I just finished The Strain, the collaborative effort by director Guillermo Del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan. It’s a modern-day retelling of the vampire myth with some excellent takes on vampire biology and hierarchy. Del Toro’s screen experience is apparent, with his signature creature design and some really cinematic settings, and Hogan’s narrative style does… [Read more…]
January 5, 2010
Mystic River, Dennis LeHane’s sixth novel, lacks the central characters from the world of his five previous novels but retains the working-class ethics and gritty realism that has become his signature style. The novel looks at three childhood friends united by a horrible act and are drawn together twenty-five years later by another brutal crime.… [Read more…]
August 30, 2009
For the record, I don’t really want to share this, because I don’t want you guys to buy up all the good stuff, but I’m feeling selfish. Anyways, I’m sitting here with my jug of fermented apple cider, an as you all know, fermentation tends to make me reflective. So what I’m reflecting on is… [Read more…]
May 11, 2009
Dying to Live by Kim Paffenroth is a new take on the zombie story. Paffenroth’s story takes place after the zombie outbreak and goes right into the story of people coping with the aftermath. In the society that is rebuilding, zombies are more of a mild nuisance, and other survivers turn out to be the… [Read more…]
May 8, 2009
I never knew that Primal Fear was a novel until Heather brought it home from a used bookstore in Weaverville. I loved the film and I was kind of worried that the book would be drastically different. Luckily, the movie stayed very close to the book, and the book only served to flush out the… [Read more…]
May 6, 2009
The Naked and The Dead is hailed as the best novel to come from World War II, and for good reason. Mailer was around 25 when he wrote this, and for a guy so young, he had great insight into the depth of the characters about whom he wrote.The war narrative is interrupted by chapters… [Read more…]
April 6, 2009
Positively Fifth Street…sigh. Okay, I’m a writer. Nothing huge or anything, but I freelance for newspapers and websites. I get paid and I have fun. One of the clients that I write for is a poker website. I like poker. This book is about a writer who gets sent by his editor to cover the… [Read more…]
April 3, 2009
This took about two pages to get into my top five books. EVER. You like zombies? Check. You like military special ops? Check. Attempts at world domination? Check. Futuristic-yet-plausible technology a ‘la Tom Clancy? Check. Tough-as-nails smart-ass protagonist? Check. Here’s a sample:I walked into the center of the group. Scarface grunted. “Make yourself comfortable. We’ve… [Read more…]
April 1, 2009
Atonement is another Ian McEwan’s trademark novels-it’s a lyrical tale of human frailty. McEwan sets you up by familiarizing you with his characters, then knocks them down with one apocalyptic misunderstanding that changes everything for everyone. Sound like fun? Seriously, though, McEwan writes very liquid prose, his words flow so smoothly that you could read… [Read more…]
March 30, 2009
In one way, The New Kings of Nonfiction is a lot like This American Life. Again, Ira Glass presents stories from everyday (and not so everyday) life that are entertaining and thought-provoking. In another way, this book is an amazing showcase of written journalism. These writers take a look at things as mundane as the… [Read more…]
January 11, 2010
0