R.I.P. XVI

 

 

It's that time of year again! The R.I.P. (Readers Imbibing Peril) Challenge is back, now in its 16th year.

•  Suspense
•  Thriller
•  Dark Fantasy
•  Gothic
•  Horror
•  Supernatural 

To join the challenge simply read any books (or view any movies) of your choice from the above categories between September 1 – October 31st. Feel free to post about them on your blog, Instagram, or Twitter. You can use #RIPXVI or tag @PERILREADERS to connect with other participants.

I've chosen several mysteries and thrillers from my shelves, both in print and on audio. I love participating in reading challenges since it's a way to focus on a select group of books that I already own. 

Have you read any of these? Are there any that I should skip?

R.I.P. XV Results

 

I'm very pleased with my RIP XV reading challenge results! I selected a dozen books from which to choose and read five, abandoned three, and started one that I knew I wouldn't finish before the 31st, but will still count. 

Books Read (click on link for review):

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough (4/5)

Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica (2/5)

Elevation by Stephen King (2/5)

Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton (4/5)

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (4/5)

A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read (in progress)

Books Abandoned:

The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier

Sycamore by Bryn Chancellor

The Good Daughter by Alexandra Burt

This was a good challenge to help whittle away at my TBR stacks, particularly those four ARCs that have been sorely neglected. While there were a couple of duds, the others were very good and I plan to read more by those authors (Pinborough, Bolton and Horowitz).

R.I.P. XV

 

It's that time again! I haven't participated in this reading challenge for quite some time, but I have several mystery/thrillers that I've been meaning to read, so challenge accepted! It looks like this will be an Instagram/Twitter challenge, with nobody hosting on their blog. So, the "rules" from one of Carl's previous R.I.P. challenges are thus:

Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. Dark Fantasy. Gothic. Horror. Supernatural. 

There is just something about this time of year, when the ghosts of past Autumns and the Autumn to come chase away the dog days of summer, that entices one to read books that fit into the above categories. 

It was a desire share the love of eerie, creepy, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night literature that brought me into the online reading challenge game for the first time back in September of 2006. My goals today, in this its third iteration, are no different than the inaugural R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge:

1. Have fun reading.

2. Share that fun with others.

It is that simple.

Choose one of more of the perils listed below: 

Peril the First: 

Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.  

Peril the Second:

Read Two books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.  

Peril the Third:

Read One book of any length from one of the subgenres listed above. This peril is for those who want to participate but don’t want to get bogged down in a long list of books. It is also for those who feel this type of reading is not their proverbial cup of tea but are willing to challenge themselves by giving just one book a try.

A dozen years have passed since I joined this challenge and now readers have included short stories, movies and group reads to the list of perils. In an effort to read from my stacks, I have chosen Peril the First and am optimistic that not only will I complete four books over the course of the challenge, but at least half of the dozen I have selected. 

Have you read any of these? If so, which are worth my time?

Click here to see posts from my previous R.I.P. challenges.

The Little Stranger

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Fiction
2009 Penguin Group Audio
Reader: Simon Vance
Length: 14 CDs, 18 hours
Finished: 11/2/12
Rating: 3/5 (So-so)
R.I.P. VII Challenge




From the author's website:

In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine. Its owners – mother, son and daughter – are struggling to keep pace with a changing society, as well as with conflicts of their own.

But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his.

Prepare yourself. From this wonderful writer who continues to astonish us, now comes a chilling ghost story.


I chose The Little Stranger as my second selection for this year’s RIP VII Challenge (hosted by Carl). I’ve read one other book by Waters (The Night Watch) and was anxious to give her latest novel a read. After hearing such good things about Simon Vance, I decided to go with the audio book rather than the paperback. Vance lived up to all the praise I’d been hearing and is now one of my favorite readers (next to Jim Dale).* His performance was outstanding! Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the same about the novel. I was expecting a much scarier tale, something more in tune with Stephen King or Dean Koontz. The Little Stranger is a psychological thriller, and one that kept me guessing clear to the very end. And yet, in spite of listening to the entire book, I found it somewhat anticlimactic. Hundreds Hall is a creepy house with strange, unexplainable occurrences affecting the lives (literally) of those who come in contact with it, but it wasn’t nearly as disturbing as the house in Anne Rivers Siddon’s novel, The House Next Door or Stephen King’s The Shining. I’m not sorry I read it, but I did have my hopes set higher for a stellar read.

