Number 74- We Used to Live Here- Marcus Kliewer

 

My first Marcus Kliewer novel (coincidentally his as well) and my choice for this month's book group.

This one certainly split the group.  They all hated it.  I loved it. They're obviously not into deep seated existential dread.

Eve and Charlie have just moved into their new house, planning to fix it up and flip it, maybe even pull it down and rebuild. While Charlie is out, a family knock at the door and ask if they can look round because - see title.

After some initial trepidation, Eve lets them in. This is predictably a mistake. Because now she has to persuade them to leave, and that's more difficult. What happens next is a reality shifting and warping nightmare.

Nightmare is an appropriate term because this perfectly recreates on paper (for me obviously)  the feeling of the loss of reality that occurs in a bad dream. Because of this, this book is one of the few in recent years that has messed with my sleep. I can honestly say that this gave me bad dreams. And with the amount of horror I read, that's an achievement.

The sense of dread builds to the point that it's dripping from the pages. Every few chapters, an article on a tangentially connected topic appears. some of them make sense immediately, eg the house listing for their new house,  but others only become apparent what the link is several chapters later. I feel this book can withstand multiple reads with  new levels of meaning becoming more apparent on subsequent reads.

Liminal space/shifting reality horror is fairly difficult to get right and I think this pulls it off in style. It was apparently born from short stories on Reddit.  All I can say is that I'm surprised anything of this quality had an origin like that and I'm extremely impressed.

Despite my book group all hating it, I would still recommend this to anyone who likes slow building creepy horror that makes you question your own reality.

Number 73- Monstrilio- Gerardo Samano Cordova

 

Continuing my spooky month spooky reads, my first taste of the writing of Ms Cordova.

When Magos's son Santiago dies, she cuts out a piece of his lung as a keepsake.  When she feeds the piece of lung it starts growing into a creature that they call Monstrilio. It gains sentience and a very carnivorous set of habits before changing to resemble the deceased Santiago, With a new chance at a family, can he resist the impulses that still gnaw away at him, or are they doomed to failure again.

This is very weird and very very wonderful. It may well be one of my favourite books of the year.

The locations, especially the Mexico of the first part of the book are brilliantly realised. The characters are all sympathetic and I could understand even their most extreme actions (after the opening chapter).

Cordova's prose is excellent.  There are 4 separate narrators in the book and they do have different voices.

I was a little confused in the middle of the book when I failed to realise how far the time had jumped in the story, but that's probably the only flaw, and even that is possibly down to me missing a hint in the text.

I loved every page and plot turn in this book and I'll recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Number 72- A Child Alone With Strangers- Philip Fracassi

 

My 3rd Fracassi novel, and I think the technical term for this one is "A bit of a chonker". This was large format, small print and still 600 plus pages.

It's lucky the man can write. :)

It all starts very Dead-Zone-y when Henry Thorne, the child of the title is involved in a near fatal incident and wakes with the power to read the minds of the people around him.

Unfortunately, a group of criminals decides that the insurance payout his family receives is a good reason to kidnap him and demand a huge ransom.

Even more unfortunately (for them), the remote house they hold him in is home to a creature that can and will threaten their lives. A creature with many strange abilities, including the ability to communicate with young Henry. 

This is by turns gruesome, funny, deeply disturbing and emotionally damaging.

It's not a perfect novel. Fracassi needs to decide if Henry is chubby or skinny.  He's referred to as both several times in his sojourn in the farmhouse. There are several places where I had to reread sentences because they were written with a subject/object confusion, which was a little annoying. 

However these were minor glitches, and for only a handful of sentences that the editor should have picked up on in a book this size, it really doesn't affect the impact this book has.

I think I prefer Boys in the Valley to this one, but this is still an easy 7/10. Maybe higher. It's well over a week since I finished it and some of the images are still seared in my brain.

Number 71- Bone White- Ronald Malfi

 

Continuing my horror themed reads for spooky month...

