Matt
I received an eARC of Upgrade by Blake Crouch from the publisher, although I also purchased the audiobook and a BOTM edition. All opinions are my own.
Upgrade is another great sci-fi thriller from Blake Crouch. The author has a great talent for blending what reads like authentic science into his narratives while still creating a suspenseful and engaging story. This one features a dystopian near future in which the study of genetics is highly regulated and gene engineering is outlawed. The protagonist Logan is an agent of the Gene Protection Agency, and embarks on a series of events that will change his life and possibly the world. Compared to Dark Matter, which I read and loved, this one felt a little more technical and the stakes of the plot didn't have the same urgency in my opinion. With that said, I still really enjoyed it and would recommend it to readers of Crouch, Weir, etc. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Disappearance at Devil's Rock by @paulgtremblay was the last of Tremblay's current horror novels I hadn't read...so now I've completed the set sans the crime fiction. Perhaps it's fitting that the book about a missing child should be the last to disappear from my TBR. Of course, I do not mean to make light of the subject, and Tremblay certainly does not. With the “is it or isn't it” ambiguity readers have enjoyed in Cabin, Head Full of Ghosts, and Pallbearer's Club, Tremblay challenges the reader to confront one of life's most tragic and terrifying situation and wrestle with the intrinsic drive to find a narrative, meaning, as extraordinary as the catastrophic circumstances. I don't mind admitting I flipped through the P.S. pages at the end because I felt like there were parts of the book I didn't sufficiently comprehend, but overall this novel kept me guessing and held my interest throughout. I also loved seeing the original story a couple of Survivor Song characters originated from. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How to Sell a Haunted House is another great novel from Grady Hendrix. Exploring grief, loss, guilt, family, sibling rivalry, and generational trauma...with a house haunted by dolls and puppets. There are tons of images and scenes that are really horrifying in the best possible way. The book is also often very funny. Hendrix returns to Charleston for this one, and it also effectively blends horror and humor much like his prior South Carolina stories My Best Friend's Exorcism and The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. There was also one section that, which to reveal a minor spoiler, included a radical puppet collective...and I thought it was one of the greatest things I've ever read in a horror novel. Granted as someone who trained in more than a little bit of devised and experimental theatre, I'm probably biased. The book wasn't necessarily a perfect home run though. Despite the introduction of several dolls and puppets in this book, only one* really seemed particularly meaningful. In fact, I might even say that the involvement of the other puppets came perilously close to not being adequately explained and was certainly underutilized. Still, the way Hendrix explored challenging subjects concerning family and loss was really moving. In some ways I think this might be his most mature work, despite being so funny. The audiobook was read by Jay Aaseng and Mikhaila Aaseng, and they did a great job! Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
*Except for an early scene that was really spectacularly horrifying, and reminiscent of another scene in Southern Book Club's Guide.
Wow! Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman is a harrowing and poignant work of contemporary medieval horror. I first read Buehlman's writing in his forward for the anthology Howls from the Dark Ages (HOWL Society Press), which was perfectly fine but paled so far in comparison to this novel that I was able to plod along in ignorance of Buehlman's extraordinary literary skill, allowing this book, which I do not mind referring to as a masterpiece, to hibernate on my TBR for far too long. It was the release of Midworld Press' special edition which motivated me to finally read (listen) to this work, and it was truly outstanding. From the very beginning this story seemed to capture style and genre with authenticity and grace, and developed highly compelling characters. I found myself setting aside other, good, books I had already begun because I wanted to know what would happen. Between Two Fires seems to combine fantasy, horror, and religion together into something that reads as both fantastical and honest. Horrifying, but also beautiful. Probably my favorite book this year so far. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bloodthirsty children, personal transmogrification, cursed objects, mad teachers, evil clowns, and shadowy cults...middle school, am I right? 😂 The Emaciated Man by Evan Baughfman is a really great book of middle grade horror. Set in Edgar Allen Poe Middle School, this collection of stories tells a linear narrative set in a shared world about the terrors of the middle years. Baughfman is a middle school teacher and these stories really ring with authenticity. The way the students and teachers talk and behave is often highly believable, however fantastic the story might be. And indeed, these stories are darkly fantastical. Baughfman does not shy away from twisted, gory, dark details which place this work firmly in the horror genre. Frankly, this volume might even be too scary for some of its target audience. Yet, for mature and brave middle schoolers - and older readers - this volume is a fantastic collection that examines important themes like bullying, education, and coming of age. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Nice House on the Lake Vol 1 is an excellent collected edition beginning a horror comic series. A bit LOST meets THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD, this series has kept me guessing and consistently drawn me with the development of each character. If you're in to locked room mysteries and postapocalyptic stories, I think you'll really enjoy this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Original Review
Ninth House is a great new adult dark academia horror book. Featuring hauntings and magic and a mystery, this is the story of an Ivy League college student who's found her way into a world she never imagined. It's a fun book, although the ending left something to be desired. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
1/31/23 Update
I re-read Ninth House, doing the audiobook this time, to refresh my memory before reading Hell Bent. I really enjoyed it, maybe even more than the first time. I love this dark academia story and the blending of the supernatural with real aspects of New Haven and Yale's history. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Many thanks to the editor of this 90s themed horror anthology for providing me a complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
AHH! That's What I Call Horror is a cleverly named horror anthology paying homage to the last decade of the twentieth century. I was super excited to take a stroll down memory lane and read some awesome stories set 20-30 years ago. For the most part, this anthology did not disappoint. Like most anthologies there are some great stories and some that less fantastic. There were no real stinkers, and stories ranged from serviceable to excellent. Some of my favorites included The Grunge by Caleb Stephens, Return to Gray Springs: Blockbuster Blues (set in the same town as The Grunge) by P.L. McMillan, Nona's First and Last Album Drop by Edith Lockwood, The One with the Mysterious Package by C.B. Jones, Alive and Living (Pilot) by Carson Winter, and About a Girl by J.V. Gachs.
