Imagine if Drew Barrymore’s character from Fifty First Dates woke up in Memento. The author did. Kinda sorta. That’s much of the premise of Stay Awake anyway, albeit it in tone it’s pure Memento and there’s no Adam Sandler in the vicinity.
And so, our protagonist, Liv, wakes up at a crime scene, somewhere in NYC, terrified, with no recent memories to guide her, but whatever she’s written all over her arms. She must figure out what’s going on, but her mental clock resets every time she goes to sleep, erasing the last two years of her life. Now, that’s a good thriller premise. Difficult to come by these days – the genre’s too popular for quality control, so there’s a lot of crap out there. And in that sea of crap Stay Awake stood out tall and proud for doing all the familiar genre things but well and excitingly. Liv is a fun protagonist, unreliable by design, but consistent in her inconsistency, constant in her disorientation but determined. Liv’s past reveals a comfortable life until a tragedy ripped it apart. Liv’s present is red flashing lights of danger at every corner. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? it is fun. And moreover, maybe the best thing about it, is that the author made the prerequisite ending twist a doozy. Genuinely unpredictable or at least not an easy one to predict. This is awesome, I’ve been solving thriller after thriller with frustrating ease and much too early in the game. I’d like to attribute it to my innate detecting genius, but to be fair, a lot of it has to do with how predictable the authors make it, like they just can’t help showing off their cards early on. Goldin, to her credit, maintains her cards close to the vest at all times. She throws plenty of small red fishes in to muddy the waters but stays mum on the killer until the appropriate reveal time. Very nicely done. All in all, a very enjoyable read. Good writing, good plotting, all that. One of the most impressive thrillers I’ve read recently. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.
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I was reluctant to read this book because I love the show so much. Especially season one, which was pure awesomeness. So, would the book live up to the show? Would the show live up to the book? Tricky. But then again, in the end there were two strong deciding factors. 1. I just really wanted more Boys. 2. I wanted to meet Terror, Butcher’s awesome four-legged companion who is almost completely omitted from the tv show.
And ok, wow, this book provided on both accounts. More Boys, same or similar in so many ways, albeit even naughtier and raunchier and with some more not-quite-so-super superheroes and with the hilariously Simon Pegg looking protagonist. The Pegg likeness is deliberate and is nodded to in the show by casting his as a dad (oh boy what times does). But more importantly, more Terror. So much Terror. So much of the hilarious, loyal, ever-drooling stocky white English bulldog who doesn’t take a leash and…shall we say performs aggressive sexual acts on command. By far, my favorite character. The rest was still surprisingly compelling despite knowing so much of the plot. Some of it was pure pleasure of revisiting familiar excellence, some of it was the joy of discovering the differences. Plus, you got great dialogue and really fun art. All in all, ton of fun was had. Looking forward to reading more. Recommended. With a title like that you go in expecting all the colors of the rainbow umbrella and you get mostly two, the lesbian and the trans. But a lot of it and in a lot of different configurations, different ages, etc.
This collection begins so strongly, the first story is absolutely terrific, and after that the quality is somewhat uneven, getting back to the initial level maybe twice or so. But then again, I may be biased, I found some of the stories more relatable and/or compelling than others. I suppose, those interested in specifically trans-related fiction and specifically of a younger age group, would have a different take on the book. At any case, the author’s talent definitely blazes through; there’s a certain organic storytelling quality to it that denotes a genuinely gifted emotionally engaging writing. These stories come alive in that very specific way. They also tend to be complete, not just mere slices of life, with a proper arc and plot, which I enjoy in short fiction. Each one features a pivotal moment in its characters’ lives, something that’ll define or transform them in some way. Overall, I liked this collection and not just from a diverse reading perspective, but as an interesting, well written and emotive work of literature. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley. I don’t know if my review can do this book justice – The Great Man Theory deserves…well, greatness. I’ll give it a try anyway.
