What’s I’ve (been) Reading: October 11, 2013

 Get ready for 2014—I sure am, and just to prove it, I’ve spent my time delving through the pages of winter and spring 2014 book releases. Yes, reading a book not released until April of 2014 might not be the best pastime in October of 2013—there are certainly enough good books out right now, but call me forward thinking, because that is exactly what I have been doing. So as not to completely lose the 2013 reads, I’ve also thrown in a couple of current releases, giving my two cents on their worthiness and readability.

Nil by Lynne Matson (releases March 4, 2014)
On the island of Nil the rules are clear: you have 365 to escape, if you don’t, you die. When Charley Nil provides a refreshing science fiction plot. Unfortunately, despite the appealing concept, the story goes a bit flat in places, and the ending is a little too contrived. An adequate read, Nil provides a nice break from vampires and dystopian futures, but doesn’t quite come up to snuff.
disappears from a parking lot only to awaken naked, on a mysterious and decidedly dangerous island, the only thing she knows for sure is that survival means everything. When she comes across Thad, and a group of other teens; all magically transported to Nil, she learns that her stay on the island has a time limit; find a way back in a year, or die trying. This was an interesting premise and a nice departure from the loads of dystopian teen fiction crowding the shelves. Full of adventure, romance, a unique depiction of teen angst,

The Lost Sun: Book 1 of United States of Asgard by Tessa Gratton (out now)
What if the Norse Gods were real? What if those same Norse Gods were an active part of society with their own followers and fan bases? In this alternative history, America doesn’t exist; instead it is the United States of Asgard, where Odin, Thor, Loki, Freya, and all the other well-known figures from Norse Mythology are very real, and very important. Within this country is Soren Bearskin, a berserker hiding from his heritage and Astrid Glyn, daughter of a famous seer with her own crosses to bear. When Balder, the beloved son of Odin disappears, Astrid and Soren must team up to find him before panic can overtake their country.

I love mythology, and the integration of Norse gods into this alternative USA society was very well done. It made me want to revisit my old high school myth books (Marvel has rotted my brain, so I can only remember their versions of the stories). I’ll be curious to see how the rest of the series pans out, based on the fairly tidy (in myth story terms) ending of The Lost Son. I think that in general they can only get better. At this point author Gratton has painted a decent, if not fantastic portrait of this world; hopefully she takes a bit more time to flesh out the details, it will certainly add an extra layer to her storytelling, and benefit the books greatly. If the author is able to more fully develop her world (the books are really dependent on that), and move beyond some of the obvious plot contrivances, she could have a fun and unique series on her hand. It will take the next book The Strange Maid: Book 2 of United States of Asgard (out June 2014) for me to make a firm decision on whether to stick with this series of not.

In the Blood by Lisa Unger (releases January 7, 2014)
Lisa Unger returns to The Hollows (Fragile and Darkness, My Old Friend) in her latest psychological thriller In the Blood. I was a really big Unger fan after her Beautiful Lies books, and subsequent suspense novels Black Out and Die for You. Her stories are just the right amount of twisted to make you hang on and enjoy the ride. I also like her forays into The Hollows, primarily because I enjoy the familiarity of murder/mystery series, but for me, they have been some of her weaker narratives. The same could be said about In the Blood. A story that follows college student Lana Granger, a girl with a dark past and a string of lies that make up her present. When her best friend disappears she is soon drawn into a game of cat and mouse, where the awful truth of her life just might be her ending. There is a major twist in this book—one that did not take me by surprise, and ultimately worked against the book. It’s too much of a plot devise and is a little too unbelievable—especially for a first person narrative. In all, it’s not a bad book; it’s still riveting in its own way, but just not up to par with her standalones.

The Intern's Handbook by Shane Kuhn (releases April 8, 2014)
Fans of Max Barry and Christopher Moore will love this brilliant satirical suspense. Told as though it were an actual handbook for would be assassins The Intern’s Handbook follows the last mission, of uber-assassin John Lago as he lays out the laws of the land (and his corrupt agency HR, Inc.) for interning. Granted in this world interns are assassins—the perfect killers really, because who pays attention to the intern—no one. Witty, with plenty of action The Intern’s Handbook is a remarkably fun and entertaining read.

Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield (releases November 5, 2013)
Diane Setterfield’s debut novel The Thirteenth Tale was a gothic suspense filled with tension, mystery, and strangeness. It was an intriguing story that stayed on the bestsellers list for some time. Now, after seven years Setterfield is back with her sophomore effort Bellman and Black. Billed as a ghost story, Bellman and Black follows the triumphant life of William Bellman after he kills a rook with a slingshot as a young boy. Blessed with good looks, intelligence, and a general likeability, William excels in life, until a set of tragedies lures him into a new and unusually dark pact. I don’t want to give away the twist, but if you are at all a comprehensive reader you will guess it rather quickly. This book was a big disappointment. The writing is very good, but the plot is very bland. It is not a ghost story, rather a gothic life story that tries to pull in the supernatural, but doesn’t quite succeed. I so wanted to love it. I did enjoy the story initially, but after I was about three quarters of the way through, I realized exactly where the narrative was going, and was letdown by the lack of originality. Setterfield is a wonderful prose writer. Her words flow effortlessly, with obvious talent, but Bellman and Black just didn’t have the brilliance of plot manipulation that was displayed in The Thirteenth Tale. Some may enjoy this, but it won’t reach any of the peaks as her debut.

The Innocent Sleep by Karen Gillece (releases February 18, 2014)
This book was just plain bad. Manufactured plot, unlikeable characters, a predictability that exceeded ridiculous—The Innocent Sleep was all of these things and more. There was no real suspense, although it claims to be a part of that genre, and the contrived, pseudointellectual characters are neither intelligent nor interesting. A bad book and a waste of my time.

Balthazar by Claudia Gray (out now)
Gray’s Evernight series started off great, but progressively lost its steam as it went on. Fans will enjoy this spin-off, featuring the beloved character, tortured vampire Balthazar, but newcomers to the Evernight world will be slightly confused, and not very enthusiastic. This is primarily a book for fans, one that will delight them, but not bowl them over.

The Clockwork Scarab by Coleen Gleason (out now)

The Clockwork Scarab is a great alternative history (steam punk) novel for teens. Following Mina Holmes (niece of Sherlock) and Evaline Stoker (sister of Bram), The Clockwork Scarab traverses all over a steam punk Victorian England as the two girls team up under the remarkable Irene Adler to solve a series of murders. Time travel, alternate history, deduction, Egyptian mythology and vampire hunters are all jam packed into this smart and highly entertaining new novel. This one is going to be a series that I will happily follow. Good for fans of mystery (female driven), I would whole heartedly recommend this. Also, for fans of Barry Levinson's Young Sherlock Holmes, look for some decided similarities in some of the plot points, just enough to give you a little fun if you’ve seen the movie (I can only imagine the author drew something from it, but if not, it’s still fun).


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Night Film: Creepy, Intriguing--This Summer's Must Read

Have you ever been scared when reading a book? I’m not talking boogie man scared, not Freddy is going to get you in your sleep afraid, or hiding under the bed from the creepy clown in Stephen King’s It; I’m talking chills up your arms, tense back, and a definite notice of any and every noise in the house. No? Well get ready for it, because Night Film is coming and it is one book you do not want to miss this summer.

Marisha Pessl’s sophomore novel (after 2006’s Special Topics in Calamity Physics) is a gunshot of a book, firing from page one and blasting right through to the end. Told in the first person by disgraced investigative reporter Scott McGrath, Night Film follows Scott’s obsessive search for answers as he delves into the apparent suicide of twenty-four year old Ashley Cordova, the daughter of famously reclusive horror film genius Stanislas Cordova, the man responsible for McGrath’s downfall. As Scott follows Ashley’s trail into the rabbit hole, he is drawn deeper and deeper into the Cordova world, where the lines of reality are blurred, and the term “things that go bump in the night” has a far greater meaning than ever before.

