Gardeners' World: Pests and Diseases
Book
You can pour your heart and soul into creating a beautiful garden for recreation and relaxation,...
Hawk's Spell (The Swamp Witch #3)
6.0
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Robert Brown-Wing Eschte, The Great Thunder-Hawk of Anasazi Legend has lost his beloved wife....
Paranormal
1606: Shakespeare and the Year of Lear
Book
1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear traces Shakespeare's life and times from the autumn...
The Popish Midwife: A Tale of High Treason, Prejudice and Betrayal
7.0
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Book
In seventeenth-century London, thirteen years after the plague and twelve years after the Great...
Vampire Circus (1972)
7.0
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Movie
Late-period Hammer horror movie, released on a double-bill with Countess Dracula. When the townsfolk...
Hammer Horror
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Red Lotus in Books
May 28, 2020
This is a timely novel and rather scary, as it dips into medical research--particularly rats--and the plague. There's something slightly uncomfortable about reading about the spread of mass disease during a pandemic. It was, however, fascinating, too. Bohjalian tells his story from a variety of points of view--Alexis; Austin and his acquaintance Douglas; investigators in Vietnam who work Austin's case; a private investigator named Ken whom Alexis hires and more. Somehow it all works, with the careful unfolding of facts. We learn about Austin's real reason for being in Vietnam and it all builds up to a dangerous crescendo.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. Bohjalian has a way of embodying his characters, and I particularly loved Ken, the crusty yet kind P.I. The story was quite interesting; oddly well-timed; and the ending especially horrifying. Definitely worth a read. 4 stars.
American War
7.5
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Book
An audacious and powerful debut novel: a second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one...
Fiction
Girls of Brackenhill
8.0
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Book
When Hannah Maloney’s aunt dies in a car accident, she returns to her family’s castle in the...