Day 7 - My Xmas Month Countdown - A Book and a Song

Saturday morning footie today. Nice to see Everton beating Chelsea, a resounding first victory for Big Dunc Ferguson. I wonder who will eventually be the official manager of the team? Who do you think will win the Manchester derby? 0-0 at the moment.

Anyway, I finished the 2nd George Gently mystery this morning. I'll update that in a separate post. Now it's time for Day 7 of my Xmas countdown.

Book 19

James Herbert

James Herbert - Nobody True

James Herbert lived from 1943 - 2013 and was one of the great writers in the horror genre. I like the fact that not only did he write horror stories but he also designed his own book covers. His novels sold over 54 million copies worldwide. I've now read three of his stories, The Fog, The Secret of Crickley Hall and, most recently, Nobody True. I'm sure I'll continue to read his stories. My review is below.

"The basic premise of this novel is that the narrator of Nobody True, one James True, is a successful ad executive, a husband and father and is also able to perform OBE's (out of body experiences). While on an OBE one night, he returns to his body to find that he has been brutally murdered (this is quite graphically described).

My first thoughts on starting the story was, 'heck, this is a long 'un'. It takes a little while to get to the crux of the story. (It is told in the first person, if you are interested). We learn about True's childhood, his poor relationship with his mother, a bicycle accident in which he suffers a head injury and finds himself observing his body from the outside. This starts his exploration of OBE's (there are neat little footnotes throughout the story that elaborates on things that James discovers over the course of his life, about these experiences). True becomes a successful graphic designer and forms a small, successful advertising agency with two friends. Later in his life, one of his partners wants to sell their business to a bigger agency, there is an argument and at this point True, alone in their hotel room, has an OBE and as mentioned previously, returns to find his body desecrated.

True's partner is suspected as well as a serial killer who has been committing similar murders, with some key differences. True now without a body, finds himself wandering around London, visiting his wife and daughter, his mother, the police and also finds himself drawn to a basement apartment where he meets the person who might actually be the serial killer. From this point the story takes off. It's gruesome at times, as True describes the killer's actions, but at the same time also fascinating. True meets with other spirits at a seance and is told he must stop the killer. I had ideas about this, but will let you form your own as you delve into this story.

There are neat twists and turns that are unexpected (to me anyway) and also some very emotional moments that caught me up as well. I wasn't expecting much from this story and it took me awhile to get through it (I partially blame it on the fact that I have a few books on the go at once), but I'm glad that I stuck with it and spent a couple of hours this morning finishing it off. Excellent, well-paced, well-written and totally entertaining. Beware though that it is very graphic. (4.5 stars)"

Song 19

Honeymoan

Honeymoan - Low Blow

Honeymoan is a band from South Africa that formed just for fun in 2017. Their music ranges from funky bass driven songs to alt pop anthems. They state that their influences range from Drake through Alvvays to Red Hot Chili Peppers. Low Blow is from their 2019 EP Body.

Have a great Saturday. I'm going back to bed for a bit, then will watch Strictly Come Dancing with my missus. Take care.