Chris' Eclectic Book Reviews

I received an ARC copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful book that not only provides an interesting mystery, in a traditional style, but also effectively delivers vivid picture of 18th Century China, in its politics, environment, and society. Further, I got a strong sense of the world view, which was heavily cynical, of the residents of country on the verge of a dramatic shift from authoritarian isolation to sudden colonialization by a smaller but militarily stronger Europe. We know the history of what is to come, and even the more perceptive people of the time see the writing on the wall, but it is interesting to witness a last (or close to last) hurrah and flex of China’s muscles, even if it is all ultimately an ephemeral victory.

Elsa Hart evokes a detective who uses powers of deduction that would cause Holmes to nod appreciatively. Many times authors attempt this technique yet it comes off as too clever and contrived. Not so here, which is even more laudable as this is a debut novel. I will definitely read any more in this series that Ms. Hart writes. Li Du is a very interesting character. Like Holmes, he lives a life that is mostly outside society. While Holmes’ isolation is partly based on choice, and partly on his bizarre and abrasive personality, Li Du is actually an exile, banished on the political whim of the emperor. The story ends on a note that, without giving away any of the plot, certainly sets the scene for many future adventures.

Careful research that elevates the story rather than bog it down. Great pacing that accelerates to the dramatic conclusion (several conclusions, actually). Fascinating characters, especially the storyteller Hazma who adds color to the plot and steals virtually every scene in which he is involved. I do hope that he features in future installments. And finally, a very believable and multi-layered mystery.

5 stars.

I received an advance review copy of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The 13th installment in the Charlie Parker series continues to maintain not only the quality but also the compelling excitement at a level that very few other author ever reaches. When I start one of the Charlie Parker books, similar to a Stephen King novel, I have to clear the decks. Make sure that I don’t have any evening plans. Turn off the phone. Find a quiet place. Because once I start it will be pretty much non-stop reading until the last word. 13 books into the series and it is still like that. Is there any series as good as this one? If so, I would like to hear about it because I doubt it.

Not only is A Song of Shadows a fantastic story in its own right, adding further depth to the stories that have slowly deepened to profound levels in the first 12 books in the series, but Connolly reveals a new direction to come and even hints at a final epic showdown on the horizon. The pieces are being assembled. The final lineup card is being formed. And it promises to be spectacular; I am sure equal parts satisfying and devastating. Even though it was midnight when I finished A Song of Shadows, if I had the next in the series I would have started it—at least the first few chapters.

If you can handle the darkness, it doesn’t get any better than this. Not only are the novels entertaining, riveting even, but they are about something—the Heart of Darkness in the human soul and the sacrifices that must be made in order to bring justice and fight for good against evil. Charlie Parker knows that to defeat evil you often win because you are more ruthless than your enemy. He gets results. He is feared because he is relentless and willing to do whatever is required to triumph over his enemy. No apologies. No quarter. No excuses. No equal.

5 stars.

I received an ARC copy of the e-book version of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A very interesting story set in, as you can guess, Nagasaki. Our protagonist lives alone, by design rather than necessity. Alone, a cog in a much larger machine, a low level and low pay grade meteorologist who creates comfort, without any attempt at meaning or fulfillment in his life, by the strict adherence to routine. He avoids the company of workmates because that would disrupt his daily structure. He doesn’t trust anything or anyone outside himself anyway and minimizes all contact with people in the workplace or outside. It has been over a year since he has seen a member of his own family. At work he immerses himself in weather patterns; at home his nightly rituals.

He is an island.

Until he realizes that he isn’t alone. Someone is in his home. Eating his food. Walking his house. Invading his world. He is no longer alone. He has been violated.

If this story were written by an American author the story would have gone one way. Probably the confrontation of the individualist (we all think of ourselves that way, right? even though it is the punchline from a joke—sure, you are unique, just like everybody else) with the intruder. Gogol or Kafka would have gone another way—the inevitable violation of the individual by a stronger force. But this story is set in Japan and it is very different in ways that I did not expect. Much more personal. Much more moving. With a perspective shift (which often don’t work but this time does very well) near the end that makes us re-evaluate our feelings toward the entire story.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Right up front I have to admit that I am a huge fan of John Connolly. For me he is right up there with Robert McCammon, Richard Matheson and Stephen King as writers of dark fiction. I wouldn’t call any of them horror writers per se, although they don’t seem particularly offended by it as horror is probably their first literary love anyway. What separates these giants, in my opinion, is that their work, while horrifying at times, never fails to dig deeper into the humanity of the situation. Their characters are complex, often conflicted, and the stories are deep in meaning and emotional impact. Plus, they propel their stories forward in such a way that I can’t help but read them in as few sittings as possible.

