Pros: Beautiful, immersive, taut mystery with fascinating historical underpinnings Cons: Takes a few pages to get into if you’re lacking the background Rating: 5 out of 5 After reading Val McDermid’s The Torment of Others recently, I was eager…
Blog Archives
"The Grave Tattoo," Val McDermid
Posted in Reviews Tagged with: fiction, Grave Tattoo, history, mystery, Val McDermid, William Wordsworth
"The Torment of Others," Val McDermid
Pros: Fascinating mystery and characters; taut psychological thriller Cons: Doesn’t pull its grotesque punches Rating: 5 out of 5 A few years ago I discovered and fell absolutely in love with a British mystery TV series called ‘Wire in…
Posted in Reviews Tagged with: fiction, forensics, mystery, police procedural, profiling, psychology, thriller, Tony Hill, Val McDermid
After the Honeymoon (BTT)
Today’s Booking Through Thursday: Here’s something for Valentine’s Day. Have you ever fallen out of love with a favorite author? Was the last book you read by the author so bad, you broke up with them and haven’t read their…
"The Flawless Skin of Ugly People," Doug Crandell
Pros: Unusual read about love, family, and beauty Cons: Some tough subjects and scenes to handle Rating: 5 out of 5
"The Painted Messiah," Craig Smith
Pros: Fascinating premise and story; wonderful characters; strong adventure Cons: Some confusion; one or two stereotyped characters Rating: 4 out of 5
"Dark Resurrection," John A. Karr
Pros: Fascinating and engaging premise and plot Cons: Characters left me a little flat; more action than what I think of as horror Rating: 3 out of 5 Review book courtesy of John A. Karr. Doctor Victor Galloway has…
"The Perennial Boarder," Phoebe Atwood Taylor
Pros: Quirky, cozy, funny mystery Cons: Not for everyone Rating: 5 out of 5 Review book courtesy of The Countryman Press. The Perennial Boarder is a republication of a 1941 mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. As the back of…
Posted in Reviews Tagged with: Asey Mayo, book reviews, fiction, mysteries, mystery, novels, Phoebe Atwood Taylor
"Thirteen," Sebastian Beaumont
Pros: Incredibly ‘real’ and fascinating story Cons: Very difficult to classify Rating: 5 out of 5
Posted in Reviews Tagged with: book reviews, Brighton, fairy tale, fiction, Sebastian Beaumont, taxi driver, Thirteen
"The Gift of Rain," Tan Twan Eng
Pros: Utterly beautiful and heartbreaking Cons: Not for everyone Rating: 5 out of 5 Review book courtesy of Myrmidon Books. I have a phobia of history. This is probably a result of the way my teachers taught it: purely…
Posted in Reviews Tagged with: book reviews, fiction, Gift of Rain, historical, history, Malaya, Myrmidon Books, Penang, Tan Twan Eng, world war II
Horrors!
Earlier today I wrote a blog post dealing with the definition of horror fiction. Read it, and then write, outline, or brainstorm a horror story in which not a single drop of blood is shed, and that in no way…