Joe's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 23 Oct 2024 09:47:47 -0700 60 Joe's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Now We Run 217533310 The past comes full circle with a vengeance in this blistering thriller from Joe Hart, Wall Street Journal bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of Or Else.

Family advocate Nora McTavish is no stranger to hardship and meeting trauma head on- it's part of what drives her to fight on behalf of those in need. So when the opportunity arises to track down and confront the mother who abandoned her as a child she decides to face the past and slay her demons once and for all.

But finding her mother is only the beginning of a journey that will take her from the gorgeous Gulf of California coastline, through the unforgiving desert of northern Mexico, and back to the mountains of Oregon- all in an effort to keep a young boy safe from an abusive father with unlimited resources and a wrath without bounds.

Before long Nora will be forced to confront not only a ruthless killer hell-bent on her destruction, but also the landscape of her own ravaged heart. And only one thing is for certain- she will never be the same again.]]>
308 Joe Hart Joe 0 currently-reading 4.52 Now We Run
author: Joe Hart
name: Joe
average rating: 4.52
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/23
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<![CDATA[The Monstrumologist (The Monstrumologist, #1)]]> 8161464 A monster-hunting doctor and his apprentice face off against a plague of monsters in the first book of a terrifying series. Publishers Weekly says “horror lovers will be rapt.�These are the secrets I have kept. So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphan and assistant to a doctor with a most unusual monster hunting. In the short time he has lived with the doctor in nineteenth-century New England, Will has grown accustomed to his late-night callers and dangerous business. But when one visitor comes with the body of a young girl and the monster that was eating her, Will’s world changes forever. The doctor has discovered a baby Anthropophagus—a headless monster that feeds through a mouth in its chest—and it signals a growing number of Anthropophagi. Will and the doctor must face the horror threatening to overtake and consume the world…before it is too late. The Monstrumologist is the first stunning gothic adventure in a series that combines the terror of HP Lovecraft with the spirit of Arthur Conan Doyle.]]> 427 Rick Yancey 1439152616 Joe 5 3.75 2009 The Monstrumologist (The Monstrumologist, #1)
author: Rick Yancey
name: Joe
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/09/28
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review:
Excellent. Loved this book for the writing style and the flawed characters that were truly endearing. Short bouts of shocking horror really spiced things up in a great way. Overall a smart horror story with heart.
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Let Him Go 18399224
It’s September 1951: years since George and Margaret Blackledge lost their son James when he was thrown from a horse; months since James’s widow Lorna took off and remarried that thug Donnie Weboy. Now Margaret is steadfast, resolved to find and retrieve her grandson Jimmy—the one person in this world keeping her son’s memory alive—while George, a retired sheriff, is none too eager to stir up trouble with Donnie Weboy. Unable to sway his wife from her mission, George takes to the road with Margaret by his side, traveling through the Dakota badlands to Bentrock, Montana, in unstoppable pursuit. When Margaret tries to convince Lorna to return home to North Dakota, bringing little Jimmy with her, the Blackledges find themselves mixed up with the entire Weboy clan, a fearsome family determined not to give the boy up without a fight. From the award-winning author who gave us Montana 1948, Justice, and American Boy, Larry Watson is at his storytelling finest in this unforgettable return to the American West.
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282 Larry Watson 1571318909 Joe 5 4.10 2013 Let Him Go
author: Larry Watson
name: Joe
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2021/01/30
shelves:
review:
Newcomer to Larry Watson's work but will not shy away in the future. I saw the trailer for the film adaptation of this book and was intrigued. Gorgeous prose and well-drawn characters propel this mid-century western suspense story along to its inevitable end. Recommended!
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The Bright Lands 49703278 The town of Bentley holds two things dear: its football, and its secrets. But when star quarterback Dylan Whitley goes missing, an unremitting fear grips this remote corner of Texas.

Joel Whitley was shamed out of conservative Bentley ten years ago, and while he’s finally made a life for himself as a gay man in New York, his younger brother’s disappearance soon brings him back to a place he thought he’d escaped for good. Meanwhile, Sheriff’s Deputy Starsha Clark stayed in Bentley; Joel’s return brings back painful memories—not to mention questions—about her own missing brother. And in the high school hallways, Dylan’s friends begin to suspect that their classmates know far more than they’re telling the police. Together, these unlikely allies will stir up secrets their town has long tried to ignore, drawing the attention of dangerous men who will stop at nothing to see that their crimes stay buried.

But no one is quite prepared to face the darkness that’s begun to haunt their nightmares, whispering about a place long thought to be nothing but an urban legend: an empty night, a flicker of light on the horizon—The Bright Lands.

Shocking, twisty and relentlessly suspenseful, John Fram’s debut is a heart-pounding story about old secrets, modern anxieties and the price young men pay for glory.]]>
480 John Fram 1488055777 Joe 5 3.42 2020 The Bright Lands
author: John Fram
name: Joe
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves:
review:
Small town horrors come in all forms in this creepy southern novel. Great characters and insight into how hatred and hypocrisy can breed something monstrous. Recommended!
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We Sang in the Dark 55781757
Now a sociology professor and liaison to the FBI specializing in cults, Clare has fought to put the past behind her. She has a successful career, a quiet home, and is deeply in love. But intrusive memories and fear of inheriting her cult-leader father’s mental illness threaten to strangle Clare’s budding life when she receives a call from the past. A call informing her a woman has been found claiming to be her sister Shanna—a sister she long thought dead.

Wracked with guilt but determined to prove herself to the sister she thought was lost, Clare returns to her hometown only to be stalked by a threatening stranger and haunted by hallucinations which seem all too real—hallucinations that plagued her father as well. Before long Clare begins to question what is real as the past overshadows the present and memories return that should’ve stayed forgotten.]]>
370 Joe Hart Joe 0 currently-reading 4.09 We Sang in the Dark
author: Joe Hart
name: Joe
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/11/24
shelves: currently-reading
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I'll Bring You Back 48557951 To save the boy she loves, she must do the impossible.Ěý

Londyn and David's friendship bloomed under an oak tree. Through the years they endured hardships, triumphs, and the awkwardĚýtransition from friends to something more. But a sudden accident on a snowy mountain road, changes everything.Ěý

Instead of celebrating the end of her senior year and acceptance to college, Londyn spends her days at David's hospital bedside, squeezing his handĚýand urging him to wake from a prolonged coma. It's during one of these visits that Londyn slips into another world—a mirror of her own, only it’s decaying and threatened by an encroaching darkness. A world that might all exist within David’s dying mind.

Navigating the treacherous landscape leads Londyn through memories of her past, of her relationship with David—adventures,Ěýheartbreaks, first kisses. Each memory seems to draw her closer to David, to bringing him back. But the world around Londyn is crumbling, getting darker by the minute. And what if David isn’t the only one lost?

Alternating between past and present, love and tragedy,ĚýI'll Bring You BackĚýis a portrait of hope in the face of hopelessness. An emotionally powerful story with universal themes that will stay with the reader long after the last page.

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360 Richard Brown Joe 0 currently-reading 4.40 2019 I'll Bring You Back
author: Richard Brown
name: Joe
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/12/03
shelves: currently-reading
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Wool Omnibus (Wool, #1-5) 14623595
This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.]]>
1257 Hugh Howey Joe 3 4.25 2012 Wool Omnibus (Wool, #1-5)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Joe
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2012
rating: 3
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date added: 2019/08/29
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<![CDATA[Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West]]> 8889448
Cormac McCarthy's masterwork, Blood Meridian, chronicles the brutal world of the Texas-Mexico borderlands in the mid-nineteenth century. Its wounded hero, the teenage Kid, must confront the extraordinary violence of the Glanton gang, a murderous cadre on an official mission to scalp Indians and sell those scalps. Loosely based on fact, the novel represents a genius vision of the historical West, one so fiercely realized that since its initial publication in 1985 the canon of American literature has welcomed Blood Meridian to its shelf.

"A classic American novel of regeneration through violence," declares Michael Herr. "McCarthy can only be compared to our greatest writers."


From the Hardcover edition.]]>
349 Cormac McCarthy Joe 5 4.11 1985 Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West
author: Cormac McCarthy
name: Joe
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1985
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/12/18
shelves:
review:
Epic, bloody, unrivaled, brutal. The west through McCarthy's unwaveringly caustic vision. This one is no holds barred.
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Foe 40151746 I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

We don’t get visitors. Not out here. We never have.

In Iain Reid’s second haunting, philosophical puzzle of a novel, set in the near-future, Junior and Henrietta live a comfortable, solitary life on their farm, far from the city lights, but in close quarters with each other. One day, a stranger from the city arrives with alarming news: Junior has been randomly selected to travel far away from the farm...very far away. The most unusual part? Arrangements have already been made so that when he leaves, Henrietta won't have a chance to miss him, because she won't be left alone—not even for a moment. Henrietta will have company. Familiar company.

Told in Reid’s sharp and evocative style, Foe examines the nature of domestic relationships, self-determination, and what it means to be (or not to be) a person. An eerily entrancing page-turner, it churns with unease and suspense from the first words to its shocking finale.]]>
286 Iain Reid 1501127454 Joe 5 3.77 2018 Foe
author: Iain Reid
name: Joe
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/12/18
shelves:
review:
Tightly woven tale that spools out to a twist ending that's very satisfying. One of my current favorite authors.
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<![CDATA[Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back]]> 681017 46 Joe R. Lansdale 1561465461 Joe 5 4.13 1992 Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back
author: Joe R. Lansdale
name: Joe
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1992
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/12/18
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Elevation 38355410
Castle Rock is a small town, where word gets around quickly. That's why Scott Carey wants to confide only in his friend Doctor Bob Ellis about his strange condition he's losing weight without getting thinner, and the scales register the same whether he is in his clothes or out of them, no matter how heavy they are.

Scott also has new neighbors who have opened a "fine dining experience" in town, although it's an experience being shunned by the locals: Deirdre McComb and her wife Missy Donaldson don't exactly conform to a lifestyle the community approves of. And now Scott seems trapped in a feud with the couple over their dogs dropping their business on his lawn. Missy may be warm and friendly, but Deirdre is as cold as ice.

As the town prepares for its annual Thanksgiving 12K run, Scott begins to understand the prejudices the women face, and tries to help. Unlikely alliances form, and the mystery of Scott's affliction brings out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others.

From the master storyteller Stephen King comes this compelling tale about finding common ground despite differences, a magical story with deep resonance for our time.]]>
146 Stephen King 1982102314 Joe 5 3.59 2018 Elevation
author: Stephen King
name: Joe
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/12/18
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<![CDATA[Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1)]]> 37173847
But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic--the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience--have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.

Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.

To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.]]>
501 Robert Jackson Bennett 1524760374 Joe 5 4.16 2018 Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Joe
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/10/30
date added: 2018/12/18
shelves:
review:
Exciting beginning to a new series from a very talented author. Imaginative and dark with a whirl of emotions intertwined in continuous action. Recommended.
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From a Buick 8 6499285 The #1 New York Times bestseller from Stephen King—a novel about the fascination deadly things have for us and about our insistence on answers when there are none�

Since 1979, the state police of Troop D in rural Pennsylvania have kept a secret in the shed out behind the barracks. Ennis Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox had answered a strange call just down the road and came back with an abandoned 1953 Buick Roadmaster. Curt Wilcox knew old cars, and this one was…just wrong. As it turned out, the Buick 8 was worse than dangerous—and the members of Troop D decided that it would be better if the public never found out about it. Now, more than twenty years later, Curt’s son Ned starts hanging around the barracks and is allowed into the Troop D family. And one day he discovers the family secret—a mystery that begins to stir once more, not only in the minds and hearts of these veteran troopers, but out in the shed as well, for there’s more power under the hood than anyone can handle…]]>
496 Stephen King Joe 5 3.97 2002 From a Buick 8
author: Stephen King
name: Joe
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 2018/01/17
date added: 2018/06/02
shelves:
review:
I was late getting around to this one but found it a very engrossing read. I'm always astounded at the way King takes the mundane and turns it on its head. Who would think a car stored in a dusty old shed could elicit a shudder of dread? Such a fun read.
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Widow's Point 38466943 99 Richard Chizmar Joe 5 4.06 2018 Widow's Point
author: Richard Chizmar
name: Joe
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/06/02
shelves:
review:
What a quick, fun read from Mr. Chizmar. Some really creepy moments reminding me of Danielewski's House of Leaves. Very enjoyable.
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The Outsider 37684362
An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.]]>
577 Stephen King Joe 5 4.17 2018 The Outsider
author: Stephen King
name: Joe
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2018
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/05/30
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review:

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<![CDATA[Acceptance (Southern Reach, #3)]]> 18077752
Meanwhile, Acceptance tunnels ever deeper into the circumstances surrounding the creation of Area X—what initiated this unnatural upheaval? Among the many who have tried, who has gotten close to understanding Area X—and who may have been corrupted by it?

In this last installment of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, the mysteries of Area X may be solved, but their consequences and implications are no less profound—or terrifying.]]>
341 Jeff VanderMeer 0374104115 Joe 5 3.66 2014 Acceptance (Southern Reach, #3)
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Joe
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/06
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Authority (Southern Reach #2) 20410190 In the second volume of the Southern Reach Trilogy, questions are answered, stakes are raised, and mysteries areĚýdeepened . . .

In Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer introducedĚýArea X—a remote and lush terrain mysteriously sequestered from civilization.ĚýThis was the first volume of a projected trilogy; well in advance of publication, translation rights had alreadyĚýsold around the world and a major movie deal had been struck.
ĚýĚýĚýĚý Just months later, Authority, the second volume, is here. For thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X has taken the form of a series of expeditions monitored by a secret agency called the Southern Reach. After the disastrous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the Southern Reach is in disarray, and John Rodriguez, aka “Control,â€� is the team’s newly appointed head. From a series of interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, the secrets of Area X begin to reveal themselves—and what they expose pushes Control to confront disturbing truths about both himself and the agency he’s promised to serve. And the consequences willĚýspread much further than that.
ĚýĚýĚýĚý The Southern Reach trilogy will conclude in fall 2014 with Acceptance.

