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Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
7 February 2016
Title
| The Tommyknockers |
Author
| Stephen King |
Publisher
| GP Putnam's Sons |
Publication Date
|
November 1987
|
Pages
| 558 |
Genre
| horror, alien |
Description (from Amazon)
Everything is familiar. But everything has changed.
Coming back to the little community is like walking into a nightmare for Jim Gardener, poet, drunk, potential suicide.
It all looks the same, the house, the furniture, Jim's friend Bobbi, her beagle (though ageing), even the woods out at the back.
But it was in the woods that Bobbi stumbled over the odd, part-buried object and felt a peculiar tingle as she brushed the soft earth away.
Everything is familiar. But everything is about to change.
My thoughts
King on best form here.
He brings us (once more) to a small town in Maine called Haven. This is where Roberta 'Bobbi' Anderson lives on an inherited farm. In the first few chapters of the book, the story is set when Bobbi walks into the woods with her dog and sees a piece of metal sticking out of the forest grounds. Curious, she examines it and finds that it is much bigger then she initially thought (not a tin can!) and she starts digging around it.
Almost straight away, she feels a compulsion to continue digging. But this is not the only change. She also seems to have strange abilities, being able to repair household items and invent things for example a type-writer who writes by purely her thoughts. Bobbi's friend James Gardner ('Gard'), an alcoholic and almost of the brink of suicide, visits her and starts digging with her, but he is unaffected from the changes happening as he has a large steel plate in his head, courtesy of a skiing accident in his youth.
The book is separated in 3 parts. Part 1 deals with Bobbi and Gard, how Bobbi finds the object and a bit of a background story on Gard (great descriptions again here of the fallout of alcoholism). Part 2 introduces us to the people in town and what is happening to each of them. Part 3 is the conclusion and what's happening once the object is fully out of the ground. It also sees the 'resurrection' of Gard who spends the first 2 parts in a bit of a drunken stupor.
I loved it, I never got bored and felt the story moves along nicely. There is a bit of a dip in the middle, but the middle deals with how people in town are effected and all the strange things they do, and that makes a very interesting read. The conclusion also left me satisfied. On a whole, what makes it scary is that it is actually a believable story. Even though King is talking Aliens here, it all takes place on our planet earth and happens to ordinary people.
3 February 2016
Title
| Black House (The Talisman 2) |
Author
| Stephen King and Peter Straub |
Publisher
| Ballantine Books |
Publication Date
|
September 2003
|
Pages
| |
Genre
| horror, detective |
Description from Amazon
Black House is the second collaboration by Stephen King and Peter Straub, two of the most important writers in genre fiction, and the expectations of their first team-up were considerable. But despite its impressive sales, many were disappointed by The Talisman. Rather than a truly chilling epic, what we got was a rather derivative and by-the-numbers fantasy saga. So fans were reluctant to be too hopeful about their second collaboration... but we needn't have worried. Black House is much more like it, although even here King and Straub have not quite delivered the ultimate horror marathon--this is a psycho-thriller in the vein of Thomas Harris, but none the worse for that. And there are supernatural elements. This is the tale of a small American town held in the grip of evil. Three children have vanished, abducted by a monster called The Fisherman (after a legendary murderer) with a craving for children's flesh. Ex-detective Jack Sawyer, dealing with his own personal problems (in which he is tormented by visions of another world), is keen to stay away from the horrors of this case, recognising how bad involvement will be for him. But--guess what?--Sawyer is soon supping full on the horrors, and the reader is in for an exhilarating (and highly disturbing) experience. Jack is a powerfully realised protagonist, and his journey into the dark world of The Fisherman is genuinely unsettling. Although more of King's fingerprints are on this one than Straub's (notably the conflicted hero, struggling with his own demons), the co-authors' individual styles merge indivisibly in this highly impressive chiller. --Barry Forshaw
My thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As I previously mentioned in my review on The Talisman Book 1 , I had trouble getting into and even getting through Book 1, as I just did not seem to understand this other world, The Territories and the story was too removed for my liking from 'our world'. However, in Book 2, the story mostly plays out in our world, with links to the other world, The Territories. And the link is not immediately obvious. Jack, our hero, obviously has blocked out his memories of the Territories, but will have to go back to not only save the missing children, but also to save the world from wider evil.
