horror

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Review: The Butcher and The Wren – Alaina Urquhart

The Butcher and The Wren

Alaina Urquhart

Michael Joseph

Penguin Random House

ISBN:9780241610602

Description:

From the co-host of chart-topping true crime podcast Morbid, a thrilling debut novel told from the duelling perspectives of a notorious serial killer and the medical examiner following where his trail of victims leads…

Something dark is lurking in the Louisiana bayou: a methodical killer with a penchant for medical experimentation is hard at work completing his most harrowing crime yet, taunting the authorities who desperately try to catch up.

But forensic pathologist Dr. Wren Muller is the best there is. Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of historical crimes, and years of experience working in the Medical Examiner’s office, she’s never encountered a case she couldn’t solve.

Until now.

Case after case is piling up on Wren’s examination table, and soon she is sucked into an all-consuming cat-and-mouse chase with a brutal murderer getting more brazen by the day…

An addictive read with straight-from-the-morgue details only an autopsy technician could provide, The Butcher and the Wren promises to ensnare all who enter.

My View:

I took a little time to warm up to the style of the writing here but then I was hooked. It has been a long time since a book has demanded I stay up and read to the very end. This read is at times uncomfortable – the violence and torture ( though its not dwelled upon it is a feature of the killers modus operandi), its a read with one hand over you eyes type of book 🙂

This is a fast paced read, modern, engaging and quick read. I haven’t heard the podcast that the author co hosts but if you are a fan of any crime podcasts you will be a fan of the writing here.

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Review: The Patient – Jasper DeWitt

The Patient

Jasper DeWitt

Harper Collins Australia

ISBN: 9781460759462

 

Description:

“A clever cocktail of psychological thriller and supernatural horror.” Kirkus

 

The Silent Patient by way of Stephen King: Parker, a young, overconfident psychiatrist new to his job at a mental asylum, miscalculates catastrophically when he undertakes curing a mysterious and profoundly dangerous patient.

 

In a series of online posts, Parker H., an ambitious young psychiatrist, chronicles the harrowing account of his time working at a dreary mental hospital in New England and his attempt to cure the facility’s most difficult, profoundly dangerous case.

 

Originally admitted to the hospital as a child, the man has no known diagnosis. Every person who has attempted to treat him has been driven to madness or suicide.

 

Parker, brilliant and overconfident, takes it upon himself to discover what ails this mystery patient and finally cure him. But things quickly spiral out of control …

 

Fans of Sarah Pinborough’s Behind Her Eyes and Paul Tremblay’s The Cabin at the End of the World will be riveted by Jasper DeWitt’s astonishing debut.

 

PRAISE FOR THE PATIENT:

 

“A stunning debut! DeWitt’s The Patient is a thrilling, compulsive page-turner that will appeal to fans of F. Paul Wilson, Sarah Pinborough, and Alex Michaelides.” Brian Keene, bestselling author and World Horror Grandmaster Award winner

 

“‘Insidious evil’ is such an overused term, but there is no other way to describe what prowls the hallways of this riveting novella. A compulsive read I devoured in one day. And the ending … it still haunts me.” F. Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling creator of the Repairman Jack series

 

“The Patient is a fascinating and frightening read that comes at you like the monster under your bed.” Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times bestselling author.

 

 

My View:

Scene 1:  Pan in…Dark lighting…long, eerie, cold bare “industrial” styled corridor…closed door at end of corridor.

Enter Left: Dr in white coat, holding file/clipboard, hesitantly moving toward the door….Looking around, looking behind him, nervous movements.

Music – heavy foreboding…slowly building to crescendo as door opens….

 

I have taken artistic licence and “adapted” my intro script for The Patient to reflect the evocative, moody, “black and white” horror show that I visualised as I read this book. It’s a quick read, an easy read but there is something of those old school black and white horror films that stays with you long after you have finished reading.

 

If you like a little touch of horror then this book is for you.

 

 

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Post Script: Slade House – David Mitchell

Cover Slade House

Slade House

David Mitchell

Hachette Australia

Sceptre

ISBN: 9781473616684

 

Description:

Keep your eyes peeled for a small black iron door.

 

Down the road from a working-class British pub, along the brick wall of a narrow alley, if the conditions are exactly right, you’ll find the entrance to Slade House. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. At first, you won’t want to leave. Later, you’ll find that you can’t. Every nine years, the house’s residents — an odd brother and sister — extend a unique invitation to someone who’s different or lonely: a precocious teenager, a recently divorced policeman, a shy college student. But what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it’s already too late…

 

Spanning five decades, from the last days of the 1970s to the present, leaping genres, and barrelling toward an astonishing conclusion, this intricately woven novel will pull you into a reality-warping new vision of the haunted house story—as only David Mitchell could imagine it.

