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Micky Barnard (542 KP) rated The Marriage Pact in Books
Dec 12, 2018 (Updated Dec 13, 2018)
Eerie and thought provoking
Wow. I’m a ball of knotted up feelings mixed with adrenaline right now. THE MARRIAGE PACT started as an innocuous, gentle introduction to a newly married couple and turned into a twisted, dark ride. If I could sum it up, I’d describe it as ‘big brother’s stepford wife body snatching cult’ and I mean 1984-esque big brother, not the reality show. I don’t read a lot of suspense these days and this one just compelled me from start to finish, through the good, the bad, the believable and slightly stretched.
Jake and Alice are an opposites attract kind of couple but a match that seems to work. As very newly-weds they’re invited to join The Pact. Alarm bells should have been ringing at 100 decibels but no, Jake and Alice signed up. There was an innocence about their walk into married life, believing the easy road but it was oh, so different. What ensued took my breath away as I got deeper and deeper. I read going to sleep but found myself pumped full of adrenaline and unsettled. The twisty dark nature was unexpected and not in my normal taste, but I couldn’t look away.
It isn’t a perfect read, there are occasional moments of ‘as if’ and the end could have been stronger but I know I am not going to forget this book in a hurry. I enjoyed it, my skin crawled with discomfort and unease, but I enjoyed it. The characters connected with one another and to me, the writing was like a magnet. The storyline was out of the box and I am definitely wanting to try this author again.
So, if you fancy the unusual, you like the bizarre, suspense and married couples, I give you THE MARRIAGE PACT.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through netgalley in return for a honest review.
Jake and Alice are an opposites attract kind of couple but a match that seems to work. As very newly-weds they’re invited to join The Pact. Alarm bells should have been ringing at 100 decibels but no, Jake and Alice signed up. There was an innocence about their walk into married life, believing the easy road but it was oh, so different. What ensued took my breath away as I got deeper and deeper. I read going to sleep but found myself pumped full of adrenaline and unsettled. The twisty dark nature was unexpected and not in my normal taste, but I couldn’t look away.
It isn’t a perfect read, there are occasional moments of ‘as if’ and the end could have been stronger but I know I am not going to forget this book in a hurry. I enjoyed it, my skin crawled with discomfort and unease, but I enjoyed it. The characters connected with one another and to me, the writing was like a magnet. The storyline was out of the box and I am definitely wanting to try this author again.
So, if you fancy the unusual, you like the bizarre, suspense and married couples, I give you THE MARRIAGE PACT.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through netgalley in return for a honest review.
A False Report
T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong
6.0
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Two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists uncover the true story of Marie. She said she was raped;...
biography crime true crime
The Periodic Table
Primo Levi and Raymond Rosenthal
Book
Primo Levi's The Periodic Table is a collection of short stories that elegantly interlace the...
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated The Girl With All the Gifts (2017) in Movies
Mar 4, 2021
Contains spoilers, click to show
The Girl With All the Gifts is a slow paced zombie movie based on the book of the same name. Unlike a lot of zombie movies, 'The Girl With All the Gifts' doesn't go in for gore, although there is a bit. Instead it uses it's slow pace to build suspense as the protagonists try to find safety as they pass through zombie infested England. As they travel the group find out more about both the zombies and the strange children that now inhabit the earth.
As I said, 'The Girl With All the Gifts' is slow but it uses this pace to let us know about the new world, the zombies and the other characters. The scenery is both beautiful and harsh as the characters travel through the now overgrown city of London and the visual effects are built on by the eerie soundtrack.
If you have read the book then you should find that the film is close to the main story, of course the film cuts out some of the back story's and there are some scenes missing but over all the film does well and manages to show how the events of the story change some of the characters (although even this is a bit lacking from the book but that is too be expected) and, over all the film does manage to get the feel of the book.
As I said, 'The Girl With All The Gifts' does not really go for gore so, if you want to see lots of action and people getting eaten then this isn't really for you. 'The Girl With All the Girts' focus more on what lies ahead, both for the reaming humans and for the zombies who will be left and the answer is bleak.
So, 'The Girl With All the Gifts' is a slow, story based zombie film with an interesting, well thought out take on the popular monster.
As I said, 'The Girl With All the Gifts' is slow but it uses this pace to let us know about the new world, the zombies and the other characters. The scenery is both beautiful and harsh as the characters travel through the now overgrown city of London and the visual effects are built on by the eerie soundtrack.
If you have read the book then you should find that the film is close to the main story, of course the film cuts out some of the back story's and there are some scenes missing but over all the film does well and manages to show how the events of the story change some of the characters (although even this is a bit lacking from the book but that is too be expected) and, over all the film does manage to get the feel of the book.
As I said, 'The Girl With All The Gifts' does not really go for gore so, if you want to see lots of action and people getting eaten then this isn't really for you. 'The Girl With All the Girts' focus more on what lies ahead, both for the reaming humans and for the zombies who will be left and the answer is bleak.
So, 'The Girl With All the Gifts' is a slow, story based zombie film with an interesting, well thought out take on the popular monster.
Contre Jour HD
Games and Entertainment
App
Apple has named Contre Jour HD iPad Game of the Year in more than 10 countries across Europe and...
