Book Review: Snake Typhoon! by Billie Jones

Snake Typhoon!

Written by: Billie Jones

Published: 2014

Synopsis: When unseasonable weather hits the sunshine city of Brisbane, a freak typhoon terrorizes the citizens. It’s not just any typhoon though, it’s a snake typhoon! And the deadliest snakes in Australia, with venomous fangs are flying straight for Kez.

Kez is the new girl in the office and she’s desperately fighting to prove herself, but what’s a girl to do when faced with a typhoon of snakes coming straight for her helicopter?

These flying diabolical snakes will stop at nothing to kill their victims and Kez only has one option: Figure out how to stop a snake typhoon and save the world... or die trying!
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I like a lot of different genres of films, but the films that give me perhaps the most joy are terrible, terrible B grade action/horror films. There are bad movies and the there are the so-bad-they're-actually-amazing bad movies. Some are filled with A-list stars with a primo budget while others are basically passion projects made by amateur filmmakers with wannabe actors rounding out the cast. The things they all share though, is how wonderfully awful they are. The Room, Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, Raging Sharks, Super Mario Brothers are some of the best example of these, and seriously, if you've never seen The Room or Raging Sharks then hop to it, because they will make your ribs crack you'll laugh so hard.

And shockingly, these sorts of films actually turn out to be quite profitable. If you make a bad movie bad enough, you end up with a cult following, midnight screenings across the globe and doors opening where they really shouldn't. Sure they won't land you the Oscar these filmmakers probably think they deserve, but they'll make you into a household name, and sometimes that's good enough. This is why we get the bad bad movies, films like Sharknado and Birdemic, films that set out to be terrible and succeed in being terrible because they are far too self-aware and therefore miss that crucial ingredient that flips them back over to awesome. This is all a very complicated way of introducing the book Snake Typhoon, which falls somewhere in between the so-bad-it's good and bad-bad categories.

I originally accepted this book for review for two reasons. First, the whole premise is an attempt to parody a so-bad-it's-good movie in book form and second, it's set in Brisbane, which is where I'm sitting right now. I will help Brisbane represent itself any way I can. I think the book delivered on both fronts, although since most of the book takes place around the red heart of Australia maybe I should expand my Brissy reppin' to the more general Aussie reppin'. The book utilises a lot of the bad movie tropes; terrible dialogue, clunky transitions, nonsensical plot progression, stereotypical characters, sign-posting for an awful sequel, deus ex machina and unscientific science, but it does these things on purpose. It was a fun and silly read and because of the purposeful attempt to replicate bad movies it was almost impossible to predict where things were going. There were some genuinely good tongue-in-cheek moments, like when the pilot points out to our protagonist Kez that we call typhoons cyclones in Australia, and she shoots back that "Snake Cyclone" doesn't sound as good, or when a character dies Kez is told not to be sad because he "believes in the afterlife". It's over the top and ridiculous and it’s laugh out loud funny at times.

But it isn't all good-bad. Like I mentioned before, when something sets out to parody or replicate the good-bad movie it's usually too self-aware and completely misses the mark. I felt like that was the case here unfortunately. Some of the jokes and bad movie tropes were just too on the nose. Like the sudden shift in romantic interest for Kez or the repeated comments saying things to the effect of "don't worry, we can't die, they need us for the sequel". It takes you out of the moment and forces you to acknowledge that it's a bad-movie imitation rather than just overwhelming you with its nonsensical passion and hilarity.

But if you've always wanted to read your bad movies, and go into this knowing it's a parody of the B-grade movie genre then I think you'll probably have a pretty great time reading it. Kez is a strange protagonist, she kind of feels like the "ugly" version of the female lead in those early 2000s movies like She's All That. She has terrible self-esteem, is nervous about her job but a complete over-achiever, talks too much and seems a little dorky. But as the book goes on she gains more confidence (but probably shouldn't, she makes some terrible judgement calls) and takes charge of the situation. It's completely ridiculous but she's still kind of kick ass, and I'll take my kick ass females where ever I can, bad movie parody or no.

Guest Post: Addison Westlake's Top 10 Funny Women in rom-coms

What with my PhD studies and reading the millions of books I've bought over the years and crammed into my shelves, I haven't been able to take on any books from authors sending requests my way. I feel pretty bad about that, because while I have definitely come across some less-than-great books this way, I've also discovered some great small or self published books which I'd never have found otherwise. So when an author contacts me and offers to write a guest post I am more than happy to comply, maybe I won't be getting a chance to read the book, but at least everyone else can find out a little something about the author and their writing.

So on that note, here is a guest post by author Addison Westlake. Addison contacted me about her new book Facebook Jeanie, and offered to write a guest post about her 10 favourite funny females in romantic comedies as she is both a lover of rom-coms and a writer of rom-coms. Before we get to her list, here's a bit of a introduction to Addison. Stay tuned at the end of her post for more details about her novel and her social media and website contacts.

Addison Westlake made her debut as an author at age 13 by rewriting the "Sweet Valley High" series. Despite copyright violations, she maintains that her rendition of Elisabeth and Jessica Wakefield as preteens in a British orphanage is a classic. Between then and now she went to some fancy schools, swapped out the East Coast for the West Coast, and had oodles of kids. Some of her favorite things in life include coffee, Aretha Franklin's inauguration hat and the sleepwalking scene in "Step Brothers."

Addison's first romantic comedy, “Christmas in Wine Country,” spent six weeks on the bestseller list in contemporary romance, women’s fiction, humorous fiction and humor. And it’s only $0.99, y’all.  

She would like to thank MCM cover design, mcm@1889.ca, for the awesome “Facebook Jeanie” cover. And for the unfailing patience with questions such as “should she have an earring” and “do her pinks clash?”

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TOP 10 FUNNIEST WOMEN IN ROM COMS

I’ve always loved to laugh. One of my earliest memories is of watching Ernie—as in Ernie and Bert on Sesame Street—clean his room. I remember nearly losing it as he threw his toys all over his room while Bert sputtered with frustration.

Now, as a romantic comedy writer, I’m pretty much the same. I love a good laugh, and I love both reading books and watching movies that crack me up. In a tribute to the women who’ve made me laugh in this genre, I’ve put together a top 10 list of the funniest women in romantic comedies. Give my list a read and see if you agree. And shout out if you have any to add!

10. Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones’ Diary. OK, she might be more neurotic than funny but Renee Zellweger made me laugh in several scenes. Showing up in a bunny costume to a party that’s no longer costume (nod to Legally Blonde, #3). Really messing up an introduction at a book launch, introducing as it as one of the top 30 books, at least. Practicing how to say Chechnya and sound concerned while vacuuming in her undies. It works.

9. Cameron Diaz in Something About Mary. Yes, I’m talking about the hair gel scene. It’s a gross and stupid gag, but you have to admit it works. Cameron Diaz’s peppy, enthusiastic and happy delivery gets it right. Even though it’s so wrong.

8. Jennifer Coolidge in American Pie (Stiffler’s Mom), A Cinderella Story (the step-mom) and Legally Blonde (Paulette). She’s just totally unafraid, I think that’s what makes her so funny. Mastering the Bend and Snap. She puts it all out there. Literally.

7. Kate Hudson in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. She’s funny, busting in on the guy’s night with a tiny dog and lots of decorations and making them all put out their stogies. She calls out their cards and makes her guy blow his nose into a tissue. And then there’s the scene when she’s used photoshop to create a huge family album featuring her and her boyfriend’s imagined kids. It’s so crazy you’ve got to love it.

6. Anna Faris in The House Bunny. Standing over a steam vent trying to be like Marilyn Monroe but it’s too hot. Saying people’s names in a scary Exorcist voice as a trick to remember them. Starting to read a letter “Dear Shelly,” stopping to look up, “Oh my god, that’s me! Wait, there’s more!” She’s excellent at being breathlessly lost and confused and clueless.

5. Isla Fisher in Wedding Crashers. She’s really wonderful as a psycho hyper nymphomaniac, jumping all over Vince Vaughn like a tiny poodle. The way she delivers the lines “Don’t you ever leave me. Because I’d find you,” with a singsongy little girlishness, then a huge cackle. She gets extra points for creepiness.

4. Nia Vardalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I love that she actually looks dumpy in the opening scenes; those glasses are really unattractive. She makes really wonderful, warm and witty observations about family and culture throughout the movie. And, of course, she wrote it and stared in the movie so hats off to Nia Vardalos!

3. Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. Her Harvard application tape is truly a work of art. It’s hard to imagine anyone being that much of an LA airhead and being so likable, but she actually pulls it off.

2. Both Jane Lynch and Leslie Mann in 40 Year Old Virgin. Obviously Lynch found her real calling in Glee, but for a bit part she makes the most of it, propositioning Andy and telling him about her chilling first time. And Leslie Mann drunk in that sparkling cap. I’ll never be able to say “french toast” again without thinking of her.

And number 1 goes to: Kristen Wiig, Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids. I love all of them. How can Rebel Wilson make her short scenes the most memorable? The free tattoo? Describing how she mistook Kristen Wiig’s diary as a very sad handwritten book? And then Melissa McCarthy on the airplane with the man she’s convinced is an air marshal (she’s right). And Kristin Wiig throughout. Whether she’s ripping apart a chocolate fountain, crying on her mom’s couch watching Wilson the volleyball, or driving topless to get her crush’s attention, I love her.

Writing comedy, I’m going to channel these women. They’ll be my muses.

Now tell me, who did I miss???

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Now that you've gotten to know Addison Westlake a bit better, here's the blurb about her brand-spankin' new book Facebook Jeanie. 

Ever wonder if you made the right choice? What if you could go back and find out?

31-year-old Clara is in a steady relationship—with Facebook. Every night after her depressing bureaucratic job (so much for saving the world), Clara comes home to her empty apartment (yes, she was dumped) and settles down with a pint of ice cream for some good, old-fashioned Facebook stalking. It's her college boyfriend, The One Who Got Away. With the bod of a God and a net worth of umpteen bamillion, he now has the perfect life—everything she could have had if she hadn't been so, so stupid.

But, wait. Jeanie from Facebook shows up at Clara's job. There's a new app they're beta-testing and Clara's perfect for it. That night she clicks on it and... nothing happens. But the next morning when Clara wakes up at noon, hung over, listening to her roommate blow-drying her hair and singing "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It", she realizes she's back in college. With the chance to do it all over again.

Back in the world of frat parties, BFFs, and long-suffering, overlooked lab partners, join Clara as she discovers what it really means to hit the reset button on life. What could possibly go wrong? And, this time, can she get it right?

Be sure to check out Addison Westlake's new book Facebook Jeanie or look her up to say hello at:

Author website: http://addisonwestlake.blogspot.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6584540.Addison_Westlake
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AddisonWestlake
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/addison.westlake
Google Plus: gplus.to/addisonwestlake

Book Review: The War of the Roses - The Children by Warren Adler

The War of the Roses - The Children

Written by: Warren Adler

Published: 2004

Synopsis: Unlike the legendary Roses, Josh's marriage to Victoria should have all the qualities of an everlasting union. But when an innocent caper involving missing Milky Ways catapults out of control at their son's elite private school, the pair find themselves entering into a shattering warfare of a different kind. Armed with the emotional mayhem inherited from their parents, as well as compounded pressures involving a depraved headmaster, clandestine affairs and Victoria's male-hating mother, "The War of the Roses - the Children" presents a gripping story of the lengths to which parents will go to protect their children.

Little more than a child herself, Josh's ever sympathetic and over-stuffed sister Evie lavishes her 'food-is-love' obsession on her beloved niece and nephew coping with their own sense of loss. Meanwhile, Michael and Emily, soon-to-be children of divorce, orchestrate their own plan to keep their family together at all costs. Adler, once again, demonstrates his storytelling mastery by revealing the intricate blending of the past with the present, and how time unravels all things seemingly perfect to be darkly and even comically dysfunctional.

A copy of this book was offered in exchange for an honest review.
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A few years ago I was skimming the tv channels and came across The War of the Roses, which starred Danny DeVito, Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. I came in about half way, but the story was pretty straight-forward. A couple was getting divorced in the messiest way imaginable, destroying every aspect of their lives and eventually both being killed underneath a crystal chandelier. It was darkly funny, the cast were pretty good and it filled in the time. Win, win, win. So when I got an email asking if I'd like to review the sequel I hoped that it'd conform to the usual paradigm of book > film, and I'd love it. Alas, there are exceptions to every rule, and I did NOT love this book.

I've been staring at my computer screen for about an hour (not to mention periodically over the last three days) and wondering how I'm going to handle writing this review when I actively hated great big chunks of the book. I almost never write actual notes when reading on my phone (ain't nobody got time for that) but I was so...astounded by this book that I couldn't simply highlight the offending passages, I had to comment. Not that I was particularly eloquent, most of them were "jesus christ" "ugh. gross" "I hate her" and "SERIOUSLY". But when I flip back through my notes I can notice certain themes running through my dislike, so in order to avoid devolving completely into caps and gif reactions I'm going to headline these issues.

Divorce

The second I read the author's forward I was instantly uncomfortable.

"It is the dilemma of our times, a tragedy of epic proportions as more and more parents opt to break up the bedrock of a civilised society - the family"

As a child of divorce, I think I am well in my rights to say that Adler is completely full of it. Do you think people with children are happy to end their marriages? I guarantee you almost every single divorced parent struggled with the decision, and lost countless nights of sleep worrying how it would affect their kids. But divorce, unlike what the author continuously tries to suggest, does not put you at a disadvantage in life. Guess what Mr Adler, even though my parents separated I am successful, intelligent, I have no issue with authority, or independence, or trusting people or falling (and remaining) in love. My sisters are equally stable, and live unique and wonderful lives. Every child wants their parents to stay together, most parents would love to stay together for their kids, but life isn't that simple. Is it really beneficial to the child to live in a house where daddy cheated on mummy repeatedly, and the two barely speak to each other? Divorce isn't the issue, the issue is bad divorces. The kind of divorce when a child is caught in the middle of bitter custody battles, where a parent tries to turn the kid against the other parent. Or when the kid is ignored completely when both parents go off to start new and improved lives.

In fairness to the book, both Josh and Victoria came from crappy backgrounds. Josh was one of the children of the chandelier Roses, and Victoria's dad left when she was a baby and she grew up hearing her mum criticise not only him, but the entire male gender. In these cases, yes, they'd be lucky to have grown up without some sort of flaw and I can 100% understand why they would do everything in their power to avoid putting their kids through the same thing. This does not, however, explain why Victoria immediately jumps to divorce when she finds out Josh cheated on her. Not that I blame her, I'd do the exact same thing myself, but after a couple of hundred pages full of dramatics about how they don't want the same thing for their own children I can't help but wonder why they didn't try a different course of action first.

If the book had been about two children of messy divorces dealing with the breakdown of their marriage, it could have been a really interesting and complicated character study. Instead of this preposterous idea that all divorce is evil and damaging, why not consider that after years of being terrified of divorce, of scarring their children, what would happen if one of them fell in love with someone else?

And before I move on, let me share this doozy of a quote which leads me into my next heading.

Yet, this exercise of counting blessings always required acknowledging that they had been lucky to escape the consequences of their past and by courage, discipline, and self-awareness risen above their early traumas, she as a child of divorce, he as a premature orphan.

Drama

Oh my god the drama. I've read a few reviews (and the actual synopsis) which suggests that this is supposed to be a dark comedy. To me this feels like a dark comedy in the same way the cult film The Room is billed as a dark comedy now. It failed in it's original intention and when people seemed to find their interpretation of drama ridiculous they quickly back-peddle and cry "but it was always meant to be funny and over the top!"

There is a scene early in the novel where Victoria is called into her son's school to discuss an accusation another child made. Her son allegedly stole a few milky-ways , and Victoria defends her son's honour the way a lawyer defends a man on trial for murder. And if this wasn't dramatic enough, when it turns out her son actually did steal the chocolates this is how she reacts;

"Don't you understand, Josh? Our son has betrayed us. We believed in him. He's pulled the rug out from under us...that goes without saying, Josh. But that doesn't get to the heart of why he did it. How can we trust him ever again?"

 ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

He's 11 years old. I know you have issues of trust with men, but he's your son! So is this drama for drama's sake, an example of the book's misogyny (those pesky females always over-react!) or...comedy?

Mothers, rape and misogyny

It took me all of two seconds to hate Victoria. She's ridiculous, and clearly made to be hated. On the first page she barks at a checkout girl who plugs in the wrong price for an item, and two pages later she notes that she likes to read the receipt after she shops because;

Either way, it opened up opportunities to exercise her moral superiority and mathematical acumen. 

