The Pegster - reads

Blurb:

From Goodreads: 
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

My review:

Title	Journey Into The Mystic
Author	Jesse Giles Christiansen
Publisher	CreateSpace
Publication Date	16 January 2014
Pages	224
Genre	mystery, native American

From Goodreads

When we first meet Joel,a 22 year old college kid, he is on the train on his way to Alaska. He carries a duffle bag with him which he guards. The bag contains the dead body of a child. But there is something not quite right about this child. It looks unnaturally white, has no hair whatsoever and the proportions of its face are not quite right. Joel can only think one thing: He has to run away, and best far away - to Alaska. The death of the child is nothing more than an unfortunate accident. But what Joe does not realise at this stage is that he isn't just simply running away from facing responsibility for the death, but there seems to be more to his child than Joel realises at first. And Joel's journey and his fate are connected to this child.  This is the start of an adventure for Joel into Alaska's wilderness, onto fishing boats and than back into the desert and underground government facilities where various agencies have an interest in this child. Joel goes on a journey of discovery during this summer and will never be the same again. 

The book for me was like the X-Files crossed with wild and beautiful Alaskan countryside and Native American mysticism. One thing which will stay in my mind is the author's vidid descriptions of the Alaskan fisherman's work on the boat. Can anyone who comes from a city environment imagine the world of not only fishermen, but also those working on the processing plants? There is one episode where Joel has to push the barrels with the fish guts and can do nothing but vomit every few steps- God, I felt for him and almost felt physically sick myself. 

And than there is Tina who Joel first meets on the train Joel's relationship with Tina is an odd one… not one of your usual love stories. She is not your traditional beauty, in fact the first description for her is probably rather off-turning:
" Her shorts rode as high as shorts can ride, cut from old jeans, and out of them leaked bean pole legs, over-tanned. She wore a tank top too big for her, forlornly gaping about her very small waist. Her dirty bra exposed itself like a bastard's smile."

and I do love her for that straight away. Tina is also a narrator in some of the chapters to give her POV. 

I was never bored and the story moves along quickly. So sit back and enjoy the ride with Joel and Tina. 


I have received this book from the author in return for an honest review.

Title	Pelican Bay
Author	Jesse Giles Christiansen
Publisher	Imajin Books
Publication Date	18 Nov 2013
Pages	208
Genre	mystery

The hero in this story is Christopher Snow. He suffers from a medical condition called xeroderma pigmentosum. This means his skin and eyes cannot be exposed to sunlight. The book therefore pretty much plays out at night, in a small seaside town called Moonlight Bay. Walking his dog in night time and complete darkness when no-one else is around, Christopher starts to see strange going-ons and all kinds of weird characters emerge which become more and more threatening.  It becomes apparent that they may take over the town and Christopher cannot any longer just watch but needs to do something. But first he needs to find out what the story is behind those strange happenings - are they supernatural or are they explained more scientifically? All this in true horror style, and the story moves along quickly. Christopher is a very likeable hero and I certainly feared with him.  There are flashbacks to the past, and apparently there is a Koontz called Watchers where he references to in this book, however, I never read said Watchers, and it will not effect your ability to understand this story at all - it is stand alone. A story about fear and about courage to move away from paths walked.