Review: The Lucifer Chord

The Lucifer Chord by F.G. Cottam
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've long admired the exceptional British horror fiction of author F. G. Cottam. This man knows his history as well as knowing how to craft a fine story and to make readers empathise with his characters. In THE LUCIFER CHORD, he fully strums the suspense riff as he keeps the tension boiling, while protagonist Ruthie Graham, author and researcher, "stumbles on" to a research job involving the Rock Music environment of the 1970's (and oh, does Mr. Cottam illustrate that culture superbly!). Ruthie is driven more by a quest for the truth than the substantial promised payment, and she determines to persevere despite a number of sudden suspicious deaths, what seems to be only dead ends with no hope of recourse, and a secret society ("They never forget. They never forgive.") THE LUCIFER CHORD is a non-stop read for any lover of horror, history, Britain, or conspiracy.

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Winter's Respite 2019

winters-respite-readathon
Total Books Completed: 60







Off to a good start!
BOOKS READ:
THE HAUNTING OF HENDERSON CLOSE by Catherine Cavendish. :Horror. Release 10 Jan 2019. Read Jan. 1
EXIT REALITY by Robert  S. Wilson. SF. Jan. 1-2.
DRAGON ASSASSIN: TWIN FURY by Arthur Slade. Jan 2. Fantasy. Release Jan. 3.
THE GATES by John Connolly (because this author can raise my spirits even if nothing else does:) Horror/Fantasy/Supernatural (Samuel Johnson & Boswell Trilogy #1). Jan. 1-2.


BOOKS READING:

JUNCTION by Daniel Benson. Contemporary SF.

Review: The Booking

The Booking by Ramsey Campbell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I took some extra time before writing my review of this very special novella, because it is not straight-out horror nor fantasy. Instead, it is a metaphysical blend, even an extension, of both horror and fantasy. There aren't really any "monsters" or "terrors" here, other than those hiding in the hearts and minds of humans. Ostensibly, a young man, Kiefer by name (that is all he chooses as his identity), a former librarian and university graduate, seeks employment. As is common in the latter 20th and early 21st century, he is often deemed "overqualified," and so is nearly at his wits' end when he discovers a simple online notice: Bookshop, Technician Wanted. He calls and then visits the shop, discovering an odd owner and a plethora of books, many rather old. Then he can't find one of the keys to his girlfriend's flat, offered to him while she is away in Tuscany caring for her folks; and the owner offers him a room upstairs of the shop, in an upstairs that seems to go on forever, always laden with books.

Mr. Campbell unfolds a story that is so imaginative in breadth and depth that I cannot do it justice, other than to say, for Mr. Campbell's fans, and for any thinking person, THE BOOKING is an absolute must-read. It is part of the Black Labyrinth series, with incredible illustrations by gifted artist Santiago Caruso.

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Review: Ghosts Know

Ghosts Know by Ramsey Campbell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(Review from 2nd reading, Dec. 25 2018)

I originally read this novel in November 2013, so rereading it yesterday was fresh. I'm sure I got more out of it as well (smile). Mr. Campbell here again demonstrates his genius at locality, as he does in THE OVERNIGHT, which I had just finished the night before reading GHOSTS KNOW. Manchester radio personality Graham Wilde hosts a talk show on WAVES radio, a media operation about to be taken over by the Frugo conglomerate (which figures prominently in THE OVERNIGHT as well). Wilde has a temper issue, which he struggles constantly throughout the novel to control. Unfortunately, he is not the only one. He is set off by an "American psychic," about whom some of his callers rave. He and his producer/girlfriend Christine attend one of the psychic's appearances in Manchester, and Wilde unearths facts about the man calling himself Frank Jasper. From ( there, everything unspools, and I do mean everything. As with much of Mr. Campbell's fiction, a feckless protagonist who, with good reason (genetics and nurture) has serious psychological issues, is unable to discern the correct steps to take and more or less plays the Minotaur blundering through a china shop. The consequences are dreadful, of course, and not just for the protagonist.

I was so absorbed that I read this novel in one day (on Christmas).

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Review: The Overnight

The Overnight by Ramsey Campbell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Grand Master Ramsey Campbell is unfailingly a genius. THE OVERNIGHT is a strong and stirring example: an unputdownable, unforgettable, novel of a group of individuals close-knit not by genetics or friendship, but by the confines of their employment situation. An American expat (again, not by choice or by design, but by the demands of his employment) is shipped to a nearly-rural small strip shopping mall between Liverpool and Manchester, to manage the new branch of the bookshop chain Texts. Woody is a rather odd individual, apparently, even prior to the events of the novel. If there is one character arc in this novel which is more extensive in evolution than any others, that is Woody, American among a passel of Brits, and well aware of it. His is not the only character evolution, but it is perhaps his which preys most extensively on my mind. Among the secondary characters, possibly my favourite is the local historian who appears intermittently, both through the local history he wrote, sold in the shop, and in person and over the phone as well. His is the backdrop narrative, and he provides (parceling the history out little by little) the backstory of why that locality is as it is, and a horrifying story and outcome it is.

