Review: Hydra (Six Stories #2)

4 stars. I’m addicted to these books. I mentioned in my review of Six Stories that this is my kind of horror and holy shit has that been confirmed. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into more of these incredibly fun, clever, creepy, twisty stories. Could honestly be adapted into podcast form IMO, or maybe found footage documentary style? I’d watch.

In Hydra, Scott King tackles not a whodunnit but a why/howdunnit, exploring the case of a young woman who murdered her whole family with a hammer in 2014. He interviews her, her old friends, ex-acquaintances, and people with whom she crossed paths at some point before the massacre. Slowly he untangles the many theories about the case to reveal some scary secrets and her possible motive for the crime… along with those still actively trying to hide the truth.

Oooooooh yeah. Did I mention the urban legends? We’ve got BEKs, the Elevator Game, Japanese ghost conjurings… it’s all the good stuff. More deeply, it deftly comments on things like gender, religious fanaticism, fame, fan culture, cancel culture, social media, tabloid media, the dark web, trolling and doxxing and oh yeah, Twitter and FB are called out by name.

As in the first book, the author also convincingly - horrifyingly - writes about the agony of coming of age, and the sad, sometimes fatal, reality of bullying and teenage dynamics. I just really admire the boldness of the writing about that sort of thing as it rings really… tragically, true.

Okay, so I figured it out before the 6th story. But I fucking loved it just the same. Don’t sleep on this series - it’s like a bowl of delicious popcorn that I can’t stop munching. On to the next and I couldn’t be more excited. OBSESSED!!!!

Hydra on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Six Stories (Six Stories #1)

4 stars. This is my kind of horror - interesting format, solid premise, folklore, one POV/character per chapter, a sprinkle of the supernatural, a satisfying twist, a promise (threat?) of more possibilities... right up my alley. After finishing, I wanted to buy the rest of the books in the series immediately, which hasn't happened in a very long time.

Six Stories is presented as podcast transcripts, with each chapter as a different episode. In each one, the host interviews a person connected with a crime - or potentially non-crime - that happened many years ago... connected with the discovery of a teenager's body in Scarclaw Fell. Tracing several theories and diving into the history of the area, as well as the victim's character and background through interviews with his "friends," we as readers are treated to an excellent mystery, captivating thriller, spooky horror, etc. etc. etc.

I love horror for so many reasons. Horror has an obsession with the past, because it often intersects with or drives a narrative motive (revenge I guess, mostly?). In this case each character gets to recall and analyze their memories of a seriously traumatic event with an almost In the Woods level of detail. I loved the creeping dread, the slow unveiling of each character's character, the look backward knowing we'll see something there. The nature of the twist made me want to read it again.

Horror also uses dark subject matter to examine and/or make the story about something else. Murder is dark. Being a teenager? Horrific. I'm really impressed with how the author managed to paint a picture of a typical teenage - squad, as the kids say (or maybe they don't anymore), and dive into the dynamics so vividly and, to me, realistically. The blundering eagerness... the crushes... the cruelty... *shudders*

I've seen a few reviews poke at this for being inspired by (or so similar to) the podcast Serial, which is back in the news after essentially changing the trajectory of a man's life in the system. In this case I think any criticism is unwarranted. The author does nothing to hide his references - in fact, he highlights them. He mentions Serial right in the text. This is not a rip-off. It's a loving tribute, and better than its parent as a neat, fictional, vehicle of entertainment.

Fuck it, I'm buying the rest of the series. Sorry, wallet. I gave this 4 stars because I see its potential - it could've gone down a little smoother - and I have a feeling the series only gets better. All hail spooky.

Six Stories on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: The Chestnut Man

4 stars, though I toggled a bit between 3 and 4. This is exactly what it says it is: a Scandinavian crime thriller by the creator of a successful crime TV show. It smells like that, tastes like that, feels like that, reads like that. So if you're in the mood, look no further. I really enjoyed it, but... I am coming out of one of the worst reading slumps I've ever experienced, so it took me ages and ages to get beyond the first 10%. I ended up starting over. I don't regret it. It is what it is.

The Chestnut Man follows the investigators (as well as the investigation-adjacent, and occasionally the victims - mulitple POV) of a series of horrific murders in Copenhagan. We immediately see how the victims are connected but not exactly why or how. The killer always seems one step ahead and just when we feel safe, boom, another twist. It's a typical crime thriller and an absolute page-turner. Excited to check out the adaptation.

