My #bookreview is brief/won't spoil, to spread good, great, & spectacular #horror#books far & wide.
HAVE YOU DECIDED ON YOUR QUESTION tells a darkly gripping, relatable tale of a girl poisoned by potential possibilities. This twisted take on technology is made more frightening because of how plausible (and perhaps, inevitable) the future it describes seems to be.
(Shortwave Publishing)
#BookReview Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
Read on audio
RNIB Talking Books
Pub. 1930, 240pp
I’ve only read Murder Must Advertise in this series and was going to head for Gaudy Night but someone helpful on here suggested I read this novel first as it introduces Harriet Vane, who’s also in that one.
Lord Peter Winsey instantly falls for Harriet in court when she’s accused of murdering her former lover and is determined to get her freed as he’s convinced she didn’t do it. The mystery revolves around him trying to figure out a tricky puzzle with little evidence to a tight deadline and is hugely entertaining. He’s smitten with Harriet, she’s having none of it and their dialogue is fantastic.
At the start he’s stumped as to where to begin: ‘As the taxi lurched along The Embankment he felt for the first time the dull and angry helplessness which was the first warning stroke, the triumph of mutability…for the first time, too, he doubted his own power to carry through what he’d undertaken. His personal feelings had been involved before this in his investigations but they’d never before clouded his mind. He was fumbling, grasping uncertinly here and there at fugitive and mocking possibilities.’
And then after visiting a witness he comments ‘everyone’s so remarkably helpful about this case, they cheerfully answer questions which one has no right to ask, and burst into explanations in the most unnecessary manner. None of them seem to have anything to conceal, it’s quite astonishing.’
There are so many wonderful period details, and this one about a document Wimsey reads doubles as a clue:it had been typed on a Woodstock machine with a chipped lower case p and an a slightly out of alignment’
And I loved the bit where Wimsey dispatches one of his assistant sleuths to a town and she goes on “an orgy of teas” in the local teashops in search of her target.
This is a great detective story in which the supporting characters are very strong. #bookstodon@bookstodon
"This isn’t a deep piece of literature, but it’s a fast-paced erotic read. It’s perfect for pleasure and light enjoyment if this particular relationship and type of power play are for you."
The terrifying premise at the heart of The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett is compelling. For three centuries humanity has lived in fear of the setting of the sun, which portends the rising of demons from the earth to slaughter them during the hours of darkness. The only protection against the hordes are magical defensive wards that keep them at bay until the sun rises once more. @bookstodon
EVOCATIVE “WEIRD WEST” novel set in a desolate mining town where a prospector’s orphan dreams of better things and of mysterious, powerful beings high in the mountains. Intriguing! SOLID B
Today's queer small press review! Wrong Side of Heaven" by Elizabeth Monvey:
"This is the first time I've read one of Monvey's books and I was surprised how much I enjoyed this story. Wrong Side of Heaven is a wonderful slow burn romance filled with drama and fun. Well worth the read."
I finally finished listening to the omnibus audiobook of the Southern Reach novels -- Annihilation, Authority and Acceptance -- by Jeff VenderMeer today. I know I've read this trilogy before, but I must have tore through it so fast it didn't stick with me, and I have virtually no memory of the last book. So listening to the audio this time was like experiencing it for the first time, which is a godamn gift.
LUSH, ATMOSPHERIC, CLEVER novel captures the mystique of Golden Age Hollywood—as well as the sleaze and scandal behind the scenes—through the eyes of an actress turned gossip columnist. B PLUS
My #bookreview is brief/won't spoil, to spread good, great, & spectacular #horror#books far & wide.
This is a rather uneven, somewhat bleak collection but I enjoyed the hell out of the first 2 of these 5 stories (& only one tale was "eh," imo.) Malerman is super prolific & there's plenty here to entertain, but I didn't enjoy SPIN A BLACK YARN as much as some other books of his. (Del Rey)
I have read many of this author’s books & this one is a psychological thriller of the highest order.
Not a pacy read which is probably just as well, you need to catch your breath as you reach that ending! Fantastic & more like this please but let my heart rate settle first. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️