Burnt Tongues - Chuck Palahniuk

I rated this book 8/10
First published in July 2014

Burnt Tongues is a collection of transgressive stories selected by a rigorous nomination and vetting process and hand-selected by Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, as the best of The Cult workshop, his official fan website.

These stories run the gamut from horrific and fantastic to humorous and touching, but each leaves a lasting impression.

Some may say even a scar.

Quick, sick and addictive tales...

A collection of twisted short stories, collated and edited by Chuck Palahniuk. As expected, anything that Palahniuk puts his name to is going to be dark, disturbing and should be approached with caution!

This book is nowhere near as disgusting as 'Haunted' by the man himself, but the stories all have the ability to make you recoil in horror. At one point (somewhere near the middle) I had to put the book down for a few hours and collect myself (I think it involved a chicken satay stick...). There were one or two more tame additions that allowed time to breathe - and one story near the end I skipped altogether because it just wasn't interesting. The last tale is as good as the first, and will definitely leave a lasting impression!

Chuck Palahniuk's introduction was very interesting, in particular the quote "Young people want mirrors. Older people want art." The more I think about his comments on reading and re-reading, and growing to love the impression of a book that you didn't enjoy when you actually read it; the more I believe his comments to be true.

If you like the bizarre fiction that Palahniuk throws at us, then you're going to like the short works that he's pulled together for us here too.

Available at Waterstones

Stone Rider - David Hofmeyr

I rated this book 7/10
First published in July 2015

Adam Stone wants freedom and peace. He wants a chance to escape Blackwater, the dust-bowl desert town he grew up in. Most of all, he wants the beautiful Sadie Blood. Alongside Sadie and the dangerous outsider Kane, Adam will ride the Blackwater Trail in a brutal race that will test them all, body and soul. Only the strongest will survive.

The prize? A one-way ticket to Sky-Base and unimaginable luxury.

And for a chance at this new life, Adam will risk everything.

Stone Rider is a little like a mix between Death Race, Mad Max and with a dash of Elysium thrown in for good measure. 

It features bikes (though the spelling "bykes" was probably unnecessary) and plenty of bloodshed, and is the kind of YA novel that I wish I had thought up. Right up my street!

Hofmeyr's writing style is simple - the sentences are short and the descriptions are fairly minimal. It took me a little while to get used to this, but eventually the short sentences lend themselves to quick and brutal action scenes that keep the pages turning.

I wasn't keen on Adam as a main protagonist - he is a modest and shy orphan, with exceptional riding skills that don't really come across as well as they probably could in the book. He blacks out whenever there is a hint of danger and avoids violence at all costs. The only female in the book is drawn to him despite him being characterless - I like Sadie though, she's very well represented. Kane has to be my favourite character however, and Hofmeyr has really put some thought and understanding into the background of this strange teenager; given him plenty of grit.

Overall a great read that I would recommend without any reservations. Full of friendship, action and full on racing!

(Thank you to Penguin Random House for the proof copy)

Available at Waterstones

Boy in the Tower - Polly Ho-Yen

I rated this book 10/10...

Ade loves living at the top of a tower block. From his window, he feels like he can see the whole world stretching out beneath him. His mum doesn’t really like looking outside – but it’s going outside that she hates. She’s happier sleeping all day inside their tower, where it’s safe.

But one day, other tower blocks on the estate start falling down around them and strange, menacing plants begin to appear. Now their tower isn’t safe anymore. Ade and his mum are trapped and there’s no way out . . .

A strange, scary thriller for kids that grown ups will love too.

I've been raving about this book since I finished it a couple of weeks back. It's a thrilling, scary kids book with a sci-fi edge to it; but is more about the personal experiences of Ade. Ade finds his life is shaken up by the strange occurrences that are happening in his town. Buildings are falling down and killing the people inside them, and nobody really knows why. 

But things get much worse for Ade, when he realises that his mum is going through some tough personal issues of her own and can't bring herself to even look out of their tower block window, let alone leave and escape the city through the front door. And still the buildings around them fall, and it will be their turn soon!