What a book. Night Film was like a particularly addictive drug, easy to pick up and put down, but with each successive visit more and more difficult to let go of. Pessl’s world is frightening; not in the sense of the brutal and bloody horror that is so common today, but in the psychological pit she drops her readers in, making even the most skeptical of readers start to believe in the impossible. The illusive and enigmatic Kubrick-esque Stanilas Cordova is an odd mixture of 1960’s and 70’s horror directors like Polanski and De Palma with a collection of films similar to Sisters, Repulsion, and Seth Holt’s Scream of Fear. He has his own cult-like following of Cordovites, complete with a secret website called The Blackboards, conspiracy theories, and underground film showings. Cordova is an unseen enigma, leaving a path of destruction, death, and disappearances behind him, and a society begging for more, but too scared, or too sheltered to embrace him with open arms. McGrath’s compulsive investigation of Cordova borders on the fanatical as he races up and down the state of New York trying to deconstruct the life of Ashley Cordova, desperate to find answers to her haunted existence, answers that tie back to the mythical Cordova, the occult, murder, and abduction. New York ceases to become New York in Night Film, it instead becomes an extension of Cordova’s world, the inane taking on a sinister sheen, where nothing is normal, and everything and everyone is suspect.

I am almost at a loss at how to describe my reactions to this book and why I think it is one of those must reads for the summer. I can explain how I stayed up half the night to finish it, both out of a need to see where it would go, but also because I was so disturbed and fascinated by what was happening that I couldn’t stop myself. I was on the edge while reading this, and truth be told, Pessl’s writing was so good that I honestly didn’t think I could sleep unless I finished it, and once I did reach the conclusion I couldn’t let go. My racing heart, ensnared brain, and astonished emotions just needed to process what they had been through. Night Film was a juggernaut, destroying my piece of mind and preconceived notions of what a psychological thriller could and should be; it was just that horrifyingly good. I should also take a moment to note that Pessl quite brilliantly uses multimedia screen shots, pictures, and interviews interspersed throughout the text, so readers get to read and see what Scott McGrath does; we see his interviews, the scraps of paper he finds, photos of Ashley Cordova, and the chilling images of the Blackboards and it’s zealous occupants. Actually, I tried out the URL’s, sadly they didn’t work, but if they did, wow, what a mind blowing move by the author and publisher. A fully interactive site that ties directly to the book—a wasted chance to capitalize on the blending of text and tech (although I did read this in galley form, so perhaps the sites will be up at time of publication, I could only dream). This is a clever trick, utilized very capably, a perfect way to blend our tech savvy world with the literary prowess of Pessl’s written word. Another note, this is not a horror novel. It is horrifying, yes, but it is a thriller, a literary mystery, meaning it’s well-written and smart. Pessl is a talented writer, creating a unique world that sucks its readers in and holds onto them for dear life, kind of a black hole of literary virtuosity. This may sound like an overabundance of praise, but I finished the book a few days ago, and have since (reluctantly) read another book, and still find myself lingering over the details of Night Film, revisiting it helplessly. In truth, I haven’t wanted to read a new book, I just want to savor the terror of Night Film, but if I want to escape the psychological stronghold of Night Film, there’s no choice but to move on—with much lighter fare, and look toward revisiting the dark and mesmerizing abyss that is the world of Cordova in the near future. This one is a definite “read again”—the only way to really maneuver the nooks and crannies, the shadows and mysteries that make up Night Film.

Why should you read Night Film? Because it’s good. It’s chilling, it’s mysterious, it’s sad, it’s sweet, and it’s brilliant. This is not a book you want to bypass—unless you have no nerves at all—there’s too much to it, and it is too well constructed to miss out on. Get scared. Get sucked into this world. When you get out you will gulp for fresh air, and then dive right back into the muck for more. An addictive psychological thriller that has a death grip on anyone who picks it up, Night Film is one hell of a read.

