Witches Protection Program: A Novel

I have reviewed some Michael Phillip Cash before, and I put Witches Protection Program on my TBR shelf when it came, and during the nice weather I decided it would be a great read in the park during the nice weather.

Wes is the black sheep of his family of overachievers, and when he fails at the task of protecting a witness assigned to him by his father, he is told to report to an address that he can't find in Brooklyn. Once it's revealed to him, he finds himself in the Witches Protection Program and paired with Alistair, a veteran of the secret program. Wes can't believe it, and treats his new job with the same disdain he wears on his face. That is, until a beautiful young cosmetics heiress finds herself on the wrong side of her CEO aunt's wand. Through a series of events, Bernadette Pendragon seeks to not only retain full control of her company, Pendragon Cosmetics, but she also seeks to take over the world. She just needs her niece to cooperate.

This book was fun. I was surprised at how much fun I had reading it, because you all know I'm a little back and forth on how I feel about the paranormal. However, I also realized that I tend to really like Cash's paranormal, so I jumped in feet first. He did not let me down with this one, and I found myself just enjoying my time reading this novel. Every character is a bit of a trope and it adds to the fun, because even though I could tell which direction the story was going in, the pages were laced with a goofiness that was lighthearted and full of enjoyment. Wes was unbelieving at first in his job (and don't worry, he comes to be a believer), Alistair is staid and time-honored, Wes's dad is a hardass, Bernadette is a cold, calculating lady-on-top, and her henchwomen are exactly what you expect them to be. The two main female characters, though, were by far the most fascinating. Morgan at first comes across as a ne'er-do-well heiress brat and becomes anything but. Junie is an unexpected tour-de-force in the book and is quite an enjoyable character to watch unfold. This would have been a fun day-long beach read if I had saved it for that purpose, so that's my recommendation to you. 

Never Knowing: A Novel

I have enjoyed some of Chevy Stevens' earlier novels, and I picked this one up way back in the spring when I was in Ocean City for a bachelorette weekend at a lovely used bookstore next to our condo. I dug into Never Knowing on the train this past month.

Sarah has spent her whole life wondering who her birth parents are. She had a perfectly loving family, but her father was hard on her and she always get like an outcast among her younger siblings. Before her wedding, she decides to do some digging and finds her birth mother. However, her birth mother doesn't want to see her. After hiring a private investigator to suds out the situation, Sarah discovers that her father is none other than Canada's most notorious serial killer, and her mother was the only victim of his to get away. Sarah knows that as long as the information doesn't get out, she will be safe. Then the information got out...

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and I thought it was a fascinating premise. It was outlandish enough to grab my interest and keep me turning the pages, while still being real enough that the true crime officianado in me could enjoy the juicy, salacious crime details. I love that Stevens incorporated a few known details about serial killers, and she made hers real enough that I wanted to keep knowing more.  I hated the misogyny that was inherent in this novel -- Sarah's "wonderful" fiancé often calls her crazy or overdramatize or tells her that she needs to calm down, to which Sarah always defers and then self-deprecates in a disturbing way -- and it was in both the men in Sarah's life (see previous sentence about fiancé, and her father was annoying too) and Sarah herself, who never really stuck up for herself or grew a backbone. Unfortunately, this overshadowed the interesting parts of the story for me. 

There were a couple of other things that irked me about this book as well. The first is that the story is told in the same format as Stevens' first book, which is in chapters dilineated by therapy sessions. I thought it worked great for the first storyline, but this one not so much. It felt forced when it came up in the story, and I felt that the arc would have been much better served if Sarah was just the narrator and told the damned story. The other thing that bothered me was the ending. There is a big dramatic scene that is the climax of the story's action, then there is a bitty baby climax in the denouement that takes an already implausible story and just makes the whole thing absurd. It was wholly unnecessary and left a bad taste in my mouth. I liked the far-fetchedness of the serial killer storyline, and I wished she had just stuck with that. However, I do realz or this was her sophomore novel, so she was still finding her formula. 

I now feel that my issues with the characters counteract how I feel about the story. That being said, I'm still going to keep reading Stevens' books because I love a juicy story. 

The Mist: A Novel

I have a habit of asking people what they are reading when they have a book in their hands. This probably surprises no one, as I am a bookaholic. I asked one of my students this semester what he was reading, and it was The Stand. I told him that I am a fan of Stephen King, and we spoke at length about our favorite books. A couple of weeks later he came to class and handed me a stack of King's books, as he was moving and was hoping to not have to pack them. I was thrilled, as I always am when books come to me. The Mist was one of those books, and I recently read it on my way to visit friends in the Southwest. 