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353 Jeff VanderMeer 0374710783 Joe 5 3.74 2014 Authority (Southern Reach #2)
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Joe
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2014
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/05/06
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Occultation and Other Stories 12232772
He returns with his second collection, Occultation. Pitting ordinary men and women against a carnivorous, chaotic cosmos, Occultation's eight tales of terror (two never before published) include the Theodore Sturgeon and Shirley Jackson Award-nominated story "The Forest" and Shirley Jackson Award nominee "The Lagerstatte." Featuring an introduction by Michael Shea, Occultation brings more of the spine-chillingly sublime cosmic horror Laird Barron's fans have come to expect.]]>
245 Laird Barron Joe 5 4.07 2010 Occultation and Other Stories
author: Laird Barron
name: Joe
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2018/03/08
date added: 2018/03/18
shelves:
review:
Wow. This is the first time I've read Laird Barron though he's been on my radar for years. By and away the best collection of short stories I've encountered in recent memory. With a superior command of language and firm grip on what makes us afraid, the author pulls no punches and peels back the layers to reveal unnamed horrors that squirm in the dark. Highly, highly recommended.
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<![CDATA[Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1)]]> 20410192 Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization.

The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; all the members of the second expedition committed suicide; the third expedition died in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another; the members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within months of their return, all had died of aggressive cancer.

This is the twelfth expedition.

Their group is made up of four an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another; and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers � they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding � but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them, and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another, that change everything.]]>
210 Jeff VanderMeer 0374710775 Joe 5 3.81 2014 Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1)
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Joe
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2018/03/10
date added: 2018/03/18
shelves:
review:
I've seen some people say this is a challenging read. I'd agree, but in the most positive sense. VanderMeer has such a unique skill for phrasing and use of metaphor it forces you to think about what's being described in a different way. The deep psychological aspect of the story creates an undercurrent of unease punctuated by jarring scenes of violence. Overall an enthralling read very different than any other novel I've encountered.
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The Winter of Frankie Machine 8332094 FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE CARTEL.

Frankie Machianno, a hard-working entrepreneur, passionate lover, part-time surf bum, and full-time dad, is a pillar of his waterfront community—and a retired hit man. Once better known as Frankie Machine, he was a brutally efficient killer. Now someone from his past wants him dead, and after a botched attempt on his life, Frankie sets out to find his potential killers. However, the list of suspects is longer than the California coastline. With the mob on his heels and the cops on his tail, Frankie hatches a plan to protect his family, save his life, and escape the mob forever. Then things get really complicated.]]>
320 Don Winslow Joe 5 4.45 2006 The Winter of Frankie Machine
author: Don Winslow
name: Joe
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/07/28
shelves:
review:
Really on a Don Winslow kick here, and I don't care. I'll read anything the man writes. The Winter of Frankie Machine follows a retired hit man for the west coast mob who's in the golden years of his life. All Frankie wants is to run his multiple businesses, surf, and strengthen the relationship with his daughter. But the past comes calling when he least expects it and he's forced into a game where the stakes are his life and everyone he cares about. Winslow's novels are like a Mac truck with blown brakes on a mountainside, there's no stopping them once you start. Great read and highly recommended.
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The Winter of Frankie Machine 164760
Frank Machianno is a late-middle-aged ex–surf bum who runs a bait shack on the San Diego waterfront when he’s not juggling any of his other three part-time jobs or trying to get a quick set in on his longboard. He’s a stand-up businessman, a devoted father to his daughter, and a beloved fixture in the community.

Frank’s also a hit man. Specifically: a retired hit man. Back in the day, when he was one of the most feared members of the West Coast Mafia, he was known as Frankie Machine. Years ago Frank consigned his Mob ties to the past, which is where he wants them to stay. But a favor being called in now by the local boss is one Frank can’t refuse, and soon he’s sucked back into the treacherous currents of his former life. Someone from the past wants him dead. He has to figure out who, and why, and he has to do it fast.

The problem is that the list of candidates is about the size of his local phone book and Frank’s rapidly running out of time.

And then things go really bad.]]>
320 Don Winslow 1400044987 Joe 5 4.13 2006 The Winter of Frankie Machine
author: Don Winslow
name: Joe
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2006
rating: 5
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date added: 2017/07/28
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The Force 33140147
Now Malone is caught in a trap and being squeezed by the feds, and he must walk the thin line between betraying his brothers and partners, the Job, his family, and the woman he loves, trying to survive, body and soul, while the city teeters on the brink of a racial conflagration that could destroy them all.This is the great cop novel of our time and a book only Don Winslow could write: a haunting story of greed and violence, inequality and race, crime and injustice, retribution and redemption, a story that reveals the seemingly insurmountable tensions between the police and the diverse citizens they serve.

A searing portrait of a city on the edge of an abyss and of a courageous, heroic, and deeply flawed man who stands at that edge, The Force is a masterpiece of urban realism full of shocking and surprising twists, leavened by flashes of dark humor, a morally complex and utterly riveting dissection of modern American society and the controversial issues confronting us today]]>
634 Don Winslow 0062664425 Joe 5 4.22 2017 The Force
author: Don Winslow
name: Joe
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2017/07/04
date added: 2017/07/28
shelves:
review:
Epic, violent, and brimming with heart- Don Winslow's newest offering is just as powerful inspection of New York's police force as The Power of The Dog and The Cartel are of the Mexican drug cartels. Following the main character, Denny Malone- a troubled and corrupt, yet dedicated cop, we get an inside look at the day to day of a New York special task force unit. Lies, corruption, love, violence, and loyalty are all embroiled in a plot that moves like whitewater rapids, and the characters will be with you long after the last page is turned. Don't hesitate to pick this one up, definitely in my top five reads of the year so far.
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Revival 20942904
In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie's mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family's horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.

This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It's a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.]]>
416 Stephen King 1476770409 Joe 5 4.05 2014 Revival
author: Stephen King
name: Joe
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2017/06/09
date added: 2017/06/09
shelves:
review:
King only gets better and better. Sprawling storyline crossing decades and encountering many characters. Many eerie moments followed up by an ending only King could write. Very enjoyable.
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Hold the Dark 22462302
Written with “force and precision and grace� (John Wilwol, New York Times Book Review), Hold the Dark is a “taut and unforgettable journey into the heart of darkness� (Dennis Lehane). At the start of another pitiless winter, wolves have taken three children from the remote Alaskan village of Keelut, including the six-year-old son of Medora and Vernon Slone. Wolf expert Russell Core is called in to investigate these killings and discovers an unholy truth harbored by Medora before she disappears. When her husband returns home to discover his boy dead and his wife missing, he begins a maniacal pursuit that cuts a bloody swath across the frozen landscape. With the help of a local police detective, Core attempts to find Medora before her husband does, setting in motion a deadly chain of events in this “chilling, mysterious, and completely engaging novel� (Tim O’Brien) that marks the arrival of a major American writer.]]>
225 William Giraldi Joe 4 3.85 2014 Hold the Dark
author: William Giraldi
name: Joe
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/04/23
shelves:
review:
When I saw Jeremy Saulnier was directing the adaptation of William Giraldi's novel, I had to read it since I'm a huge fan of the director's work which includes the excellent Green Room as well as Blue Ruin, which by my standards is as close to cinematic perfection as one can get. Stark and McCarthy-esk, Hold the Dark is a quietly violent novel which asks questions about social norms, an individual's place in society, and the true discovery of self through nature. Gritty and uber-violent, the book follows the disappearance of a young boy in a remote Alaskan town. Wolves are the accused in the boy's disappearance but shortly after a wolf expert arrives on the scene everything slides down to hell in a hurry. A jarring and insightful read that takes turns unexpectedly with unsettling outcomes. Definitely enjoyed it and am looking forward to the film!
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Hold the Dark 25527267 AT THE EDGE OF CIVILIZATION, NATURE AND EVIL COLLIDE IN THIS “TAUT AND UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF DARKNESS� (DENNIS LEHANE).

In this “chilling, mysterious, and completely engaging novel� (Tim O’Brien), the wolves have come for the children of Keelut. At the start of another pitiless winter, three children have been taken from this isolated Alaskan village, including the six-year-old boy of Medora and Vernon Slone. Wolf expert Russell Core is called in to investigate these killings and discovers a dark and unholy truth harbored by Medora before she disappears. When her husband returns from a desert war to discover his boy dead and his wife missing, he begins a maniacal pursuit that cuts a bloody swath across the frozen landscape. With the help of a local police detective, Core attempts to find Medora before her husband does, setting in motion a deadly chain of events in this “powerful meditation on nature, violence, and responsibility� (Thomas McGuane).]]>
224 William Giraldi 1631490427 Joe 4 3.44 2014 Hold the Dark
author: William Giraldi
name: Joe
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/04/23
shelves:
review:

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The Power of the Dog 8257329 From the bestselling author of Savages (now an Oliver Stone film).

An explosive novel of the drug trade, The Power of the Dog, takes you deep inside a world riddled with corruption, betrayal, and bloody revenge.

Art Montana is an obsessive DEA agent. The Barrera brothers are heirs to a drug empire. Nora Hayden is a jaded teenager who becomes a high-class hooker. Father Parada is a powerful and uncorruptable Catholic priest. Callan is an Irish kid from Hell’s kitchen who grows up to be a merciless hitman. And they are all trapped in the world of the Mexican drug Federación. From the streets of New York City to Mexico City and Tiajuana to the jungles of Central America, this is the war on drugs like you’ve never seen it.]]>
542 Don Winslow Joe 5 4.40 2005 The Power of the Dog
author: Don Winslow
name: Joe
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2017/04/22
date added: 2017/04/23
shelves:
review:
I'm definitely late to the party on this book but wow, so glad I picked it up. Don Winslow writes like a force of nature. The way he frames a scene with simplicity and fluid prose is a joy to read. This is a sprawling novel covering the war on drugs from the 70's to the early 2000's. The character cast is massive, diverse, and very real. Winslow deftly interweaves many significant points in history within the plot giving the story a densely accurate feeling overall. Be warned, the novel is not for the weak hearted or stomached- there are scenes of violence and depravity that are like mental kicks to the teeth. This isn't done for the sake of gratuity but rather fortifies the events in reality, which make it even more gruesome because I would wager things contained in the book most surely did happen at one point or another in real life. If realistic imagery, characters, political intrigue, and switchbacking plots are your thing, don't hesitate to grab this one. Highly recommended.
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<![CDATA[The Final Descent (The Monstrumologist, #4)]]> 13260751
Will Henry has been through more that seems possible for a boy of fourteen. He’s been on the brink of death on more than one occasion, he has gazed into hell—and hell has stared back at him, and known his face. But through it all, Dr. Warthrop has been at his side.

When Dr. Warthrop fears that Will’s loyalties may be shifting, he turns on Will with a fury, determined to reclaim his young apprentice’s devotion. And so Will must face one of the most horrific creatures of his monstrumology career—and he must face it alone.

Over the course of one day, Will’s life—and Pellinor Warthrop’s destiny—will lie in balance. In the terrifying depths of the Monstrumarium, they will face a monster more terrible than any they could have imagined—and their fates will be decided.]]>
320 Rick Yancey 1442451556 Joe 5 the doctor and young Will to finally open up about the father/son relationship that's been brewing for the last three books, but instead Yancey ends the series on a tragic but subtly sweet note. I for one enjoyed this novel immensely simply for the language and the characters but others may bock at the way the series ends. It works for me well enough to be satisfied though I would love to see Mr. Yancey resurrect Will Henry for a series in the future to speak of the years where he spent away from the good doctor ( and I have no doubt now that he ultimately was a good but misguided doctor).

All in all, a breathtaking series conclusion. I applaud Yancey for such an undertaking of juxtaposition. He did it grandly and with true feeling. There can be no greater compliment in my book. ]]>
3.79 2013 The Final Descent (The Monstrumologist, #4)
author: Rick Yancey
name: Joe
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2013/10/28
date added: 2017/02/16
shelves:
review:
Ahh, and the twisted tale comes to an end. This is the last book in The Monstrumologist series (sadly, I may add) and a fitting conclusion. This may have been the only true way to end the tales of Will Henry and Warthrop and I will say Mr. Yancey has a way with metaphors that other author's only dream about. He had a close eye on where he wanted to take this novel, though I believe he fell off the path a little by trying to be too artistic about it. Being vague and dreamy in writing can have an enthralling effect upon the reader (see any of Neil Gaimon's work) but Yancey heavy-hands it a little here. Not so much that the tale isn't enjoyable, but enough to see a pattern developing that isn't as pleasing as the previous books. I guess I would've preferred (possible spoilers)
the doctor and young Will to finally open up about the father/son relationship that's been brewing for the last three books, but instead Yancey ends the series on a tragic but subtly sweet note. I for one enjoyed this novel immensely simply for the language and the characters but others may bock at the way the series ends. It works for me well enough to be satisfied though I would love to see Mr. Yancey resurrect Will Henry for a series in the future to speak of the years where he spent away from the good doctor ( and I have no doubt now that he ultimately was a good but misguided doctor).

All in all, a breathtaking series conclusion. I applaud Yancey for such an undertaking of juxtaposition. He did it grandly and with true feeling. There can be no greater compliment in my book.
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In a Dark, Dark Wood 25062271 Librarian’s note: This is a previously-published edition of
Kindle ASIN: B00Q102M8Q.


What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.

