Shadowfres

by Leigh Nichols

Shadowfires was firstly published by Leigh Nichols (one of many Koontz’s pennames) in 1981.  Before starting publishing all his works under his real name, Koontz spent some years using several pseudonyms depending on the type of thriller he wrote. Once his popularity was acknowledged and solid he went on writing as Dean Koontz and published his previous titles again with some polishing and little changes and updates.

I love horror books and thrillers written between the 70s and 80s.  I have nothing against more recent prose, but all those books in that span are for me… special.  Shadowfires fits with the style of the period and fulfilled all my expectation.

To tell you the truth, when facing a book by this author my expectations are not high. But on the other hand, he’s never disappointed me.  It’s something that never happens with any other writer. What do I mean by this? Well, before turning the very first page I know that in that book there will be a male and female characters who either met and fall in love with each other along the vicissitudes of the story; or they are married and without problems in paradise. Some books may include an extremely intelligent (Labrador) dog in between. On the other hand, you have the bad guy who is… well, really wicked. From page two, the happy couple is chased by the bad guy in a breathless pursuit and for very different reasons. At the end of the story the good guys survive and the bad ones bite the dust or eat the dirt sandwich.

If you’ve got to this paragraph you may think I strongly dislike Koontz.

WRONG!

I love his books because they deliver what I need at certain moments: action and entertainment.  I also love his high quality prose, his wonderful choice of words and his perfectly written sentences.

Shadowfires satisfied all my expectations and had all the ingredients that I described above (no dog ths time, though.) It was that kind of book I needed the moment I chose it. 

This is classic Koontz and I recommend it to anyone interested in reading non-stop thrillers. I would have given this novel 5 out of 5 stars if the ending would have been a bit more elaborated. After more than 400 pages of pursuits, action and cliffhangers the conclusion and fate of the characters come in no more than a couple of pages.

So if you want a rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

The Chimera Vector

by Nathan M. Farrugia

The Chimera Vector is the first installment in the Fifth Column Series by the author Nathan M. Farrugia. It describes the adventures of Sofia and her workmates, a military elite whose DNAs have been altered in order to enhance their senses and skills. They all belong to the Fifth Column, a secret agency with very dubious intentions.

Farrugia delivers the story at a very fast pace, which makes the book enjoyable and an authentic page-turner.  The Chimera Vector is far from being a simple spy, action-packed novel, as it has countless twists and turns, which engages the reader in a complex plot that not only gradually unveils the mysterious ways of The Fifth Column but also the characters’ past lives as well.  The sense of not knowing who is evil and who’s really good is just sublime and pushes the reader to go on with the book.

The book also deals with interesting conspiracy theories about a new world order and psychopaths being at the highest echelons of power in its storyline.

I must admit that, even though I don’t usually read too many books of this genre, I actually enjoyed this one and the way it is written.  I’ll definitely read the next books in the series!

The Devil’s Right Hand

by Jason McIntyre

This novel is the fourth installment in the The Night Walk Men series but it can be read without having gone through the previous ones.

The Devil’s Right Hand has two plot levels that run interlacing with each other along the story. On the one hand you have Benton Garamond’s story, who wades through a long, hard path towards his vendetta against Donovan Lo, for reasons I’ll leave to future readers to find out. On the other hand you have the story of the Night Walk Men, entities of another world whose work is to interact surreptitiously with human beings (in this case Garamond and the rest of characters in this story) and their fate.

The story is delivered by Sperro, one of the Night Walk Men involved in the events, whose voice is addressed to both characters and readers, the latter being most of the time his main audience, sipping sweet or spicy cups of tea brewed by him. Sperro unfolds the events in a gradual way, creating expectation in his listeners/readers, taking his time to depict characters and events in a skillful way, as if giving jigsaw puzzle pieces that come together little by little until the listeners/readers get the whole picture at the end. This is why The Devil’s Right Hand is a good, challenging reading with a rewarding, satisfying ending.

The book is full of suspense, action and mystery, but at the same time deals with some serious topics such as destiny and parental responsibilities. The idea of our fate being in the hands of some beings (The Night Walk Men) whose duty is to follow “the Word” from higher echelons in their hierarchy is just terrifying and fascinating. On the other hand, like I said above, the topic of parents and their influence on their children’s future is an important one here, as it is the reason for all the events to happen, not only in the human dimension but also in the Night Walk Men’s world.

Once again McIntyre offers the readers a catalogue of interesting characters that are depicted in depth and detail. Indeed they are so well developed that readers won’t forget them easily. But apart from the treatment of characters, another aspect in favor of this novel is the degree of the readers’ involvement of the story, as they are constantly addressed by the narrator. It’s as if they were sitting by Sperro, who is telling the story to them orally, as in ancient times.