The characters are again, beautifully drawn and unlike in the first book, there are quite a few characters whom Jack encounters this time and who are envolved, and all of them are from our world. In typical King fashion, the story is based around small-town America and its citizens. My favourite character has to be the Biker (who's name escapes me at the moment).
The book is again co-written King and Straub. I have not read any of Straub's other work, but the reading flows without problem and I did not notice two different styles of writers - if there are, they are certainly nicely merged here.
In resume, if you are a King fan and maybe didn't get on with Book 1, give this a try. I have to say though that while you can read Book 2 without reading Book 1, I think it helps you to understand and get the 'little hints' early on in the book, and without reading Book 1 first you may struggle to understand the links.
3 December 2015
Title
| Bad Billy |
Author
| Jimmy Pudge |
Publisher
| Burning Man Productions |
Publication Date
|
September 2011
|
Pages
| 64 |
Genre
| Horror, crime, psychological |
Synopsis
Bad Billy has spent his entire life in Mama's basement. When the chains break free and he escapes into the world, he must learn the difference between being a monster and a human being.
It's going to be a bloody education.
My thoughts
At only 64 pages, I was happy to give this a try. And I don't mind a bit of blood and gore ever now and again. And you are certainly going to get this here.
Bad Billy is the evil product / spawn of an incestuous relationship. And there is always a story behind the evil. Not only are Bad Billy's parents siblings, they are also suffering from various degrees of mental and physical disabilities. Not being 'bad' people themselves, they can't cope with whats before them. Billy probably just wants to be loved, but after being chained up in the basement and fed only roadkill for all his childhood and adolescence, there is not much human feelings left in Billy.
This short book is about 30% of backstory, and the rest is action - what does Billy actually do when he escapes. Don't try to analyse it too deeply and look for extensive psychological backgrounds. This would not be possible within this short book, and is not the aim of the author I would think. Just simply see it as a feast of horror and human evil. is the whole story a bit over the top? Yes, maybe, but it also makes weirdly addictive reading.
4 October 2015
Title
| Nightmares and Dreamscapes |
Author
| Stephen King |
Publisher
| BCA |
Publication Date
|
1993
|
Pages
| 836 |
Genre
| Horror, short stories, paranormal |
Description from Amazon
The Stephen King Amusement Park – an unnerving experience, with rides every which way to hell…and a few to glory.
A solitary finger pokes out of a drain. Novelty teeth turn predatory. The Nevada desert swallows a Cadillac. Meanwhile, the legend of Castle Rock returns… and grows on you. What does it all mean? What else could it mean? Stephen King is here with a powerful collection of stories – a vast, many-chambered cave of a volume.
The long reach of Stephen King’s imagination will take you on a rollercoaster to places you’ve never been before. You will lose sleep. But Stephen King, writing to beat the devil, will do your dreaming for you.
My thoughts / contents
Yes, this is King. Pure and fine, it will grab you and you won't forget them ever. Every King fan recognises the stories:
1. Dolan's Cadillac
A husband revenges the killing of his wife. Only, it isn't that easy when the mob is involved. So you take a job at the Highway Department, learn all about digging out the road and wait for your chance.
2. The End of the Whole Mess
Howard gets a visit from his brother Bobby whom he hasn't seen for a while. Bobby has always been very bright and gifted and dreams of making the world a better place. He discovers that people in a certain place are more mellow than in others and links it to the water. Now if he could extract whatever it is in the water that makes people mellow and non-fighting and could distribute it around the world, that would be the solution to eternal peace.
3. Suffer the Little Children
A mean teacher, Miss Sidley, and how her pupils became infected with something rather strange. That brought her down a bit!
4. The Night Flier
Journalist Dees thinks he is on to a story. A serial killer who uses a small plane to turn up, and leaving mutilated bodies behind. Strangle, with a hold of the plane full of soil, and he wears a long coat and seems to operate only once daylight is gone. Dees catches up with him.
5. Popsy
Sheridan is about to abduct a kid at the local shopping mall. But he picked the wrong kid, because his popsy is coming. Both the kid and popsy are thirty, and it's not water they want.
6. It grows on you
Dedicated King fans:we are back in Castle Rock and a house that keeps growing. Locals remember.