It's a regular day for David and his family in Maine. He works on the house, his young son plays around the house, and his wife makes lunch. He watches a fog slowly move in, but thinks nothing of it. This is Maine, after all. It looks ominous, but fog has an innately ominous quality about it. When his neighbor needs a lift to the supermarket, David agrees and Billy tags along. While there, the most rolls in. A frightening sight, anyone who leaves the market is swallowed up in a terrifying, blood-curdling, violent act by an unknown supernatural force. Until they can escape safely -- and who can? -- David and his son must fight for their lives both in and out of the supermarket. 

I love a good, thin dose of King. This book was exactly that. It was frightening enough to grab me and pull me in while being quick enough to the point that I felt satisfied and dismayed at the same time. Upon leaving David's we behind, we are told that's the last time he would see her, and that killed me. My chest hurt, and I wanted to implore him to go back and make her come with them. But you can't change the past -- something most of us know well. 

As I have said on this blog many times, I'm not a huge fan of zombies and the supernatural. What I appreciated about this novella is that we got a glimpse of the evil in the mist, enough to gross me out and wonder what it could be; but we never got a full oicture of what exactly it was and why it was so evil. I appreciate that ambiguity in a novel, as I feel that it lends itself to more terror than actually knowing exactly what it is. Why does it eat humans? What is its purpose? These things we will never know, and in classic King fashion, that's not the point of the story. 

True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa

The movie "True Story" had been in my queue for a while, so I watched it one lazy night a few months ago. The movie was just okay, but as fans of this blog know, I am madly in love with true crime. So I did some digging, read some articles about the case, then decided to check out the work of Michael Finkel himself, True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa.

Christian Longo murdered his wife and three children. He was not only found guilty, but he ultimately admitted to the murders, was sentenced to death, and then was put to death of years ago. The crime itself is disgusting and painful, but what follows is terribly fascinating. After he goes on the run, he assumed the name Michael Finkel while in Mexico, claiming to be the disgraced New York Times journalist. When Finkel finds out about this, he contacts Longo and forms a friendship that spans from immediately after the man's arrest and through his trial. In a way, each man uses the other; Longo for someone to tell his story and Finkel for a way out of his man-made hole into personal and professional redemption. What results is an inter-dependent relationship where each man bares his soul to the other, although one is far from honest with the other.

This book pleasantly surprised me. I picked it up thinking that it was going to basically just be a masturbatory project for Finkel. I was worried it was going to be a self aggrandizement for the disgraced journalist, laying out his woes and finding a way to be redeemed in his career. Surprisingly, I found this to be an incredibly compelling story that didn't necessarily focus on giving Longo the fame he didn't deserve for slaughter and his family, but told a story about a man who is a full-scale narcissist and absolutely off his rocker. I found that I couldn't put this book down because it was so captivating and interesting. I found it to be a treatise on what happens when you get into deep. Finkel was grasping onto straws for anyone who would be outside of his world, and Longo fit the bill. It's just that Longo himself was a liar.

It's easy to be swept up by non-truths when that is what we want to hear and to believe. I believe that Finkel wanted to believe that Longo could potentially be not be guilty, and even though I was reading this book after the man was put to death, it's clear from an outside perspective that he was a liar at best and dangerous at worst. Hearing his version of his family's financial woes was interesting in that it's clear the woes were Christian's fault. While in his telling, it's a series of unfortunate events that happened to him rather than because of him. Since one of the things I happened to study is attribution theory, which is a model for how we attribute outcomes happening either to us or because of us, I was able to pinpoint him very easily. If you are interested in a an intimate and intricate study of how a man's twisted mind works, this is your book. I also appreciated Finkel's personal commentary, and his self examination of his own thoughts on Christian and his work throughout the process of these interviews. He has clearly spent a lot of time examining his own thoughts and biases, which makes for a worthy read.

Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America

Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America by Patrick Phillips held particular interest for me as it takes place in Forsyth County, Georgia. While I grew up next door in Fulton Country, my home was, in fact, on the county line, and my life straddled these two counties. I remember being horrified to discover how racist so many were in the area in which I grew up, and now that I am older, and this is now my work, I am not surprised, but rather thankful that I have been able to examine my own biases to be a better teacher and researcher. However, Forsyth cannot escape it's bloody and horrifying past.

In 1912, the murder of a young woman rocked Forsyth county, an area in rural Georgia north of Atlanta that until this saw few crimes and a quiet life for the residents, be they White or Black. No one in present day would say that the Black residents had it good, but overall, everyone existed together as much as they could for the post-slavery South. Until, that is, Mae Crow's death at the hands of an assailant. Immediately a group of men determined that this must have been at the hands of a vicious Black man, and a mob set out to right the wrongs of this young woman. Her death was exaggerated to the millionth degree, and several Black men lost their lives in the process. One was viciously lynched while the others were hung in a public spectacle after a farce of a trial. After this, the mob of Forsyth residents ran out every single black resident they could find from the county in the least heard of racial cleansing in American history.