This is my third read by the author and I would consider myself a fan, but this book was by far the best out of three. Not only that, it was by far one of the best books I’ve read in a while, which considering how many books I plow through, is really something. Granted, I’ve been reading lots of genre fiction lately and the sheer difference of spending time with a proper work of literature was a joy in itself, but it was a joy very specific to this book; a book so clever, so timely, so stunningly well written that it does that unicorn thing that most authors set out to do and few succeed at – it actually puts you, the reader, inside someone’s mind, inside someone’s life. Meet Paul. A man out of time, a staunchly anachronistic professor of English, a proud Luddite, a sometime writer of essays, a divorced father of a young girl. Paul had recently hit the official middle-age marker and, at 46, doesn’t have much to show for himself, but a semi-comfortable rented existence. And outrage. Like many Brooklyn liberals of a certain age, Paul is potently outraged by the 44th’s administration, appalled at the direction the country has taken, dismayed with its ever-declining values and morals and so on. It isn’t just the politics, it’s also the new generations that Paul valiantly tries to teach, it’s also the new technology that Paul valiantly tries to avoid…but mostly, it’s politics. And, because Paul is Brooklyn liberal of a certain age, his rage is impotent and muted. He writes about it, but his words don’t travel far. And so, like most rage, it becomes a simmered toxic stew that slowly poisons him. To exacerbate the situation, Paul’s circumstances are rapidly tumbling down – he gets cut down at work, he has to move in with his mother who turns out to be livelier and more opinionated than he remembered, his daughter is aging out of the adorable kid he knows what to do with into a moody complicated pre-teen. All of this precipitates Paul’s slow but inextricable tumble down and circumvention of his principles – soon enough, he’s got a smart phone, he becomes an unwilling participate in gig economy to supplement his income, he begins dating for ulterior motives and writing posts online. Paul is spiraling. Soon enough, Paul’s in a freefall. Let’s pause and consider for a second the sheer courage it must have taken to write a book about a plight of a first world middle-aged white man in this day and age. Bravo, Mr. Wayne. Way to subvert expectations. But seriously, is this one going to be ripped apart much like Paul’s frequent and failed efforts at political correctness and staying hip to the times? One hopes not. And to be fair, Paul isn’t exactly a flawless lead, in fact it is his manifold flaws that make him such and interesting and compelling character. He isn’t good at life, he admits as much himself. Which, for all his faults, is as relatable of a reveal as a character can make. He tries and tries, tirelessly at times, and it seldom proves good enough. To hold on to one’s morals in an amoral world, to maintain a financial solvency in a society of Mammon devotees (in one of the most expensive cities in the world, no less), to strive for life of meaning, intelligent discourse, values…it’s admirable. It’s also a sure way to live a life steeped in disappointment. And as Paul further and further compromises all he stands for, he reveals sides of himself that are ugly – he’s hypocritical, intolerant, tediously sanctimonious. He doesn’t really see or understand too far outside of himself. He doesn’t authentically relate well to others. He’s passive, all talk, fairly useless. Flaws, flaws, flaws. His trajectory is tragic and the ending is appropriately perfect in reflecting it for this, above all, is a story about a reasonably good man driven mad by the world around him. A man who wasn’t good at life. (If this world isn't riving you mad, you're not paying enough attention.) All I love in fiction is here in this book - it’s magnetic, difficult to put down, it’s eloquent, linguistically elegant, a virtuoso rendering of a man who (as much as he is out of time) is very much of his time. Great read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley. Do you ever read a thriller and think…oh, if only this had more romance or mommy business? If so, this thriller is for you. I never had the thought and thus for me it ended up a disappointment.
The promise was there. I loved the setting of a semi-remote ecovillage in Australia. I liked the spooky is-there-or-isn’t-there a witch in the woods situation and all the concomitant creepy goings on. But then, quite literally from the first scene where our protagonist meets her future love interest, the quality just drops precipitously. And from then on, just as you begin really getting into the story, the book continues to remind you how much of a mommy thriller it is, how much of a love story it’s going to be, how much estrogen is flowing through its vein. Too much estrogen, in fact. Sorry. Tedious amount of estrogen. Overshadowing every good thing about the story. Is the story at least original? Well, yes and no. It’s nigh impossible to do an original thriller these days due to the insane popularity of the genre. So, since all the main premises have been done and done, originality is traditionally relinquished to the smaller aspects of the plot such as the ecovillage location here. It is meant to be a fresh start for the mommy protagonist of this book. She’d just left an unhappy relationship, so now she’s got two kids (14 and a baby) from different fathers none of whom are around and a grand idea that this ecovillage will be the new beginning she so desperately needs. I mean, a more introspective protagonist might analyze their actions and realize how much her present is define by her past mistakes (yes, this woman is dumb enough to think that having a bay is a good way to fix a messed up relationship and this was her latest, not her wild youth’s ideas) and maybe learn a thing or two, but hey, she’s just too busy being a mommy. And for that her reward is a surly teen and a constantly wailing baby. But wait for it, she is still the yummy mommy of someone’s dreams. She manages to grab the attention of the oh so hunky ecovillage’s founder and they proceed to exchange romantic sparks while she is trying to figure out what’s going on in the community around her. They had a teen go missing a while back. Is her kid next? What are the strange gifts she’s been receiving? Do the villagers even want her around or are they gathering their pitchforks and torches? Etc.etc. Don’t worry, she’ll work it all out, like a supermommmy that she thinks she is. And every reveal will be more disappointing and more pedestrian than the next until the initial premise will seem like a distant and faded thing of the past. Because the endings for these sorts of stories and these sorts of protagonists are usually sappy happy and book is all too aware of it. Overall, decent enough, the pacing’s pretty good, the writing would also be pretty good if not for all that freaking estrogen and romance and babies, but as it was, the book left a lot to be desired and did nothing to distinguish itself from the plethora of same and similar thrillers out there. Thanks Netgalley. It was a simple enough of a premise. Hide. For seven days. If you’re found, you’ll be eliminated. If you’re not, you’ll get 50K.