I love Connolly’s Charlie Parker series and recommend The Book of Lost Things to anyone I find, but I have limited experience with his short stories so I was very interested to read Night Music. Given that many of these stories are interrelated and some of them novella length, this isn’t really a traditional short story collection—it has a cohesiveness that made it even more enjoyable for me.

The Caxton Private Lending Library and Book Depository and its companion piece Holmes on the Range show that Connolly is not only a mature writer—but like the greats mentioned above, at heart he is still that young man that fell in love with the books he read in his youth. These two stories are homages to great literary characters, and to their writers. I don’t want to spoil even a word of these two stories so I will just say that if you love literature and great characters from Dickens, Doyle etc. these two stories are at times hilarious, and at all times tremendously clever and just plain fun to read.

The Fractured Atlas stories, which tell of a diabolical and hopefully mythical book, is another connected set of tales that have an overarching Lovecraftian type of theme to them. Each story provides a different perspective, and often different time frame, to the overall story of the book. And it is a great story that emerges like peeling the skin off of an onion.

There are a couple of classic style stories such as “Razorshins” and “The Lamia” as well as some that travel unusual territory like the brilliant bit of heresy “Lazarus.” While on the subject of heresy, I have to give a shout out to “The Blood of the Lamb” which is one of the most chilling stories that I have read in a long time. The ending is like stepping into an elevator shaft.

Connolly is very generous in that all of the stories are annotated and give you the details on how they came to be, because as we are told, songs and short stories are not written, they are already there and are merely discovered.

In “I Live Here,” Connolly treats the reader to an extended, and often hilarious, autobiographical section in which he mentions the authors and works that impacted him, as well as, perhaps as interestingly, those that didn’t. I thoroughly enjoyed this section. It felt like the wizard came out from behind the curtain, pulled up a chair, and proceeding to tell you how all of the magic worked---or at least where it came from. However, don’t get too comfortable because “I Live Here” will give you chills as you are asked quite seriously are there people assigned to guard actual dangerous places so that people stay away? What if Hill House (or Hell House for that matter) was in your neighborhood? Would you want to visit? Could you stop yourself?

Of course 5 stars. It’s Connolly so it is brilliant.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

From the Mouths of Dogs is definitely a book for the dog lover. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on pet cemetaries (to be distinguished from Stephen King’s Pet Semetary), services dogs, dog othortotics and the often dark times of those that toil in the animal welfare field. Not for the faint of heart, it is nevertheless a very balanced treatment of a very sensitive subject of animal control and animal welfare. Hollars maintains his journalistic balance of views, despite his obviously strong feelings on the topic, and I applaud that.

To anyone that thinks that pets are not a “serious” topic for a nonfiction book, I would merely point to the fact, as Hollars points out, that we, the pet loving public, spend more billions of dollars on our pets each year than the government allocates to Homeland Security.

Fluctuated between 3 ½ to 4 stars for me. 4 stars to the more informative sections, 3 to 3 ½ to the more autobiographical sections. But that is just a subjective preference and not the fault of the author.

I received an advance copy of this work from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Marvelous. Chilling. Wonderful writing in a classic style. I love it when great writers write horror. Think Clive Barker or Henry James or even Poe. Tremendous characters. I really can’t say enough about this book other than I was blown away and put it on my best for the year list. Set aside some time because this is one you will read in one day.

The novel is set up in the form of a series of novellas told in chronological order which tell the story of Slade House—an example of What Is And Should Not Be. I will call it a horror novel and resist the impulse to divulge any more because I believe that the less you know, the more you will enjoy.

So, just go in blind. Open that little black iron door in the alley in Slade Alley behind the Fox and Hounds pub. Don’t be afraid. Crawl through and find your way through the gardens up to Slade House. The door will be unlocked. There may be friendly inhabitants there to help you find your way. Cross the threshold into the sprawling mansion that the locals will swear to you does not exist…..

5 Stars.

I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read quite a few of Dean Koontz’ novels over the years. In fact, his Odd Thomas series is one of my all-time favorite series of any type. If you have read much of Koontz, you may have some pet peeves. He does have a tendency to preach (sometimes quite a bit, actually) in his books, more so recently, and his characters have gotten a bit repetitive. Most of his books have as main characters an unusually perceptive teen/young adult and a supernatural or nearly supernatural villain. A golden retriever, trailing wings of glory, usually arrives within the first 30 or so pages. Actually, that has not really bothered me much as long as the story was good, and as a general rule, they are. Even the preachiness is ok because you know about it going in, so why complain?

