Review: Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

This is my first time reading this author, and I have to say I was quite impressed. I had heard of this author and how good her book, The Shining Girls was. So I decided to check out this book as it was readily available at the time.

This book is about a murder that takes place in Detriot but it was not the typical crime scene. No, this scene was something out of a nightmare....the body of the victim was grafted with the back end of a deer. Who did this? And what kind of person would do this?  Soon more bodies show up that are "transformed" and the detective working this case realizes they have a serial killer on their hands. Other bodies are discovered that are monstrous constructions. But the truth may be more sinister than anyone involved can imagine.

This book was told from the vantage point of five characters. At first, I wasn't sure how all of these very different people would later connect. There is a subtle idea of them all having dreams for the future. At some points, the killer is referred to in the 3rd person as "the dreamer". There isn't much of a mystery about who the killer is for most of the story. Sometimes the story kind of sidetracks into the personal lives and backgrounds of the characters and seems unnecessary But I think these breaks into the story helped to solidify the personality traits of the individuals involved in order to appreciate their role in the finale of the story.  And by the end of the book, each character kinda drifts or is drawn into the final showdown. But the suspense and scenes are evenly paced with a surprise near the end. What you thought was happening quickly becomes something else.

I found this to be very well written, and it even reminded me of other horror authors such as Peter Straub and Stephen King. The story was interesting and captivating enough to be very enjoyable. I rated this 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com, and am looking forward to reading a few of her other books.
                                                UK and Canada - click here to purchase 

All other nations can shop through this link -  http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=geekpron

 

Stranger Things Season 1 Review

Lately, it seems that people are obsessed with things from the '80's. SO it's not really surprising to see a show with this theme. If you have not heard of this series yet....I would be surprised if you had not as everyone seems to be talking about it.
Every episode starts out with a scene where something happens to get you interested in seeing more, and then the title scene which kinda reminds me of some old '80's movies such as Stephen King's Cat's Eye or Halloween 3: Season of the Witch. There is even some toned down coloring to the logo and the eerie music really enforces this classic horror movie feel.

So the first episode starts out with the introduction of Will and his friends playing D&D. Immediately we get a liking to these kids because "hey that was us". Will rides home afterward and is approached by something we never quite see until much later in the series. After the title scene, we learn that he has disappeared.

The disappearance of Will and the mystery of just what it was is the main part of this show. Almost as a replacement, another character soon appears as a girl named "Eleven".  She is just as mysterious as the creature that has abducted Will. I will say no more about this series so as not to spoil it if you have not seen it.

This is definitely one of those shows that will have you hooked and I will admit that I watched all 8 episodes in 2 days. I was very impressed with this series, and the acting of Winona Ryder, although one of my friends was annoyed by her and thought someone else would have made the role better. I think she did a very good job of portraying a distraught mother who would do anything to get him back. The friendship between the boys as they imagine this to be like one of their D&D adventures to rescue their friend also made this quite enjoyable. I rated this 5 out of 5 stars, and cannot wait to see the second season. I do hope that any further seasons of this series will not disappoint.

Film Review : The Visit by M. Night Shyamalan

It's been awhile since I had seen a good Shyamalan movie, and I remembered seeing the trailer for this film. I thought that looks weird, and knowing how his movies usually play out I had a feeling that this would be a good one.  I will admit that this movie is slow to build, but well worth it if you can make it through the whole thing. Which is pretty typical of his previous films.


So the whole premise is a little bit strange, but it kinda helps to set up the main story. So this single mom who has been estranged from her parents since before having her kids decides to send them to visit them for a week.  The situation with the kids is strange too, as their father recently left the family home and it's effects are shown in the children. We have a young teen girl who dreams of being a filmmaker but cannot look at herself in the mirror. Her brother is a self-proclaimed rapper who is extremely germaphobic and helps his sister in making films. All of these little quirks help to make this movie get creepy along the way. So these children are basically meeting their maternal grandparents for the first time and know very little but what their mother has told them. If that were not enough throw in such notions as how young people think of elders as being senile, incontinence and losing their marbles etc.

All of this is filmed as if it is a documentary in the style of Blair Witch.  Of course the kids see their "Nana", and "Pop Pop" acting very strange, and acting like they are in need of some much needed mental health care. They try to tell their mother who is trying to vacation with a new boyfriend, and of course, she casually blows it off as "kids being kids". I will not go any further into detail of just what happens, but the payoff for this movie does not happen until there is around 20-30 minutes towards the end. This is the true climax of the movie and all of it then makes sense as to why all of the events played out the way they had. I'll admit it was a hard hours worth of time trying to get into the slow build of this movie.  I was so afraid it was going to turn into a very lame and disappointing film. I very much enjoyed the ending and it made up for the boring and mediocre start.  I rated this 4 out of 5 stars on Netflix, and think that if you are a fan of thrillers or of this director's previous films.

Here is the link to purchase or rent this film from Amazon.

Book Review: California by Eden Lepucki

When I first heard about this book, and that it was considered a Post Apocalyptic fiction I was immediately intrigued. I guess growing up during the cold war and seeing many films that dealt with the threat of doomsday have created this fascination with this media for me. So I added it to my to be read list, and decided to get to it sometime in the future. Working in a library I am bombarded by books everyday( an occupational hazard), and I saw that we had this book on our best sellers shelves.

Upon reading this book you are introduced to the two main characters, Cal and Frida. They are a married couple living in a simple what is best described as a shack in the middle of nowhere.  One of the things that makes this book so interesting is the mystery of how this future came to be within the story. As you get further into it you are given small tidbits of what occurred to these people to make them end up living in the forest, and on the edge of civilization. For instance at the start of the book Frida often thinks of how things used to be, and she keeps random "treasures", which she calls her artifacts. One of these items is something that is obviously a piece of technology that is only referred to as the device.  We are given clues about the economy failing, and extreme weather conditions.  The mystery, the secrets, and lies definitely help make this a page turner.  While reading this it made me think a lot about what makes a civilization, and how vital interacting with other people is, and how sometimes it can be so dangerous too. The things we don't think about such as human nature, and elements of government.  How would we react to the failing of our society, and  a stunted economy. Choosing to only interact with close communities. While reading this it brought to mind a lot of the things that we tale for granted when it comes to society,civilization, and just what being human means to survive. This book could be a stand alone but leaves room for a sequel. I do not know if the author intends to pick up the world of California again or to leave it be? I rated this 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. If you are into dystopian or thrillers this book may appeal to you.




 

2 New Reviews : Super, IFC film, and Dr. Sleep ( The Shining 2)

SO this past holiday weekend I was pretty busy writing a few reviews. I watched the IFC film, Super on Netflix over the holiday week, and I got an opportunity to write a review of for Squidoo.  I had seen the trailer for this from a movie I had rented from Redbox, and it looked interesting. I am not a fan of The Office, but I noticed that the main character is from that popular show. It also stars a couple of other well know actors, such as Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon (who was rumoured to be a last minute replacement), and Ellen Page. People have compared this to Kick Ass, and it is about a vigilante type of anti-hero who wields a pipe wrench to take out wrong doers.

Super Review

Another book review of one of my top 5 books from 2013-

Dr. Sleep (The Shining 2 )

I really enjoyed this book and I rated it 5 stars on goodreads.com It really reminded me of the classic King that I remember reading as a teen. If you are looking to either follow up on the The Shining or just looking to read a thrilling book feel free to read this. I will leave a link to where this book can be purchased down below.

NOS4RA2 : One of my Top 5 Books of 2013

Joe Hill is one of my favorite authors, and I even think that he writes much better than his father (Stephen King). So I had the opportunity to read his newest novel NOS4RA2 when it came out. Here is one of my reviews of that book - NOS4RA2.

Below is a link to the special Christmas edition of this book -