Chris Lee
The second I started this short, I was reminded of ‘The Body Snatcher' staring the inimitable Boris Karloff. I looked it up, and to my surprise, it is indeed loosely based on the book. Exciting!
|| “You can't begin and then stop. If you begin, you must keep on beginning: that's the truth. No rest for the wicked.”
Written in 1884, this is a tale that will chill the bones! Basically, a group of friends are having a few drinks with a doctor in a local pub. One of the friends recognizes the local health services purveyor and, funny enough, worked with him in medical school. The friend, Fettes, used to ahem ‘run the logistical side' of providing the doctor with bodies so he could run tests on them. Unethical or progressing science at the time? You'll have to decide.
As these things go, conscience starts to play a big role, certain people in-the-know are beckoned to keep silent about the doctor's procurements, and evidence is tampered with. There is one curiosity, though. What happens when the body evidence you thought you destroyed comes back to haunt you? Creepy, indeed.
|| “The more things are wrong the more we must act as if all were right.”
This was a fun and interesting little haunt of a story. I did have a hard time (at points) following this one for some reason. The flow of the writing was sort of disjointed to an extent, but the insults cast between the characters were so much fun and dignified. There is always a certain charm to these types of books. The scientist or doctor is always attempting to ‘finish their work', but meddlesome family, colleagues, and friends ultimately thwart their progress, leaving them no choice but to ramp up the timeline, which leads to some sort of catastrophic mistake(s).
So, the next time your professor asks you to obtain a corpse, it's probably time to go to the registrar and change your course.
A great short to end the spooky season.
This last installment was wild! If you have read the previous books, you know exactly what you are getting yourself into.
You know the sensation you have just before a storm arrives? The temperature lowers, the smell of sweet grass fills the air, and a distant thunderclap jolts you to your core. Your “spidey sense” kicks into full gear, and you dash indoors. Well, there is no calm before the storm in Kisscut by Karin Slaughter. It sets you right down in the torrential depravity of a small town and never provides cover from the awfulness of some of the people in Heartsdale.
* I really do not know how to review this book, so I'll just do my best and add blanks in place of some of the areas that are extremely uncomfortable to discuss. *
So, we start the story with our favorite pediatrician, Sara, at a roller rink as she awaits her on-and-off-again ex-husband, Jeffery, who is the chief of police, to arrive. Sara grows impatient and makes her way to the washroom, where she finds a ___ in the ___. I almost had to skip the subsequent scene at the morgue. It's that uncomfortable.
–Check the trigger warnings, folks.
Fast forward a bit, and we catch up with Lena, a detective who went through an incredibly horrific ordeal in the first book, as she interviews several people at a local school about __ and __. The suspects show no regard for their actions or involvement in the ___ and offer up little to no information.–Could they be hiding something?Meanwhile, Jeffery questions a local family that is under suspicion of __, __, and __, but they all deny that anything of that nature could happen under their roof.
–This is the tip of the iceberg.
The investigation starts to pick up steam when Jeff finds a trailer that is setup to ___ and exploit __. He finds boxes full of __. Again, I almost had to skip some of these scenes.
Oh, and the revelations that come to light. I can't even express how much it hurt. It was painful to read.