The county stayed that way until very recently. You may recall one of Oprah's first episodes, when she came to town in 1987 and interviewed the residents there. I recall seeing the show -- I'm confident it was much later, some retroactive revisiting of the episode -- but I remember being horrified by what I heard. And it came from my neck of the woods. 1987 was also the time of the Peace March through Forsyth County that was anything but. To this day, as of the 2010 census, Forsyth remains 85% White. That's astounding.

I say that with an asterisk, of course. It's only astounding if you aren't from there. I grew up on the county line, and I knew very well that people of color were not welcome in Forsyth County. It's not blatant, it's just a written rule. I never questioned it, but then again, I lived just over the line in the next county. The older I got, the clearer it became, and the more my family spoke of it. I can attest to all of these facts about the segregation of the South. I lived it, even in the beginning of the present century.

Phillips has written an astounding piece of work that covers the racial cleansing in clear, minute detail that at times is quite painful to read. The fear that the residents must have felt, worried that their own kin would be lynched at a moment's notice simply at the drop of a White man's fancy is just simply too much for me to wrap my head around. Having to abandon all you have worked for simply because others tell you that you must or you will be killed -- my heart aches simply at the thought. House help couldn't even stay to work for families they had been with for generations. Men who worked to own their own land through toil and sweat had to sell for pennies on the dollar or risk their family's lives. This is more than unfair, this is egregious and must be rectified. However, the county doesn't feel as though it owes the decedents of its refugees anything for their trouble. How disgusting.

The worst part of all of this is that another murder occurred just weeks later in a close location to Mae's -- with a similar modus operandi. This murder, however, was covered up and ignored because if, god forbid, anyone realized that the Black men accused might not be the murderers, how would the residents of Forsyth justify their racial cleansing? 

Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America's Campuses

Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America's Campuses by Lawrence Ross is a must-read for anyone who wants to get a grasp of race relations on college campuses. It was eye-opening for me.

The politics of race on campus has come to the forefront in the last couple of years, but make no mistake -- these issues have been going on for some time. It's not a matter of needing a "safe space"; it is flat-out racist acts by members of the university community that egregiously affect the health and welfare of their fellow students. Whether it's hanging someone in effigy, writing racial slurs on walls, or it's the ever-faithful traditions of historically white fraternities and sororities, the politics of race on campus are alive and well and perpetuating themselves over again and again, leaving a swath of students feeling unwelcome at best and unsafe at worst.

This book was eye-opening to say the least. From a historical perspective, there was more information than I could have ever imagined, and I took it all in and sat with it for a while. You see, this book reminded me of my own experience at my alma mater in the early 2000's. By experience, I in no way mean that I was belittled and faced aggression due to my race -- because that's not at all what happened -- but I was a member of a Greek organization, and I remember very distinctly what happened the year that a young Black lady rushed the traditionally white houses. I remember the comments my sisters made, and I remember the divide that this caused in the community. I remember the older girls trying to keep it away from the sophomores (as I was) so as not to involve them in the "race drama." I remember not understanding why it was such a big deal, why we couldn't just vote on her as a potential sister, but I also remember not quite understanding why I had such mixed feelings about the process. Now, 15 years later, I have much more solidified views of this issue, and I would feel quite unequivocal now. This book, though, dredged up those memories and brought them to the forefront. I, too, was guilty of blackballing, whether or not I meant to be. I was part of an organization that did.

I add this book to my canon of work that critically examines the historical roots of systemic racism, as the college and university system in this country is about as systemic as it gets. The ousting of administration for not responding to racism on campus isn't just because students are bratty and angry over little things; the ability to feel as though your alma mater is your home and an extension of self is something that the majority culture takes for granted. I know I sure did. It's only when you are considered part of the "in-group," which means that you not only show up but are made to feel as though you belong, that you can find a home at a university. Sure, Southern schools get a bad rap, but they also deserve it. The Greek system at some of the oldest Southern universities are based upon the exclusion of minorities, even in 2016. Read a little bit about the student government at some schools -- it's entirely Greek-based, which is exclusionary to others who don't look like them.

We can do better, and we do better by recognizing first and foremost that there is a problem. There are problems everywhere, but this particular book focuses on the problem in our universities. Recognize that there is a problem, then start asking how you can be a part of the solution.

Girl in Pieces: A Novel

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow fell in to my lap at Book Expo this year. It looked like it could be an interesting read, so I picked it up without much thought and added it to the queue.

Fresh off the street, Charlie is currently in rehab for self harm. What she went through to get there was too harrowing to speak of. With virtually no parents to speak of, she depended on the protection of her friends on the street. Now that she is being released from rehab through no fault of her own, she must learn to make a life on the outside that resembles something productive, and safe, even if it's not happy. She gets on the bus to Tucson where an old friend lives, and she sets up life as a dishwasher in a local coffee shop, meeting new characters, fighting off old demons, and learning how to fend for herself in this scary world.

