What are you currently reading?

[Ben Staad]

Whalefall was a big MEH. I finally slogged through the last 100 pages last night and, to be honest, skipped/skimmed big chunks of the back story segments. I finally hit that point where I thought the structure of the story slowed down the narrative to a point it became boring.

It was well written however the story itself, and in particular, it's inability to create character(s) which I cared for very much hurt its ability for me to care about the interpersonal dialogue.

Hope you post a review at the end. That book has been on my radar for a while as it has gotten tons of praise from authors and reviewers that I respect. That being said, it also seems like I keep finding reasons to pass on it for something else. Not sure why. The only other book that I've read by Kraus was the Romero collab "The Living Dead" which I did enjoy.

 

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Thunderstorm Black Voltage Private Reserve of Matt Serafini's "Rites of Extinction", a first time read & author for me. Had no idea what to expect going into this one and ended up being pretty surprised by the story. The beginning was a bit slow, and there were sections where I was completely confused as to what was happening, but eventually everything clicked into place and the story went from ok to very good. This is one of those stories that begs to be read more than once, if only to pick-up all the clues you miss the first time around. This story also had lots of genuinely creepy and gruesome scenes. Not sure if this story would have worked better as a novel or not, but I definitely would have loved to know a bit more about the mythology in the book, and also would have loved a bit more time with some of the side characters and town. Overall, I enjoyed this story and will be on the lookout for more of this author's works.

Am now reading the Thunderstorm Black Voltage VS of Brian Keene's & JF Gonzalez's "Clickers Vs. Zombies", a first time read for me. Have only read one previous Clickers book, but I remember it being very fun.

[brlesh]

Finished up Tidepool by Nicole Wilson the other day.

While Tidepool borrows heavily from Lovecraft’s Shadows Over Innsmouth, Wilson throws in a major new twist and makes the story her own.

It did start to get repetitive in the second half and probably ran a little longer than it needed to, but overall I enjoyed Tidepool and would certainly read something else by Wilson.

Next, I’m about 80 pages into If You See Her by Ania Ahlborn, a creepy haunted house / ghost story that I am thoroughly enjoying to this point.

B

[brlesh]

Just finished reading the Centipede LE of Mendal W. Johnson's "Let's Go Play at the Adams'", a first-time author and read for me. I was aware of this books' reputation going in and was generally aware of what to expect, nevertheless, this book completely destroyed me. There were multiple times where I had to set it aside because it was just too intense or horrible, and yet, I found myself eventually picking it right back-up, if only so I could get to the end of poor Barbara's plight. Man, what a twisted tale, and what a messed-up ending! I'm a huge Ketchum fan and remember reading Ketchum's "The Girl Next Door" and being pretty horrified, but for me, I think Johnson's "Let's Go Play at the Adams'" may have exceeded it. Overall, I'm glad to have finally gotten around to this infamous book and am happy to have added the Centipede version to my collection.

Am now reading the Thunderstorm Black Voltage Private Reserve of Matt Serafini's "Rites of Extinction", a first time read & author for me. No idea what to expect and hope to find a gem here!

While I’ve found both books to be very disturbing and impactful with what they were trying to deliver, IMO the Ketchum book is the better of two.  Ketchum’s narrative allowed for the slow buildup of tension throughout the story, as things slowly get worse and worse for the two sisters.  You can see where the ending is going in the Ketchum book from a mile away, and if anything that made it all the more impactful when you reach that ending.  The death of the babysitter in LGPATA was impactful, but it wasn’t the gut punch that the ending of TGND provided.

Plus, the fact that there was an adult orchestrating these boys gave Ketchum’s book an air of credibility that was lacking in LGPATA.  (This was one of several credibility issues that popped up at the end of the Johnson book for me.)  Also, the fact that the woman was orchestrating all these acts against her own relatives just made the whole story more vile in TGND.

It’s been 20 years since I’ve read TGND, and to this day it remains the most disturbing book I’ve ever read.

B.


 

[brlesh]

It is an absolute Classic and lifelong favorite of mine. But as I always say, not everything is for everybody. I have enjoyed the movies!

Yeah, my expectations were probably too high going into the book, based on the book’s classic reputation and my viewing experience from Part 1 a few years ago.

Maybe a book I’ll revisit a few years in the future, when I’ll have a better sense of what I’m getting into.

B.