–
“The Tattoo Murder” is a repetitive and showy locked-room murder mystery set in late 1940's Japan. The story is filled with more side tangents, ranting, and babbling on than I would care to mention. It's like Poirot and Sherlock Holmes meets Inspector Jacques Clouseau, but void of the fun, laughs, and genuine entertainment the aforementioned sleuths offer up. Although there were intriguing possibilities here, they were lost in repetition and an overly drawn-out conclusion. It would have worked well as a short, but as a full-length, it just does not have the torso, the arms, the head, or the legs to stand on.Okay. Let's set the scene. The Edo Tattoo Society hosts a judging competition where contestants show off their intricate tattoos to the masses. Kinue, the daughter of a famous tattoo artist, sheds her clothes to show off her tattoo to the judges; she oohs and awes with her design, the sorcerer Orochimaru from Japanese folklore. Before the ink is seen, she confides in Kenzo that her life is in danger—a seemingly rando encounter that sparks the initial plot.Kenzo is called by Kinue afterwards for a rendezvous at her place. Kenzo shows up at her home and spots blood and severed limbs in the bathroom. Who murdered the woman? Was it the yakuza, another lover, her husband, Dr. Tattoo, who harvests tattoos off those who pass on, a family member, or someone else entirely? The first theory that comes to mind is most likely the correct one. Even if it is not, for the next 275+ pages, the author makes quite certain that you remember each and every detail with painstaking thoroughness.My favorite part of the movie Office Space is when Tom explains his get-rich-quick scheme, the jump-to-conclusions mat. It's quite literally a mat that has conclusions you can jump to. I feel like the author might have used this mat to complete the last 100 or so pages of the book. I'll explain. Around the 70% mark, a young, hot-shot detective friend is brought on to the case. After a few moments of introspection, he is laying out exactly what happened. The detectives marvel at his genius, but the actual work could have revealed itself if they had thought the case through for just a few minutes. Obvious questions are asked, answered, and subsequently baffling to the lead investigator. The ‘leaps' of logic were not that complex.Have you ever finished a book and thought, I would have loved to have certain aspects explained in greater detail? Well, this book will make quite certain that no stone is unturned. Surprisingly enough, quite a few ideas were heavily inspired by the book The Honjin Murders, which was released two years prior. I am not sure if this particular locked room idea was common in mysteries of that time, but once a certain aspect is revealed in this novel, it takes your mind straight there.Maybe it's my Poirot withdrawal, or the translation (which is utterly confusing at some points), or my hope for a story that was much more intricate. Whatever the case may be, I would recommend reading [b:Out 25365 Out Natsuo Kirino https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386749063l/25365.SY75.jpg 849266] instead. ** A big thank you to my partner in crime, Helga, for reading this one with me. **
A quick short that is packed with details, atmosphere, and a striking narrative that will not soon be forgotten.
⭐ | Rating | ⭐
❖ 4 out of 5
“As to his head, he was conscious of nothing but a feeling of fullness—of congestion. These sensations were unaccompanied by thought. The intellectual part of his nature was already effaced; he had power only to feel, and feeling was torment.”
Just because you make a mistake doesn't mean you are a mistake.
** Welcome to the 1920's **
Kitty is a free-spirited, outgoing individual. She is quite gorgeous and has many admirers, but she has fended them off for many years while waiting for Mr. Right. Eventually, she marries Walter, an intelligent bacteriologist who is stationed in Hong Kong.
Walter is extremely cold to Kitty conversationally, but he makes up for his lack of social skills by attending to her every will.
A bored Kitty meets Charlie, a charming man who is married, has kids, has a good career, and is quite older than her. An affair transpires, which makes you think this is going to be a typical romance-drama, but it actually turns out to be so much more.
There are some interesting dynamics afoot! Walter was aware of her proclivities and that they would eventually lead her to become promiscuous, but he does very little to stop the meetings since he has a weak backbone and is too preoccupied with his profession.
An ultimatum is drawn up by Walter. Kitty can either have Charlie divorce his wife and marry her or travel with him to mainland China so that he can provide help to those who are in need of cholera treatments.
After much fuss, she agrees to travel with Walter to live out her loveless marriage in a foreign land.
How will Kitty fit in with her new surroundings, and will Walter help develop a treatment for the disease? From here on out, I would describe the book as being sorrowful, poignant, and despondent.
Somerset Maugham weaves a story that feels realistic. There are no sunshine or rainbows throughout 95% of the book. Although Kitty and Walter do their best to make things work, oil and water never mix.
So, if you are in the mood for a soul smashing story of love and its many trappings, this might just be the one to pull off the shelf.
Hondo by Louis l'Amour revolves around a soldier set in the 1870s who must come to terms with his place in the dusty, violent, and sun-soaked Wild West.
If your idea of a good time involves spurs, bar-brawls, high-noon fights, Apache politics, and taming bucking mustangs, this book is for you.
But wait! It's not just a testosterone-filled Stetson tipping, six-gun flinging tumble on the frontier. It has a genuine love-at-first-sight sideline. Hondo stumbles across a prairie owner named Angie. Can a young widow and her son warm the heart of the stoic, half white man, half Apache?
It's a rootin' tootin' good time!
You're probably wondering if Hon-do or Hon-don't stay with Angie and Johnny. Well, not at first; she might be married and waiting for her husband to return. Plus, he has some unfinished business to attend to.
So, while Hondo is away, the Apaches want to set up an arranged marriage or pairing because they believe Johnny should not grow up without the requisite “man” skills. I.e. Horse taming, fighting, scalping, etc.
Will Hondo find out what happened to Angie's husband? Will Hondo return to help Angie? Will the battle for land be resolved?
Thoughts: Howdy! If you made it this far, welcome, friend.
The name of the book accurately sums it up, but as a wise person once said, “It's not the destination, it's the journey.” This journey, my friends, is a wild tale of mountaineers on a mission that is not for the faint of heart.