Leonora, known to some as Lee and others as Nora, is a reclusive crime writer, unwilling to leave her “nest� of an apartment unless it is absolutely necessary. When a friend she hasn’t seen or spoken to in years unexpectedly invites Nora (Lee?) to a weekend away in an eerie glass house deep in the English countryside, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. Forty-eight hours later, she wakes up in a hospital bed injured but alive, with the knowledge that someone is dead. Wondering not “what happened?� but “what have I done?�, Nora (Lee?) tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. Working to uncover secrets, reveal motives, and find answers, Nora (Lee?) must revisit parts of herself that she would much rather leave buried where they belong: in the past.

In the tradition of Paula Hawkins's instant New York Times bestseller The Girl On the Train and S. J. Watson’s riveting national sensation Before I Go To Sleep, this gripping literary debut from UK novelist Ruth Ware will leave you on the edge of your seat through the very last page.]]>
320 Ruth Ware Joe 4 3.80 2015 In a Dark, Dark Wood
author: Ruth Ware
name: Joe
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/12/28
date added: 2017/01/07
shelves:
review:
Ruth Ware has a knack for creating damaged but likable characters as well as oppressive settings. In a Dark, Dark Wood the questions are there from page one. Something terrible has happened but we don't know to who or why. As the story progresses there is a clever slight of hand concerning backstory that spills into the present narrative. Overall this character driven thriller is well worth the read.
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<![CDATA[On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft]]> 437148
He tells readers about what books and films influenced him as a young writer, his first idea for a story, and the true-life tale that inspired "Carrie". For the first time, here's an intimate autobiographical portrait of his home life, his family, and his traumatic accident. Citing examples of his work and those of his contemporaries, King gives an excellent masterclass on writing - how to use the tools of the trade from building characters to pace and plotting as well as practical advice on presentation. And he tells readers how he got to be a No. 1 bestseller for a quarter of a century with fascinating descriptions of his own process, the origins and development of, for example, "Carrie" and "Misery."]]>
288 Stephen King 0684853523 Joe 5 4.32 2000 On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
author: Stephen King
name: Joe
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/12/11
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Devil's Detective (Thomas Fool #1)]]> 22543948 The Devil's Detective, a sea change is coming to Hell . . . and a man named Thomas Fool is caught in the middle.ĚýĚýĚýĚý

Thomas Fool is an Information Man, an investigator tasked with cataloging and filing reports on the endless stream of violence and brutality that flows through Hell. His job holds no reward or satisfaction, because Hell has rules but no justice. Each new crime is stamped "Do Not Investigate" and dutifully filed away in the depths of the Bureaucracy.

But when an important political delegation arrives and a human is found murdered in a horrific manner—extravagant even by Hell's standards—everything changes. The murders escalate, and their severity points to the kind of killer not seen for many generations. Something is challenging the rules and order of Hell, so the Bureaucracy sends Fool to identify and track down the killer. . . .

But how do you investigate murder in a place where death is common currency? Or when your main suspect pool is a legion of demons? With no memory of his past and only an irresistible need for justice, Fool will piece together clues and follow a trail that leads directly into the heart of a dark and chaotic conspiracy. A revolution is brewing in Hell . . . and nothing is what it seems.

The Devil's DetectiveĚýis an audacious, highly suspenseful thriller set against a nightmarish and wildly vivid world. Simon Kurt Unsworth has created a phantasmagoric thrill ride filled with stunning set pieces and characters that spring from our deepest nightmares. It will have readers of both thrillers and horror hanging on by their fingernails until the final word. In Hell, hope is your worst enemy.]]>
304 Simon Kurt Unsworth 0385539347 Joe 5
The author's world building is fabulous. Hell is reimagined as a sprawling cityscape surrounded by an ocean of souls lost in purgatory. The faint glimpse of heaven through a murky sky is all that keeps the people trapped there moving forward- a hope for elevation. The characters are real and mostly tragic though there is definitely some humor scattered throughout the violence and gore.

Both police procedural and dark fantasy, this thriller succeeds in giving readers a glimpse into what hell might actually be like. Very entertaining! ]]>
3.65 2015 The Devil's Detective (Thomas Fool #1)
author: Simon Kurt Unsworth
name: Joe
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2016/12/06
date added: 2016/12/08
shelves:
review:
When I read the description for this book I found it intriguing. A man, damned for sins he doesn't remember, attempts to solve one of the many murders in hell. Unsworth's main character, Thomas Fool, is in over his head. Besides being an escort to a delegation of angels on a mission in hell, he's also tasked with solving a hideous string of murders that go beyond the typical brutality of the inferno.

The author's world building is fabulous. Hell is reimagined as a sprawling cityscape surrounded by an ocean of souls lost in purgatory. The faint glimpse of heaven through a murky sky is all that keeps the people trapped there moving forward- a hope for elevation. The characters are real and mostly tragic though there is definitely some humor scattered throughout the violence and gore.

Both police procedural and dark fantasy, this thriller succeeds in giving readers a glimpse into what hell might actually be like. Very entertaining!
]]>
The Twelve (The Passage, #2) 13565543 The Passage, Justin Cronin constructed an unforgettable world transformed by a government experiment gone horribly wrong. Now the scope widens and the intensity deepens as the epic story surges forward with The Twelve.

In the present day, as the man-made apocalypse unfolds, three strangers navigate the chaos. Lila, a doctor and an expectant mother, is so shattered by the spread of violence and infection that she continues to plan for her child’s arrival even as society dissolves around her. Kittridge, known to the world as “Last Stand in Denver,� has been forced to flee his stronghold and is now on the road, dodging the infected, armed but alone and well aware that a tank of gas will get him only so far. April is a teenager fighting to guide her little brother safely through a landscape of death and ruin. These three will learn that they have not been fully abandoned—and that in connection lies hope, even on the darkest of nights.

One hundred years in the future, Amy and the others fight on for humankind’s salvation...unaware that the rules have changed. The enemy has evolved, and a dark new order has arisen with a vision of the future infinitely more horrifying than man’s extinction. If the Twelve are to fall, one of those united to vanquish them will have to pay the ultimate price.]]>
624 Justin Cronin Joe 4 4.23 2012 The Twelve (The Passage, #2)
author: Justin Cronin
name: Joe
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/12/02
shelves:
review:
Great second installment to the trilogy. Cronin still has many tricks up his sleeve here and more than once I just sat back and relished in what he'd done without me knowing it. Looking forward to the final book in the series.
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Cold In July 12298838 240 Joe R. Lansdale 1936666146 Joe 5 4.19 1990 Cold In July
author: Joe R. Lansdale
name: Joe
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/12/02
shelves:
review:
Ashamed to say this is my first Lansdale book but it won't be my last. Excellent characters and imagery combine to make this noir tale clip along at a good pace. Reminded me of No Country For Old Men in some ways but was quite unique in others. All in all a very dark tale touching on revenge, father and son relationships, and how far you would go for love. Recommended.
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<![CDATA[The Ocean at the End of the Lane]]> 15783514
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.]]>
181 Neil Gaiman 0062255657 Joe 5 4.00 2013 The Ocean at the End of the Lane
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Joe
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2013/08/13
date added: 2016/12/02
shelves:
review:
Very well done coming of age/fantastic read. Gaiman weaves the real world with something else entirely with ease. Many of the scenes were chilling and erie while others warmed your heart and stretched your mind with imagination. The only thing I didn't fully enjoy about the book was the author's vagueness about certain aspects of the story. I know they were left out to inspire a sense of awe or question in the reader's mind, but at times it became a little distracting. Overall it was a really solid read from a master of the craft. Well worth the money and time spent reading, don't hesitate to go on this fantastic journey.
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<![CDATA[The Woman in Cabin 10 (Lo Blacklock, #1)]]> 29918785 New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery� (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, comes The Woman in Cabin 10, an equally suspenseful and haunting novel from Ruth Ware—this time, set at sea.

In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong�

With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.]]>
350 Ruth Ware 1501132946 Joe 5 3.80 2016 The Woman in Cabin 10 (Lo Blacklock, #1)
author: Ruth Ware
name: Joe
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/11/22
date added: 2016/11/23
shelves:
review:
What can I say that hasn't already been said about Ware's emotional psychological thriller? The story is fast paced, the characters vivid, and the last third of the book is filled with so many twists it will make your head spin. Great read.
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I'm Thinking of Ending Things 27276256 Now a Netflix original movie, this deeply scary and intensely unnerving novel follows a couple in the midst of a twisted unraveling of the darkest unease. You will be scared. But you won’t know why�

I’m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It sticks. It lingers. It’s always there. Always.

Jake once said, “Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an action. You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.�

And here’s what I’m thinking: I don’t want to be here.

In this smart and intense literary suspense novel, Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, I’m Thinking of Ending Things pulls you in from the very first page…and never lets you go.]]>
211 Iain Reid 150112692X Joe 5 3.51 2016 I'm Thinking of Ending Things
author: Iain Reid
name: Joe
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/10/23
date added: 2016/11/23
shelves:
review:
Iain Reid has done something unique in this unsettling novel. The author's voice is hypnotic and the questions the characters ask themselves and the reader are profound. This isn't an action thrill ride, it's a slow burn, introspective look at relationships, understanding of self, and the fear contained in the mind. Reid also has applied the unease of familiar things in unfamiliar places, which for me is one of the most underused and powerful tools in psychological thrillers. If you don't mind some dense reading and ideas, this book is a gem with a dozen different facets.
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The Last Days of Jack Sparks 28105924 Jack Sparks died while writing this book.

It was no secret that journalist Jack Sparks had been researching the occult for his new book. No stranger to controversy, he'd already triggered a furious Twitter storm by mocking an exorcism he witnessed.

Then there was that video: forty seconds of chilling footage that Jack repeatedly claimed was not of his making, yet was posted from his own YouTube account.

Nobody knew what happened to Jack in the days that followed - until now.

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332 Jason Arnopp Joe 5
I won't spoil anything about this book because you have to experience it to fully appreciate the wit, horror, insight, and social commentary this story contains. Arnopp is a whipcrack-smart writer with an acerbic sense of humor he infuses into the work. But don't get me wrong, as funny as this book is there are scenes within that actually gave me chills. This book will have you laughing out loud one minute and glancing nervously behind you the next. One of my favorite reads of the year so far- do not hesitate to pick this one up. ]]>
3.92 2016 The Last Days of Jack Sparks
author: Jason Arnopp
name: Joe
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/10/01
date added: 2016/10/31
shelves:
review:
Imagine if Hunter S. Thompson and Chuck Palahniuk got together and wrote a novel about exorcism, demons, the afterlife, the devil, ego, and the supernatural in general. The outcome would be something very much like Jason Arnopp's The Last Days of Jack Sparks.

I won't spoil anything about this book because you have to experience it to fully appreciate the wit, horror, insight, and social commentary this story contains. Arnopp is a whipcrack-smart writer with an acerbic sense of humor he infuses into the work. But don't get me wrong, as funny as this book is there are scenes within that actually gave me chills. This book will have you laughing out loud one minute and glancing nervously behind you the next. One of my favorite reads of the year so far- do not hesitate to pick this one up.
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The Last Days of Jack Sparks 28765598
It was no secret that journalist Jack Sparks had been researching the occult for his new book. No stranger to controversy, he'd already triggered a furious Twitter storm by mocking an exorcism he witnessed.

Then there was that video: forty seconds of chilling footage that Jack repeatedly claimed was not of his making, yet was posted from his own YouTube account.

Nobody knew what happened to Jack in the days that followed - until now.]]>
336 Jason Arnopp 0356507181 Joe 0 3.83 2016 The Last Days of Jack Sparks
author: Jason Arnopp
name: Joe
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/10/01
shelves:
review:

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The Fisherman 30525379 244 John Langan 1939905222 Joe 5 4.05 2016 The Fisherman
author: John Langan
name: Joe
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/08/04
date added: 2016/09/18
shelves:
review:
I truly enjoy cosmic horror and have read much of Lovecraft's work along with others who have delved into that area of the genre but what sometimes is lacking in these stories is the solid connection to everyday life. Not so in John Langan's The Fisherman. This is a slow burn of a novel that builds itself upon layers of dark atmosphere the further you delve into the story. At its center the book is about loss, grief, and how far a person would go to reclaim something irretrievable. There are some truly creepy moments as well as heartfelt ones and you can see and hear the characters well through Langan's clear and elegant prose. And the ending, well let me just say this, nicely unsettling. Really enjoyed this one!
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Dark Matter 27833523 From the author of the bestselling WAYWARD PINES trilogy, a brilliantly mind-bending science-fiction thriller in which an ordinary man is kidnapped, knocked unconscious—and awakens in a world inexplicably different from the reality he thought he knew.

Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

It starts with a man in a mask kidnapping him at gunpoint, for reasons Jason can’t begin to fathom—what would anyone want with an ordinary physics professor?—and grows even more terrifying from there, as Jason’s abductor injects him with some unknown drug and watches while he loses consciousness.

When Jason awakes, he’s in a lab, strapped to a gurney—and a man he’s never seen before is cheerily telling him “welcome back!�

Jason soon learns that in this world he’s woken up to, his house is not his house. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born.

And someone is hunting him.

Is the life Jason remembers just some crazed dream? And can he survive long enough to discover the answers he needs?]]>
368 Blake Crouch 1101904232 Joe 5 Imagine walking home one night; you're abducted, afraid for your life, terrified you'll never see your wife and son again. You're drugged and wake up in a world that's...not your own.
The premise is fantastic, the characters leap off the page, and the action is top notch. At the heart of this excellent sci-fi thriller there is a love story. It is a novel of paths not taken and seeing opportunities missed in all their horror and glory.
How far will one man go to get his life back? You'll have to read the book to find out. Do yourself a favor and go buy this one right now! ]]>
3.97 2016 Dark Matter
author: Blake Crouch
name: Joe
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/07/09
shelves:
review:
What can I say? Blake has always been a masterful writer but he's just outdone himself again with Dark Matter.
Imagine walking home one night; you're abducted, afraid for your life, terrified you'll never see your wife and son again. You're drugged and wake up in a world that's...not your own.
The premise is fantastic, the characters leap off the page, and the action is top notch. At the heart of this excellent sci-fi thriller there is a love story. It is a novel of paths not taken and seeing opportunities missed in all their horror and glory.
How far will one man go to get his life back? You'll have to read the book to find out. Do yourself a favor and go buy this one right now!
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Disappearance at Devil's Rock 29096717 A Head Full of Ghosts.

