CBR14 #1 - Revenge Body by Rachel Wiley

Cannonball Read #14. Hope springs eternal, I guess. 

I have to say that Rachel Wiley is probably my favorite living poet. I've been a fan since first seeing Youtube clips of her performing her work live, and I own both of her previous books. I pre-ordered Revenge Body as soon as it was announced and read it the day after it arrived.

Revenge Body feels less relatable to me overall, since it seems like a much more personal journey for Wiley. She writes more about her relationship with her family--about recognizing and working to heal from their overwhelming dysfunction and rejection. She also works through a break-up and processes the emotional turmoil from that. Still, her musings on white feminism (A poem called "Intersectional Feminism (AKA Actual Fucking Feminism) Plays the Dozens With White Feminism" is a particular standout), the experience of being fat and female in society, and on searching for love while not being sure one is worthy of it rang true to my experiences.

As always, Wiley's use of word-play and imagery is striking--in  "Exective Functioning" she says "my truffle/ pig brain broke her teather/ again/ and wandered off to unearth some/ sweetly moldering dopamine." which is a feeling I'm all too familiar with (your author said...as it took her months to actually complete a proper review for this book). Her voice and attitude shines through, and as a reader I root for her (the point in her journey when she clearly found a good therapist was a high point to me). While I found the majority of the poems in this collection extremely readable and evocative, I didn't connect as much on a personal level as I did with the work in Nothing Is Okay. Which is fine! I'd still recommend this because aside from the joy of watching her wield words as both shields and weapons, there is also a lot in this work that hits on a more universal experience.

"Are you there, Satan? It's me, Madison" - CBR13 #3 - Damned by Chuck Palahniuk

 Thirteen-year-old Madison Spencer--the chubby,  precocious, pampered daughter of two of Hollywood's brightest stars--discovers one day that she has died (of a marijuana overdose, of all things!) and is now in Hell. Hell, as it turns out, is just as gross as one would expect but significantly more boring. Determined to make the best of it, Madison finds some equally damned friends and begins her quest for something that perhaps resembles meaning?

As with all Chuck Palahniuk books, I'm not entirely sure whether I liked it. It was super weird, obviously. The premise started out weird and definitely spiraled out from there. However, that's really to be expected with any of his books. There are some sections with sexual content that actively squicked me out, so be warned.

I liked the character of Madison a lot. Her voice was strong, though I sometimes struggled to remember that she's supposed to be 13 (she comments a lot on her own vocabulary use, reminding the reader often that she is THIRTEEN not STUPID). While I enjoyed her pop culture references, there was a certain part of me who found the whole thing a bit unbelievable for someone her age. 

All of Palahniuk's usual quirks were present: repetition, gross-outs, unexpected twists, playing with familiar tropes, an unreliable narrator--and I liked them just as much as I usually do. I'm pretty sure that Chuck Palahniuk is one of those authors whom readers either REALLY LIKE or REALLY DON'T and there's not a whole lot of grey area in between.

While on the whole there was nothing particularly "new" here, there were some sections that really spoke to me, especially a chapter in which Madison deals with the collapse of her own image of herself. Her musings on what to do when it turns out the persona you've built and invested in over the course of years is suddenly shown to be inaccurate were super relevant to me.

I also love The Breakfast Club more than is reasonable, so when she collects a princess, a nerd, an athlete, and a criminal I may have cheered just a little bit.

On the whole, I'd say that this is probably not a book I'd recommend to someone who doesn't know already whether they like Palahniuk (for that, I'd probably point them toward Survivor or perhaps Fight Club) but I definitely would say I'm glad I read it.

CBR13 #2 - A Book of Luminous Things - Edited by Czesław Miłosz

 I don't think I've read a poetry anthology since college -- and even then, I mostly just read the poems we were studying and ignored both the commentary and all the other poems. A Norton Anthology of Poetry can be a very intimidating book, after all.

I didn't actually intend to read one this time, either. However, I happened to come across a poem by Eastern European poet Czesław Miłosz which I liked, and when I googled him I discovered he'd edited this anthology. I figured it might be nice to branch out and experience some new poets, so I picked it up.

