Now moving on to my reading update. Two books completed in October thus far.
Books Completed
"Did I like Off Season by Jack Ketchum (Dead River #1) you ask? Eeeps!! 😦 Was it a fun read you ask? *vigorously shakes head* Was it creepy? Um... *looks over his shoulder* 😧 Was it violent? *drops to the ground and curls into a ball* 😓🔪
I think maybe you get what I'm trying to say. Off Season was a creepy, scary that started slowly *ish* and gradually built to an all out attack on a group of people spending the weekend. So the story starts with a woman (Mrs Weinstein we discover later) driving down a highway in Maine one night and stops as any Good Samaritan would to help a young girl alone on the side of the highway. To her immediate surprise and terror, she finds herself under attack by a group of maddened children and adults, slashing at her with switches and knives.
(Warning – There are many trigger warnings in this book; violence, cannibalism, etc.)
She runs through the fields while the group easily runs with her, keeping her in a state of terror. She finally finds herself at the edge of the sea and rather than letting herself be killed, she jumps in, expecting to drown.
The scene changes to a cottage which Carla rented for a few months. It seems as though it might be nearby. She is preparing the place for visitors; her sister, Marji & boyfriend Jim; ex boyfriend and his new girl, Laura and Carla’s new man. Of course, the house is isolated… isn’t it!!
We now move to the local sheriff’s off and Chief Peters. Peters is old, overweight and near retirement. He has just heard about the discover of Mrs Weinstein, not dead it turns out. He’s also heard stories from others about a strange group of adults and children somewhere in the area. He and his #2, Shearing, begin to investigate missing people in the area and wonder if the they might be related to this group? He decides to start an investigation into the group.
We’ve been introduced to the core group, including Carla’s sister and the party making their way to Maine to spend a weekend. One of the men happens to be bringing along a revolver, a Magnum, that he wants to try shooting while he’s there.
Now the leader of the group of ‘killers’, the Man, has been watching Carla as she prepares for company, watching her through the windows, seeing her naked, etc. Carla feels she’s being watched and even finds human feces on her porch at one time.
Oh yes, I almost forgot. We do see where this weird group lives and keep their prisoners. It’s a big group of 3 men, a few women and children and, as I said, prisoners. There is a young man kept in a cage, who is forced to watch them eat another prisoner.
Once the story is set up, the attack begins. The six people in the house find themselves under attack by the group and must try to defend themselves, maybe escape, survive. Not all will, but I won’t ‘ruin’ the story by laying out the deaths but will say, it’s not for the squeamish.
In the meantime, the police continue to investigate and start to narrow down the location of the killers. Will they be in time to save them?
As the attack continues, it does get relentless but not necessarily hopeless… maybe. It’s a scary, stomach curdling, chilling story, but it’s quite well written and it does draw you in. The characters are fleshed out enough for you to have empathy for them and their predicament and to want them to win. Will they? If you can handle it, check out Off Season. Oh, guess what. There is a 2nd book in the story. *shudder* (3.5 stars)"
"American War is the 2nd book I've read by Omar El Akkad, the first an excellent work of non-fiction. American War is set in the near future after the American Civil War of 2074. America is split into two, the majority the United States and the states of Louisiana to Florida the Free Southern States. There is a good portion in the Southwest and West Coast that is part of the Mexican protectorate.
The story follows Sarat Chestnut and her family as she grows up in the south. There story starts in the portion of Louisiana that is still part of the United States (sort of). When her father dies in an attack while he is trying to get them papers to move to the north, Sarat's mother persuades the government of the Free Southern States to let the rest of the family; Martina (mother), Simon (brother) and Sarat and her twin Dana, to move to Camp Patience, a place for refugees from the Free states.
The next portion is about their lives there, trying to survive and at the same time trying to grow up. Simon starts hanging around with the Free Militia, Dana with her girl friends and Sarat comes to know a man, Gaines, who visits the Camp, handing out envelopes of money to various militias. He takes Sarat under his wing and she works for him.
After an incident against the US, their army attacks and destroys Camp Patience. Simon is severely injured and Sarat takes him and Dana further south. She begins to work with the militias and Gaines more and more and becomes a key weapon.
There will be more tragedy for the family and terror for Sarat as the story progresses.
It's a fascinating look at this dystopic future. Sarat is an interesting, troubled character and is the key to this story. el Akkad can spin a tale and provides a great look at this world. It's mostly limited to the particular region inhabited by Sarat and her siblings but you do also get neat snippets of the outside world. Depressing but maybe with some 'hope' as well. It's definitely worth checking out especially if you do like dystopian stories. (4.0 stars)"
Currently Reading
"In the summer of 1144, a strange calm has settled over England. The armies of King Stephen and Empress Maud have temporarily exhausted each other. Brother Cadfael considers peace a blessing, but a little excitement never comes amiss to a former soldier and Cadfael is delighted to accompany his young friend, Brother Mark, on a mission of church diplomacy to his native Wales, not expecting to be caught up in yet another royal feud. The Welsh prince Owain Gwynedd has banished his brother Cadwaladr, accusing him of the treacherous murder of an ally. The reckless Cadwaladr has retaliated by landing an army of Danish mercenaries, poised to invade Wales and retake his lost lands. As the two armies teeter on the brink of bloody civil war, Cadfael is captured by the Danes together with a headstrong young woman fleeing an arranged marriage, but before he can untangle such domestic passions, Cadfael has to survive the brotherly quarrel that could plunge an entire kingdom into deadly chaos."
"A suspenseful YA graphic novel thriller where the winter chill isn't the only thing that bites! Siblings Jen and Dante are social media influencers and post videos of themselves doing extreme sports. But when they jump out of a helicopter to ski down a mountain, the stunt goes awry. Dante's ankle gets slashed, and the helicopter crew -- who were supposed to be waiting at the bottom of the mountain -- are nowhere to be found. As the confused teens seek answers, they meet up with some locals and soon find themselves flesh to fang with a group of frost vampires! Their only hope for survival is to make it to sunrise, when the vampires become dormant under the snow once again."
New Arrivals
Nothing really to report, although I did order a couple from articles on the CBC website. One is a book of poetry from the most recent Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Anne Carson. Her most recent published work is Wrong Norma, published in 2024. The other is in stock at my local book store. It's one of 5 books nominated for the Atwood / Gibson Writer's Trust Fiction Prize. Oddly enough it's awarded on my birthday. Anyway the book I'll be picking up today or tomorrow is Treat Them as Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall, published in May 2026. I'll provide more info on these books, plus any others I've got on order in future posts here.
So there you go. As I said, a bit of a quickie, but I hope you might have got a few reading ideas from the list above.
Oh and one final word. It's always been Artificial Intelligence, not Super Intelligence, no matter what you say!