Ugh. Another page on and Victoria has to visit the school to discuss her son's apparent chocolate theft. Remembering the initial confrontation, the book describes;

Michael, with all of his eleven-year-old indignation, had denied the accusation in presence of both Crespos and their nerdy little Madeline who lisped, ogling them through goggles far too big for her pinched little face.

Isn't she lovely?  But my problem is less that she's unlikeable and more that she, and every female in this book is unlikeable. Victoria is a nasty bitch, her mother is a man hating vindictive cow, Josh's sister is an overeating sex addict and the woman he has an affair with is conniving. They all work to fracture Josh's life as best as possible, and even though he's the man who has an affair he's presented as the victim, a considerate and family-orientated character who slipped up but is being wronged on many fronts.

Let's talk about that affair shall we? The woman is hired to be a designer at the ad agency Josh works at, and almost instantly she stalks into his office and says that she wants to "be his whore" and has sex with him on his couch. Everything is her fault. She seduced him, she made the first move, she refused to accept it was over. Let's forget that he bought her an anklet engraved with "my delicious whore". *GROAN*

There are only two sex scenes in this book and both made me incredibly uncomfortable. The first is Josh remembering the affair with Angela, and it's less the descriptions of sex (although the lines "I love hard, quick sex" and "I love that ice-cream cone you're carrying" were hard to get past) and more the implication that Angela basically raped Josh (climbing onto him amidst his calls to stop) and a hot and heavy relationship developed from it. That's not bdsm, that's not romantic, that's not sexy. That's fucked up.

The second is a sex act that takes place between Victoria and the school's principal. She forces her son to tell the truth and when the principal explains that this means expulsion, he quickly follows it with the very sleazy and cliché "well  maybe we can sort it out" reasoning. The next day they take a drive to the country, and after a few terrible "blow me baby" lines, she trades oral sex for her son's scholastic safety. And again, it isn't the implication of pulpy romance lines that upset me, or even rape in this case. In this scene it was one particular line which upset me.

He began to caress her knee. the other hand finally reached her breast. a finger began to play with her nipple. despite her disgust, she felt it harden.

Every. Single. Time Warren Adler chooses tawdry and cheap dramatics over anything of substance. In the hands of a better storyteller, this detail might be heartbreaking. It should have made me feel pity for Victoria and detest the principal. But in this book it just felt like a detail thrown in to make things salacious and maybe a little sexy. I found it insulting.

At times I feel like Adler thought he was writing strong characters because they mirrored characters on Sex and the City (she's a lawyer! She doesn't care about her weight! She has sex like a man!) but didn't understand that giving a female masculine connotations does not equal strong. Especially when any positive feature (she manages the family finances, she takes care of her friends financially) is overshadowed by half a dozen negative female connotations. They're either too emotional, or too cold, or man haters, or they can't keep a secret, or they've altered themselves surgically to the point of ridiculousness. The male characters aren't much better, they're just as stereotypical and wooden, but they're entirely more sympathetic than any of the females. Even Victoria's father is sympathetic, shown only once dying of cancer in a hospital room claiming he only stayed away because Victoria's mum was so bad.

So yes, I guess it's pretty clear that I did not like this book, and I haven't even broached the saccharine ending or the blackmail plot. On the bright side, apart from the terrible dialogue within the sex scenes, the writing is actually pretty good. Good enough that I was able to make it through the entire book even though I hated it with every fibre in my being. And there are a few flashes of brilliance, the son Michael's arc was interesting, Victoria gets a single kickass lawyer sticking-it-to-the-man moment, and there's a couple of really sweet scenes between Josh and his sister. But that's a pretty weak silver lining. Ultimately I think this book is fluff charading as an indictment of modern relationships, and there are half a dozen books that look at similar issues, with a dark comedy bent that are light-years away from the over-the-top dramatics of this book.

Book Review: Poem for the Wolves by Andrew Cyrus Hudson

Poem for the Wolves

Written by: Andrew Cyrus Hudson

Published: 2013

Synopsis:                             

A thousand miles of stone black pavement

Along the war torn, snow packed plains.

Beckons you to soon forget

The place you once called home.

In the middle of a world wide war against an anonymous alien force, self-described "world's worst poet" HC Diego takes eight-year-old Aimée Dumont across America to see her father. However, the two quickly find out that the mission is not as simple as it sounds. Armed with only an old M1 Carbine, a Glock 35, and sheer wits, HC Diego and Aimée Dumont discover new places, grand adventures, and constant dangers. And soon, they'll find a close companion as well.

A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review.
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Poem for the Wolves is an ambitious book. Spanning over 600 e-book pages, a cross-country adventure and a heck of a lot of action, this book clearly aspires to the standard set by Stephen King with his post-apocalyptic classic The Stand. Considering The Stand is one of King's best received novels, the question is less "does Poems for the Wolves reach the dizzying heights set by King", because such a feet would be near impossible even for an author more established than Hudson. Instead, the question should be, "has Hudson done something new and exciting with the genre?"

Hudson treads the fine line between well-known tropes and exciting new terrain, for the most part, with great success. The world created in this book is an interesting one. After a fleet of aliens attacked Earth we lost the battle, but have yet to lose the war. Life is a constant battlefield, they can attack anywhere, and suddenly. But while people are battling the aliens, life is still going on somewhat as usual. There's school and work, people can live in their houses (when they aren't being invaded by aliens), and they fall in love. It's not post-apocalyptic or even apocalyptic, it encompasses this liminal space, a snapshot of life amidst the chaos as humanity tries to keep things moving forward while an outside force strives to take them down. Much of the book takes place on the front line, so to speak, and I kind of wish we'd had a chance to view more of how life was lived in the midst of this hell. Luckily there are flashback scenes with our principal characters so we do get a peek at how different families and groups spread across the country handled the news of the attack and the early shock and terror of the alien's first arrival but I wanted more. Maybe more of a World War Z approach, or more time spent with the people they meet and their story.

The aliens are also interesting. They're a faceless, nameless foe, and through the course of the novel they're referred to, in bold, as They.  They might be invading Earth, but they're oddly prehistoric in their attack. Their weapon shoots needles, and while they do prove fatal quite often, their fatality really depends on where on the body they hit the human. And their attack wasn't a surprise. Or not entirely. Our technology meant we first caught sight of them two years before their arrival, and while that gave us a certain amount of time to prepare, it clearly wasn't enough. Because of the anonymous them status of our alien friends, they're utilised more as roadblocks for our characters... tremendous roadblocks that like to fight back with sharp, pointy things.

But now onto our characters. HC is our protagonist. He's young, smart and handy with a gun, but he has some growing up to do. He's also saddled with the responsibility of getting an 8 year old home to her dad, a trip that's going to take them through towns and cities under constant barrage by the aliens. Aimée is young, precocious and amazingly brave considering the situation. When I began reading this book I'd just finished The Walking Dead videogame and the relationship struck me as very similar. HC wasn't a criminal like the protagonist in The Walking Dead, but the relationship between man and child, and the on-the-fly adapting to raising a child in a dangerous situation was similar. Perhaps I was projecting my relationship with the characters in the game with the characters in the book, but I felt like I understood and cared about their relationship from the instant the book started. While the two of them journey to find Aimée's father, they join forces with various combat groups, come up against roving criminals and make friends in the unlikeliest of places. There are other characters that join these two along the way. There's Shelley, HC's love interest, who joins them fairly early on. Jim and Marla Casey, a brother and sister wanting to move to California. And a motley array of friendly, aggressive, perfectionist, jokers in the college militia.

As I said before, the book is ambitious, and ambition can be risky. Besides the alien invasion, the story flits back to before the alien's arrival and to during the first days of the attack. Between each chapter there are a couple of poems that HC, self-acclaimed "world's worst poet", wrote along the journey, and Hudson employs a plethora of literary techniques and devices to tell his story. Some of the devices were really enjoyable. I loved that any time a character died, whether we'd known the for one sentence or 10 chapters, their death was book-ended with the sentence "X was Y years old". It brought the reality of the situation crashing down. Most of the people we meet in the story are civilians who take up arms to protect their homes, towns and country. Some are college students, some are parents, some are actual military personnel. Whoever they are, their death is felt by someone, on some level. It was a nice token to remind the reader of the situation, and help people put themselves into the battle. The poems I was less jazzed about. I can't honestly comment on the quality of them because I really dislike reading poetry, so I'll refrain from commenting on them completely. But they are short and they're reflections on the previous action, so if you don't like poetry you can always skip them.