I was really enjoying this novel up to until the point when a major plot revelation/direction surfaced which pretty much took me out of the story. I was already suspicious at that point, but once it occurred, I found the whole storyline to be so contrived that I found myself just examining the writing technique and paying attention to the references and cross references and plot structure and not enjoying the story, which to me was no longer compelling.

Mileage may vary and others may not agree. If you like Dean Koontz, especially his later writings, then you may well enjoy Ashley Bell as well. I certainly am going to continue to read him even though this particular novel wasn’t to my taste.

3 1/2 stars.

I received an advance copy of this title from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I not only appreciate the incredible story told, a story that has much to tell anyone who has ever felt themselves facing seemingly insurmountable odds (which is pretty much everyone), but also the tremendous research which creates the basis for the tale, and the heartfelt sympathy and respect that Mr. Franklin gave to Salvador Alvarenga, our protagonist. This story is a feast for the mind as well as the heart.

I would place Mr. Franklin’s book on the same shelf as such classics as Alive and Into Thin Air. I found it particularly interesting to have read this book right after finishing The Martian. While I loved The Martian, it paled in comparison (mainly because it was fiction) to the real story. It is an apt analogy on some levels, yet Alvarenga’s suffering was much more profound than that of the fictional astronaut and his isolation was no less extreme.

Franklin’s deep research provides tremendous insight into the incredible journey: into the true immensity and isolation of the Pacific Ocean, the daily requirements and suffering of being a castaway for more than a year, as well as the physical and even more illuminating, at least to me, the psychological toll that it took on Alvarenga, a man who probably was the one in a million who could have survived this ordeal.

Another unexpected and appreciated surprise for me was that Franklin did not end the story with the rescue, as most authors do. He stayed with Alvarenga as he attempted to readjust to society, both physically and mentally. This is the “rest of the story” that we are usually not given. I also appreciated Mr. Franklin’s deep sympathy and respect for Mr. Alvarenga, which gave the story an emotional impact that is often missing in nonfiction. I can’t imagine a novel exploring the emotional and physical suffering of its hero any deeper than this fine book.

5 stars. Highest recommendation.

 

Jonathan Franklin was nice enough to give me a blurb on his page. http://jonathanfranklin.com/

I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sara Gruen’s Water For Elephants was a near perfect reading experience for me.  Fantastic characters and compelling story line set in an accurate and fascinating historical setting.  I also completely fell into the atmosphere of the circus—in fact I was pleasantly surprised when Stephen King’s “Joyland” did the same for the carnival experience.  At the Water’s Edge is close, but just not as good. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I blazed through this book because I really wanted to know how the story would turn out, but it just lacked the historical depth and atmosphere of Water for Elephants.  Set in World War 2 in Scotland, our protagonist and her husband, along with a close friend, have run away from their self-created rich boy/girl problems in New York in search of a chance at redemption in a village close to Loch Ness.  I believe Gruen was shooting for a Fitzgerald like dissoluteness, but I just came away feeling that these displaced Americans were no more than spoiled brats.  I also feel that the opportunity to fully explore the horror of World War 2 from the European perspective was just glossed over to the point that it was no more moving and personal than a grainy old news reel.  I really didn’t get a strong feel for the history of Scotland and the area either, or even the Nessie myth/creature. 

Again, I must say that I enjoyed the story and read it quickly so that I could find out what happened.  Gruen is a very good story teller.  I gave the book an extra star because it was fun to read.  I guess the best way to describe my feeling is to say that Water for Elephants was a historical and literary novel with some romantic elements and At the Water’s Edge was a romance with some historical elements, and I prefer the former rather than the latter.

I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read quite a few of Dean Koontz’ novels over the years. In fact, his Odd Thomas series is one of my all-time favorite series of any type. If you have read much of Koontz, you may have some pet peeves. He does have a tendency to preach (sometimes quite a bit, actually) in his books, more so recently, and his characters have gotten a bit repetitive. Most of his books have as main characters an unusually perceptive teen/young adult and a supernatural or nearly supernatural villain. A golden retriever, trailing wings of glory, usually arrives within the first 30 or so pages. Actually, that has not really bothered me much as long as the story was good, and as a general rule, they are. Even the preachiness is ok because you know about it going in, so why complain?