I was pleasantly surprised at how interested I was in this book from the beginning. Glasgow does a really marvelous job of describing rehab in an empathetic and human light, one that really helps us buy in to Charlie's story early on. Granted, we are in Charlie's head, so that helps, but she teases us with enough information to get us coming back. Her fellow patients called her Silent Sue, and the name is very befitting. I was incredibly intrigued by the character and what she had gone through to get where it is that the book started. I was not expecting her to be released from rehab so suddenly and unexpectedly; it was an abrupt change in the story that, looking back, I realize is very realistic and it was an excellent story choice.

There were times toward the middle of the book where I felt pieces of the story were not entirely necessary, but overall the book read quickly and I was sold on the character and the story choices. I was particularly taken by the character of Linus. I don't want to say much about her, because you should read this book for yourself in order to thoroughly enjoy it. She was a minor character for sure, but one I related to probably on an adult to adult basis. She was an excellent torch bearer and rock for the story, which would often go in and out of emotions including hopeful and despair. When, for example, an old friend from rehab comes to visit, Charlie's life is turned on its head, and I found myself really angry at the entire situation. That for me is the sign of a good story, to have such intense emotions about it. Getting angry at a story is usually a sign that I care, which means that ultimately I felt this was a good book.

The History Major: A Novel

I have read some of Michael Phillip Cash's stuff before, and he is overall a genuinely funny writer. En route to Book Expo America in Chicago this year, I needed a short book for the flight there since I knew I was going to be getting a ton of books at the Expo and whatever I was reading I wanted to finish it in one sitting so that I would have less to carry home. At just over 100 pages, this novella was exactly what I needed. This is The History Major.

Amanda wakes up one morning after a night of partying ended with a huge fight with her boyfriend. Only she has a new roommate with much different habits than her own, and she has a different schedule than she has been on so far in the first semester of school. She is scheduled to take history with Professor Totle -- which, ugh. She hates history. Who are these people in her class? Why does that bad boy sitting next to her look familiar? Why is she taking this class that she despises? Where is her boyfriend?

One thing that I appreciate about Cash's work is that he weaves a strong, intense tale, and he often manages to keep the truth under wraps until close to the end of his stories. This one I had suspicions but didn't quite guess until the big reveal, and I found that to be very enjoyable even if I didn't love the premise itself. That's about all I can say without giving away spoilers, so you will just have to trust me on this one.

I would have liked to hear more of the main characters in the book. I never really felt that I got to know Amanda and her cohort well. The character arcs were skimpy at best, and so honestly, I just didn't care about the outcome. I felt I could put this book down and be ok with that, and it made me sad in a big way. I think that Amanda especially, but also her boyfriend Patrick and best friends Danielle and Kaitlyn would have made excellent characters if given a chance to be fully fleshed out. Instead they felt like props and therefore two dimensional.

I'm order for that to happen there would need to be less history. I love Joan of Arc, and I find the. Borgias, especially Lucrezia, to be fascinating. However, the amount of time spent relating these stories instead of those of the book's protagonist and supporting cast was to the story's detriment. I was incredibly interested when Amanda's backstory with her mother came out, and I wanted more of that relationship instead of just surface-level details.

If you want to pick up one of Cash's books, I would recommend Stillwell.

Sweet Lamb of Heaven: A Novel

This was one of the hot books of this spring, so I picked it up from the library and I swear to you that I whipped through it faster than you can breathe. Seriously -- two days. It was that good. This is Lydia Millet's Sweet Lamb of Heaven.

A woman decides to leave her neglectful husband with the child he didn't want. He only married her for her family money, which wasn't even that much to begin with. It's fine -- ever since her daughter's birth, she's been hearing voices. Sometimes she feels like she's going crazy, but how much of it is her marriage? She leaves him, only to have him hunt her down in her various incarnations. She's done a good job of hiding from him for a while now, until she suddenly hears about his new political campaign. She knows he's coming for her, and he does. He will stop at nothing to find her and bring her back to be a political prop. He says he will let her go when he's finished -- but will he ever really let her go? Or will her life be in danger, because it's better, politically, to be a widower than a divorcee?

Like I said, I whipped through these pages like high-end butter. It was fascinating the way that Millet wove her story with the protagonist such a strong, yet broken, woman. Even as the story went deep into her relationship with the voices, never once did I think that our protagonist was crazy; in fact, I couldn't wait to keep reading to figure out the explanation as to why these voices occurred, because it was clear to me that she was *sane*. I loved her as a character; so rounded and developed yet with such a full character arc in the story, and I adored her daughter as well. She was such a three-dimensional character that added to the story.

I have been attracted lately to stories of sociopaths, and the husband was absolutely one. Throughout this story I felt like I was going crazy in the same sense that our protagonist was. How was he hearing her conversations, and how did he know what was actually going on? Where was the bug, and where would she be safe? This book gripped me tightly and wouldn't let me go, and I found myself spiraling with the character. Millet writes such strong prose coupled with strong woman characters, and I can't wait to go back to pick up more of her work.