7. Chattery Teeth
Hogan, a travelling salesman, buys a set of novelty teeth on legs in a roadside shop for his son. And he picks up a hitchhiker even though he usually does not do this kind of thing. And it was a bad choice, as it turns out. Will the chattery teeth save his life?
8. Dedication
Martha Rosswell tells her friend the story of the somewhat unusual conception of her son. That son will in later life be come a successful novelist. A bit 'yucky' but this story also has serious undertones of racism experienced by Martha.
9. The Moving Finger
Maybe the most creepy story of this collection, and, in typical King style, shows how two common objects - a finger and a wash basin - can become someones absolute horror.
10. Sneakers
John can see a pair of sneakers (worn by a person I shall add) under the toilet cubicle next to his. Nothing strange. Expect they are still there next time he goes, weeks later.
11. You Know They Got a Hell of a Band
A road trip. Mary and Clark get lost, the roads gets smaller and smaller and then opens into a clearing with a lovely little town. But something is odd. All the residents they meet seem to resemble deceased rock stars. Janis Joplin, Buddy Holly, Elvis. And they would like Mary and Clark to stay for a concert that evening.
12. Home Delivery
Maddie Pace is a simple country girl who marries young to a man who takes charge of her, and that's how she likes it. Now she is expecting her baby. But she seems to be the only one left now on this planet.
13. Rainy Season
Another road trip (I love those!) John and Elise Graham arrive in their holiday home in Willow, Maine (where else!). The local shopkeeper warn him that it is rainy season that night (It doesn't look very cloudy at all!) and that it rains frogs. He warns them to close all doors and windows to their holiday home tightly. John and Elise dismiss him, but of course should have listened to him.
14. My Pretty Pony
Grandpa explained Clivey a bit about the passing of time.
I struggled a bit with this story - didn't get into it as much as other stories, but t did contain a quote which I highlighted and took out from this book:
'Times when you're hurt go on forever, seems like'
15. Sorry, Right Number
Loved this, as the realisation of what's happened hit me on the last page. A story of time travel / different dimensions.
Katie receives a phone call: someone is sobbing and clearly in extreme distress, trying to tell her something. The voice sounds familiar, and she thinks one of her family members is in trouble. Katie and her husband Bill frantically check out their daughter and Katie's sister, but they are fine. So who called, and in a voice which was oddly familiar?
16. The Ten O'Clock People
The Ten O'Clock People are the ones who gather outside office buildings at 10, for their first cigarette break of the working day. Pearson sees the same people every day at 10, with their unspoken unity of their vice. But today Pearson notices something very strange indeed - his co-worker suddenly seem to transfer into some kind of alien species. Does no one else notice? And what is the link to the Ten O'clock People?
17. Crouch End
I lived in London for a while, and now still work here, so this took me almost to familiar territory. King's kind of horror does not only happen in Maine, but right in the suburbs of London.
An American couple on holiday in London, and they seem to end up in a very strange place indeed. Now I know that some areas in every big city are dodgy, but here we are talking a different dimension where the taxi cab which dropped them is suddenly gone and while they still stand in the same road, it has changed and the town's noise is muffled.
18. The House on Maple Street
The Bradbury children live with their mum and step-dad in said house. Lew, their step-dad, is not a very pleasant man, and it seems their mum as given up on life. Then the children discover some kind of strange metallic structure behind the walls in their house, and it grows.
19. The Doctor's Case
A Sherlock Holmes story here! I loved how King manages to exactly hit the writing style and tone of the Sherlock Holmes books. All our favourite characters are here: Holmes, Watson, Lestrade and of course, they solve a crime in typical Holmes/Watson manner. Lord Hull gets stabbed to death in his study, with no-one having access to the room. His wife and children were all in the house at the time, and they all had reasons to wanting to dispose of him.
20. Umney's Last Case
Umney is a detective in the 1940's - or is he? Maybe he belongs to a different time period? I don't want to give too much away, but here, the characters of a story interact with the writer of the story in unexpected ways.
21. Head Down
A departure here from all the other stories - this is a non-fiction account where King tells us about his son's local baseball team league. Nothing supernatural here. I did struggle a bit, as I don't know anything about baseball apart from the fact that it is a sport played in stadiums. But it was still worth reading for King's wonderful prose.
