Tag: Thriller (Page 7 of 17)

BOOK REVIEW – The Long Way Down (Daniel Faust #1) by Craig Schaefer

May 22, 2016 / Anna

The Long Way Down (Daniel Faust #1)
by Craig Schaefer
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Nobody knows the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas like Daniel Faust, a sorcerer for hire and ex-gangster who uses black magic and bullets to solve his clients' problems. When an old man comes seeking vengeance for his murdered granddaughter, what looks like a simple job quickly spirals out of control.

Soon Daniel stands in the crossfire between a murderous porn director; a corrupt cop with a quick trigger finger; and his own former employer, a racket boss who isn't entirely human. Then there's Caitlin: brilliant, beautiful, and the lethal right hand of a demon prince.

A man named Faust should know what happens when you rub shoulders with demons. Still Daniel can't resist being drawn to Caitlin's flame as they race to unlock the secret of the Etruscan Box, a relic that people all over town are dying -- and killing -- to get their hands on. As the bodies drop and the double-crosses pile up, Daniel will need every shred of his wits, courage and sheer ruthlessness just to survive.

Daniel Faust knew he was standing with one foot over the brink of hell. He's about to find out just how far he can fall.

What you should know is this : I don’t like Urban Fantasy, which is baffling, given that I love Fantasy and cities – there’s just something in them that never really appeal to me, a feeling of something lacking even though I hardly can pinpoint why that is.

The Long Way Down is perhaps one of my best discoveries in that genre, so although it will probably never be a favorite of mine, I cannot hide how pleasantly surprised it made me. Well done, and here’s why.

➊ The world building is vivid and horrific, spreading very noir vibes. Did I say that I loved thrillers? Because I do. These are dark times guys, and I should issue a trigger warning against violence, abuse and murder (including towards kids at some point). Abusive. Disgusting. Maddening. Welcome to Daniel’s world. Granted, he has a pretty healthy way to look at it, and doesn’t condone it by any means, but it was still hard to take on sometimes. Some graphic scenes of violence made me want to throw up, and I don’t think I’m easily disturbed. You’ve been warned.

➋ The Long Way Down pictures a morally ambiguous – but likeable all the same – hero. I loved this sorcerer, alright? If he doesn’t shy away from harsh decisions and actions sometimes, he stays in the good side of things as far as I’m concerned (I never disliked a hero ready to beat the fuck out of sociopaths, SUE ME). As for Caitlin, CAITLIN! The girl’s a DEMON. A not-so-nice one at it – how awesome is that?! Despite my slight disbelief at the way their relationship evolved *cough* THIS IS TOO FAST! I DON’T BUY IT!! *cough* I still immensely enjoyed their banter and… hmm… differences? I also very much laughed at the stunts Caitlin pulled because… Reversal of genders, people. Seeing Daniel dumbfounded because she ordered his food for him – and understandably upset about it – was in my opinion a great way of denouncing stereotypical controlling behavior, even implicitly.

➌ For ONCE the plot kept me interested, which is so rare in everything UF. Indeed I genuinely wanted to know where the story would go and in the end, I’m pretty satisfied by the way Craig Schaefer wrapped its mystery. Note that I (almost) never read any UF, therefore I am not able to notice the similarities between this book and the other ones in that genre. Perhaps it’s cliché. Perhaps it’s been better done before. The thing is, I don’t freaking know, and honestly? I don’t care.

➍ Finally the perfect balance between grim and humor. Forget all the books where we don’t know if we should laugh or be horrified – but think sparks of humor lightening the mood a little. I say yes to that.

Daniel, Daniel, what did you do to me?

BOOK REVIEW – Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

May 21, 2016 / Anna

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Razor-sharp, psychological thriller set in a snowy Arctic wilderness.

“They say that dead men tell no tales, but they’re wrong. Even the dead tell stories.”