In 1950, Maurice Herzog led a group of elite French climbers to the summit of one of the tallest Himalayan peaks (#10, I believe), named Annapurna. From what I understand, the range gets its name from the Hindu goddess of food and nourishment. This gorgeous mountain is 8,075 meters, or 26,493 feet, tall. Just shy of Mt. Everest's peak of 8,850 meters, or 29,032 for context. This climb was filled with possible dangers, including frost blindness, avalanches, frostbite, altitude sickness, and unforeseen pitfalls.
What makes this journey so interesting? To me, the reconnaissance of actually finding the range was captivating. The alpine team was given maps that were ambiguous and oftentimes incomplete, leading them to scratch their heads when time, energy, food, and changing weather patterns matter. They often used a guerilla style of information gathering where teams of two would search nearby ranges in hopes of spotting a face suitable for climbing. Once the mountain was found, it was up to Herzog to set up camps that would give the team the best possible outcome of putting boots on the summit safely.
Who is this for? Well, I would say you would have to be pretty invested in climbing in general. Unfortunately, the writing is not the highlight of this book, and most of the terminology is not defined all that well. If you do not know your serac from your massif, you might be hitting Google fairly often. It is not a deal-breaker, though. Another bit of contention might arise over the Sherpa/Climber relationship. The mutual agreements are not defined as much as in other climbing books, so a new reader might be completely turned off by the idea of “hired muscle.” This idea could not be further from the truth. From what I have read, the relationship is built on respect, dependence, and overall experience. Most Sherpas have an exhaustive knowledge of the mountain ranges and understand the path to the least resistance. This book features Ang-Tharkey, the sherpa who apparently introduced his friend Tenzing Norgay to mountaineering. Norgay went on to summit Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary.
There are absolutely no words to describe how amazing this book is. Unwrap a gift for the soul this holiday season.
*It's public domain and available on Librovox in audio form or ebook format on Gutenberg.org.
Emotion is a fairly modern word. Philosophers such as Plato and Hume used defining sets of words to categorize a range of human feels in their early writings. They did their best to describe the complexities of our deepest sentiments, which are incredibly interesting to read. Nowadays, I feel like they would have been confused, baffled, or uninterested in putting such a complex range under a wide umbrella as emotion. I can envision them even scoffing at me with the comparison. This got me thinking. How do you describe emotion? Well, this book takes an interesting look at when the word was first used, how the term butts heads with a number of vastly different states of mind, and even covers those who champion emotional intelligence over the more positive and negative connotations of the term. Hello, Vulcans!
***If you are wondering, there are quite a few Star Trek references. It's uber fascinating!
Sequence of events: 1.) Murders in the Rue Morgue by Iron Maiden pops up on my playlist. 2.) Proceeded to Wikipedia for inspiration on which un-read Poe stories to add to my spooky season read list. 3.) Found out this was a sequel to the Rue Morgue story. 4.) Possibly did a ‘I cannot contain my excitement' lap around the room. 5.) Read the quick short in one sitting. Based on a true story, Dupin tries to solve the murder of a perfume saleswoman who is found floating in the Seine. Was it a group of no-good scoundrels, someone close to the victim, or just a random criminal act? Fear not! Dupin is on the case. An entertaining, albeit methodical detective story. Considered to be some of the first ever written. Poe wrote another Dupin short called: [b:The Purloined Letter 278854 The Purloined Letter (C. Auguste Dupin, #3) Edgar Allan Poe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338446224l/278854.SY75.jpg 270472]Check out the wiki article of C. Auguste Dupin to learn more about the character and Poe's contribution to the detective genre. It's fascinating.
“Commodore” by Philip Fracassi surprised me. The blurb suggests a Christine-like story, but in actuality, the horror is served up on more of a cosmic plate. The plot may be full of influences and nostalgic callbacks, but the terror and sense of space had a unique voice and captivating writing style.
Plot: The town of Sabbath is filled with unique folks who have a penchant for sticking around its borders. Why? I'm not sure. What I do know is that they have a gnarly junkyard with a black car settled within, and those who go and see the car might just not come back.
The book is short. 100 or so pages. I enjoyed the idea behind the car and the kids who travel to go see it. It has a certain discovery aspect that I think most can relate to. The first time you go out exploring the neighborhood on your own, for example. Without giving too much away, the kids experience some pretty crazy things while locked inside the car. Sight, sound, and gravity are used by the author to really amp up the suspense. Those squeamish reading about peril in small, confined spaces may be in trouble, but you'll be fine if you can handle say, the T-rex car scene from Jurassic Park.
