YOU by Caroline Kepnes

Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪out of 5 Stars

Release Date:                  UK, Australia, US September 2014

Author’s Website:           Caroline Kepnes on Facebook

Publisher’s Website:      Simon & Schuster  (purchase information)  

AMAZON:                              CLICK HERE

My thoughts:

     I’ve a new obsession that I need to share. I read a lot, but so few books go beyond "pretty good." Maybe once or twice a year I find a book that is a real thrill to discover. Discovering a debut author who has also written the best book I’ve read all year is very exciting. You know the type of book I’m talking about, where you pick it up and flip to the first few pages, thinking: Yeah, what’s so good about you that everyone is talking? Then out of curiosity you unsuspectingly read the first few pages just before you think you’re going to turn out the light. Two hours later you’re thinking: I need to go to sleep—but I can’t. I’m sucked in. Then the next day, the thought of getting back inside that world sends a little tingle up your spine. That’s Caroline Kepnes’ YOU.

     Stephen King’s 1987 Misery was one of those novels, too, that had everyone talking. The insanity and obsession of Annie Wilkes was both mesmerizing and horrifying in equal quantity. In the same year, the film Fatal Attraction gave us the iconic portrayal of obsession with Glen Close aiming her crazy desire at Michael Douglas. They were visceral experiences. Misery and Fatal Attraction spawned a myriad of copycat plots, but I personally don’t think anything has come close to creating their claustrophobic feeling of obsession. That is, until I recently read YOU, debut novel from talented (very talented) U.S. author, Caroline Kepnes.

    YOU is simply brilliant. From the first chapter, you’re sucked into the world of bookstore manager Joe Goldberg, whose instant attraction to a random customer, Guinevere Beck, takes obsession and love to a whole new level. She has a boyfriend, but that’s no problem for Joe. She has a demanding girlfriend who keeps getting in the way. No problem either for Joe. These problems have a way of working themselves out when Joe is around. He tracks the love of his life via social media. (Note, this is, also, a cautionary tale on not revealing too much on your Facebook and Twitter accounts.) Things head down a very dark and dangerous rabbit hole and some people are not coming out alive. That’s love, and Joe will do anything for love.

   Guinevere is a fabulous character, too. She’s not a perfect girl. In fact, she’s self-indulgent, obsessive, and insecure, but Joe still loves her and it’s his hilarious commentary on her and her friend’s failings that make this book so special. Written in second person, we are right inside Joe’s head as he speaks directly in his thoughts to Guinevere, her boyfriend, and anyone else he encounters. This style of writing is unusual, yet it works perfectly in creating the feel for a story that is all about head games. Now you might think being inside the head of an obsessive narcissist with murderous tendencies wouldn’t be the most pleasant of visits, but thanks to Kepnes's witty prose, you actually come to like Joe—he’s kind of cool. Each time you open the pages you are both excited and terrified to discover what he will do next.  I don’t ever want to meet someone like Joe, but boy I sure do love him.

    YOU is one of the most exciting and thrilling reads released this year. A book about obsession will obsess you. When they talk about guilty obsessions this book is it! Great news is that a sequel is on its way.

Thank you to the awesome people at Simon & Schuster Australia for my review copy.

BOOK BLURB

     When aspiring writer Guinevere Beck strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe works, he’s instantly smitten. Beck is everything Joe has ever wanted: She’s gorgeous, tough, razor-smart, and as sexy as his wildest dreams.
     Beck doesn’t know it yet, but she’s perfect for him, and soon she can’t resist her feelings for a guy who seems custom made for her. But there’s more to Joe than Beck realizes, and much more to Beck than her oh-so-perfect façade. Their mutual obsession quickly spirals into a whirlwind of deadly consequences...

  A chilling account of unrelenting passion, Caroline Kepnes’s You is a perversely romantic thriller that’s more dangerously clever than any you’ve read before.

