Book Reviews
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The Town of Hamelin was suffering from a rat infestation when along came a man wearing pied (multi-coloured) clothing. He promised to rid them of the rats in exchange for payment in gold. The town eagerly agreed, and the man pulled out a musical pipe and lured all the rats away. When he came to…
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This is a bit of a surreal horror novel. At times the narrative walks the fine line between being unpredictable and confusing. When reading this book, it’s best to set aside your expectations of a traditional horror story and enjoy the ride. Each time I thought I’d figured out what was going on, the…
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What is it about corn fields that people find so terrifying? They are a common feature in horror stories. I just recently watched Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark which included a huge cornfield complete with a hideous scarecrow. Noelle W. Ihli’s terrifying thriller, The Thicket, uses a corn field maze as one of the centrepieces…
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Cold as Hell by Neen Cohen is an urban fantasy small town murder mystery – all things that I love in a story. Adie lives in the mysterious town of OpenFields, a place where magic is real. She is an outcast watched by the entire town. She even has cameras watching her sleep each night.…
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Note upfront: Content warning for this book regarding domestic violence and violence against children. This novel was a difficult read. A stream of consciousness laid out in a diary format. Each section has a date on it, but they are not in chronological order and the entries aren’t specific to those days. It’s an…
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I don’t always go in for high fantasy. The made up words, fake languages, and complicated magic systems don’t always interest me. Sometimes, I find them more confusing than anything. David Green’s In Solitude’s Shadow, on the other hand, does a good job of being easy to follow without being too simple. The fantasy elements…
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I wrote this review in 2016. I just want to add that I now drive a red car and have named it Christine. Sadly, it does not repair itself when broken. Review from 2016: “While I am grateful that my car is not possessed by an evil murderous army ghost, I wouldn’t mind if…
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Original Review from 2015: Instead of his usual aspiring writer struggling to be a good man through the weight of addiction and uncontrollable emotions, in The Dead Zone, King gives us John (No Middle Name) Smith, a man whose problems stem from external rather than internal factors. Johnny is crippled by a coma that robs…
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Note from 2021: I have no interest in “bashing” books. If I dislike a book, I typically don’t finish it or quietly give it a couple of stars and move on. I keep my reviews honest, but friendly. However, I really didn’t like this one and I feel like Stephen King can handle it. He’s…