There are some loose ends, but I think the Sabbath town is setup to be expanded upon. Do not expect grand explanations, and I think you might enjoy the story. I would be interested in checking out some of the authors full length books in the future.
‘I warn you that what you're starting to read is full of loose ends and unanswered questions,' writes Jack Finney in the opening paragraph of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” It's a statement that sets expectations but also starts to elevate the anxiety level.
What if you were a respected doctor in the community and one of your patients pulled you aside and told you that they think their family members are not who they appear to be? You take them for their word, and after closer inspection and interviews, you find that the suspected family members look and act just like the genuine article. I think you might tell your upstanding patient that they just need to get some rest. What about, days later, you come across a formless body that has no apparent fingerprints? You might decide that the patient may have not been ‘off their rocker.'
|| “The men, women, and children in the street and stores below me were something else now, every last one of them.” ||
Doctor Bennell is recently divorced, and while he searches for the answers to his alien encounters, he also finds love in the process. I know this sounds cheesy, and some of the more ‘lovey dovey' moments are, but it is done in a particularly realistic fashion. Well, as much as one can while being closely monitored by pod people.
‘Something put into my head that you cared for me; and I lost my senses,' writes Kate Chopin towards the end of her heartbreaking novel, The Awakening. The story takes place in the late nineteenth-century Louisiana, near New Orleans. We follow our protagonist, Edna Pontellier, as she navigates her journey towards self-fulfillment and independence.
Edna is in a loveless marriage with a husband who sees her as a statuette or a rare painting among his personal “household gods.” Enter Robert, a young man with an aptitude for art who enjoys the company of Edna and always takes the time to compliment her hobbies, accompanies her to the Gulf Coast, guards her while she sleeps, and sings fun lullabies in French.
Robert decides to move to Mexico to pursue a business venture. Edna is shocked to hear about this revelation, and while he is gone, she starts to realize she was in love with him.
“Robert's voice was not pretentious. It was musical and true. The voice, the notes, the whole refrain haunted her memory.”
Robert promises to write to her while he is away, but instead sends telegrams to Edna's friend because he thinks that she does not care for him. “I realized what a cur I was to dream of such a thing, even if you had been willing.”
What happens when nature employs a young woman as a vessel to get retribution from the local population for clearing its overgrowth?
Well, we get a lovecraftian tale full of blood, dark themes, atmospheric imagery, and a whole lot of sex.
That's right, not to get too far out in the weeds (pun intended), but nobody in town is safe from Gwen extracting a pound of flesh—in more ways than one.
A short, excellent book!
Yes. Birds do start attacking people, but the real horror is linking nature and destruction around real war and sieges.
A truly unsettling experience.
4/5
A few old friends embark on a hiking trip in the Scandinavian wilderness.
Once the troop goes off the beaten path and gets lost, tensions flair.
But this is not the real horror. The real terror awaits them in the woods.
The Ritual is filled with creepy homes in the woods, pagan rituals, creatures, piles of bones, and plenty of visceral moments.
The creature elements and exploratory narrative portions were my favorite parts of the book. I really do not have much to say about the book. It was just okay.
Unfortunately, the conversations between the unlikeable friends and drama really did not do anything for me. For every bit that was fun and exciting, it had bits that did not work for me.
Overall: creepy moments, but a bit bloated on story elements that were uninteresting, imo.
3/5
When I saw that John Goblikon wrote a book—and a self-help parody book for that matter—I knew I had to check it out. I mean, who better to talk about life's eccentricities than a mythical being who is in the world's premier goblin metal band, Nekrogoblikon?
I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I really enjoyed this book. Like, I laughed quite a bit. Hard chuckled even. It actually reads sort of like crazed segments of one of my all-time favorite shows, Monty Python. It's off-kilter, a bit strange, slapstick, and can be, ahem, clever-ish at points.
First, let's cover the band. Necrogoblikon's metal music is cute. It has some decent synths here and there, but for the most part, and I even think the band would admit it, they are sort of like the “Weird Al” Yankovic of metal. It's wacky and emotionally charged. It's heir apparent to say a band like Limp Bizkit; all show and definitely no flow. Not hating I actually saw the band live once...
This book opens with a romance writer begrudgingly boarding a plane to Switzerland to spend a few days in exile at the Hotel Du Lac. She will have plenty of time to have a “curious interlude in her life” where she can write her new novel, take long walks, speak to other interesting guests at the hotel, and just hit the reset button. Why is our main character taking this leave of absence from life? Well, it's part of a social banishment enacted by her friends. They believe she needs to go on probation and grow a little, away from her life in London.