I think this is my third Malfi book and he continues to impress me. This one might have been better left till the cold of December or January rather than the middle of the unusually warm October weather we had last week.

Paul Gallo's twin vanished a year ago. His last known whereabouts were the remote mining town of Dread Hand in deepest, coldest Alaska. When he hears on the news that a serial killer has just handed himself in to the police in Dread's Hand, and there are many dead bodies buried in the icy ground on the outskirts, Paul makes the trip to Alaska to try to retrace his brother's last known steps.

The town is as strange as you would expect with a name like that, and Paul is soon buried deeper in the mystery than he ever wanted.

This is superbly atmospheric and the gradual unravelling of the evil at the heart of the town is very well executed.

The supporting cast are nicely drawn and the use of the police investigation running parallel to Paul's quest is a good way to feed us information that Paul doesn't have in order to ramp up the suspense that bit more.

Once again with Malfi, I find that this book feels like a good Stephen King.  I hate to compare to King, as it's such an obvious comparison point in horror fiction, but Malfi, while his writing style is very distinct to King, has the exact vibe I get from the King of horror.

There is one unforgivable thing about this book

Everyone knows that Christopher Lee was the Lord of Summerisle and he had Edward Woodward burned alive.  Shame on you Ronald Malfi.

Other than that, I recommend this book to anyone who like good horror.

Number 70- The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires- Grady Hendrix

This was my pick for one of my book groups. It suited my sense of humour to make a book club read about a book club killing vampires.

My 4th Grady Hendrix book, and the 4th great read from the man. 

Patricia Campbell is a stressed and harried housewife. When the book opens, she's due to talk about a book at a very strictly run book club despite the fact she's not read it.  It's a  brilliant and hysterically funny introduction to Pat and the 4 friends she forms a new book club with to read trash instead of the highbrow books that feel like torture in the club from the opening chapter.

The embarrassment turns out to be the least traumatic thing that's going to happen to her for the rest of the book. She's attacked by a neighbour and initially befriends the  neighbour's nephew - one James Harris.

Harris has his secrets which Patricia soon stumbles across. Why does he struggle to leave the house in daylight? Where is his housekeeper? What is happening to the children in the poor neighbourhood down the road? What is Harris's connection?

The title of the book is a pretty big clue tbh.

This is one of the most "realistic" vampire novels I think I've ever read. The characters don't believe what's happening.  They rationalise all the strange happenings and this allows for events to spiral.

The characters are all beautifully drawn and believable. The one I hated most was actually Patricia's husband. James Harris at least is at least partly acting according to his nature.  He's not choosing to be a massive ass. Carter is just a horrible person by choice. Again, he's entirely believable.

Grady Hendrix writes in an easily accessible style and can make the reader (me and 95% of my book group at any rate) laugh, cry, or scare them. This book has some great set pieces and a nice helping of gore amidst the laughs and relationships.  the friendship between the group feels real and is the source of some genuine emotional moments and betrayals.

It's an excellent book and I recommend it unreservedly.

Number 69- 69- Ryu Murakami

 

I almost didn't go with this for the numbers theme until I realised that this is the OTHER Murakami, and not the one who has left me so frustrated after two previous reads.

This follows the last year of the 60s through the eyes of a 17 year old asshole in rural Japan.

I say asshole but I mean it entirely in a nice way.  The narrator is the epitome of the lovable rogue. He's totally self absorbed and an objectively horrible person, but somehow, his narration made me take his side.

He's witty, and charming  and a complete prick. The book is also, apparently, more than semi-autobiographical.

There's barely any plot except for desperate teen trying to score with his dream girl through a series of outrageous stunts. But it's so thoroughly entertaining that I didn't care.

It's relatively short at just under 200 pages.  The translation by Ralph F McCarthy surely deserves praise for making a culture as different to ours as late 60s Japan feel so accessible. 