A couple of weird things: some of the threads go nowhere. Some of the characters seem overwritten and even in a few places the direction of the plot feels off or unpolished. It 100% reads like a screenplay. The identity of the killer was completely ridiculous... in a good way? Who cares. It delivers what it promises, I think. I miss Copenhagen in all its gloomy, chilly, coldheartedness.

The Chestnut Man on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Dead Silence

4 stressed out stars. That was intense. I'm glad I own this book, because I'd love to read it again, or maybe force it on my husband so I can talk about it with someone. I have to say I kind of guessed where it was going halfway through, but no worries - the final act is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire into a worse fire and then back into the frying pan again. You've been warned: this blend of sci-fi, horror and thriller is not for the faint of heart.

Dead Silence meets up with the crew of a ragtag repair team on their final mission before the inevitable replacement by machines. Claire, their capable but distant team lead, is our protagonist - deliciously unreliable with tons of trauma to drive the plot. Not thrilled at the thought of returning to a desk job on Earth, she jumps at the chance to extend their job a little longer and check out a mysterious emergency beacon in uncharted territories. Here's what ensues: haunted space Titanic. Who could resist?

Not me, as I plowed through this in 2 days. What I loved: the premise, the spooky sequences, the characters, the world-building and the "system," for lack of a better word, by which Claire was haunted. Her arc was especially satisfying and felt realistic for a survivor once again put in a life-or-death situation. I also loved that not every question was answered; a refreshing choice for someone who believes that sometimes the blank spots should stay blank.

What I didn't love: the romance, the wordiness, the repetition of Claire "shoving thoughts or feelings down" (also Kane and his arm folding - nobody caught this?? It was used 50+ times), a slight... juvenile tone to the writing, which is ridiculous considering the content, but ehhhh that's just my reaction. Maybe the action sequences got a little OTT. I get weirdly triggered by space worlds because I thought the authors of The Expanse books were so arrogant about it, but this one was okay... barely. I also wasn't a fan of the epilogue, but I'm not a fan of epilogues in general. 

Maybe just ignore me. All of those elements are about me, not about the book. Maybe it was just overhyped and I went in with unreasonable expectations. Either way, I highly, highly recommend this and hope it gets adapted one day - I want to fucking see the insanity unfold before my eyes. Truly incredible reading experience. 

Dead Silence on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: The Shining Girls

4 stars. I've spent a lot of time reading about this book, and reading other reviews, because reactions seem to be a bit all over the place. It happens when a book gets a lot of hype, and transcends genre (the sci-fi lovers want more sci fi, the literary lovers want less violence, etc etc etc), or if it's simply marketed incorrectly. In fact I'm even having a difficult time measuring my own reaction to this admittedly fantastic book - trying to figure out what I expected versus what I wanted versus what the book was trying to achieve.

My instinct is to say that I loved it. It captured me. It kept my attention. I rooted for the characters. I basked in the historical details - I learned so much about Chicago. I enjoyed the writing. I admired the premise. I appreciated the wry and witty humor that helped lift such a dark, violent story. I read this in a busy bar on a Friday evening and couldn't be distracted. The sci-fi lover in me didn't worry about explanations, or easy answers. I didn't mind the violence or find it gratuitous or without purpose. I respected the exploration of the trauma and tragedy and being female.

So I think I'd recommend it. It's incredibly entertaining. I can't wait to watch the adaptation (they better not fuck it up!). But please, for the love of god or the sky or the earth or my heart or whatever it is you'd like to invoke in this moment - read the TWs, and maybe even skip entirely the chapter about Kirby's attack. I damn near had a panic attack before bed one night. I fucking skimmed the whole thing and was still hyperventilating, holding back sobs. It's a brutal dog scene and even though I knew what to look out for it really got me. Really got me.

Moving on before I start crying, my only other complaint would be that it ended too soon!! I would've loved a longer epilogue after the climax. I'm desperate to find out where these characters ended up! I'm not a sucker for this sort of thing usually, but I am Team Dan 100%. He's super, super cute and heroic.

I dunno. I don't want to think about this too hard, although it's probably too late for that. Sometimes a book is just entertaining, and that's enough. It didn't change my life or anything, but I enjoyed it. That's it, the end, 4 stars, bye.