Nightfall: A Novel

Nightfall was another big book at Book Expo this year, so I picked it up on my way through the publisher's booth. While YA dystopian lit isn't usually my jam, I saw Jake Halpern at an author's panel and his passion for his work really sold the novel.

Every twenty-eight years, the sun falls and night arises. It's about to be Night on the island, and everyone is getting ready to leave for distant shores, where they will continue to live in daylight until it is time to return home. Everyone is frantically rushing to get out of town, and when the boats arrive, there is a mass push to get on them. What no one notices is that three of their youths are missing. Marin, her twin brother Kana, and their friend Line have missed the boats off of the island. As they frantically search for a way off the island, they find themselves stalked by creatures that would make even the heartiest man whither. Can they survive Night, or will they die trying to leave?

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. In order for me to really get into a fantasy or paranormal novel, it has to have a great story first. It also has to have strong characters. I really found myself drawn to Marin. She is young, but she is strong -- and the reason they all miss the boat is her insistence that no one leave without Line. He had gone to search for a necklace of Marin's that he felt responsible for losing, and Marin felt it was her responsibility to make sure he did not get left behind. She also holds a deep secret about that necklace, a secret that may fracture her and Line's relationship. I found this conflict point to be incredibly interesting and was happy to see that followed through. I also appreciated, from an audience perspective, that Halpern and Kujawinski played this out through the book by weaving it in and not waving a big flag as a plot point.

There is also the storyline with Kana that I can't say much about, as I really feel like it feeds the story and you may be pleasantly surprised by it. You can kind of see it coming, but when all of the pieces of the puzzle come together, it's a great fit for what they authors were going for. This, combined with Marin and Line and the teamwork to get out of this situation alive, really heightened the drama and transcended the paranormal genre and allowed me to enjoy the story from a human perspective.

For purchase below.

Rarity from the Hollow: A Novel

Rarity from the Hollow by Robert Eggleton caught my eye when the author himself told me about where he sends the proceeds for this book. I will tell you more about it below, and if you are even remotely interested in this book, I want to urge you to consider purchasing it and reading it. 

Lacy Dawn lives in Appalachia with her worn-out mom, her Iraq War disabled dad, and her mutt Brownie. Lacy Dawn's android boyfriend, DotCom, has come to the hollow with a mission. His equipment includes infomercial videos of Earth's earliest proto-humans from millennia ago. DotCom has been sent by the Manager of the Mall on planet Shptiludrp: he must recruit Lacy Dawn to save the Universe in exchange for the designation of Earth as a planet which is eligible for continued existence within a universal economic structure that exploits underdeveloped planets for their mineral content. Lacy Dawn’s magic enables her to save the universe, Earth, and, most importantly, her own family. 

This book was absolutely fascinating, and it was heartbreaking to boot. Lacy Dawn is such an interesting young lady, and I found the early pages when she was working with her best friend to prepare for a spelling test to be so telling of her character. She is a bit of a loner, but a very special girl. Her healing gifts were bestowed on her classmates, and her best friend idolizes her. She is dependent on DotCom for help herself, and when she is called upon to help save the universe, her willingness to use her gifts for good was interesting to watch and follow. As you read this book though, you have to keep in mind the world in which Lacy Dawn lives. It's not an easy life, being a daughter of Appalachia, and growing up with not much more than a box to play in. I was incredibly struck when she describes the death of a classmate at the hands of her father -- it has stayed with me long after putting this book down. 

Dark and humorous at times, this book reached for absurdity in its plot to teach a deeper lesson about childhood and when children have to deal with adult circumstances. No child should have to save the world, just like no child should have to deal with the death of her childhood friends and her father's mental illness. It's a story that holds meaning if you let it come to you. 

Author proceeds have been donated to Children’s Home Society of West Virginia where the author worked in the early 1980s: Children’s Home Society Of West Virginia. It's a private, non-profit child welfare agency caring for more than 13,000 children, youth, and families throughout the state of West Virginia each year. The list of the services they provide is incredible, and well worth your support.

For purchase below.

Stillwell: A Haunting on Long Island

Believe it or not, even as a New Yorker, I have only been to Long Island once and it was for a wedding so I don't remember much other than a really long drive. So while on vacation this summer I picked up Michael Phillip Cash's Stillwell: A Haunting on Long Island to get in the visit-mood.

Dealing with his wife's death has been life-changing, and almost impossible for Paul. They have been together since they were children, married young, and had three of their own. Paul knows, though, that he has to get back to work ASAP as a realtor--and an old friend's house, Stillwell Manor, may be the answer to his prayers. The only problem is it may be haunted, and the haunting somehow involves his wife who has yet to cross over to the other side, spiritually speaking.