 

My View:

First my dilemma – how to classify this intriguing little book? Horror is maybe too strong a word for this – or maybe I am just desensitised to the horror here by my other readings, paranormal – yes an element of ghostly other world here definitely, science fiction – a little maybe – there is the extra “dimension” in the narrative but not set in the future, fantasy – again a little of this here too….perhaps speculative fiction is the best fit? I like this definition by http://www.greententacles.com/articles/5/26/ :“Speculative fiction is a term, attributed to Robert Heinlein in 1941, that has come to be used to collectively describe works in the genres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror…Speculative fiction is also more than the collective title for works of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. The term also embraces works that don’t fit neatly into the separate genres. Tarzan. Television’s Early Edition. Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Tales that span the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. Stranger in a Strange Land. The Twilight Zone. Stories by Edgar Allen Poe. Tales that have been labelled simply as ‘weird’ or ‘adventure’ or ‘amazing’ because there was no proper place to put them. Stories on the fringe.

 

When you’ve come across a story or movie or game that both is and isn’t science fiction, fantasy, and/or horror, then you’ve discovered speculative fiction.” [Emphasis added by author – me 🙂 )

 

Slade House is a work of intriguing speculative fiction – a narrative that evokes fear, tribulation and concern. As you read you just know something is not right, that the main characters should not enter that building, should leave quickly, and shouldn’t be so trusting… that something bad is going to happen… and of course it does! David Mitchell manipulates his characters beautifully, exposes their weaknesses and egos and hopes and then… tramples on them. Intriguing and enjoyable reading with a couple of delicious twists but for me the ending was just not powerful enough, did not make me gasp or fret or deliver the punch I was expecting. Yet still enjoyable – a book I will recommend and has made me add David Mitchell’s previous book The Bone Clocks to my wish list.

 

 

 

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Post Script: The Troop – Nick Cutter

Reminiscent of early Stephen King horror stories.

The Troop

Nick Cutter

Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books

Gallery Books

ISBN: 9781476717715

 

Description:

Lord of the Flies meets The Ruins in this frightening novel written in the bestselling traditions of Stephen King and Scott Smith.

Boy Scouts live by the motto “Be Prepared.” However, nothing can prepare this group of young boys and their scoutmaster for what they encounter on a small, deserted island, as they settle down for a weekend of campfires, merit badges, and survival lessons.

Everything changes when a haggard stranger in tattered clothing appears out of nowhere and collapses on the campers’ doorstep. Before the night is through, this stranger will end up infecting one of the troop’s own with a bioengineered horror that’s straight out of their worst nightmares. Now stranded on the island with no communication to the outside world, the troop learns to battle much more than the elements, as they are pitted against something nature never intended…and eventually each other.

“Lean and crisp and over-the-top….Disquieting, disturbing,” says Scott Smith, author of The Ruins and A Simple Plan, The Troop is a visceral burn of a read that combines boldly drawn characters with a fantastically rendered narrative—a terrifying story you’ll never forget.

My View:

This is a striking, fast paced novel of action, desperation, unimaginable horror and so much more; this is also a story about life, coming of age, a study of personalities and individual responses to stress, fear, danger and death. In effect this could be seen as a clever but cruel unethical experiment, a psychological experiment designed to test the reaction and fortitude of 5 adolescent boys trapped on a desolate isolated island facing unimaginable horrors, one from within their own group proves just as deadly as the external forces they face.  This is a great portrait of the blackness within, and the heroism of a few.

 

The emergence of a youthful sociopath was a particularly harrowing portrait; in particular I found the kitty cat scenes disturbing and horrific, Cutter paints a picture to be viewed with a hand half covering the eyes, the internal debate to continue reading or not is brutal, continuing won in the end. Cutter has provided many scenes of such graphic realism I remember why I gave up Stephen King novels many years ago.  Cutters words are graphic, realistic and mind blowing. This book is not for the faint hearted.

 

The secret of the success of this work of science fiction is that it could easily be science fact.

 

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Post Script: Of Fever and Blood – Sire Cedric

If you like your crime fiction spiced with a paranormal flavour this book is for you.

Of Fever and Blood

S. Cedric

Open Road Integrated Media

Publishers Square

ISBN: 9781480442221

Description:

This fast-paced, supernatural thriller is a race against time to defeat a deadly force.

Of Fever and Blood begins at the end of an investigation. Inspectors Vauvert and Svärta, an albino profiler, solve a series of sadistic ritual murders and the supposed culprits, the Salaville brothers, are killed in a standoff.

However, one year later, the killings start all over again, but this time in Paris. All forensic evidence point to the brothers, but how can that be?

Their investigation leads Svärta and Vauvert to Judith Saint-Clair, the deathly ill patient at a mental institution that also housed the Salavilles. They discover the incredible truth: Saint-Clair had manipulated the Salavilles into killing young women in order for her to accomplish magic rituals to stave off death. Nothing and no one will stop her from reaching her goal of eternal life . . . death is not an option.

My View:

It took me a littler while to get into this book, to get an understanding of the protagonists and feel invested in this story, perhaps it was because I felt the introductory chapters were perhaps more about descriptions – about the settings, the history, the crimes, rather than about the characters and I like a good character based read.

However the action quickly picked up the pace and I was intrigued with this paranormal/ crime/horror story. This was a complex narrative with plenty of plot twists, surprises and gore. This narrative is an interesting exploration of the secret and sometimes dark sides of our soul and asks the question – who/what do we see reflected in the mirror?  This is certainly one for the paranormal fans.

For more information about this author, his writing and a brief video discussion with Sire Cedric click this link:  http://www.openroadmedia.com/sire-cedric

PS You must check out this video – this guy has such fantastic hair!!!