Search
Search results
Gnomon: A Novel
Book
Near-future Britain is not just a nation under surveillance but one built on it: a radical...
Science fiction
The Twelfth Card (Lincoln Rhyme #6)
9.0
Rate It
Book
A high-school girl in Harlem, Geneva Settle, is the target of a ruthless professional...
Win (The Atlantis Grail Book 3)
9.5
Rate It
Book
The Games are Forever! It’s one thing to Qualify and Compete… Now she must Win. Gwen...
Fiction Sci-fi Science Fiction Romance YA Young Adult
Hadley (567 KP) rated Stumbling Stoned (The Patchwork Prince #1) in Books
Oct 22, 2020
Dark humor (1 more)
Fast paced
When I realized that Wyck's Stumbling Stoned was like Memento meets a season of Fargo, I was all in. A book about a mental patient with amnesia that has supernatural powers? Yes, please!
I was completely blown away by the twists and turns in this story, and even more so by how well it all fit together. But if you find dark humor distasteful, you won't like this book very much. I found myself giggling at things I probably shouldn't have, but these things made it all the better.
Our main character is an amnesiac mental patient known as John Doe, and the entire story is told from his point-of-view. He escapes from the hospital soon after the start of the story with one of the psychiatrists in-tow. We find that Doe has tied up the former in a bathtub while an older man is tied up to a toilet. The man is unknown to the two, and apparently has jet black eyes that make him seem inhuman. And Doe seems to have eaten a fellow patient's finger and upchucked it in the sink- - - something that surprisingly disgusts him - - - and leads him to a drawing on the mirror above, something Doe drew before blacking out.
Doe, after realizing he kidnapped the psychiatrist, quickly lets her go, and goes off on his own with no idea who he is or where he's going. Just when the reader suspects that Doe might find out who he is, he is suddenly swept up into a human trafficking business and mafia dealings he had no idea existed. And because of this, after being drugged by a mafioso, Doe realizes that he has supernatural powers whenever he is hopped-up on drugs.
When Doe makes an escape from the dirty warehouse where young girls are held as sex slaves, he helps these girls by breaking their chains with his bare hands. Not only does he co-lead their escape, but he also ends up saving the daughter of a well-known Mafia boss. However, this leads to Doe being stuck in the middle of a family feud, and he is almost killed by this very same family for knowing just a little too much. And this isn't even half of the story!
Later on, Doe ends up in the hands of a witch, but he realizes quite quickly that she's not the one to fear, but rather who she is working for - - - a man named Zabat- - - who she is delivering our character to. Somehow, Zabat knows exactly who Doe is and why he has supernatural powers, but he refuses to tell him unless Doe helps him first. Doe refuses and, instead, throws himself out of a high rise window. From here, Doe begins to piece some of his life together, but Zabat causes a couple of problems that ends up revealing to the reader that Doe is not human and that the supernatural powers are not a figment of his imagination.
Now, the story is so fast-paced and borders on ridiculous at some points, yet it all fits together quite well; I personally can't think of another way this story could have been told, but that didn't make the book flawless. Stumbling Stoned had some bad writing techniques in it, but not enough that I think readers would put it down.
I can only recommend this book to people who like dark humor, but as far as horror - - - this isn't that type of book. Stumbling Stoned takes readers on a thrill ride through the seedier side of life. I personally believe this is a good book to read to get away from the daily stressors of life. I truly hope that Wyck decides to write a sequel!
I was completely blown away by the twists and turns in this story, and even more so by how well it all fit together. But if you find dark humor distasteful, you won't like this book very much. I found myself giggling at things I probably shouldn't have, but these things made it all the better.
Our main character is an amnesiac mental patient known as John Doe, and the entire story is told from his point-of-view. He escapes from the hospital soon after the start of the story with one of the psychiatrists in-tow. We find that Doe has tied up the former in a bathtub while an older man is tied up to a toilet. The man is unknown to the two, and apparently has jet black eyes that make him seem inhuman. And Doe seems to have eaten a fellow patient's finger and upchucked it in the sink- - - something that surprisingly disgusts him - - - and leads him to a drawing on the mirror above, something Doe drew before blacking out.
Doe, after realizing he kidnapped the psychiatrist, quickly lets her go, and goes off on his own with no idea who he is or where he's going. Just when the reader suspects that Doe might find out who he is, he is suddenly swept up into a human trafficking business and mafia dealings he had no idea existed. And because of this, after being drugged by a mafioso, Doe realizes that he has supernatural powers whenever he is hopped-up on drugs.
When Doe makes an escape from the dirty warehouse where young girls are held as sex slaves, he helps these girls by breaking their chains with his bare hands. Not only does he co-lead their escape, but he also ends up saving the daughter of a well-known Mafia boss. However, this leads to Doe being stuck in the middle of a family feud, and he is almost killed by this very same family for knowing just a little too much. And this isn't even half of the story!
