The Space Turtle » Book

Balak–Book Review

Chivalrybean — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 02:51:28 +0000

Today I finished the audiobook Balak by Stephen Mark Rainey from Crossroad Press. I am the perfect market for this book, so keep that in mind when you read this review.

Here’s the blurb from the cover (if digital books can have covers):

Two years ago, Claire Challis’s four-year-old son disappeared without a trace. Now, a neighbor’s child has vanished from right outside of her apartment. Determined to discover the fate of her missing son, Claire set out on a quest that will lead to a place of madness, horror, and fate worse than death.

The book starts off with a very creepy scene and keeps up the unease the whole book. There are also some scenes in which I genuinely didn’t know if the viewpoint character would survive. Any book that does that gets bonus points.

The characters are all different and feel like real people. There are different motives and personalities in each of them.

While that characters drive the story, the plot is well constructed and stays consistent. I didn’t notice any holes in it.

Overall the book deals with relationships with children, romance, detective work, and a whole lot of cosmic horror thrown into the mix. I loved it.

The reader of the audio book is good. Not the best, but nothing your ears will complain about. I think I heard a couple misspoken words near the end, but they were so close to the word that should have been there than I wasn’t totally sure there was a mistake. He didn’t stumble over any words, in any case.

The book kept my attention from beginning to end. The start is a nice hook, the middle is engaging, and the ending wraps it all up nicely.

If you like stories of horror, mystery, suspense, and mind-altering horror from the dark reaches of the cosmos, then give this a go.

Additional:

There are five audio files. I thought there were four for some reason and make a playlist for two files at a time (I only have a 4gb ipod, and it’s loaded with podcasts too.) When the book suddenly stopped after part four, I cried out in dismay, for I wasn’t able to hear the rest until later!

Balak is a story set in the H.P. Lovecraft mythos. If you don’t know what that means, I think you’ll still like the story. If you do, you’ll get a bit of extra enjoyment out of it.

I also liked how the story is tied to Biblical references. It’s fun to see stories make use of parts of the Old Testament to further anchor the plot into reality and the world we live in.

Review – Soulstorm by Chet Williamson

Chivalrybean — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 02:59:26 +0000

Three men are offered a million bucks each to stay a month sealed in a haunted house. Sounds like all the other haunted house stories, right? In some ways yes, but where it counts, no.

One item that sets Soulstorm apart from books such at Hell House or The Haunting of Hill House is the fact that none of the people staying in the house are psychics or ghost hunters, or anything of that sort. I have actually listened to those two books recently and when I started Soulstorm, I was a bit weary, thinking Soulstorm would be more of the same. Instead, as the characters got introduced, I became interested in them, so my initial apprehension slipped off into the night.

Another thing Soulstorm does is start showing you that the house is truly haunted right from the start. I think in this case, that worked well. It doesn’t start off with a lot of things happening, but just enough to set the reader on edge.

If you get the audio version of the book, you are in for a treat. The author himself reads the book. I really enjoy it when an author can read their own work and do it well, like Chet does here. He knows exactly what he meant when he wrote it, and can convey it exactly how he wants you to hear it. He also pauses very well at the right moments. It is all pleasant on the ears.

If you like stories about haunted houses, then this is one you should read. The characters are interesting, the plot works, and the setting is enough different (at least as far as my reading goes) to keep it interesting.

Buy it directly from Crossroad Press.

Book Review: Cursed by Jeremy C. Shipp

Chivalrybean — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:05:35 +0000

I got a PDF preview of Jeremy C. Shipp’s latest book CURSED. He put out the call on Twitter and I answered. That right there says a lot about Jeremy; he thinks outside the box. Without getting onto a rant about the current status of the publishing industry, it’s things like this that help get the word out. I can say right off, this is a book worth getting the word out about. His thinking outside the box also applies to his writing as well.

I knew very little about CURSED before I started reading it. I’d heard a little about it on Snark Infested Waters, which is also where I first heard about Jeremy. About all I knew to expect was something about a curse, and possibly something bizarre. This book has plenty of both, and in the good way.

CURSED starts you off right in the middle of the action, following the style of ‘in late, out early’. It was slightly disorienting, but after reading a few pages, things start to make sense. This isn’t bad. The characters themselves are in disorienting situations themselves, so you have a taste of what their lives are like.

The characters are very colorful and multi-dimensional. No one feels like a throwaway character. The story is told from the viewpoint of Nick, a very layered character. The narrative reveals what he is thinking, how he feels, and what he says externally to hide these things from the outside world. Cicely is the main supporting character and has a very different outlook on life and is very colorful. Her wit and whimsy adds a wonderful light to the story. Gordon is Nick’s roommate. He is a blind guy and I think that Jeremy must know a blind guy because I felt the character was very real and his blindness is dealt with in a way takes everything into account.

The plot revolves around a group of characters who have been cursed in some way, and they are investigating as to why they are cursed, and who or what did it to them. As they learn more about their curses, they learn more about each other, and what it means to really care. The relationships are real and visceral. The plot is paced at a quick pace, but not too fast, like a taxi driver that gets you there in a timely manner without making you wet yourself.

The writing is not like anything else I’ve read. It is a very tight prose that is fast to read. Nick makes lists of things and these are written out in the book. It is very different but it flows right along with everything else. It was actually refreshing to read, because it is different.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It is a menagerie of quirky fun, dark and gritty situations, and internal conflict. It is not an easy book to put down then forget to pick up again. I found myself caring about the characters and really wanting to discover what they want to discover.
The mystery is interesting and not a standard whodunit. Something is very wrong in the lives of the characters and each clue as to what it is not only brings them closer to the answer, but puts them in further danger.
I did not see the ending coming, even though I knew there would be a twist. It doesn’t come out of the blue, it makes sense when it happens, and that’s how it should be.

If you like mystery, strange tales, stories with realistic characters, you will find CURSED to be a cornucopia of all of these things. I give it two BUY THIS BOOKS up! You can even get a signed copy!