This is a great fun look at an entirely alien age and culture. At the same time, it's a reminder that certain character types are universal.

Number 68- Judderman- D.A.Northwood

 

Another of the Eden Book Society books, and in this case I have no real idea which of the 6 authors named in the afterword actually wrote this.

Except for Andre Michael Hurley- it can't be him, because his offering in this series was a starve Acre before he expanded it to novel size and published it under his own name- so I have a choice of 5.

This is from the 1972 series of books. and is a "Magical London" story following a man (Gary) looking for his brother (Daniel) who was apparently taken by the Judderman- a creation of the depravity and degradation inherent in London life in the early 70s.

It's nice and short, but could probably have been shorter if I'm honest.  It seemed to cover a lot of the same ground a few times, and Gary doesn't seem to do much actual questing for his brother.

It's a nice little book, and at 92 pages doesn't outstay its welcome.

It might not stay in your memory all that long either. But there are some nice ideas floating about in here, and you could feel the grime on the streets, the descriptive work is so good.  So, overall- not a classic, but worth reading.  it'll kill an afternoon quite nicely.

Number 67- The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox- Maggie O'Farrell

And this was a book for another book group.  I would have struggled to pick up a book with such an anodyne cover, regardless of how much I liked Hamnet by the same writer, without the choice being made on my behalf.

However, this book totally defies any negative expectations given by that cover.

Esme Lennox  has been locked in a mental institution since the 1940s when she was 17.  Now, 61 and a bit years later, the old institutions are closing and she is released into the care of her grand niece. Much against the wishes of that niece.

This novel explores her life, and the life of her family in intricate detail. Her niece, Iris, is busy trying to juggle running a shop and some strained romantic entanglements. Caring for an elderly woman she's never heard of before yesterday was not in her plans.

Kitty, Esme's sister and Iris's gran, is the only person living who knows the truth about Esme, why she was locked up, and why she's never been mentioned at all in the last six decades.

The details of what happened are drip fed to us exquisitely. It's almost a psychological  thriller about family dynamics. The revelations near the end of the book shocked me to my core.

It took me a few chapters wo tune into this and work out who was who and how they linked, but once all that was straight, this was unputdownable.  I raced through this in two days. 

I loved Hamnet, and now I can unreservedly say I loved this one too.  It packs a real gut punch. I must get more O'Farrell on the TBR.

Number 66- Pan- Michael Clune

 

Playing a bit of catch up here- I'm 4 books behind on the write ups.

This was a book group choice, and I thought it sounded quite interesting- a teenager starts having panic attacks and becomes convinced that he's possessed by the God Pan.

Sounds interesting, and IS interesting is all in the execution of the idea though. I thought from the blurb that this was going to be packed with supernatural overtones etc.

Sadly, after a promising start, including some great depictions of anxiety and panic attacks, it devolves into a story of a bunch teens hanging around in a barn getting stoned and occasionally shagging or getting up to illegal shit.

From that point of view, it's probably a good book, if that's what you're into.  It is well written, Clune has a good style to his writing.  Unfortunately, I personally found this a bit repetitive and I kind of lost interest after a while.

There's a scene where he pretends to be a wheelchair user to try to steal some booze, but can't figure out how to steer the wheelchair and hold the bottles.  This kid is supposed to be intelligent but he can't figure out to just put the bottles in his lap like every wheelchair user in existence does. That was probably the scene where I stopped caring and finished the book out of duty to the book group. 

So overall, nice writing, shame about the lack of an interesting story or believable characters.

Number 65- On Fridays We Eat Meat- A S Hopewell

 

Now this is an interesting one. I don't actually know who wrote this.  There is a choice of 7 authors, one more likely than the others. The Eden Book Society is a literary hoax by Dead Ink Press featuring novellas allegedly written for a secret society over the last 100 years and only recently rediscovered. In reality, they're written by a selection of modern authors in the style of...