About the author:

Caroline Kepnes is a native of Cape Cod and the author of many published short stories. She has covered pop culture for Entertainment Weekly, Tiger Beat, E! Online and Yahoo. She wrote episodes of 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Her directorial debut short film Miles Away premiered at the Woods Hole Film Festival and took third place in the Audience Award for Comedy Short. Caroline is a Brown University graduate who splits her time between Los Angeles and Cape Cod. Her favorite beverages are vanilla latte and root beer flavored vodka. She doesn't do well with flies, needles or freeways.

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Mr Mercedes by Stephen King

Rating: ✪✪✪✪ ½ out of 5 Stars

Release Date:                 June 2014

Author’s Website:         http://stephenking.com/ 

Purchase in Australia:   QBD Bookstore & other good book stores

Publisher’s Website:       Hachette

My thoughts:

Stephen King has been talking about this book for ages. He came up with the idea after hearing about the true story of a woman who accidentally crashed her car into a crowd of people waiting outside a store.

In his story, of course, it’s a psychopath that crashes the car, and he’s not a bit sorry. In fact, he planned it. He’s so proud of it, and so surprised that he gets away with it, that he writes a letter to retired cop, Bill Hodges, outlining what a thrill it was to kill all those people.  Retirement hasn’t treated Hodges so well, and he’s playing should I-shouldn’t I with his revolver.

This case, which he calls Mr. Mercedes, after the stolen car used in the crime, is one of his unsolved cases and still weighs heavily on him. Receiving the letter, reignites his will to live and thus begins a cat and mouse game between the detective and Mr. Mercedes, who despite his protestations, isn’t done yet with his killing spree.

If you enjoy Stephen King’s style, then you will enjoy this book. There are no supernatural nasty creatures in this one. It’s just a plain old homicidal maniac. Stephen King calls it “his first hard-boiled detective book,” but he certainly brings his flourish for creating the insane, evil mind to the party. Mr. Mercedes is filled with King’s neat way with words and a story that will keep you travelling along way past the speed limit until the very end.

Here's a link to Stephen King talking about the book. CLICK HERE

About the author:

Seriously if you don’t know who Stephen King is, where have you been living for forty years, but just on the remotest chance that you have never heard of him… Stephen King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and many of them have been adapted into feature films, television movies and comic books.

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill ★★★★★

A HELLUVA RIDE

NOS4A2 in USA (pronounced Nosferatu)

NOS4R2 elsewhere

This is one of those stories where fifty pages in you realize you’re having the best reading fun you’ve had in ages. You don’t know where it’s going and you don’t care. It’s a ride, and you realize you are in the hands of a capable author.

It’s no surprise that Joe Hill’s “NOS4A2” is so captivating, as many have felt the same way when reading one of his Father’s books. Joe Hill, son of Stephen King, has entered his father’s domain. And, like his Father, he can tell a mean story and create characters with rich inner lives.

This is his third novel (“Horns” and “Heart Shaped Box”). This story is comparable to the best work of King, and at near 700 pages it’s just as weighty. It’s such a great read, though, you will be glad for every page.

We meet a young tomboy, Vic McQueen, who has a special gift. When she cycles fast enough, while thinking about a lost object, she magically crosses over the no-longer-in-existence “Shorter Way Bridge.” The bridge always takes her to the geographical location of the lost object.

Charlie Manx is a nasty creature who kidnaps young children whom he believes are at risk of an unhappy future. Creepy sidekick, Bing, relishes his role which is killing the children’s parents. The kidnapped children are transported to the strange, magical Christmasland, via Charlie’s 1934 Rolls Royce Wraith, number plate NOS4A2. Along the way the children’s goodness is stolen, so they arrive no longer human sporting little, sharp teeth.

When Vic and Charlie’s paths cross, she becomes the only child to ever escape him, and Charlie finds the adult Vic a determined, dangerous adversary.

The depth of the characters, who are flawed, broken people struggling with huge issues, make this a superior horror story. In “NOS4A2” Hill has created a comprehensive, well imagined world. If you love horror, if you love great writing, if you love reading a story where you can’t predict the end, then climb into “NOS4A2.” It’s one helluva ride.  

Thank you to the great people at Hachette Australia for my copy of Joe Hill’s NOS4A2.