It's a fun little curiosity. Edith checks into the hotel and begins to meld with certain personalities over a meal or tea. We find out that most of the guests are cruel or ill-tempered, and the author often uses these traits to sly comedic effects, albeit oftentimes in long, drawn-out diatribes of small talk. There is a certain perceptiveness to the prose. Nothing is really described in great detail. It is often the witticisms that round out character traits and small intricacies that bring the hotel to life.
Edith eventually meets someone who is interested in her, and after a few days, he proposes. We are plucked from the hearty conversations and thrown into another unique situation that Edith did not expect. Will she say yes to the marriage proposal with stipulations attached, or are there other past circumstances that will come into play and give her yield?
I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who is infatuated with space and wants to know a bit more about fascinating space tests. Some are more pleasant to read, while others are extremely disgusting. My hat goes off to those who put their time, health, and bodies into the space program. If it were not for that space challenge so long ago, we would not have the incredible gizmos and gadgets we all use on a daily basis to keep us safe, entertained, and more importantly, alive. I would rate this in the 3.5 range. It would have been much higher, but I couldn't get past the bathroom sections. Maybe it was because I was eating dinner. Word of warning. Skip those sections while eating a plate of spaghetti.
Welcome to a world ravaged by storms that shape the lands, where creatures inhabit its desolate landscapes, where shards are used to power weapons and make gods out of the people who can wield them. The people who inhabit the land are a wild bunch. There are those seeking power, those seeking vengeance, those brave enough to seek truth despite insurmountable odds, those who seek knowledge, and those being controlled to enact heinous acts of violence.
War rages on the Shattered Plains. An inexplicable war. Soldiers are expendable, armies are divided, thrones are coveted, and uniting the lands seems insurmountable. A small glimpse of hope is out there. Could it be in the form of visions? Could it be in the hands of a slave? Could it be from a voice reading from The Way of Kings? The answer is not so complex. “Unite them” is the mantra.
All life is priceless, all life is meaningful, and all life needs is a small glimpse of hope. Some characters trust, some characters destroy, and some characters put life before death.
Can a past be so atrocious that we may want to erase those we love from our memories? Can a deed so dark and unbecoming make us steal power and artifacts to protect the family? Can a betrayal and death of a loved one set us on a path to captivity and self-harm? Can a kingdom hang in the balance because of an insignificant piece of material? These are questions to ponder upon.
It's the strength before weakness that helps the phoenix rise; it's the journey before destination that helps pull characters out of the muck and believe in themselves; and it's the constant disregard of the odds that makes us captivated and marvel at their selflessness.
Welcome to Roshar, my friends...
6 out of 5
This Dresden book did not click with me. It has all the witty banter and passable action that you would expect from our favorite urban fantasy miscreant, but the story was not as cohesive and exciting as I expected.
// Dresden is on the hunt for work to pay his bills when he gets embroiled with a faerie who wants him to complete three favors. Her name is Mab, Queen of Air and Darkness and Monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe. Along the way, he meets with friends of the past as they try to solve a power struggle within the courts. //
My main problem with the book was the way in which it just meanders through. You meet a character that's in trouble, Dresden initially does not want to help or does not have the means to, but accepts it nonetheless. Rinse and repeat. The scene setups were not all that intriguing and when Dresden does go out to do investigative work, it was a bit too similar to past novels. There is quite a bit of info dumps that had me scratching my head as well. Maybe it's the faire factor that just doesn't do it for me. I'm just not sure. Some of the jokes landed and made me laugh, and there were some truly touching parts with Murphy. Apart from that, I believe this is my least favorite. One and two were excellent, three was adequate, and this one just falls a bit short. I'm still intrigued by the series and plan to continue reading.
// “It's a rational sort of fear that puts a lawn chair down in the front of your thoughts and brings a cooler of drinks along with it.” //
──∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗── Other books in the series ──∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗──
Storm Front –⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fool Moon - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Grave Peril - ⭐⭐⭐
// “For me chivalry isn't dead; it's an involuntary reflex.”//
──∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗── Extra
Definitely the weakest of the series so far, but it had its moments. I especially enjoyed the sequence when the crew crosses the nevernever. Big Trouble In Little China vibes.
❖ Review Quickie
Re-read of one of my all-time favorite Sherlock novels. A masterpiece.
❖ Category: Mystery
❖Rating: 5/5