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The Never List

It’s eerie when you read a fictional book and then see the events pan out in real life, especially when the book you are reading is a thriller that involves the abduction, captivity and torture (physical and psychological) of young women, but that is exactly what happened not long after I finished Koethi Zan’s debut The Never List (out 7/16/13). By now everyone is well aware of the three women found in Cleveland, kidnapped as teens and held for ten years by a trio of brothers; a frightening and horrific thing no matter how you look at it*; which made the events that happen in The Never List, although fictional, that much more disturbing for the casual reader.

The basic plot of The Never List follows a young woman, who a decade ago escaped a man who held her and three other young women captive for several years. Sarah and Jennifer were college freshmen, hyper-aware of the dangers the world can offer—having survived a near fatal accident that took the life of Jennifer’s mother—and always prepared for any possible outcome; yet despite their manic preparedness the girls are kidnapped on a cab ride home from a college party. Held chained and naked in a basement, Sarah, along with two other girls, Tracy and Christine endure psychological and physical torture on par with the psychosis seen in Saw films, from a sadist of the highest ilk who also happens to be a professor of
Psychology at an Oregon University. All the while Jennifer is nowhere to be seen, stuffed in a coffin-like box, unable to communicate with the others. When Jennifer is presumed dead Sarah makes a daring escape, but ten years on, with the chance of their frighteningly brilliant captor facing the possibility of parole, Sarah and Tracy go on a quest to find answers and face their demons once and for all.

The narrative, while primarily in the now, does bounce around in time, with snippets of the girls’ abduction, captivity, and escape dribbled out through the text; giving just enough to whet the appetite and fill in the holes, but not enough to completely tell the reader all that happened during the girls imprisonment. The violence is surprisingly slim, but the hints and possibilities that are leaked through words and images are enough to have even the bravest of women white knuckled. In some ways The Never List is a form of psychological manipulation; exposing the horrors, highlighting the monsters, but not quite giving all the details, which leads to imagination, which leads readers to visualize horrors that no one wants dancing around their heads. In that way, the book and writing are brilliant, what better way to get the true impact of a psychological thriller than to leave the worst of it to the readers’ own bit of psychosis? Unfortunately, the plot itself suffers a bit from an overabundance of foreshadowing and clue leaving; which makes it a bit too easy to figure out. In writing suspense it’s good to leave a clue here and there, a reader should be able to reach the novel’s conclusion and then be able to look back and find the bits and pieces that were left like little breadcrumbs leading to the eventual outcome. The writer should not spell out the conclusion—it makes for a poor twist and a groan from the readers. Debut writer Zan does the latter, the twists and outcome are a little too predictable. Fortunately, the predictability of the plot and resolution does not detract from the well-developed tension of the heroine, and ultimate horror of the acts and lifestyle perpetrated by the villains of the novel. The sheer terror evoked by their deeds is enough to have readers gripping the edge of the book in a weird amalgamation of discomfort and curiosity, both repelled by the concepts and addicted to the possible outcomes. Because the author wisely leaves out the more ghastly details the reader is not subjected to an outright description of the atrocities, making the tension one of the mind, and not of the eyes—meaning it’s not like watching a film like Saw or Hostel that leaves nothing to the imagination, showing torture for the sake of showing gratuitous violence and nothing more—the book is not apt to make one squeamish, or deeply disturbed, if anything it makes readers subtly more aware of their surroundings and the people within them.

In all, The Never List is a worthy read for psychological suspense and thriller fans. It is well constructed, frightening, and at times close enough to reality to make a reader want to check the doors and avoid cab rides. Despite the plot loopholes and predictability, the book creates a wonderful sort of edge-of-the-seat tension that can consume a reader, and lurk about long after the last pages of text are a distant memory. For a first book Koethi Zan has proved herself adept at handling a very real and scary subject, she can only get better from here, and I for one am eager to see what she does next. A good book for fans of Gillian Flynn and Chevy Stevens.

*Please note that I am in no way trying to compare the real life atrocities faced by these kidnapped victims to fictional characters. I’m using this sad story as a point of reference, sadly truth is always much stranger and darker than fiction could ever be, and yet sometimes when they collide, on however small a scale, it reminds us what a frightening world our society can be.


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Delving Into Carol O'Connell's Mallory Series

“And Mallory’s road was run.”

