractive to boys and men, and Korede has been protective of her since then. What’s going on now is clearly tied to the early damage done by the men in their lives. My Sister, the Serial Killer is darkly funny, but it’s also an indictment of the horrors caused by the patriarchy and a solid response to the frequent assertion that “not all men are bad guys”.  The nicest guy in this book is completely blind to the harm he’s doing to both Korede, with his accusations, and Ayoola, with his obsession over her beauty. A compelling, disturbing, perceptive, and satirical book, My Sister, the Serial Killer gets inside your head and stays there. Recommended.

 

Contains: murder, blood, violence, child abuse, implied sexual assault.

Posted on June 25, 2020 by , Reply
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