It's this exploration of his mum's difficulties that make 'Boy in the Tower' work on multiple levels. I know that many adults have read and enjoyed this book alongside their children, because they draw a completely different message from the text than the kids do.

'Boy in the Tower' is a fast and gripping read about a brave young boy facing some massive challenges. I'd recommend it both for (brave) 9-12 year olds and parents alike. And that ending! My heart was in my throat!

Available at Waterstones

Under Ground - S. L. Grey

I rated this book 5/10...

The Sanctum is a luxurious, self-sustaining survival condominium situated underground in rural Maine. It's a plush bolt-hole for the rich and paranoid - a place where they can wait out the apocalypse in style. When a devastating super-flu virus hits the States, several families race to reach it. All have their own motivations for entering The Sanctum. All are hiding secrets.

But when the door locks and someone dies, they realize the greatest threat to their survival may not be above ground - it may already be inside . . . 

The idea of this thriller sounded perfect for me - millionaire families buying into an underground complex to escape a deadly virus on the surface. They end up getting trapped inside, and then the chaos begins when the bodycount starts to rise...

I was initially disappointed with the authors’ writing style (a collaboration between Sarah Lotz and Louis Greenberg). The characters aren't great and I didn't feel much depth to them, despite knowing their backgrounds and why they were there. The setting isn't well described and the tension is on the whole, a bit of a wash out. There were only two characters I thought felt genuine - James and Reuben. It doesn't feel much like there is a killer on the loose, but Brett, a brutal 18 year old who bullies his way around the complex, gets away with a LOT and that also didn't seem genuine given the circumstances. The book isn't scary or thrilling and reads a lot like teen fiction rather than (as mentioned in the blurb) a Stephen King/Michael Crichton mash-up.

I stuck with 'Under Ground' however because the pages were turning quickly enough and I'm glad that I did. After 250 pages of stumbling along, the style and the substance ramps right up. The tension is full on throughout the last 40 pages and the build up is actually worth the effort. James really comes into his own as a character and the ending is satisfying enough to not feel like a cop out. THIS is where the 'thrill' comes into play. I couldn't take my eyes off it and ended up sat in a car park, racing through to finish before I felt I could drive home from work.

I think that if the whole book had been written with the same tension and skill as the final section, I would have been able to give it 8 stars, but as it stands I will give it 5.

'Under Ground' will be published in July.

(Proof copy kindly given to me by Pan Macmillan in exchange for honest feedback)

Review also posted on Urbanista UK

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Claire North

I rated this book 4/10

No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes.

Until now.

As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. ‘I nearly missed you, Doctor August,’ she says. ‘I need to send a message.’

At last! After five months I have finally finished this book! I've finished so many other books in between it in that time, but I had to keep putting Harry August down.

Don't get me wrong, the concept is fascinating - but I just found myself analysing all of the flaws in North's plan every time I settled down to read it.

Surely - if a group of people lived their lives over and over throughout the course of time, and changed their actions each time they lived, ALL events throughout history and the future would be changed each time they died and were re-born. And so these people could not put bets on race winners (for example) knowing the outcome in advance, because everything has a knock on effect and everything would be changed each time round. The politicians, presidents, political leaders would never be the same people; the wars would never have the same outcome.

And what if these people had children?

And why would these people not want to use their knowledge to gain some kind of power, considering they were essentially hundreds of years old and infinitely more wise?

I was trying to figure out how all of this could work; maybe I missed something. But it completely wrecked my head.

And so I am over the moon that I have finished it - some of it was alright and some of it a bit dull. Harry himself wasn't that interesting, his antagonist being a little more so. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this to anyone - but if somebody asked me about it I would probably tell them that it might be worth a read.