This is part of the 1993 collection.  there are 8 books and we know who they are, but not which book they wrote. (Grady Hendrix definitely wrote one specific volume but not this one.  Since we know which one he wrote, that's why we have a choice of 7 here)

This being set in Nigeria leads me to think the actual write is Chikodili Emelumadu, since none of the other writers have African sounding names.

Gozie is a tweenage tomboy who likes to hang around with her best friends Mbembe and Chuma, doing the things pre-teens do in Nigerian townships. When the trio find that one of their favourite places to hang out (an empty house on a well off estate) now has a new owner, events start to spiral. 

The new owner welcomes them in, but he's not what he seems to be and supernatural forces soon threaten Gozie and her friends. 

It's difficult to say more without spoilers. This is a quick read and fairly effectively written. I loved the insight into the poorer edges of Nigerian society and the class struggles which seem extreme by western standards. The supernatural elements are blended nicely into the narrative and it picks up pace for a bloody finale.

If the rest of the Eden Book Society works are to this standard, I will be a very happy man indeed,

Number 64- Doctor Andromeda and the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows- Lemire et al

 

And another entry into the world of Black Hammer.

This is almost a standalone with no obvious tie in barring a couple of one panel cameos by characters from the larger series.

This may well be the saddest (in a good way) superhero graphic novel I've ever read. Doctor Andromeda Is a golden age hero protecting Spiral City. When he answers a distress call from deep space, he sets off a chain of events that will destroy his home life in ways that he cannot repair, regardless of how powerful he might be.

Lemire is on top form here and I definitely had something in my eye in the closing pages.  I wasn't welling up a bit honest.

Max Fiumara's art is top notch. It perfectly matches the storytelling, and features some of the best double page spreads I've seen in a long while.

The next few Black Hammer volumes are a priority when I am financially solvent again.

Number 63- Bloodshot Reborn The Analog Man- Lemire et al

 

Continuing the Bloodshot reborn series, in this, volume 3, we have apparently jumped 30 years into the future, into yet another of Lemire's post apocalyptic settings.

Bloodshot is now a protector of a small settlement in a Mad Max style future. He's technologically almost obsolete in this future, hence the title.

This is probably my least favouite so far since it does seem at times like a rinse and repeat of themes from his other series. However it does redeem itself (almost) by the ending. 

The artwork by Lewis Larosa is stunning throughout.  That cannot be faulted.  This book is a thing of beauty.

I will be ordering volume 4 on payday.

Number 62- Little- Edward Carey

 

Regular readers of this blog will know how much I like Edward Carey's books. I think this may be the longest of his that I've read so far, and that is a great thing!  More of his writing, more of his wonderful and weird artwork!

This one is a fictionalised biography of Anna Marie Grosholtz- better known to the world by her eventual married name of Madame Tussaud, and to her friends, in this version of her life, as Little. It follows her life from early childhood through to her marriage and relocation to London.

The key points of her life are all here. The deaths of her parents and her tutelage under Doctor Curtius in the art of shaping wax, her alleged time as tutor to Elisabeth, the sister of the King, the terror of the French revolution, and the founding of the famous London Gallery.

There are some fictional characters of course,  who serve to move the plot, and what great characters they are.  The Widow Picot is one of the most vile and loathesome characters I've read in many years.  I hated her with a vengeance, but Carey is skillful enough that even I sympathised with her by the end of her story arc.

As I reached the last 20% of this book I was genuinely sad that I was going to finish it soon. I wanted to stay in revolutionary France with Marie's (Little's)  narration for longer. I was genuinely moved by the fates of many of the characters as they passed from Little's life, one way or another. In modern yoof speak, this book hit me right in the feels. 

It's an easy contender for the best book of the year. It may well be my favourite Edward Carey book so far- and that's really saying something.

Number 61- Holly- Stephen King

 

The fifth book to feature Holly Gibney, who first appeared on the sidelines in Mr Mercedes. this one pissed off a lot of people when it came out. For some reason, they didn't think a book with a hypochondriac main character, set in the middle of the pandemic should mention COVID. Idiots.

Regular readers of this blog will know I'm a big fan of Mr King and this was a novel I was highly anticipating. 

In the middle of the Covid years, Holly, trying to get over the recent death (by Covid) of her mother, takes on a case looking for a missing girl. While looking for the girl, she finds out about a number of other disappearances in the area over the past few years. She's unwittingly stumbled into the middle of a serial killer case.

The killers are an elderly pair of professors from the local university who rank amongst the vilest characters (in a good way) that King has so far created. I won't say why they're taking people off the streets, that's something you need to discover for yourself.

As usual with King, this starts fairly slowly but builds tension brilliantly. I had to read the last 150 pages in one sitting.  I was NOT going to put that book down.

This is also notable for King using a selection of Shreddies to great effect. He doesn't often do that.

I had a great time with this. I suspect King knew how much it would annoy certain tracts of people and had fun with that too. Highly recommended. If you disagree with his politics, you'll hate it though.

Number 60- The Sideways Life of Denny Voss- Holly Kennedy

 

This was a book group choice and a brand new author for me so I had no clue past the cover blurb what to expect.  The cover burb had potential but sounded like the book could go either way.

Denny Voss is a developmentally challenged man who keeps getting into weird scrapes. He's been in trouble with the police twice before- for kidnapping Tom Hanks (a goose), and for accidentally helping in a bank robbery.  However this time he's suspected of murder, and it's not going to go away quickly like the last two did. His life has slipped too far sideways and only the whole truth about his life can help him.

I fell in love with Denny and his idiosyncratic voice in the first few pages.  He's such a brilliantly written character and a perfect narrator. 

This book is hysterically funny, and most of the humour comes from us seeing Denny through the other person's point of view, despite it being Denny telling the story. That takes talent to pull off and Holly Kennedy manages it with apparent ease.

The supporting cast are all beautifully drawn through the filter of Denny's unique viewpoint. I'm not sure that eidetic memories like Denny's normally come attached to an IQ of 72, but I rolled with it rather than question it.  The book is too much fun to quibble over points like that.

The solution of the mystery was quite obvious, for the who, but the why was gradually revealed across the book and was perfectly satisfying.  If you start overthinking, there are a couple of very minor plot holes if you consider the forensics of the situation. So don't overthink it, and you should love this novel. 

A light easy read, damned funny, and pretty heartbreaking in places.  I unreservedly recommend it.  A solid 9/10

Number 59- Getting it Together- Grace, Spahi, Fine, Struble

 

I paid a whole one English pound for this and I feel ripped off.

I hated the story.

I hated the characters.

I hated the writing.

The art was perfunctory at best.

At least it was short.

It probably does have its fans.  You might like it, but I will judge you for it.

I've wasted too many keystrokes on this already.

Numbers 56-58- a mini-Lemire Marathon

 

Three of his graphic novels at least, continuing two of his series that I'm catching up on.

Bloodshot Reborn continues where volume 1 left off.  There's a twist though. Someone else is collecting the nanites and it's a race against time and the new killer to prevent more bloodshed.

British people of a certain age may recall a character called MACH 1- Man Activated by Compupuncture Hyperpower (IIRC) in Eagle comics.  That was a definite precursor to this concept. 

There is nothing particularly original in this story but lemire's writing and the amazing artwork by Butch Guice elevate the material so it feels like something fresh and new.  I will be ordering volume 3 ASAP.

 

Next up was volumes 2 and 3 of Lemire's own personal spin on the traditional superhero franchise. 

I love how he's simultaneously satirising the genre whilst giving us a deeper insight into the lives of these characters after they start to age out of their roles.

I genuinely give a damn about these people. We still have no idea what the village is where our heroes are trapped or why they're there, or how they can possibly escape. we finally discover the fate of the title character in the most gruesome frames of the series so far.

