Tag Archives: Thriller

Altar Boy by Jonathan Maberry

December 6, 2019Book ReviewHorror, Joe Ledger, Jonathan Maberry, Thriller, Urban Enemies, Urban Fantasyskyebjenner

Image result for urban enemies book cover

Title: Altar Boy
Author: Jonathan Maberry
Series: Joe Ledger Companion
In: Urban Enemies (Joseph Nassise)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Horror, Thriller, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 6th November 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Gallery Books
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: “She was brilliant.”

He’s a “recovering bad guy”, but when he gets involved with a woman, he might just have to question his priorities.

I love that this short story features a “recovering bad guy”. Unlike the other short stories in the Urban Enemies collection, this villain isn’t really trying to be a villain anymore. Rather, he is trying to atone for some of the horrifying acts that he has committed in the past. It’s a nice change from the more typical villain stories throughout the collection.

Altar Boy is kind of tragic – a man is atoning for his past and his sins, but he can’t be left in peace. He’s attempting to find a way in which to just exist is hopeful at the beginning. But, when he is once again forced to face up to his past, things take a more sinister turn. And it’s actually kind of heartbreaking in their eventuality. It doesn’t matter what he does, he has to find a way to justify his actions that are, after all, for the greater good.

One of the most powerful aspects of this story was the key question that it asks you: when has biological weaponry gone too far? It’s an incredibly relevant and scary question in today’s society and one that I kept on playing with like a loose tooth long after turning the final page.

<- Bellum Romanum Review

Make it Snappy Review ->

Image source: Simon & Schuster

IT by Stephen King

November 3, 2019Book ReviewHorror, Stephen King, Thrillerskyebjenner

Image result for book cover it stephen king

Title: IT
Author: Stephen King
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Horror, Thriller
Dates read: 22nd June – 11th October 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Hodder
Year: 1986
5th sentence, 74th page: The door had opened at quarter past nine and in he had ambled, wearing jeans and a GO ‘BAMA tee-shirt and his old engineer boots, looking like he’d come from no farther away than cross-town.

It is the children who see – and feel – what makes the small townh of Derry so horribly different. In the storm drains, in the sewers, IT lurks, taking on the shape of every nightmare, each one’s deepest dread. Sometimes IT reaches up, seizing, tearing, killing…

Time passes and the children grow up, move away and forget. Until they are called back, once more to confront IT as it stirs and coils in the sullen depths of their memories, reaching up again to make their past nightmares a terrible present reality.

This is my first ever Stephen King. It’s also my first ever full-length horror novel. I was kind of scared to start it – horror is not a literary genre I’ve really spent much time with… but man am I glad that I did! Totally understand why so many people love Stephen King, and now I want to fill my shelves with his terrifying tales too…

When I started reading this book, I was really wigged out by the fact that King dedicated his book to his children. After finishing it? I’m even more creeped out. This is a book about a gruesome apparition of the night killing children… and he dedicated it to his children. Dude. Not cool. But the story also highlights the importance of children and their imagination as our future… so maybe it makes sense?

IT wasn’t as terrifying as I was expecting. Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t read it late at night, or when I was going to spend the night alone… but it just wasn’t quite as horrifyingly terrifying as I expected. I could actually sleep each night after reading it, and I really wasn’t expecting that. Instead of making me jump at too many shadows, I felt uncomfortable about the state of the world and what people are willing to do to one another. Particularly Beverly’s story… after all, she’s the only woman and so much of what she goes through is what I, myself am terrified of. Each of the seven in fact go through horrors that are human induced. It’s not so much the creature of IT that terrifies… but the things he manages to convince other humans to do to one another…

I loved how the timeline for this tale flickers. Jumping between their childhood (the 50s) and adulthood (80s) two different stories that are eerily familiar echo one another. I loved the parallel storylines and the mystery of just what happened underground. Instead of giving anything away, you have to read to the end to find out how both storylines end. It’s almost impossible to put down, even if it is over 1,000 pages! Definitely a great introduction to the writings and insane inner workings of Stephen King.

<- The Institute Review

Joyland Review ->

Image source: Amazon

Bloody Valentine by James Patterson

September 24, 2019Book ReviewCrime, James Patterson, Thrillerskyebjenner

Image result for bloody valentine book cover

Title: Bloody Valentine
Author: James Patterson
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Crime, Thriller
Dates read: 28th August 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Arrow Books
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: ‘I’m her sister-in-law,’ Leila protested.

Killing isn’t murder, when it’s necessary.

Mega-rich restaurant owner Jack Barnes and his second wife Zee are very much in love. However, their plans for Valentine’s Day are about to be torn apart by the most violent murder.

Who is the strange figure plotting this sick crime? Who hates Jack that much? There are plenty of suspects living in Jack’s fnacy block of flats. Is it one of them, or could it be the work of an outsider with a twisted mind?

One thing’s for sure, the police have got their work cut out solving this bloody mess.

This gory murder mystery will make you feel weak at the knees.

I read this in almost one sitting. Not just because it was spine-tinglingly creepy, but also because the writing was so unbelievably fantastic that I just couldn’t look away. Luckily for me, it was an incredibly short read. One that I look forward to picking up again and again in the future. Although, maybe a little further into the future since I like to get a decent nights sleep as often as possible…

Whether it’s on the TV or in one of my books, I do really love a strong murder whodunnit. There is just something so much more fun and lively when you spend every moment of enjoying a story also wondering just who the murderer is. And, sometimes even more importantly, why they did it. this was one of those few stories that I didn’t really have much of an idea who the culprit was until the eleventh hour. Normally there’s a red herring, or some character that just seems skeevy and… well, wrong. There really wasn’t one in this story. There were plenty of interpersonal issues and relationships, but none that made me go “nope, you’re a baddy”.

Patterson manages to perfectly walk the line between graphic information and leaving everything up to the imagination. You don’t spend the entire time reading this story feeling icked out by what is done to the victims, but you also don’t feel safe whilst reading it. The horror is there, but many of those moments are filled in by your own imagination. It’s a perfect balance, and one that is incredibly difficult to find.

Bloody Valentine isn’t the book that you want to read before bed time. Or, maybe even before Valentine’s Day. But it is a story which you should pick up. It’s a great introduction to a new author and a quick read if you’re not entirely sure what you actually want to read at the time… definitely one that I suggest and will be picking up again myself.

<- Black Friday Review

The Chef Review ->

Earth and Skye

The ramblings of a bibliophile.