It was fun to see various 90s references sprinkled throughout the stories. I did notice that some themes and ideas seemed to be repeated throughout the anthology. Sometimes this is inevitable in a themed collection, but sometimes the repetition came from specific horror elements and not just the chronological context. I also found a couple of the stories confusing or less than fully developed. The short story format is challenging, and in a couple cases I felt like the author didn't give me enough information to completely understand what happened, or why I should care.
Still, overall this was a fun anthology. Since there were a bunch of stories I liked in this book, I'm going to call this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
I really enjoyed Run Time. I previously listened to Catherine Ryan Howard's COVID lockdown thriller 56 Days and I knew I wanted to check this one out based on how much I liked it. Run Time did not disappoint. I throughly enjoyed the unique structure of this novel, interspersing sections of screenplay between chapters of regular narrative prose. A truly fresh take on the alternating timelines/POVs I often find tiresome in other books. Although a few minor aspects of the reveal/twist seemed strained to me, I nevertheless enjoyed the story very much. I've found that I enjoy listening to Irish crime novels, and other books set in locations removed from my own personal experience, far more that I enjoy reading them with my eyeballs due to the additional layer of detail and immersion added by the narrator. The readers for Run Time do not disappoint, making the Audible edition superior to the print in my personal opinion. I highly recommend Run Time to fans of thrillers and the film industry.
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers is a wonderfully cozy sci-fi space adventure. Rosemary joins the crew of the Wayfarer, a tunneling vessel that punches openings in space-time for worm holes, and discovers much about the various species and worlds of the Galactic Commons, as well as a family along the way. The overall feel of this book reminded me a little bit of Martha Wells' Murderbot books, but it is ultimately extremely different and unique. I loved how affirming and positive this story was, while still having some suspense and thrills. I really enjoyed it, despite it being a little slower paced than my usual preferences. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Summer People is an adaptation of the Shirley Jackson story for the stage. I enjoy Jackson, but was unfamiliar with with this story. It is a short tale about insular communities and being an outsider. Perhaps almost folk horror, but somewhat light on the horror. A slow burn that culminates in a conclusion the audience might or might not feel is justified. It almost reminded me a tiny bit of a creepy take on Our Town, though really the similarities are pretty superficial. Still, atmospheric and intriguing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem by Adam Hamilton is an excellent short book exploring the Christmas story. It's a fantastic book to read during Advent or the Christmas season. Pastor Hamilton takes the read through the events described in scripture and fills in historical, cultural, and theological information to help contemporary readers understand the birth of Christ even better. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Beauty is a fascinating horror comic at the intersection of body horror and disease. A disease has spread that transforms the infected into a conventionally beautiful version of themself. But is this disease, The Beauty, too good to be true? I'm enjoying both the art and storyline. I think it's a pretty short run, and I definitely feel like the pacing is a bit quick, but I'm excited to see where this one goes. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The City Upon a Hill is another excellent volume in The Department of Truth series. Collecting issues 8-13 (6-7 are apparently included in the third volume) this second trade edition continues the bizarrely intriguing story of Cole, Ruby, Lee, and Hawk with more beautifully disturbing artwork. This volume also explores the backstory of a smaller character in the form of letters. I'm not usually a big fan of pages of text in comic books, but I found this story to be compelling. Overall I really enjoyed this book! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Made Things written and read by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a fun fantasy story exploring class and power dynamics through the lens of magic and puppets. Right from the start Tchaikovsky drops the audience into a complex world with richly developed lore, giving a sense of wholeness to this fairly short book. I think this is my first book by this author so maybe this is part of a series or a shared universe or something, but nevertheless I was impressed by how elaborate the world building was in such a short volume. I will admit that I did get a bit lost though, trying to track the various characters. Perhaps this is simply an audiobook that demands my full undivided attention? Tchaikovsky did an excellent job narrating his own words. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Department of Truth: The End of the World is the first trade volume of this series, collecting issues 1-5. I don't want to get into spoilers, but I enjoyed seeing a world building element I was familiar with in fantasy be applied to conspiracy theories. I also loved the art. It's really stunning! I almost want to buy a print edition in addition to my Kindle/ComiXology edition because it's so beautiful. I found the plot and concept compelling and can't wait to read volume 2. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mr. Cables by Ronald Malfi is a chilling quick novella, perfect for horror fans. An author is presented with a book he wrote at a signing...except he didn't write it. Things become spookier and more mysterious from there. I will say that I think elements of this book have been done before, but it was still a great book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Murder by Other Means is an excellent follow up to Scalzi's The Dispatcher. Tony once again finds himself collaborating with CPD, but the situation becomes very messy very fast. Again, this series is not characterized by the same kind of humor as Old Man's War or Redshirts, but is nevertheless an excellent sci-fi thriller. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Dispatcher by John Scalzi is a fantastic audio novella. Imagine if (almost) every murder victim came back. Call it a miracle or weird science, no one knows why. But a new profession emerges, the dispatcher, who kills the dying to ensure they will get to return. Scalzi has created a truly fascinating and original concept in which he then builds an effective thriller. While this book was mostly bereft of the humor I normally anticipate finding in a Scalzi story, I found this work to be highly compelling nonetheless. Quinto's narration was outstanding. Overall this is a wonderful book! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #bookstagram #thedispatcher #johnscalzi #bookreview #audible
Impact Winter by Travis Beacham and read by a full cast is an excellent post-apocalyptic vampire story. Reminiscent of Matheson's I Am Legend, while also being freshly compelling. Despite this being an Audible Original, it feels a bit strange to think of Impact Winter as an audiobook, and in fact Audible describes it as a “performance.” It's an audio drama told primarily through dialogue: with a full cast, foley effects, and musical score. It is very well performed and produced! The place where it seemed a bit more mixed was in the plot. It seemed like the first season of a TV show or the first arc of comic. It left some major world building elements unexplored and set up potential future plot events, which I suppose might be the content of a possible sequel? Despite this I did like the ending, I just wanted more. I really enjoyed this narrative. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Three Slices is an anthology of novellas by Kevin Hearne, Delilah S. Dawson, and Chuck Wendig. I was familiar with each author, and I enjoyed reading these shorter works. Hearne's contribution is an Iron Druid novella, Dawson's a Blud novella, and Wendig a Mariam Black novella. I have read (and loved) the Iron Druid books, but I have not read Blud or Mariam Black. I felt I was able to easily follow the Blud story, but Wendig's story was a bit more confusing for me because I lacked background from his other books on the series. I really enjoyed how all three novellas tied together with common themes, such as using cheese as a form of divination and the phrase “not my circus, not my monkeys.” Overall I enjoyed the novellas. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Socialite's Guide to Murder by S.K. Golden is a fun debut to a new mystery series. Set in the Pinnacle Hotel in New York City, agoraphobic heirless Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy finds herself at the center of a murder mystery! Set in the last century, the book felt both stylized and contemporary. I really loved Evelyn's voice, wonderfully brought to life by audiobook narrator Amara Jasper, and the tension between her spoiled privileged life and the challenges of living with mental illness in the midst of adversity. Ultimately I loved the ways Golden paid homage to Christie still managed to craft a story that, to me, felt fresh and exciting. I look forward to listening to upcoming installments in this series!
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree is a cozy fantasy novel about the power of new beginnings and chosen family. It is warm and whimsical, hopeful and kind, and over all brimming with joy. Viv is an orc who decides to hang up her sword and start a business selling an exotic gnomish beverage known as coffee. For better or worse, there isn't too much more to this book than that. Imagine if Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley was a D&D campaign and someone wrote it down as a short novel. That's this book. Sure, there's a plot, but it's very slow and extremely cozy, and it simply was too far removed from the action, adventure, and fantastical world-building I love in fantasy for me to call this a five star read, at least on this listen. Don't get me wrong, there were lots of amusing and heartwarming parts, and a tiny bit of suspense too. Baldree did a great job narrating the audiobook himself, and I enjoyed listening to it. If this coffee shop really existed I'd love to visit. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️