There are some other shocking turns of events and a totally unpredictable betrayal.

I'm loving every word and picture.  

Despite the title, this is indeed Black Hammer Volume 3. This gives us a flashback over 5 issues which help to extend and flesh out the worlds of Spiral City and the heroes who are currently AWOL by focusing on their villainous counterparts.

David Rubin's artwork is excellent throughout. Again, I will be ordering the next volumes ASAP.

Highly recommended for people who like their fiction with a slightly more than surreal side of craziness.

Number 55-55- James Delargy

Probably my purest iteration on the number theme so far.

The peaceful routine in Willbrook, a small town deep in the Australian outback, is shattered when Gabriel staggers into the police station. He tells Sergeant Jenkins that he was hitch-hiking and a man called Heath drugged him, tied him up, told him he was number 55 and was going to die. Gabriel escaped and made his way to the town for help.

Just as the manhunt is about to get underway, Heath is caught stealing a car, trying to escape the town.  He tells Sergeant Jenkins that he was hitch-hiking and a man called Gabriel drugged him, tied him up, told him he was number 55 and was going to die...

Which one is the killer? Can Sergeant Jenkins uncover the truth?  He's helped and hindered in not equal measures by his ex partner, now his superior officer who has returned from the big city to lead the case.

This is a fun set up for a mystery and I did find myself changing my mind as to which one was guilty several times.

Delargy manages to build up a good amount of tension, both in the case itself and Jenkins' personal issues with Mitch, his commanding officer. The barren landscape and the small town are almost characters in their own right.  There's a very good sense of place and atmosphere.

Jenkins is a great protagonist and we (I) feel every bit of his frustration and confusion.

It's a cracking psychological thriller. The explanations are satisfactory and the ending packs an emotional punch. What more can you ask for?

Number 54- the Retreat- Gemma Fairclough

 

The last of the books in the consistently good Northern Weird series from Wild Hunt Books. This one involves strange cults, miraculous cures, and mysterious disappearances.  

Richard's sister Julie was caught up in a cult like wellness centre in deepest Cumbria. Not long after she left, she was found dead.  Years later, Richard discovers the full story behind her death and starts investigating the Hartman centre.  He meets a recent escapee called Lucy whose story is scarily similar.

This is told in a mix of narrative styles, interview transcripts, letters, partial biographies etc.  The whole thing is the literary equivalent of a found footage as it claims to be a manuscript found in Richard's belongings.

I really enjoyed this.  The Northern weird series doesn't have a miss in the whole collection. The shifting viewpoints and styles are well handled and build tension nicely.

A quick and easy read with some unexpected twists and turns in the story.

Numbers 52&53- Royal City 2 & 3- Jeff Lemire

 

Two very quick cheat reads next in the form of the middle section and conclusion of this short series by Lemire.

Volume 1 introduced a family where each member was haunted by a variation of the ghost of their brother/child who died aged 14.

Volume 2 - Sonic Youth is the flashback story telling the last 5 days of the poor lad's life. 

Volume 3- We All Float On- picks up again where volume 1 left off and concludes the story.

Volume 2 does a great job of explaining why his ghost appears in the forms he does for the different family members. Without seeming contrived or convoluted, we see the start of every plot strand that made Volume 1 as good as it was.

Volume 3 had a lot to live up to.  Could Lemire possibly give this story the ending it deserves?  In my humble opinion it definitely does.  This is emotionally layered and complex storytelling and the ending left me wiping away a tear or two.

I'm still not a great fan of Lemire's artwork, it always seems quite ugly and abrasive to me.  However the storytelling is so good, I can forgive it all.  The artwork isn't pretty, but neither are the stories he's telling.

This is probably the most grounded and relatable series I've read so far by Lemire, and it's vying for that top spot.  I loved it. If you can find it, you really should give it a chance.