Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Sun Down Motel is a rollercoaster ride of nail-biting terror

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

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The Sun Down Motel hooked me from the start. I loved it that first night of reading. But when I picked it up the second night, I was filled with dread. I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue. I chalked it up to being tired and read on. I’m glad I did because it’s an amazing book. But it is a tense book, absolutely gripping and nerve-wracking. I had a headache yesterday evening from clenching my jaw while reading this. I didn’t even realize I […]

“‘It’ll heal ugly.’ But most things do.”

Sadie by Courtney Summers

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First off, you MUST read the audiobook version of this, put that print edition down, the audio is where it’s at! West McCray is a public-radio type audio personality who specializes in stories about small nobody-towns in America.  One day at a gas station, he learns about a local girl who has gone missing. Sadie Hunter was grieving the recent and brutal murder of her sister Mattie when she disappeared. Local police believe it to be a simple case of a runaway not worth pursuing, […]

Oedipus and Electra

Cropper's Cabin by Jim Thompson

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The year of Jim Thompson continues with what is by far the best book of his I’ve read this calendar year. It may be a cut below his truly greatest works like Pop. 1280 and The Grifters but it’s really darn good. I once heard Jason Concepcion of The Ringer fame compliment Quentin Tarantino by saying that the director “democratizes pop culture.” In other words, he takes B-movie stuff like gangster films and martial arts tales and turns them into high art. Thompson can perhaps be thought of in […]

To Live and Die in LA

Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley

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After going through most of Walter Mosley’s Leonid McGill series, I decided to switch back to the books that drew me to his work in the first place: good ol’ Easy Rawlins. Having read most of the McGill books (and unlike the Rawlins series, they’re mostly the same in terms of plot and tone) I have a fresh perspective on the Rawlins ones and Mosley’s evolution as a writer. McGill has always felt like the character Mosley wanted to write but didn’t get to until […]

When I’m Wrong, I’m Wrong

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Grann

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First of all, has it been almost 15 years since Hurricane Katrina? Feels like yesterday. This book gave me some bad flashbacks and I’ve never lived anywhere near New Orleans. My God, did this country fail the residents of that city. Secondly, I tried reading this one several times. It always ends up on every “You Have To Read This!!!” list of mysteries. Every time I saw it, I kept wanting it to be different from the book I tried before. Again and again I […]

Way darker than the classic Joshua Jackson vehicle “Skulls”

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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Secret societies and magic have existed at Yale for centuries…didn’t you know? Don’t worry, most of the students don’t either. But the members of the secret societies are elbow deep in literal blood magic that keeps their alumni wealthy, famous, well-connected, well-liked….you name it (Bush the second’s election makes SO MUCH more sense now). Who keeps this kind of power in check? College students aren’t exactly famous for their good judgment. Enter Lethe House, the ninth house, created as a watchdog to keep the other […]



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