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed the audio book well enough to finish, but it’s not one I feel compelled to rush out and buy in print. The Little Stranger should appeal to fans of The Thirteenth Tale (Setterfield) and Don’t Look Now (du Maurier).

*While searching for more books narrated by Simon Vance, I discovered that I’ve already listened to him. Twice! I’d completely forgotten that he was the reader for the Steig Larsson trilogy. I’m looking forward to listening to more and am open to recommendations. I see he narrates A Tale of Two Cities, which was one of my favorite books when I was in high school. I may just have to give that a re-read!

The Passage

The Passage by Justin Cronin
Fiction
2010 Random House Audio
Length: 36 hours and 52 minutes
Readers: Scott Brick, Adenrele Ojo, Abby Craden
Finished: 10/14/12
Rating: 4.75/5 (Terrific!)
R.I.P. VII Challenge






"Imagine Michael Crichton crossbreeding Stephen King's The Stand and Salem's Lot in that lab at Jurassic Park, with rich infusions of Robert McCammon's Swan Song, Battlestar Galactica and even Cormac McCarthy's The Road." The Washington Post

Publisher’s Description: 

“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear — of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey — spanning miles and decades — toward the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

I’ve had a copy of The Passage ever since it was first released back in 2010, but it wasn’t until I decided to participate in Carl’s R.I.P. VII Challenge that I finally took it down from the shelf. Actually, I downloaded the audio version (all 36 hours and 52 minutes!) from my library, but occasionally flipped through the book for clarification of a specific passage. I was reading another large book (The Thorn Birds) at the time, so the audio turned out to be the perfect way to manage this tome. And, I think The Washington Post nailed it when describing the book as a mash-up of The Stand, Swan Song, Battlestar Galactica and The Road. With the exception of BG, I found myself comparing the story to these outstanding post-apocalyptic tales, all of which I loved, by the way.

In spite of the audio format, I still took over a month to complete this read, partly due to the fact that it’s just so very long, but also because I found myself repeating tracks for clarification or to remind myself of a certain group of characters. As with The Stand, there is a large cast of characters, as well as a shift in locations and plot threads. Scott Brick does an excellent job with the narration, performing each chapter with perfect pacing, and the sense of urgency and raw emotion the book demands. I was quickly drawn into the story and in spite of the length, found myself wishing it were longer. Thankfully, it turns out to be the first in a trilogy, so I can look forward to enjoying more of this saga.

Final Thoughts: What begins as a terrifying story filled with vampire-like creatures (one which might have caused a nightmare or two), turns out to be an exceptionally imaginative (and highly addictive) post-apocalyptic tale of both love and survival. I have the ARC of The Twelve in my stacks, as well as the audio version on my Nano, but it will be a few months before I return to Amy Harper Bellafonte’s story. The holiday season is upon us and my concentration level requires something a bit more uplifting and light-hearted.


Every so often a novel-reader's novel comes along; an enthralling, entertaining story wedded to simple, supple prose, both informed by tremendous imagination. Summer is the perfect time for such books, and this year readers can enjoy the gift of Justin Cronin's The Passage. Read fifteen pages and you'll find yourself captivated; read thirty and you will find yourself taken prisoner and reading late into the night. It has the vividness that only epic works of fantasy and imagination can achieve. What else can I say? This: Read this book and the ordinary world disappears. ~ Stephen King

R.I.P. VII

 

It's been several years since I participated in Carl's R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril (aka RIP) challenge. I was dumbstruck when I saw the first posts about this year's challenge. Has it really been 7 years since this all began? Really? Bravo, Carl!! And thanks for the nudge to join in on all the fun, even at this late date.

Knowing full well that I tend to make huge lists and fail miserably, I'm going to aim for a more reasonable goal here. Two books. Yep. Just two. The first is quite a chunkster, but I'm listening to it on audio, so maybe it will go quickly. It's certainly got my attention and I'm constantly looking for an excuse to listen.