The flashbacks I loved because I liked to see the comparison between life before, during the initial attack/arrival and now. I also loved that in a lot of the cases, the characters had actually found a better life after the invasion because it was the push they needed to get out of their dull or oppressive lives, or to force them to make a decision about their future. But in some cases the stories didn't quite feel like they aligned with the rest of the book or with the characters. Aimée's story for instance comes right towards the end and what you learn from her flashbacks are really quite troubling but I didn't feel like the other character's reacted enough and Aimée, young though she is, didn't seem to realise the severity of what she was telling the others. If a little bit more time had been taken in these flashbacks maybe the extra fleshing out of the story would fill in those odd gaps and miscommunication. And on top of the literary choices, the writing itself felt a little stiff at times. Some of the dialogue didn't feel natural, or was too formal given the age and backgrounds of the characters. And while I felt like the action was written clearly, (the opening sequence was a really great way to start the novel, meet HC and Aimée and introduce the aliens) and with the excitement necessary for action scenes, the occasional issue that popped up in the dialogue and flashback scenes upset the flow of the novel and the pacing suffered a few hiccups.

Any book this ambitious is going to have problems, especially when it's only the author's second novel. Because of the flaws and the time investment the epic size and story necessitates this isn't a book for everyone, but while it may not be joining The Stand on people's bookshelves just yet I think the story itself has a lot of promise and heart and just like Hudson's first novel Drift, it marks the promise of this young author.

Book Review: The Diabolist by Layton Green

The Diabolist

Written by: Layton Green

Published: 2013

Synopsis: In this gripping thriller, the bizarre murder of a Satanic priest in San Francisco draws Dominic Grey and Viktor Radek, private investigators of cults, to the scene. Witnesses claim a robed figure, seemingly able to appear and disappear at will, set fire to the priest. When the leader of another Satanic cult in Paris dies under similar circumstances, the case only grows stranger… and more dangerous.

Convinced that a charismatic New Age prophet is behind the murders, the investigators undergo a perilous journey into the world of the occult as they try to penetrate the prophet’s inner circle. From the catacombs of Paris to London’s nefarious East End, from the haunted walls of York to a monastic fortress in the Sicilian wilderness, the case plunges Viktor and Grey into a vortex of black magic, ancient heresies, and the dark corners of their own pasts.

A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review.
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"Because magicians, at least real magicians, have no connection to santanists. The popular American concept that gullible teenagers are drawn into Satanism through the occult is an urban myth. Someone who reads Harry Potter, plays role-playing games, or dabbles with tarot and palm reading is no more likely to start worshiping the devil than anyone else" 

Reading Layton Green makes me really angry at Dan Brown.

Dan Brown is pretty good at what he does and I don't begrudge him his success, but when it comes to interesting characters embarking on a thrilling exploration into the dark world of cults, religions and magic Layton Green does it SO much better. Sure it's possible Layton Green will get the recognition he deserves, and this might even the book that makes people stand up and take notice, but right now Dan Brown is probably laying on an ridiculously large rotating bed throwing money into the air giggling like a school girl and that irks me tremendously.

Needless to say, I really enjoyed The Diabolist. This is the third book in Green's Dominic Grey series, and easily my favourite. The Egyptian, the second in the series, was the first book I read, and while I would recommend taking in the entire series chronologically they're designed to be stand-alone books - akin to Sherlock Holmes, certain previous knowledge is presumed but you aren't left in the dark if you choose to jump around through the order.

Joining our unassuming hero Dominic Grey in a more direct capacity is his boss, the absinthe-drinking professor, Viktor Radek. And unlike in the previous books, the veil of mystery is removed from Victor and he becomes less an adroit cult expert and more a flawed, troubled and deeply fascinating man. Though they're separated for much of the novel, the interplay between Dominic and Viktor was one of my favourite elements. Victor is the world famous phenomenologist, descended from minor Bohemian royalty with a heady addiction to absinthe. He's sharp and intelligent but has a quietness and softness that betrays his near-7 foot height. Dominic, on the other hand, is small, slight and trained in a litany of martial arts and surveillance techniques. They make a formidable team, the teacher and the student, the protector and the protected, the father and the son...but which character takes which position shifts constantly throughout the novel. They both have their flaws, blind-spots and their vulnerabilities but each regards the other as the most important person for them to protect and their loyalty to one another is touching.

The thing Layton Green does really well is blur lines. Nothing is black and white in Green's world (or ours to be quite frank), there is no clear divide between good and evil, magic and illusion, reality and imagination. In the end the only thing the characters can rely on is their faith, their faith in science, or in a God or in their partner, but the acts of the novel are constructed to shake that faith to its core, to make it impossible for a character to confidently claim to believe in any one thing. Answers are provided at the end of the novel, but not to every seed of doubt that was planted. By the conclusion of the novel, each character has had to reexamine their beliefs and concede that maybe they aren't as sure as they once were. And as we come out the other end, we, as readers, have our own beliefs and assumptions shaken and questioned. It's the way a book should be, asking questions, encouraging introspection, and delivering information and alternate points of view without being didactic or pushy.

There is only really one female character (aside from Eve who appears briefly in flashback) and while she's mostly hovering along the periphery, Anka is also one of the most riveting and oblique characters in the story. She isn't simply there to be romantically involved with Dominic, she's a mystery to be solved, a question to be answered and, potentially, the key to solving the whole thing. I feel like I may have made her sound like a tool to be used by the male protagonists and I guess in some ways that's exactly what she is. But I also think she's a physical manifestation of the religious and moral debates that proliferate this story, she's within and without, and it's great.

The Diabolist is a well-paced and thrilling narrative that had me captivated throughout. The characters are complex, the mystery well portrayed and the content is intelligent and clearly well researched. These are the kinds of books you read with a wikipedia or google tab open so you can read up on Ahriman or Satanic cults or Bram Stoker's connections to magic as you wind your way through the story, and I can't wait to see what phenomenon Viktor and Dominic get involved with next.

Book Review: Ad Nomad by Eric Jay Sonnenschein

Ad Nomad

Written by: Eric Jay Sonnenschein

Published: 2012

Synopsis: In Ad Nomad, the Case Histories of Dane Bacchus, we enter the world of pharmaceutical advertising, where corrupt and ingenious creative minds market powerful medicines and sophisticated devices with more flair and guile than is used in promoting corn flakes, cars, and mouthwash. In these pages, you will find driven account people, maniacal creative directors, art directors and copywriters pushed to the brink of mental mayhem. Ad Nomad is a coming of age novel about a second-career seeker that describes the quest for self-actualization and the struggle for survival with muckraking naturalism and surreal humor.
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In Australia there s a series of shows named Gruen (insert various second title here), which looks at advertising through the eyes of advertisers. It's fascinating to watch a panel of copywriters de-construct election campaigns, publicity spin, and the latest coke ad - and disagree so often! And while I wouldn't be in a rush to join the profession (unless in was Mad Men era minus the misogyny and racism) it's become something of a budding interest of mine. So imagine my delight when Eric Jay Sonnenschein asked if I'd read and review his book Ad Nomad - which is all about advertising and provides a not-so-pretty glimpse into the realities of that world.

Ad Nomad is a BIG book, like, 600 pages big, and while I think this is probably enough to put a few of you off I'm going to talk you down off that cliff and explain why the size isn't really an issue, and why you should perhaps in actual fact give this book a go. This book is split up rather neatly into 7 sections, all of which read almost like individual little books. There is most definitely a larger story that binds them all together, the story of Dane Bacchus entering a late-in-life career change into advertising and trying to keep from leaping off tall buildings as a result, but each section deals with a period in Dane's life post-career change. Section one is his hunt to re-educate and find the elusive advertising job, part 2 is his first job, part 3 is his second job and so on. So even though you have 600 pages of Dane Bacchus to explore, there isn't really that overbearing feeling of "oh my god, this book is monstrous and is going to devour my soul before I devour it". Which is good. But in the end, what is 600 pages if the book is well written and interesting? Exactly.