For Mack, haunted well into her 20s by a traumatic childhood event, a homeless and helpless sort of a person who specializes in passing through life invisibly, it was a chance at a fresh start. For others it was some version of the same, be it out of necessity, loneliness or desire for fame and fortune. And thus, fourteen 20something-year-olds were assembled and led into an abandoned amusement park. It started off amusingly enough, but soon they came to realize it isn’t all fun and games and this twist on a childhood’s favorite is deadly. Soon, hiding became a matter of survival. Alliances will be formed, secrets will be uncovered and blood will be shed. Also, social commentary on the obscene socioeconomical (and generational, and racial, and so on) divides in the American society will be made. So yeah, this book has a lot going on. And does it all pretty well too. The author, apparently famous and prolific in YA realms, is making her adult debut with Hide and she doesn’t venture too far from her chosen age group. These characters are all still very young and young acting; it isn’t YA anymore, but it’s comfortably YA-adjacent. Which is to say, it reads pretty young, but not in that adult-intelligence-insulting way that YA does. Overall, it’s very dramatic, plenty exciting and really fun. So much so that you tend to forgive the oversimplifications and overexplanations (plot-wise, emotional and ideological) that this book like most young-oriented literature is prone too. Plus the setting is picture perfect and perfectly atmospheric. Amusement parks rank up there with asylums and circuses for genre fiction ideal locations, don't they. Reminded me of something like a just out of teen years baby of Fantasticland (Bockoven) and The Last One (Oliva). Which is, I suppose, a compliment, for those two are excellent books. All in all, fun was had. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley. With words that are really nowhere near as strange as the worlds they describe, this collection of short stories takes the reader to some dark, dark places and does it with style, imagination and originality you just have to admire.
I’ve never heard of the author, prior to finding his book on Netgalley. Now, having read it, foreword and afterword and all the things in-between, it seems that Rouner is a man who’s been to some dark places and emerged with stories to tell. Really, really good stories. These short stories are on a longer side and read like compete and completely disturbing tales. The author appears to have a knack for setting up a perfectly normal seeming scenario and that twisting it into something terrifying or morbid or both. But more than that, there’s some genuinely good writing here, especially character writing, Enough to have you connect with the protagonists, engage with their narratives, and immerse in their stories. That’s what a good scary story ought to do. Disturb its readers in a profound, even cathartic, way. Literature in general, and genre fiction specifically, is therapeutic by nature. Science fiction allows you to dream of a future. Fantasy takes you away from this world completely. And horror allows you to process your inner fears. Rouner seems to have a profound understanding of this fact and utilizes it perfectly. His tales are macabre in just the right way. I enjoyed this collection tremendously and absolutely would recommend it for any genre fan. These tales are literary, engaging, terrifying and take abyss gazing to a new darker still level. Very good, indeed. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley. Gideon Sable is back. I don’t care for urban fantasy, at all. Despite that, the first book in the series was surprisingly enjoyable. Like entire-opinion-change-on-genre enjoyable. I liked Green’s writing, word building and all that business and found the book to be very entertaining. So, naturally, I checked out book two. And lo, and behold, exactly in the way the first book did its best to change my ideas on the genre, the second book did its best to galvanize them.
Weird, right? Same author, same characters, same series and yet…But then again, that’s the right way of doing things, suck the readers in with the appetizer and then feed them dregs for the main entry. Ok, dregs is way too harsh. Sorry. Not dregs, just…lesser than. All things about the sophomore entry into Gideon Sable series are lesser than. Plus, it has that sequel thing where the thrill and the freshness of the original just isn’t there. So, what you get is a very typical genre entry with quirky characters existing in the world just outside our world, the shadow world with its own rules and regulations. Since we already know most of the cast, no real excitement there outside of the addition of Gideon’s ex, a tediously (and unnaturally) cheery switch’em artist who uses darling way too much. But whose skills prove invaluable to Gideon’s latest height plan. Working once again for the same disgruntled widow (since he goofed up on the deal in book one), this time Gideon sets off to steal a precious Ancient Egyptian artifact from a Vegas casino. Yes, not very original, a Vegas casino heist. See, that’s exactly what we were talking about earlier. The characters don’t even get to Vegas until about halfway through the book, but at least they do it on a magic train with an awesome name and some interesting passengers. So, yeah, it’s still pretty fun, quirky, quick, still has entertaining characters, especially the legendary Johnny Wild Card, but, much like Vegas itself, it’s all superficial. The awesome appeal of book one is barely to be found here. Looks like the author blew all his wad on book one and is now merely relying on the pre-established charm to carry the series forward. Which is certainly a way of doing things, just not the optimal way. Overall, it’s an entertaining quick read and genre fans would likely delight in it, but for non-genre fans who found book one to be an unexpected delight, there might be some disappointment. It’s still quite clever at times with its magic inventions/tools/ideas, but the general casino heist thing is just such an overdone theme. Thanks Netgalley. When it comes to snakes, I’m like Indiana Jones. Outside of an interest in archeology, it is the only way in which I’m like Indiana Jones. But snakes…there’s a purely atavistic fear there. And so, I can’t possibly understand what sort of a person would want to have one for a pet, and this book certainly makes a strong argument against it. But other than having one’s confirmation bias confirmed, this book didn’t offer much. In fact, it was a mess.
I really did try liking it. Normally, I really like Scandinavian fiction, crime or otherwise. This stood out (or slithered by) as an exception. It doesn’t even give you the courtesy of brevity, oh no, this is 400 pages of exhaustively and exhaustingly shifting perspectives all done in first person just to muddle things further. Not only are there enough characters to warrant a personae dramatis, but there are some duplicates i.e. same person different name. Plus, the perspectives don’t just shift from person to person, they also go from past to present and back. Presumably, the idea here was to make the plot less predictable and more exciting, but instead it just comes across convoluted, not sinister-coiled like a pet python, but contrivedly-twisted like some wire in an abstract art installation. Combined that with unlikable and not especially interesting characters and strange if not exactly slow pacing, and the result is confusing jumble of some horrific graphically depicted crimes, and terrible aftermaths. But then again, what’d you expect from people who thought snakes make good pets. Funnily enough, the snake is the only consistent and decent narrator in this entire mess of a story. Because you know, these are reptile memoirs, after all. And so, while it’s all done in a thematically appropriate serpentine fashion, this book didn’t really work. Or didn’t really work for me, since it seems to have its fans. It had some interesting and even potentially clever twists, but the execution of them left a lot to be desired. User mileage may vary. Thanks Netgalley. Magic, magic, magic. I love magic. Specifically, this sort of magic, not the thing you’ll find in fantasy books. And no magician of the modern age has distinguished himself quite like David Copperfield. Not just the fame, not just the recognition, not just the gazillion dollars he’s made doing it, but also the sheer breadth of imagination, the dedication to the craft and the spectacle of the craft, the range and magnitude of his stunts…it’s all pretty impressive.
The man’s been recognized by the magician community and community at large as a living legend, literally. With a legendary dedication to magic. So of course, of course, he would have a secret magic museum. And of course, of course, it would be awesome. I don’t travel much, but there are places I dream of visiting. Now I can add Copperfield’s magic museum to that list. Located at an undisclosed location somewhere in Vegas desert, this museum, whose front on a lovely gesture is crafted to look just like Copperfield’s father’s clothing store did back in New Jersey once upon a time, collects over 300, 000 magic-related artifacts. It all began with a 20, 000 item collection of another famous magician. Copperfield acquired it in bulk, so it stayed together and then added (prodigiously) to it over the years. Now, it’s a positively (and appropriately) magical place that features possessions of many if not all great magicians of the past, including things like a recreated magic shop of Copperfield’s youth. It’s like a wonderland for people who like magic. Thank goodness this book comes with photos, many photos, in color for proper effect. It isn’t quite like being there, but it’s the next best thing. Each chapter features a famous magician. The last one features Copperfield himself, though his voice comes through in other chapters, the man is a professional magician, after all, they aren’t exactly shy about self-promotion, plus Copperfield does indeed have a lot of accomplishments to be proud of. And he is genuinely passionate about magic, that comes through loud and clear. I’m not sure exactly how much of the writing he did himself, the book features two writing contributors (magic experts), but it reads quite nicely. You get to discover the many variegated lives of the giants of magic on whose shoulders modern magicians like Copperfield stand today. That’s his take and his words, meaning that’s his take on Newton’s famous quotation. A sort of a humble brag, for sure, but hey, why not, really. So much of magic is about showmanship, after all. And so, I leave the museum charmed, enlightened, and delighted, as I’m sure most magic fans would be after visiting the place for themselves. Recommended. |
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December 2023
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