I was really enjoying this novel up to until the point when a major plot revelation/direction surfaced which pretty much took me out of the story. I was already suspicious at that point, but once it occurred, I found the whole storyline to be so contrived that I found myself just examining the writing technique and paying attention to the references and cross references and plot structure and not enjoying the story, which to me was no longer compelling.

Mileage may vary and others may not agree. If you like Dean Koontz, especially his later writings, then you may well enjoy Ashley Bell as well. I certainly am going to continue to read him even though this particular novel wasn’t to my taste.

3 1/2 stars.

I received an advance copy of this work from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Marvelous. Chilling. Wonderful writing in a classic style. I love it when great writers write horror. Think Clive Barker or Henry James or even Poe. Tremendous characters. I really can’t say enough about this book other than I was blown away and put it on my best for the year list. Set aside some time because this is one you will read in one day.

The novel is set up in the form of a series of novellas told in chronological order which tell the story of Slade House—an example of What Is And Should Not Be. I will call it a horror novel and resist the impulse to divulge any more because I believe that the less you know, the more you will enjoy.

So, just go in blind. Open that little black iron door in the alley in Slade Alley behind the Fox and Hounds pub. Don’t be afraid. Crawl through and find your way through the gardens up to Slade House. The door will be unlocked. There may be friendly inhabitants there to help you find your way. Cross the threshold into the sprawling mansion that the locals will swear to you does not exist…..

5 Stars.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

From the Mouths of Dogs is definitely a book for the dog lover. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on pet cemetaries (to be distinguished from Stephen King’s Pet Semetary), services dogs, dog othortotics and the often dark times of those that toil in the animal welfare field. Not for the faint of heart, it is nevertheless a very balanced treatment of a very sensitive subject of animal control and animal welfare. Hollars maintains his journalistic balance of views, despite his obviously strong feelings on the topic, and I applaud that.

To anyone that thinks that pets are not a “serious” topic for a nonfiction book, I would merely point to the fact, as Hollars points out, that we, the pet loving public, spend more billions of dollars on our pets each year than the government allocates to Homeland Security.

Fluctuated between 3 ½ to 4 stars for me. 4 stars to the more informative sections, 3 to 3 ½ to the more autobiographical sections. But that is just a subjective preference and not the fault of the author.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Right up front I have to admit that I am a huge fan of John Connolly. For me he is right up there with Robert McCammon, Richard Matheson and Stephen King as writers of dark fiction. I wouldn’t call any of them horror writers per se, although they don’t seem particularly offended by it as horror is probably their first literary love anyway. What separates these giants, in my opinion, is that their work, while horrifying at times, never fails to dig deeper into the humanity of the situation. Their characters are complex, often conflicted, and the stories are deep in meaning and emotional impact. Plus, they propel their stories forward in such a way that I can’t help but read them in as few sittings as possible.

I love Connolly’s Charlie Parker series and recommend The Book of Lost Things to anyone I find, but I have limited experience with his short stories so I was very interested to read Night Music. Given that many of these stories are interrelated and some of them novella length, this isn’t really a traditional short story collection—it has a cohesiveness that made it even more enjoyable for me.

The Caxton Private Lending Library and Book Depository and its companion piece Holmes on the Range show that Connolly is not only a mature writer—but like the greats mentioned above, at heart he is still that young man that fell in love with the books he read in his youth. These two stories are homages to great literary characters, and to their writers. I don’t want to spoil even a word of these two stories so I will just say that if you love literature and great characters from Dickens, Doyle etc. these two stories are at times hilarious, and at all times tremendously clever and just plain fun to read.

The Fractured Atlas stories, which tell of a diabolical and hopefully mythical book, is another connected set of tales that have an overarching Lovecraftian type of theme to them. Each story provides a different perspective, and often different time frame, to the overall story of the book. And it is a great story that emerges like peeling the skin off of an onion.

There are a couple of classic style stories such as “Razorshins” and “The Lamia” as well as some that travel unusual territory like the brilliant bit of heresy “Lazarus.” While on the subject of heresy, I have to give a shout out to “The Blood of the Lamb” which is one of the most chilling stories that I have read in a long time. The ending is like stepping into an elevator shaft.

Connolly is very generous in that all of the stories are annotated and give you the details on how they came to be, because as we are told, songs and short stories are not written, they are already there and are merely discovered.

