A Sunday Update

Jo is out doing some shopping and I'm watching a Twilight Zone stack on MeTV (currently one with Telly Savalas and a talking doll... Yipes!). Lunch is ready and just awaiting Jo's return. So let's work on an update in the meantime.

Me dashing off to Benino's for dessert

(Editor's Note. Jo came home and we had a nice Greek salad for lunch. Then we decided to walk down to Benino's for a few games of Sequence and dessert. We just got back, fed the dogs and are watching Bullitt for the umpteenth time. Now to get back to my reading update)

So let's see. Since my last reading update, I've completed 2 books and I've also acquired a few books. (As an aside, I've been going through and vetting my library of unread books as I prepare for 2023's challenges and fleshing out my Little Free Library. I don't feel guilty about getting new books, but this will make room for them. 😏). I'll do my normal thing here, provide reviews, synopses and maybe even get to get back to my look at Women Authors whose work I'm enjoying.

Just Finished

1. Lair by James Herbert (Rats #2 / 1979). Creepy and gruesome.

"Lair is the 2nd book in The Rats trilogy by English horror maester James Herbert.  In the first book, a horde of mutant black rats terrorized London as they tried to satisfy their craving for human flesh. England thought they had destroyed them all but unfortunately, a group, led by an even more mutant two-headed rat, fled through the sewers and took up residence in Epping Forest. There they bided their time until their leader's cravings for human blood forced them to renew their assault. (Yipes)

The story starts off slowly (-ish) as the rats begin to make their presence known, attacking animals and buildings. Pender, who works for Ratkill, an organization that has grown after their 'successful' efforts to eradicate the rats previously, is sent to the forest to discover if the rodent presence might be the black rats once again. Jenny Hammer, a tutor at the Forest, claims she saw 3 of the rats while she took a group of students out into the forest for a tour. The government and other high-ranking officials want to avoid an uproar so ask Pender to do a quiet investigation of the situation.

Unfortunately, while this goes on, the rats begin their assault, attacking various people and even a group of students camping overnight. It comes to a head when they assault the Forest's visitor center itself. The Army is called in to assist Ratkill and the story moves on from there as the humans battle for their lives to find the lair of the rats and destroy them once and for all.

Herbert knows how to create tension and build it to a peak. The story is gritty and gruesome and violent and yup, scary. The main characters, especially Pender and Jenny, as satisfactorily developed to make you cheer for them as they battle this implacable, violent enemy. It's a fast-paced, entertaining horror thriller. There is one more story in this series, with the additional menace of nuclear war involved, it seems. Wee haw! (4.0 stars)"

2. Over My Dead Body by Sweeney Boo (2022). I find myself reading quite a few graphic novels this year. In fact, December I'm focusing on graphic novels, and I've got a few set aside to enjoy. Anyway, this was entertaining.

"Over My Dead Body by Sweeney Boo is an entertaining young adult graphic novel, part fantasy, part horror (horror on the light side). It is set in a witch school where one student, Noreen, goes missing. While the school staff seems to be doing nothing to find her, her friend Abigail, tries to get her other friends, Goldie and Enver, to help search the grounds.

Abigail ends up having to do it herself as Goldie and Enver are persuaded to drop the search. Haunted by ghosts in the school and suspicious of what the teachers are up to, Abigail and her familiar, Seymour, endanger their lives at the school and their very physical lives continue to investigate. It's an entertaining, exciting adventure.

Abigail is a strong, interesting character and determined to find her friend. The story is well-crafted and well-drawn by Sweeney Boo. Great artwork, great coloring and an exciting story. It draws you in and keeps you turning pages. Most enjoyable. (3.5 stars)"

Currently Reading

(I've only started one more as Over My Dead Body was a quick throw in)

1. MaMa by Ruby Jean Jensen (1983). OK, it's horror month and Ruby Jean is a new author for me. I'm looking forward to starting this with some trepidation.

"There once was a dolly, with the face of an innocent little baby. She could eat and breathe through the hole in her mouth. Her single eye stared relentlessly, some would say malignantly, as though full of evil, watching, waiting . . . As the years rolled away, she waited in the attic to be picked up, cooed over, and set free to work her will . . .

Dorrie had lost her father and was trying to adapt to her new surroundings. She found happiness in the attic, with her new-found dolly. Her mother, brother and sister seemed busy doing other things. If she had better understood this life and death thing, she might have been concerned when her little doll began to move on its own. If only Dollie had understood that her little doll might have a mind of its own, she might have wondered if the doll was capable of killing … killing …"

New Books

1. The Blood Pit by Kate Ellis (Wesley Peterson #12).

"Never has DI Wesley Peterson witnessed such a bizarre crime scene. The victim, Charles Marrick, has been murdered, his body drained of blood. Described by those who knew him as 'evil', it seems that Wesley isn't going to have any shortage of suspects - until a popular local vet is murdered in an identical fashion...and a third body is discovered many miles away.

And when Wesley's archaeologist friend, Neil Watson, starts getting disturbing anonymous letters written in gory detail about macabre events at a medieval abbey - which Neil fears are being sent by the killer Wesley is looking for - Wesley wonders whether there could be a connection between all these deaths and Neil's letters. And could Neil himself be in danger? As the sinister truth unfolds, both Wesley and Neil are forced to face tragedy and shocking revelations...and a killer who bears the scars of past sins."

2. The Deadly Joker by Nicholas Blake (1963). I've enjoyed other books by Blake in his Nigel Strangeway series.

"When John Waterson and his young wife chose Netherplash Cantorum, Dorset, for their retirement years, they could not have predicted that this idyllic spot had one severe but unforeseeable drawback: among its inhabitants was a practical joker whose fertile mind ran to the most bizarre and grotesque designs. The Village was no place for a quite retirement, or for a gentle recuperation from the nervous breakdown that had afflicted Waterson's wife. In Netherplash, the peace is continually disrupted with extraordinary events tripping over each other which, in the end, lead to a hideous and painful murder."

3. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris (2013). I keep acquiring books by humorist Sedaris and I will read one!

"A guy walks into a bar car and...

From here the story could take many turns. When the guy is David Sedaris, the possibilities are endless, but the result is always the same: he will both delight you with twists of humor and intelligence and leave you deeply moved.

Sedaris remembers his father's dinnertime attire (shirtsleeves and underpants), his first colonoscopy (remarkably pleasant), and the time he considered buying the skeleton of a murdered Pygmy. The common thread? Sedaris masterfully turns each essay into a love story: how it feels to be in a relationship where one loves and is loved over many years, what it means to be part of a family, and how it's possible, through all of life's absurdities, to grow to love oneself."

4. Murder in the Palais Royal by Cara Black (Aimee Leduc #10). Not a perfect series but lots of action usually.

"Just as Aimée is about to leave for New York City to follow up on a lead about a possible younger brother, her partner in Leduc Detective, René Friant, is wounded by a near-fatal gunshot. Eyewitnesses identify Aimée as the culprit. The police have pegged her as the guilty party. Aimée is distraught over René’s condition and horrified to be under suspicion.

 
At the same time, a large, mysterious sum appears in their firm’s bank account, and the tax authorities descend upon Aimée. She has no idea who would have sent this money.
 
It seems that someone is impersonating Aimée, someone who wants revenge. But for what? Two murders ensue. How do they relate to the youth whom Aimée’s testimony sent to jail in the very first Aimée Leduc investigation, Murder in the Marais?"

5. Hunt the Toff by John Creasey (The Toff #26). I've enjoyed so many of Creasey's series, Gideon, The Toff, The Baron, etc.

"While on holiday, the toff befriends a lovely girl who calls herself Marion Lane, but who is not all she appears Why, for instance, is a man called Harry Marvel, whom she seems to know, following her and why does she want nothing to do with him?"

6. The Blood Books, Vol III by Tanya Huff (Blood Debt & Blood Bank). I enjoyed the first 4 books in this series.

"Henry Fitzroy has managed to survive the centuries by obeying the vampires’ code, never invading another vampire’s sanctuary, never slaughtering needlessly. But now he’s being forced to do the unthinkable…A ghost has invaded his home, beginning a dangerous nightly game in which Henry is allowed to ask a single question. If the answer is no, an innocent and unsuspecting person is killed. Henry soon comes to the horrifying realization that this wraith—and the others who join it—is using him to wreak vengeance on the people it holds responsible for its death.

Henry can’t find the source of these murders on his own, so he calls on the one person he trusts to help—private investigator Vicki Nelson, with the small hope that they can stop these otherworldly forces, without losing their lives.

Also includes a brand-new short story featuring Vicki and Henry!"

7. A Spider in the Cup by Barbara Cleverly (Joe Sandilands #11). I like this historical mystery series.

"London, 1933: An amateur dowsing team searching the Thames for precious metals unearths the body of a young woman with a priceless coin in her mouth. The case falls on Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Joe Sandilands, but he has another, very high-profile assignment. London is hosting a massive economic conference to address the global Depression, and political tensions run high as world leaders stand either with or against a rapidly militarizing Germany. Sandilands is to protect visiting American senator Cornelius Kingstone throughout the conference. But a when a series of bizarre coincidences links the riverbank body to the senator, Joe realizes that Kingstone is caught up in a dangerous game that might cost not just one but thousands of lives."

Women Authors Whose Work I'm Enjoying - Julia Keller

Julia Keller

Julia Keller is an American author born in West Virginia. I've been enjoying her Bell Elkins mystery series. There are currently 8 books in this series set in West Virginia. I've read the first two and have the next one on my bookshelf.

1. A Killing in the Hills (#1 / 2012).

"A Killing in the Hills is the first Bell Elkins mystery by Julia Keller. The story is set in rural West Virginia and Elkins is the local District Attorney. Something happened to Bell during her childhood in the town of Acker's Gap, which becomes apparent as you progress through the story. She married at a later date and moved to Washington DC with her husband, a new lawyer. Bell also got her law degree but wanted to return to Acker's Gap to help the people of that community, ending up with her going alone with her daughter, Carla.

The story starts with a triple murder in the town, 3 old men sitting having coffee at the local restaurant. Carla is one of the people who sees the shooting. Bell is also working on a case in which a mentally handicapped boy is charged with the murder of his friend. As well, Carla, a typical teenager, is rebelling, anger issues, suspended driver's license. Bell's best friend, Ruthie, is suffering with cancer, and, oh yes, Bell's sister is coming up for a parole hearing for the murder of their father, many years ago. So, yes, a lot is going on. 

But Keller is able to tie this all together to make an interesting, tense story. It flows very nicely and there are characters, especially Bell (Belfa) and the sheriff, Nick Fogelsong, with long ties to Bell, who are developed nicely. The past and the present are tied together, the murderer is well-described and interesting/ somewhat scary, and the mysteries are nicely tied up. There are enough loose ends at the end of the book; especially re. Bell's daughter and Bell's sister, to make you want to find out more about this series. I enjoyed very much and look forward to trying the next, Bitter River. (4 stars)"

2. Bitter River (#2 / 2013).

"Bitter River is the 2nd book in the Bell Elkins series by Julia Keller. I enjoyed the first book, A Killing in the Hills, but this one was even better. Keller is an excellent author spinning a tense mystery and crafting excellent characters.

Bell Elkins is the DA of a small town in West Virginia. She is called out by the sheriff, her friend Nick Fogelsong, when a body is discovered in her car in the Bitter River. The body is that of a young girl, Lucinda Trimble, a high school senior, who is also pregnant. The story basically involves their investigation of the murder of the girl. Complicating the story is the fact that Nick had previously had a relationship with the girl's mother, Maddie many years ago. Both had moved on, Nick marrying someone else and Maddie marrying as well.

Besides this main story, Bell is also dealing with a number of issues, her ongoing relationship with a younger man, Clay; the fact that her daughter has moved to Washington to live with her father and Bell's ex-husband; the absence of Bell's sister after her release (in the last story) from prison. As well, an ex-friend of both Bell moves to Raythune County to get away from things for a while. He has some issues, it appears. Will this affect anything?

This is more than simply a murder mystery, as things begin to spiral out of control as the story moves along. The tension builds nicely and there are a number of surprise happenings that add to it. Judith Keller is an excellent story - teller. She develops characters very nicely, making them more than words on paper. She presents the locale and events clearly and in a manner that draws you in to the story. 

I found the story flowed along smoothly and could feel the tension of the characters and events as they occurred. I enjoyed it very much. Some of the events seemed far-fetched, but in Keller's hands they just made for a more entertaining story. Well worth reading. I look forward to continuing the series. Next in line is Summer of the Dead (4.5 stars)"

3. Summer of the Dead (#3 / 2014).

"It's high summer in Acker's Gap, a small town nestled in the beautiful but poverty-stricken West Virginia mountains—but no one's enjoying the rugged natural landscape. Not while a killer stalks the town and its hard-luck inhabitants. County prosecutor Bell Elkins and her closest friend, Sheriff Nick Fogelsong, are stymied by a murderer who seems to come and go like smoke on the mountain. At the same time, Bell must deal with the return from prison of her sister, Shirley—who, like Bell, carries the indelible scars of a savage past.

In the third mystery chronicling the journey of Bell Elkins and her return to her Appalachian hometown, we also meet Lindy Crabtree—a coal miner's daughter with dark secrets of her own, secrets that threaten to explode into even more violence. Acker's Gap is a place of loveliness and brutality, of isolation and fierce attachments—a place where the dead rub shoulders with the living and demand their due."

The complete listing of Keller's books can be found at this link.

Enjoy your week.