22. The Beggar and the Diamond
A Hindu Parabel, re-told by King
9 August 2015
Title
| Night Shift |
Author
| Stephen King |
Publisher
| Doubleday |
Publication Date
|
1978
|
Pages
| 336 |
Genre
| horror |
Description (from Amazon)
A collection of tales to invade and paralyse the mind as the safe light of day is infiltrated by the shadows of the night.
As you read, the clutching fingers of terror brush lightly across the nape of the neck, reach round from behind to clutch and lock themselves, white-knuckled, around the throat.
This is the horror of ordinary people and everyday objects that become strangely altered; a world where nothing is ever quite what it seems, where the familiar and the friendly lure and deceive. A world where madness and blind panic become the only reality.
An early Stephen King, a short story collection. Many of them were previously published in magazines, when King was still a struggling author. Some of the short stories have been made into movies, and the movie 'Cat's eye' contains 3 stories from this collection which also comes highly recommended.
The book shows how the King of horror can take everyday objects and people and normal situations and make them into a horror story. This is different from bloods and gore horror. A lawn mover man who mows butt naked and eats the grass, a couple taking a road trip and discover the evil which can hide in a humble corn field, a man trying to quit smoking and those how help him have somewhat unusual but very convincing methods, a man who has an affair with a rich guy's wife and the husband wants revenge on the outer ledge of a skyscraper.
Even though I am a big fan of King's work, I did not always find this short story collection very 'easy reading'. I think part of it is that you have to 'get into the story' and obviously with a short story collection, you constantly have to get into a new story. Once in, I was hooked on every single one of them and felt that literally all of them have enough plot and characters to make it a full book. What an imagination this guy has. His talent for turning the ordinary and mundane into the crazy is undisputed.
20 June 2015
Title
| The Shining |
Author
| Stephen King |
Publisher
| Doubleday |
Publication Date
|
1977
|
Pages
| 497 |
Genre
| Horror |
Description from Amazon
Danny is only five years old, but he is a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father becomes caretaker of an old hotel, his visions grow out of control. Cut off by blizzards, the hotel seems to develop an evil force, and who are the mysterious guests in the supposedly empty hotel?
My Thoughts / Review
I would regard King as my favourite author and I had never read The Shining? Don't know why, just the way it happens and I never seem to have bought this book. Maybe because I came to King later in life.
This is on of King's early works, published in 1977 and King's 3rd published novel, after Carrie and Salem's Lot. The book is regarded as on of his classics and within the first few pages it becomes clear why. King's success formula was born. A plot surrounding the supernatural and very strong characters, mostly involving a writer. It was here that King also first engaged with the topic of alcoholism and domestic abuse which shall become a reoccurring theme in his books.
But the real strength for me lies in the characters, as so often with King's books. This book has 4 main characters: the 3 members of the Torrance family (father Jack, mother Wendy and son Danny) and cook Dick Hallorann. Each of them will become unforgettable. He also effortlessly weaves the backstory in - another one of King's strengths.
It is well known that King did not like the movie made with the same title and famously starring Jack Nicholson. If you have seen the movie before reading the book (like me), it will be impossible to read without seeing the faces of Nicholson and ...
There are differences in the book and the movie. The ending is a bit different, and the whole scene with Wendy finding the book manuscript of endless "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". is not in the book at all. The movie is now a horror film classic in it's own right, and though the few special effects are clearly 1970's, the film manages to create a very tense atmosphere and I felt it was a great adaptation of this book.
In summary, both book and movie are a must for any King fan.
19 April 2015
Title
| Salem's Lot |
Author
| Stephen King |
Publisher
| Hodder & Stoughton |
Publication Date
|
1975
|
Pages
| 768 |
Genre
| Vampire, Horror |
Description on Amazon
Salem's Lot is a small New England town with the usual quota of gossips, drinkers, weirdos and respectable folk. Of course there are tales of strange happenings - but not more than in any other town its size.
Ben Mears, a moderately successful writer, returns to the Lot to write a novel based on his early years, and to exorcise the terrors that have haunted him since childhood. The event he witnessed in the house now rented by a new resident. A newcomer with a strange allure. A man who causes Ben some unease as things start to happen: a child disappears, a dog is brutally killed - nothing unusual, except the list starts to grow.