When I started reading, I really appreciated what Miłosz had to say about the poems, why he'd included them, and how they related to each section of the anthology. He had some really great stuff to say about how poets over the centuries relate to nature, and why he like and had selected each poem. The selection leaned pretty heavily on Eastern European and ancient Chinese poets, but since I really like EE poetry and don't have a lot of experience with ancient Chinese poetry, I figured that would be a nice broadening experience.

After a while, I began to wonder if maybe Miłosz should have just done an anthology of Chinese poetry instead.

Still, I read on.

Then there came the chapter entitled "Women's Skin" which was ostensibly about women. 

Except only maybe a third of the poems were BY women. And of those that were, Miłosz was...somewhat uncomplimentary? As I read, I began to get a very distinct feeling that Miłosz was not super fond of women, or very interested in their work. His little descriptions and notes about the poems felt almost snide in their dismissiveness. 

After that, while I finished the book, I no longer trusted or appreciated Miłosz's observations.

It's a shame because I really did enjoy some of the poems. I probably would still even enjoy Miłosz's poems, but there are other places to find those. 

I would not recommend this book -- if you're interested in Chinese poetry from the 700s, you could probably find an anthology by a Chinese author that would be better, same with the modern Eastern European poets. 

CBR13 #1 - Psychedelicate: The Luckiest Guy Alive by John Cooper Clarke

 So it's been a while, but it's never too late to try and get back into the swing of things. Every year is a new opportunity to try and do the Cannonball Read.

I started out with a book by British poet John Cooper Clarke. I've seen Clarke several times as the Dictionary Corner guest on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and I always really enjoy him. It took me a while to get one of his books, though, since it seems that his focus is mostly in spoken word performance rather than published work. This turns out to make a lot of sense because his poetry absolutely BEGS to be read aloud. There is something about his word choices and the way he strings them together that I find extremely enticing. 

The poem above, for example--the sound of the line "A rather dissolute but not yet destitute suit" and the way those words work together, combined with the repetition of the "oot" sound throughout is fantastic. Briscoe was not as impressed with my renditions--I will admit that my attempts at Clarke's accent were a massive failure--but I found speaking the words out loud really enhanced my experience.

Not all the poems are as good as this, of course. There are one or two that read as mildly homophobic or transphobic (nothing outright, really, but I noticed regardless) and some that I maybe don't get because they're more specific to Britain. However, for the most part, I enjoyed this little book quite a lot. His sense of humor is biting and slightly dark, which suits me right down to the ground, and his way of playing with language is just...fun.

On the whole, I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys modern poetry, though I'd also suggest searching out some recordings of him performing his own work as well, since that's the way it's really meant to be consumed.

I'll end with one of his haikus:

No 1

To freeze the moment

In seventeen syllables

Is very diffic

CBR11 #5: The Darkness on the Edge of Town - You Might Forget The Sky Was Ever Blue by Michael Chin

First of all, I have to admit that this review is probably going to be a little biased because the author happens to be a friend of mine. I've known Mike for twenty-three years (Jesus, really?) since I was fourteen. We went to nerd camp together -- a total of nine weeks over the course of three years. We took writing classes together and wrote letters during the off-season (yes letters! On paper!) A character in his first published work was based on and named after me, a fact that still, nearly twenty years later, inordinately pleases me. I like the guy. Lucky for me, I also have always liked his work. From those early stories to his blog, of which I am a Constant Reader, he's always had a way with words and a unique view on the world. This book doesn't disappoint.

You Might Forget The Sky Was Ever Blue is a series of vaguely related short stories which mostly take place in a rotting town in upstate New York called Shermantown. It's one of those places which used to have a factory, but now it doesn't, and the people who stay there are still not sure how to move on. It's the kind of place where people in diners get interviewed about why they voted for Trump, and the words "economic insecurity" will probably come up, which is both accurate and not. I know this kind of place because I grew up in one. As the stories unfold, Shermantown becomes a character in them, creeping around the edges of nearly every story.

