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Corpse Thief (Joshua Hawke #1)
7.0
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PART ONE of the searing new thriller featuring Joshua Hawke; Criminal, Informant, Body Snatcher,...
The Bulb Hunter
Chris Wiesinger and William C. Welch
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Dubbed the Bulb Hunter in a 2006 New York Times feature story, Chris Wiesinger took his passion for...
Lost in London: Adventures in the City's Wild Outdoors
Lucy Scott and Tina Smith
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London is one of the most exciting cities in the world-dynamic, noisy, colourful - and non-stop. It...
Trees in Towns and Cities: A History of British Urban Arboriculture
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This is the first book on the history of trees in Britain's towns and cities and the people who have...
BookInspector (124 KP) rated The Craftsman (The Craftsman, #1) in Books
Sep 24, 2020
My Queen of crime and thrillers is back, with another marvelous story to tell. I read all her books, and every time she surprises me with something different and original.
The story is set in a small town with a hill, where witches were meeting since the 16th century. As you can see in the description above, this story is told in two different times – 1969 and 1999. In 1969 Florence was a WPC in the local police station, which she recently joined. Moreover, she was the first woman in that station, surrounded by men, who are not very friendly. She is assigned a disappearance of three teenagers, but what she discovers is way more complex and sinister than she could imagine.
Florence is the protagonist of this novel, and this story is told from her perspective. I love strong, smart and rebellious female leads in the books, and I absolutely loved Florence. Even though she is facing cruel workplace bullying and constant demeaning behavior, she is still fighting for what she believes to be right, and she wipes noses to those stuck up men. BRAVO! 😀 I really liked the wide variety of characters, which Bolton offered in this novel. All of them were very well rounded and unique personalities, who brought more richness to the book.
The narrative of this book was very well planned out and delivered. I was sucked in from the first pages of this book, I just wanted to find out what in a world was going on there! I really enjoyed all the twists, turns and diversions which Bolton creatively incorporated in this book. Sharon Bolton always follows an intriguing topic in her novels, and I am very glad that she was discussing workplace bullying and sexism, alongside witches and witchcraft. Even though I am not a believer in witchcraft, It was amusing to read about the people who believe in it and practice it.
Sharon Bolton is a very talented storyteller, she has a very absorbing and suspense building writing style, which I thoroughly enjoy every time. I loved the setting of this book, it compliments the atmosphere of this book with all those mills, hills, cemeteries and complex houses. The pages just fly while reading those short chapters. The climax was absolutely unexpected and left me very surprised. So, to conclude, for now, this book was the best read of 2018 for me. I enjoyed it from first to the last page, I think it has very intriguing and absorbing characters and very well crafted narrative, which is fast paced and very amusing. I do strongly recommend this book, I think you are in for a treat. Enjoy! 🙂
The story is set in a small town with a hill, where witches were meeting since the 16th century. As you can see in the description above, this story is told in two different times – 1969 and 1999. In 1969 Florence was a WPC in the local police station, which she recently joined. Moreover, she was the first woman in that station, surrounded by men, who are not very friendly. She is assigned a disappearance of three teenagers, but what she discovers is way more complex and sinister than she could imagine.
Florence is the protagonist of this novel, and this story is told from her perspective. I love strong, smart and rebellious female leads in the books, and I absolutely loved Florence. Even though she is facing cruel workplace bullying and constant demeaning behavior, she is still fighting for what she believes to be right, and she wipes noses to those stuck up men. BRAVO! 😀 I really liked the wide variety of characters, which Bolton offered in this novel. All of them were very well rounded and unique personalities, who brought more richness to the book.
The narrative of this book was very well planned out and delivered. I was sucked in from the first pages of this book, I just wanted to find out what in a world was going on there! I really enjoyed all the twists, turns and diversions which Bolton creatively incorporated in this book. Sharon Bolton always follows an intriguing topic in her novels, and I am very glad that she was discussing workplace bullying and sexism, alongside witches and witchcraft. Even though I am not a believer in witchcraft, It was amusing to read about the people who believe in it and practice it.
