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Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Thing: Zero Day in Books

Dec 17, 2018

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

The Thing: Zero Day is a short science fiction, horror story by Lee McGeorge. Inspired by John Carpenter’s film The Thing and the story Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell, McGeorge has created a creepy, fast paced thriller for readers to enjoy.

It is 1982 and a group of twelve Norwegian climatologists witness the crash landing of an unidentified flying object. Curiosity getting the better of them, they try to salvage what they can of the craft and discover an alien in a block of ice. What at first seems like a magnificent discovery turns frightening after all but three of the climate scientists begin behaving strangely, becoming impassive as if something has a psychological hold over them. The story becomes more horrific as it goes on with gruesome descriptions of the things that happen to the men.

The book is short enough to be read in one sitting, however it ends, annoyingly, without a definite conclusion, leaving the reader to imagine what happens next. The Thing: Zero Day is not a novel but a piece of fan fiction for the film The Thing. Although I have not seen the film I am led to believe that this book is a sort of prologue to the main story line.

Being short, the narrative is gripping from start to finish, jumping straight into the story. Readers are sucked into the tale and will most likely read it from beginning to end without putting it down. The Thing: Zero Day is obviously recommended for lovers of the film, however people who have not had the opportunity to view it, yet enjoy horror and science fiction, will also enjoy this book.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2579 KP) rated Scoop to Kill in Books

Jul 6, 2019

Here’s the Scoop – This is a Tasty Mystery

A reception to honor outstanding achievement at the local college turns tragic when Tally Jones’s niece, Alice, finds the body of grad student Bryan. Bryan was another local attending the college, although he had clearly been making some enemies along the way. With Alice in the thick of things, Tally starts spending a little less time at her ice cream shop, Remember the A-La-Mode, and more time at the college looking for clues. Will she find the killer?

While the mystery starts strongly with the discovery of Bryan’s body just a few pages in, the book still seems to wander a bit. We are gathering clues and information on the suspects, but it isn’t until the second half that it feels like Tally is truly investigating and we are beginning to find clues and disregard the red herrings. Once this happens, the book gets very good, and I was fully hooked. Tally and her immediate circle are a fun group, and I enjoyed spending time with them. I also enjoyed the cameos by some of the supporting cast from the first book. The suspects were strong enough to help us tell them apart, but they could have spent a little more time on the page to be fully developed. I had forgotten that there is a love triangle in this series, although it looks like that is coming to a head, which I appreciated. There is more language scattered throughout this book than is typical for a cozy, but this is still a light, fun cozy sure to keep you cool on a warm summer day. You might want to make sure you have some ice cream on hand first, however, to satisfy any cravings.