Wow, can you say, 'not what I was expecting?' Not that you ever really know what to expect with a Chi-zine publication. This Canadian based publisher is till one of my favorites and I love everything I've read of theirs, but I have to admit this with was on the lower end of their normally excellent bell curve.
Although they do not spell it out for you, this book is written from the point of view of a man that just snaps and decides to start killing people. I'm not too into anti-hero serial killers, but I have to say that I was surprised when he made his first kill. I did not know what type of book I was reading, but I caught on quick.
I work in mental health and I would have to say the author does a good job outlining this man's psychosis. He takes you into the unbalanced world of the killer, although, I guess my problem is, I never wanted to go there. If you like exploring evil and insanity though, this book will probably grab you.
Read more at People Live Still in Cashtown Corners, by Tony Burgess | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Monday, June 1, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
The Winter Family, by Clifford Jackman | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
I know I just tossed out a 5 star review last month, but I had no other choice here. This book is a round house punch of awesome. It came out of nowhere and tackled me into the dirt. At first I worried that it might not be Speculative Fiction, because it has a strong western feel and is certainly in the camp of Historical Fiction however, due to its brutality, I think am in well within my rights to label it horror. In fact if there are authors reading this review that would like to learn more about writing ruthless villains, they should pick up this book for that reason alone.
As mentioned, this book takes place in America's past and moved from the end of the civil war to just past the Wild West era. The thread follows a group of men that find that during the chaos of these unsure times they have the power to make their own rules and let's just say those rules rarely help anyone other than themselves. These are not men whose path anyone would wish to cross. If you did meet them, chances are you would not survive long enough for it to occur a second time.
Jackman grabs the idea of anti-heroes and takes it up about twenty notches. The Winter family is the group of villains most fiction authors would be trying to get you to hate so you felt no mercy when the 'good guys' gunned them down. This is set against a backdrop of corruption, betrayals, and severe drinking. Hedonism meets a violent Id and the walls go crashing down.
The Winter Family, by Clifford Jackman | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
As mentioned, this book takes place in America's past and moved from the end of the civil war to just past the Wild West era. The thread follows a group of men that find that during the chaos of these unsure times they have the power to make their own rules and let's just say those rules rarely help anyone other than themselves. These are not men whose path anyone would wish to cross. If you did meet them, chances are you would not survive long enough for it to occur a second time.
Jackman grabs the idea of anti-heroes and takes it up about twenty notches. The Winter family is the group of villains most fiction authors would be trying to get you to hate so you felt no mercy when the 'good guys' gunned them down. This is set against a backdrop of corruption, betrayals, and severe drinking. Hedonism meets a violent Id and the walls go crashing down.
The Winter Family, by Clifford Jackman | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Angel Board, by Kristopher Rufty | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
Angel Board, by Kristopher Rufty is a horror novel set in the southern United States. It takes place in modern times and focuses around David, a man who had recently attempted suicide.
After his failed attempt at taking his own life, David's mother gives him an Angel Board for Christmas. This board, much like the traditional Ouija board, is used to contact one's guardian angel. David quickly discovers that the board works only too well. He not only contacts his angel, but also finds out that she loves him deeply. In his weakened emotional state, she convinces him to start the process that would allow her to enter into his world.
However, her love is confused and her jealousy quickly leads to one murder after another, as his angel not only kills anyone she feels is mean to David, but the people that love him as well. Soon a race begins as David's former girlfriend tries to discover what is happening to the man she still loves and attempts to find people that can help her save him.
Read more at Angel Board, by Kristopher Rufty | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
After his failed attempt at taking his own life, David's mother gives him an Angel Board for Christmas. This board, much like the traditional Ouija board, is used to contact one's guardian angel. David quickly discovers that the board works only too well. He not only contacts his angel, but also finds out that she loves him deeply. In his weakened emotional state, she convinces him to start the process that would allow her to enter into his world.
However, her love is confused and her jealousy quickly leads to one murder after another, as his angel not only kills anyone she feels is mean to David, but the people that love him as well. Soon a race begins as David's former girlfriend tries to discover what is happening to the man she still loves and attempts to find people that can help her save him.
Read more at Angel Board, by Kristopher Rufty | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
Monday, April 27, 2015
Touch, by Claire North | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
I've been a major fan of this author during her incarnation as Kate Griffin, but I was blown away last year by her first Claire North book The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, which is on the literary end of the fantasy genre and is simply remarkable -- see my review here. Would I find Touch as impressive?
He tried to take my life. Instead, I took his. It was a long time ago. I remember it was dark, and I didn't see my killer until it was too late. As I died, my hand touched his. That's when the first switch took place. Suddenly, I was looking through the eyes of my killer, and I was watching myself die. Now switching is easy. I can jump from body to body, have any life, be anyone. Some people touch lives. Others take them. I do both.
So there you have it. The premise is that there are a few individuals out there who can inhabit a body with a simple touch, skin on skin. And we're right alongside Kepler as he comes under a sudden, shocking attack. The book takes us on a tension-filled adventure as he struggles to discover exactly who is stalking him and why. It would be an intriguing page-turner if it was a straight thriller. But, this being North, it also becomes far more than that.
Read more at Touch, by Claire North | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
He tried to take my life. Instead, I took his. It was a long time ago. I remember it was dark, and I didn't see my killer until it was too late. As I died, my hand touched his. That's when the first switch took place. Suddenly, I was looking through the eyes of my killer, and I was watching myself die. Now switching is easy. I can jump from body to body, have any life, be anyone. Some people touch lives. Others take them. I do both.
So there you have it. The premise is that there are a few individuals out there who can inhabit a body with a simple touch, skin on skin. And we're right alongside Kepler as he comes under a sudden, shocking attack. The book takes us on a tension-filled adventure as he struggles to discover exactly who is stalking him and why. It would be an intriguing page-turner if it was a straight thriller. But, this being North, it also becomes far more than that.
Read more at Touch, by Claire North | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
The Silence, by Tim Lebbon | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
Okay, before we start anything I should just come out and say this is by far the best book I have read this year and I have a feeling other novels will be hard pressed to keep this from being the best book I get to read in 2015. I have read another of Lebbon's novels, an Alien based book called Out of Shadows, which I reviewed here on SFReader and also enjoyed, but The Silence really took things up a notch and was just a superb novel.
In central Europe a cave is opened up that releases a creature that will later be known as the Vesps. These are meat eating bat like reptiles that hunt by sounds. They also reproduce at an alarming rate and their eggs hatch creatures that are already able to fly and kill. Soon all of Europe is being destroyed by these quickly multiplying beasts.
The thread of the story follows a small family as they attempt to struggle through the chaos as much of England flees north. Soon the Vesps are not the only thing to fear as humans begin to abuse one another as well.
Read more at The Silence, by Tim Lebbon | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
In central Europe a cave is opened up that releases a creature that will later be known as the Vesps. These are meat eating bat like reptiles that hunt by sounds. They also reproduce at an alarming rate and their eggs hatch creatures that are already able to fly and kill. Soon all of Europe is being destroyed by these quickly multiplying beasts.
The thread of the story follows a small family as they attempt to struggle through the chaos as much of England flees north. Soon the Vesps are not the only thing to fear as humans begin to abuse one another as well.
Read more at The Silence, by Tim Lebbon | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)