This was a fun book for beach reading. It was short enough that I could finish it in one setting and not so heavy that I couldn't enjoy it while staring at the ocean--my definition of a great beach read. I found the character development to be strong in this book, particularly that of Paul and his journey through denial to becoming a (partial) believer. He starts out as completely feeling like he's going crazy, because what sane person really believes in ghosts? By the time you get to the end of this book, you may very well also. Some things are just unexplainable.

The story was engaging as well. I loved the scenes of Paul with his three young children, trying to deal with life after the loss of his partner and the mother of his children. It wasn't just his loss, but also that of a mother to her children. The house coordinator and maker of dinner, the soother and the to-bed-putter and the homework-supervisor. Learning to live life without your better half is more than just the aching pain of loss; it's also a complete loss of life structure. These were the strongest scenes in the book in my opinion. They felt raw and honest, and it was how I preferred to the character of Paul.

Hard copy for purchase below.

Stephen King Friday: Cell

Happy first Stephen King Friday! My goal for 2015 is to read two SK books per month to get through his whole oeuvre and bring it to you, dear readers. I love him, and I am sure you do as well. First up is 2006's Cell.

Where were you on October 1 at 3:03pm? Were you on your cell phone? If so, you probably aren't reading this, as you have turned into one of them. Phone people. You might be dead, having been viciously torn to shreds by another one of them in the first hours. You might be one of the surviving members who is flocking with the rest. Or, even more important, you might be a "normie" trying to find your loved ones to see if they are still coherent. They may be on their way to the safe point. Walk there, sleep at night, and whatever you do--don't pick up a cell phone.

I am usually not into the whole zombie number, but I will always pick up a King zombie book. I was intrigued by the premise and I was hooked from the beginning. I won't say I raced through this one, but I was certainly interested enough to read the whole thing in a day. I was dying to find out what happened.

The story itself is fascinating and, quite unfortunately for me and you, somewhat realistic in the way that it may not have already happened, but it most certainly could. You may have just been carrying on a regular phone conversation, but when the signal came through to reprogram your brain you reverted to the most base of instincts--kill or be killed. Clay, the protagonist who does not have a cell phone, becomes the most hated of the Phone People when he and his band of survivors decide to wipe out a flock. This may have been the most creepy part of it all--that the Phone People had telekinesis and could read your thoughts.

I shiver just thinking about it right now.

I really love that King picks topics that freak us out the most. He has a knack for picking things around which we are most comfortable and creating in us a fear of basic living. It is probably my most favorite part of his writing. No subject is sacred. I often wondered in reading this book how it would be done today, in 2015. Would terrorists rely on text? How would they get us to buy into this? It's fascinating and caught me in a whirlwind of thought.

Kindle version on left, hard copy on right.

The Girl With All the Gifts: A Novel

I heard the Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey was crazy creepy, so of course I picked it up right away. 

Melanie so, so special--the most special of them all, in fact. Even though every morning she joins her classmates strapped to her chair, head and all, she is by far the best and the brightest. Her teacher knows it, she knows it, but most of all, the head of the program knows it. For these reasons, Melanie may change the world. That is, if she isn't killed first.

It's hard to summarize this book without giving anything away, because the reality of the story is that as soon as you start talking about it when you are in the know, you will give things away. So I will stay as generalist as I can, but if you don't like any spoilers at all you should probably just go ahead and buy the book (link below) and give up your next weekend and read it and prepare to have your mind blown because it's just that kind of novel. So there.

Well, wait, I will give you this next paragraph. This novel is part post-apocalyptic, part zombie novel, part thriller, part science fiction, part sciencey, and part holy crapola. It's a page turner because it's so unbelievable yet so not far off from what could happen in a world of biological terrorism, and that's scary and fascinating all at the same time. If you watched the movie Outbreak at your twelfth birthday party with a bunch of friends who maaayyyyybbbbeeee weren't prepared for such adult fare and were creeped out the whole night (no? just me?), this book will keep your eyes on the page. If you watched the movie and didn't bat an eyelash, then you may be a sociopath but you would still like this book.

Ok, let's dive into it. Melanie, as I mentioned, is so special that she is taken from her classroom to be dissected. I won't say when or why, but know this will happen. (You will have suspected this by about page 50 anyway, so it's only a partial spoiler.) This is when the exposition ends and all hell breaks loose. It turns out the entire United Kingdom has been invaded by a fungus that causes humans to eat each other. So smart be damned--Melanie will try to eat you. If this isn't bad enough, soon the compound where the studies are taking place, run by the military, is compromised by the "hungries," and anyone who is still living is soon on the run. Easy-peasy. I am sure nothing could possibly go wrong with this.

Melanie is a very sympathetic character and I was very drawn to her; it was easy to understand her crush on her teacher, and throughout the rest of the story it was easy to justify why you liked her. Then there is the story. The science in this book is mind-blowing and not too far from being pretty right-on. (Although let's make it clear that I am not a biologist because I am already getting one PhD and I really don't want to get another which is good because it's kind of a one-shot deal.) The science of this story is enough to keep you into it if you decide you don't like the characters (which you will, so don't worry about it).

