HOSTS by Dylan J Morgan

3.5 out of 5 stars (well, probably about 3.8 actually)

Horror

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

 

 

I've read The Dead Lands and Flesh by this author and thought they were masterpieces of their genre, so I thought I'd try Hosts too. I know it was Morgan's first novel and so his style was not yet developed, but for a debut novel it has much to commend it.

Snow Peak is a small resort town in Canada, in which a deadly parasite threatens fatality for everyone.

The strengths - the terrific establishing of atmosphere. Dylan Morgan is so good at this; in Snow Peak there arrives the snow storm to end all storms. I almost felt cold reading it. His characterisation is also very good indeed, and he also has a real knack of introducing a new POV (character point of view) at just the right time, to keep the novel fresh and interesting. There's also some interesting information about cryonics at the beginning. The story itself is good, too, and Morgan does 'small town' very well, I've noticed before. The weaknesses? Nothing that couldn't be sorted out with a good proofreader and editor to make it as succinct and sharp as his later work; it rambles a bit in places, but I've rarely read a debut novel that doesn't. I saw this book as almost a trial run for the brilliance of Flesh and The Dead Lands, which I can't recommend too highly, and it's definitely worth reading if you're not too squeamish!

THE DEADLANDS by Dylan J Morgan reviewed HERE 

FLESH by Dylan J Morgan reviewed HERE

 

Don't Touch (Null City Book 2) by Barb Taub

4.5 out of 5 stars

YA, urban fantasy

On Amazon UK HERE 
On Amazon.com HERE

Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's book review team

Hmm, YA urban fantasy, right? I didn't even know what that WAS, let alone if I would like it or not. I bought this book because it was on offer, for a good cause (and still is, until the end of 2014!), and started to read it (as opposed to leaving it sitting on the Kindle with the hundred other unread ones) because I've read many blog posts by Barb Taub, and her smart, sharp wit is totally up my rue.

This is SO funny, I'd definitely recommend it. Lette (short for Roulette) Simoneau has a rare superpower. Each day, she has a new 'touch', which means that on a particular day everything she touches (with fingertips only) will turn into whatever her superpower has decided it will be that day. It might be jack-in-a-box toys, or roast beef sandwiches, or okra (that one made me laugh), or (hurrah!) diamond rings, or all manner of other things, including smells, or levitation. There are some real laugh out loud moments; it's very clever and witty, and completely off the wall. Barb Taub, I am going to get another Null City book soon, as long as you tell me one thing - what are you ON, and if you have any left, can I have some??!!

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT by Jo Carroll

5 out of 5 stars

Non Fiction travel memoir: Nepal, Laos, Cuba


On Amazon UK HERE

I won this paperback in a competition on the author's blog - such a stroke of luck! Beautifully presented.

Jo Carroll is a traveller. Oh yes, and she's a sixty-two year old grandmother from Wiltshire, whose family are used to her getting itchy feet and strapping on that backpack. I'm so envious! I really liked her account of her time in Cuba, I really really liked the story of her trip to Nepal, and I ADORED the section about Laos, the largest one in the book. I lay in bed reading it for three hours last night and was in another world.

The book is written in a friendly, conversational way, in the present tense, which works very well. It has all the every day feeling and humour of a Bill Bryson travel book, yet told me so much about the history and culture of the countries she's visited. I knew nothing about Laos; now, I want to know more, and have already been Googling images of the places Jo visited - and looking on Amazon to see if she's written any more books about her travels (she has! I've just bought 'Over the Hill and Far Away'!).

Lovely book. Funny, fascinating, flowing, easily readable, touching. If you love Bill Bryson and similar, you'll love this.

CARLA by Mark Barry

5 out of 5 stars

Psychological drama

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE 

I started to read this book at five o'clock this afternoon, and have just finished it. I haven't done that in ages. What a brilliant piece of work.

John Dexter is an extraordinarily mentally disturbed man who has done some terrifying things (many of which are, frustratingly, only hinted at), but he's also oddly likeable. After a while the problems created by his extreme fear-of-abandonment issues seem sort of - well, understandable. You feel sympathy for him, and want to help him. Yes, this is story of love and obsession but it's also a study of the type of psychological disorders attributed to him. The book is witty, clever, street sharp and kinda cool. I loved it. Mark Barry, thank you from saving me after a short run of abandoned books! This was a breath of fresh air, albeit a psychotic one.

A couple of things I loved about the Kindle version - when John, the narrator, digresses onto another subject, usually about a film or book that might interest you, he gives the exact phrase to type into the 'search' on your reading device so, if you like, you can skip the digression and get back to the story. Marvellous! I took him up on it a few times but not in others (I found myself wanting to read Norman Mailer's 'An American Dream') - and it worked! But this book is a perfect example of something I believe - never mind all the current trends in what are or are not acceptable in novel writing, when someone writes as well as Barry does they can stray from the plot all they like.
 
I've had this book for over a year, and am so glad I finally got round to opening it. If you've got it on yours too, please do the same!


THE NIGHT PORTER by Mark Barry reviewed HERE

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE CITY OF CRIMINALS by Mark Barry reviewed HERE

ULTRA VIOLENCE by Mark Barry reviewed HERE

AN OPEN LETTER TO STEPHEN KING AND OTHER ESSAYS by Jenny Twist

4.5 out of 5 stars

Assorted articles

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

I just spent a lovely afternoon reading this. It's worth five stars just for the articles about Spain, where the author lives. They're pieces about a rural, mountainous area of Andalusia (I think), where time stands still to a certain extent, and they made me long to be there - which is what the best articles about foreign countries do, isn't it? These were my favourite of the 'other essays', followed by some of Ms Twist's views on the effect of Women's Lib, the differences between the sexes, and why the media promotes skinny as the ideal shape for women. Agree, agree, with all of these!

Also in this collection are lots of articles with help for the new writer. Jenny talks about her experiences, and dares to embrace controversial subjects, ie, how many self-published books are just badly written: "For every great writer who never made it out of the slush pile in the publisher's office, there are hundreds who should never have been in print in the first place". Yet at the same time she is helpful, and illustrates her own mistakes and misconceptions. She has obviously become jaded about indie publishing companies too, as she comments that some (not all) have dubious standards and will accept most submissions regardless of quality; she now self-publishes.

There's an interview from another author's blog, too, in which she tells of her time as magician's assistant, The Lovely Tanya! I'd definitely recommend this collection, it's something you can keep dipping into.


TALES OF THE MANTEQUERO by Jenny Twist reviewed HERE

LOSING IT ALL by Marsha Cornelius

4.5 out of 5 stars

Drama, homelessness

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

The novel is set mostly around Atlanta, Georgia in the US. Frank is a Vietnam vet whose life has crashed and burned, leaving him a vagrant trying to scratch out an existence as best he can. Chloe is a small town, naïve mother of two who has allowed her path through life to be determined by others. When husband Duane deserts her, everything gradually falls apart and she ends up in a shelter for homeless women.

Marsha Cornelius has clearly put a great deal of research into this story. I recently watched the 1960s BBC (UK) drama-documentary `Cathy Come Home', which shows how easily families in the UK in the 1960s could descend from keeping their heads above water into homelessness; this book had the same effect on me. It's shocking, but so real, and really made me think about how so many people are just a couple of salary cheques away from the street! The details of both Chloe and Frank's struggles are very well illustrated, as is their climb back to something approaching normality - though indeed, what they consider `normal' is not the conventional lifestyle some would expect.

The message of this book is definitely one of love and relationships mattering more than anything else, and about it being the simple things in life that can bring the most happiness. The romantic aspect of the story was perfectly portrayed too, I thought; not schmaltzy, or overtly sexy for the sake of it but just touching and true to life.

It's a story about love and hope, the goodwill of friends, and the discovery of inner strength. Recommended.

THE ONE AND SIXPENNY ENGLISHMAN by Harry Bergman and others

4 out of 5 stars

Non fiction, memoir, 20th century


On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

Well, this was a nice little morning's read! I love reading true accounts of ordinary people from the early part of the 20th century; what always strikes me is how they accepted hardship and got through it the best way they could, with none of today's attitude of entitlement. Harry Bergman led a fascinating, full life. One thing I liked reading about was his entrepreneurial side; it's no secret that soldiers who came back from WW1 were treated appallingly by the establishment for which they had offered their lives, but Harry didn't sit back and complain, he just got on and made money in whichever way he could.

The photographs in the back of the book were lovely to look at, and made it all mean so much more.


Wendy Janes, Harry Bergman's grandaughter as named in this book, has contributed to anthology A KIND OF MAD COURAGE, reviewed HERE