Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen is a women-in-peril murder mystery written in a haunting, lyrical style. The book opens with a prologue in the voices of the dead silently calling Please See Us. But no one does. The dead are forgotten women, murdered by a sadist and abandoned in a Jersey City marsh between a dilapidated motel and bridge. Jersey City is a character…in fact, a metaphor for the deterioration of place and soul. Forces of fate and poverty…
Review: Blood on the Tracks by Barbara Nickless For my fourth novel in the R.I.P. Challenge, I read The Raven Boys. In case you missed my earlier post and reading lineup, here is the concept behind this challenge: Started by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings, R.I.P. is a reading challenge in which imbibers come “together to enjoy the literature most associated with the darkening days and cooling temperatures of Autumn:” Mystery Suspense Thriller Gothic Horror Dark Fantasy Blood on the Tracks features…
(image Garo4 via Dreamstime) G is for Ghosts. At last! We’ve arrived! My favorite letter for Blogging from A to Z because, well, you know, I adore ghosts. (Thank you, old subscribers, for sticking with me. I promise once we arrive at Z, I’ll give you a much-needed break. Pinkie swear.) But…I love ghosts. I love thinking about ghosts. I love writing about ghosts. I love reading about ghosts. I love to watch ghost stories on the big screen. On…
Once Upon a Time Wrap-up Alas, the reading challenge at Stainless Steel Droppings is now over, and it’s time to examine the remains. This was my first One Upon a Time. (However, I’ve done several R.I.P. challenges, which align pretty spectacularly with ghost fiction.) Once Upon a Time has a larger focus that includes fairy tales, fantasy, etc. I set my sights on Quest the Second, which stipulates reading one work each of fantasy, fairy tale, folklore, and mythology. I…
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson Grand Central Publishing, 336 pages Laurel awakens one night to find her teenage daughter’s best friend at her bedside—a ghostly manifestation that leads Laurel to its body in the pool. This is a great beginning and allows the author to set the stage with characterization of the maternal, compassionate Laurel in action. We love her immediately. I particularly enjoyed Laurel’s reaction to the girl once she realizes the friend is dead: “You…
We meet again for our discussion of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book readalong hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. Are we having fun? I am! Today we’re checking out chapters 4-6. Of these, “The Witch’s Headstone” is my unequivocal favorite. It is here, against all manner of warnings from his elders about the evils of the dead in Potter’s Field, that Bod meets a wistful witch. Of course, we all want our children to obey us without question, but…
The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian I LOVED this book. That is, I loved half of this book. Here are some of my notes to self–“right from the start I adore the style,” “this is refreshing after the last lackluster book,” and “Thank you, Crown Publishers for not italicizing the prologue!” (For more on the great prologue controversy, read my post on prologues here.) It begins so well. A goose-downed (as in a-gaggle-of-geese-downed-the) plane ends in a failed landing (notwithstanding…
5 Things the Dead Teach Us About Life Today I’m so excited to participate in my very first guest post over at Melissa’s Midnight Musings. Melissa made it so easy for me to chat about one of my favorite topics. I hope you’ll join us by clicking here. And while you’re visiting, be sure to sign up for a cool giveaway!
The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse In The Winter Ghosts, a despondent Freddie Watson mourns the loss of his favored brother who perished in WWI. Even ten years after the war, Freddie cannot rid himself of a paralyzing case of survivor’s guilt. After crashing his car in a snowstorm in the French Pyrenees, he hikes to the nearest village where some of the local denizens give him a cold reception. However, he soon finds himself invited to a fête, treated…
Ghosts. I think about them. A lot. You know that. I read ghost novels, review ghost novels, and this week, I even published one—Moonlight Dancer. Funny thing is, I’ve never seen a ghost. And I don’t even know if I believe in them. So, why this fascination? It comes down to what I term The Ghost Within. I bet you’ve got a little ghost within you, too. My inner ghost is about yearning. About loss. Growing up, I was a…
Water Ghosts by Shawna Yang Ryan With Ghost Month starting this week, this is the perfect time to review Water Ghosts. This book was originally published under the title Locke 1928, and until I neared the end of the book, I would have said Locke 1928 was a better title than Water Ghosts. This is one of those novels in which the town becomes a kind of character, similar to Empire Falls by Richard Russo. And indeed, author Ryan paints…
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman Harper Collins, 386 pages This isn’t a traditional ghost story such as I usually review. This is more of a ghost-as-metaphor-for-the-forgotten-ones story. But that’s actually a quest I seek in the ghost stories I read, the yearning that drives one to cross barriers and struggle to connect. You’ve wondered, I know you have, what would happen if one day you went left instead of right, if one day you stopped because a street person asked for…
The Séance by John Harwood I decided to participate in a reading challenge run by Laura at Laura’s Reviews—my second ever! (The first was R.I.P. at Stainless Steel Droppings.) I recommend reading challenges to all you avid readers and writers out there. Anyhow, Laura’s challenge is Victorian related novels and movies, as in the setting takes place or the author lived between 1837 and 1901. Check it out here. Of course, me being me (or is it…