The second will be for Heather and Andi's readalong, which I hope to start as soon as I finish The Passage. I'm already late to the party for that discussion, but I still want to read it.

Looking back, I see that I only participated in two RIP challenges. I'm not sure how that happened, as this is such a great chance to read some creepy books. One of my favorites selections, Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box, was discovered during the RIP II (five years ago!). And then there was The Brief History of the Dead, back in 2008 for the RIP III. I'm not very far into The Passage, but I already have a strong feeling that my choices for this year's event will become favorites, as well.

And now to publish this post before I decide to search for more books in my stacks to add to my list. Books like Something Wicked This Way Comes byRay Bradbury or The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (both of which were of both lists for my previous challenges!).

R.I.P. III Challenge Completed

Can it really be over? Already? Where did the time go? Well, I'm pretty happy with my results. I joined and managed to read two from my original list (plus an additional title that might fit the challenge). However, I failed to read all four to satisfy Peril the First. Nonetheless, I'm happy to have read the books I read and look forward to R.I.P. IV!

So, what did I read?

Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

And my favorite?

The Brief History of the Dead.

Thanks for hosting yet another great challenge, Carl!

The Brief History of the Dead

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
Contemporary Fiction/Post-Apocalyptic
2007 Vintage Contemporaries
252 pages
Finished on 9/19/08
Rating: 4.75/5 (Fabulous!)
R.I.P. III Challenge #2


Publisher's Blurb:

The City is inhabited by those who have departed Earth but are still remembered by the living. They will reside in this afterlife until they are completely forgotten. But the City is shrinking, and the residents clearing out. Some of the holdouts, like Luka Sims, who produces the City's only newspaper, are wondering what exactly is going on. Others, like Coleman Kinzler, believe it is the beginning of the end. Meanwhile, Laura Byrd is trapped in an Antarctic research station, her supplies are running low, her radio finds only static, and the power is failing. With little choice, Laura sets out across the ice to look for help, but time is running out. Kevin Brockmeier alternates these two story lines to create a lyrical and haunting tale about love, loss, and the power of memory.

Wow! What a fantastically unique story. I was intrigued when I first read about this book on Carl's blog and I'm glad his R.I.P. III Challenge inspired me to move it up in my stacks. I haven't read such a thought-provoking and imaginative story since Jose Saramago's Blindness.

Brockmeier's novel originally appeared as a short story in The New Yorker (2004). I just finished skimming through the story and have to say (with one caveat) I'm glad he decided to re-work it into a novel. My quibble lies in the last two chapters. The surreal finale was a bit too mystical for my taste, thus my less-than-perfect rating. Nonetheless, I firmly believe this compelling story will stay with me for a long time. I was completely engrossed, not wanting to finish, yet not wanting to put it down. This is definitely going on my Top Ten list for the year. Thank you, Carl, for bringing this marvelous book to my attention.

Some thought-provoking passages:

Occasionally one of the dead, someone who had just completed the crossing, would mistake the city for heaven. It was a misunderstanding that never persisted for long. What kind of heaven had the blasting sound of garbage trucks in the morning, and chewing gum on the pavement, and the smell of fish rotting by the river? What kind of hell, for that matter, had bakeries and dogwood trees and perfect blue days that made the hairs on the back of your neck rise on end? No, the city was not heaven, and it was not hell, and it certainly was not the world. It stood to reason, then, that it had to be something else.

and

Dying had changed Marion Byrd. She had been so weary back when she was alive: weary of talking and weary of eating; wear of thinking, remembering, desiring, anticipating; weary, most of all, of the prospect of seeing her life out to its natural end. She felt as though she had spent the last ten years of her life carrying a tremendous unshaped stone on her shoulders. The effort of keeping her legs upright and simply walking underneath it had nearly crippled her. She didn't know how to cast it off, or even where it had come from, only that she had to carry it.

But then the virus had appeared and she had died, and suddenly everything was different.

On people you've known during your life:

How many people was any one human being likely to remember? A thousand? Maybe if you were cursed with a particularly slipshod memory. So then—ten thousand? A hundred thousand? A million? Of course, if you ran out your life in some small village deep in the Himalayas, the number would be greatly diminished, but Michael Puckett wasn't thinking about Himalayan villagers. Or monks, or nuns, or kids who never lived past that falling-down-drunk stage of toddlerhood. He was thinking about himself, his own life, and by extension, he was thinking about Laura. She was the common element, after all, the link or what have you. After all the discussion he had heard in the city, that much was obvious.