In “I Live Here,” Connolly treats the reader to an extended, and often hilarious, autobiographical section in which he mentions the authors and works that impacted him, as well as, perhaps as interestingly, those that didn’t. I thoroughly enjoyed this section. It felt like the wizard came out from behind the curtain, pulled up a chair, and proceeding to tell you how all of the magic worked---or at least where it came from. However, don’t get too comfortable because “I Live Here” will give you chills as you are asked quite seriously are there people assigned to guard actual dangerous places so that people stay away? What if Hill House (or Hell House for that matter) was in your neighborhood? Would you want to visit? Could you stop yourself?

Of course 5 stars. It’s Connolly so it is brilliant.

A bit of deceptive advertising. Not really the first of a trilogy. Really the first 3rd of one novel. Well written and interesting I give it 4 stars to be adjusted when I read the rest.

I received an ARC copy of the e-book version of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A very interesting story set in, as you can guess, Nagasaki. Our protagonist lives alone, by design rather than necessity. Alone, a cog in a much larger machine, a low level and low pay grade meteorologist who creates comfort, without any attempt at meaning or fulfillment in his life, by the strict adherence to routine. He avoids the company of workmates because that would disrupt his daily structure. He doesn’t trust anything or anyone outside himself anyway and minimizes all contact with people in the workplace or outside. It has been over a year since he has seen a member of his own family. At work he immerses himself in weather patterns; at home his nightly rituals.

He is an island.

Until he realizes that he isn’t alone. Someone is in his home. Eating his food. Walking his house. Invading his world. He is no longer alone. He has been violated.

If this story were written by an American author the story would have gone one way. Probably the confrontation of the individualist (we all think of ourselves that way, right? even though it is the punchline from a joke—sure, you are unique, just like everybody else) with the intruder. Gogol or Kafka would have gone another way—the inevitable violation of the individual by a stronger force. But this story is set in Japan and it is very different in ways that I did not expect. Much more personal. Much more moving. With a perspective shift (which often don’t work but this time does very well) near the end that makes us re-evaluate our feelings toward the entire story.

I received an ARC copy of this short story collection from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

O’Henry to me represents an American archetype in literature and it is interesting to note how that archetype has changed, or one can argue, no longer exists. When I think of classic American style in short stories a few authors come to mind: O’Henry, London, Irving, Fitzgerald, Poe and O’Connor. Each represents a particular time, region or style. London the pioneering spirit, Fitzgerald the jazz age, Irving the colonial period and along with Poe the supernatural, O’Connor the South. O’Henry is quintessentially American in locale as well as representative of a style of story. These stories are O’Henry award winners because they have a particular style that evokes his spirit. Interestingly, I found these stories to be quintessentially American. I sit here drinking coffee from Mexico, wearing a shirt made in India, typing on a computer made in China. These stories are like that too. Some take place in the United States but they involve immigrants and their own personal integration to this country; others involve Americans living or travelling abroad (and behaving badly) or naturalized Americans dealing with feelings of being an outsider to their culture of birth. They are who we are now and they all, like Paul Simon says, sing an American tune.

I think it is important to not provide too much detail on the stories because many of them pack a surprise or some other twist (in the O’Henry tradition) that would be spoiled by too much information. Here are my favorites. The very first story, the comical yet vaguely sinister “Finding Billy White Feather—which leaves the reader reeling and in no better position than the confused story teller starts this collection off on a very high note. “A Permanent Member of the Family,” “The Seals,” “Cabins,” “Word of Mouth,” and “The Golden Rule” deal with the types of events that are defining moments in a family history and are all deeply moving in their own way. The collection contains notes from the authors and I was not surprised to read that another favorite “A Permanent Member of the Family” happened pretty much as described in the story. As I was reading it I couldn’t help but think that it, or something just like it, happened to the author. Many of the above stories have a strong sense of autobiography about them.

I also enjoyed the stories that took place in other countries and the internal cultural commentary within them. Another favorite was “A Ride Out of Phrao” in which a naturalized American woman of middle eastern descent has moved to a small village in rural China. She never felt completely at home in America, yet it has become her home. She is very much an outsider in China but is adapting. Finally, she is culturally separated from her successful daughter. I found the story fascinating and quite moving.

Other stories that I enjoyed:

“About My Aunt”—fascinating story about two women and how one’s primary value is independence and the other is completely dependent on others, yet both appear content, set in the back drop of Hurricane Sandy.

“My Grandmother Tells Me A Story”—I couldn’t help thinking that I was very glad my grandmother never told me a story like that—a story that would change the way you look at her forever.

Even though I have highlighted a few stories, I have to say that the entire collection is first rate and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who enjoys well-crafted literary fiction.