Drew's #15 -- Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

 

OK story.  A little more of  a "young adult" than I expected, but an interesting concept.  Basically, a young fry cook in a small town named Odd Thomas can see dead people and demons; following his encounters, he tries to anticipate catastrophes, console troubled spirits, or even avenge the dead with the help of his girl friend and other familiars in his town.  Kind of  an extrapolation from the movie "The 6th Sense" with Bruce Willis with a little more predictable plot.  Lots of chatty back-and-forth/smart-mouth banter, TV show characters, and Elvis's ghost--just for fun.  OK, but nothing to go out of your way for.

Drew's #13 -- Stolen Souls by Stuart Neville

Stolen Souls is the third installment following GoB and focuses entierely on Jack Lennon.  The style is the same and GoB and it's sequal, Collusion, and many of the same charicters reappear or are mentioned.  However, while you had to read GoB to understand the sequal, S. Souls can be read independantly, but there will be references to the 1st two throughout that won't sink in if this is where you jump into the series.  But beware, if the 1st two were violent and dark, this one is... let's say a little more disturbing.

The 3rd installment finds Jack Lennon (from the 2nd book) trying to ballance his dangerous job with raising his daughter.  Meanwhile, when a Lithuanian sex-trafficer is killed by a kidnapped girl in her escape, his "ill-tempered" brother vows to stop at nothing to find her.  But, while fleeing her persuers the girl winds up in the hands of a very disturbed serial killer.  In between all this, Jack must find the girl and rescue her before her original captors due AND work to keep his own daughter safe in the ballance.

The third installment runs off some of the same themes of corruption and mob violence, but deals directly with human trafficing.  And the author spares no details; all the felt emotion and intensity of the others is as strong as ever in this installment, but beware--parts of this story are hard to read.  I've read stories detailing cruel and horrible scenes (Kiss the Girls, the Hannible Lector series...) but there are scenes in this book, felt all the more in the way the author tells the story, that are the stuff of horror movies.  And I do mean double checking the locks, leave and extra light on, grown men sleeping with 9 iron type horror movies.   As with the 2nd book, there are no "loose ends" so look for many of the same characters and if you thought something needed to be cleared up in the last one you'll get an eyefull here.  Note this takes an honest look at the sex-trade world and while it deals with the topic well, it is definately not for everyone.  Fair warning, like I said of the others, if you read the 2nd, it will be hard not to read the 3rd and if you read the 3rd you will find yourself, like me, waiting for the 4th.

Drew's #12 -- Collusion by Stuart Neville

 

In the sequal to The Ghosts of Belfast (GoB), Stuart Neville brings in as a main charachter a man only mentioned in the 1st book--Jack Lennon, a Belfast cop and father of the little girl featured in GoB.  This time Jerry Fagan, former IRA hitman must come out of hiding and team up with Lennon to protect Jack's daughter and her mother from the fall-out left behind from Fagen's actions in GoB.  Most notably, the wrath of a big mab boss seeking revenge.  The story introduces Jack Lennon and several others and shows us, very, um, vividly how the author deals with loose ends.  There really are no 1 time characters in this series and if they don't get theirs in whichever book in the series your on, just wait.

Now, this books unfolds with the writers same style and flair for detail and mystery, but (as I said in the GoB reivew) it is not the same story.  Here the author really shows the desperate, almost helpless situation, created when mob influence becomes "just the way it is".  And do note, it is a more violent story in many ways.

You can stop at GoB but note, if you go on with this book, it will be hard not to read the third.

Drew's #11 -- The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville

The best way I can explain this book is to have one  imagine a picture of a hard, sad, desperate scene that is beautiful.  It's worth noting that while this book is the first in a series of 3 so far, the afore mentioned quality is unique to this story.  The other 2 (reviews to come) are written in the same style, contain the same detailed imagry, and are tell violent and sometimes tragic stories, but this one stands out.  That said, I spoke too early in a prior review about my number 1 book this year; if you only read one (aside from the Bible or a text book--I strongly encourage either of those before one loses himself in fiction), I strongly reccommend The Ghosts of Belfast.

The story follows an ex-IRA hitman who is tormented by the ghosts of the people he killed in service to the northern Irish Republicans in the 1970's and 80's.  His guilt drives him to "atone" for each of his ghosts and, in doing so, catches the attention of his old associates who are now trying to reinvent themselves as politicians and more dignified representatives of their "noble" cause.  When these factions take steps to keep the protagonist "in-line", they find that the situation escalates beyond their control.  It should be noted that that the hero is a very good ex-hitman.  The turmoil draws the attention of the police (both good and dirty agents), high level politicians and a young woman with her daughter--who find themselves under the protection of tormented g-man.

