Wednesday, January 28, 2009

They Hunger by Scott Nicholson

Great easy read. Many different plots going on. Loose in the woods is a psychopath and his girlfriend who have been going across the country bombing abortion clinics because he believes it is God's will. Two FBI agents looking for the bomber and his girlfriend and a group of extreme sports figures going white water rafting to help a company promote their new line of rafts. FBI agents walk into a trap the bomber has set which blows a big hole in the Earth and releases creatures that have lived there for years, and they are hungry lol. Sounds corny I know, but it was fun to read.

4 stars

Acid Row by Minette Walters

I am trying to catch up on all the books of hers I missed. Story of a neighborhood in London, Bassindale Estates, or Acid Row as its occupants call it. Housed there are junkies, alcoholics, social outcasts basically. Things get out of control when a convicted sex offender is placed in one of the houses and word leaks out to the residents on the Row. A simple march to get him out leads to an insane mob, murder, castration, fires, beatings, and death. A doctor who treats patients on Acid Row answers a simple call for help and ends up being held hostage and in the middle of a situation that is beyond every one's control. Very interesting look at society and the roles it plays in people's situations, how a misinformed public can turn into an outraged mob, and how even the evil can become good in the midst of certain circumstances.

5 stars

The Sculpress by Minette Walters

I really like her books because as soon as you are sure you figured it out it takes a huge twist and you are wrong. Wasn't too impressed with this one. A woman who's daughter is killed while out driving with her father is asked to write a book on a woman in prison known as The Sculptress. She killed her mother and sister and brutally mutilated them, admitted her guilt, pled guilty and went to prison but did she really do it? The Sculptress gets inside the author's mind and under her skin while she pursues leads because she now thinks that the woman is innocent.

4 stars

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Best of 2008

So here are my picks for the best of 2008 from what I read:

Child 44 - beast debut

Water for Elephants - best shocker ending

East of Eden - best classic

The Thirteenth Tale and Season of the Witch - best Gothic fiction

The Shadow Year - best book to make you feel like a kid

Beasts by Joyce Carole Oates - best quick read

The Monster of Florence - Best Non Fiction

The Hour I First Believed - Most eagerly awaited book that sucked

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - Most Depressing book of 2008

Pig Island by Mo Hayder

This was a pretty different mystery than the usual mystery genre books. Plot kept moving, very fast paced. I was forgetting who some of the characters were there were so many. However, I am a huge huge fan of The Devil of Nanking by Hayder and the plot twist/dropped bomb at the end of that book left me speechless; it was like a hard blow to the stomach. I could not read another book for about 5 months it affected me so much. The twist in Island? Mundane at best.

3.5 stars