Finished 5 in September.
1. The Exorcism of Winchester House by Douglas Wynne. A woman continues to add on to her mansion, in an effort to keep / trap the spirit of her deceased daughter, but something else gets trapped along with girl’s spirit. An interesting premise that unfortunately just got too convoluted for my taste. 2 / 5
2. Horrors of War by Tim Curran was an eight story collection with each story occurring during a time of conflict. I’ve always thought Curran was better at shorter story lengths, and overall I enjoyed this collection, though some of themes / plot lines did tend to get repetitive. Favorites were The Rat King (Vietnam war tunnel rat), The Procyon Project (inter dimensional military project during WWII), and The Chattering of Tiny Teeth (ghouls in WWI trenches, and one of my all-time favorite short stories). 3.9 / 5
3. The Girl With All the Gifts by MR Carey. In a zombie novel that never mentions the “z” word, Carey spins a (somewhat) different take on the zombie apocalypse tale in this fast paced, character driven story about a little girl who wants to know why most of the adults around her are afraid of her. If you are looking for something different in the zombie genre, with an ending that could be interpreted as either hopeful or bleak, give TGWATG a try. 5 / 5
4. This Is Now is a three story chapbook collection by Michael Marshall Smith. All the stories were rereads for me, and all were worth revisiting. The title story is the highlight of the chap. This Is Now is a genuinely creepy story about three middle age men who decide to revisit the night as teenagers they trespassed on to a nearby military installation. Right up the alley for fans of the X Files & conspiracy theories. 4 / 5
5. The Boy on the Bridge by MR Carey was a prequel to THWATG, telling the story of the crew of the exploratory vehicle Rosalind Franklin (Rosie). While it didn’t have the pace & narrative drive that made TGWATG such an enjoyable read, and there were similarities between the two story lines (in place of Melanie we have Steven, an autistic boy who happens to be a genius with an eidetic memory, so he can do things no one else in the crew can do). That being said, I also really enjoyed TBOTB. Also similar to THWSTG, it’s a zombie apocalypse story with a lot of heart. I also liked how Carey tied the two novels together at the end of Boy. Highly recommend both books. 4.5 / 5
B
1. The Exorcism of Winchester House by Douglas Wynne. A woman continues to add on to her mansion, in an effort to keep / trap the spirit of her deceased daughter, but something else gets trapped along with girl’s spirit. An interesting premise that unfortunately just got too convoluted for my taste. 2 / 5
2. Horrors of War by Tim Curran was an eight story collection with each story occurring during a time of conflict. I’ve always thought Curran was better at shorter story lengths, and overall I enjoyed this collection, though some of themes / plot lines did tend to get repetitive. Favorites were The Rat King (Vietnam war tunnel rat), The Procyon Project (inter dimensional military project during WWII), and The Chattering of Tiny Teeth (ghouls in WWI trenches, and one of my all-time favorite short stories). 3.9 / 5
3. The Girl With All the Gifts by MR Carey. In a zombie novel that never mentions the “z” word, Carey spins a (somewhat) different take on the zombie apocalypse tale in this fast paced, character driven story about a little girl who wants to know why most of the adults around her are afraid of her. If you are looking for something different in the zombie genre, with an ending that could be interpreted as either hopeful or bleak, give TGWATG a try. 5 / 5
4. This Is Now is a three story chapbook collection by Michael Marshall Smith. All the stories were rereads for me, and all were worth revisiting. The title story is the highlight of the chap. This Is Now is a genuinely creepy story about three middle age men who decide to revisit the night as teenagers they trespassed on to a nearby military installation. Right up the alley for fans of the X Files & conspiracy theories. 4 / 5
5. The Boy on the Bridge by MR Carey was a prequel to THWATG, telling the story of the crew of the exploratory vehicle Rosalind Franklin (Rosie). While it didn’t have the pace & narrative drive that made TGWATG such an enjoyable read, and there were similarities between the two story lines (in place of Melanie we have Steven, an autistic boy who happens to be a genius with an eidetic memory, so he can do things no one else in the crew can do). That being said, I also really enjoyed TBOTB. Also similar to THWSTG, it’s a zombie apocalypse story with a lot of heart. I also liked how Carey tied the two novels together at the end of Boy. Highly recommend both books. 4.5 / 5
B
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