Horror and Thriller in Time for Halloween - Ghosts and Murder in Two Books: "Eeny Meany", by M.J. Arlidge and "The Ice Twins", by S.K. Tremayne - Book Reviews

Both Eeny Meany and The Ice Twins are set in Great Britain, and both are mysteries. So why not review them together? Both are also hard to put down, but their storylines and tempos are vastly different.

Eeny Meany involves a tough, strong female detective chasing a twisted serial killer who seems to have taken a page out of the “Saw” movies’ playbook. The killer doesn’t actually do the killing, just pits two people against one another with an extreme ultimatum: only one gets out alive.

Author S. K. Tremayne’s The Ice Twins, haunting in a much different way than Eeny Meany, is a ghost story complete with a wind rattled lighthouse cottage on a deserted island wrapped up in a thriller that leaves you guessing until the end.

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Unsavory Characters in an Agreeable Novel: "Summer House with Swimming Pool", by Herman Koch - Book Review

Author Herman Koch’s Summer House with Swimming Pool opens with Marc Schlosser, the main character and narrator, explaining to the reader what a caring doctor he is to his patients - how his patients come from miles away because of his genuine, heart-felt bedside manner. He is woefully unconvincing in his delivery.

Despite what his patients may think, right off the bat, Marc is unlikeable. He is insensitive and judgmental. Koch lays down Marc’s thoughts in long, self-important paragraphs that drag on for pages. Surprisingly, though, the antagonist in the book, chauvinistic stage and screen actor, Ralph Meier, is even less likeable.

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These Dreams of Another Era Leave Us Wanting More from "Entry Island", by Peter May - Book Review

Entry Island, written by accomplished author Peter May, has two story lines: a murder mystery in present day on a Canadian barrier island and a tale of forbidden love in mid 19th century Scotland. Both involve the same main characters, Sime and Kristy.  

Sime, short for Simon but pronounced “Sheem,” is our protagonist. In current times, he is investigating Kirsty as the key suspect in the murder of her mega rich husband. He is overcome by the notion that they have met before. She assures them they have not.   

So begin his dreams of times past with her in Scotland.

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Not Your Typical Psychopath Crime in “Hollow Man”, by Mark Pryor - Book Review

Hollow Man's intriguing narrator, our protagonist Dominic, is an Englishman living in Austin making his living as a prosecutor and musician. He’s also a psychopath; or as Dominic prefers, a sociopath. It sets up an interesting plot with a cast of curious characters.  I met author Mark Pryor, himself an Englishman living in Austin, at BookExpo America in May, and received an early release of the book. As my first foray into reading Pryor’s work, it was definitely a fun read.

The story begins with Dominic providing us an education about his condition. In his arrogant, yet affable voice, we hear how he has a rather troubled history as a youth, how his parents shipped him off to America, and he is now adept at hiding behind a well-crafted facade. 

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A Train to Miss? "The Girl on the Train", by Paula Hawkins - Book Review

I know I’m late so here is my nutshell review for those of you who also missed the train (pun intended):

The Girl on the Train
By Paula Hawkins

Engaging mystery; incredibly depressing, unlikeable characters. Can’t say that the former compensates for the latter.

Open at your own risk……

Published:  2015
Publisher: Riverhead Books/Penguin

Elizabeth's rating: 2 ½ stars

Broken Lives, an Unsolved Murder, and a Cave: All Part of "Last Words", by Michael Koryta - Book Revew

“The panic he felt then was unlike any he’d known before. A sensation of being trapped in someplace small, and abandoned in someplace endless, all at once.” These are the thoughts contemplated by the protagonist in Michael Koryta's Last Words as he finds himself stranded in an underground cave. 

If reading something can make you claustrophobic, this might not be the book for you. 

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A Dead Writer, a Curious Teen, and a Crime in "Finders Keepers", by Stephen King - Book Review

In the past couple of decades, Stephen King has made a decided shift from horror to thriller/supernatural, a shift that has turned me into a huge fan. Previously unable to finish his books out of sheer terror, I am chomping at the bit for the thrillers.  Finders Keepers, the sequel to Mr. Mercedes, did not disappoint. Started it on a Wednesday; finished it that Sunday.

Early on, Finders Keepers seems only tangentially related to Mr. Mercedes and I wondered if it was a marketing gimmick to call it a sequel. But mid way through, the rag tag crime team of Bill, Holly and Jerome from the first book show up to help our latest protagonist in trouble, teenager Pete Saubers.

Pete has the fortune to happen upon a trunk full of money and notebooks filled with poetry and prose at a time of family crisis.  In time, he realizes the notebooks are the true value of his find. They are 20 years of unpublished writing from American hero author John Rothstein, who was tragically murdered years before.

Finders Keepers: A Novel
By Stephen King

The problem for Pete? Morrie Bellamy, the man who buried the trunk, gets paroled after decades in prison and, you guessed it, comes looking for his trunk.

King not only tells a fast paced story that keeps you turning the pages as fast as you can read the words, but he masterfully illuminates the important, yet tenuous, connection between authors and readers. One that King certainly grapples with daily. While extreme, King, perhaps partly autobiographically, shows how destructive a relationship can be between an obsessed reader and an unaccommodating author.

Don’t worry; even though the underlying theme is reminiscent of Misery, the plot is fresh enough for Finders Keepers to stand fully on its own. And, for those of you longing for King’s horrors of the past, don’t fret, Morrie Bellamy, even in his 70 year old broken down body, is as dark and frightening as they come.

Published: 2015
Publisher: Scribner

Elizabeth's rating: 4 stars

 

An Orcas Island Thriller in “The Find”, by Rainer Rey - Book Review

The outer edge of the Pacific Northwest is as slow paced and calm as you can get, but author Rainer Rey adds a whole lot of excitement to its peaceful existence. He successfully combines government covert operations, an Indian shaman, psychic powers, terrorism and adventure into his novel, The Find. Frankly, in reading the book description, I had my doubts. But Rey came through with each page.

There are several converging stories, of which the most significant are high-powered business woman Lorna Novack and ex-FBI agent Kellen Rand. Lorna is fed up with the pressure of her work, but dives into it head first to prove herself in a  man’s world. She gets a call regarding her long lost step-sister who has been seriously injured and whose daughter has gone missing. Lorna travels to Orcas Island from Chicago to be by her side and find out what has happened to her niece. Kellen is through with big cities and after an ugly dismissal from the FBI, has started a new life and launched a salmon hatchery. One evening, he and his friend Paddy venture via boat to witness a shaman connect with nature; or rather, seemingly control nature. It’s an undeniable spectacle, that is described in enough detail, we can quite clearly imagine the scene.

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Post WWII Thriller “Leaving Berlin”, by Joseph Kanon - Book Review

Award-winning author Joseph Kanon is internationally recognized, having published bestsellers, including The Good German, which was made into a film starring George Clooney and Cate Blanchett. With much acclaim, I picked up his latest spy thriller with great expectation. I was disappointed.

Leaving Berlin takes place in 1949 Berlin; the city divided by the Allies into Soviet, French, British and American sectors. In the East, the Soviets rule with an iron fist, grabbing people off the streets for small suspected infractions, friends turn into informants, and war-time concentration camps are turned into prisons for party dissenters.  At the center of the drama is Alex Meier, a Jewish German writer who was able to leave a concentration camp during the war after a payoff. 15 years later, after exile in America, he returns at the invitation of the new Soviet-backed German party to help form a cultural revival. 

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Blood on Snow, by Jo Nesbo - Book Review

Blood on Snow is my first foray into the world of Jo Nesbo, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. First, let me begin with the reasons I chose this book. One, the book has been on many “2015 must read” lists. Two, I’ve been focused on female-centric books lately and wanted a change of pace. And finally, Nesbo’s bio - “a musician, songwriter, and economist, as well as a writer”. Perfect.

The story is told by Olav, a “fixer”, or contract killer in the frigid Norway winter. As he tells us about himself, we think he’s perhaps a bit dim. But we find quickly that while he has dyslexia, Olav is quite clever. He tries to deceive us often with, “but what do I know” comments after explaining that he’s read a scientific journal or idealized the romance of Les Misérables. Olav fixes situations for his bosses, but he also fixes stories - both in books and his own reality to turn them into a newer, more interesting and romantic version.

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