�A Head Full of Ghosts scared the living hell out of me, and I’m pretty hard to scare,� raved Stephen King about Paul Tremblay’s previous novel. Now, Tremblay returns with another disturbing tale sure to unsettle readers.

Late one summer night, Elizabeth Sanderson receives the devastating news that every mother her thirteen-year-old son, Tommy, has vanished without a trace in the woods of a local park.

The search isn’t yielding any answers, and Elizabeth and her young daughter, Kate, struggle to comprehend Tommy’s disappearance. Feeling helpless and alone, their sorrow is compounded by anger and the local and state police have uncovered no leads. Josh and Luis, the friends who were the last to see Tommy before he vanished, may not be telling the whole truth about that night in Borderland State Park, when they were supposedly hanging out a landmark the local teens have renamed Devil’s Rock.

Living in an all-too-real nightmare, riddled with worry, pain, and guilt, Elizabeth is wholly unprepared for the strange series of events that follow. She believes a ghostly shadow of Tommy materializes in her bedroom, while Kate and other local residents claim to see a shadow peering through their windows in the dead of night. Then, random pages torn from Tommy’s journal begin to mysteriously appear—entries that reveal an introverted teenager obsessed with the phantasmagoric; the loss of his father, killed in a drunk-driving accident a decade earlier; a folktale involving the devil and the woods of Borderland; and a horrific incident that Tommy believed connects them.

As the search grows more desperate, and the implications of what happened become more haunting and sinister, no one is prepared for the shocking truth about that night and Tommy’s disappearance at Devil’s Rock.]]>
336 Paul Tremblay Joe 5 3.75 2016 Disappearance at Devil's Rock
author: Paul Tremblay
name: Joe
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/06/26
date added: 2016/06/27
shelves:
review:
I absolutely loved A Head Full of Ghosts by Mr. Tremblay and was very excited to read his newest novel, Disappearance at Devil's Rock, to see what type of twist or approach he would employ to a missing child tale. The book is told from many perspectives with prior events being revealed slowly through different mediums, some of which are quite unnerving, to build the shape of what truly happened in the state park where Tommy Sanderson disappeared one night. I particularly enjoyed Tremblay's use of ambiguity throughout the plot which kept a sense of unease at a high level, a hard task to accomplish. Overall it is an eerie and thought-provoking read that reflects the author's talent for taking well worn tropes and rebuilding them in interesting ways. Highly recommended.
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<![CDATA[The City of Mirrors (The Passage, #3)]]> 26891429
The Twelve have been destroyed and the terrifying hundred-year reign of darkness that descended upon the world has ended. The survivors are stepping outside their walls, determined to build society anew—and daring to dream of a hopeful future.

But far from them, in a dead metropolis, he waits: Zero. The First. Father of the Twelve. The anguish that shattered his human life haunts him, and the hatred spawned by his transformation burns bright. His fury will be quenched only when he destroys Amy—humanity’s only hope, the Girl from Nowhere who grew up to rise against him.

One last time light and dark will clash, and at last Amy and her friends will know their fate.]]>
602 Justin Cronin 034550500X Joe 5
I recall being swept away by Cronin's storytelling and eloquent writing. He painted a beautifully violent picture of a near future where our very existence would be threatened. The Twelve continued the epic saga of Amy and her band of friends, some lost along the way, others changed forever.

The City of Mirrors closes out their journey. It is a final, sweeping tale that returns us to our favorite characters, introduces us to new ones, and reveals as much about the origin and aftermath of the infection as it does about the human condition.

Cronin has created a massive, sweeping story that scares, excites, and just might make you weep a little. A wonderful close to an excellent post-apocalyptic tale; this is one finale that lives up to the prior books. Highly recommended. ]]>
4.16 2016 The City of Mirrors (The Passage, #3)
author: Justin Cronin
name: Joe
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/06/16
date added: 2016/06/17
shelves:
review:
Almost six years ago I heard rumblings of a TV interview of a new author which Stephen King personally called into to congratulate him and tell him how much he enjoyed his new book. This is how I was introduced to Justin Cronin's The Passage.

I recall being swept away by Cronin's storytelling and eloquent writing. He painted a beautifully violent picture of a near future where our very existence would be threatened. The Twelve continued the epic saga of Amy and her band of friends, some lost along the way, others changed forever.

The City of Mirrors closes out their journey. It is a final, sweeping tale that returns us to our favorite characters, introduces us to new ones, and reveals as much about the origin and aftermath of the infection as it does about the human condition.

Cronin has created a massive, sweeping story that scares, excites, and just might make you weep a little. A wonderful close to an excellent post-apocalyptic tale; this is one finale that lives up to the prior books. Highly recommended.
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The Fireman 25816688 New York Times bestselling author of NOS4A2 and Heart-Shaped Box comes a chilling novel about a worldwide pandemic of spontaneous combustion that threatens to reduce civilization to ashes and a band of improbable heroes who battle to save it, led by one powerful and enigmatic man known as the Fireman.

The fireman is coming. Stay cool.

No one knows exactly when it began or where it originated. A terrifying new plague is spreading like wildfire across the country, striking cities one by one: Boston, Detroit, Seattle. The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. To everyone else it’s Dragonscale, a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies—before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote. No one is safe.

Harper Grayson, a compassionate, dedicated nurse as pragmatic as Mary Poppins, treated hundreds of infected patients before her hospital burned to the ground. Now she’s discovered the telltale gold-flecked marks on her skin. When the outbreak first began, she and her husband, Jakob, had made a pact: they would take matters into their own hands if they became infected. To Jakob’s dismay, Harper wants to live—at least until the fetus she is carrying comes to term. At the hospital, she witnessed infected mothers give birth to healthy babies and believes hers will be fine too. . . if she can live long enough to deliver the child.

Convinced that his do-gooding wife has made him sick, Jakob becomes unhinged, and eventually abandons her as their placid New England community collapses in terror. The chaos gives rise to ruthless Cremation Squads—armed, self-appointed posses roaming the streets and woods to exterminate those who they believe carry the spore. But Harper isn’t as alone as she fears: a mysterious and compelling stranger she briefly met at the hospital, a man in a dirty yellow fire fighter’s jacket, carrying a hooked iron bar, straddles the abyss between insanity and death. Known as The Fireman, he strolls the ruins of New Hampshire, a madman afflicted with Dragonscale who has learned to control the fire within himself, using it as a shield to protect the hunted . . . and as a weapon to avenge the wronged.

In the desperate season to come, as the world burns out of control, Harper must learn the Fireman’s secrets before her life—and that of her unborn child—goes up in smoke.]]>
752 Joe Hill 0062200631 Joe 5 3.88 2016 The Fireman
author: Joe Hill
name: Joe
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/05/22
date added: 2016/05/29
shelves:
review:
My favorite book so far from Mr. Hill, and that's saying something. The world Joe builds in this one is unique, well thought out, and terrifying, but it's nothing compared to his characters. They leap off the page and take up residence in your heart and mind. The book was extremely addictive and while over 700 pages, it reads like a tightly woven novel of not more than 300. Excellent new offering from Joe and can't wait to see what he comes up with next! Highly recommended.
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<![CDATA[City of Blades (The Divine Cities, #2)]]> 25163956 A triumphant return to theĚýworld ofĚýCity of Stairs.ĚýA generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war and death, the birthplace of fearsome supernatural sentinels who killed and subjugated millions.ĚýĚýNow, the city’s god is dead. The city itself lies in ruins. And to its new military occupiers, the once-powerful capital is a wasteland of sectarian violence and bloody uprisings.ĚýSo it makes perfect sense that General Turyin Mulagheshâ€� foul-mouthed hero of the battle of Bulikov, rumored war criminal, ally of an embattled Prime Minister—has been exiled there to count down the days until she can draw her pension and be forgotten. ĚýĚýAt least, it makes the perfectĚýcoverĚýstory.ĚýĚýThe truth is that the general has been pressed into service one last time, dispatched to investigate a discovery with the potential to change the world--or destroy it.ĚýĚýThe trouble is that this old soldier isn't sure she's still got what it takes to be the hero.]]> 498 Robert Jackson Bennett Joe 5 4.29 2016 City of Blades (The Divine Cities, #2)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Joe
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/02/04
date added: 2016/02/21
shelves:
review:
Fantastic second installment in Bennett's epic trilogy. We follow General Mulaghesh into the land once inhabited by the goddess of war and her followers. Drawn back into action against her will, we get to see another side of Mulaghesh that was hinted at in book one. Again Bennett reveals his knack for weaving a clever mystery within the tapestry of a fantasy background. Characters that leap off the page, intrigue, mayhem, and sprawling landscapes make this book absolutely addicting. Highly recommended.
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Blood is Red (The Color, #1) 11335854
This eBook-only title features seven tales from Scott's six years of free audiobook podcasts, plus the brand-new novella "Hunter Hunterson & Sons.�

Scott still gives away his audio stories -- for free -- every week at scottsigler.com

Stories in BLOOD IS

Number One with a Bullet
In the high-stakes world of the National Football League, a wasted draft choice can cost careers and damage a franchise for years to come. When they investigate sure-fire number-one pick Eugene Patterson, however, they find far more than they want to know. �

Red Man
To be marked as a sex offender, a pedophile, a child rapist, is to carry stigma that all but banishes you from society. And if that mark is literal -- a permanent, inoperable face tattoo -- anonymity vanishes, and all who see you know of your crime. For a man who is wrongly convicted of horrible deeds, this mark becomes his life.

Wolf
In the time before man, one social animal ruled the Americas. The wolf. Wolf packs roamed the continent, hunting and killing and breeding. But before any wolf ever saw the death that would walk on two legs, there came another danger �

The Great Snipe Hunt
Nature abhors a vacuum. One such vacuum exists in the “urban ecologies� of our cities. From bacteria to insects, from rodents to hawks, from feral cats to the mass numbers of pigeons, plants and animals weave together a web of life that goes mostly unnoticed by humans. What is missing from this mosaic? Four college students set out to find this mythical creature, the “Snipe,� and learn that a vacuum isn’t the only thing nature abhors.

Iowa Typhoon
Come on, come visit Fenders Pointe, IA. We’d love to have you stop by, see the trees, smell the flowers, and relax with our Midwestern hospitality. Only, you should try to schedule around the rainy season. If you’re here when the typhoons hit, we’ll be happy to welcome you as a permanent resident.

Sacred Cow
There is a fine line between absent-minded genius and idiot savant. Gordo Gordon keeps a foot planted firmly on either side. Father Al knows this better than anyone. Father Al watches over Gordo and tolerates the young man’s endless -- and useless -- inventions. When Gordo creates a theory to track “prayer energy,� however, Father Al will find a religious secret that puts his faith to the test.

Hunter Hunterson & Sons
Welcome to the family business. Hunter Hunterson and his kin live in Slayerville, KY, making their living chasing crack-smoking ogres, peeping-tom phantoms, bail-jumping zombie pimps and the occasional rabid unicorn. When a methed-out vampire (and family friend) goes on a road-trip rampage, Hunter and his kin pack up the truck and follow the trail of corpses all the way to San Francisco.

This reality-TV style story feels like a combination of “Dog the Bounty Hunter� meets “Ghostbusters� meets “The Beverly Hillbillies.� Hunter’s “war journal� is a mix of tawdry laughs and gut-churning horror.

Mt. Fitzroy (first chapter)
In 2005, Sigler released EARTHCORE as the world’s first podcast-only novel. His fans have been waiting since then for MT. FITZROY, the second book in the trilogy. BLOOD IS RED features the first chapter of this oft-promised and long-delayed sequel. Join Patrick O’Doyle and Bertha Lybrand as they head back down below to deliver a heapin� helpin� of revenge.]]>
139 Scott Sigler Joe 5 4.16 2011 Blood is Red (The Color, #1)
author: Scott Sigler
name: Joe
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/11/09
shelves:
review:

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A Head Full of Ghosts 24422344 Shining, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, and William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist.

The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia.

To her parents� despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie’s descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggests an exorcism; he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is eager to document the Barretts� plight. With John, Marjorie’s father, out of work for more than a year and the medical bills looming, the family agrees to be filmed, and soon find themselves the unwitting stars of The Possession, a hit reality television show. When events in the Barrett household explode in tragedy, the show and the shocking incidents it captures become the stuff of urban legend.

Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie’s younger sister, Merry. As she recalls those long ago events that took place when she was just eight years old, long-buried secrets and painful memories that clash with what was broadcast on television begin to surface—and a mind-bending tale of psychological horror is unleashed, raising vexing questions about memory and reality, science and religion, and the very nature of evil.

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318 Paul Tremblay Joe 5 3.86 2015 A Head Full of Ghosts
author: Paul Tremblay
name: Joe
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2015/07/24
date added: 2015/08/04
shelves:
review:
One of the top books I've read this year. Excellent dissection of American pop culture while mixing in some psychological suspense that will give you goose bumps. Tremblay writes a novel with such a chilling slight of hand, you'll be thinking about the ending long after the book is done. Highly recommended.
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<![CDATA[City of Blades (The Divine Cities, #2)]]> 23909755
Now, the city’s god is dead. The city itself lies in ruins. And to its new military occupiers, the once-powerful capital is a wasteland of sectarian violence and bloody uprisings.

So it makes perfect sense that General Turyin Mulaghesh � foul-mouthed hero of the battle of Bulikov, rumored war criminal, ally of an embattled Prime Minister � has been exiled there to count down the days until she can draw her pension and be forgotten.