The Girl with all the Gifts - M. R. Carey

I rated this book 10/10

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

'The Girl with all the Gifts' is a zombie novel with a big twist, and the stereotypes that are assumed from the phrase 'Zombie Novel' should be overlooked in this instance. It's not your usual 'shopping centre siege' type of horror, and it doesn't really try to be.

This is more haunting and emotional, as it centres around children in particular. Set 20 years after the end of the world, Melanie is the young girl at the heart of this book, and her character is a strong one. The relationship between her and her teacher is disconcerting and eerie - the whole story has a strange feel to it that grips the reader all the same.

I would love to see the screenplay of this in the future. I think that Carey will do a great job of bringing his characters to life.

The Calling - James Frey

I rated this 4/10

Twelve thousand years ago, they came. They descended from the sky amid smoke and fire, and created humanity and gave us rules to live by. They needed gold and they built our earliest civilizations to mine it for them. When they had what they needed, they left. But before they left, they told us someday they would come back, and when they did, a game would be played. A game that would determine our future.

I wasn't sure about this book. The short sentences and tendency to 'list' ("We came here, we have been here, and we are here now." "But we are not together. We are not friends. We do not call one another, and we do not text one another...") felt quite jarring to me. I also wasn't keen on the use of present tense to tell the tale (personal preference of course, it has the opposite effect of drawing me in and I find it distracting). I also felt that maybe James Frey had written this book solely with the big screen in mind. It reads like a film script, switches back and forth between players with more than a little similarity to Battle Royale and The Hunger Games.

Having said this, I found myself slowly being drawn into the book - more for the characters than the plot. They were good enough, all different in their own right, with Jago standing out the most for me as being well rounded and believable. Chiyoko was fascinating, but why would she clap her hands "yes" and not just nod her head?! Chris and Sarah however, were the usual 'too good to be true' protagonists that I felt were flat and uninteresting.

I wasn't madly taken by Endgame - a lot of incidents felt forced and I couldn't get around the fact that the Endgame was not made public knowledge, causing outright war between nations... I also couldn't get my head around Chiyoko using sex as a weapon (this is YA fiction, we shouldn't be glamorising that), and that An's disability is not portrayed in a good light at all; in fact, quite the opposite.

I read it quickly and it was quite addictive. I can see people who liked The Hunger Games perhaps enjoying this too, but I'm not sure I would be 100% happy recommending this to teenagers.

Chaos - John O'Brien

I rated this 1/10

This hard-hitting, action-packed series begins with Jack Walker being suddenly thrust into a world where the infrastructure which cherished Armani suits, night clubs, fast and expensive cars and watching the daily stock market are gone. Left in its place is the material world mankind built but a majority of the population has vanished; replaced by a new, savage, unrelenting, cunning, animalistic species which hunts and operates at night.

Read from my iPhone.

I was mostly attracted to the jacket of this book, it's high impact; really well presented and gave me the urge to buy. I had mega expectations because I love apocalyptic adventures!

The first thing that struck me upon reading, was the fact that the narrative was jarring - first person present tense "I do this, I say that" just doesn't lend itself to writing unless it is really special, and this just wasn't. There were so many uncomfortable elements to the writing style that I just couldn't finish it.

O'Brien had the tendency to over explain everything... (ie: "Windows staring emptily" instead of "Empty Windows") This made it difficult not to skip through prose at times, but I really didn't want to read a full page on a door being opened. Sometimes when the narrator is thinking to himself, O'Brien adds it in as part of his usual narrative, and other times he uses italics instead. Again, this jarred the text and made me aware of his writing style.

It seems to me an inconceivable coincidence that everyone except the protagonist's family and his son's girlfriend have vanished or turned into zombies. And even the zombies are extremely sparse. The characters are robotic and lacking in personality. The narrator's children are perfect and agree with everything he says...

"Don't you want me to come with you and cover you?" Robert asks.
"No, just stay here. You have my back," I answer.
"Okay, Dad."

On top of this, there is a lengthy cut away flashback to the main character flying a military aircraft and I have absolutely no idea what it was there to achieve!