I cannot highly enough recommend this perfect horror novel!

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BOUT OF BOOKS_January 7-13 2019

Bout of Books Books Read: THE PLUNGE by Nancy G. West. Read January 7 THE FORGOTTEN MEN by Bill Thompson. Read January 7-8. THE CHA-CHA BABES OF PELICAN WAY by Frances Metzman. Read January 8. THE NURSERY by Bill Thompson. Read January 9.

Review: Fireside Chat with a Grammar Nazi Serial Killer

Fireside Chat with a Grammar Nazi Serial Killer by Ryan Suvaal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

All my life I've considered myself a Grammar Tsarina. I despise the multiplicity of grammatical and spelling mistakes which seems to actually proliferate over time. However, I have never felt that serial killing was an appropriate, let alone, required response. Simply refusing to buy the author's books should be sufficient. However, the protagonist of this book views the situation quite differently. One day she simply "had enough," and decided to annotate books with horrid grammar, leave detailed notes--and kill the authors. Gorily. Gruesomely. But in apropos situations. Not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, this short book (40 pages) is nevertheless wildly imaginative. I enjoyed the ways in which the Grammar Nazi skewered us conspiracy theorists. Quite humorous in its way. From a stirring reader's hook to a very surprising epilogue, this is not like any story you've read; or at least, not like any I've read.

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Review: Quaker Quicks - What Do Quakers Believe?: Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Quakerism

Quaker Quicks - What Do Quakers Believe?: Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Quakerism by Geoffrey Durham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a fascinating quick guide to a Faith that many people know nothing about, or think they know but actually believe wrongly in false myths about the Quaker community or Quaker beliefs. I was surprised to learn that not only is their no "dogma," also individual Quakers believe as they wish. Quaker experience is just that: personal experience. I applaud the Quaker drive to honesty, clarity, and love. I really applaud their Silence. I believe the world in general could use a whole lot more silence and contemplation.

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Review: The Last Second

The Last Second by Catherine Coulter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Suspense, tension, and danger are literally nonstop in this breathtaking thriller, newest in the BRIT IN THE FBI series. Authors Catherine Coulter and J. T. Ellison are superbly teamed and there is never a moment of letdown nor regret that I chose to read this novel. Aliens (or not), pscyhological disorders, Space, astronauts, astrophysics, nuclear weapons, EMP's, undersea treasure hunts: there is so much about which to be excited, and the writing is purely excellent.

The plot is genius, and so very plausible that the potential reality only heightens the terror. I couldn't stop reading. So engrossing!


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Review: Black Hotel: A Supernatural Thriller

Black Hotel: A Supernatural Thriller by Renee Wakefield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

BLACK HOTEL is a novel of a really Feckless Hero, the overweight, purposeless, yet endearing Jack. He is the type of personality who is almost always either "invisible" to others, or else the brunt of all jokes. He really does try hard, though. At age 38, he has never realized his potential and is not even sure what his potential is. Finally one day he runs out of work (yet another dead-end) job and just walks and walks, till he comes on a lovely Gothic hotel in the midst of industrial estates. He goes in, applies for a job, and soon becomes the Night Clerk. All is fine and Jack manages not to get into any trouble--until he starts experiencing what he expects are ghosts: visual, auditory, and so forth.

I really liked and empathized with Jack's character despite his obvious deficiencies. He does seem to be one of those individuals whom everything is stacked against. But he perseveres, and that's important.



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Review: Spirit of the Fox

Spirit of the Fox by Matthew O'Connell
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Rich in folklore, mythology, and culture of Japan, this very imagery-filled novel is also an exploration of family function and dysfunction, including in mother-daughter and father-daughter relationships. I enjoy learning about Japanese mythology, which in some ways seems so different from that of Western Europe. This is a fine novel in which to explore that mythology.

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Review: Painter of Time

Painter of Time by Matthew O'Connell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Matthew O'Connell's PAINTER OF TIME is literary fiction, a very visually-oriented work of magical realism. Its visual nature is especially essential since its focus is Art, painting, and art restoration. It also focuses on family ties and history, particularly Renaissance history and art in Italy. Readers who enjoy most lyrical imagery in fiction will find this novel particularly appealing.

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Review: Billette Hall

Billette Hall by DL Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

BILLETTE HALL is a heartfelt and adventurous account of slavery before the Civil War. It skillfully exposes the variations among the planter class and also among the sufferers of slavery. Mr. Jones brings his characters to remarkable life. I had no difficult in getting emotionally involved immediately. I fell passionately in love with the blurb: who could resist that description?

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Review: Göring's Gamble

Göring's Gamble by Dan O'Rourke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A strong and clever female protagonist and a historical background of danger and potential tyranny set the scene in this novel of a secret weapon provided for the Fuhrer's Third Reich--an atomic bomb. With such a power, Hitler could successfully all of Europe but Great Britain as well. Author O'Rourke skillfully delineates character and plot in an intriguing, breathtaking, suspense thriller.

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Review: Escaped: A Thriller of Partho, the Unconventional Investigator

Escaped: A Thriller of Partho, the Unconventional Investigator by Rajib Mukherjee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Partho is a distinctly different kind of hero--that is what makes him so special. His background and life experience are vastly different than mine, but in the capable hands of his creator, author Rajib Mukherjee, Partho immediately becomes a character with whom the reader empathizes, an individual we would like to know, and an amateur sleuth who is quite talented. The narrator, Dev, Partho's best friend, is delightfully feckless. Partho's wife Ria is adventuresome, unafraid, and warmhearted.

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Review: PATHOLOGICAL: The Murderous Rage Of Dr. Anthony Garcia

PATHOLOGICAL: The Murderous Rage Of Dr. Anthony Garcia by Henry Cordes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

True crime nonfiction narratives are never pleasant. That's the nature of the topic. Throughout this book I asked myself over and over again. "Why? Why did this individual/these individuals have to die? Why is such promise forever unfulfilled? Why?" The authors of PATHOLOGICAL, Henry J. Cordes and Todd Cooper, are the journalists who covered this story for the Omaha World Herald. Their research into the crimes, the investigations, and the aftermath make for a powerful and compelling story, one which few readers are likely to complete without a box of tissues in hand, and that ever present demand of "Why?"

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Review: Goddess of Lies

Goddess of Lies by Thomas Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If your taste for fantasy runs to danger (present and potential), exciting plot lines, oddities (monstrous and paranormal), deep characterization, and lots of subtle humour, look no further. This is Book 3 in Thomas Green's wonderful Requiem for Fallen Gods series. I was captured from the first chapter, deeply involved with the characters. My constant refrain was, "Oh! What happens next?"

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Review: Karda: Adalta Vol. I

Karda: Adalta Vol. I by Sherrill Nilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thought yesterday, "When will I find a fantasy novel as lovely and lyrical as the series I've been reading?" Here it is: KARDA is Volume 1 of Sherrill Nilson's amazingly expansive ADALTA series (I so anticipate the continuation of the series!). Adalta is a colonized planet of humans, in the far future of course, where sword and sorcery rule, not technology--never technology. Until Marta, a trade scout suffused with technological capability, arrives; and technology meets magic, with incredible results.

The psychology underpinnings of this novel are unbeatable. That made the novel for me as much as the magic.

I classify this series as sci fantasy, even though it is sci fi, because the planet Adalta is straight out wonderful fantasy: no technology, everybody (except one) is born with Talent (magical ability), weapon of choice is swords, castle, dungeons, oubliettes, and warded entities. Yay! I adored this novel and am eager to read it again, and then continue the series.

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Review: The Flames of the Immolated

The Flames of the Immolated by Alan Spade
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THE FLAMES OF THE IMMOLATED is the stunning conclusion to Alan Spade's ARDALIA TRILOGY, but I wish the series would continue on. Mr. Spade has an enviable gift for both lucid prose and world-building, and a he aptly demonstrates both. To read these are to revel in wonderfully vivid imagery and hold one's breath with suspense and marvel. Will the world survive? Will darkness win? Will we find fantasy this good?

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Review: Turquoise Water

Turquoise Water by Alan Spade
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of my favourite aspects of fantasy or science fiction is the opportunity to fall into a whole new world, created by wonderful imaginations and drawn to life. Alan Spade demonstrates in the Ardalia Trilogy, of which TURQUOISE WATER is Book 2), that he is a past master of the Speculative Genres. Writing in incredibly vivid prose, he awakens all our senses as he presents an entirely new world, actually a series of worlds. ARDALIA, Book 1, set the scene. TURQUOISE WATER turns up the suspense as we discover an entity able to consume souls. Meanwhile, the dark god's strength is intensifying, and if he breaks free from the volcano, the world will collapse.

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Review: Doc's Codicil

Doc's Codicil by Gary F. Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you want a warm-hearted, family-oriented, feel-good during and after your reading, novel, suffused with puzzles and a pair of minds (Doc and his sister Linda) who just won't quit, then by all means I suggest you take up DOC'S CODICIL by Gary Jones. A subtle story, gently told, this novel commences with the reading of the will of the late veterinarian, with his children and nephew present. Remember, these are all adults, not youngsters. So they should know how to behave and how to act and think. Clearly Doc and his sister Linda think so, as did their own parents. Doc's estate is fairly substantial, although not in the billionaire category so desired today; but among seven heirs, not as much. Especially if these heirs quibble and complain. Instead of a straightforward "I bequeath," Doc set the codicil up so that they all have to think and ponder, and especially, they all have to work as a team to puzzle it out.

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