At least, it makes the perfect cover story.

The truth is that the general has been pressed into service one last time, dispatched to investigate a discovery. For while the city’s god is most certainly dead, something is awakening in Voortyashtan. And someone is determined to make the world tremble at the the city’s awful power again.

]]>
484 Robert Jackson Bennett 0553419714 Joe 0 to-read 4.19 2016 City of Blades (The Divine Cities, #2)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Joe
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/07/17
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1)]]> 10428902 352 Ransom Riggs Joe 4 3.96 2011 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1)
author: Ransom Riggs
name: Joe
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/05/15
shelves:
review:

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The Shell Collector 48551 Book by Christopher Golden 128 Christopher Golden 158767114X Joe 4 3.33 2005 The Shell Collector
author: Christopher Golden
name: Joe
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2012/12/05
date added: 2015/05/08
shelves:
review:

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Eerie 13641339
On a crisp autumn evening in 1980, seven-year-old Grant Moreton and his five-year-old sister Paige were nearly killed in a mysterious accident in the Cascade Mountains that left them orphans.

WITH A FRIGHTENING POWER

It's been thirty years since that night. Grant is now a detective with the Seattle Police Department and long estranged from his sister. But his investigation into the bloody past of a high-class prostitute has led right to Paige's door, and what awaits inside is beyond his wildest imagining.

OVER ANYONE WHO ENTERS

His only hope of survival and saving his sister will be to confront the terror that inhabits its walls, but he is completely unprepared to face the truth of what haunts his sister's brownstone.]]>
284 Blake Crouch Joe 4 3.63 2012 Eerie
author: Blake Crouch
name: Joe
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/05/08
shelves:
review:

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Earthworm Gods 18891692
One day, it starts raining-and never stops. Global super-storms decimate the planet, eradicating most of mankind. Pockets of survivors gather on mountaintops, watching as the waters climb higher and higher. But as the tides rise, something else is rising, too.

Now, in the midst of an ecological nightmare, the remnants of humanity face a new menace, in a battle that stretches from the rooftops of submerged cities to the mountaintop islands jutting from the sea. What hope does an already-devastated mankind have against this new supernatural adversary.

The old gods are dead. Now is the time of the Earthworm Gods...

Deadite Press is proud to present this Author's Preferred Edition of Earthworm Gods, including an all-new, lengthy afterword by the author recounting the novel's inspiration, creation, and history.]]>
280 Brian Keene Joe 5 3.97 2005 Earthworm Gods
author: Brian Keene
name: Joe
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/05/08
shelves:
review:
I read Earthworm Gods years ago, before Kindles were available, on my computer and was entranced by the world Brian had created. I just reread it recently and was still blown away by the simple dread conjured with a few holes in the ground and rain that won't quit falling. Great survivor horror story blended with humor and tender moments amidst gore and wicked things coming up from the ground. If you love apocalypse stories with horror overtones, look no further.
]]>
Wayward (Wayward Pines, #2) 17920175 None of the residents know how they got here. They are told where to work, how to live, and who to marry. Some believe they are dead. Others think they’re trapped in an unfathomable experiment. Everyone secretly dreams of leaving, but those who dare face a terrifying surprise.

Ethan Burke has seen the world beyond. He’s sheriff, and one of the few who knows the truth—Wayward Pines isn’t just a town. And what lies on the other side of the fence is a nightmare beyond anyone’s imagining.]]>
298 Blake Crouch 1477808701 Joe 5
(Possible Spoilers)

Wayward picks up almost exactly where Pines left off. Our protagonist, Ethan Burke, is settling into his new position, albeit uncomfortably, when a murder crops up and needs to be solved. This leads him down a path of deception, lies, and complete lack of empathy. The technology of the book is well thought out and used effectively as a plot device. Ethan himself could be any of us and that's the central idea of the story which takes place in a little town where individuality and free thought is beyond looked down upon. Ethan is in dangerous territory every moment of the story, and as a reader, you feel it, right up to the precipitous climax.

Crouch's style and prose is tight and staccato, jackhammering away at the plot relentlessly. There are moments that you don't want to read the next page and times when you can't stop. As far as flaws, there are very few, Crouch has tied up many loose ends that were painstakingly laid in the first book. Blake has his eyes on a huge picture here and since this is called the Wayward Pines Series, not trilogy, I'm guessing there might be many more books coming down the line (think of a storytelling panorama on par with The Walking Dead), but that's only guesswork on my part.

Overall a very well done second book in a series that is a bit of a genre-breaker. Do yourself a favor and read it, you won't regret it. ]]>
4.12 2013 Wayward (Wayward Pines, #2)
author: Blake Crouch
name: Joe
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2013/08/19
date added: 2015/05/08
shelves:
review:
First off, I love almost everything Blake writes. He's a strange mixture of Cormac McCarthy, King, and a dash of Laymon. Secondly, I'll try to do this review without spoiling the mystique and utter brilliance that is Pines. If you haven't read this novel, quit reading this now and go buy it just to be sure.

(Possible Spoilers)

Wayward picks up almost exactly where Pines left off. Our protagonist, Ethan Burke, is settling into his new position, albeit uncomfortably, when a murder crops up and needs to be solved. This leads him down a path of deception, lies, and complete lack of empathy. The technology of the book is well thought out and used effectively as a plot device. Ethan himself could be any of us and that's the central idea of the story which takes place in a little town where individuality and free thought is beyond looked down upon. Ethan is in dangerous territory every moment of the story, and as a reader, you feel it, right up to the precipitous climax.

Crouch's style and prose is tight and staccato, jackhammering away at the plot relentlessly. There are moments that you don't want to read the next page and times when you can't stop. As far as flaws, there are very few, Crouch has tied up many loose ends that were painstakingly laid in the first book. Blake has his eyes on a huge picture here and since this is called the Wayward Pines Series, not trilogy, I'm guessing there might be many more books coming down the line (think of a storytelling panorama on par with The Walking Dead), but that's only guesswork on my part.

Overall a very well done second book in a series that is a bit of a genre-breaker. Do yourself a favor and read it, you won't regret it.
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Nocturnal 13078038 Scott Sigler reinvented the alien-invasion story in his bestselling novels Infected and Contagious� rebooted the biotech thriller in Ancestor…now, in his most ambitious, sweeping novel to date, he works his magic on the paranormal thriller, taking us inside a terrifying underworld of subterranean predators that only his twisted mind could invent.
Ěý
Homicide detective Bryan Clauser is losing his mind.Ěý
Ěý
How else to explain the dreams he keeps having—dreams that mirror, with impossible accuracy, the gruesome serial murders taking place all over San Francisco? How else to explain the feelings these dreams provoke in him—not disgust, not horror, but excitement?Ěý
Ěý
As Bryan and his longtime partner, Lawrence “Pookieâ€� Chang, investigate the murders, they learn that things are even stranger than they at first seem. For the victims are all enemies of a seemingly ordinary young boy—a boy who is gripped by the same dreams that haunt Bryan.Ěý Meanwhile, a shadowy vigilante, seemingly armed with superhuman powers, is out there killing the killers.Ěý And Bryan and Pookie’s superiors—from the mayor on down—seem strangely eager to keep the detectives from discovering the truth.Ěý
Ěý
Doubting his own sanity and stripped of his badge, Bryan begins to suspect that he’s stumbled into the crosshairs of a shadow war that has gripped his city for more than a century—a war waged by a race of killers living in San Francisco’s unknown, underground ruins, emerging at night to feed on those who will not be missed.Ěý
Ěý
And as Bryan learns the truth about his own intimate connections to the killings, he discovers that those who matter most to him are in mortal danger…and that he may be the only man gifted—or cursed—with the power to do battle with the nocturnals.
Ěý
Featuring a dazzlingly plotted mystery and a terrifying descent into a nightmarish underworld—along with some of the most incredible action scenes ever put to paper, and an explosive, gut-wrenching conclusion you won’t soon forgetâ€�Nocturnal is the most spectacular outing to date from one of the genre’s brightest stars.ĚýĚý]]>
576 Scott Sigler 1848946457 Joe 5 4.13 2007 Nocturnal
author: Scott Sigler
name: Joe
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/05/08
shelves:
review:

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Well Fed (Mountain Man #4) 23600553 Road savages.
And the crumbling asphalt of the open highway.

After nearly four years, the zombie epidemic has almost burnt itself out.
Gus’s new life on a communal farm is peaceful. The daily routine of policing the fields is rarely disrupted by straying undead. His drinking binges are over. Long days have thrown time over the memories of Annapolis.

But this will all change.

When Gus is asked to search for a group of missing scavengers, he reluctantly agrees.
What he finds is a new predator unleashed upon the land, one determined to harvest every last mortal life�

And feed it to a ravenous machine.
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545 Keith C. Blackmore 1039423566 Joe 5 4.41 2014 Well Fed (Mountain Man #4)
author: Keith C. Blackmore
name: Joe
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2015/02/23
date added: 2015/02/24
shelves:
review:
Excellent ending to a great series. Mr. Blackmore pulls out all the stops with this one bringing the reader on one last wild ride with Gus. If you've been looking forward to the gut-wrenching conclusion to the Mountain Man series as much as I have, you won't be disappointed. Highly recommended!
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A Monster Calls 11391373 224 Patrick Ness Joe 5 4.34 2011 A Monster Calls
author: Patrick Ness
name: Joe
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2015/11/05
date added: 2015/01/25
shelves:
review:
Can't even begin to explain this one. It is an exposition on grief and loss so stark and utterly true to heart that it will move you. Simply read it and experience what is sure to be a contemporary classic.
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<![CDATA[City of Stairs (The Divine Cities, #1)]]> 21825528
Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov’s oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country’s most accomplished spies, dispatched � along with her terrifying “secretary�, Sigrud � to solve a murder.

But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem, and that Bulikov’s cruel reign may not yet be over.

A tale of vast conspiracies, dead gods, and buried histories, City of Stairs is at once a gripping spy novel and a stunningly original work of fantasy.]]>
466 Robert Jackson Bennett 0804137188 Joe 5 City of Stairs is a fast moving, complex novel that is many things at once and works on several levels. The political intrigue and depiction of a war-torn country trying to rebuild after a violent takeover by a slave state is particularly well done. The foreign diplomacy and politics feel solid and Bennett's love of political intrigue shines through especially. Murder mystery, world-building fantasy, and conspiracy novel, COS carries all the goods- great characters, imaginative magic, and deception throughout.
Bennett has a knack for building characters that are real people, their actions and words palpable. Not every author can do this and he's mastered it. If you haven't read it yet, make City of Stairs your next book, you won't regret it. ]]>
4.21 2014 City of Stairs (The Divine Cities, #1)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Joe
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2015/01/23
date added: 2015/01/25
shelves:
review:
I knew Robert Jackson Bennett was a talented author from the moment I opened his first novel, Mr. Shivers. But after reading American Elsewhere and now City of Stairs, I know he will be one of the revered names of fantasy in years to come.
City of Stairs is a fast moving, complex novel that is many things at once and works on several levels. The political intrigue and depiction of a war-torn country trying to rebuild after a violent takeover by a slave state is particularly well done. The foreign diplomacy and politics feel solid and Bennett's love of political intrigue shines through especially. Murder mystery, world-building fantasy, and conspiracy novel, COS carries all the goods- great characters, imaginative magic, and deception throughout.
Bennett has a knack for building characters that are real people, their actions and words palpable. Not every author can do this and he's mastered it. If you haven't read it yet, make City of Stairs your next book, you won't regret it.
]]>
American Elsewhere 14781178
Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different ...

From one of our most talented and original new literary voices comes the next great American supernatural novel: a work that explores the dark dimensions of the hometowns and the neighbors we thought we knew.]]>
662 Robert Jackson Bennett 0316200204 Joe 4 3.77 2013 American Elsewhere
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Joe
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/11/01
shelves:
review:

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New Avalon 23444413
John Chambers walked away from his life eighteen years ago to become the woman's bodyguard. He gave up everything � including the woman he loved � because he believed that was his destiny.

But destiny has other ideas.

In the tradition of BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY and A PRAYER FOR THE DYING, NEW AVALON is Robert Swartwood's finest work yet.]]>
204 Robert Swartwood Joe 4 3.67 2014 New Avalon
author: Robert Swartwood
name: Joe
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/11/01
shelves:
review:
Robert Swartwood's latest offering, New Avalon, is a novel of deft plot and complex characters. Imagine that one of the most famous women is history that is counted as dead, isn't. Now imagine her surrounding herself with people to care for her and that one of these people has such a scarred past that he can't relate to any type of future for himself. Throw in a dose of romance and aspects of a thriller and you have New Avalon. Swartwood blends a small town setting with enormous ideas such as identity, truth, justice, and redemption as well as destiny to create a very unique story. The prose is lean and direct with several scenes so poignant they'll stay with you for some time. Highly recommended!
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<![CDATA[The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft]]> 11851522
The eBook’s table of contents is listed below. It includes the year each story was written.

