Number 105 - I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus - SG Browne

 

My Christmas read this year is this rather good follow up to Breathers.

Breathers is a horror comedy novel about a newly revived dead man working through the issues with his zombification.  It's that rare breed of horror comedy that deserves both words in the genre description.  It's unpleasant enough and disturbing enough to qualify for horror and funny enough to work as a comedy.

Happily, this sequel continues the trend.

It opens with Andy waking up on a pile of dead zombies with a bullet hole in his skull and wearing a Santa outfit. 

We then jump back a few days (it says three but I'm not sure the timescale is entirely accurate - however I don't care) to his captivity in an experimental lab and work forward to find out how he ended up with the perforated head-bone.

Andy is a congenial narrator.  The humour never feels forced and the running gag of "If you haven't experienced x,y,z you wouldn't understand" is particularly funny.

As with the first book, the comedy and gore are interspersed with more tender and erm, human,,, moments.

My biggest complaint with this book is that every time I look at that cover, I get an earworm of THAT song but with the lyrics changed.  I hate the song this title riffs from. I don't want it in my head even with funnier lyrics.

It's a fast, easy read, laugh out loud funny in places, gruesome in others.  Perfect Christmas reading.

Number 104 - The Swallowed Man - Edward Carey

 

After reading Heap House a few books ago, I went online and bought several more Edward Carey novels. I will return to the world of the Iremongers early in the new year, but this book caught my eye for a more immediate read - mainly for it's relatively short length and the Max Porter quote.

It tells the story of Gepetto (yes, that Gepetto) trying to eke out his remaining life after being swallowed my the giant sea creature. It starts with a brief retelling of the more famous story of Pinocchio from Gepetto's point of view and explaining how he came to be where he is before embarking on less familiar fare.

To be fair, even his retelling of Pinocchio feels fresh since it's not from the usual viewpoint.

By some miracle, Gepetto has managed to land inside a ship previously swallowed by the shark/sea creature.  The ship is reasonably sturdy, but, just as importantly, it contains candles, food and the captain's logbook and ink where our narrator writes his weird history.

After the familiar story, we learn about Gepetto's early life and loves. We also learn how he tries to survive the loneliness of his captivity in the stomach of the creature. However, his supply of candles is running low, as is his food, and something is scuttling in the recesses of the ship.

The prose is scattered with more of Carey's rather distinct artwork, and assorted strange photographs that complement the narrative perfectly. The tone of the book is as weird and wonderful as Heap House was even though this is aimed at an older demographic. He managed the almost impossible and surprised me with the final chapter of the book.

I can't recommend this too highly to those people who like a skewed take on familiar tales.  

Number 103 - Gideon Falls Vol 5 - Lemire et al

 

A return to the mind-bending worlds of Gideon Falls.

Now we have a grasp of what exactly is happening, this is getting more nightmarish and gripping.

The artwork continues to astound and the plot is getting twistier and twistier.  The cliffhanger ending is almost unfair.  it means i have to get the 6th and final volume much sooner rather than later...

It would be difficult to say much about what's happening without being very spoilerific for the previous 4 volumes.  Plus without a good understanding of what's gone before I'm not sure anything I say about the story here would make sense.

Suffice to say the Smiling Man is a truly scary villain and it's obvious why this series won as many awards as it did.

It takes talent to drag together as many disparate plot threads into a cohesive story in the way Lemire has done here. Sorentino's art helps build the atmosphere and general air of weirdness brilliantly as well as introducing me to narrative techniques only possible in a visual medium like comic books.

Seek these out and read them immediately.  

Number 102 - I am the Tiger - John Ajvide Lindqvist

 

This is part three of a triptych of books by John Lindqvist.  I'm not sure I'd call it a trilogy as such.  The first two books (I Am Behind You, and I Always find You) are only linked tangentially and whilst this book does tie them together much more tightly, the links between the previous too books are still too tenuous.

The first book was set on a caravan park where a number of vans suddenly found themselves in a strange landscape with an unending green field and a sunless sky.  

Book 2 was set in the real world and followed a young John Limdqvist as he moved to the city for the first time, trying to make his living as a magician and found himself embroiled in a supernatural cult, a strange alien slime that transports people to a heavenly new world,  and a plot to kill a prominent Swedish politician - a real event from Swedish history (the Swedish equivalent of JFK - to this day no one knows the true identity of the killer)

This book follows a washed up crime reporter who starts investigating a new crime lord on the block the mysterious X who is smuggling in huge amounts of the purest cocaine whilst simultaneously persuading existing crime lords to commit suicide.  We also follow his nephew, a teenager who's been selling his ADHD medicine since he was 13 and who is offered the chance to get in on the ground floor selling ridiculously cheap and pure cocaine...