Later on, Doe ends up in the hands of a witch, but he realizes quite quickly that she's not the one to fear, but rather who she is working for - - - a man named Zabat- - - who she is delivering our character to. Somehow, Zabat knows exactly who Doe is and why he has supernatural powers, but he refuses to tell him unless Doe helps him first. Doe refuses and, instead, throws himself out of a high rise window. From here, Doe begins to piece some of his life together, but Zabat causes a couple of problems that ends up revealing to the reader that Doe is not human and that the supernatural powers are not a figment of his imagination.
Now, the story is so fast-paced and borders on ridiculous at some points, yet it all fits together quite well; I personally can't think of another way this story could have been told, but that didn't make the book flawless. Stumbling Stoned had some bad writing techniques in it, but not enough that I think readers would put it down.
I can only recommend this book to people who like dark humor, but as far as horror - - - this isn't that type of book. Stumbling Stoned takes readers on a thrill ride through the seedier side of life. I personally believe this is a good book to read to get away from the daily stressors of life. I truly hope that Wyck decides to write a sequel!
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Final Destination (2000) in Movies
Aug 10, 2019 (Updated Oct 25, 2019)
Final Destination is certainly a product of it's time. Releasing in the year 2000, it arrived amidst a wave of popular teen movies such as such as American Pie, Dude Where's My Car etc.
FD plays out like one of those films, but with gory death scenes thrown in - it's a winning formula that saw it perform nicely at the box office.
The premise is nice and simple - the main character (in this case, Alex Browning) experiences a premonition of an imminent horrible accident. He manages to avoid said accident, along with a handful of others, thus cheating death.
As the movie progresses, death comes for the survivors one by one, in ridiculously grisly ways as they desperately try to figure out how to escape deaths grip.
There are several reasons why I really don't mind Final Destination. For a start, it's nice to have a horror movie where the villain is a almost a force of nature, rather than a physical boogeyman.
It makes for some pretty inventive death scenes.
I also enjoyed just how silly it is. There are some corny one liners whilst you sit there in anticipation of what ridiculous thing is going to happen next. It's pure popcorn horror.
It's not particularly scary, and even though it has its moments, it's a pretty average watch.
It's certainly not deserving of standing side by side with the big boys of horror, but you could also do a lot worse.
Also it's got Tony Todd in it, and just who doesn't love that scary MF.
FD plays out like one of those films, but with gory death scenes thrown in - it's a winning formula that saw it perform nicely at the box office.
The premise is nice and simple - the main character (in this case, Alex Browning) experiences a premonition of an imminent horrible accident. He manages to avoid said accident, along with a handful of others, thus cheating death.
As the movie progresses, death comes for the survivors one by one, in ridiculously grisly ways as they desperately try to figure out how to escape deaths grip.
There are several reasons why I really don't mind Final Destination. For a start, it's nice to have a horror movie where the villain is a almost a force of nature, rather than a physical boogeyman.
It makes for some pretty inventive death scenes.
I also enjoyed just how silly it is. There are some corny one liners whilst you sit there in anticipation of what ridiculous thing is going to happen next. It's pure popcorn horror.
It's not particularly scary, and even though it has its moments, it's a pretty average watch.
It's certainly not deserving of standing side by side with the big boys of horror, but you could also do a lot worse.
Also it's got Tony Todd in it, and just who doesn't love that scary MF.
Mount!
Book
In Jilly Cooper's latest, raciest novel, Rupert Campbell-Black takes centre stage in the cut-throat...
Hers, Unbroken (Hers #2)
9.0
Rate It
Book
Chase Decker wants to be enslaved. Holly Danek wants to set him free. Is it possible for both of...
Adult Science_Fiction Romance
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Venom (2018) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
If you can manage to throw away what you know about the Marvel Comic book story of Venom, you’ll enjoy this movie immensely. After a successful re-launching of the Spiderman series, it’s no surprise Sony Pictures would capitalize and develop a Venom spin-off.
Venom follows investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), who’s living life in San Francisco with his fiancé Annie (Michelle Williams) after being blacklisted by all media outlets in New York for his outlandish attempts at digging for the truth to his stories. Eddie, with his inability to follow protocol and keep boundaries, he steals confidential information from his fiancé’s computer, loses the only job willing to hire him, and tries to bring down the
powerful Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), famed bio-tech entrepreneur. Behind the façade of Drake’s disease curing company, Life Foundation, Drake’s major motive is to bond with alien creatures called symbiotes in hopes of recreating the human by providing them with the ability to survive in space. He managed to send a rocket into space and return 4 symbiotes which he tests on human’s killing 2 of the symbiotes and leaving one to escape and the last one to test on himself. Realizing the amount of power he gets from the merging of the two species, Drake decides he wants to head back into space and bring back more symbiotes
With nothing left to lose, Brock breaks into the Life Foundation and ends up becoming infected by one of the last 2 symbiotes which eventually introduces itself to Brock as Venom. With Venom inhabiting Eddie’s body, they become an unlikely human killing machine each trying to keep to their species capabilities. This unusual pairing consists of quick witted banter, with each trying to upstage the other.