Dane Bacchus is an interesting character and I think I kind of hate him! Although I commend him for being proactive and deciding on a career change at 44, his ego is so large (and yet his self-esteem is so low) that it seems like the only way he would have been happy from the get-go is if he'd been offered a job as CEO, and even then I'm not so sure he'd really be satisfied. Dane spent his first career teaching at a university and struggling to make it as an author. Needless to say he never had success with either, or at least, not the sort of success that brings in enough money to support your wife and daughter. Once he decides on advertising (known to make people money, but also be creative) he struggles between his low self-esteem (can he keep his family fed?) and his ego (MY idea is the right idea, even if this is only my second day) and becomes almost unbearable. He questions everyone's expertise, argues over content, and locks horns over people's personality traits or quirks. At times Dane is completely in the right and I would be cheering him on when he finally stood up to the big-shot copywriters or the pretentious art director, but more often than not the disagreements came from his own insecurities or issues of ego. Now, I may have hated him a little as a person, but I loved him as a character. His fallibilities are, as always, interesting to read, especially when the novel is as much a character study as this one is.

As for the actual plot of the book, it may leave you feeling rather depressed. There is no glamour, no quick fixes and while Dane does a pretty decent job working his way up the advertising ladder it's filled with hard work, long hours and the animosity of clients and co-workers alike. It gels very well with the impression I've always been given that advertising is a finnicky career, and the reality that Sonnenschein imbues in this book is at times both hilarious and upsetting. Along with Dane's persistent search for the ad that will make him famous, this book touches on the minutia of office life - leaking air-conditioning, pervasive cigarette smoke, strokes in toilets, and the variety of characters which can be found in any work environment- the co-workers who gossip and spread rumours behind your back, the boss who hates you for no discernible reason, the lay-about, the old-timer, and the person with the inappropriate crush. You can change the career and go up a pay-grade or two, but at the end of the day a job is a job, and those tedious details will follow you everywhere. Which is not to say that no job can give you fulfilment, but if you expect your career to change your life you will likely find that reality hits hard.

Sonnenschein is a strong writer, and Ad Nomad is extremely well-written. At times the names of characters border on the ridiculous (Buzz Dingblatz for instance) and Dane's ego actually becomes unbearable (an issue with porn for instance) but the humour, insight into the industry and interesting questions raised around creativity and creativity in a business setting are strong enough to let those smaller issues slide. So don't let the size hold you back, take it one section at a time and be sure to report back on how you felt about Dane and his quest for ultimate creative control.

Review: The Jazz Cage by Ray Chen Smith

The Jazz Cage 
Written by: Ray Chen Smith

Published: 2012

Synopsis: It is 1924—sixty years after the South’s victory in the Civil War.

Frank McCluey, bounty hunter for the mob, is sent to help out a wealthy Virginian bootlegger. Frank’s job: track down two female slaves who’ve run away from the millionaire.

But the mob has made a bad choice. Instead of capturing the women, Frank decides to help them escape to Canada, his mission now aided by the pint-sized but steel-willed runaway Della and the outlawed Underground Railroad.

Soon Della and Frank become the target of slave catchers, cops, gangsters, and most chilling of all, a Confederate agent nicknamed the Hound for his ability to always sniff out and kill his prey
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Set in an alternate 1920s America where the South won the Civil War and seceded from the North, the Jazz Cage offers a dynamic tale of secrets, mobsters, and race relations.

The secession both changes everything and nothing. Arnold Rothstein is still a big name in the underworld, jazz still plays and the twenties still roar but, and this is a pretty big but, America is divided in two and an entire group of people are subjugated and refused the most basic of rights. This changes everything, even for those in the "free" north, and above all else, this book provides a chilling alternative look at what could have been. And while I'm not American, this change has a knock-on effect - if America was divided, would they have joined WWII? If they had, would they have the same power? Would the South have joined the allies or the axis? Would racial segregation and inequality have ever ended? How would this affect other countries who have had their own issues with inequality? Would America have gone to the moon? Would the Cold War have happened? The Vietnam war? Would a black man ever be made president? Sure, these issues aren't actually raised, as such, in the book but they are implicit the second history was shifted and the ramifications add weight to a story that otherwise is much narrower in scope.

The book is paced fairly well, delivering past glimpses into their lives only when necessary to uncover another dimension to the character. When we're first introduced to the three protagonists, Frank, Cece and Della, their characters seem fairly prosaic. Frank works for the mob, and understandably seems to be lacking the capacity for basic emotions or empathy, unless to do with the young and impetuous Isaac, who rarely leaves his side. He seems tired, bored and unable to muster a single care for anyone else. Della and Cece are both escaped slaves, Della is strong and independent and fiercely protective of the young and vulnerable Cece, who, through systematic abuse and trauma, has the emotional capacity of a child. However as the book continues you learn that none of them are quite so easy to define. All three have pasts which have lead them to build walls around themselves, to hide their true selves away from further harm. As the story continues with the three of them together, they struggle behind their individual walls, wondering whether it's safe to lower the gangway or if, like everyone else they've ever met, this new travelling companion(s) is going to take advantage and lead them to ruin.

It all comes down, in the end, to trust. If you're a slave who has spent your whole life being abused and lied to by white men, how can you truly trust the pudgy white guy who says he can get you to Canada? And when a mobster who is hired to capture you and take you back to your owner, how can you ever believe that he wants to help you? And if you were always closed off to the world, until a chance meeting with a captivating and wilful woman changed everything and then left too soon, would you be trusting of any feelings that might begin to bubble below the surface? Letting down the walls, trusting, believing that when people say something they actually mean it, it's all symptomatic of this alternate world and the environment they've been forced to live in.

The book explores all of this as Frank, Della and Cece struggle to make their way up to Canada. With the disgruntled slave owner, the mob, the police and their lack of trust working against them, the three protagonists take one hell of a ride. It's packed with action, adventure, humour and it's thought-provoking. It isn't the perfect book, but it has all the ingredients for a good book and Ray Chen Smith mixes them together just about right.

Review: Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Alice in Zombieland
Written by: Gena Showalter

Published: 2012

Synopsis: Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

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Before I begin my review I need to address two issues that you really should know before going into the book. First, the zombies are not zombies. They're cannibalistic spirits, so they're closer to revanants than zombies. For most people this probably won't matter because they still manage to wreak havoc, but if you're a zombie purist this will probably drive you nuts. Secondly, Alice is Zombieland is just a title, there is very little connection between this book and Alice in Wonderland, which I found really disappointing. There is a white rabbit which pops up from time to time as a cloud, and a very, very minor thematic connection but I was hoping it'd be more of an undead retelling of Alice in Wonderland so it just wasn't enough for me.

Moving on from that though, I'm torn about this book. There are some real issues in terms of characterisation, plot structure and the writing style, but I ended up enjoying myself for most of it. Key to the success was the protagonist, Alice. The book begins while her family is still alive. Her sister is an enthusiastic and glowing 8 year old and her best friend despite the large age gap. Part of the reason for this is the fact that their father is crazy. He believes that monsters walk the Earth and he's gone to great lengths to protect his young family. Alice's mother is stuck somewhere in the middle, she loves her kids dearly, but her complete adoration and trust in her husband puts her at odds with her daughters much of the time. One or two chapters in, a car accident results in the deaths of the entire family, Alice excluded. She moves in with her grandparents and has to transfer to a new school, and all of a sudden her father's safety precautions no longer apply. She can stay out after dark if she wants to and make plans with friends, but she doesn't feel free - the guilt of living while her family died hangs heavily over her head. It isn't a perfect character, but Gena Showalter does a pretty remarkable job of creating a teenage character suffering through the loss of a loved one. In the first section she essentially shuts down, unable to even cry, and puts herself into dangerous situations trying to find answers to her family's deaths. As the book continues though, she finds purpose and slowly begins to heal from her loss.