I think I'd probably say my favorite was the first piece in the book, called "Prophecy," which is the story of an elementary school teacher and his wife. It's hard to pin down what it's about, exactly. It's more a feeling of rising tension and the thought that something might happen. Many of the stories are like that--tension that builds uncomfortably. Some resolve. Some don't. The characters aren't all likable, and they don't necessarily make good decisions. Nearly all of them are sad in some way, and the characters who aren't sad are frankly a bit suspicious. There were some stories where I wished there could be more. There were one or two where I was very, very glad when they ended. There are thoughts about family, and friendships, though the families are off-kilter and the friendships (and relationships) seem to be rotting along with the town.

To be honest, this style of work is not really my jam. I prefer my fiction funny, full of monsters, or ideally both. These stories weren't dark, but they were a deceptively sharp knife which cut just a little too close to the bone for me. I was deeply impressed with the careful, deliberate way they were put together, but I'm not sure I'd say I "enjoyed" them. It's a bit like the way I feel about movies occasionally--there are some films that I watch, and can say "That movie was beautiful, deep, and moving...but I don't think I want to watch it again." I appreciate the craftsmanship that went into them, the way the descriptions were so clear, the characters so deftly defined with just a few words. I'm glad I read it and would encourage anyone else who has an interest in literary fiction to buy it (or demand your library buy it) because it's so worth reading.

CBR11 #4:Pretending to Care - The Pretenders (Cemetery Girl #1) by Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden

I wanted to like this, but...I just didn't. I don't know if it was too short, or whether it would have more appeal for a YA audience, but I was just kind of bored.

 Calexa Rose finds herself dumped in a graveyard, with no memory of her identity, and only the knowledge that someone tried to kill her. She can also see ghosts. She makes herself at home in the cemetery, trying to hide out from whomever tried to kill her, while attempting to find out who she is. She steals some stuff. She develops uncomfortable friendships with some old people. She spends a lot of time running around, leaping over stuff, and wearing a veil. One night, she witnesses a crime. Then she has to decide what to do about what she saw. Can she manage to see that justice is done without exposing herself? The antagonist characters are extremely one-dimensional, as well as kind of stupid. Their motivations don't really make any sense. And while this is in theory a ghost story, there was only one ghost, and even she was boring. How does a cemetery only have ONE restless ghost? Maybe the format doesn't allow for much expansion, and I should have waited for an omnibus, rather than reading this book as a stand-alone, but it did nothing for me. The art was fine, but nothing stunning or particularly unusual. I really like both Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden's other work, so this was a major disappointment.

CBR11 #3 - Fat Girl Finishing School by Rachel Wiley

I need to preface this by saying I did really like Fat Girl Finishing School. Because I think my review is going to sound like I didn't, but that's not the case.

If I had found this book first, I'd probably be in love with it. Rachel Wiley's work is intense, personal, and her poems--specifically those about being a fat woman--strike a very strong chord with me. Unfortunately, I read Nothing is Okay first, which spoiled this a bit. In comparison, FGFS seems a bit unpolished. The poems are good, but seem to still be struggling with style. I didn't find them to be as strikingly specific. Some of them feel like very very good class assignments. They're great, but not not transcendent the way NIO is.

I'd recommend reading this, just because it does contain some real gems, and because I think it shows the clear progression and development that happened in between Fat Girl Finishing School and Nothing Is Okay.

CBR11 #2 - YES. THIS. -- Nothing is Okay by Rachel Wiley

I have a confession to make: I am a monster. No, not the kind who stampedes through Tokyo (though #goals) or the kind that lurks outside your window at night. I am dog-earer. I know, a shiver ran up the spine of book lovers everywhere--I could feel you all cringing. I know, it's a bad habit. But when I read (poetry especially) I like to be able to mark the page where I found something really striking, so I can double back and find it later. When it comes to my books, a turned down corner means "HERE! THERE'S SOMETHING IMPORTANT HERE!"

I'm telling you this dirty secret of mine so that you'll understand what it means when I say that by the time I got through Nothing Is Okay, nearly every other page had a bent corner. Some were bent over twice because there was something valuable to me on both sides of a single page.

I discovered Rachel Wiley after someone posted a video of her performing her poem "Ten Honest Thoughts On Being Loved By A Skinny Boy," and I knew immediately that I had to have more.