As the two begin to spend some quality time “together,” they realize they aren’t much different. They figure out a way to co-exist all for the sake of saving the human race.
A fast-paced superhero movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat, laughing out loud, and completely entertained. The character development is a bit lacking, however the action sequences, and the comradery between our morphed superhero makes up for some of the holes in the story line.
http://sknr.net/2018/10/05/venom/
Venom follows investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), who’s living life in San Francisco with his fiancé Annie (Michelle Williams) after being blacklisted by all media outlets in New York for his outlandish attempts at digging for the truth to his stories. Eddie, with his inability to follow protocol and keep boundaries, he steals confidential information from his fiancé’s computer, loses the only job willing to hire him, and tries to bring down the
powerful Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), famed bio-tech entrepreneur. Behind the façade of Drake’s disease curing company, Life Foundation, Drake’s major motive is to bond with alien creatures called symbiotes in hopes of recreating the human by providing them with the ability to survive in space. He managed to send a rocket into space and return 4 symbiotes which he tests on human’s killing 2 of the symbiotes and leaving one to escape and the last one to test on himself. Realizing the amount of power he gets from the merging of the two species, Drake decides he wants to head back into space and bring back more symbiotes
With nothing left to lose, Brock breaks into the Life Foundation and ends up becoming infected by one of the last 2 symbiotes which eventually introduces itself to Brock as Venom. With Venom inhabiting Eddie’s body, they become an unlikely human killing machine each trying to keep to their species capabilities. This unusual pairing consists of quick witted banter, with each trying to upstage the other.
As the two begin to spend some quality time “together,” they realize they aren’t much different. They figure out a way to co-exist all for the sake of saving the human race.
A fast-paced superhero movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat, laughing out loud, and completely entertained. The character development is a bit lacking, however the action sequences, and the comradery between our morphed superhero makes up for some of the holes in the story line.
http://sknr.net/2018/10/05/venom/
Tomb Raider Definitive Edition
8.4
Rate It
Video Game
Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square...
Tomb Raider Definitive Edition
Ross (3284 KP) rated The Rage of Dragons in Books
May 21, 2020
Good Africa-inspired fantasy but nothing original
This book takes place in alternative version of pre-historic Africa. The Omehi race were seeking to escape turmoil in their homeland and have invaded a nearby land. They have historically used their magical and strategic advantages to keep the more savage natives, who have significant numerical advantages, at bay.
The story follows the development and move into manhood of one of the lower social classes of the Omehi.
Tau is nothing special, one of the lower classes and only mediocre with a sword. He is hoping to get into the army and find himself so badly injured he can be honourably discharged and have the social standing to ask his love to marry him.
However, early on in his testing for acceptance into the army, he wins a fight with a pathetic noble and his father is subsequently murdered for justice.
The story then follows Tau's travels and training in order to be accepted on his own merit. He is quickly accepted into an experimental set of trainees and his development picks up a gear, thought he keeps hidden his secret desire to kill those nobles responsible for his father's death. Through mixing with magic and extreme training, Tau becomes a force to be reckoned with, but is still to pick the right side to fight against.
The writing style is good, however a number of made-up (I presume) terms are used throughout the book, and it can be quite hard to determine what they mean and who they refer to. This covers the different ranks of the armies, so can largely be ignored, but it is a little jarring for the reader.
The pacing was all over the place. It was slow to get moving, and when it did it quickly ground to a halt again, as we suffered through days and weeks of training. While this was generally for the benefit of the overall story as a whole, it did take some effort to get through. If this was a film, it would have needed a montage for sure.
The plot itself starts fairly basic - one man out for revenge against people he can't possibly beat and using this as motivation to better himself. However the final quarter of the book brings in another aspect and the book significantly improves for that.
The story follows the development and move into manhood of one of the lower social classes of the Omehi.
Tau is nothing special, one of the lower classes and only mediocre with a sword. He is hoping to get into the army and find himself so badly injured he can be honourably discharged and have the social standing to ask his love to marry him.
However, early on in his testing for acceptance into the army, he wins a fight with a pathetic noble and his father is subsequently murdered for justice.
The story then follows Tau's travels and training in order to be accepted on his own merit. He is quickly accepted into an experimental set of trainees and his development picks up a gear, thought he keeps hidden his secret desire to kill those nobles responsible for his father's death. Through mixing with magic and extreme training, Tau becomes a force to be reckoned with, but is still to pick the right side to fight against.
The writing style is good, however a number of made-up (I presume) terms are used throughout the book, and it can be quite hard to determine what they mean and who they refer to. This covers the different ranks of the armies, so can largely be ignored, but it is a little jarring for the reader.
The pacing was all over the place. It was slow to get moving, and when it did it quickly ground to a halt again, as we suffered through days and weeks of training. While this was generally for the benefit of the overall story as a whole, it did take some effort to get through. If this was a film, it would have needed a montage for sure.
The plot itself starts fairly basic - one man out for revenge against people he can't possibly beat and using this as motivation to better himself. However the final quarter of the book brings in another aspect and the book significantly improves for that.