For the first 150 pages or so, this reads like a crime thriller, with very few hints of the supernatural (other than subtle hints as to the cause of the spate of suicides). Even when the supernatural becomes evident, the focus is still very much on the human cost of the crime in progress and the dual viewpoints on the cocaine ring, the rising star in the organisation and his uncle investigating.

The story rattles along at a cracking pace for the most part.  There is one sub-plot regarding Tommy's living arrangements that slows things down in the middle section, but not enough to be a real issue. There are also hints about Tommy's dog being in some way special that never amount to anything. Thinking about it now, it's a little bit irritating how much time he spent on a plot thread as strange as that that went nowhere.

Like Gary McMahon's excellent Concrete Grove, this book builds up a convincing picture of a run down estate and a local boss who is much more than he seems.  There are probably more thematic similarities to Concrete Grove in this book than there are to the first two parts of his own trilogy. However this book isn't quite as scary or freaky as Concrete Grove.  It's far more grounded in reality and doesn't play the supernatural up as much as it could have done. 

The ending was unexpected to say the least, despite the fact that, in hindsight, the clues have all been laid out clearly.  Lindqvist certainly earns a few extra points for that. 

You need to read the first two books to appreciate this one properly.  Some detail could be confusing otherwise. It ties the previous two books in fairly cleverly, but I may need to reread the series again to see how accurate the links are. I'm not sure if the link to book 1 is forced or if my memory is faulty. I won't mind, they're all really good books, at least as good as an average Stephen King. 

There are Easter eggs for his other novels too. Little Star is referenced at one point for definite and some of the background events seem familiar too.

Overall, this is a damned good read, but not perfect.  It could have lost a subplot or two on the way and possibly been that much tighter a narrative but it's never less than very readable indeed and some of the set pieces are genuinely frightening. When he does play up the supernatural, the novel takes off and I think I maybe wanted more of that than Tommy's domestic life. It still kept me enthralled all the way through and delivered some great shocks.  It's done what it's supposed to and then some.

Number 101 - Buddha Boy - Kathe Koja

 

The very definition of a cheat read - i finished this in one sitting.

Kathe Koja excels in these YA novellas at introducing us to the social outcasts of high school society. In this book, it's the Buddha Boy of the titles - aka Michael martin - aka Jinsen.

He's just transferred into Edward Rucher High School and he does NOT fit in. He dresses wrong. He begs for money in the cafeteria. He acts weirdly and doesn't respond the way he should.  That includes showing not respect/fear to the school bullies which makes him number 1 target.

The narrator of the book, Justin, is forced to partner with Jinsen on a school project where he discovers that Jinsen is an amazing artist. From that grudging moment of respect, a tale of friendship against the odds builds rapidly.

The story is told in Koja's unmistakable stream of consciousness style of writing. It's a compelling read, as evidenced by the fact that I read it in one two hour sitting. 

She delivers a great message about acceptance of people who seem different, about getting to know people rather than writing them off as freaks. Jinsen's back-story, when it's revealed, feels genuinely tragic and his recovery uplifting.

My only disappointment with the book is that, being told in flashback, I hoped to find out more at the end about what happened next, just an epilogue chapter to say what the characters achieved and if the friendships continued or fizzled with distance. Even that is just a personal feeling of disappointment because I wanted more, rather than a flaw with the book's ending, which is suitably emotional. 

She left me wanting more... that can only be a compliment.

I have more of her full length adult novels on my shelves due a read or re-read at some point next year. She really is one of those writers who I will read anything she writes, no matter how far out of my personal comfort zone.  She can make you feel the character's deepest feelings with ease. 

Number 100 - In the wars - Dr Waheed Arian

 

Number 100 for the year! This was my book group read and the second autobiography in a row. I did a bit more research and Chump Change is almost certainly a fictionalised autobiography.

However, whereas Chump Change was a warts and all decent to his lowest point with a glimmer of hope at the end, this one takes almost the opposite path.  This one starts with his horrendous childhood and takes us through his pathway out of poverty and danger and to his current status as head of a prestigious charity and a doctor in the NHS.