These poems are personal and specific, but speak to the broader experience of existing as a woman in today's society. They are by turns hilarious and heart-wrenching, sometimes both at the same time. I laughed out loud at many examples of her dating travails (as a fellow Tinderer, the Rejection Letter poems were a delight) and also cried when faced with "Letter to My Cat," knowing (because I follow her IG like a weirdo) that Clementine passed away last year. Wiley's turn of phrase makes every poem shine, and the way she opens up her own emotional wounds for inspection makes this book feel very intimate. It's a bottle of wine with the funny, empathetic, strong bestie we all wish we had. My absolute favorites were the poems which touched on existing as a fat woman in today's society. "Fat Joke" was a stiletto straight to my heart, and I want to staple a copy to the forehead of...everyone, pretty much.  I don't have the experiences to compare, but I imagine for those who identify as biracial and/or queer, there will be a lot of that same "YES. THIS. I KNOW THIS FEEL." with her poems which touch on those aspects of her life.

So to sum up: buy this book. Buy her other book, Fat Girl Finishing School (which I will be reviewing as soon as it arrives). Go see her perform if she's in your city. Tell your friends. You won't be disappointed.

CBR9 #5 Borgin Keep by Ron Ripley

I've read the entire Berkeley Street series, as well as the Haunted series, and I think this was definitely one of the better offerings. This time, former Marine Shane and his slowly growing band of willing (and unwilling) ghost hunting allies face their biggest challenge yet. While the ghosts of Borgin Keep are both very dangerous and very evil, Shane also must keep one step ahead of The Watchers, a ruthless and powerful organization who find him to be a threat to their shadowy goals.

As always, for me the best part are the characters. Shane and his ghost-hunting partner Frank (a former soldier/former monk) are joined once again by police detective Marie LaFontaine, who is a very tough woman determined to avenge a dead friend. I'm not as fond of Shane's girlfriend Courtney, but I understand her uses as far as character development.

The plot moves along quickly, and I found this book a little better fleshed out than a few of the previous ones in the series -- while I enjoyed Lake Nutaq and Slater Mill, I also found them just the slightest bit procedural. Borgin Keep has raised the stakes for Shane and for his friends. 

I also enjoyed, as usual, the epilogue chapters which give some details about the history of the ghosts in house. Since my favorite part of most ghost stories are the researching bits wherein the heroes find out who the ghosts are and what motivates them, these bonus chapters are a real treat.
This is a great read, but definitely requires reading the rest of the series in order to understand it.

CBR9 #4: Missing People: Disturbing Stories From The Last 100 Years: People That Disappeared Without A Trace by Roger P. Mills

I am a big fan of true crime books, and normally I'm pretty forgiving about the occasional typo or incorrect word, but this book unfortunately didn't make up in content what it lacked in style.

The book covered what could have been interesting ground, including the missing Malaysian Air flight, the Sodder family fire, and several other disappearances from both recent times and the distant past. However, none of them were covered with any depth, and it seemed clear that the author did not do any of his own research. These were basically brief summaries of the cases, sometimes with the addition of bizarre conspiracy theories as to what may have happened to the missing people. 

In addition, I found the tone perhaps too conversational for the subject matter. While I don't mind a slightly less formal tone (M William Phelps's work comes to mind) I found this to be uneven and distracting. 

I would also agree with other reviewers who complained that this ebook was only about 60% Missing People, and about 40% previews for the author's other two books, one about Ouija Boards and one about Bigfoot. (I didn't read those, so I can't vouch for their quality.)

On the whole, I'd give this book a pass.

CBR7 #1: NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Cannonball Read #7 has BEGUN!

My first book is Joe Hill's NOS4A2, which was received as a gift in the CBR Book Exchange this year. I was extremely excited, because I've been hearing really good things about this book, and I really enjoyed Hill's Heart Shaped Box.