Sharon Bolton is a very talented storyteller, she has a very absorbing and suspense building writing style, which I thoroughly enjoy every time. I loved the setting of this book, it compliments the atmosphere of this book with all those mills, hills, cemeteries and complex houses. The pages just fly while reading those short chapters. The climax was absolutely unexpected and left me very surprised. So, to conclude, for now, this book was the best read of 2018 for me. I enjoyed it from first to the last page, I think it has very intriguing and absorbing characters and very well crafted narrative, which is fast paced and very amusing. I do strongly recommend this book, I think you are in for a treat. Enjoy! 🙂
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Metroburbia: The Anatomy of Greater London
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London's suburbs are home to many thousands of people who travel into the centre every day to work,...
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated The House by the Cemetery in Books
Jan 31, 2019 (Updated Feb 2, 2019)
I have a love-hate relationship with The House by the Cemetery by John Everson, and it’s really tearing me apart. I absolutely enjoyed the story itself, but there’s a few issues, one of which is a huge red flag, that I simply can’t allow to go unspoken–and if other reviews are any clue, I’m not the only one that’s immensely bothered by it.
The story involves a witch that died in 1963, a haunted house, a haunted house attraction, and a lot of characters (too many to keep track of without a notebook, actually). Hired to repair the haunted house so that guests can safely walk through it, Mike Kostner spends much of his time drinking beer and talking with the girls, Katie and Emery. At the same time, Jeanie’s been hired on as a makeup artist for the upcoming attraction and drags her boyfriend, Bong, into it. Then there’s Jillie and Ted, paranormal investigators. And then there are three other groups of people to form more members of the cast, which I found to be extremely overwhelming.
At this point in my review, I usually talk about characters and their development, what I like about them, what I don’t, etc. In this case, I can’t really do that. The only character I managed to forge any sort of emotional connection with was Jeanie, and it’s mainly sympathetic. As for the rest of the roles played, I’m largely disappointed. Why? Because there’s a severe lack of sensitivity in this novel–which has been mentioned in several other reviews. There are four characters whose sole defining characteristic is either their race or their weight. There’s no depth given beyond that to them as an individual. The remarks dealing with weight are largely shaming and those dealing with race are stereotypical. And here’s where I’m going to take a moment to discuss the character Bong, which I feel is the most blatant insult to another race’s customs that I’ve seen in a long time.
Bong’s full name is Bong-soon Mon. Phonetically, that sounds a lot like “bong soon man.” It’s not overly obvious if you’re not familiar with Korean names, and Bong-soon is an actual name used in the drama Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. However, in this case, Everson shortens Bong-soon, which is actually the character’s name (whether it’s his first or last, I’m not sure), to Bong. Thus he makes it more of a laughing matter (really, it’s not funny), whether it’s intentional or unintentional. Usually I’m not sensitive to these types of material, but in this book the way it comes across is really bothersome and, like several other readers, I agree with the idea that this book desperately needs an edit for sensitivity. Please bear in mind that I read an arc of this book and so I’m not sure if any of these issues were addressed in the final publication.
EDIT: After speaking with the author, he explained to me that the reason he shortened the name as he did comes from personal experience with someone that had the same name, and what they went by. Everson also assured me it was not his intent to fat shame those characters. I really appreciate that he reached out to me, and feel it's important that my misconception be corrected, but not hidden.
Plotwise, I adored this book. I can’t go too much into detail without sharing spoilers, but I can say this: the Everson does have a talent for creating beautifully grisly, albeit somewhat repetitive, scenes. The bloodbath that takes place near the end of the book is a glorious gore-fest that I felt the rest of the story worked up to quite well, even if it crawled earlier on while Mike was working on the house. As for the setting, it’s well written. I liked the idea of a house next to a cemetery, and its easy to infer its age without being told: it’s too close to a turnpike to have been put there before the turnpike was built. I was, however, confused by the juxtaposition of a heavily wooded house and cemetery in close proximity to a city or town, as in my experience turnpikes usually don’t have exits between major locales. At least, not very many present-day ones do, as most of them have been converted to, or created as, a controlled-access highway, where intersecting roads tend to cross over or under so that they do not impede traffic. That said, it strikes me as weird that a single house and cemetery would have an exit from a turnpike.
So I decided to google cemeteries and turnpikes, and what did I find? Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery is an actual haunted locale found in the suburbs of Chicago. And yes, it actually is that close to a turnpike! If you like to watch Ghost Adventures, the cemetery was featured in a 2012 episode. Also, the cemetery is extremely old. Even better? Many of the ghost stories referenced in the book are actual tales surrounding the cemetery. It’s actually pretty fascinating and I wouldn’t even have known about it were it not for Everson’s book.