It's 1910. In a cabin north of the Arctic Circle, in a place murderously cold and desolate, Sig Andersson is alone. Except for the corpse of his father, frozen to death that morning when he fell through the ice on the lake.

The cabin is silent, so silent, and then there's a knock at the door. It's a stranger, and as his extraordinary story of gold dust and gold lust unwinds, Sig's thoughts turn more and more to his father's prized possession, a Colt revolver, hidden in the storeroom.

A revolver just waiting to be used...but should Sig use it, or not?

What a fool I was, thinking that I rated my books depending on the story they delivered. If one novel can destroy this belief, it’s Revolver.

Sometimes, it’s all about the atmosphere.

Sometimes, a storyline that shouldn’t work for me just does. And oh man, how Revolver shouldn’t work : ~~1910. A fifteen years-old boy living in a little cabin in Nome, Alaska. The frozen dead corpse of his father. A strong fixation on an old Colt (don’t hate me, but I do not like guns). Religion~~.

Here’s my advice : forget the blurb. Forget the story, even, because that’s not really what matters. Let yourself be swept along in the chilling and sad atmosphere, where all our self-delusions are shattered. What’s life, really, when so many factors stay beyond our control? See, I do not believe in Fate or whatever you want to call it. This is actually a concept that annoys me, because lazy much?! (I would say moronic, but I’ve spent years listening to my mum and she really believe in that stuff. Also, I respect others’ opinions)

Yet I recognize that we deceive ourselves when we think that we hold a complete control on your life. We can’t. Life’s made of choices, of chaos, of other people and their choices, and we’re too complex creatures to organize ourselves like a schedule (also, planning sucks, okay?)

I am really, really happy we’re not machines, and reading the discreetly beautiful and compelling words of Marcus Sedgwick, the feeling of being lost spread into my chest more and more along the way – I loved it. In that sense, I think that his numerous references to guns, by showing the delusion of security, of control they offer (again, gun-skeptic here, bear with me), perfectly served this disenchanted and thought-provoking story.

Considering my personal preferences, I shouldn’t have given this book the time of a day, yet I’m very, very glad I did, because wow. Such an haunting little story, Revolver is. I was invested from the beginning and my interest – my fascination – never wavered.

Strangely, I close this book thinking about Un roi sans divertissement, another strange tale that took me by surprise during my third year of French Literature in Uni. Same suffocating, snowy ambiance. Same intriguing, out of time mystery.

Same millions of people bored by it, maybe, and same pleasantly surprised Anna.

BOOK REVIEW – Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

February 19, 2016 / Anna

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GONE GIRL

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice" of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.

*breathes deeply*

What a ride! Finally a mystery that keeps its appeal intact after the first 50% and does not make me roll my eyes all duh! like in the end. Let’s see why, shall we?

► Highly recommended if you can stomach the depression. *whispers* In the end, I even rooted for Libby. Don’t ask me why. I just did. Nobody’s perfect, okay? I said that the characters made me sick, but oh, the sadness. The despair. The misunderstandings. The loneliness. My heart aches from lack of hope.

BOOK REVIEW: Prayers for Rain (Kenzie & Gennaro #5) by Dennis Lehane

November 19, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Prayers for Rain (Kenzie & Gennaro #5)
by Dennis Lehane
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
The master of the new noir, Dennis Lehane delivers a shattering tale of evil, depravity, and justice that captures the dark realism of Boston’s gritty blue-collar streets.

Private Investigator Patrick Kenzie wants to know why a former client, a perky woman in love with life, could, within six months, jump naked from a Boston landmark—the final fall in a spiral of self-destruction. What he finds is a sadistic stalker who targeted the young woman and methodically drove her to her death. A monster the law can’t touch. But Kenzie can. He and his former partner, Angela Gennaro, will fight a mind-twisting battle against this psychopath even as he turns his tricks on them.

You wanted to play? Well, hide-and-seek is over. Let the real games begin, motherfucker.