I'm sorry to say that I only managed to read 20% of this book (or 50 pages), but I'm not one to put a book down easily and I do usually try to make it to 100 pages at least. I tried but just couldn't do it here. I loved the idea of the story, but I think it could have been executed better.

The War of the Worlds - H. G. Wells

No one would have believed in
the last years of the nineteenth century
that this world was being watched
keenly and closely by intelligences
greater than man's and yet as mortal
as his own.

Rated 5.5/10

My Thoughts: I wasn't hugely struck on this book. It could have been the rambling style of the narrative, the fact that I am very much a fan of character driven novels, or maybe because I was reading on my iPhone; which is nowhere near as enjoyable as flicking through a hard copy.

I loved the concept, and the story has inspired so many novels and films since Wells penned his masterpiece. And for that reason I'm giving The War of the Worlds an average score. But I just couldn't get into it.

I'll probably be slated for this!!!!

The Masque of the Red Death - Bethany Griffin

'The charcoal sky spits cold
rain as we rumble to a stop at
a crossroad.'

Rated 1.5/10

A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who survived live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them... Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for - no matter what it costs her.

My thoughts: I know that this book has had some positive reviews, and I also know that it is heavily influenced by Edgar Allan Poe's drama with the same name - but I just couldn't get on with it.

This is a YA novel, and so there will be inevitable romance and angst as a result, but the protagonist is a whiny teen with absolutely no endearing qualities about her whatsoever; And yet she is at the centre of a heated love triangle (of which I won't go into detail due to spoilers). Araby punishes herself due to her twin brother's death by supposedly never experiencing the things that he will never get to experience in life - and yet here she is in the centre of a club taking drugs and drinking quite casually. This is one of the many plot holes that I just couldn't get my head around.

The coherence of the novel is barely there - it rambles on irritatingly in 1st person, present tense using a myriad of very short sentences and utterances...

And so many unanswered questions! Why can't you catch the airborne plague when you're indoors? the air in a room is completely refreshed on average every two hours, even if all doors and windows are closed. Why do girls wear 'negligible' dresses despite the fact that pretty much every 'penniless' man is horny and dangerous, and it's so cold all the time? Would the need to be safe not outweigh the fashion of showing off you have no plague? And so on.

Not a single strong female character was present throughout the whole book either, not great for the young female teen audience that this book is aimed at.

The motives and actions of the antagonists also did not make sense to me but again, not going to reveal due to spoilers.

This book did survive my scrutiny right until the final sentence however, and I did finish the whole thing. Although it is not to my tastes, I know that others will enjoy it. If you want a really good YA novel that does everything that this one doesn't, then check out 5th Wave by Rick Yancey.

The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey

There will be no awakening.

Rated 10/10

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

My Thoughts: This book was powerful from the very first sentence. It's a dark and gritty teen read (though it has a maturity in style that adults will enjoy too). Relentless and full of action throughout, I actually couldn't put it down. 

The characters are strong, very strong; and as they are children from the age of 5 upwards, they are battling with self-discovery alongside the inconvenience of a full on alien invasion. But not the cheesy, big-eyed, hairless, green life forms you might see in an old film or tv programme - we're talking something a lot more sinister than that. Something that could really make your skin crawl...

What struck me the hardest about this novel was Yancey's style. It's no holds barred, grown up writing; short, sharp, shocking. 

Packed full of violence, death and the urge for survival; this is a book for those not too faint at heart. If you love grit and grime then this could be for you - might be best not to read in the dark...

The Hunt - Andrew Fukuda

"There used to be
more of us."

Date Finished: 9th May 2012

Against all odds, 17-year-old Gene has survived in a world where humans have been eaten to near extinction by the general population. The only remaining humans, or hepers as they are known, are housed in domes on the savannah and studied at the nearby Heper Institute. Every decade there is a government sponsored hunt. When Gene is selected to be one of the combatants he must learn the art of the hunt but also elude his fellow competitors whose suspicions about his true nature are growing.