That sentence at the end of Carol O’Connell’s 2006 Find Me has haunted me for nearly six years. Not because of anything devastating that occurs in Find Me (although it is filled with amazing revelations about the character Kathleen Mallory), but because I truly feared the end of O’Connell’s brilliantly scribed series. And so I’ve spent the past years diligently searching for the next O’Connell novel to appear. I was rewarded with her stand-alone mystery Bone by Bone in 2008, but nothing on the Mallory front. I was fairly sure that my worst fears for the series had come true, no more Mallory, until I happened to glance up and see an advanced reading copy of The Chalk Girl. I was giddy. I dropped the other books I was currently juggling and got sucked into the New York City, as owned by Detective Kathleen Mallory.

Here’s the deal with the Mallory series. Mallory is a bona-fide sociopath, with a mind like a computer; she also carries a big gun and has a badge. I’m taking a very complex, highly original, wholly fascinating character and reducing her to a few glib lines—doing O’Connell and her brilliant creation a great disservice, but to get Mallory, to understand the character and world O’Connell has created, you just need to read her. Start with Mallory’s Oracle and whip your way through the rest. I guarantee you too will become a fan.

The Chalk Girl, the newest book in this ever-fascinating detective series takes place several months after the events of Find Me. Here you will find my only criticism, the dramatic and revealing plot of Find Me, particularly the spectacular ending, are barely mentioned—almost as though they did not happen at all. I was really moved by Find Me, it was an epic road novel, with emotional depth, and elegant prose, not typically seen within the confines of a detective serial. To push those events aside is slap in the reader’s face and an insult to the characters and their journeys. Let’s just say that I was a bit annoyed.

After pushing aside those feelings, I was able to delve into the mystery of The Chalk Girl. First, let me give a very brief synopsis:

A child appears in Central Park, drops of blood on her shirt—from the sky she tells the police. When a body is found hanging from a bag in a tree, Mallory and her cohorts from Special Crimes are pulled into a past of wealth, blackmail, torture, and death.

True to form, the characters brought in by this murder and a series of unusual attacks that follow are well drawn and remarkably deep, considering that many of them are probably not going to appear in subsequent books. The twists and turns are truly twisted—occasionally shocking, and often moving. As a psychological suspense, The Chalk Girl hits it’s mark, as part of the Mallory series, it seems as though it has taken a step back in character development, but in all honesty, I think it’s me putting my wants for the characters far above the actual integrity and motivations of their established actions.

Despite these thoughts on my part, this is a solid mystery, with dark, disturbing undertones perfect for the psychological suspense fan. The Chalk Girl is a much anticipated and rewarding return to the world of Kathleen Mallory. I can’t recommend this series enough. Now…when’s the next book out?

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The Poison Tree

Fans of Tana French rejoice! No, she doesn’t have a new novel out yet, but debut author Erin Kelly will most assuredly captivate fans of French’s fluid prose and suspenseful plots. The Poison Tree is a winding road of intrigue and psychological drama. Kelly’s prose unfolds in brilliantly, smoothly interweaving past and present as the narrator, Karen tells of her mystifying, obsessive relationship with the Capel siblings and the murder which took place one hot, drug-filled summer.

This book was mesmerizing in that the reader is never quite sure who in this shady cast of characters was murdered. The story journeys through the events of that summer, occasionally flicking into the a present 10 years on where Karen is raising a daughter and Rex Capel has been released from prison, where he had spent ten years for manslaughter. This is a first person narrative filled with secrets and lies where the narrator successfully manipulates the reader with red herrings and partial truths.

A thoroughly enjoyable psychological suspense, well-written, with a twist of an ending sure to jolt readers from any sense of complacency, The Poison Tree is a must read for any lover of the genre.

Just to shamelessly promote Warwick’s in La Jolla, California; Erin Kelly will be appearing there on Wednesday, January 19th at 7:30pm. It’s free to attend, there will be refreshments, and the book will be on sale for 20% off. This is a great opportunity to meet a promising new author and of course visit a top-notch independent bookstore.



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