Aside from Alice and her grandparents (they only feature fairly briefly, but I really enjoyed them) most of the characters are walking clichés  Her new best friend Kat is almost embarrassing, speaking in one-liners and overly obsessed with her appearance. She's the kind of stereotypical teenage girl you'd expect your out of touch mum or grandma to write. Later in the book attempts are made to add depth to her character but they don't work because of the earlier efforts which basically render her a cartoon character. Similarly, all of the boys that feature in this book, bar one, are bad boys. They're covered in piercings and tattoos and frequently show up at school covered in bruises. I know piercings are common enough, but how many 17 year olds do you see decked out in tattoos? Maybe it's more common in America, but it just seemed ridiculous to me. Also, can we move past the 'bad boys are irresistible period' already? It's gone on long enough. Most YA books I read either infantilise the characters or turn them into mini-adults, and this one basically chucks a bunch of college-aged adults (appearance-wise at least) into a high school and acts like it's natural. I'd hazard a guess that the reason Showalter does this is because of the heavy emphasis on sex and romance in this novel. Showalter is best known for writing paranormal and contemporary romances, and all of the characters in this book have a heavy focus on getting into the pants of someone else. I know 16-18 year olds have sex, but at times it felt really creepy reading about the sexual attraction Alice has for the lead bad boy, Cole, (there's a scene in a bar that's especially bad) and felt like it would have been more at home in a Mills and Boon novel.

Which leads me onto my next concern, there are some parallels between this book and Twilight. A new girl to school find herself irresistibly drawn to the 'bad' boy. Trouble seems drawn to her, her new best friend is obnoxious, there is a second guy that doesn't get along with the 'bad' boy, the 'bad' boys close friends are overly protective and hate the new girl...it's not just me right? I suppose you could argue that many YA books follow this general pattern, but considering it has a supernatural element these similarities just seemed glaring and hard to ignore.

The story itself was pretty interesting, although it had problems of its own. Regaining conscious for a brief moment during the car accident, Alice saw what looked like people dive into her father's body and come out eating his flesh. Because this seemed to suggest her dad wasn't so crazy after all it becomes a fixation of Alice's as she tries to find proof that she hasn't just gone crazy herself. As she investigates, she meets a group of zombie hunters and learns a few things about the zombies that help answer some questions but also raises a whole slew of new questions. About two minutes into the book one big question loomed, "if zombies are present why doesn't everyone notice a huge amount of corpses appearing each night?" During her investigation into these undead spirits, Alice learns that because they're in spirit form not everyone can see them, and as a result the deaths that they instigate (which seem relatively small to be honest) are blamed on wild animals. The members of the zombie hunter troop are all able to see the zombies, but are also equipped with another talent. In order to fight the zombies they need to also be in spirit form, which is something they can train themselves to do. This is perhaps one of the more bizarre elements of the story - people who not only can leave their bodies to fight zombies, but whose weapons can also be transferred to spirit form? But it does work, kind of. Along with a few other factors which unfold as Alice grows to know this other zombie-fighting world, it's still bizarre and but makes for a different take on a fairly typical narrative structure.

I know this has probably seemed like a very negative review but these issues were all glaringly clear as I read the book so I feel like it's really important to lay them down for you all lest you pick it up, read it and shake a fist at the sky screaming "damn you Nylon Admiral, damn you!" But I also want to emphasise how much I didn't hate it as I read it. Yes I noticed the awkward or strange narrative, character and style choices, and yes I did occasionally groan or shake my head but I never had to force myself to continue, and I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. It's been a hard one to review because it's right down the middle for me, enjoyable enough but technically not great and I could completely relate if someone were to tell me they disliked it. In this instance I think I really have to direct you to the other reviews on Goodreads, hopefully they, in conjunction with this review, can help you decide if you want to give it a shot.

Book Review: A Brilliant Novel in the Works by Yuvi Zalkow

A Brilliant Novel in the Works
Written by: Yuvi Zalkow

Published: 2012

Synopsis: When Yuvi's wife finds him in his underwear, standing on top of his desk, she isn't particularly impressed with his writing habits. A self-proclaimed "neurotic Jew," he has a wife who wants things he can’t give her, an agent who wants a book he can’t deliver, and dead parents who, well, they don't really want anything, but that doesn't stop the memory of them from haunting Yuvi at every opportunity. His life begins to unravel as quickly as his unfinished novel, until the two finally begin to intertwine. Soon, his real-life friends and family begin to intermix with his characters. Yuvi travels from his suburban-Atlanta home to the North Carolina mountains of his father's childhood, to several hospital waiting rooms in a struggle to save himself, his marriage, his novel, and also the life of his brother-in-law and end war in the Middle East (if he has time).
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I've been umming and ahhing about writing this review for two weeks now, and I've finally decided that I've just got to sit down, throw caution to the wind and hope that I manage to do my tangled thoughts, and this book, justice.

Why the hold up? Well part of it is the fact that the book's protagonist, Yuvi, bears some surface similarities to the author...Yuvi. How the heck do you review a book about a failing author who frequently cuts up his ass, prefers being spanked to having sex, stands on top of his desk in his underwear and generally fails at life, when the actual author shares the same name, and for all I know, a whole lot more? Second, the book and the protagonist's life is tangled up with writing in a very meta and complex way, which required more than just a typical review. Or at least that's how I felt. So here I am, two weeks later, struggling to work out how to express my reaction to this book sufficiently and hoping to all the gods in all the heavens that I didn't miss the key descriptor "autobiography" when I accepted this book for review.

So here it goes. Yuvi...he's pretty pathetic. I mean he's completely loveable, and I adored him in this book, but every few chapters I would inwardly sigh and thank my lucky stars that I wasn't his wife Julia. He's the antithesis of the romantic author image, he isn't holed away in some beautiful room overlooking a lake, a glass of scotch at his side while he battles through his demons as he bangs away on a dusty, yet reliable, typewriter. Rather, Yuvi can usually be found in his underwear, moaning about his inability to write his novel and complaining about his wife's love of BLTs. The writing happens infrequently and with a huge amount of pain. For someone who actively pursues the life of a writer, it seems to bring him a lot of grief - although that's something I sympathise with completely. He is, to be completly blunt and a maybe little inappropriate, thoroughly Jewish in all the ways American TV has conditioned me to stereotype. Although I suppose it isn't bigoted of me when the character himself is frequently pointing out how Jewish he is compared to his protestant wife and her family,and frequently uses it as a method to distinguish himself from the people around him. His Jewishness (if that's a word) is a crucial element of his character. The son of an Israeli Jewish mother and an American Jewish father, Yuvi clings to this as his only real sense of identity, even though his link to Judaism at this point in his life is tenuous at best, and it seems at times like he's almost replicating the Jewish characters of popular sitcoms perhaps to emphasise that he knows he's different, so that no one can use that as a point of attack against him. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Yuvi is so uncomfortable in his own skin, and so unsure (and unsupportive) of himself that he struggles to act accordingly with his true identity (writer) and overcompensates with something that should realistically just be a part of who he is, not the defining feature.

Yuvi is a big part of the book, so much so that everything else just sort of revolves around him. While there are sections created around Julia and her brother (Joel, AKA Shmendrick), or Shmen and his partner Ally, really it's about Yuvi's relationship with these people, and Yuvi's interpretation of their relationships through his eyes. Julia and Joel may be brother and sister, but what they really have in common is Yuvi, and Yuvi's relationships with these two people, the most important outside of his deceased parents, are very important to the development of Yuvi's character through the book. Julia, his wife, is compassionate, intelligent and determined. She works with rehabilitating addicts and spends so much time caring for other people that Yuvi constantly feels as though he's burdening her, that he's too goofy and child-like for such an incredible woman. Unlike Julia, Joel/Shmen isn't quite so together. In fact, he's pretty much the complete opposite of her.Where Julia is organised and professional, Shmen is erratic and creative and irresponsible. He'll call at 4am with anagrams, band names and useless facts, is always up for a martini and is incapable of holding down a job. He's also sick, which fits rather beautifully with his "live life to the fullest" mentality. These two balance out and provide Yuvi with an amazing scaffold of support - though it is one that he fails to recognise much of the time, or to truly appreciate - even though he loves them both to the ends of the Earth. There are other characters, his parents are often discussed during flash backs or self-contained short story chapters, Ally and her daughter, Yuvi's editor, and a few other people flit in and out of the book, but at the heart is Yuvi.

 As he struggles to write his book, Yuvi reveals that his success as a writer has come from short stories and it is back to this format that he falls as a way of coping with life around him. As he worries about Shmen's health and his marriage to Julia (he thinks she might be cheating on him with a tall, handsome uncircumcised man - everything he isn't in other words) he turns to short stories to try and make sense of it all. These short stories, which could be about an incident as a child, his grandparent's love story, a story told from Julia's perspective, or about a man trying to save the future of Earth from Uranus, are emotional, descriptive and very earnest. I don't know if any of the scenes with book Yuvi's parents were modelled on real Yuvi's parents, but the interactions and reflections are so full of love that I almost couldn't bear to read some of them, it felt like peaking at someone's diary.