INTERESTING INFORMATION

RELEASED: May 2013

For more information about this book: Click HERE 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Joe Hill is a recipient of the RAY BRADBURY FELLOWSHIP and the winner of the A.E. COPPARD LONG FICTION PRIZE, WILLIAM CRAWFORD, WORLD FANTASY, BRITISH FANTASY, BRAM STOKER and INTERNATIONAL HORROR GUILD AWARDs. 

His short fiction has appeared in literary, mystery and horror collections and magazines in Britain and America.

     Previous Books: NOS4R2, Horns, Heart-Shaped Box, 20th Century Ghosts

NIGHT TERRORS ANTHOLOGY edited by Karen Henderson

Since the rise and rise of eBooks, short stories and novellas have become increasingly popular.  I think of short stories as a sorbet between longer books; something to refresh your palette before moving on to that six hundred page tome or if you are a Stephen King fan one thousand plus page doorstop.

The “Night Terrors Anthology” edited by Karen Henderson of Kayelle Press is a creepy little anthology of all things nasty with an abundance of demons, vampires, ghosts and the undead.  Inside are seventeen top-notch horror stories from international authors; many of whom are award winners.

The quality of the stories ranges from very good to exceptional.  The first of the anthology, “A World Not Our Own” by J.C. Hemphill proves you can’t trust vampires and is as far from “Twilight” as a good vampire story should be. 

Now the publishing and film and television world have fallen in love with zombies, zombies have become the new black.  Move over Edward. Read “Share the Love” by Chris Donahue to get your quality zombie fix.  

“White Lines, White Crosses” by Andrew J. McKiernan could have been written by Stephen King.  It is a cool little ghost story about a teenager’s desire to fit in and the price he pays when the peer pressure comes from the other side of the grave. It is seriously dark and beautifully paced.

There is also a few classics thrown in for good measure. They are just as fresh today and fit right in with their modern counterparts;  Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Tell-Tale Heart, “The Dead Girl” by Guy de Maupassant and “A Ghost Story” by Mark Twain.

The “Night Terrors Anthology” is a solid collection with some truly enjoyable, clever tales that will stay with you whether you want them to or not.   The “Creepy” Badge of Honor is awarded to Editor Karen Henderson for having a great feel for a good story.

Thank you to Kayelle Press for our e-review copy of Night Terrors Anthology.

 This book is available in paperback and e-book format

Visit http://www.kayellepress.com/shop/night-terrors-anthology/ for more details and to purchase.

ABOUT KAYELLE PRESS

Based in Australia, Kayelle Press is a new independent publisher of speculative fiction, which includes fantasy, science fiction and horror. We will publish books for young readers, young adults and adults that will tempt your imagination and allow you to escape into unknown worlds.

Most of our books will be available in paperback and various digital formats. They can be purchased through this website or from your favourite online book store. Alternatively, you can request an order form through email and send the order through the post with a bank cheque, money order or international draft. Refer to our How to Order page for more information.

PSYCHOS Anthology edited by John Skipp ★★★★★

(Serial Killers, Depraved Madman and the Criminally Insane)

THE SHORT STORY, ALIVE AND WELL

               Stephen King is arguably one of the master storytellers of our time.  Yet, even he felt he’d fallen out of touch with short story fiction in 2006 when invited to edit ‘The Best American Short Stories 2007’.

In an interview promoting his own collection, ‘Just After Sunset’, inspired by his editing of the volume, he said, “People have forgotten how to read the short story. They’ve fallen out of love with the short story.  People are too lazy to pick up a short story and start over and over again. It’s (too much of) a grab bag.’

John Skipp, editor of ‘Psychos-Serial Killers, Depraved Madman and the Criminally Insane’ certainly ensures it is not a grab bag.  He knows something about great short stories, with his first published short story in ‘The Twilight Zone’ Magazine in 1982.  He’s a New York Times Bestselling author and has co-authored over a dozen successful horror novels, ‘Psychos’ being  his third anthology with publisher Black Dog and Leventhal in the fantasy-horror genre.  So he has credibility in choosing a gripping yarn.