Pick it up below and be mesmerized. And you will be mesmerized. I was.

Hard copy for purchase below.

The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder

This book was one big fat "WTF???" For reals. Mind blowingly cray cray. Off the charts. This is The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber.

During the 1980's and 1990's, as many as 300 (possibly more) patients died at the hands of Charlie Cullen. Known as a brilliant nurse but an odd character, Charlie was the guy you wanted to have on hand. He could work a code like nobody's business, his intelligence was clearly high, and he was good at what he did. Why, then, were deaths by tainted IV's spiking at every hospital he worked? No one has yet figured out why the Angel of Death killed so many without rhyme or reason. Sometimes madness just can't be explained.

It's no secret that I love a good murder mystery, and this one blew my mind. Graeber tells the most wild and unbelievable story in such a narrative that it reads like a roast beef with horseradish cream sauce sandwich. It was rich and meaty and absolutely shocking. I couldn't believe that I was reading a true tale. I was. 

It made me never want to go to the hospital again. This is the most chilling of true-life horror stories. Graeber gives us the Charlie character with no holds barred. We see him warts and all. The most amazing thing, however, was the pathos that Graeber brought to the story. He didn't make Charlie out to be some Texas Chainsaw Massacre-type murder, but rather made him a full and rounded character who, while never justifying his actions, seemed to be making choices that suited him. It was wild and insane. I loved it.

Hard copy below.

Night Film: A Novel

I would venture to say that Marisha Pessl's Night Film is one of the most anticipated books of the summer. I got wind of it a few months ago when Stephen King recommended in a column of upcoming books and I sat on my hands impatiently while I waiting for an advance copy. I dove in like it was a pool of cold chocolate pudding in a hot desert.

Famed horror director Stanislas Cordova makes mind-blowing films that change your view on humanity and turn your world upside-down. His eccentricity and reclusive nature has only made him more of a cult figure to his followers since his last interview with Rolling Stone in 1977. Scott McGrath is a journalist whose life and career were ruined several years ago when he decided to pursue an investigation of the director. Now Cordova's beloved daughter, Ashley, has been found dead of an apparent suicide in an abandoned Chinatown warehouse. As McGrath pursues an unauthorized investigation in to her death, he finds a world of intrigue that is the largest puzzle he may ever have to put together--including black magic, mysterious disappearances, and the cult of Cordova.

Sometimes a novel will bowl you over so hard all you can do is sit on an abandoned curb stunned and wonder what the hell just happened to you. This is Night Film.

I will start by saying this book is a 500-something-page mindf&$%. There is no better way to describe how this book will own your soul for the time you spend inside its pages. There came a time where I myself was having difficulty distinguishing fact from fiction; I woke up one morning on vacation last week with an overwhelming desire to watch Lovechild, one of Cordova's films described in the novel. I had time, after all--I was on vacation. The only problem is that the films aren't real in real life. That's how invested I was in this book; Cordova's filmography is so lovingly detailed and realistic that it feels honest-to-Betsey real.

There were times mid-book where I found the miniscule detail for which Pessl is revered to be a little too tedious and I wanted more action; now that I am out the other side, however, I understand the importance of every detail provided and I have now changed my tune.

A few times in this book I thought I knew where the story was taking me only to hit a brick wall when it turns out I was wrong. This is the magic of Pessl's storytelling abilities. It was not about me; it was Pessl's ability to purposely lead me astray in order to turn around and punch me in the stomach. Smiling. With a baseball bat. That she hid in her trench coat.

I won't speak in detail about my favorite scenes, or the ones that blew my mind the most, because I do not give spoilers here. (Except for this one extended section toward the end that will 100% knock your socks off; seriously, when I finished the chapter I took in a deep breath and wondered if I actually took in any oxygen the entire time my eyes were racing across the pages.) Instead, I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy and discover the magic yourself.

Hard copy on below. Waste no more time, please.

The Wanderers

The Wanderers by Jessica Miller is a tale of vampires. Need I say more to entice you?

Ella has been through a horrific car accident that killed her boyfriend the summer before she leaves for college. It affects her deeply, and she is still dealing with it when she arrives at school in Vermont, rooming with her best friend and meeting the RA who woos her. As the fall marches on, things get weirder and weirder in Ella's life--people around her are dying horrific deaths, she has trouble remembering a night out on a date, and her new sorority is just...too much. Ella begins to realize the man haunting her dreams may be more than just a figment of her active imagination--it turns out she may know him.

As far as paranormal stories go, this one was interesting. I liked that the paranormal part was played down a bit in favor of more story and character, which is what I prefer. I generally liked Ella's character, but at one point wanted to scream out, "GO SEE A THERAPIST!" The family dynamic of Ella's family was entertaining--her mother being highly overbearing and her brothers being...well, brothers. I have one, I know.

