Book Review: The Loving Dead
31 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in New Release Reviews Tags: fiction, horror, sex, STD, zombies
The Loving Dead by Amelia Beamer (2010)
I know this book came out last year but I stumbled upon it at Borders during their liquidation sale massacre and I had to write a review about it. If you are a fan of zombie fiction you need to check this book out!
At first glance, The Loving Dead seems like a typical zombie thriller. However it offers an interesting twist: the zombie “virus” is actually a sexually transmitted disease. Anyone who gets infected turns into an unstoppable (and horny) killing machine. Our protagonist Kate is an intelligent young woman stuck working at a retail job, dating an older man and dreaming of going to grad school. When her housemate and co-worker Michael throws a horror-themed party she uses it as an opportunity to relax, have fun, and even hook up. But soon their friends start turning into zombies, and the desease quickly spreads through her city, forcing Kate and Michael to fight for their lives.
The Loving Dead is a wild story, and a very interesting read. This debut novel contains a mix of dark humor and true horror that is sure to please any zombie fan. What I think sets this book apart from other zombie stories are the statements it makes. There is some commentary at the end about zombies being accepted into mainstream society and I felt that the author was trying to present a subtle allegory of zombies struggling with being “out” the way many gay people struggle with being out. The progression of Kate’s character throughout the story is also rather interesting.
If you’re into horror and you’re looking for a story that’s both funny and scary and with a little substance, check out this book. And hurry to Borders while it’s still open, because you never know what cool books you’ll find!
Book Review: The Book of Lies
25 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock (pub date 7/19/11)
Sometimes secrets and lies are family heirlooms. In this debut novel, a teenage girl looks into her family’s history and unravels some decades-old secrets, while at the same time dealing with her own evil deeds.
Set in 1985 in the British Channel Islands, Cat Rozier is an unpopular teenager who thinks she has struck gold when she makes friends with Nicolette, the pretty new girl in her school. At first the two seem inseparable, but a perceived betrayal on Cat’s part soon ruins their friendship, and Cat’s few remaining friends turn against her as well. Nicolette’s constant teasing and bullying of Cat soon lead to deadly circumstances.
At the same time, Cat begins going through her deceased father’s belongings, finding letters and interviews which reveal deadly secrets in her own family. This inspires her to question the perception of truth, and whether history played a part in her involvement with Nicolette’s disappearance.
This is a very odd book, and I’m still not quite sure what to make of it. The narrative switches back and forth between Cat’s story (and confession) and the letters and interviews recorded by her father Emile. I found this to be rather distracting. Cat’s story is much more interesting than her family’s backstory, and just as I was getting involved in Cat’s narrative it switches to Emile’s point of view. Emile’s part of the story contains a lot of information about the history of the Channel Islands during World War II. And although this must be very interesting to the author, it adds almost nothing to the main plot. Even Cat herself is an under-developed character. There was a great opportunity to show Cat’s inner struggle with what she did to Nicolette but it seemed like she had no feelings about it. Because of this I found it hard to connect with her and care about her story. She just comes across as unlikeable because of her sarcastic attitude.
The Book of Lies is one of those books that’s OK but not great. It had a strong opening, but then it seemed like it couldn’t decide what kind of book it wanted to be, and as a result the main story and characters suffered. This is one to check out from the library or borrow from someone if you’re interested.
Book Review: Before I Go To Sleep
21 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson (pub date 6/14/11)
“If we tell ourselves often enough that something happened, we start to believe it, and then we can actually remember it.”
Memories are precious. They are lasting reminders of who we are, what we’ve accomplished, and how far we’ve come in life. Imagine waking up one morning with no recollection of how you got where you are, who the person lying next to you in bed is, or even what your name is. For Christine, this is a daily occurrence.
Christine is an amnesiac, the result of a traumatic accident that left her brain-damaged. For almost twenty years, she has woken up every morning not knowing who she is and experiencing only brief flashes of her past. When she goes to sleep, her memories from that day vanish. She relies on her husband Ben to tell her their life story every single day. She is working with a doctor, and with his suggestion she begins keeping a journal of her daily life. Little by little the journal helps Christine some of her memories. But soon she starts to wonder if any of these memories are real, or mere creations of her subconscious. This leads her to question whether she can really trust the people in her life…her friends, her doctor, even her own husband.
Before I Go To Sleep is an amazing read. It’s tense and gripping all the way from page one to its dramatic conclusion. Written mostly in the form of Christine’s journal entries, the reader gets to experience this gradual reclaiming of her memories right along with her. The story is so engaging simply because its premise is so terrifying. The idea of not knowing who you really are, or not being able to trust your own mind is frightening. To many, such a condition might seem worse than almost any physical impairment. S.J. Watson takes these ideas and turns them into this well-written thriller. For anyone who enjoys mystery and suspense, this book will not disappoint.
Early Review: Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day
16 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
“A man and a woman fall in love and are married, and are happy in every single way. Then one day a flying saucer lands in their backyard, and a door opens, and an alien comes out. I’m going to have to take one of you away, it says. What? say the man and woman. Why? I don’t know, says the alien. That’s just how it is.”
“How did I get to be king? he thinks. All I wanted was a raise.”
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The Book
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The Swimming Pool
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The Crown
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The Octopus
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The Hunter’s Head
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The Well
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The Magic Pig
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Bigfoot
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The Poet
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The Rope and the Sea
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The Afterlife is What You Leave Behind
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The End of it All
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The Ferris Wheel
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Photographs
Early Review: The Submission
12 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in New Release Reviews Tags: 9/11, fiction, ground zero, islam, memorial, muslims
The Submission by Amy Waldman (pub date 8/16/11)
“A garden is just a garden, until you decide to plant suspicion in it.”
September 11, 2001 changed our nation forever. I can still remember vividly where I was and what I was doing on that day, and the million different thoughts and feelings that went through my mind in the days and weeks that followed. Now ten years later, a book comes along that perfectly encapsulates the myriad of emotions that the American people experienced after 9/11, and how the American people can tragically turn on one another.
The Submission is a novel set just two years after 9/11. A national memorial is about the be commissioned at Ground Zero, and a jury has just selected the winning memorial design from among thousands of anonymous submissions. The chosen designer is a talented architect and a proud New Yorker. The problem? His name is Mohammad Khan, and he is a Muslim. Once word gets out that a Muslim is going to be designing the 9/11 memorial, it unleashes a maelstrom of anger, paranoia, and sorrow, of twisted truths and suspicious motives and friends turning on each other. In light of the “Ground Zero Mosque” debacle in recent years, this book is a true reflection of the time we are living in.
The characters in The Submission are real and dynamic, each believing that he/she is serving some sort of greater good in their own actions. Mohammad, who is not even a devout Muslim, just wants to see his design become a reality, and takes offense at his motives for entering the competition being questioned. Claire Burwell, a 9/11 widow and jury member, tries to do the “right thing” by supporting Mohammad but finds her opinion wavering as she is pressured by different people to withdraw Mohammad’s design. Sean Gallagher, a loudmouth whose brother was killed on 9/11 and Alyssa, a muckraking journalist, represent the sensationalism and hatemongering that often accompany a controversial issue like this. And as is bound to happen, the truth is ignored, emotion overrules reason, and people get hurt.
In my opinion, this is a book that is going to be studied in literature courses in future years. Laden with beautiful writing and powerful symbolism, this novel manages to explore all sides of the issue while still remaining tasteful and respectful of the real victims of 9/11. It should be considered not just an important post-9/11 novel, but an important American novel, period. This book transcends the surface issues of Islam, terrorism and prejudice, and becomes a story about right and wrong, while still letting the readers decide for themselves how they feel. It’s not a call to war or to peace, but a call to think for ourselves. Buy it and read it, because a lot of people are going to be talking about it.