He had spent the better part of a week trying to come up with a good solid number, one that took his entire forty-three years of life into account. At first he tried to make the calculations mentally, sorting through the great crowd of people in his head as he listened to the stereo or rested in bed at night. But when he realized how complicated the whole matter was turning out to be, he pulled out his #2 pencil and a blank pad of paper and settled down to work.

This one really got me thinking. I didn't go so far as compiling a written list of everyone I could remember ever meeting, but I did find myself thinking about people from my past: that cute boy (Matthew?) in my first grade class, my third grade teacher (Mrs. Bauer), a family I used to babysit for who had the BEST junk food (!), former co-workers... the list is endless! How many people have you known in your lifetime?

Now I'm even more inspired me to continue with this genre, tossing around an idea for a new endcap, one that concentrates on novels with post-apocalyptic themes. So far, I have On the Beach, Wastelands, A Canticle for Leibowitz, and Lucifer's Hammer to add to my TBR stack. Any other recommendations? I've already read The Road, Alas, Babylon, Earth Abides, Swan Song, The Stand, and I Am Legend. Any favorites I'm missing?

Be sure to check out Carl's fabulous review here. This is such a gripping story and I look forward to hand-selling several copies this holiday season.

Rises the Night

Rises the Night: The Gardella Vampire Chronicles by Colleen Gleason
Romance/Paranormal
2007 Signet
352 pages
Finished on 9/6/08
Rating: 3/5 (So-so)
R.I.P. III Challenge #1



Publisher's Blurb:

The Gardella Vampire Chronicles continue as the glorious nineteenth-century city of Rome gives rise to a new threat from the immortal undead....

Lady Victoria Gardella Grantworth de Lacy has been a vampire slayer for just over a year, balancing her life as a peer of Society with the dangerous role that takes her out on moonlit streets, stake in hand. She has learned brutal and heartbreaking lessons about the sacrifices that must be made in order to save humanity from the evil that secretly preys upon it, but she has not wavered in her vow to fight on.

Now, in Italy, a powerful vampire is amassing the power to control the souls of the dead. As Victoria races across Europe to stop what could be the most deadly army the Gardellas have ever faced, her unlikely companion is Sebastian Vioget, a man as tempting as he is untrustworthy. But when Victoria discovers that she has been betrayed by one of her most trusted allies, the truth will challenge all her powers as a Venator—and as a woman....

Vampire novels are quite the rage these days. Teens (as well as adults) who devoured Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series are looking for more of this genre to satisfying their bloodthirsty cravings. At work, the science fiction and romance shelves are brimming with all sorts of paranormal series, making it easy for this bookseller to handsell books such as Colleen Gleason's Gardella series to those who have finished the Twilight Saga (and, perhaps, who are looking for something a bit more sophisticated and less permeated with teenage angst).

I thoroughly enjoyed Gleason's The Rest Falls Away and was eager to pick up the second in the series (a signed copy, nonetheless!) to kick-off the start of Carl's R.I.P. III Challenge. Unfortunately, I find myself in the minority when it comes to adoring praise for this sophomore entry into the series. It took me quite a long time to get interested in the storyline. It wasn't until the last 100 pages or so that I became completely engrossed in Victoria's dilemma and began to enjoy the swashbuckling feel of the battle between Venators and Vampires. Until that point, I felt the narrative focused more on the romance (read: steamy lust) between the characters and less on the slaying of vampires.

Having said that, the historical setting, strong character development, absence of predictability, and simple curiosity have convinced me to continue on and see how the series progresses with The Bleeding Dusk and When Twilight Burns. And, yes, this is a series that most definitely should be read in order. The opening pages of Rises the Night reveal a significant spoiler--something that should only be discovered for the first time in the final pages of The Rest Falls Away.

Read what others have to say about this book:
(Click on their blog for their full review)

A Reader's Journal (Rises the Night is a gripping, page-turning, nail-biting read.)

Stainless Steel Droppings (I experienced an honest-to-goodness Wow! moment in chapter one of Rises the Night and was engrossed in the story from that time on.)