The Tomb (1917)
Dagon (1917)
Polaris (1918)
Beyond the Wall of Sleep (1919)
Memory (1919)
Old Bugs (1919)
The Transition of Juan Romero (1919)
The White Ship (1919)
The Doom That Came to Sarnath (1919)
The Statement of Randolph Carter (1919)
The Terrible Old Man (1920)
The Tree (1920)
The Cats of Ulthar (1920)
The Temple (1920)
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family (1920)
The Street (1920)
CelephaĂŻs (1920)
From Beyond (1920)
Nyarlathotep (1920)
The Picture in the House (1920)
Ex Oblivione (1921)
The Nameless City (1921)
The Quest of Iranon (1921)
The Moon-Bog (1921)
The Outsider (1921)
The Other Gods (1921)
The Music of Erich Zann (1921)
Herbert West � Reanimator (1922)
Hypnos (1922)
What the Moon Brings (1922)
Azathoth (1922)
The Hound (1922)
The Lurking Fear (1922)
The Rats in the Walls (1923)
The Unnamable (1923)
The Festival (1923)
The Shunned House (1924)
The Horror at Red Hook (1925)
He (1925)
In the Vault (1925)
The Descendant (1926)
Cool Air (1926)
The Call of Cthulhu (1926)
Pickman’s Model (1926)
The Silver Key (1926)
The Strange High House in the Mist (1926)
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1927)
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (1927)
The Colour Out of Space (1927)
The Very Old Folk (1927)
The Thing in the Moonlight (1927)
The History of the Necronomicon (1927)
Ibid (1928)
The Dunwich Horror (1928)
The Whisperer in Darkness (1930)
At the Mountains of Madness (1931)
The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1931)
The Dreams in the Witch House (1932)
The Thing on the Doorstep (1933)
The Evil Clergyman (1933)
The Book (1933)
The Shadow out of Time (1934)
The Haunter of the Dark (1935)]]>
811 H.P. Lovecraft Joe 5 4.37 The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft
author: H.P. Lovecraft
name: Joe
average rating: 4.37
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/10/09
shelves:
review:

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Mr. Shivers 8145054 It is the time of the Great Depression.

Thousands have left their homes looking for a better life, a new life. But Marcus Connelly is not one of them. He searches for one thing, and one thing only: Revenge.

Because out there, riding the rails, stalking the camps, is the scarred vagrant who murdered Connelly's daughter.

One man must face a dark truth and answer the question - how much is he willing to sacrifice for his satisfaction?

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337 Robert Jackson Bennett Joe 5 3.59 2009 Mr. Shivers
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Joe
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2014/09/13
date added: 2014/09/14
shelves:
review:
This was my first foray into the fiction of Mr. Robert Jackson Bennett, and I have to say it was a very good venture. This novel has tinges of Steinbeck as others have mentioned, but I saw more shading of Cormac McCarthy than any other writer. Very reminiscent of The Road, Bennett shoves us headlong into the search for Mr. Shivers, a scarred murderer wandering the rails of a depression-era America. Bennett's voice is hypnotic and prophetic, his command of the language and ability to paint a scene are powerful. The moments of violence mixed with beauty are among the best I've read. The spectacles within the pages are many and if you enjoy a race against evil across a stark and unforgiving countryside, then look no further. Highly recommended.
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Innocence 19470704 She dwells in seclusion, a fugitive from enemies who will do her harm if she is ever found.
But the bond between them runs deeper than the tragedies that have scarred their lives. Something more than chance - and nothing less than destiny - has brought them together in a world whose hour of reckoning is fast approaching.
In Innocence, number-one New York Times best-selling author Dean Koontz blends mystery, suspense, and acute insight into the human soul in a masterfully told tale that will resonate with listeners forever.]]>
Dean Koontz Joe 4
We follow Addison Goodheart, a young boy at the beginning of this tale, through the strange upbringing, or lack thereof, of his life. He is shunned, from his mother, from society, from anyone he encounters and is immediately set upon by those who witness his countenance or merely his eyes. He lives by night, paralleling several other characters that Koontz has created, and is uniquely special in more ways than one.

The plot is a myriad of twists, all transpiring within 48 hours of their beginnings. Although Koontz does a lot of telling instead of showing, his vocabulary and command of the english language make the novel seem dreamlike, especially when you're listening to it. The only qualm I have with the novel is the very ending as it became strangely removed from the rest of the story. Until one particular sentence I was willing to overlook it, but when he wrote what he did, it soured the mystic finality of it all.

Don't get me wrong, the book is well worth the read and the characters live and breath. The antagonists are creepy and utterly evil as Koontz always pitches them, without even a shred of redeeming qualities. Overall I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to anyone who's enjoyed his past work. ]]>
3.35 2014 Innocence
author: Dean Koontz
name: Joe
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2014/02/04
date added: 2014/02/06
shelves:
review:
This was the first Koontz book I've read in years and incidentally I'm not sure if "read" is the correct word since it was the very first audiobook I've ever listened to. Koontz is, as always, a master of the craft, taking the reader by the hand and leading them into a very simple situation that almost immediately spirals out of control into a chaotic, yet beautifully scripted journey.

We follow Addison Goodheart, a young boy at the beginning of this tale, through the strange upbringing, or lack thereof, of his life. He is shunned, from his mother, from society, from anyone he encounters and is immediately set upon by those who witness his countenance or merely his eyes. He lives by night, paralleling several other characters that Koontz has created, and is uniquely special in more ways than one.

The plot is a myriad of twists, all transpiring within 48 hours of their beginnings. Although Koontz does a lot of telling instead of showing, his vocabulary and command of the english language make the novel seem dreamlike, especially when you're listening to it. The only qualm I have with the novel is the very ending as it became strangely removed from the rest of the story. Until one particular sentence I was willing to overlook it, but when he wrote what he did, it soured the mystic finality of it all.

Don't get me wrong, the book is well worth the read and the characters live and breath. The antagonists are creepy and utterly evil as Koontz always pitches them, without even a shred of redeeming qualities. Overall I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to anyone who's enjoyed his past work.
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Jack & Jill 19176021 Alternate Cover Edition can be found here.

When they were kids, Gillian and John used to visit the local cemetery every Sunday after church. It was a curious place for children to frequent, but they had their reasons. The main attraction was the lofty hill that separated the cemetery from the elementary school, and the act of tumbling down it like Jack and Jill was a ritualistic escape from the abuse they were suffering at their father's hands.

It was an escape that lasted only until John's tragic death.

Now, Gillian is all grown up. Married with two children, she has managed over the years to force the trauma of her nightmarish childhood into the darkest recesses of her mind.

But lately there are dreams, and in them Gillian sees impossibly vivid reenactments of the horrors she endured as a child. Nightly, she sees John die all over again, only not in the way she remembers.

And something else is in those dreams, stalking her, a terrible figure with wire-hanger hands and a plastic bag wrapped around its rotten face. A monster whose reach starts to extend beyond the boundaries of sleep into the waking world, threatening everything Gillian holds dear.

A monster she once called Daddy.]]>
106 Kealan Patrick Burke Joe 4 3.95 2013 Jack & Jill
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/01/05
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Isle of Blood (The Monstrumologist, #3)]]> 9955669 When Dr. Warthrop goes hunting the "Holy Grail of Monstrumology" with his eager new assistant, Arkwright, he leaves Will Henry in New York. Finally, Will can enjoy something that always seemed out of reach: a normal life with a real family. But part of Will can't let go of Dr. Warthrop, and when Arkwright returns claiming that the doctor is dead, Will is devastated--and not convinced.

Determined to discover the truth, Will travels to London, knowing that if he succeeds, he will be plunging into depths of horror worse than anything he has experienced so far. His journey will take him to Socotra, the Isle of Blood, where human beings are used to make nests and blood rains from the sky--and will put Will Henry's loyalty to the ultimate test.

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538 Rick Yancey 1416984526 Joe 5 4.24 2011 The Isle of Blood (The Monstrumologist, #3)
author: Rick Yancey
name: Joe
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2013/09/30
date added: 2013/10/26
shelves:
review:
Third book in the series and Mr. Yancey has yet to disappoint. Deeper study of characters in this one as the bond between Warthrop and Will both strengthen and twist into something new. Will begins to explore what it means to be human when faced with inhumane choices. Another excellent delve into the world of The Monstrumologist.
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Pines (Wayward Pines, #1) 15844683 Librarian's Note: An alternate cover for this ASIN can be found here

Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital, with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels?off. As the days pass, Ethan's investigation into the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Why can't he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world? Why doesn't anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the residents in? Or something else out? Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was, until he must face a horrifying fact? He may never get out of Wayward Pines alive. Intense and gripping, Pines is another masterful thriller from the mind of bestselling novelist Blake Crouch.]]>
320 Blake Crouch Joe 5 3.93 2012 Pines (Wayward Pines, #1)
author: Blake Crouch
name: Joe
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/10/22
shelves:
review:
Another non stop action thriller from Mr. Crouch. This book is streamlined to the max and jumps genres from one scene to the next. Excellent read from a real talent.
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<![CDATA[The Curse of the Wendigo (The Monstrumologist, #2)]]> 9269471
While Dr. Warthrop is attempting to disprove that Homo vampiris, the vampire, could exist, his former fiancée asks him to save her husband, who has been captured by a Wendigo—a creature that starves even as it gorges itself on human flesh. Although Dr. Warthrop considers the Wendigo to be fictitious, he relents and performs the rescue—but is he right to doubt the Wendigo’s existence? Can the doctor and Will Henry hunt down the ultimate predator, who, like the legendary vampire, is neither living nor dead, and whose hunger for human flesh is never satisfied? This second book in The Monstrumologist series explores the line between myth and reality, love and hate, genius and madness.]]>
464 Rick Yancey Joe 5
The story transitions elegantly from rescue mission in the wilderness to the bustling confines of New York City. Love, loss, and horror are all explored in great depth (in some scenes Yancey rivals almost any other horror writer I've read as far as plumbing of vicious description). As far as drawbacks to the novel, Yancey gets a little carried away with subtext and theme, almost beating the reader over the head in some passages, but even these are beautifully written. The climax of the novel is brief but satisfying in a closed circle kind of way. As always, Yancey leaves the ending open for a sequal, which I believe there are already two more in print at this time. All in all, an engaging and satisfying read, highly recommended. ]]>
4.10 2010 The Curse of the Wendigo (The Monstrumologist, #2)
author: Rick Yancey
name: Joe
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2013/09/28
date added: 2013/09/28
shelves:
review:
Rick Yancey might be one of the best turn-of-the-century writers working today. With his Monstrumologist series he captures not only the language and aura of that age, but the personalities of bygone well-known figures too. I was swept away when I first read The Monstrumologist years ago by Yancey's intelligent and flowing prose as well as his storytelling power. The Curse of the Wendigo is no exception. On this journey we follow our young protagonist Will Henry along with his eccentric Dr. Warthrop to the outer reaches of the Canadian wilderness. There they find desolation, both within and without, as well as an unseen menace, traveling on the wind itself.

The story transitions elegantly from rescue mission in the wilderness to the bustling confines of New York City. Love, loss, and horror are all explored in great depth (in some scenes Yancey rivals almost any other horror writer I've read as far as plumbing of vicious description). As far as drawbacks to the novel, Yancey gets a little carried away with subtext and theme, almost beating the reader over the head in some passages, but even these are beautifully written. The climax of the novel is brief but satisfying in a closed circle kind of way. As always, Yancey leaves the ending open for a sequal, which I believe there are already two more in print at this time. All in all, an engaging and satisfying read, highly recommended.
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Peaceable Kingdom 179739 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780843952162.

This landmark collection gathers more than thirty of Jack Ketchum's most thrilling stories. "Gone" and "The Box" were honored with the prestigious Bram Stoker Award. Whether you are already familiar with Ketchum's unique brand of suspense or are experiencing it for the first time, here is a book no aficionado of fear can do without.

Contents:

1 · Introduction · in
5 · The Rifle · ss Cemetery Dance Win �95
18 · The Box · ss Cemetery Dance Spr �94
31 · Mail Order · ss Voices from the Night, ed. John Maclay, Maclay & Associates, 1994
45 · Luck · ss Skull Full of Spurs: A Roundup of Weird Westerns, ed. Jason Bovberg & Kirk Whitham, Dark Highway Press, 2000
56 · The Haunt · ss Cemetery Dance #34, 2001
70 · Megan’s Law · ss Subterranean Gallery, ed. Richard T. Chizmar & William K. Schafer, Subterranean Press, 1999
81 · If Memory Serves · ss Darkside, ed. John Pelan, Darkside Press, 1996
93 · Father and Son · ss, 2000
99 · The Business · ss Murder for Mother, ed. Martin H. Greenberg, Signet, 1994
109 · Mother and Daughter · ss The Spook (online) Aug, 2001
120 · When the Penny Drops · ss The Exit at Toledo Blade Boulevard, Obsidian Books, 1998
133 · Rabid Squirrels in Love · ss Cemetery Dance Spr �97
143 · Sundays · ss, 2000
153 · Twins · ss *
168 · Amid the Walking Wounded · ss The UFO Files, ed. Ed Gorman & Martin H. Greenberg, DAW, 1998
183 · The Great San Diego Sleasy Bimbo Massacre · ss The Exit at Toledo Blade Boulevard, Obsidian Books, 1998
202 · The Holding Cell · ss Bizarre Bazaar #2 �93
216 · The Work · ss, 1997
226 · The Best · ss, 2000
231 · Redemption · ss Night Screams, ed. Ed Gorman & Martin H. Greenberg, Roc, 1996
245 · The Exit at Toledo Blade Boulevard · ss The Exit at Toledo Blade Boulevard, Obsidian Books, 1998
259 · Chain Letter · ss The Exit at Toledo Blade Boulevard, Obsidian Books, 1998
267 · Forever · ss Imagination Fully Dilated 2, ed. Elizabeth Engstrom, IFD Publishing, 2000
281 · Gone · ss October Dreams, ed. Richard Chizmar & Robert Morrish, CD Publications, 2000
288 · Closing Time · na *
331 · The Rose · ss Deadly After Dark, ed. Jeff Gelb & Michael Garrett, Pocket, 1994
348 · The Turning · ss Vampire Detectives, ed. Martin H. Greenberg, DAW, 1995
354 · To Suit the Crime · ss Bizarre Sex & Other Crimes of Passion #1, ed. Stan Tal, Tal Publications �92
363 · Lines: or Like Franco, Elvis Is Still Dead · ss *
372 · The Visitor · ss The Exit at Toledo Blade Boulevard, Obsidian Books, 1998
380 · Snakes · ss Fear Itself, ed. Jeff Gelb, Warner, 1995
400 · Firedance · ss Imagination Fully Dilated, ed. Alan M. Clark & Elizabeth Engstrom, CD Publications, 1998
413 · Afterword · aw]]>
416 Jack Ketchum Joe 0 to-read 3.90 2003 Peaceable Kingdom
author: Jack Ketchum
name: Joe
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/09/23
shelves: to-read
review:

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Cobwebs 18427674
But on the morning he awakes to find his face shrouded in cobwebs, he realizes that a new fear has found him: a fear of being forgotten.