These stories will restore your faith in the short narrative.  Some will stick in your mind, even if you don’t want them there.  These are thirty-eight gems that will keep you reading like the addiction that follows that first black jelly-bean.  Your need for ‘just one more’ will keep you up into the psycho-prowling wee hours. 

You will meet perfectly normal people—you’ll think at first—that hide twisted, dark secrets. And you will meet normal people who don’t realise they have crossed evil’s pathway. Dark humour and light prose dance in perfect combination. Alongside, genre royalty of Neil Gaimin, Thomas Harris, Ray Bradbury, and Edgar Allen Poe, Skipp has included some astonishingly polished emerging authors.

The pleasure of reading a good story is that you don’t want it to end. The wonderful thing with ‘Psychos’, at over six hundred pages, there are plenty of beginnings.

My review copy of Psychos thanks to the lovable people at Murdoch Books and Allen and Unwin Australia

To buy or learn more visit Psychos
Release Dates: Australia and New Zealand: December, 2012  U.S.A.: October, 2012

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Skipp is a New York Times bestselling author and editor whose 23 books have sold millions of copies in a dozen languages worldwide. His first anthology, Book of the Dead, laid the foundation in 1989 for modern zombie literature. He later edited three more zombie anthologies, including Mondo Zombie, which won the Bram Stoker Award for best anthology. He is the editor of three books in Black Dog’s horror series: Zombies, Werewolves and Shapeshifters, and Demons, which also won the Bram Stoker Award. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.

 

Timeless Innocents by Janis Susan May ★ ★ ★ ½

 A Guilt Free eBook Pleasure

 

Carina Press is a digital-first imprint from Harlequin.  This means they can bring authors and a broader range of stories to readers with more speed and versatility than their parent publisher by publishing first to e-book.

For my first sample of this e-book publisher I chose ‘Timeless Innocents’ by Janis Susan May.  It’s a novella tale of around 26,000 words with a cover that resembles the ugly Chucky doll of the suite of films. 

It’s a creepy little tale of lawyer Brianna Forte who, as executor of the Clerkwells’ (her Aunty and Uncle) estate, must catalogue and liquidate their assets.  Their possessions include hundreds of strangely life-like figurines called ‘Timeless Innocents’.  Immediately, she is drawn into the mystery of the Clerkwells’ life as she discovers, despite the Clerkwells’ modest lifestyle, the dolls they avidly collected are worth a fortune. Add to this, a constant stream of pushy people attempting to purchase them from her and we are in Twilight Zone territory. 

Her investigations are further complicated by an ex-boyfriend who is unable to accept their breakup and whose anger is rapidly escalating, and we are drawn into an intense, claustrophobic evening within the Clerkwells’ house as Brianna begins to realise something is very wrong with the dolls.

I love short stories and novellas and horror lends itself particularly well to this form.  Well written shorts and novellas should be well-paced and an exciting read from the first page to the last with a manageable stage and cast of characters. Authors just don’t have the time to be self-indulgent.

Author Janis Susan May certainly knows the rules and I spent an enjoyable two nights with Brianna Forte and the ‘Timeless Innocents’ and I look forward to reading more from this author. 

Did I mention that I love my e-reader? And no, I don’t miss the smell and feel of heavy books.  So, I commend Carina Press for embracing the digital age and offering well priced gems like ‘Timeless Innocents’.  This book will set you back the price of a cup of coffee at $3.59.  And that is a timeless bargain. 


Visit  www.carinapress.com for purchasing details.
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR

Formerly an actress and singer, a talent agent and Supervisor of Accessioning for a bio-genetic DNA testing lab, Janis has also been editor-in-chief of two multi-magazine publishing groups as well as many other things, including an enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist.

Janis married for the first time when most of her contemporaries were becoming grandmothers. Her husband, also an Egyptophile, even proposed in a moonlit garden near the Pyramids of Giza. Janis and her husband live in Texas with an assortment of rescued furbabies.

Learn more about Janis Susan May… http://www.janissusanmay.com