I can’t say this is exactly what I wanted it to be….because it wasn’t. But not for one minute did I not enjoy it. Is that weird? This book took me a week to read, which doesn’t bode well for what I thought of it-But then I take into account how busy, tired, meh I’ve been and it about evens out with my mood. The verdict?? When I felt a distance at the beginning, I should have stopped.
I drank some more Beck’s, fingered the cardboard coaster, felt a grin fighting to break across my face. I glanced at Angie. The corners of her mouth twitched, too.
“Don’t look at me,” she said.
“Why not?”
“I’m telling you-” She lost the battle and closed her eyes as the smile broke across her cheeks.
Mine followed about a half second later.
“I don’t know why I’m smiling,” Angie said.
“Me, either.”
“Prick.”
“Bitch.”
She laughed and turned on her chair, drink in hand. “Miss me?”
Like you can’t imagine.
“Not a bit,” I said.

I’ve been in no mood for tedious and detailed books seeing as I am tired beyond reason all the time now, and when I picked this up and felt like I was getting nowhere (knowing these books like I do and loving them all) I should have known to call it quits and save it for a vacation or a holiday. But I never learn my lesson it seems…

“You don’t kill a guy for trashing a woman’s car.”
“Yeah?” Bubba said. “Where’s that written?”
I have to admit he had me there.
“Plus,” Bubba said, “you know, he gets the chance he’ll rape her.”
I nodded.
“I hate rape-os,” Bubba said.
“Me, too.”
“It’d be cool if he never did it again.”
I turned in my seat. “We’re not killing him.”
Bubba shrugged.

But here’s the thing: Even after saying all that, I still love this book and my Patrick. I may not have gotten the full enjoyment because of my mood, but it can’t possibly stunt the deep love I have for these characters or this series.

She pulled her hand back, stuffed it in her pocket as if it were burning.
“I-“
She stepped back from whatever she saw in my face. “Don’t say it.”
I shrugged. “Okay. I do, though.”
“Shh.” She put a finger to her lips, smiled around it, but her eyes shimmered with moisture. “Shh,” she said again.

And, sadly, again I don’t really have time to be writing a review, but I wanted to put one out anyway-Because my Patrick and Bubba and Angie deserve one. Patrick’s love for Angie is unparalleled and makes my heart hurt with his want.

“Do you hate my hair?” Angie whispered.
“No. It’s just…”
“Short?” She smiled.
“Yeah. I don’t love you because of your hair, though.”
She shifted slightly, turned her shoulder into the holes between rungs.
“Why do you love me?”
I chuckled. “You want me to count the ways?”
She didn’t say anything, just watched me.
“I love you, Ange, because…I don’t know. Because I always have. Because you make me laugh. A lot. Because…”

He’d do anything for her-even die for her, if it kept her safe.

“Because since you left I have these dreams that you’re sleeping beside me. And I wake up and I can still smell you, and I’m still half dreaming, but I don’t know it, so I reach for you. I reach across to your pillow, and you’re not there. And I gotta lie there at five in the morning, with the birds waking up outside and you not there and your smell just fading away. It fades and there’s-” I cleared my throat. “There’s nothing but me left there. And white sheets. White sheets and those birds and it hurts, and all I can do is close my eyes and lie there and wish I didn’t feel like dying.”

And this is the basis of everything, isn’t it? Holding on dearly to those few people you cherish, keeping them safe and out of harm’s way. But that isn’t easy with a psychopath hell bent on ruining peoples’ lives, forcing them to become shells of themselves. So when Patrick is threatened, and all those around him threatened if he doesn’t back off, what does he do? Well…I’ll tell ya: He’s Patrick, so no, he doesn’t fucking back off. Would you expect any less?
The clerk behind the counter, far from being the dweeby, bespectacled, balding type one would expect to meet in a tax assessor’s office, was tall, well built, blond, and judging by Angie’s furtive glances at him, something of a male babe.
Himbos, I swear. There ought to be a law that keeps them from ever leaving the beach.