And then there are the disappearances, the quiet ambulances in the dark of night, and the inexplicable shadows growing in the corners of his room.

Soon Alfred will learn that there are worse things than being forgotten...]]>
23 Kealan Patrick Burke Joe 5 3.72 2011 Cobwebs
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/09/19
shelves:
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<![CDATA[The Bedlam Detective (Sebastian Becker, #2)]]> 15707059 Madmen see monsters � and monsters hide in plain sight
Ěý
From a basement office in London’s notorious Bethlehem Hospital,ĚýSebastian Becker investigates wealthy eccentrics whose dubious mental health may render them unable to manage their own affairs.ĚýHis interview with rich landowner Sir Owain Lancaster, whose sanity has been in question since a disastrous scientific adventure in the Amazon killed his family and colleagues, coincides with the disappearance of two young local girls. When the children are found slain, Lancaster claims that the same dark forces that devastated his family have followed him home. It is not the first time that children have come to harm in his rural countrysideĚýtown, though few are willing to speak of incidents from the past. Becker must determine whether this mad nobleman is insane and a murderer, or if some even more sinister agency is at work.
ĚýĚýĚýStruggling on his small salary, and with unexpected help from a son who needs special care, Becker and his wife make sacrifices so Becker can stay on the case after an innocent man is convicted of the crime. The answers he seeks may be found with the assistance of the local investigator and a young suffragette who fled Arnmouth, but couldn’t flee the horrors she encountered there.Ěý
ĚýĚýĚýFrom dank asylums to the lush and treacherous Amazon, through the makeshift studios of the early film industry and a traveling fair of freaks and illusions, Sebastian Becker’s search for answers brings him face to face with madmen and monsters, both imagined and real. Confronting immense danger in his hunt for the truth, he will explore murder, tragedy, and the tempestuous depths of his own mind.Ěý]]>
322 Stephen Gallagher Joe 4
Overall the story is good and well put together, it just loses a little steam near the end. Definitely still worth the read if you like turn-of-the-century London murder mysteries. ]]>
3.96 2012 The Bedlam Detective (Sebastian Becker, #2)
author: Stephen Gallagher
name: Joe
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2013/09/19
date added: 2013/09/19
shelves:
review:
A little torn on this one because I really enjoyed the first two thirds of the book. Gallagher gets gas-lamp England right with well done descriptions and dialect. The last third of the book just wasn't as gripping. Really enjoyed the dynamic of the MC's son having Aspergers (although never named) and would've liked to see that expanded upon further. My guess initially was the author was going to have a father son team going forward for future books but it didn't appear that way at the end, will have to look into more of his work.

Overall the story is good and well put together, it just loses a little steam near the end. Definitely still worth the read if you like turn-of-the-century London murder mysteries.
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<![CDATA[Dead Leaves: 9 Tales from the Witching Season]]> 12850063
From Bram Stoker Award-winning author Kealan Patrick Burke comes the second in his series of seasonal collections. Featuring a brand new story "The Toll", a new introduction, and rounded out by the author's recommended Halloween reading and watching lists, DEAD LEAVES makes for the perfect autumnal read.
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92 Kealan Patrick Burke Joe 5 3.54 2011 Dead Leaves: 9 Tales from the Witching Season
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/09/12
shelves:
review:

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Mr. Goodnight: A Short Story 11989492 16 Kealan Patrick Burke Joe 5 4.02 2011 Mr. Goodnight: A Short Story
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/09/12
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Saturday Night at Eddie's (Milestone #0.5)]]> 10080954
For the patrons of Eddie's bar, who live in the shadows of their own tragic pasts, tonight will be different.

Tonight, there will come one shot at redemption for those brave enough to take it.

Featuring an incredible cast of characters united by desperation, this is the novella that inspired the critically acclaimed novel CURRENCY OF SOULS.]]>
45 Kealan Patrick Burke Joe 4 4.44 2010 Saturday Night at Eddie's (Milestone #0.5)
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/09/12
shelves:
review:

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Master of the Moors 5771506 297 Kealan Patrick Burke 0975363573 Joe 5 3.91 2008 Master of the Moors
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/09/12
shelves:
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Peekers 10184882
Because there is something in his house that couldn't possibly be real...Something terrifying...]]>
14 Kealan Patrick Burke Joe 5 4.01 2006 Peekers
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/09/12
shelves:
review:

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Empathy 11294074 It begins with an email containing a link to a video that has to be seen to be believed. A video so horrific it stays in the mind long after it has been watched. And once it finds its way inside your mind, only then does the true nightmare begin.

From Bram Stoker Award-winning author Kealan Patrick Burke comes a terrifying story of supernatural horror and violence for the digital generation.

"In this exceptionally well-developed story, a man is so emotionally scarred by watching a torture scene on the internet (just out of curiosity), that he can't stop envisioning the visceral scene playing out again and again, especially on his family. Burke effectively gets us inside the mind of the haunted and obsessed, as the protagonist's nightmares seep progressively into his waking life...It's certainly worthy of an award for best scary novella of the year." - Michael Arnzen, The Goreletter

"Well crafted and disquieting" - Hank Wagner, Horror World
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23 Kealan Patrick Burke Joe 5 3.67 2011 Empathy
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/09/12
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Nemesis: The Death of Timmy Quinn (Timmy Quinn #5)]]> 16068999
For over twenty years Tim Quinn has lived in the shadow of death. Now, the Curtain has come down and the dead no longer need him to facilitate their vengeance. As the air turns amber, the shadows deepen, and murderous revenants begin to stalk the streets, Tim and the woman he loves must race to find Peregrine, the man they believe responsible for the sundering of the veil between the living and the dead.

While the sins of the past intertwine with the present and vicious entities old and new arise to claim dominion, Tim must learn the secrets of The Stage and uncover the genesis of those who created it before The Stage becomes all there is.

But just as there are enemies in Tim's dark new world, so too are there allies: The Conduits, people possessed of similar gifts who share a common goal: to find and destroy Peregrine before Peregrine destroys them all.

In the final battle, Tim will fight not only for the woman he loves and the life she carries within her, but for the very fate of mankind. It is a battle that will transcend realms, cost lives, and at last bring Tim Quinn face to face with his nemesis.

NEMESIS is the epic novel-length conclusion of the acclaimed Timmy Quinn series, which began in 2004 with the Bram Stoker Award-winning novella THE TURTLE BOY.]]>
257 Kealan Patrick Burke Joe 4 4.23 2012 Nemesis: The Death of Timmy Quinn (Timmy Quinn #5)
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/09/12
shelves:
review:

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The Grief Frequency 11852551 30 Kealan Patrick Burke Joe 5 4.07 2011 The Grief Frequency
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/09/12
shelves:
review:

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Underneath 10080944
Dean agrees, and soon discovers that there is much more to Stephanie Watts than anyone dared imagine, and deadlier secrets awaiting him...underneath.]]>
32 Kealan Patrick Burke Joe 5 3.27 2010 Underneath
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/09/12
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Turtle Boy (Timmy Quinn #1)]]> 1414451 96 Kealan Patrick Burke 0975363506 Joe 5 3.64 2004 The Turtle Boy (Timmy Quinn #1)
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/09/12
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Origin (The Konrath Dark Thriller Collective #2)]]> 6414121 THE U.S. GOVERMENT HAS CAPTURED SATAN... AND SATAN WANTS OUT.

1906 - Something is discovered by workers digging the Panama Canal. Something dormant. Sinister. Very much alive.

2009 - Project Samhain. A secret underground government installation begun 103 years ago in New Mexico. The best minds in the world have been recruited to study the most amazing discovery in the history of mankind.

But the century of peaceful research is about to end.

BECAUSE IT JUST WOKE UP.

ORIGIN by J.A. Konrath
Hell is about to break loose...

If you are a more sensitive (or adventurous) reader, the Konrath scale rates specific categories from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) to give you some idea if this is your kind of book.

ORIGIN
Scary - 6
Violent - 7
Funny - 5
Sexy - 4
Crossovers - Includes characters from the Konrath Dark Thriller Collective, the Jack Daniels thrillers, the Codename: Chandler series, and the Timecaster series.]]>
306 J.A. Konrath Joe 4 3.79 2009 Origin (The Konrath Dark Thriller Collective #2)
author: J.A. Konrath
name: Joe
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/08/27
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Monsters and Mortals (Blood war #2)]]> 18309025
Disgraced medical examiner Fabio Morani travels there, following a trail of dead bodies left behind by a vampire. Deanna Matthews flees from hybrids—a grotesque half-breed mix of vampire and werewolf—and boards the first plane leaving Heathrow, bound for the Italian capital. A chance meeting throws the two mortals together and they find themselves embroiled in a centuries-old supernatural conflict, where the participants are hell-bent on their destruction.

Rome’s vampire coven is out for revenge, and nothing will stand in the way of justice.]]>
Dylan J. Morgan Joe 4
The story follows Deanna and Fabio's paths that ultimately collide and then take off in a new direction, the whole while the supernatural world is hunting them. This book is reminiscent of several spy thrillers I've read with the participants traveling through many historical and foreign locals, except instead of rogue agents as the antagonists we have vampires and werewolves. Morgan moves the story along at a brisk pace with excellently described settings. Fight scenes are plentiful and if you're a fan of highly trained vampires squaring off against savage lycans, you won't be disappointed. For my own tastes the characters could've been fleshed out more, but as this is the second book in a trilogy and I haven't read the first, much of the character's story may lie there.

All in all if you enjoy the vampire vs werewolf arena, Morgan has crafted a well-woven tale of blood, betrayal, deception, and carnage. Don't hesitate to pick up a copy and go for a fun ride through supernatural territory.]]>
4.75 2013 Monsters and Mortals (Blood war #2)
author: Dylan J. Morgan
name: Joe
average rating: 4.75
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2013/08/24
date added: 2013/08/26
shelves:
review:
Dylan Morgan's Monsters And Mortals takes the reader through the battlefield of a blood feud stretching back 600 years between vampires and werewolves. There are no holds barred between the two ancient races and any contact results in open conflict. To make matters worse there are a mix of the two races called hybrids trying to make a bid for control of the supernatural world, and caught amidst the chaos are two mortals- Deanna and Fabio- embroiled in the war unwillingly.

The story follows Deanna and Fabio's paths that ultimately collide and then take off in a new direction, the whole while the supernatural world is hunting them. This book is reminiscent of several spy thrillers I've read with the participants traveling through many historical and foreign locals, except instead of rogue agents as the antagonists we have vampires and werewolves. Morgan moves the story along at a brisk pace with excellently described settings. Fight scenes are plentiful and if you're a fan of highly trained vampires squaring off against savage lycans, you won't be disappointed. For my own tastes the characters could've been fleshed out more, but as this is the second book in a trilogy and I haven't read the first, much of the character's story may lie there.

All in all if you enjoy the vampire vs werewolf arena, Morgan has crafted a well-woven tale of blood, betrayal, deception, and carnage. Don't hesitate to pick up a copy and go for a fun ride through supernatural territory.
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<![CDATA[The Black Country (Scotland Yard's Murder Squad, #2)]]> 17969687
The British Midlands. It’s called the “Black Country� for a reason. Bad things happen there.

When members of a prominent family disappear from a coal-mining village—and a human eyeball is discovered in a bird’s nest—the local constable sends for help from Scotland Yard’s new Murder Squad. Fresh off the grisly 1889 murders of The Yard, Inspector Walter Day and Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith respond, but they have no idea what they’re about to get into. The villagers have intense, intertwined histories. Everybody bears a secret. Superstitions abound. And the village itself is slowly sinking into the mines beneath it.

Not even the arrival of forensics pioneer Dr. Bernard Kingsley seems to help. In fact, the more the three of them investigate, the more they realize they may never be allowed to leave. . . .]]>
401 Alex Grecian 1101621060 Joe 0 to-read 4.00 2013 The Black Country (Scotland Yard's Murder Squad, #2)
author: Alex Grecian
name: Joe
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/07/27
shelves: to-read
review:

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Shutter Island 6284840 369 Dennis Lehane Joe 5
Lehane has a way with atmosphere and sense of place. Shutter Island blooms in the mind as a rocky sore poking from Boston Harbor, intent on tearing any sanity you have from your mind upon arrival. The characters are deep, easy to like and hate, the weather sucks, and everyone might or might not be your enemy. Brilliantly done by a master of the psychological thriller. Don't pass this one up.]]>
4.22 2003 Shutter Island
author: Dennis Lehane
name: Joe
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/07/27
shelves:
review:
Watched the movie years ago and finally got around to reading the book.

Lehane has a way with atmosphere and sense of place. Shutter Island blooms in the mind as a rocky sore poking from Boston Harbor, intent on tearing any sanity you have from your mind upon arrival. The characters are deep, easy to like and hate, the weather sucks, and everyone might or might not be your enemy. Brilliantly done by a master of the psychological thriller. Don't pass this one up.
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Killshot 6601710
The New York Times bestselling author the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette once called, “the Alexander the Great of crime fiction,� Elmore Leonard is responsible for creating some of the sharpest dialogue, most compelling characters (including U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of TV’s Justified fame), and, quite simply, some of the very best suspense novels written over the past century. Killshot is prime Leonard—a riveting story of a husband and wife caught in the crossfire when they foil a criminal act and are forced to defend themselves when the legal system fails them from the murderous wrath of a pair of vengeful killers. When it comes to cops and criminals stories, Killshot and Leonard are as good as it gets—further proof why “the King Daddy of crime writers� (Seattle Times) deserves his current place among John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and the other legendary greats of the noir fiction genre.]]>
416 Elmore Leonard Joe 5 4.00 1989 Killshot
author: Elmore Leonard
name: Joe
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1989
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/07/14
shelves:
review:
Excellent thriller/crime novel. Sad to say this was my first Elmore Leonard novel, but will definitely read more of his work. Slick characterization and smooth dialogue carries this story right along. Perfect setups lead to practiced execution that leave you smiling and cringing at times. The only qualm I had with the story was Wayne's character, a little too self centered, but only a little. Other than that the novel was flawless. Bravo.
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<![CDATA[Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1)]]> 8447243 Lonesome Dove, the third book in the Lonesome Dove tetralogy, is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness of America. Journey to the dusty little Texas town of Lonesome Dove and meet an unforgettable assortment of heroes and outlaws, whores and ladies, Indians and settlers. Richly authentic, beautifully written, always dramatic, Lonesome Dove is a book to make us laugh, weep, dream, and remember.]]> 1082 Larry McMurtry Joe 5
First off, McMurtry, as most literary greats do, breaks the conventional rules of storytelling in that he tells more than shows the novel. This is in no way a detriment to the story itself. The backstory and characters come to life with his skillful prose and subtle metaphor. The book begins slow and easy, setting up the plot to come. For those who can't read a story unless it starts amidst explosions, gunfire, and characters already in the throes of some unknown conflict, turn away, you won't make it far. This is a novel about people and the choices they make, the actions regretted along with the words unsaid. This story doesn't move at the speed of light, it creeps into your heart and grows until the character's struggles become your own.

McMurtry has accomplished something heartbreaking here, a story that haunts with spirits of both good and bad will. If you read this book, you'll travel the dusty trail of The Hat Creek Cattle Company well into the night, cross rivers, battle outlaws, fall in love, and never want it to end. ]]>
4.55 1985 Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1)
author: Larry McMurtry
name: Joe
average rating: 4.55
book published: 1985
rating: 5
read at: 2013/06/16
date added: 2013/06/16
shelves:
review:
I watched the mini series based on this book when I was ten or twelve with my parents, and even then I knew the story was special in some way. The basic outline of the plot stuck with me for years until I finally sat down to read the book itself.

First off, McMurtry, as most literary greats do, breaks the conventional rules of storytelling in that he tells more than shows the novel. This is in no way a detriment to the story itself. The backstory and characters come to life with his skillful prose and subtle metaphor. The book begins slow and easy, setting up the plot to come. For those who can't read a story unless it starts amidst explosions, gunfire, and characters already in the throes of some unknown conflict, turn away, you won't make it far. This is a novel about people and the choices they make, the actions regretted along with the words unsaid. This story doesn't move at the speed of light, it creeps into your heart and grows until the character's struggles become your own.

McMurtry has accomplished something heartbreaking here, a story that haunts with spirits of both good and bad will. If you read this book, you'll travel the dusty trail of The Hat Creek Cattle Company well into the night, cross rivers, battle outlaws, fall in love, and never want it to end.
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Symbios 13629416
It is a utopia, and he is treated like a god.

But what happens when a god gets hungry, and can't eat the local plant life?

Symbios is a 5500 word science fiction short story by Joe Kimball, author of the novel Timecaster. It has been specifically formatted for Kindle. A teaser chapter of Timecaster is included at the end.]]>
33 Joe Kimball Joe 5 3.93 2011 Symbios
author: Joe Kimball
name: Joe
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/05/04
shelves:
review:
Konrath, Kilborn, Kimball, it doesn't matter what name he goes by, J.A. always satisfies. Really cool science fiction story about survival, morality, and hunger. Do yourself a favor and read this one.
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The Tent 17839402 Librarian's Note: An alternate cover for this ASIN can be found here

The perfect getaway...

The perfect place to hide...

Hocking Hills, Ohio is an oasis for campers, hikers, nature enthusiasts, and for those who just want to get away and lose themselves in the wild.

And as long as you follow your guide's advice and stay within the permitted areas, you can expect to survive the night.

Because deep within the dark woods, something insidious awaits, something few have ever seen, something ancient, unknowable, and insatiable.

If you go down to these woods today, you won't live to see the sunrise...

A brand new novella from the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE TURTLE BOY and KIN.]]>
134 Kealan Patrick Burke Joe 5 3.76 2013 The Tent
author: Kealan Patrick Burke
name: Joe
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/04/23
shelves:
review:
Excellent creepy tale about several different characters on the side of a mountain during a storm. Ratcheting tension built throughout with an unsettling ending that I hope breeds a novel-length sequel. Well done!
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Different Seasons 228123 See alternate cover edition here.

Four novellas, including the inspirations for the movies The Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil & Stand By Me.
Rita Hayworth & the Shawshank Redemption
Apt Pupil
The Body
The Breathing Method
Afterword]]>
507 Stephen King Joe 5 4.20 1982 Different Seasons
author: Stephen King
name: Joe
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1982
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/03/22
shelves:
review:

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Rebecca 17256165
When she realized she had feelings for her best friend,
Sarah drove her off. To prove she wasn't gay, Sarah
slept with a boy from school. When she got pregnant,
she surrendered an acceptance to Yale in order to keep
her daughter, Rebecca.

Finally, God's messenger tells her she's proven her virtue.
She can have her life back the way it was.

In return, she only needs to kill her baby.

"Rebecca" is a terrifying descent into the maze of one young
woman's beliefs, a labyrinth of self-hate and religious
abuse which asks the same question at every turn:

What would you do for your God?]]>
300 Adam J. Nicolai Joe 4 3.71 2013 Rebecca
author: Adam J. Nicolai
name: Joe
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/02/07
shelves:
review:

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Alex 13184445 296 Adam J. Nicolai 0984926402 Joe 5 3.98 2011 Alex
author: Adam J. Nicolai
name: Joe
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/02/03
shelves:
review:
Well done psychological thriller. Hard to read at times because of graphic content but visceral and moving. Very well done.
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Picking the Bones 10361163
"Step back, back into the world of 1996..."

"Dark fiction so numbing cold and cutting edge you better hold onto your ass with your free hand...There are no simple 'entertainments' or cheap grabs for the throat to be found here. Hodge is deadly serious about presenting a world where the worst punishment is the mere fact that you are aware you will probably live to see another day."

So wrote critic Stanley Wiater about Brian Hodge's renowned first short fiction collection, The Convulsion Factory. Three collections later, nothing has changed.

Well...maybe one or two trifling entertainments. A couple of cheap grabs for some body part or another. But that's about it. There are still plenty of fates worse than death.


And the time has now come to advance to the fourth circle of Hell, whose 17 stations include:

The award-winning "With Acknowledgments to Sun Tzu," in which a hardened photojournalist glimpses the face behind the atrocities of war...

"The Passion of the Beast," a report on the arcane origins and tragic premier of the flipside version of Mel Gibson's most famous movie...

"The Firebrand Symphony," which seeds Lovecraftian terrors in the unlikely realms of vintage psychedelia and cinematic sound design...

"Brushed In Blackest Silence," the chapter in the life of Dracula's Van Helsing that reunited Hodge with Dell/Abyss mastermind Jeanne Cavelos...

"Hate the Sinner, Love the Sin," which finds one of the Middle Ages' seven towers of darkest iniquity thriving in modern-day Los Angeles...

Dying is easy. Living is hard. And forces beyond your control have a bone to pick with you.

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313 Brian Hodge 1587672200 Joe 4 4.18 2011 Picking the Bones
author: Brian Hodge
name: Joe
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2013/01/24
date added: 2013/01/24
shelves:
review:
Powerful writing in this one. Hodge definitely has a sublime sense of horror. Lots of great stories in this collection that cover a wide range of subjects. Although a little too wordy at times this book is a thought provoking read from a talented author.
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The Girl on the Glider 12070807 101 Brian Keene Joe 4 4.29 2010 The Girl on the Glider
author: Brian Keene
name: Joe
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/01/19
shelves:
review:
Well written glimpse into the life of a writer who is haunted in more ways than one. Keene writes honestly with unflinching prose and though there's no ghouls or monsters there is definitely creepiness and a lot of heart. Recommended.
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Hellifax (Mountain Man #3) 17188359

A serial killer stalks the ice-glazed streets.

Half-frozen deadheads choke the avenues.

Infected vermin rise from the labyrinth of sewer systems, hungry for warm flesh.

And a handful of survivors struggle to escape and find someplace safe. In his hunt for Tenner, Scott discovers he must contend with all of this, before things truly get worse.

Welcome.

To Hellifax.



Series order:

Book 1: Mountain Man
Book 2: Safari
Book 3: Hellifax

Also :

The Hospital (a single short story, also part of the collection “Cauldron Gristle.� This story happens six months before the events of “Mountain Man.� )

Approx. 115,000 words, or about 350 pages.]]>
Keith C. Blackmore Joe 4 4.15 2012 Hellifax (Mountain Man #3)
author: Keith C. Blackmore
name: Joe
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/01/13
shelves:
review:
Great finale to the series. Well paced and emotionally charged along with the gore that one expects from the MM books. New characters join familiar faces in this showdown of good and evil. Fun and fast paced ride!
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Gun Machine 14739231 308 Warren Ellis 0316187404 Joe 5 3.81 2012 Gun Machine
author: Warren Ellis
name: Joe
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/01/08
shelves:
review:
One of the best police procedural thrillers I've ever read. Dark and disturbing at times and laugh out loud at others. A real page turner with genuine characters, a psychotic antagonist, and a fun ride through New York. Highly recommended.
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The Mourning House 16068961
And then he sees the house. Like a siren, it calls to him. Yet the house is not what it appears to be. Is it a blessing, a gift...or a curse?]]>
182 Ronald Malfi 1937771504 Joe 4 3.78 2012 The Mourning House
author: Ronald Malfi
name: Joe
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2013/01/08
shelves:
review:
Malfi sets out to quietly scare in this one and accomplishes it. This haunted house tale will leave you thinking and pondering after it's done. Moments of chills and very real sorrow are within. Recommended.
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11/22/63 12530184 On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.

Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history.

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life � a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

A tribute to a simpler era and a devastating exercise in escalating suspense, 11/22/63 is Stephen King at his epic best.

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866 Stephen King Joe 5
Once again King's characterization is the clincher in being drawn into the story. As we follow Jake back to a golden age in American history that has its dark sides, we see a greater story unraveling before us that goes beyond the premise of saving one influential man's life. We get to watch Jake fall in love, we see his highs, and lows, and learn a little about ourselves as we ask the hard questions the main character is faced with.

All in all a brilliant read that I would recommend to anyone. Wonderfully done again by a master of not only horror but of the story itself.]]>
4.41 2011 11/22/63
author: Stephen King
name: Joe
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/12/25
shelves:
review:
I've read pretty much everything Mr. King's written and was hesitant to read this one just because of the time travel premise, but as usual, he didn't disappoint.

Once again King's characterization is the clincher in being drawn into the story. As we follow Jake back to a golden age in American history that has its dark sides, we see a greater story unraveling before us that goes beyond the premise of saving one influential man's life. We get to watch Jake fall in love, we see his highs, and lows, and learn a little about ourselves as we ask the hard questions the main character is faced with.

All in all a brilliant read that I would recommend to anyone. Wonderfully done again by a master of not only horror but of the story itself.
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The Voice of the Night 64949
Includes an afterword by the author.]]>
339 Dean Koontz 0425128164 Joe 4 3.95 1980 The Voice of the Night
author: Dean Koontz
name: Joe
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1980
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/11/27
shelves:
review:

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The Face of Fear 64960
Because you're trapped. With a beautiful, terrified woman. On the 40th floor of a deserted office building. By the psychopath they call "The Butcher."

DON'T LOOK DOWN

Because you're an ex-mountain climber. Because a fall from Everest left you with a bad leg... and a paralyzing fear of heights.

DON'T LOOK DOWN

Because he has slaughtered the guards and short-circuited the elevators. Because the stairways are blocked, and for you and the woman with you, there's only one escape route.

DON'T LOOK DOWN

Because 600 feet of empty space are looking back at you.

"A real breath-taker... should hold you glued to its pages till the wee small hours." --West Coast Review of Books]]>
206 Brian Coffey 042511984X Joe 5 3.87 1977 The Face of Fear
author: Brian Coffey
name: Joe
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1977
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/11/27
shelves:
review:

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The Eyes of Darkness 32443 The Eyes Of Darkness.]]> 369 Dean Koontz 0425153975 Joe 5 3.84 1981 The Eyes of Darkness
author: Dean Koontz
name: Joe
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1981
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/11/27
shelves:
review:

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The Key to Midnight 32433
Alex Hunter desperately wanted to help this beautiful, fascinating woman. He knew he had seen Joanna before - in news photographs of a senator's daughter who'd disappeared ten years ago. Slowly, tenderly, he helped awaken her to a terrifying fact: that she was not who she thought he was... that her mind, her memories, had been created for her...

And there was only one was to unlock the dark secret of her soul... The Key to Midnight]]>
419 Dean Koontz 0425147517 Joe 4 3.97 1979 The Key to Midnight
author: Dean Koontz
name: Joe
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/11/27
shelves:
review:

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The House of Thunder 228220 360 Leigh Nichols 0425132951 Joe 4 3.81 1982 The House of Thunder
author: Leigh Nichols
name: Joe
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1982
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/11/27
shelves:
review:

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Strange Highways 32445 576 Dean Koontz 0446531383 Joe 5 3.88 1995 Strange Highways
author: Dean Koontz
name: Joe
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/11/27
shelves:
review:

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