The main character in the story is Victoria McQueen, called Vic by some, and The Brat to her father. She discovers one day that she has the ability to slip through space to find things, driven to wherever she wants to go by crossing over an old wooden bridge. Usually, she uses it to find items people have lost, but one day when she's a teenager, she uses it to go looking for trouble. As it always has, the bridge takes her to exactly what she asked for. What she finds on the other side is another person who also has a way to slip in and out of the world, but his activities are not as benign as Vic's. Although she manages to escape from Charlie Manx when she's seventeen, the rest of her life will turn on what happened that day.

Thus begins a tale that spans more than a decade and criss-crosses the country. I was very caught up in Vic's life, and really liked and identified with the character. She had a tough but vulnerable voice, and I was anxious to find out what would happen to her. I also liked the supporting cast quite a bit--her boyfriend Lou was a wonderful, gentle giant of a character, about whom I was constantly worried. Her son Wayne was also interesting in a quiet, self-contained sort of way. Maggie Leigh was wonderful, and I was sorry she didn't get more time.The villain and his henchman were both deeply creepy, though I would have liked just a bit more back-story about Manx.

The plot moved along pretty quickly, and at no point did I find the book dragging. It was quite a page-turner, and I was happy to be along for the ride.

Hill is obviously deeply influenced by his father's work (his father being Stephen King), but he has his own unique voice, and has managed to take a lot of the things I love about King (his relatable characters, clever use of language, creative ideas) and put his own spin on them. He has also managed to come up with a solid ending, for which I was grateful.

On the whole, I liked this a lot, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys creepy stories.

A note: read to the end. Don't forget the note on the typeface...I know they're usually boring, but this one isn't.

CBR6 #16: Dead Sea by Tim Curran

I really wanted to like this book. It seems like it should be right up my alley: maritime disaster? Check. Horror? Check. Survival on the high seas and the idea that the other survivors are the real danger? Check and check.

And yet...

The premise was great -- a ship taking a construction crew to South American travels into a thick, mysterious fog and emerges in a place that is very clearly not right. The fog seems almost alive -- and very unfriendly. Plus, it's full of creatures that shouldn't exist, and ships that aren't where they belong.

There were some great characters, too. The first mate, the cook, the undercover corporate spy -- all smart, interesting characters with solid voices. There was a good, love-to-hate human antagonist as well as the unknown fog monster. There was even a tough, capable female character. I liked the parts where characters discovered the history of some of the ships that had ended up in this place. All that was great.

The problem was that the story dragged significantly in the middle. Although I understood the desire to ratchet up the tension by leaving the characters adrift, I got awfully frustrated after a while watching the same situation play out repeatedly in each lifeboat. Something scary would happen, but then it would just go back to waiting and watching, and I would pray again that the separate groups would finally find one another so that something of interest could happen. Once they did combine, the ending rocketed on to a somewhat satisfying conclusion, but by then I was barely managing to keep interested.

I think this book might have benefitted from some solid editing. The story was rich and interesting, the characters had real potential, and there were some genuine scares that kept me up a night or two. There was just too MUCH of everything.

CBR6 #15: Joyland by Stephen King

Although I love his massive epics like IT and The Stand, I think where Stephen King shines the most is in his shorter fiction. At 283 pages, Joyland is comparatively short, but it allows the story to unfold in a more focused way, and avoids some of the bloated tangents that--though I love them--can make the longer works drag a little.

Devon Jones gets his heart broken, and on a whim decides to leave Maine spend the summer of his 21st year working at a small amusement park in the south called Joyland. As he learns the ways of the carnies--figuring how how to speak their lingo, keep the "rubes" in their places, "wear the fur," and "sell fun"--he also discovers the dark secret of the park--the unsolved murder of a young woman in the haunted house years before, who rumors say haunts the ride. Devon spends the summer saving lives and waiting for the predictions of the park's local psychic to come true. When fall comes, a chill will fall across Joyland, and Devon will be lucky if can survive it.

This was a first person story, and the character of Devon had a wonderful, clear voice. He was wry, self-deprecating, and interesting, and his narration moved the plot along. The side characters were interesting and fairly well fleshed-out, and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen to them. The ending was also much better than I expected, it being a King book and all ;)

I'd recommend this to any King fan, and even those who may think they don't like his work should try it. It's more murder mystery/coming-of-age tale than a horror book, despite the occasional ghostly visit or psychic flash.