Bookfoolery and Babble (Colleen has a tremendous skill for blending adventure with subtle romance, fun dialogue and historical detail. The book is absolutely gripping and I have to admit that I particularly love the way Sebastian's character continues to come into question.)

In Spring it is the Dawn (The fact that I’m getting hooked on a vampire romance series when I’d previously avoided all things relating to vampires or books labelled romance [I have read my share of chicklit but I never usually even visit the romance section of the bookstore] is not lost on me!)

Dolce Bellezza (You are looking at the first book I ever bought from the Romance section of Borders. Normally, I go for the New York Times Bestsellers, or mystery, or anything but a cover with an airbrushed man's chest on it.)

Carl's R.I.P. III Challenge

Yes, it's that time of year once again! And this time I'm ready with my list and have great hopes of completing this challenge. Here are all the particulars from Carl's website:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

There is just something about this time of year, when the ghosts of past Autumns and the Autumn to come chase away the dog days of summer, that entices one to read books that fit into the above categories.

It was a desire share the love of eerie, creepy, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night literature that brought me into the online reading challenge game for the first time back in September of 2006. My goals today, in this its third iteration, are no different than the inaugural R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge:

1. Have fun reading.
2. Share that fun with others.

It is that simple. Read on.

1. R.I.P. III runs from September 1st through October 31st, 2008. But I’m no stickler, start reading now if you feel so inclined.

2. Choose one of more of the perils listed below:

Peril the First:

Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.

Peril the Second:

Read Two books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.

Peril the Third:

Read One book of any length from one of the subgenres listed above.

This peril is for those who want to participate but don’t want to get bogged down in a long list of books. It is also for those who feel this type of reading is not their proverbial cup of tea but are willing to challenge themselves by giving just one book a try.

3. Leave a comment here announcing your intention to join and a link to the post* on your site, if you have one and choose to post about R.I.P. III.

*One of the things I enjoy about hosting and joining challenges is seeing what everyone else might be reading. I also like posting my own list–yet I am the first to break said list as my whims take control. So this year I want to do something a little different. Rather than posting a list of books you feel locked in to, instead post a pool of potential reads. That way we can all gather ideas from other people’s pools and no one need suffer the hangover effects of feeling boxed in by a list. Sound good? Those of you who want to participate but do not have blogs are welcome to post your book pool in the comments section here and I will link to it in the body of the post.

4. Post links to your reviews on the R.I.P.ing Yarns Review Site. I am using last year’s review site and posting a new comment thread in which you can post this year’s reviews. That way you can also go back and check out last year’s reviews (you may have to hit the ‘click here’ link at the bottom of the post to get last year’s list to pop up).

5. The most important thing: Have Fun! R.I.P. III is more than just a reading challenge. There will be contests and giveaways and some of the subject matter of my regular posts, especially as we approach October, will be more in fitting with the R.I.P. III spirit. There are artists who have committed to interviews and sales and other tie-ins as well.

I'm going with Peril the First. Here's my list:

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

A Great and Terrible Beauty

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Young Adult Fiction
Finished on 10/12/07
Rating: 2/5 (Below Average)
R.I.P. II Challenge #3




Publisher's Blurb:

Gemma Doyle isn't like other girls. Girls with impeccable manners, who speak when spoken to, who remember their station, and who will lie back and think of England when it's required of them.

No, sixteen-year-old Gemma is an island unto herself, sent to the Spence Academy in London after tragedy strikes her family in India. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma finds a chilly reception. But she's not completely alone... she's been followed by a mysterious young man, who warns her to close her mind against the visions.

For it's at Spence that Gemma's power to attract the supernatural unfolds; there she becomes entangled with the school's most powerful girls and discovers her mother's connection to a shadowy group called the Order. It's there that her destiny waits... if only she can believe in it.

A Great and Terrible Beauty is a curl-up-under-the-covers kind of book... a vast canvas of rustling skirts and dancing shadows and things that go bump in the night. It's a vividly drawn portrait of the Victorian age, when girls were groomed for lives as rich men's wives... and the story of a girl who saw another way.