Overall, I did enjoy reading this book. I loved the homage to horror movies of all types, including lesser known genres. I absolutely adored the way in which some of the characters were manipulated, too. Hence why I stated early in this review that I have a love-hate relationship with it. Because of the lack of sensitivity though, and the way I was made to feel as a reader because of it (I’m overweight, after all), I can’t give it more than three skulls.
I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book for review.
The story involves a witch that died in 1963, a haunted house, a haunted house attraction, and a lot of characters (too many to keep track of without a notebook, actually). Hired to repair the haunted house so that guests can safely walk through it, Mike Kostner spends much of his time drinking beer and talking with the girls, Katie and Emery. At the same time, Jeanie’s been hired on as a makeup artist for the upcoming attraction and drags her boyfriend, Bong, into it. Then there’s Jillie and Ted, paranormal investigators. And then there are three other groups of people to form more members of the cast, which I found to be extremely overwhelming.
At this point in my review, I usually talk about characters and their development, what I like about them, what I don’t, etc. In this case, I can’t really do that. The only character I managed to forge any sort of emotional connection with was Jeanie, and it’s mainly sympathetic. As for the rest of the roles played, I’m largely disappointed. Why? Because there’s a severe lack of sensitivity in this novel–which has been mentioned in several other reviews. There are four characters whose sole defining characteristic is either their race or their weight. There’s no depth given beyond that to them as an individual. The remarks dealing with weight are largely shaming and those dealing with race are stereotypical. And here’s where I’m going to take a moment to discuss the character Bong, which I feel is the most blatant insult to another race’s customs that I’ve seen in a long time.
Bong’s full name is Bong-soon Mon. Phonetically, that sounds a lot like “bong soon man.” It’s not overly obvious if you’re not familiar with Korean names, and Bong-soon is an actual name used in the drama Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. However, in this case, Everson shortens Bong-soon, which is actually the character’s name (whether it’s his first or last, I’m not sure), to Bong. Thus he makes it more of a laughing matter (really, it’s not funny), whether it’s intentional or unintentional. Usually I’m not sensitive to these types of material, but in this book the way it comes across is really bothersome and, like several other readers, I agree with the idea that this book desperately needs an edit for sensitivity. Please bear in mind that I read an arc of this book and so I’m not sure if any of these issues were addressed in the final publication.
EDIT: After speaking with the author, he explained to me that the reason he shortened the name as he did comes from personal experience with someone that had the same name, and what they went by. Everson also assured me it was not his intent to fat shame those characters. I really appreciate that he reached out to me, and feel it's important that my misconception be corrected, but not hidden.
Plotwise, I adored this book. I can’t go too much into detail without sharing spoilers, but I can say this: the Everson does have a talent for creating beautifully grisly, albeit somewhat repetitive, scenes. The bloodbath that takes place near the end of the book is a glorious gore-fest that I felt the rest of the story worked up to quite well, even if it crawled earlier on while Mike was working on the house. As for the setting, it’s well written. I liked the idea of a house next to a cemetery, and its easy to infer its age without being told: it’s too close to a turnpike to have been put there before the turnpike was built. I was, however, confused by the juxtaposition of a heavily wooded house and cemetery in close proximity to a city or town, as in my experience turnpikes usually don’t have exits between major locales. At least, not very many present-day ones do, as most of them have been converted to, or created as, a controlled-access highway, where intersecting roads tend to cross over or under so that they do not impede traffic. That said, it strikes me as weird that a single house and cemetery would have an exit from a turnpike.
So I decided to google cemeteries and turnpikes, and what did I find? Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery is an actual haunted locale found in the suburbs of Chicago. And yes, it actually is that close to a turnpike! If you like to watch Ghost Adventures, the cemetery was featured in a 2012 episode. Also, the cemetery is extremely old. Even better? Many of the ghost stories referenced in the book are actual tales surrounding the cemetery. It’s actually pretty fascinating and I wouldn’t even have known about it were it not for Everson’s book.
Overall, I did enjoy reading this book. I loved the homage to horror movies of all types, including lesser known genres. I absolutely adored the way in which some of the characters were manipulated, too. Hence why I stated early in this review that I have a love-hate relationship with it. Because of the lack of sensitivity though, and the way I was made to feel as a reader because of it (I’m overweight, after all), I can’t give it more than three skulls.
I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book for review.