If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out www.cannonballread.com for more great book reviews.

CBR6 #14: The Drought by Patricia Fulton

Yes, I am in fact alive. Some things in my life went totally pear-shaped there for a while, but it has not stopped me from reading. (I can't say it's done anything for my motivation to write about what I'm reading, but that's sort of a lingering issue anyway.)

Jared Riley knows something is wrong in his hometown of Junction, Texas. His mother's headaches are getting worse, one of his good friends disappeared down a drainpipe, and the temperature seems to have taken on a mind of its own, bent on destroying the town and everyone in it. People are losing their minds, and strange things are happening. It's up to a small group of concerned citizens to figure out what's happening and try to stop it before it's too late.

I liked this book a lot. The characters all felt reasonably realistic, and I was interested in their stories and anxious to find out what would happen to them (though in some cases the answer would be "nothing good.") The plot moved along, though I felt there was a little drag in the middle while the characters were trying to put all the pieces together. I really wanted them to hurry up and combine forces.

On the whole, this was a good read that utilized atmosphere, description, and suspense really effectively, while letting the personalities of the characters shine through and do the heavy lifting of the story. I'll definitely check out any further works from this author!

Also, if you like book reviews, you should check out The Cannonball Read blog, which is full of much better reviews than my sad little output here.

CBR6 #13: Haunted House by John Kilborn

I made it! A quarter Cannonball done... halfway to my low-bar goal for the year!

I didn't realize that this was a sequel to several other books by Jack Kilborn until after I was well into it, but that didn't keep me from enjoying the story (it just made me want to go find those books now, too!)

A group of people who had survived horrors almost beyond imagining (in Kilborn's other books, I assume) receive an invitation to participate in a scientific experiment regarding the nature of fear. Some are hesitant, some are enthusiastic, but most are unable to resist the draw of the rewards--both of cash and the potential to rid themselves of their crippling fear. Unfortunately, the experiment begins to go awry, and the survivors find themselves fighting for their lives once again, this time against entities that don't even know the meaning of fear.

I really liked the characters in this book, particularly the tough detective and the foul-mouthed dominatrix. I found myself really rooting for them all, and the tension when their were in danger kept me on the edge of my seat. The plot moved along fairly quickly, though I felt like there was some drag between the invitations being sent and the survivors arriving at the house. However, there were some interesting plot twists that I didn't see coming, and I really enjoyed the whole thing. In fact, I was so invested in what happened that I broke my own rule and finished the book at home, rather than waiting for my daily commute!

I'd recommend this one to people who like well-written horror, and plan to find the books that come before (and after) this one soon!

CBR6 #12: Eerie by Blake Crouch

I wanted to like this book, and it definitely did have redeeming features, but on the whole I was disappointed.

The story is that of Grant Moreton, detective and alcoholic, and his sister Paige, the family's black sheep. Paige has gotten herself more in-over-her-head than usual, and it's up to Grant to help bail her out. Except there's something evil under Paige's bed, and...

Yeah, it all sounded good in set-up, and the story definitely did have some moments of creepiness. The characters of Grant and Paige were both likeable and believable. Unfortunately, the story itself--and the conclusion in particular--wasn't nearly as interesting as it could have been. In my opinion, the author wasted the tension and atmosphere he'd been building with a flimsy and borderline nonsensical explanation. There were plot threads that led off to nowhere, and I just found myself deeply unsatisfied.

CBR6 #11: The Home by Scott Nicholson

Freeman Mills is a troubled kid. After bouncing around through a variety of foster homes and institutions, he finds himself at Wendover, yet another home. Unfortunately for Freeman, Wendover has a lot of secrets. Most of them are unpleasant. Some of them are dead. And for a kid with ESP, all of them are dangerous.

I liked this book a lot. It was part of a bundle I picked up via Kindle for $.99, and I didn't have a lot of expectations about what I'd be getting. The Home turned out to be a gripping little surprise. I enjoyed Freeman -- his voice and ways of thinking about things were great, and as a Clint Eastwood fan, I was particularly pleased by his attempts to live his life according to The Man With No Name's ethos. The characters of Vicky (Freeman's bulimic friend) and Starlene (a naive counselor at the home) were also empathetic and interesting. In general I found the protagonists relatable and intriguing. The antagonists were unfortuantely not as well fleshed out -- although the warden of the home was more detailed than the rest, I felt that some of the other "bad guys" were a bit two-dimensional.