My Thoughts: A lightly entertaining read, a vampire novel with a twist. The set up to this story was intriguing - humans living in danger every day amongst vampires; and now the vampires want to play a game!!!

I found the book to be mostly predictable, and it had so many convenient coincidences laced into it that I was distracted and couldn't completely enjoy it. The book is definitely plot driven as the characters seemed quite flat, and I didn't really feel for any of them.

Having said all of this, as a quick teen read it's not at all bad. With this being plot driven, I found the book to have pretty much non-stop action and so the pages turned quickly. I did have to read this through to the end, and although the conclusion wasn't great I understand that there will be more.

I RATED IT 5/10

Flu - Wayne Simmons

Date Finished: 3rd December 2011

There's a nasty flu going round. An epidemic, they call it. The posters say to cover your mouth when you sneeze, and throw away the tissue.

But such simple measures won't help.

Because when you catch this flu, armed police come and lock you in your house to die alone.

When you catch this flu, it kills you in days.

And two hours after it's killed you, your eyelids snap open again...

My Thoughts: I really did like this. It kept me on edge in the way that a good horror film would, and was well written - enough blood and suspense to keep me happy. The pages turned quickly and I was gutted when I misplaced the book for a few days right in the middle of reading!

The story is less about the flu virus (you don't get to find out any of the scientific details surrounding how it started) and more about survival - which was a major plus for me as I love survival tales.

There seemed to be a few things brushed over, and the odd bit that felt misplaced; but nothing that put me off reading at all.

I did have one major hang up with it. The female characters in this novel seemed so cliche. Neither of them initially knew how to work a gun (on the other hand, every male character instinctfully picks up a weapon and is a brilliant shot). They fall flat (and often fall over at the most inappropriate of times) and rely on the men to look out for them or to teach them how to look out for themselves.

I'm not usually one to go off on a rant about people portraying the stereotypical woman, as normally I wouldn't even notice. But this one had me a bit irritated because it was so blindingly obvious, otherwise it would have definitely been very high on my list of favourite apocalyptic thrillers.

All in all a great read! Just ignore the fact that the ladies are a bit of a nightmare situation.

I RATED IT 6/10

Feed - Mira Grant

Date Read: August 2011

In 2014, two experimental viruses—a genetically engineered flu strain designed by Dr. Alexander Kellis, intended to act as a cure for the common cold, and a cancer-killing strain of Marburg, known as "Marburg Amberlee"—escaped the lab and combined to form a single airborne pathogen that swept around the world in a matter of days. It cured cancer. It stopped a thousand cold and flu viruses in their tracks. It raised the dead...

My Thoughts: This book was not worth ploughing through and unfortunately I gave up after 190 pages. Too much political tedium and information on teenagers blogging for me. There wasn't much action at all and I didn't care for any of the characters. It's a real shame because the front cover is pretty awesome and the blurb read pretty well.

I RATED THIS 1/10

Last Light - Alex Scarrow

Date Read: June 2011

It’s just a temporary halt in oil production – but within days, the implications are devastating. Andy Sutherland, a civilian engineer, is stranded in Iraq, determined to find a way home to his family. His wife, Jenny, never took Andy’s warnings about a potential oil crisis seriously but now, as she tries to reach her children, his words come back to her with terrifying clarity.

My Thoughts: Wow! Oil is cut off around the Earth, leaving billions of people fighting amongst each other to survive in a world of absolute chaos. This one is a really dark apocalyptic tale of survival, which is made all the more shocking because it is not entirely a distant issue. This is something that could quite possibly happen to us, and Scarrow explores this possibility with brutal depth and frightening conclusion.

I'm off to read book 2!