Early Review: Mule
07 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in New Release Reviews Tags: fiction, marijuana, money laundering, recession, trafficking
Mule: A Novel of Moving Weight by Tony D’Souza (pub date 9/27/11)
“And what about myself? Didn’t I hate myself too? To risk my freedom? To think I was so worthless only money could make me better?”
I’ve always found stories of “good guys gone bad” to be extremely compelling. It’s probably why “Breaking Bad” is such a popular show. In the same vein, Mule is a novel about an average man who chooses a life of crime out of desperation, and the consequences that follow.
James and Kate were successful young adults who had everything going for them, until life dealt them the triple-whammy of an unplanned pregnancy and both of them losing their jobs in the Great Recession. After several months of living in poverty in a cabin in rural California, James finds an opportunity to make some real money. A friend of Kate’s has been growing top-grade marijuana, and James offers to transport the product to Texas where another friend can sell it for a profit. It all starts out so simply, just one pound of pot. But when James meets a man in Florida who deals in bulk, James soon finds himself making regular cross-country runs with large quantities of the drug. And he soon finds that all the money he makes comes with a price: buyers who won’t pay, friends who abandon him, and drug dealers who turn on him.
What surprised me the most about this book was the amount of information about drug smuggling and money laundering in it. Pages and pages are dedicated to describing what to say to a cop if you get pulled over with drugs in the car, how to best avoid attracting police attention, and how to hide money from the bank. As someone who worked in retail banking for two years, I can say that the information about bank practices was frighteningly accurate. It was interesting to read how James’s new profession affected his marriage to Kate, and how his character changed throughout the story. I would like to have seen Kate’s character fleshed out a little more. She struck me as unlikeable even at the beginning of the book and didn’t seem to change much later.
Still Mule is an interesting novel. It certainly reflects the time period it was written in. The plight of average Americans who lost their jobs in the recession is still a very real and relatable phenomenon. It’s a very realistic story and I think it could become popular upon its release.
Book Review: Dead Artist
03 Jul 2011 1 Comment
in New Release Reviews Tags: art, drama, family, fiction, quirky
Dead Artist by Ivan Jenson (eBook format only, pub date 6/24/11)
“But Milo had sacrificed all of that…the comfort of a body in bed, of a hand holding his hand, of home cooked dinners smoking on the stove. All in the hopes that one day that champagne wave of financial riches might crash over him.”
It’s a long-accepted idea that artists’ lives are more complicated than those of average people. Neuroses and self-consciousness are often thought to be the price for being creative. And in this inventive novel, author Ivan Jenson takes this idea to a whole new level. Jenson himself is a successful artist and poet; his art has sold at Christie’s and has been featured in Art in America.
Meet Milo Sonas, a once-successful New York City pop artist, famous for selling his works out on the street. After a nervous breakdown, Milo finds himself at middle age living in a run-down hotel in Michigan, not painting, and supposedly doomed to obscurity. Among his many personal issues are his dysfunctional family, his propensity for dating much younger women, and the fact that he sees and talks to dead artists, specifically Picasso and Van Gogh. Milo’s life seems to turn a corner when a generous benefactor wants to restart his art career. But his mother’s illness and reunion with his resentful brother Ray make him unsure of the path he thinks his life should take.
This is an edgy and interesting book, written in a stream-of-consciousness style that may be an acquired taste for some readers, but fully matches the tone of the story. Milo is a relatable character, someone who feels adrift in life, wondering if he should give in to the pressure to get married, settle down, etc. But in the end he shows us that not all who wander are lost. The strained relationship between Milo and Ray adds a lot of depth to the story, and the issue of parental favoritism is one that I can relate to personally, as I’m sure many other people can as well.
With its quirky characters and dry humor, Dead Artist is definitely worth checking out. It’s cleverly written and is sure to please those who are looking for a unique kind of story.