But this is not simply an shoot-em-up tale of vengence and gangsters, its a very pointed shot at the nature of so-called freedom-fighters and pokes (very overtly, at times) at the caustic role that spin and biased media can play in blateant terrorism.  This theme is more centered in the second book in the series, but they are clear and disturbing themes.

But what makes this book so unforgetable is the way the author weaves all these elements together.  Most notable is the way he uses the betails to paint the bigger picture.  For instance, it's not neccessary to tell you simeply that someone is sad if I detail the look in their eyes, the turn of their mouth, the tracks of their tears...  You FEEL the weight of the emotion or circumstance in the way the author weaves the plot.  What's also intriguing is the way the author plays out the finer threads of the story as the plot progresses.  A man early on may seem like only a background figure, but as the story progresses he may be tied in seamlessly to a bigget piece of the puzzle.  Here, sometimes almost casually, the auther may widen a sidenote into a gaping hole crucial to the story and then fill it seamlessly with what was once an inconsequential detail that's been teased and developed just enough to make you wonder how you didn't see it the whole time.

An absolute must read!  Though maybe not for everyone.  It is a dark story.

Drew's #10 -- Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell

Drew Pence's notebook--21 Jul 11

What the heck did Mark get me into?  I'm only about 20% into the book and so far I've been given 3 points of view from 3 different people in three separate times!  Can onlyh assume there's more to follow...  I'm halfwayt through the 3rd part and aside from a few small ties between them here and there the stories seem completely unrelated.  I've gone from a 19th century journal written in the same style as the 1611 KJV with words I don't think Ron would know; something about a boat and an island (not as funny as The Sex Lives of Cannibles) to a series of correpondance written by a rotten, manipulative social out-cast just before WWII, to a mystery novel.  I must have given Mark my M.S. (didn't know that was contagious; feel like that monkey on Outbreak)--NOTE:  may want to consider quarenteening Cassandra--becuase this is strange so far.  Still, I can't put it down.  Gotta see what happens next...

23 Sep 12

FINALY!  I finished the book and feel like I climbed Everest!  Don't get me wrong--it's a great story, very creatively woven, but it is a story told in several independent (and very different) stories and THOSE are broken up into the 1st half and the 2nd half of the book.  It really is an experience to read this book, but fair warning:  its challenging shifting gears through the different stories (a collection of journal entries, a series of letters, a crime drama, some sci-fi, and others).  Strongly recommend that you know as little about the book as possible before digging into it.  The connections and "bigger picture" develop like an old polaroid and I'd imagine its best if you're not anticipating anything.  By the time you start back down the 2nd half, it will fall into place more rapidly.

Anyway, I highly recommend it and enjoyed it very much--just be prepared for a bit of a commitment.

Drew's #8 - Dracula by Bram Stoker

 

Most poeple think they know the story of Dracula by Bram Stoker, but I'm not sure how many have read the unabridged version.  If you have you know what I mean; theres a good deal that is left out of the "readers digest" version.   To save a good many people a great deal of time:  don't bother!  Here it is important that I point out quickly, the movie by the same name is almost, but not entirely unrelated.  That is, I don't mean to say its not worth reading but  in my opinion (be it ever so humble), the weight of the flourish and unnecissary detail measured against the "value added" material found therein is disproportionate.  To the point, I think, that the sinister and macabe nature of the story is diluted.  That said, there's a reason Dracula is a house-hold name.

The story follows the lives of several charicters though their various letters and journal entries, neatly shiftin the point of of view to the first person account of the whole adventure, as they are faced with and must combat an evil Transilvanian vampire.  The count is a truely wicked creature in the book and entierly self serving and vicsious.  I mention this as I've heard many people over the years refer to the story of Dracula as a "love story".  I can only assume such people saw the movie directed by Francis F. Copala in the early '90s.  His wicked schemes and exploits, in fact, are what draws the major players together to hunt down and kill the count.  The story, though told in real time from several points of view, follows the count's blood trail and takes its twists in turns in real-time.  This is, incidently, why the reader could be spared a great deal of superfluous detail, ponderous asides, and melencholy lements contained through-out the book.  While in some places these do give a broader perspective or deeper developement to a character's motives here and there, the majority serve only, it seemed, to blunt the plot and add a soap opera-esque feeling to the overall story.

Still, its worth a read.  Good story, clear imagery, and I love the affect of telling a story through journal entries, headlines, and correspondance between characters.  The story works seamlessly between the experiences of the characters and brings them all together neatly.  Again, just spare yourself some victorian melodrama and read the abridged version--meat and potatos hold the overabundance of parsley, we'll say.