Sigh. It's happened again. Another hyped-up novel that failed to entertain. Perhaps I'm just not suited for these modern-day Gothic novels. Or, maybe it's the teenage angst that turns me off. Whatever the reason, I'm sorry to say it was quite a struggle to get into the book and I almost quit on several occasions. However, I stuck with it since I'd heard positive remarks from fellow bloggers. Heather, Jenclair and Kailana all loved the novel and wrote glowing reviews, which I encourage you to read if you're the least bit interested in this book.

It's very difficult to write a review for a book I disliked so much. In a nutshell, I didn't care for Gemma's sardonic wit and thought her voice sounded contrived throughout the entire novel. The overuse of metaphors was also irritating. I didn't care for any of the characters and thought the plot far too predictable. The following passage leapt from the page, jarring me from what little interest I had going and made me think, would someone in 1895 truly say this?

Felicity stops. "Oh, honestly, this is the worst attempt at a gothic novel I've ever read. All we're missing are creaking castle floors and a heroine in danger of losing her virtue."

I do think, however, that this might make for an entertaining movie. I found myself picturing Johnny Depp as Kartika and wouldn't mind seeing that come to be. Looks like the rights have been bought, so we may just see this come to theaters near us (or Netflix, in my case) in a few years.

If anyone would like to give this book a try, I'd be more than happy to pass it on. Leave a comment and I'll draw names next weekend.

Heart-Shaped Box

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Fiction/Horror
Finished on 9/5/07
Rating: 4.5/5 (Terrific!)
R.I.P. II Challenge #2




Like father, like son!

Book Description

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals . . . a used hangman's noose . . . a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, an item for sale on the Internet, a thing so terribly strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet.

I will "sell" my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder. . . .

For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. He isn't afraid. He has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts—of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned, of the bandmates he betrayed. What's one more?

But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no imaginary or metaphorical ghost, no benign conversation piece. It's the real thing.

And suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere: behind the bedroom door . . . seated in Jude's restored vintage Mustang . . . standing outside his window . . . staring out from his widescreen TV. Waiting—with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand. . . .

A multiple-award winner for his short fiction, author Joe Hill immediately vaults into the top echelon of dark fantasists with a blood-chilling roller-coaster ride of a novel, a masterwork brimming with relentless thrills and acid terror.

and from Bookmarks Magazine

Heart-Shaped Box raises the obvious question: Does the talent of Joe Hill (née Joseph Hillstrom King) match that of his father, Stephen King? Certainly, Hill has earned acclaim in his own right; his short-story collection 20th Century Ghosts won both the British Fantasy Award and a Bram Stoker. Critics agree that if blood, gore, and psychological terror keep you turning the pages, you'll enjoy the novel's murderous dreamscape and Hill's lean, witty, and hard-hitting style. In order to buy into the story, however, you'll first have to believe in the ghost's powerful existence—and not all critics did. Only the New York Times Book Review completely panned the novel's characterizations, overkill, and implausible plot. The verdict: Heart-Shaped Box is a strong walk in Hill's father's footsteps.

I started this book before our trip, but found it too creepy to read at night, so I set it aside for the flights to Oregon. Not only did this intense page-turner keep me engrossed during the four-hour layover in Dallas, but it kept me thoroughly entertained for the three-hour flight, the pace never faltering or falling short. As I read, I sensed a bit of familiarity in the creepy style, which I suppose is only natural since Hill probably heard the best-of-the-best ghost stories as a young boy thanks to his dad's incredibly twisted imagination. But I say this as a compliment; Hill's talent should not be overlooked. He may have learned from a master, but I have a feeling if he continues with this genre, he too may have 2-3 shelves of books devoted to his works. It's too bad Heart-Shaped Box is his debut novel, as I'd love to have a backlist of titles to look forward to. I do plan to track down a copy of his short-story collection (20th Century Ghosts) and maybe that will hold me over until he releases a second novel.

I loved Heart-Shaped Box and am fairly confident it'll be on my 2007 Top Ten list. The only reason it didn't get a perfect 5/5 was due to the lack of any lyrical passages; otherwise, it's fabulous. It definitely falls in the keep-a-nightlight-on spooky ghost story category; a perfect choice for Carl's R.I.P. II Challenge and one I'll be anxious to recommend to customers at work. But beware! If you don't like horror books (particularly those like The Shining and It), you might want to skip this one. Or, do what I did and read it during the day!