In conclusion, this book is one of the most original and fascinating works I’ve ever read in a long, long time.  McIntyre manages again a literary jewel with his well-crafted prose and his unique imagination. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes original plots, mystery, suspense and some food for thought at the same time.

You can find the book in digital format at www.amazon.com

The author's website: www.theFarthestReaches.com

Entre nosotros

por Juan Ignacio Carrasco

Sinopsis

Abel Young tiene claro su destino: se casará con Mary, la chica de sus sueños, y terminará por regentar la ferretería familiar. Pero su vida da un vuelco cuando Mary decide dejarlo. Así, por las buenas.

Únicamente puede vencer la desazón cuando su tutor del instituto le encarga que escriba un relato. Y eso que escribir no es lo suyo. ¿Quién le mandaría apañar esa absurda historia de vampiros? ¿Por qué diantre ha tenido que venir a este congreso de jóvenes escritores en la otra punta del país?

El caso es que ahora nada en su vida está preestablecido. Es más, lo que no le falta son sorpresas. No estaría mal del todo de no ser por las hordas de vampiros que quieren borrarlo del mapa. Porque Abel ha metido el dedo en la llaga: en su cuento, ha desvelado sin querer el secreto ancestral de su existencia, y debe pagar por haberlo narrado de manera muy creíble. Demasiado creíble.

Quizá la literatura sea también la mejor arma para combatirlos.

Crítica

Este libro me sorprendió gratamente por varias razones:

1. Es bueno, decididamente bueno. Su trama sigue la línea argumental de novelas y películas del género vampírico, tirando a clásico. Con su estilo directo y desenfadado, Carrasco mantiene al lector en vilo desde principio a fin.

2. Los vampiros en esta novela son malos, malos, malos.  En una entrevista Carrasco comentó que desde que Anne Rice empezó sus crónicas vampíricas, la imagen del vampiro se ha ido humanizando más y más hasta llegar a los extremos de la saga Crepúsculo. En esta novela nos encontraremos con unos vampiros despiadados dispuestos a acabar con todo aquel que se atreva a desvelar su existencia.

3. Su uso del humor.  Esto de mezclar comedia con terror no es fácil, pero Juan Ignacio Carrasco lo consigue magistralmente. Abel Young, protagonista y narrador, consigue arrancar la sonrisa (y en muchas ocasiones una sonora carcajada) del lector.

4. El libro contiene una pequeña joya, que es el relato El juramento, causante de meter a Abel Young en un auténtico embrollo con vampiros y asesinatos.

Entre nosotros fue libro que fue muy bien acogido, aún habiéndose publicado directamente en bolsillo, y cuenta con un buen número de seguidores.  El autor dejó el final preparado para una secuela cuyo título sería Jerusalem, Texas. No obstante no se ha llegado a publicar.

(Fuentes: www,goodreads.com para foto y sinopsis)

Thalo Blue

by Jason McIntyre

Plot

A young man on the brink of true adulthood experiences the trauma of his life when a trespasser breaks into his home. Sebastion Redfield and the psychiatrist assigned to help him recover from the break-in begin to unravel a more disturbing truth about his ordeal: that someone or some thing has been hunting him.

Review

Thalo Blue is a great novel. McIntye manages to convey a horror story using a narration full of textures and poetry that turns out to be an original, fresh and challenging reading in a rich tapestry of flashbacks and interlaced stories (all of them brilliantly connected in the end) which leads the readers to a gripping climax and an unexpected ending. As far as characters are concerned, Zeb is one of the most complex and fascinating characters I have ever read about. He's unique and McIntyre manages to create a strong, intimate link between him and the readers. In conclusion, Thalo Blue is not only a horror story, it is about second opportunities, life and its tragedies.

Visit the author's website: www.thefarthestreaches.com

(Sources: book cover and summary taken from www.goodreads.com, with kind permission of the author)

After Dark

by William Katz

Bouncing back from a horrible, failed marriage, Anne Seibert moves to a new town. But the pain she still feels turns her into a hopeless insomniac. Each night, unable to sleep, she stares out her window, and often sees the handsome man across the street. He leaves at the oddest hours.

Why? Where is he going?

He spots her. Who is she? Why is she looking?

They meet. Anne longs for romance. His passion
is murder. He wants her removed from that window,
by any means possible.

Now, seeking love, Anne will face death.

After Dark turned out to be a soft thriller, quite predictable at some points and with a style that slightly reminds the reader of Dan Brown's prose due to the economy of words. The characters are plain and two-dimensional. Fortunately it is short and doesn't hurt to read it for a couple of days, which is the time it took me to read.

(Cover photo taken from amazon.com)

Duma Key

By Stephen King

After a work accident that almost kills him and leaves him without one arm, millionaire and entrepreneur  Edgar Freemantle decides to leave his building company in the hands of his associate in order to look for a place to start a new life and to escape from a stormy divorce and suicide.