The Shining Girls on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: All the Old Knives

4 stars. This was fun! A perfect pageturner with nice, short chapters and a satisfying spy thriller edge. I've never read anything by this author, but it caught my eye after seeing the trailer for the adaptation. If you love bottle episodes, ex-lover angst, a super zoomed-in version of politics (kind of like an episode of Homeland ... obviously the world is very big and complicated and full of diverse players but somehow the whole damn thing rests on Carrie's shoulders), and predictable twists, you'll enjoy it.

Oh okay so this is about two spies, who happened to have a relationship once upon a time long ago in Vienna. But a super tragic and deadly terrorist attack pulls them apart - professionally and personally. Years and years later, they meet up in California to put the matter to rest once and for all.

Yeah, yeah. So I found it predictable. One of our main characters, Henry, is really.. truly... honestly... not a very good spy, bless his heart. I was reading the room from miles and miles away. I appreciated the effort, though, and the narrative requirement to make him a little... dumbish. It didn't actually make the story any less exciting, because I couldn't wait to get... there. You know, there. And it was awesome, and I absolutely loved the ending.

I saw a headline recently shouting that we love heist movies because they are basically competency porn. I wonder how we feel about spy novels - competency porn with a patriotic twist? Who knows, but I'm in the mood for more.

All the Old Knives on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Nine Perfect Strangers

4 stars. The basics: told in multiple POVs, Nine Perfect Strangers follows nine folks - of various backgrounds, ages, professions and idiosyncrasies - when they check into a health spa for a 10-day retreat. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, but the spa's leader, Masha, is a bit mysterious and odd. Things get weird when she reveals that they will all be subjected to a new method of transformational therapy - a "new protocol" ... one that could potentially do more harm than good.

This is going to sound kind of harsh, and I don't mean it to: the characters in this book are really messy. And I don't mean messy as in a trait, I mean messily-written. All of them are all over the place. Frances gave me actual whiplash. Characters can be complex, multifaceted, hypocritical, confused, hormonal - they can have conflicting motivations. But these particular characters lacked strong cores. I truly didn't understand any of them, and frankly wasn't quite sure why some of them even existed... looking at you, Lars!

But, importantly, I rooted for them all the same. Nine Perfect Strangers earns a lot of points for premise, short chapters, old-fashioned charm, and some truly spectacular moments. It's compelling and fun and worth a read IMO. The way Moriarty ties in weight loss - so often it's practically a theme - is brilliant (if not a little too much like being inside my own head all day every day). She's razor sharp about that sort of thing, and also very witty. I like that she explores the concept of "health" and self-improvement through each perspective; our reliance on technology; our varying ideas of perfection; our traumas; our inability to process trauma; our inability to communicate and connect honestly with others...

Anyway, this is a particular type of book for a particular type of reader. It's superficial at times but also carries a lot of emotional depth (please check TWs). It’s entertaining and a fast read. I enjoyed it and will definitely check out the adaptation. Absolutely loved the ending. Honestly every star was earned during one particularly perfect use of corporate speak. I gasped.

Nine Perfect Strangers on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: The Lost Village

4 stars. This is pretty much a perfect thriller, or at least, perfectly suited to my reading interests (Scandinavian, well-paced, super dark and super spooky). It reminded me of an elevated slasher - cinematic in tone but sophisticated in premise, execution and resolution.

The Lost Village is about a group of five filmmakers who travel to an isolated ghost town in remote Sweden to make a documentary about an old mystery: in 1959, the murdered, mutilated body of a resident was found in the center square, and all other residents of the town had disappeared. Alice, whose grandmother's family vanished along with the rest, is determined to trace her way from the past to the present and find some answers along the way. Narration alternates between the present and the past... throwing that out there because I know flashbacks are an annoyance for some readers.

I'll say upfront that I docked a star because I absolutely could not stand the protagonist (being inside her head made me itch), but I wonder if the author intentionally made her a little naive/prickly/selfish because she's more realistic that way... insecurities battling headstrong determination at every turn. I can relate to that. Something about her just didn't quite click, though. I suppose she acted when it mattered, in the end.

Beyond that, I completely admire the author's presentation of mental illness. We owe mentally ill women especially patience, time, and comprehensive, accessible care, even in fictional worlds that are often dominated by men, or by inappropriate villainizing. It's a shame that such a stigma still exists around something that causes so many so much suffering, and we should reckon with the past by doing better in the future. I'll look to authors like this for hope when I feel like I'm screaming into the void.

LOVED the atmosphere. LOVED the creepy moments and the dread - this felt full-on horror during certain moments. A story like this must go horribly wrong for the characters at some point, and the author really went there, painfully. I could barely put this down except when I needed a breather. LOVED the ending.

The Lost Village on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Chasing the Boogeyman

3 stars. Interesting! I'm not sure I would call this horror, exactly, or even a thriller... it's more like a uniquely formatted memoir/mystery. I've never read anything by Richard Chizmar before, but 10 pages in I was like ... okay, this guy loves Stephen King. And Ray Bradbury. Sure enough, he references and admires both loudly. I think that's awesome, and those authors are the absolute masters, but I wish horror authors would channel someone else every now and then, lol. It was just so obvious.

Chasing the Boogeyman is a fictional story written as though it is a new edition of a non-fiction true crime book "originally published" in the 90s about a series of murders that "take place" n the 80s. The setting, and even some of the characters, are real. The killings/circumstances are not, but that doesn't matter. It's still a strong narrative and a real pageturner. I read it in one day. Think I'll Be Gone in the Dark.

Unfortunately this didn't... really meet my expectations. It read like a slightly more elevated creepypasta, like something you'd find on r/nosleep, which isn't a bad thing, it just didn't blow me out of the water. I can't relate to the deep nostalgia Richard Chizmar felt for his childhood and adolescence, not just because I didn't grow up in a small town, but because I wasn't as, well, privileged. Bradbury admittedly looks back at the 50s with rose-tinted glasses, but at least he chose to express a profound sense of humility and gratitude over a sort of feaux-aw shucks attitude and melodramatic posturing about growing up.

Eesh, that sounds really harsh. I'm sorry! This is one of the highest rated horror books of the year, and probably deserves it for the creativity of the premise alone. The chapters about the murders were well-written - although I PICKED OUT THE KILLER ALMOST IMMEDIATELY! Why does my brain do that! I was so bummed when I found out I had been right ... I was really hoping for a better twist.

I'd better stop before I complain this into oblivion. Listen, I recommend it. I liked it! I'd like to read more by Chizmar. It's perfect for fans of King and Bradbury and true crime books. It has clever moments. I loved the pictures, as staged as they looked haha. The blending of the real and the fictional is very well done. It just didn't ... you know, thrill me.

Chasing the Boogeyman on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads

Review: Razorblade Tears

5 stars. Absolutely electrifying - about as real as it gets. These characters are not extreme caricatures - the real folks they're based on are just that extreme. Virginian born-and-raised here and I got goosebumps recognizing the divides - generational, race-based, minority-based, class-based, etc. - I have witnessed and experienced in this state all my life. To depict a story like this without using obnoxious symbolism, without stumbling over political tripwires, without leaning too much toward condemnation, without allowing even a whiff of insecurity over the subject matter... is super impressive. It's just a real book. It's a real thing, a real scenario. These characters, and these situations, exist.

Razorblade Tears is about two fathers, Ike and Buddy Lee, who have very little in common except for their homophobia and the fact that their sons were married to each other before they were shot and killed. Driven to work through their grief and regrets, the fathers set out to find answers and avenge the sons they never defended or accepted when they were alive. It's a book about masculinity, sexuality, race, fatherhood, loss, and fear, set importantly in the complicated Virginia south. It's also a damn good thriller.

S.A. Cosby writes with a sharpness I admire. Insanely painful subject matter aside, his word choices and frank sentences complement the tight pacing and wry storytelling. Razorblade Tears is incredibly cinematic and violent and touches the very heart of what has gone so wrong in this dreadful experiment that is America. It is written with deep understanding, sensitivity and respect for circumstances and context and for multifaceted characters who simmer with contradiction and hypocrisy, even sometimes with self-awareness. And with the capacity for growth.

That sounds like so much, and it is. Just like living here in today's day and age is so much. But Cosby manages to blend in just enough humor, lightness, and a satisfying crunchiness that reading this isn't without closure, or hope. Oh my god, it's so good. It just strikes me as a story that landed in the right hands at the right time and out came something painfully perfect. I cannot recommend it enough. Looking forward to the inevitable adaptation already!

Razorblade Tears on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads