A couple things to cover in this post. I finished one book, a graphic novel, so will post my review of it. I didn't start a book to replace it as it was a quickie throw-in. I have received a few new books so I'll provide the synopses of those books. And finally I'll continue with my look at women authors whose works I enjoy.
Just Finished
"Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft is my very first exposure to the writing of horror author, Joe Hill. I have to say it was great. The story was intense and suitably scary and the art by Gabriel Rodriguez clear, stark and added so much to the story.
The story jumps from the present with the Locke family having moved to the family mansion (haunted?) in Lovecraft after a tragedy back in California and their efforts to cope with a horrendous murder and also deal with their new lives. Each chapter deals with a different family member; their remembrances of their father's murder and how they are coping in Lovecraft. We also track Simon Lesser, the surviving member of the murderous duo, who escapes from prison (with help from the lady in the well at Lovecraft) and heads cross country to Lovecraft, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. OK, enough story telling.
The family members are loving portrayed by Hill, their issues, their reactions to what happened back home and how they are trying to survive and blend in at Lovecraft. Three children, oldest Tyler, riddled with guilt, middle child, Kinsey, getting rid of her dreadlocks and trying to disappear in the crowds at her new school and youngest, Bodie, discovering the secrets of the Locke home and the mysterious doors and keys. The adults, mother Nina, hiding behind bottles of wine, and brother-in-law Dunk trying to help the family cope with the past and adjust to Lovecraft. The other main characters are the strange 'lady' in the well who communicates with Bodie and plays a vital role in the events that take place at the end of this novel. And Sam, the psychotic killer, very scary.
It's a page turner for sure, not for the squeamish, but well worth reading if you want tense, psychologically scary and pure thrills. As Robert Crais says in the introduction to this graphic novel, why would you move to a place called Lovecraft to get away from tragic horrors. (para phrasing here). So now I have to get Vol 2 - Head Games. Dang! (4.5 stars)"
New Books
"When too many jumps back to 1940 leave 21st century Oxford history student Ned Henry exhausted, a relaxing trip to Victorian England seems the perfect solution. But complexities like recalcitrant rowboats, missing cats, and love at first sight make Ned's holiday anything but restful - to say nothing of the way hideous pieces of Victorian art can jeopardize the entire course of history."
"Inspector John Appleby has a difficult and delicate task when he investigates the murder of the unpopular Josiah Umpleby of St Anthony's College."
"A playful dog finds a bone at the outset of this mystery set in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Chief Inspector Mario Silva of the federal police based in Brasilia and his team of investigators, Hector Costa and Arnaldo Nunes, are called in. The bone is human and the investigators soon unearth a clandestine cemetery. Someone has secretly disposed of the bodies of unknown human beings, often interred in family groups. And in Sao Paulo, it turns out, many patrons of a local travel agency have never reached their North American destinations. The motive for these mass murders is completely contemporary and completely appalling."
"It's Quiller's most dangerous mission yet, and is also his last for the British intelligence agency so secret that it has no name. No matter that its orders originate at the Prime Minister level; if detected, it would be denied at that and every other level of the government. Quiller's orders this time take the pseudonymous operative to post–Cold War Russia to infiltrate the powerful and omnipresent mafiya that controls every sector and ruble of the country's fragile economy. More ruthless than the Sicilian brotherhood and as conscienceless as the Colombian drug cartels, the mafiya owns top politicians, judges, generals, bankers, and the police. Those it doesn't own it can buy, and those it doesn't choose to buy, it eliminates. Chief among the lawless mafiya lords stands a criminally brilliant British national, whom the agency wants taken out of play. Quiller learns that the one man who can help him achieve his goal is impounded in Gulank, the most infamous of all the gulags. Quiller must sneak his way into Gulank, and from a gulag that no prisoner has ever escaped, rescue the only person who can save his last, internationally vital mission."
Women Authors I'm Enjoying - Elizabeth Daly
 |
| Elizabeth T. Daly |
Elizabeth T. Daly was an American author, born in born in New York City in 1878 and died in Roslyn NY in 1967. She was an author of crime novels with book collector Henry Gamadge her main character. From 1940, she wrote 17 books in the series, plus one standalone novel. Since I discovered her work, I've enjoyed 4 books in this series and still have 3 books on my shelf to read. I'll take a look at those remaining books.
"First in the Henry Gamadge series. Bibliophile-sleuth Henry Gamadge investigates the bizarre death of Amberly Cowden and uncovers murder and mayhem in the midst of a troupe of impoverished actors."
"Mrs. Vina Gregson should be sitting pretty. Acquitted of murdering her husband, she has inherited all his money, and can afford to dress in the height of 1940s style. Unfortunately, her fashionable clothing and coiffure go unseen, and much of her money unspent, as the Widow Gregson remains essentially a prisoner, trapped in her elegant New York apartment with occasional, furtive forays to her Connecticut estate. A jury may have found her innocent, but Mrs. Gregson remains a murderer in the eyes of the public, and of the tabloid journalists who hound her every step. Worse, she has recently begun receiving increasingly menacing letters – letters written, she is certain, by the person who killed her husband. Taking the matter to the police would only heighten her notoriety, so she calls on Henry Gamadge, the gentleman-sleuth known both for his discretion and for his ability to solve problems that baffle the police."
"One hundred years earlier, a beautiful guest had disappeared from the wealthy Vauregard household, along with the second volume in a set of the collected works of Byron. Improbably enough, both guest and book seem to have reappeared, with neither having aged a day. The elderly Mr. Vauregard is inclined to believe the young woman's story of having vacationed on an astral plane. But his dubious niece calls in Henry Gamadge, gentleman-sleuth, expert in rare books, and sufficiently well-bred?it is hoped?to avoid distressing the Vauregard sensibilities. As Gamadge soon discovers, delicate sensibilities abound chez Vauregard, where the household includes an aging actress with ties to a spiritualist sect and a shy beauty with a shady (if crippled) fiancé. As always in this delightful series, Gamadge comes up trumps, but only after careful study of the other players? cards."
The complete listing of Daly's works can be found at this link. Enjoy the rest of your week. Read a good book!
No comments:
Post a Comment