The opening sections of the book were certainly the most interesting. His childhood in Afghanistan with breaks as a refugee in Pakistan before moving to the UK was filled with drama and incidents. He (or his ghostwriter) paints a vivid picture of the precariousness of existence in Kabul. 

Once he reaches Britain, his fortunes changed very much for the better.  He manages to enroll in a college while holding down two jobs  to get his A-levels before he is accepted into Cambridge University for his medical degree.

His work ethic puts most of the rest of the world to shame. He comes over as a truly remarkable man in every way.

This is where the cynic in me wonders what has been left out of the story. This is the only autobiography I've ever read where the author doesn't reveal even a single wart. The book reads in the end like an advert for his charity (which from the last two chapters, that's exactly why he wrote it) so I can understand that he doesn't want to show himself in a bad light at any point.  This book isn't warts and all. it's a plea to donate to his -very worthy indeed- charity. 

All in all it's a very interesting book, engagingly told. It shines a light on life experiences in war zones, the lengths people have to go to to escape, and the confusion and problems encountered trying to set up a new life in a totally different culture. 

If it was fiction I'd be complaining that the protagonist is too perfect. Was it really nothing more than youthful naivety when he didn't realise the "travel agency" that sent him to the UK wasn't completely on the level - despite fake passports etc?  Please let us see that you have some human failings other than mildly amusing cultural and lingual misunderstandings at university. 

It feels awkward admitting that I kind of feel that way about this even though it's non-fiction. However, I expect unfettered honesty from the author of one of these books, so I should be honest in my review. I am cynical by nature and struggle to believe that people can be this flawless. I want to see the whole person when I read an autobiography, not just the good bits.  Although maybe he's just a better person than me and deep inside I'm jealous. 

The work he's done is amazing. he's achieved more than I ever will in my life. He passed on a guaranteed consultancy post to concentrate on the charity work. Even if he hasn't shown us any warts, he's still a remarkable man doing great work. His charity deserves all our support, it's doing great work and actually improving things on the ground in places like Afghanistan. If you can support his charity Arian Telemedicine, do so.  They need every bit of help they can get. 

Number 99 - Chump Change - Dan Fante

 

Dan Fante is the son of Jon Fante.  As any people who read these reviews regularly will know, I discovered Jon Fante entirely by chance a couple of years back because I liked the title of one of his books (1933 was a bad year). he rapidly became a firm favourite of mine. 

I'm close to having read everything Jon Fante ever published and I wondered if the talent ran in the family. So I ordered this online - his books don't show up in Waterstones the way his dad's do - and I'm so glad I did.

The unflinching gaze at the underbelly of life is well and truly present in the writings of both father and son. 

This book is one of the most disturbing things I've read this year.  I find myself hoping that it is complete fiction and not based on Dan Fante's real life.

However - the lead character is Bruno Dante.  His father is Jonathan Dante -  a novelist and screenwriter dying from diabetes. We meet him in the book, lying on his deeathbed, a shriveled husk of his former self with no lower legs due to his illness, and only breathing through a sheer refusal to die just yet. Jon Fante died of diabetes - he too had lost his feet to the disease. 

 Jonathan Dante's book that is referenced in this is called Ask the Wind.  The last of the Bandini novels was Ask the Dust. There are so many similarities between Jonathan Date and Jon Fante it's impossible to surmise anything other than Dan wrote his father into this book under a very thin veil indeed.

Given that the father character IS his real life father, how much of the character of Bruno is Dan Fante?  

Bruno is not a nice man.  He's an out of control alcoholic with a mean streak a mile wide and totally self destructive.  We meet him first when he's released from rehab a few days early so his wife can take him back to LA to see his father before he dies.

What follows is a compulsive and horrifically readable account of alcoholism and a crash to the bottom. I'm not sure Dante makes one good decision at any stage of the book. We certainly can't root for him and his behaviour. We can't sympathise in the slightest.  But Fante's prose makes us understand him and empathise. We can hope that he might turn a corner somewhere, but it never seems likely. This spiral is a bad one. The only thing close to a redeeming feature is his attempts to look after the dog, and he's not even very good at doing that.

This book messed with my dreams and gave me a sleepless night. Most horror novels I read don't manage that. His depiction of broken humanity is so convincing that it hits on a deep deep level. However there are shafts of humour shining through. This isn't a misery memoir.  It's compelling in part because of the jet black humour used to illuminate the darkness.

I will certainly be tracking down more of his work.  He truly manages to carry on his father's legacy.