I RATED THIS 9/10

Outpost - Adam Baker

Date Read: February 2011

Kasker Rampart: a derelict refinery platform moored in the Arctic Ocean. A skeleton crew of fifteen fight boredom and despair as they wait for a relief ship to take them home. But the world beyond their frozen wasteland has gone to hell. Cities lie ravaged by a global pandemic. One by one TV channels die, replaced by silent wavebands. The Rampart crew are marooned. They must survive the long Arctic winter, then make their way home alone. They battle starvation and hypothermia, unaware that the deadly contagion that has devastated the world is heading their way...

My Thoughts: I read this as a proof read and I loved it! The main character is honestly told, she has her flaws but is a very strong character in a way that I haven't really happened across before. It's atmospheric and chilling, you really get a feel for the icy, metallic conditions that the book is set right in the middle of.

Sometimes this thriller had me thinking about what it would look like on the big screen or in a video game. Really gritty and edgy stuff - a fantastic debut. I can't wait to read more from Baker.

I RATED THIS 10/10

I am Legend - Richard Matheson

Date Read: February 2011

A terrible plague has decimated the world, and those who were unfortunate enough to survive have been transformed into blood-thirsty creatures of the night. Except, that is, for Robert Neville. He alone appears to be immune to this disease, but the grim irony is that now he is the outsider. He is the legendary monster who must be destroyed because he is different from everyone else.

My Thoughts: I can't believe I've never picked this up before! Richard Matheson manages to create a page-turning vampiresque classic using the inner thoughts of just one character for most of the book. It's a fantastic piece of work - dark, claustrophobic but constantly pushing forward until the shocking conclusion. You forget that this was written over 50 years ago.

I loved the film starring Will Smith, of course, but this book is entirely different - definitely worth reading.

I RATED THIS 10/10

The Strain - Guillermo Del Toro

Date Read: May 2010

A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Ephraim "Eph" Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.

My Thoughts: This book hooked me from the first page - starting off with some amazing and mystifying scenes. Del Toro really brought his directing skills to the text and had me hanging off the edge of my seat. It was almost like reading my way through a mind-blowing film at first.

I say "at first" because after the intitial problem is set up - the whole thing starts to go down hill and begins to feel a little cheesy. I began to skim through pages with -Okay, so get to the point now- swimming around in my head. I found it very difficult to connect to the main characters on any kind of level and much preferred the secondary characters Gus and Fet (who make only very brief appearances).

Don't get me wrong - this book should not be cast aside lightly. Some of the descriptions are as awesome as they are shocking, and there is the odd gem of a scenario mixed in with all of the filler. You won't want to get on a plane for a while after reading the opening.

Recommendation: Sci-Fi and horror lovers may get a kick out of this, and anybody who is a fan of Del Toro's work. If you're looking for an easy and shocking read then this one might be right up your street. Just read the first chapter or two and you will be hooked.

I RATED THIS 7/10

Patient Zero - Jonathan Maberry

Date Read: April 2010

When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week there's either something wrong with your world or something wrong with your skills...

My Thoughts: Once the introduction to Joe Ledger was over and done with, this book just captivated me. I love tough hard guy action heroes and zombies - and this didn't go easy on either of them!

The characters are ace and the action doesn't let you rest at any point, with a unique spin on viral terrorism - this was great. A real race of a read and the perfect book for me to get my kicks from. I'm worried about reading the sequel in case it doesn't meet up to the standards of the first.

I RATED THIS 10/10

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

Date Read: January 2012

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

My Thoughts: An anonymous man and his anonymous son follow a long road towards hope in a post-apocalyptic America. We never get to know how the end of the world came about, the characters themselves probably don't have a clue either and it really doesn't matter; all that they have left is each other and the supplies that they can carry with them.

Full of grit and imagery that will appear as vivid as it is haunting, the style in which McCarthy writes suits the situation so perfectly that it is stunning. Exploring the relationship between a father and his son, the nameless pair battle on together even when everything around them crumbles and falls. I know that there has been a lot of controversy surrounding this title: some love it and some hate it. I loved it for it's brutal darkness, tenacious hope and bleak settings. I could see it - it was right there as I was reading.
I RATED IT 10/10