So, yeah, I probably ruined some of this book, but I also just couldn’t wait. Patrick’s dedication, loyalty, conviction to do right by those wronged when they don’t have anyone else to fight for them, his love for his friends, his partner, Angie, and his all around spunk are something I’ve been missing wholeheartedly are something I admire and force me to say I’m not sorry I pushed it. So, you know, there’s only one left and it looks like, at this point, I’ll be waiting for a good time to read it, because I wouldn’t dare ruin the final Patrick book. That would be a huge mistake…even Patrick would agree with that. 😉

BOOK REVIEW – The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong

October 19, 2015 / Anna

The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Riley Vasquez is haunted by the brutal murder of the couple she was babysitting for.

Max Cross is suffering under the shadow of a life-altering diagnosis he doesn’t dare reveal.

The last thing either of them wants is to spend a weekend away at a therapy camp alongside five other teens with “issues.” But that’s exactly where they are when three masked men burst in to take the group hostage.

The building has no windows. The exits are sealed shut. Their phones are gone. And their captors are on a killing spree.

Riley and Max know that if they can’t get out, they’ll be next—but they’re about to discover that even escape doesn’t equal freedom.

► Let’s start with several questions, okay?

1) Are you able to repeatedly suspend your disbelief?

✘ It doesn’t bother you if the therapy weekend aimed at teenagers is organized in an old office building without windows (because apparently when you’re disturbed/suicidal/suffering from random mental illness issues, spending days without natural light is going to help you) and which is not up to fire code. You think that parents would willingly put their children through this.

✘ It seems natural to you that a teenager whose dad was part of a SWAT team actually knows loads of details about the way hostage operations are handled, but wait, hey, he knew that he couldn’t say anything, so they only watch SWAT TV shows and debriefed them. I’m so silly sometimes.

✘ If someone tells you that … Oh, damn, spoiler. Well, let’s just say that I couldn’t buy several scenes here.

The good news is, it’s not predictable, because obviously if it’s not believable every twist has the power to throw you off.

2) Are you excited about a plot which revolves around two teenagers who are running around in an office building for at least 50% of the novel? (I can’t say more, I stopped there)

✘ You don’t mind that most of their discoveries are constituted of doors, and doors, and more doors. They run. In an office building. Oh, a villain. Let’s fight. They run in an office building. A door. Did you hear that noise? *insert random childhood event* They run. THEY RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN.

✘ You intend to work on your frustration management : this book is perf for that!

3) Do you love ramblings?

✘ You just adore yelling to your characters to GO TO THE FREAKING POINT DAMMIT.

✘ Info-dumping and random anecdotes about the characters’ past are your thing.

✘A female-lead who spends her time internally dismissing herself for something GREAT she did doesn’t annoy you one bit.

► If you answered YES to every question, you should be good. As for me, I’m done at 50% : there’s only so much time I’m willing to lose on books that bore me. Of course, of course, perhaps it gets better after. It’s your call, as usual, and maybe my frustration management does need improvement.

Ps. Let’s talk about Max. Okay, I feel bad. Shame on you Max to make me feel as if I was lacking common understanding and empathy. See, Max rambles a lot in his head. But Max is entitled to be a serial rambler because of his condition[he’s schizophrenic (hide spoiler)]. I loved him at first. Really, I did. I swear. It remains that as much as his ramblings were understandable and defendable, sometimes I just wanted him to GO TO THE FREAKING POINT.

So, Max, you make me feel as if I was a nasty bitch. You don’t want that now do you? DO YOU? I love him, and I thought that it was an amazing idea to incorporate such a different character. I did root for him and Riley to hook up. But it doesn’t replace an actual PLOT!

So unfortunately even him reached the limit of my patience. However, you should know that my extra half-star is for him. I might skim the rest to get to the kiss scene.

#Notevenashamed