Soon surprise will turn to bewilderment, bewilderment to confusion and finally to terror . . .
My review
I remember reading his many years ago (when I first discovered King). I am slowly re-reading most of them and what it treat this is.
This is one of King's very early books and now considered a classic vampire story. In fact, I would say it is good old-fashioned vampire yarn in King style which we have now grown used to and love so much: small new England town, a host of different characters -usually a writer amongst them. King himself said (according to Wikipedia) that this is his favourite book. While it is maybe not my favourite King, I certainly enjoyed it very much, being one of his earlier works. . Re-reading it now in 2015, it was also nice to read about a world where there is no internet, no Netflix - just a town and people. Research is still done by getting books from the library and books are written on typewriters. And as a bit of a King connoisseur, I can also see his writing style emerging. The writer in me noticed the setting with prologue, epilogue and the emerging of the main story - not a single page wasted.
Clearly influenced by Bram Stoker's Dracula, it may be a good book to get you started on classic vampire - before they were all cute and fell in love with the pretty girls. So, if you are from the younger generation, give this one a try. If you are new to King, this is a very good introduction. Horror? yes, but no spilled guts kind of horror. Supernatural - yes, but as always, set in a normal town with townsfolk going about their business. This is what King does best.
15 March 2015
Title
| Do I bother you at night? |
Author
| Troy Aaron Ratliff |
Publisher
| Troy Aaron Ratliff |
Publication Date
|
October 2013
|
Pages
| 460 |
Genre
| horror |
Book Description (from Amazon)
They say nothing ever happens in Kansas.
Sylvester Petersen used to think so too. That is, until a mysterious new neighbor moves in next door, seemingly out of nowhere. His handful of friends – people who tried to help him cope with the sudden death of his wife – think that it might be an opportunity for him to get reacquainted with the world outside his farmhouse and to build a new relationship with his neighbor. But that idea is soon snuffed out as strange events begin to happen around him. None of them wrong. Just strange: driving in the middle of the night, the sulfur-like odor coming off of him, the fact he doesn’t talk to anyone.
And what about that dog?
Sylvester chooses the logical explanation and ignores the peculiar behavior. But when other oddities start to happen – the kind that affects Sylvester directly – he begins to worry. His reasoning dwindles and his growing fear points to his neighbor.
Where is that stray dog going?
After enough time, Sylvester starts to see and hear what the local people have been muttering about: Unexplainable blue light, corn crops moving on their own…and then there's the slaughtered cattle entirely too close to home.
And that stray dog that keeps getting fatter and fatter and fatter.
At the peak of summer, and with the walls closing in, Sylvester experiences something that will take him to the brink and haunt you forever.
Bathed in loss, terror and human spirit, Do I Bother You at Night? will be a story you won’t forget and one that will give you a few restless evenings of your own.
Love thy neighbor.
My review
First impressions: I liked both the 'question' title and the cover which reminded me of Stephen King's small-town America.
Sylvester is the main character of this book and I liked him straight away. He is a simple farmer tending his corn fields but already in the first chapters we learn that he suffered a very traumatic bereavement when his wife took her own life. He has a few friends in town, but generally his life is a lonely one. Strange happenings start to creep into his life. It is cleverly written and I wasn't sure until the end whether we are dealing with 'real' horror here or whether it's all in Sylvester's mind.
The build-up is slow but not boring by any means. There is horror and a touch of sci-fi. Apart from the story about 'there is something out there in the corn' and the going ons with the creepy neighbour, this is also a very touching and beautifully sad story about bereavement, trying to cope with the violent loss of your big love. I had the feeling that Sylvester and Maria were very close, it was a bit like 'us agains the rest of the world'. And then it becomes 'Sylvester against the creeps'.
What also stuck out for me where the descriptions of the monster Sylvester encounters. A very skilled writer who can come up with the creatures and I could picture them perfectly in front of my eye whilst reading. The author certainly has a skill for good story-telling.
Completely unrelated to the story, I also enjoyed the afterthoughts of the writer, telling us how he came up with the story and finally put the story together after
I received this book from the author in return for an honest review.
About the author
Troy Aaron Ratliff was born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio and self educated in writing, art, and voice impersonations. When he's not reading, writing, sketching, or cooking up his next monstrosity, you can generally find him defending the galaxy from the forces of evil, feeding hippopotamuses, dining with foreign dignitaries and Zen masters, waking up to his supermodel wife, altering the space-time inter-dimensional warp or, more than likely, stuck in traffic somewhere in Southern California on his magic carpet.
23 September 2014
Title
| Hollow Shotguns |
Author
| Khalid Patel |
Publisher
| Severest Inks |
Publication Date
|
Dec 2013
|
Pages
| 265 |
Genre
| Horror, YA, Apocalypse |
Blurb:
"To stop a demon, sometimes you must become a demon."
The apocalypse hits. A fierce disease twists civilians into fire-obsessed, flesh-consuming ferals. The threads of society fray, burn...
A band of boys traverse an increasingly darkening world to reach their lone hope of safety.
As the battle for survival escalates, the bounds of the human psyche are bleakly tested.
Hollow Shotguns is the subversive debut of British writer Khalid Patel. Inspired prose, mesmeric dialogue, harrowing gut-wrenches and throat-burning humour sculpt a rebellious narrative that point-blank refuses to conform to convention. This is a bold, breathless dark ride.
Hollow Shotguns is innovative and artful apocalyptic fiction, a socio-political examination of modern society, cerebral horror, and a blood-pulsing trip that challenges as much as it entertains. The offbeat, slang-loaded style of dialogue Khalid Patel employs for Hollow Shotguns is as hypnotic as his beautifully brain-tickling prose.
Hollow Shotguns is subversive literature at its most brutal...
The unsanitized violence.
The scalding social commentary.
The raw challenge.
Be warned, this is not a fucking beach read.
The apocalypse hits. A fierce disease twists civilians into fire-obsessed, flesh-consuming ferals. The threads of society fray, burn...
A band of boys traverse an increasingly darkening world to reach their lone hope of safety.
As the battle for survival escalates, the bounds of the human psyche are bleakly tested.
Hollow Shotguns is the subversive debut of British writer Khalid Patel. Inspired prose, mesmeric dialogue, harrowing gut-wrenches and throat-burning humour sculpt a rebellious narrative that point-blank refuses to conform to convention. This is a bold, breathless dark ride.
Hollow Shotguns is innovative and artful apocalyptic fiction, a socio-political examination of modern society, cerebral horror, and a blood-pulsing trip that challenges as much as it entertains. The offbeat, slang-loaded style of dialogue Khalid Patel employs for Hollow Shotguns is as hypnotic as his beautifully brain-tickling prose.
Hollow Shotguns is subversive literature at its most brutal...
The unsanitized violence.
The scalding social commentary.
The raw challenge.
Be warned, this is not a fucking beach read.
My review:
A story of growing up as much as a story about zombies and an apocalypse.
4 teenagers - Mills, Cade, Slash and Zeth form 'The Set' who live in a not-so-desirable part of town. Each have their own problems with parents and siblings. But they stick together, mostly against their arch enemy Thumb, the estate's bully. But after a short intro chapter about each character, things quickly happen here. A virus attacks people and quickly turns them into flesh-eating zombies. The four boys are thrown together and than happen to come across their old enemy pick Thumb - who now, that there is no-one left, becomes their buddy in a fight against the zombies. Old enemies aside, there is now a new battle ground Well, is not that simple. The five of them try to find their way to the supposed 'safe zone' into the unknown with many adventures on the way. Thumb was probably my favourite character. The bully everyone hates.
For me, this was not only a flesh-ripping zombie story, but very much a story of growing up, friendship, boys becoming young man. Which is quite ironic actually, because the vaccine they have had against turning into zombies only works as soon as they are not adults.
I suppose you would need to like the zombie genre to fully enjoy this book. Admittedly, it is probably not for everyone, and definitely not for someone looking for a cosy read. There are nasty things at work, and bloods and guts splatter about. You would also need to get used to the teen language Patel is using - a language these children use in their own communication - no need to use proper language when you have known each other for such a long time and are that good friends. But this took me all but one chapter and than I could easy understand their teenage speak (being a woman of 40+ years :)
4 teenagers - Mills, Cade, Slash and Zeth form 'The Set' who live in a not-so-desirable part of town. Each have their own problems with parents and siblings. But they stick together, mostly against their arch enemy Thumb, the estate's bully. But after a short intro chapter about each character, things quickly happen here. A virus attacks people and quickly turns them into flesh-eating zombies. The four boys are thrown together and than happen to come across their old enemy pick Thumb - who now, that there is no-one left, becomes their buddy in a fight against the zombies. Old enemies aside, there is now a new battle ground Well, is not that simple. The five of them try to find their way to the supposed 'safe zone' into the unknown with many adventures on the way. Thumb was probably my favourite character. The bully everyone hates.