Dinner At The Happy Skeleton
6.0
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Dan is the kind of gay man for whom the Noughties might have been named. Warm, witty and serially...
AVP: Evolution
Games and Entertainment
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Please note: iPod touch (4th gen) is NOT supported. Check out AVP: Evolution 3.0 remastered, now...
The Travelling Bag: And Other Ghostly Stories
7.0
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From the foggy streets of Victorian London to the eerie perfection of 1950s suburbia, the everyday...
fiction horror
ClareR (5733 KP) rated The Glass Hotel in Books
Aug 27, 2021
The Glass Hotel is a book that I really didn’t think I was going to like - but I did. It’s about a failed Ponzi scheme - I had to look up what that actually was. I had absolutely no idea. It’s where someone, a real or fake advisor, planner or investor, promises to invest your money with a certain rate of return. Instead of putting your money in whatever investment they promised, they keep it for themselves. If you want your money back, they take it from other investors to give to you. I couldn’t read a whole book where this was constantly referred to and not find out what it was!
However, this book isn’t just about Ponzi schemes. It’s a character driven book, and there are a fair few of them.
Vincent was a fascinating character - she starts her life in a remote village in Canada, only reachable by boat. When it looks like she’s losing her way, she gets a job at a hotel and meets Jonathan Alkaitis - the organiser of the Ponzi scheme. Vincent is completely unconcerned at where the money she spends is coming from, she just spends it, lives in their luxury apartments, living the life she never had as a child. When that money is gone, Vincent moves on - she’s a survivor, and I really like that about her.
I couldn’t believe the length of Alkaitis’ prison sentence - I’m assuming 140 years or more is normal for a fraud of this scale. He doesn’t cope well. He has visions, sees ghosts of the people whose lives he destroyed. This was really eerie: were they real? Was it his imagination?
Leon Prevant shows what happens to a lot of older people when they have no income: he becomes one of the nomadic people, travelling in a camper-van from job to job. No savings, no home. The fear as they get older, of illness or infirmity.
So yes, I really enjoyed this. I liked that it’s completely different to Station 11, and I’m very glad I read it!
However, this book isn’t just about Ponzi schemes. It’s a character driven book, and there are a fair few of them.
Vincent was a fascinating character - she starts her life in a remote village in Canada, only reachable by boat. When it looks like she’s losing her way, she gets a job at a hotel and meets Jonathan Alkaitis - the organiser of the Ponzi scheme. Vincent is completely unconcerned at where the money she spends is coming from, she just spends it, lives in their luxury apartments, living the life she never had as a child. When that money is gone, Vincent moves on - she’s a survivor, and I really like that about her.
I couldn’t believe the length of Alkaitis’ prison sentence - I’m assuming 140 years or more is normal for a fraud of this scale. He doesn’t cope well. He has visions, sees ghosts of the people whose lives he destroyed. This was really eerie: were they real? Was it his imagination?
Leon Prevant shows what happens to a lot of older people when they have no income: he becomes one of the nomadic people, travelling in a camper-van from job to job. No savings, no home. The fear as they get older, of illness or infirmity.
So yes, I really enjoyed this. I liked that it’s completely different to Station 11, and I’m very glad I read it!
Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated The Nursery (The Bayou Hauntings #3) in Books
May 22, 2019
A house that sat empty for fifty years as its dead owner instructed. A locked room with no key. A single father with eight-year-old twin girls. A nursery from long, long ago that no child ever played in. There are eerie things going on at The Arbors in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Architect Jordan Blanchard is joined by his friend Callie and Landry Drake to learn the secrets of a domineering matriarch whose two husbands died in bizarre ways. They explore the house as someone watches from a hidden place high above. The Nursery, the third book in the series, will keep you up late at night wondering what’s behind the next door, what lies beyond the mirror and who hides and waits at The Arbors.
The Nursery by Bill Thompson is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary.
This is the third book in the series and I wasn’t aware of that when I started this but it did not hamper me one bit in reading this one. The author gives you little bits on the background as you go along so it was very easy to pick up on.
This is not your typical haunted house story. There is a nice ghost and malevolent ghost, hidden bodies, a child’s grave where one did not belong, and travels through a mirror to other dimensions. And that doesn’t even touch the real-life evil that’s stalking the family’s every move. This is a different type of ghost story.
I love the location settings and the whole premise behind this series of paranormal interweaved with the characters lives.
I want to say so much more but I don’t want to give anything away. This book has so much going for it and I am definitely getting the previous books and following this author. This book had me right from the start and I hope there are more to come in this series.
The Nursery by Bill Thompson is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary.
This is the third book in the series and I wasn’t aware of that when I started this but it did not hamper me one bit in reading this one. The author gives you little bits on the background as you go along so it was very easy to pick up on.
This is not your typical haunted house story. There is a nice ghost and malevolent ghost, hidden bodies, a child’s grave where one did not belong, and travels through a mirror to other dimensions. And that doesn’t even touch the real-life evil that’s stalking the family’s every move. This is a different type of ghost story.
I love the location settings and the whole premise behind this series of paranormal interweaved with the characters lives.
I want to say so much more but I don’t want to give anything away. This book has so much going for it and I am definitely getting the previous books and following this author. This book had me right from the start and I hope there are more to come in this series.