It soon becomes clear that these short stories, and the daily narrative that surrounds them are the basis for Yuvi's book, which is only the start of the meta characteristics. Though it is set up as a realistic diary of sorts, it soons become clear that writing and words are so entangled in Yuvi's life that fact and fiction begin to shimmer and merge into one huge beast that can't be separated. Or, to put it differently but no less confusingly, the book reflects Yuvi's life which reflects the book/narrative which reflects back on Yuvi's life. At some points processes of writing are used to describe Yuvi's life, such as "It's a typical situation for me: the plot gets too twisted too quickly and now I can't find my way out" (page 40) but are also representative of his struggles as a writer and present issues with his book. Or after being hounded by his editor for something to move the action along - a death or something, anything! - Yuvi tries to spark up a friendship with a Palestinian journalist to fill this void, to which Yusef says "I don't mean to be disrespectful...but you're trying to use me as some kind of outsider who comes in to teach the main character a lesson. It's a bit contrived...You'll have to find another way to save your book" (page 248). At other times, fictional elements are introduced to beautifully convey an emotionally turbulent scene that simply can't receive the proper justice using regular words and realistic situations. I can't go into it without spoiling the final scene, but let me just say that the final chapter absolutely tore my heart out. It was beautiful, melodic, poetic, fascinating and a completely perfect conclusion to an event that had been building for so, so long. I'm sitting here in tears just remembering it, and it's a scene that'll live in my mind for a long time yet. If for nothing else, read this book to read this final chapter. If it doesn't take your breath away and leave you crying on the bus like it did for me, then I'll buy you a new book.

Yuvi is a writer, everything he does is storytelling, he just fails to grasp that at the start of the book. The beauty of this story is the transformation Yuvi takes as he finally begins to realise this, and stops interfering with the process long enough to create a well-constructed, eloquent novel that is full of emotions and fears and realisations about life, love, family and himself. And in getting his writing mojo back and his novel on track, his life falls back into place as well. Like I said, Yuvi is a writer, without it his life is a mess. Truly, this book is an extraordinary read.

Review: A Deeper Darkness by J.T. Ellison

A Deeper Darkness
Written by J.T. Ellison

Published: 2012

Synopsis:As a medical examiner, Samantha Owens knows her job is to make a certain sense of death with crisp methodology and precision instruments.But the day the Tennessee floods took her husband and children, the light vanished from Sam's life. She has been pulled into a suffocating grief no amount of workaholic ardor can penetrate—until she receives a peculiar call from Washington, D.C. On the other end of the line is an old boyfriend's mother, asking Sam to do a second autopsy on her son. Eddie Donovan is officially the victim of a vicious car jacking, but under Sam's sharp eye the forensics tell a darker story. The ex-Ranger was murdered, though not for his car.




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In some ways A Deeper Darkness is several books in one. The first book is a heart-wrenching look at a wife and mother who survived her family's death in a sudden and unexpected flood. The career she'd always loved is suddenly hollow, and to cope with her loss she's hardened herself almost to the point of no-return and developed OCD tendencies that she struggles to hide from the people around her. The second book is an honest examination of life as the spouse or family member of a war veteran, and the complexities that are added to the relationship when they return home from Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. The third story is a crime mystery looking into the death of an ex-ranger, and slowly piecing together a much larger and more insidious case. Separately they'd be interesting stories but something that's been done before, entwined together however, the result is a multi-faceted book that interested me from different fronts and was easy to consume from start to finish.

When we first meet Samantha Owens she's calm, in control and thinking fondly of the ordered, organised events that are to unfold during the day in her autopsy lab. Just as an impression of who this woman is begins to form everything begins to come apart at the seams when it's revealed that one of the bodies about to be delivered drowned. With that brief little sentence you quickly come to realise how damaged Samantha is. All of that structure at the initial introduction was simply a well fortified wall that's only job is to keep her upright until she can make it back to the privacy of her home where she is free to fall apart in whatever way she chooses. However it's clear that structures and walls and order have long been a mainstay in her life. She's scientific, pragmatic, sensible and logical, things which are emphasised in flashbacks, internal narration and her reactions to unexpected questions or advances. When it comes to people Samantha loves though, her rationality flies right out the window.Time and time again Samantha seethes with anger and disappointment when people throw up roadblocks and halt her determined effort to get to the bottom of Eddie's death. Not that they're wrong to do so, she is simply a medical examiner - she's not qualified to take part in a criminal investigation and she probably shouldn't even be told much of the information about the case - but there's a passion and fire that motivates her and clashes dramatically with the cold scientific rigor she regularly embodies. The stress and heartache that comes from investigating your first love's murder so soon after the death of your family is an important component in Samantha's character - it leaves her vulnerable and likeable, and makes her focused attempts to persevere through the pain all the more inspiring. All this being said, I wasn't the biggest fan of Samantha. At times I found her cold, obnoxious, condescending and self-involved and I highly doubt that if I met her i'd have anything to say to her that didn't revolve around the weather. But this just cemented the reality of her character - no one's perfect after all.

I won't dedicate as much time to the other characters in the book, but while most of them were well fleshed out, none had the same life as Samantha. Some were, understandably, a little cardboard-y, serving mostly as markers to move the mystery and the plot along, but even the characters like Detective Darren Fletcher (equal parts cynical, protective and kind) and his better natured partner Detective Lonny Hart who I adored felt a little...lacking compared to the focus that had been put into Samantha. This unbalance was, I think, the main reason I really detested the character of Eddie’s wife, Susan. Though I’m sure we were supposed to believe that her catty remarks and overly snobby attitude was a reaction to the sudden death of her husband, I just found it hard to believe that she and Eddie were soul-mates, and she always seemed out of sync with the rest of the characters. Compared to Samantha, Susan just felt two-dimensional, as though we were supposed to be shocked and a little annoyed that Eddie would marry her and not run off searching for Samantha. Be that as it may, this really was a book about Samantha and while I wish the other characters had been a little more equally weighted, they each had an important function within the story and they fulfilled those roles well.

The book cycles through Samantha, Fletcher and Susan (mostly) as narrators, though Samantha takes up the lion's share of these. It helped spread the story out, divulging certain details of the mystery to one character (and yourself) while keeping that little nugget in the dark from the rest of the main cast of players. It results in an interesting array of red herrings and wasted hunts - but ever so slowly, among the potential threads of Government conspiracies, the psychological impact of war, relationships, secrets and assaults, Fletcher, Hart and Samantha build up a case that is much bigger than the original belief of Eddie's mother that he wasn't the victim of a simple carjacking. Because of the focus on Samatha and her personal history with Eddie, and recent losses, the mystery wasn't the most difficult to work out - but it didn't need to be. The meat of the story is Samantha (and to a lesser extent Susan and Fletcher) coming to terms with her situation, letting go of the past  and moving forward.

This book was a spin-off from J.T. Ellison's Taylor Jackson, and already has a second book due for publication at the end of the year. I'm intrigued to see where it heads, because it was pretty neatly wrapped up in the closing chapters of this book - but I imagine it probably follows Samantha back in her proper position as medical examiner. Hopefully now that Samantha's character is well formed and has had a book dedicated to the good, bad and ugly sides of her self, the next book will be able to focus on some new characters who work side by side with Samantha, although I would also love to see some of the crew from this book pop up in the next story too! A Deeper Darkness is an engaging story with a mystery that packs a punch and a protagonist with a lot of heart. A great read!

Review: Waiting For Daybreak by Amanda McNeil

Waiting for Daybreak
Written by: Amanda McNeil

Published: 2012

Synopsis: What is normal? Frieda has never felt normal. She feels every emotion too strongly and lashes out at herself in punishment. But one day when she stays home from work too depressed to get out of bed, a virus breaks out turning her neighbors into flesh-eating, brain-hungry zombies. As her survival instinct kicks in keeping her safe from the zombies, Frieda can’t help but wonder if she now counts as healthy and normal, or is she still abnormal compared to every other human being who is craving brains?



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Confession time. Considering I spent last year writing a thesis about zombies, and am currently 6 months into a PhD on the same subject, I usually detest zombie books. I'm not really sure why, I've never had a bad experience with zombie fiction but for whatever reason it doesn't fill me with the same joy and excitement that zombie films and video games do. So I went into Amanda McNeil's Waiting for Daybreak a little reticent, but hoping- as I always do- that it'd change my mind. Within a few pages I was pleasantly surprised, and knew I hadn't made a mistake accepting this book for review.

Yes there are zombies in Waiting for Daybreak (referred to as the Afflicted) but they are more a backdrop for the events surrounding protagonist Frieda, than a focal point. Affected by anxiety, depression and self-esteem issues (to name a few), Frieda has never felt like she truly belonged in society. Thanks to the zombie outbreak though, society basically no longer exists and Frieda actually seems to be doing OK. Much like Justine (Kirsten Dunst) in the film Melancholia, Frieda always felt like her world was falling apart, so when it actually happens emotionally she's better prepared than most people. Armed with only her cat for company (best survival partner ever!) Frieda lives her life day by day, cultivating plants on her roof, reading up on canning and fruit preserving for the coming winter, rearranging the house to better prepare for potential zombie attacks...you know, the usual. But when her cat gets sick, she's forced out into the ruins of the city she called home in a desperate attempt to save her only friend, and perhaps herself too.

On her trip to the animal hospital, Frieda comes across another unaffected person, the first she's seen in about a year. Mike is around her age and attractive - and not just in a "haven't seen a person in over a year" kind of way. Although he does have a barbed wire tattoo - so maybe the zombie apocalypse has more to do with the attraction after all! They decide to stick together and during their lengthy (and dangerous) trip to the hospital the two of them bond over their pre-zombie eccentricity and post-zombie attraction. Of course, it's not all smooth sailing. Frieda's pre-zombie anxiety and self-esteem issues return full force, and Mike has his own share of issues to deal with.  The biggest question in this book is not whether they can survive an attack by the zombies, but can they survive themselves and each other?

I loved that Amanda McNeil took something that's currently in vogue and twisted it to explore the psychological issues of the book's characters. Frieda only survived the initial attack because of a 'black-out' after a particularly upsetting date, and her continued existence seems to hinge on her ability to survive alone and outside of society. Mike seems to be in a similar boat. A question raised often through the book (whether in text, or just in my mind while reading) is why are the only two people left alive (at least who have run into one another) people who have a history of mental illness and self harm? As the synopsis asks "Frieda can’t help but wonder if she now counts as healthy and normal, or is she still abnormal compared to every other human being who is craving brains?" In the first half of the book Frieda's current stability is demonstrated by juxtaposing a series of current-time interactions with zombies and maintaining her fortified apartment with flashback scenes from before the zombie outbreak where she was much more fragile mentally and emotionally. After Mike is introduced their relationship serves as the catalyst for unease, tension and uncertainty. The constant threat of zombie attack only adds greater stress as the two struggle to maintain a relationship in their crazy broken down world.

The book is written in the first person, and for the most part I thought it was of a high quality. There were a few instances where the dialogue between Mike and Frieda was a little cringe-worthy, and a couple of continuity/plot issues (why was the first zombie able to get into the house when Frieda locks it for the rest of the book?) but the structure of the story and execution of it was enjoyable and interesting. The first encounter between Frieda and a zombie/afflicted was fantastic, full of tension and very visual - exactly what a zombie novel needs to be- and set the tone perfectly for the direction the rest of the novel was heading. Because of the zombie threat, any time Frieda ventured outside I was sure a zombie was going to pop up from behind a car and maul her, and Mike's arrival sent all kinds of warning signs flashing (zombie 101, don't trust handsome men with barbed wire tattoos when zombies are running around!). So while I did have a few problems with the writing, they weren't significant enough to damper the overall quality of the book.

Cats, zombies, tricky relationships, GI Jane references...this book has a little something for everyone!

Review: Curbchek - Reload by Zach Fortier

Curbchek-Reload 
Written by Zach Fortier

Published: 2012

Synopsis: Curbchek-Reload is a darker account of the streets as they were worked by Zach Fortier, a dangerously deranged cop. Welcome back to the inner city and the twisted mentality of Zach Fortier. Patrolling the streets, broken and mentally damaged from years of urban violence, Zach fights a loosing battle to maintain a hold on reality. Join him in the passenger seat of a police cruiser for more of the darker and meaner side of life: The inner city. In Curbchek-Reload you get a front row seat to an attempted murder of a cop, suicide attempts, rapes, and DARK cop humor. Curbchek-Reload - Fasten your bullet proof vest and buckle your seatbelt, it is gonna be a wild ride!
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Curbchek Reload's tagline is "Curbchek's darker, meaner cousin" and hoo-boy is that on the money! Following the already dark and gritty 2011 release of Curbchek (my review here), Curbchek Reload ramps everything up a level, the cops, the criminals, the anger and frustration...everything that made the first book interesting, albeit disturbing and heartbreaking, is back but with a vengeance.

Once again Fortier embraces a loose chronological formation, with each chapter encompassing a self-contained story that illuminates the difficulties that come with maintaining law and order, Fortier's own fallibility, and some insight into the general ills of today's society. Curbchek was pretty bleak, but much of the book centred around Fortier and his own personal demons. Curbchek Reload, however, is much more about the bureaucracy and bullshit that stops police from being able to do their job, and how frustrating this is for the men and women on the front line. Like many of the books I've been reading lately this isn't a particularly happy book, but it provided a valuable insight into a world that, in all honesty, I'm unlikely to ever see first hand.

Because the two books have such similarities in terms of style I'm going to direct you to my earlier review (the link's above) for more on that, and focus specifically on several of the chapters that occur in Fortier's latest book. Each chapter, ranging in length from 2 pages to 12, examine the many elements of life as a cop. Some focus on the lighter side of things, such as pranks between cops or between Fortier and some employees at the hospital, some look at some of the menial and annoying aspects of being a cop, like the ride-a-long, and some are much darker examinations of the criminal underbelly of the city. Here are a few of the chapters that I found the most interesting, disturbing, funny or eye-opening. First though, a warning, a couple of these stories are not pleasant at all.

Chapter 8: Warned but Ignored
In this chapter Fortier was called to the house of a man who wanted to report himself as a threat. The man, though he looked innocent enough, admitted to wanting to hurt the children on his street. However, because he hadn't actually done anything the best Fortier could do was have him committed to a psych ward as "suicidal". Although Fortier explained the issue to the attendants at the psych ward, the man was released the next day when he was deemed to be an attention seeker and went on to abduct and viciously rape a girl that lived on his street. It's a heartbreaking story, and it made my blood boil to think about the poor girl who suffered such a horrendous attack from a man who knew he was going to do it. It's one of the clear issues with police (and areas of government also) where the focus is on fixing or solving, rather than preventing such atrocities. But what could they do? If someone hasn't done anything yet you clearly can't lock them away, so what's the solution?

Chapter 15: Dreaming About Lassie and the Land Shark
This was one of my favourites, the first in a string of stories about Fortier's adventure into the K9 unit. Other than knowing that training is hard work and that police dogs are awesome, I know very little about police dogs so this was informative and a nice reprieve from the devastation of much of the book! This chapter details Zach's long desire to be part of the K9 unit, as well as discussing the dog he was finally paired up with, Emo, and the difficulty Zach came across with Emo. It's a revealing look at Zach himself (the behaviour of the dogs often mirror their trainer) but it's light, funny and leads into a series of chapters that are absolutely fantastic.

Chapter 31: Sending Out Positive Energy Makes All the Difference
Two world collide in this chapter. Two well-meaning but naive young adults decide to live as their parents lived in the 1960s. Free love, no possessions, relying on the kindness of strangers and the empty railway cars for their new existence. Unfortunately times they are a-changing. and late one night the pair were attacked as they made their way back to their temporary railway car home. Choosing flight over fight, the boy ran off and left the girl to be raped, beaten and cut by a vagrant who took advantage of their idealistic and trusting personalities. The world-wearied cop knows that we're living in a different world to our parents, he's seen the anger and disgust and heartbreak that take over the streets after dark. The university-aged couple, however, were full of youthful exuberance and positivity and are full of the romantic notions of living like a Jack Kerouac character. It's sad to think that these two (amongst the 100s, 1000s, or 1000000s across the world) have had their dreams crash around them and will never trust as openly or as freely ever again.

Zach Fortier's books might be a touch dark, but I find them completely illuminating and intoxicating reads. Be mindful of the content and language, but be sure to search out a copy of this book for yourself.