A couple of final notes -- Amazon has two guest reviewers for Hill's book. I especially enjoyed Scott Smith's (The Ruins) take on the book, but felt Harlan Coben's had too many spoilers (as did Publishers Weekly), so you might want to skip that one. Also, as I was re-reading my post for Stephen King's Dreamcatcher, I realized pretty much everything I'd written about his style and the book's suspense could've been used to describe his son's book Heart-Shaped Box. The apple sure doesn't fall far from the tree!

Brother Odd

Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
Fiction/Horror
Finished on 9/2/07
Rating: 2/5 (Below Average)
R.I.P. II Challenge #1





I see dead people, spirits of the departed who, each for his own reason, will not move on from this world. Some are drawn to me for justice, if they were murdered, or for comfort, or for companionship; others seek me out for motives that I cannot always understand.

This complicates my life.

Meh. I guess I'm not terribly disappointed since I didn't have high hopes for the book. As most of you already know, I loved Odd Thomas (read it twice and still think about reading it again), but was awfully disappointed with the sequel, Forever Odd. I've been holding off on reading Brother Odd for quite some time, but Carl's R.I.P. II Challenge inspired me to finally give it a chance. Well, it wasn't bad. Just not great. It lacked the hold-your-breath suspense that I've grown to enjoy in say, Stephen King's books, and the overdone metaphors became a bit tiresome:

Behind the white gravecloth of churning snow, the dead-gray face of the day awaited imminent burial.

Koontz is a talented and skillful writer. But when you encounter an over-the-top metaphor like this, one gets the feeling that he's simply showing off--using metaphors not because they add to the story, but simply because he can.

Another negative aspect of the book is that I never really connected with any of the supporting characters (far too many monks and nuns to keep track of), and as quantum physics isn't my thing, I found the premise of the story a bit far-fetched. (Then again, quantum physics is probably more plausible than seeing ghosts.) I simply couldn't wrap my brain around the skeletonized boogeyman or uberskeleton, as described by Koontz in this passage:

Beneath the veneer of a face lay the fullness of what I had only glimpsed in the eye sockets, in the yawning mouth: a phantasmagoria of bony forms linked by hinge joints, by pivot joints, by ellipsoidal joints, by ball-and-socket joints, and by joints for which no name existed, and which were not natural to this world. The apparition appeared to be a solid mass of bones combined so intimately that they must be fused, compacted so completely that they could have no room to rotate or flex. Yet they did rotate and flex and pivot and more, seemed to move not merely in three dimensions but in four, in an unceasing exhibition of dexterity that astonished and amazed.

One saving grace in all three of these novels is Odd Thomas' sardonic wit. Not only is he a likeable hero, he's very funny.

Had the visitor been a man, he would have knocked. If it had been only the wind, it would have huffed and strained against the door until the planks creaked. This scrape was the sound of bone on wood, or something like bone. I could imagine an animated skeleton clawing with mindless persistence at the other side of the door. In all my bizarre experiences, I have never actually encountered an animated skeleton. But in a world where McDonald's now sells salad with low-fat dressing, anything is possible.

And, Koontz certainly does have a way with words. This is a particularly nice passage:

Living in a monastery, even as a guest rather than as a monk, you have more opportunities than you might have elsewhere to see the world as it is, instead of through the shadow that you cast upon it.

But given a choice, I'll take a Stephen King or Joe Hill ghost any day; for some reason such ghosts seem more realistic than Koontz’s bizarre creature of flexing bones!

Carl's R.I.P. II Challenge

Last year I decided to skip Carl's R.I.P. Challenge, but not this year! I've had my list ready for several months and am anxious to get started. I'm not sure which of the Perils I'll participate in, but here's the list from which I'll be working. Go here for more details.

1. Brother Odd by Dean Koontz

2. Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King

3. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

4. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

5. Stardust by Neil Gaiman

6. New Moon by Stephenie Myer

7. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

8. Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill

9. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

10. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

11. Coraline by Neil Gaiman (sure hope I like this author!)

12. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

13. The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Alternates:

Dracula by Braum Stoker

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley