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For Batter or Worse
For Batter or Worse
Jenn McKinlay | 2021 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A Baker’s Dozen of Delight
Mel and Joe’s wedding day is fast approaching. For their reception, they’ve picked the resort where Oz has landed the job of head pastry chef. However, things are not going well for Oz there as the head chef is proving to be an egomaniac. One day, Mel and Angie witness a very public fight between Oz and the head chef. Then, a couple of days later, Mel and Joe find Oz bending over the dead body of the chef. Mel doesn’t need anything else on her to do list, but can she figure out who the killer is before she walks down the aisle?

If you were worried that Oz was leaving the series after the events of the previous book, this proves that he will still very much be part of the series. He gets some interesting character growth, in fact. The rest of the gang is all present, and I enjoyed laughing at their antics as they worked to solve the case. The mystery is filled with plenty of suspects and red herrings, and I only began to figure things out right before Mel put it all together. I loved the final chapter. If the book makes you hungry, you’ll be happy with the four recipes at the end. Once again, fans will devour this book and be ready for Mel’s next adventure.
  
Jeepers Creepers (2001)
Jeepers Creepers (2001)
2001 | Horror, Mystery
Subhuman dumpsterscum Victor Salva adds absolutely nothing to this as an auteur let alone as a basic director: he shoots it mostly in the most unengaging, dated way possible and the writing - which can at best be described as semi-coherent - feels like a Quibi's worth of material thinly stretched into feature length. Overall a very haphazard, spotty experience that doesn't deliver nearly as much of the goods as it should... but definitely still weird, gross, and funny enough to suffice. That Sistine Chapel-esque lair of mutilated bodies, cobwebs, dirt, and vials of various mysterious liquids is almost worth the price of admission alone (in fact just in general the production is A-class when Salva can actually shoot it right), and Justin Long's one continuous panic attack of a performance is so tremendous. And come on, JC is one *hell* of a killer - running on moving cars, foully scarfing down innards, pulling 180s with his swiss army knife collection of bodily contortions, and whistling jazz tunes like some sort of crowd-pleasing merger of Predator and Freddy Krueger. Shame there isn't enough of him, but I just have to admire how that ending takes zero prisoners. It's fun, nowhere near the classic it should have been though even if there are hints of what it could have been sprinkled throughout.
  
You Are Not Alone (2014)
You Are Not Alone (2014)
2014 | Horror, Thriller
Something my friends and I would have rented from the video store in 2011 on a Friday night after school and loved - and much to my delight this is actually pretty good stuff. One half reasonably fun "day in the life" with a perfect rural small town feel and really likable characters, one half most easily avoidable horror movie situation ever with one creepy motherfucking killer played out at enticing length. Doesn't really get all it can get out of the first-person gimmick but it's done well overall, at times feels like you're watching yourself get stuck in this situation and there's nothing you can do about it - which of course I was fully on board for. Genuinely shocked how stellar the acting is, how many good songs are on the soundtrack, and how little the budget shows all for a Kickstarter film. Has a few damn scary moments but sometimes this can feel a little *too* calculated - a loud, cued score and over-obvious slowed motions where silence and more natural movements would succeed. But I can't complain too much, it looks great and doesn't mess around with any stupidly obvious whodunit twists or predictable jump scares or whatever - routinely wrings the fear out of something as simple as looking around a corner. The biggest reason this isn't rated any higher is because I desperately wanted more of it.
  
40x40

Christine A. (965 KP) rated The Whisper Man in Books

Aug 31, 2019 (Updated Aug 31, 2019)  
The Whisper Man
The Whisper Man
Alex North | 2019 | Crime, Thriller
7
7.6 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

In The Whisper Man, recently widowed Tom Kennedy moves to Featherbank for a fresh start. What he does not realize is the town has a dark history and, as the old saying goes, history always repeats itself. Twenty years ago, a serial killer abducted and killed people whom he lured out of their house by whispering at their windows at night. Kennedy quickly becomes too familiar with this because his son hears whispering at his window.

The Whisper Man is a dark, suspenseful thriller by Alex North. According to his bio, North is a British crime writer who has previously published under another name. This is his first book published under Alex North. Betterreading.com sums up the mystery by saying "So, who is Alex North? Time will probably tell, but in the meantime, the biggest thriller of 2019 has been written by the Whisper Man himself."

The short chapters move the story at a fast pace. I had a hard time finding an appropriate place to stop reading because each chapter ended with me wanting more. There is a supernatural element but it is not the main focus.

I am looking forward to more by Alex North, whomever he is.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 8/30/19.
  
    iDensity

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