Number 30- the Buck Stops Here- Sean Seebach

 

This is the remaining book in the themed series started by Alan Baxter with the Roo.

This was the second one written, but due to the fact that they're all standalone novels and it doesn't matter what sequence they're read in, it's the final one I've bought and read.

It's probably not a surprise to learn that this one is about killer deer. Not just that, but killer Were-deers.  

When people start dying horribly in the town of Rockbridge, Sheriff Abigail Laine finds her peaceful life disturbed.  Normally she just has a couple of traffic tickets to write up in a typical week. Maybe dealing with the town drunk, nothing more.  Now she has an escalating number of bodies to investigate. And she knows the killer isn't fully human or animal.

This is a great fun read.  I loved the mention of the book that started this whole series when one of the characters is seen reading the Roo and Alan Baxter gets a big shout out.

The characters are fun and relatable. there are just the right number of Shreddies (tm) in the story and the deaths are suitable gory.

It manages the balance of keeping the plot silly enough to be funny but serious enough to actually build tension in the confrontations in the second half of the book.

This is the best of this mini series after the Roo.  It's a quick read with some not overdone social commentary built in. It's no contender for book of the year but if you want a simple fun book with zero pretentions, it's recommended. It does what it says on the tin and lives up to that cover.

Number 29- This House isn't Haunted but We Are- Stephen Howard

 

This was an impulse buy on the basis of that title, and the fact that it's very short.  Indeed I did finish it in just a couple of hours.

Simon and Priya have just moved to a dilapidated cottage on the North Yorkshire moors to try to renovate the house and their marriage.  Their young daughter has recently died in a tragic accident and their relationship is suffering as a result.

The third character in the book is the House itself. All three characters take turns narrating chapters.

This is a very clever take on the classic haunted house story. The chapters narrated by the House are told in an unusually effective second person POV. Simon and Priya sound different enough in their narrations that I have no complaints on that score.

My only quibble about this book is that the ending feels very rushed. Up until that point it was a well written and creepy tale of a couple dealing with extreme loss and the house that tries to fix them.  I would happily have read much more of this story if it existed.

There are shades of ghost story and cosmic horror in this small tale of personal grief and the need to be wanted. I will be keeping an eye out for more by Stephen Howard.  He is a talent to keep a sharp eye on.

Numbers 27 & 28- Sweet Tooth Books 2 & 3- Jeff Lemire

 

I'm playing a  bit of catch up here since I finished these about 2 weeks ago,

I read book one of this series late last year. This is one of several Jeff Lemire post apocalypse worlds and probably his most famous because of the Netflix series.

The basic set up is that hybrid children started being born, and at the same time a plague started wiping out regular fully human humanity.

We are following Gus- aka Sweet Tooth- who is part boy part deer.  In the first book, his father died of the Sick and he left his sheltered cabin in the woods. There he met and travelled with the Big Man who committed an act of complete betrayal.

Book 2 picks up immediately afterwards and delves into the Big Man's past, and the impact of the betrayal on poor Gus. We're also introduced to a brand new set of villains.

Book 3 becomes an emotional roller coaster as characters we've grown to love start leaving in distinctly unpleasant ways. We also learn more about the source of the issues facing the planet, and the scene is set for a final showdown.

I'm not ashamed to say that I was wiping tears away at the end of this series, something no graphic novel series has succeeded in doing to me since Locke and Key. This has a pitch perfect ending, bittersweet, and full of hope.  It also seems to negate any possible sequel, but I see that there is another book out called Sweet tooth The return... which I have of course ordered.

I'm still not 100% convinced by the artwork.  There are some amazingly well thought out tricks with layout etc and some undeniably beautiful pages, but Lemire's art is not as good for me as his writing. it's frequently quite ugly, which weirdly suits the story so what am I talking about? 

The first section of book three has a guest artist, for reasons explained in the afterword. It's probably some of the best art in the entire saga. 

I'm not sure if this has knocked Gideon Falls off the top of my list of best Lemire series, but it's close. the section in the Dam is brilliantly plotted. If I was to be exceptionally picky, I'd say that maybe the ending is quite similar to at least one of his other series. But this did come first, so I can't criticise its use in this case.

If you want an emotional rollercoaster, this is the series to read.

Number 26- Grendel- John Gardner

 

There are three principle reasons I chose this book- 1- that gorgeous cover, 2- the Marillion song, and 3- my cat is called Grendel. Not necessarily in that order of importance.