The plot moved along at a reasonable clip, and I appreciated some of the narrative twists. I would have liked a little more background on the ghosts, but I think that's just a personal thing for me.

On the whole I found this to be a decent little horror book, and am interested to read more of the author's work.

CBR6 #10: The Colony by F. G. Cottam

In 1825, the colony of settlers on New Hope Island--a barren rock just off the coast of Scotland--disappeared. Not a trace was ever found of them or of their charismatic leader, a former British slaver who found God and moved to the island for a chance to freely practice his own form of religion.

In 1934, a crofter named David Shanks moved to the island and built a cabin. He wasn't there long before he took a film that showed something deeply unsettling--he left the island never to return.

Now, in modern day, newspaper mogul Alexander McIntyre is forming a group to investigate the island for a series of exclusive features for his newspaper. He's got a virologist, an anthropologist, a celebrity scientist, and a psychic, as well as reporters and his own pet detective. It's bound to be the story of decade--perhaps the century!--and he sends a small security force to protect the island and keep his scoop safe.

Unfortunately, things at that point start to go wrong. McIntyre doesn't realize what he's gotten himself into, nor does he know that he's about to find out what really happened on "No Hope" Island, and it will turn out that he will wish he'd never asked.

This was a great, atmospheric, spooky book. The characters were well drawn, and I found most of them quite sympathetic, particularly alcoholic detective Lassiter and feisty reporter Lucy Church. I enjoyed the plot for the most part--once again, Cottam has done a great job of pulling together the history of a haunting, forcing the characters to search for the source and reveal it a piece at a time throughout the story. However, there was a point in the middle where I felt it dragged quite a bit. There was a very long section about the team preparing to go to the island, but I felt like they should have arrived earlier and spent more time there.

For the most part, I liked this a lot, and thought it was a very well-done ghost story.

CBR6 #9: Paradise Denied by John L. French

I am going to admit up front that the only reason I decided to read this is that it was available on Kindle for free. I was on the train and out of reading material, and this didn't look entirely terrible. Also: FREE.

I got lucky this time.

Normally, I don't like short stories. Often the medium leaves me frustrated and unfulfilled. The stories end before I'm ready to leave them, or they simply don't capture my attention because they're working too hard to cram in too much. However, this collection of paranormal short stories by former Baltimore CSI John French was about fifty times better than I expected it to be. The stories were all well-written and interesting, and several were also very funny.

French's background in crime scene investigation was often evident in his stories of police or detectives faced with the supernatural, including one in which a confidential informant dies, is resurrected in order to give his testimony...and then manages to escape from the morgue to wander the streets. There's stories of vampires, faeries, and zombies mixed in with tales of detectives trying to solve their cases. When the world's dead rise, what are their legal rights, and who can they turn to to solve their murders? Who is peddling dangerous magical drugs on the streets, and what's their motive? How far should a detective go to unmask a local super-hero, when the motive is pure politics?

The characters in each story were distinctive and interesting, and while each story was satisfying in itself, I definitely would have been happy to follow any of the main characters along into other pieces.

On the whole, this was a fantastic book for a paranormal fan who also has a functional brain.

CBR6 #8: Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto

Nic Pizzolatto's Galveston is not an especially plot-driven book. It's more a character study focused on one man, and how his decisions during a specific period in his life echo across the years.

Roy Cady is not a good guy. He works as a heavy for an even worse guy, and one day he gets the sense that his usefulness has come to an end. Unfortunately for everyone else involved, Roy's just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has absolutely nothing left to lose. He manages to escape the situation, but finds himself burdened with a teenage prostitute and no plan for the future.

This book is dark, and it is also quite violent. It's also well-written, gripping, and surprisingly optimistic about the possibility for redemption and change. I liked it, but I'm not sure I'd ever want to read it again.