This was a fun, light read that kept me intrigued and interested.

Kindle version below.

The Miniature Wife and Other Stories

The Miniature Wife and Other Stories by Manuel Gonzales. Let's get started.

A plane is hijacked and it never lands. A man miniaturizes his wife--and there is hell to pay. A zombie tries to make it as a person in the real world. A strange beast is eating all of the animals. Africa (as in the continent) is gone. Also, you should always bring cash to a killing. This crazy and incredible book of short stories will knock your socks off. I lie not.

I had no idea what to expect jumping into this book and thank goodness for that. Every story I read sucked me in like a vacuum and sunk its tentacles in me like an octopus. I felt like I dove headfirst into the spine of this book and lived inside of it for a few days. I started each new story with trepidation not because I didn't like the book, but because I knew that I would lose myself for a period of time and wake up in a world where things are so insane it's delightful.

I have been recommending this book nonstop since I got to the middle story. It's wild and completely unpredictable; not every story has an otherworldly tint to it but that's part of it's charm. You never know what you are going to get next. Gonzales is a superb writer and his voice is one that we will be hearing from again and again as the years roll on. His imagination rivals the best of them, and his pen glides across the page to create narratives that are astounding.

Did I mention you should always bring cash to a killing? (This was my favorite story.)

I adored, adored, adored this book. Amazing. Phenomenal. A must-read.

Get this book NOW. Kindle on left, hard copy on right:

The Burn Palace: A Novel

Stephen King sure knows how to recommend a book. In his Entertainment Weekly article of books he about which he was excited in 2013, this made the top of the list. Holy cow--this is The Burn Palace by Stephen Dobyns.

In the middle of the night, Nurse Spandex walks into the nursery to check on the babies and notices a squirming little one. She walks over to adjust his blanket and finds that it is not a baby at all; rather, it is a snake. This turn of events in a sleepy Rhode Island town leads to utter turmoil in the town. People are dying, coyotes are attacking, people are shape-shifting, and witchcraft abounds flummoxing the police and sending residents into a panic. This captivating mystery involves everyone in town--and you will never believe who is on which side.

Holy shamoley--this book blew my ever-loving mind. I was not even two-thirds of the way through the book before the adrenaline kicked in and I was in reading overdrive. Putting down this book was simply not an option--what was happening was too strange and insane to leave behind to do normal things like eat or seep. It was manic book reading--heart racing, eyes throwing themselves across the page, breathing momentarily stopped. At one point while I was reading on the train my jaw dropped, and I could see the curious look from the man across from me wondering what I was reading. This book was that good.

Dobyns covers what feels like almost every character in this small town of Brewster but never once was I confused about who was whom. He creates clear and starkly contrasted characters in which I found myself heavily invested. The story itself is truly mind-blowing. It's not quite a horror book but it certainly gets close; it's not quite a mystery although it really is. There are so many awesome twists to this story that I want to share with you, but I can't because I will not for one second take away your reading enjoyment of watching the events unfold in this town.

Seriously, I can't recommend enough this book. Pick it up and indulge yourself. It is absolutely wild and worth your weekend time. Genuinely. Really. For sure.

Run, don't walk, to get yourself this book. Kindle on left, hard copy on right. Worth every penny.
 

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

I found this book by overhearing two friends talk about it in the lounge at grad school. True story. Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin sounded ridiculously fascinating and right up my historical-loving alley.

In 1933 a new American ambassador is assigned to Germany. After several others turn down the post, William Dodd takes it hoping it will give him down time to finish his epic history of the Civil War. Was he ever wrong. Adolph Hitler, the German Chancellor, is about to cede complete power over the state and is, in the meantime, building up the Nazi party to hold sway over the German people. It is a volatile time for the country, and matters are not helped when Dodd's daughter, Martha, becomes a society fixture. It's a game of cat and mouse with the German people that becomes more frightening and strange as the years soldier on. The rest, as they say, is history.

This book was utterly and completely engrossing. Larson writes this nonfiction story as he would a dark thriller that could only capture our worst imagination. Except it's real, and you know that reading this book, and that's what makes it all the more frightening. We know what is to come, but very few high school history classes cover the period before 1939 or so when understanding the lead up to Germany's takeover of Europe. I know I didn't receive much education on this front. The rise of the Nazi party is horrifying and frightening for me almost 80 years later--I can't even begin to imagine the daily fear and the desperate need to escape the country at that very time.

This book left me satisfied yet aching for what might have been. Larson truly gave me a sense that I was present and living with the Dodd's through their political struggles, their parties, Martha's love affairs, and the difficult decisions William Dodd had to make in order to keep those around him safe. Larson created a sense of the heightened tension in Berlin at this time and I found his book to be absolutely incredible. I closed the back cover of this book a little more edified, a little more respectful, and a little more cautious of how easily we turn our heads to the painful plight of others.

You can buy the book below; Kindle link on the left, paper copy on the right: