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Dead Man's Shoes (2006)
Dead Man's Shoes (2006)
2006 | Drama, Mystery
Brilliantly savage
Finally managed to get a hold of this after borrowing it on DVD from my brother, I’ve been wanting to watch it again for a long time and it’s still a fantastic hard hitting film.

This is a darkly savage and fairly brutal story of revenge that makes for a powerful watch. The plot is straight forward and simple, but it just goes to show that you don’t need a massive budget or fancy Hollywood effects to make an outstanding film. From the effective story telling (colour current day scenes vs black and white flashbacks), to a clever script, bleak, creepy and almost gruesome scenes and some great performances. Paddy Considine is a fantastic actor, and probably deserves a lot more accolades, and Toby Kebbell has an outstanding yet fairly small and moving breakthrough performance as Anthony. The final twist at the end too is one of the few film endings that has always stuck with me. And I will admit to having a bit of a soft spot for films that are set in or around my local area, and Derbyshire isn’t too far away....
  
The Colour of Murder
The Colour of Murder
Julian Symons | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Clever And Enjoyable
THE COLOUR OF MURDER is the first book by Julian Symons that I've read and I really enjoyed it. Though it is naturally a book of its time, I found it endearing and charming. The characters were fantastic and the book, for me, is reminiscent of a Patricia Highsmith or a Ruth Rendell mystery.

I thought that the story was captivating and engaging and extremely well structured, both leading up to the murder, as told by the accused, as he relates his account of events to a psychologist and in court, with the cases for the defence and prosecution. I loved that the style of writing was slightly different to the usual types of murder mysteries, although there was still a whodunit theme, as well as a look at the nature of justice. It held my interest from start to finish and the way in which Julian Symons brought everything to a conclusion was just fabulous. I loved it and it has left me eager to read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a free ARC of this book in exchange for a voluntary, honest review.
  
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Kimmic (814 KP) Feb 11, 2019

I'm not normally one for a thriller as I find them a bit samey.... but this one sounds interesting x

Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft
Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft
H.P. Lovecraft | 2008 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
8.7 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dang-near essential for anyone interested in the 20th century horror story, this volume does what it says on the front and collects the most significant fiction of H.P. Lovecraft's career. Lovecraft has a unique and idiosyncratic writing style (and that's putting it mildly) and he's not afraid to insert his deeply unpleasant racist views into his stories. However, no single figure has been more influential in the development of the fantasy-horror genre in the last century.

Lovecraft's best stories take the scientific discoveries of his time and use them to summon up an extraordinary sense of cosmic dread: the vastness of the universe and the primordial origins of the human race become the stuff of genuine nightmare. All the key stories are here - the famous Call of Cthulhu, of course, along with others that are still massively influential, such as The Colour Out of Space and At the Mountains of Madness. Lovecraft wrote the book on a certain kind of horror, and this volume is pretty much it. Some of the stories are minor works, but the best ones here are epochal.