Patient Zero, at first look, is a book about zombies. However, the zombies are just a side story to the main action. Joe Ledger is a cop, about to head off to the FBI academy, when a bust brings him face to face with a terrorist cell, plotting to release a plague that will decimate the world. Approached by a super secret agency, he finds himself suddenly on the front lines. The story flips back and forth between the agents and the terrorists, while never […]
This book is mesmerizing
This is my first foray into the works of Swedish crime-novelist Kepler, and it was –umm — mesmerizing. The horrible slaughter of nearly an entire family leaves Detective Joona Linna determined to solve the mystery, and as readers learn right away, the highly-respected detective is always right and is famous for his “told you so”s. The problem is that no one has any idea why someone butchered the father across town, then went to the home and murdered the wife, the little girl and […]
CB VI #4: The Vampire Diaires: The Salvation vol. 2
Obligatory excuse about Amazon Kindle Daily Deals here. Y’all are in luck, though. I bought 2, but I accidentally read the second one first and now I have zero desire to read the first. My bad, your gain. I just … look, guys, I’m a sucker for the series. It’s my ultimate guilty pleasure show. And it’s GREAT if you wanna play the mustache drinking game. So at least you got something out of this “review”. You’re welcome. Primary takeaway: the show is way better […]
A break-neck journey into the heart of darkness
The book opens with a quote from Heart of Darkness, making the reader pretty aware that this is unlikely to be a cheerful story full of rainbows, bunnies and unicorns. Our unnamed narrator is a young Norwegian boy, not yet turned eighteen, on a rather impulsive journey to the Ivory Coast with his best friend, a former Liberian child soldier named Sam. Sam, who has lived in Norway for some years, has been told that his mother is still alive and the two boys are now […]
Bet Me Doesn’t Quite Bite But….Close
Cal is a gorgeous charmer who has the unfortunate character flaw of dumping women a few months after making them fall desperately in love with him. Min is a smart, sassy, chubby woman who is far too savvy to fall for a guy like Cal. Only when Cal gets unwillingly drawn into a bet two get Min into bed within a month, it’s GAME ON for Cal and Min! Full disclosure: I’m not a chick lit reader so it’s hard to distinguish if my issues […]
On Fantasy Giants, Magic Systems, and Cool Metatextual Stuff
Fantasy, like few other genres of popular culture, is the land of giants. Metaphorical ones, of course, but I can’t think of many more artistic endeavors where the playing field is dominated by a mere few authors. One only has to pick up any Terry Brooks novel, for instance, to see the long shadows cast by JRR Tolkien (Classic Fantasy Hero’s Journey) and CS Lewis (People Magically Transported to a Strange Place). More recently, JK Rowling (Manichaean Battle with Scholastic Backdrop) and George RR Martin […]