Review: Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town

Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town by Nick Reding

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



4 stars for all the facts about meth,crystal meth, and the process that puts it into user's hands. The of this drug, from when it was commonly advertised and prescribed to its current status as a link between Mexican drug cartels and the American industrial food business is fascinating at the same time it is scary as hell. The author spends too much time trying to put a warm fuzzy face on small town USA, though, considering he makes the point early on that this is an problem for any size community. He started off researching from the small town point of view and never let's go, dragging in updates on people who have nothing new to add.



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Review: Vagabond

Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Love the time period, really liked the hero, but the Perils of Pauline arch villains cast touch of silliness over the whole book. Not as interesting in any way as book 1 of the series, but I will plod on because I will put up with mediocrity to read the historical trivia laden story about an archer.



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Review: American Psycho

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Masterful writing but the obvious effort of form over substance took this book down a notch, in my opinion.

(Personal note: Reading this book during the same time period that the movie version of Les Miserables is being promoted to death probably added more to my appreciation than I should admit in public)



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Review: The Other

The Other by Thomas Tryon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



1) Actually a reread but Goodreads has simple way of recording that
2) Not true Southern Gothic because it doesn't take place in the South, but it has all the key points of Southern Gothic and theses are myshelves and I will mark them like I want them.

This is a the rare horror story that gets better after the first reading, when you know all the twists, because they become more twisted with each reading. Also, once you know what is coming, you can focus on the very complicated characters that Tryon created, again something you'll find only in the best horror.



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Review: The Casual Vacancy

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Audio Version


The author writes as if she's broken free of a world where children only do bad things when they are victims of adults and adults for the most part love all children and those that don't are justly punished. In other words, there's a feeling of "this is what happens when you look under the pretty rocks" to this book, and I like that sort of thing. It's over long by a bit (and still no one dares to edit Rowling, even in a new genre!) but as dark character study fiction goes, this is good stuff.


Tom Hollander as the audio narrator earns five stars all on his own. Perfect match of story to voice!



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Review: The Mill River Recluse

The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I'm being very generous with 2 stars, but the book does have an interesting setting and with a good setting I can wade through a lot of bad plotting and shallow characters. And that's what this book has - a silly plot that never quite makes sense and characters who get too many paragraphs for what little they have to do with the boring "mystery". The world building is good, everything else is bad.



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Review: Talulla Rising

Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The idea of a monster as a mother is interesting, and for the first third of this book, Duncan turned that idea every which way. Unfortunately that left two thirds of the book with an exhausted theme. The carry over from the first werewolf book, Vampires looking to the "wulf" for a remedy to light sensitivity gets more convoluted and slightly more interesting. I'm not sure there was entirely enough new story for this book, but if you enjoyed The Last Werewolf, you'll like this well enough. By no means should you read this book first.



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Review: Beautiful Ruins

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Starts out as a multi-romance summer read, light and breezy, more about place than characters. But the people develop into actual people and suddenly, it's a lot more complicated than you expected (just like life!). There's a bit of real-person-fiction with Richard Burton, some WWII historical fiction, Hollywood business insider stuff, and several getaways to a part of Italy that I'm now longing to visit. And oh yes, the Donner Party! All balanced so well by the end that it makes for a very good read.



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Review: The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Fascinating information about a bit of American history that I didn't know enough about. The book begs for a better editor, someone who would have had the author arrange the book in a less repetitive way, maybe even cutting out a few of the narratives of the people who lived through the dark (literally) times. Even with the clunky writing, I'm giving this four stars because it did what nonfiction is supposed to do - inform.



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Review: Outlaw

Outlaw by Angus Donald

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Robin Hood is the supporting character in this story, but it's obvious he is not a supporting character in Alan Dale's life (and heart, although the book never acknowledges that in the way I would have liked). It's Donald's portrayal of a flesh and blood and less than perfect Robin and his band of outlaws that makes this a very good take on the classic tale. Alan's sudden transformation from child cutpurse to one of Robin's closest associates is a little hard to believe, given Robin's very understandable distrust of almost everyone outside his brother, Little John and Tuck, requiring a giant leap of faith on that necessary part of the story arc. The settings and historical trappings are well researched and provide a background that strengthens but never overshadows a dark, violent and very readable plot.



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