This book is actually the basis for the 17 minute long epic track by Marillion. If you've never heard it, I recommend it, I loved it enough to name my cat after it- my previous cat was called Balrog so I was pretty much continuing a theme. 

Grendel is the story of Beowulf told from the point of view of the monster. If you're not familiar with that, Beowulf is one of the oldest surviving written stories, an epic tale of Viking warriors getting torn to shreds by a vicious monster known as Grendel.

There's no attempt to make Grendel the hero of this story.  He is still a monster who kills for the sake of it. But the first person narration is almost enough to put me on his side.

He's a great literary creation. One of the oldest written monsters given depth and character at long last. I did find myself googling some of the human characters to see if they were invented for this book, but did all seem to be from the original story of Beowulf, although not painted quite so bravely.

It's all quite densely written and despite its brevity, still took me several days to get through.  But that's not a bad sign. it just means there's a lot to savour here. Gardner was one hell of a talent. This is poetic, brutal and quite beautiful in a weird ugly way.

If you're willing to put in the effort, this is a massively rewarding read. Highly recommended.

Number 25- Cosmic detective- Lemire & Kindt

 

This is possibly the most psychadelic thing I've read from Jeff Lemire so far, perfectly set off by Matt Kindt's basically insane artwork.

When a God is murdered, our detective who I only realised in hindsight when glancing through the book for this review, is never named, is on the case. He follows a series of ever weirder leads into the final showdown to keep reality itself intact.

Lemire's imagination is in full flow in this bizarre and rather delightfully violent tale of creatures beyond our human understanding.

As usual with Lemire, we see the page layouts themselves used as part of the storytelling as much as the artwork and the script. 

It's one of the most original pieces of writing I've seen from Lemire. I love that the race of creatures is never named, a solid block overlaid across the name to censor it every time they're mentioned.  I love the little touches like that in a story big enough to take in interspecies romance, murder and the possible death of reality itself.

With full frontal nudity and some gruesome scenes, this probably isn't one for younger readers, but more mature readers should love it.

Number 24- Piranesi- Susanna Clarke

 

Many years ago, I read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and really enjoyed it.  However, since then I haven't gotten around to any more of hers until a book group I'm in chose this.

This is a weird one- which is a good thing IMHO

Piranesi lives in a big house with cavernous rooms and hundreds maybe thousands of them.  The house is so big it has at least 4 tidal flows that fill the lower caverns completely at high tide. when they coincide, even the upper rooms are flooded.

He is one of only 15 people ever to live -as far as he knows.  Certainly he's one of only two people alive. Himself and the Other are the only inhabitants of this House. So who is it that's started leaving messages?

This and other questions form the central mystery of the House. Piranesi finds his sense of reality fracturing. The House that provides so much and is so good to him becomes a strange and troubling place.

I struggled a little with this book to start with.  the prose is quite dry, and nothing much happens in the first fifty something pages except for Clarke building up the strange world of the House through Piranesi's diaries.

However, the story reaches a point where things start happening, Piranesi starts to question what the Other is telling him, and suddenly the tension starts to build. From that point on, I was pretty much hooked. There was no way I was going to not finish.

This book is an object lesson on how to tell the reader more than the narrator knows simply through what's left out of the narrative. The answers to the mystery are probably quite obvious to the savvy reader.  I guessed most of the plot turns well in advance but I think that's probably intentional on Clarke's part. The cast list is too small to give any real surprises or plot twists. The pleasure lies in the gradual lifting of the veils from Piranesi's eyes. When will he work out for himself what the motivation of the Other and the mysterious figure are?

Once the tension began the book shifts to a new gear and became quite compulsive for me. 

It's not a perfect book, but I thought it was very good indeed. I kind of want to find my own way to the House.  it sounds like a nice break from reality.

Number 23- Small Things Like These- Claire Keegan

Christmas week 1985, in a small town in Ireland, timber merchant Bill Furlong is facing his busiest week of the year. When he visits the local nunnery/laundry to make a delivery, he finds a girl in need of help.  What is he going to do?

This is an intense and multi layered story which tells a much bigger story than the 114 pages would suggest at first glance.

Keegan manages to build the whole town and the community in minimalist yet extremely effective prose. We understand the hold the nunnery has over the town and the impact that crossing them might have.

Some prior knowledge of the Magdelen laundries is necessary to fully comprehend the story, but there is an afterword to explain for those who have not heard of this particular stain on the history of the Church.

Keegan has crafted  a remarkable short novel here that stays with the reader after finishing it. Well recommended.