For me, this was not only a flesh-ripping zombie story, but very much a story of growing up, friendship, boys becoming young man. Which is quite ironic actually, because the vaccine they have had against turning into zombies only works as soon as they are not adults.
I suppose you would need to like the zombie genre to fully enjoy this book. Admittedly, it is probably not for everyone, and definitely not for someone looking for a cosy read. There are nasty things at work, and bloods and guts splatter about. You would also need to get used to the teen language Patel is using - a language these children use in their own communication - no need to use proper language when you have known each other for such a long time and are that good friends. But this took me all but one chapter and than I could easy understand their teenage speak (being a woman of 40+ years :)
-----------
Here an example/ extract"Unseen, hombre."
"Head-dick better not have dets again, else..."
------------
I enjoy the writing of this author and his prose enormously.
Here is one example:
The shotgun screams.
See what I mean. I shotgun does not simple shoot, but screams. I can hear it scream, I can hear the people scream.
At the same time, if you do enjoy the genre and are a bit fed up of 'same, same' stories, than I would recommend trying this story. Also anyone who likes apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic stories. With under 300 pages, this is also not a huge time investment and could even go as a quick weekend-read. Give it a try.
Here is one example:
The shotgun screams.
See what I mean. I shotgun does not simple shoot, but screams. I can hear it scream, I can hear the people scream.
At the same time, if you do enjoy the genre and are a bit fed up of 'same, same' stories, than I would recommend trying this story. Also anyone who likes apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic stories. With under 300 pages, this is also not a huge time investment and could even go as a quick weekend-read. Give it a try.
About the author:
Khalid Patel is the British writer of cult, underground literature. His works are known for their subversive, unconventional qualities. Challenging narratives, unusual dialogue& beautifully offbeat prose are a staple of his writings. His words, also frequently laced with scalding social commentary & sneaky dark humour, wrenches readers out of their comfort zone for an unforgettable, jolting experience.
An English Literature graduate & culture junkie, Khalid breathes movies (particularly South Korean cinema), comic-books & videogames…passions which frequently seep into his works. He also copiously digs New York, pasta and wearing black shirts.
Khalid Patel advocates activism & the questioning of the status quo. He has supported greater rights for Burma (the birth country of his mother) long before the mass media began highlighting the brutalities & human right atrocities perpetrated by its military junta government. He is also a fierce critic of far-right, fascist outfits such as the English Defence League (EDL); he has attended anti-racism & anti-hate protests where he has engaged in running street battles with Neo-Nazis.
Khalid's stories are often laced with searing socio-political asides, quietly making his readers mull deeper issues whilst they're being entertained. With his writings, Khalid also seeks to disintegrate media-reinforced stereotypes of Muslims & people of brown colour. He is keen to raise the literacy rates of British South Asians, especially males, & hopes his stories more shall catch an interest in literature.
An English Literature graduate & culture junkie, Khalid breathes movies (particularly South Korean cinema), comic-books & videogames…passions which frequently seep into his works. He also copiously digs New York, pasta and wearing black shirts.
Khalid Patel advocates activism & the questioning of the status quo. He has supported greater rights for Burma (the birth country of his mother) long before the mass media began highlighting the brutalities & human right atrocities perpetrated by its military junta government. He is also a fierce critic of far-right, fascist outfits such as the English Defence League (EDL); he has attended anti-racism & anti-hate protests where he has engaged in running street battles with Neo-Nazis.
Khalid's stories are often laced with searing socio-political asides, quietly making his readers mull deeper issues whilst they're being entertained. With his writings, Khalid also seeks to disintegrate media-reinforced stereotypes of Muslims & people of brown colour. He is keen to raise the literacy rates of British South Asians, especially males, & hopes his stories more shall catch an interest in literature.
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