Duma Key is his destination. A house by the beach in the state of Florida where he takes up drawing and finds out that in spite of being short of one arm, his talent begins to be more than he expected...  He soon discovers this new place is haunted and at the same time it's haunting him.

I'll just say: read this book if you like what I call "vintage King".  This the same Stephen King I read in novels such as The Dead Zone or Pet Sematary.  Well-developed characters and a storyline building up to a scary climax.

Zombie Fallout

by MARK TUFO

If I write a summary of this book, you may think: "OK, right. Another zombie book about the breakout and so on and so forth.  Been there, done that."  I would have thought so if I'd read the synopsis before reading the book.

Anyway we do have another story here.  Yes, it's survival horror but with other elements I haven't seen or read before in this genre.  It includes a whole family; parents in their forties, kids in their teenagehood or early adult life and Henry, their faithful farting bulldog.  Add also close friends to the family and neighbours in the middle of the zombie outbreak.  But there is more: Mike Talbot, the head of the main family, is the narrator through most part of the novel and leads us along the story. He describes the horror of the events in such a hilarious way that you don't know whether to be scared or to burst out laughing. It's a real treat.

The only negative point I found is that the text needs some editing, but I shouldn't complain after having had such a great time.  The book can be found for free at amazon.  Check it out!

NOTE: This is the first instalment of a series of 8 books,

Fantastic Voyage

by Isaac Asimov

Two antagonist countries see their battle for scientific progress and military intelligence outbalanced when the most brilliant scientist of one of the opposite nations crosses the boundaries in benefit of the other. However few hours after arriving at his exile he becomes the victim of an attack that leaves him in a comatose state. A group of scientist and a secret agent are miniaturized together with a nuclear submarine in order to be injected into the body of this scientist, who holds in his mind a terrible scientific secret.  This uncanny team has 60 minutes to travel through his blood system to wipe the blood clot in this genius's brain.  If they fail, this man will die and mankind will be doomed.

I really enjoyed this book, which was based on the script of the 1966 movie.  Asimov changed some scientific mistakes in the story and created an amazing sci-fi thriller. It's full of action but at the same time it's so full of real facts about the human body and how it works that after finishing the book, the reader has had a great time and learnt some interesting things about anatomy.

I think Asimov tried his best at making the story less Hollywood-like but still the characters lack elaboration and are rather plain, which is the only drawback I found in the book.  He re-wrote the story again under the title Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain.  I haven't read this second book but from what I've seen the plot is exactly the same, so I guess Asimov wrote it for his own satisfaction or because he was not convinced about the first one.

All in all, it's an entertaining book, mixing up sci-fi and spy fiction.  Ideal for those who want to have fun after a tougher reading.  It doesn't matter if you are not a great fun of sci-fi books.

El Aula 19

El aula 19 es un libro excelente, que aun teniendo una extensión considerable, se lee rápidamente.  Como en otras novelas de Federico Axat, la trama fluye vertiginosamente, como en una montaña rusa, desconcertando al lector con inesperados hechos hasta llevarlo a un sorprendente final.  Los personajes están convincentemente tratados y descritos gracias a regresiones en la historia que, aunque en muchos momentos interrumpen la trama principal, los enriquecen y les dan vida.  Sin entrar en más detalles, diré que la trama queda excelentemente ligada y sin un cabo suelto, a pesar de la complejidad aparente que la historia plantea.  En una palabra: magistral.  Muy recomendado para amantes de la novela de misterio, intriga o terror.  No tardaré en leerme otro libro de este genial autor.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Some people usually ignore certain titles because they were written 40 or 50 years ago.  I know that new releases are tempting and for some readers they are prioritary in their reading lists, but honestly The Taking of Pelham 123 is a great book, no matter when it was written.  Spending some time on this novel is really worthy.

The Empty House, by Algernon Blackwood

I was glad to discover this author, after seeing his name and quotations in H.P. Lovecraft's writings.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes good ghost stories.  It's curious how such an old book can still scare the living crap out of the reader so easily. You can get a free, legal download for your e.reader at: http://manybooks.net/titles/blackwoo1447114471-8.html

It's a hell of a reading!

Brave New World

I began reading this book for two main reasons:

1. I bought it aeons ago and it turned out to be the typical procastinated reading over the years.
2. I had a very reduced list of books for my reading club and had to select one that would be short and completely different from the rest of the ones I had already chosen (consider that in that list I already had Dracula, The Catcher in the Rye and Mansfield Park). My first option was The Road, but the library didn't have enough copies of the book for all the members of the club,  so I decided on old Huxley's classic distopian novel.

After reading two thirds of the book, I can tell you I was kind of disappointed at it.  I cannot deny Huxley had the merit of writing something so daring and advanced at that time.  But my disappointment was caused more by the fact that the book was quite philosophical and deep,  I caught most of the themes, topics and symbols and understood them, but I fancied reading something else, more in the line of other distopian, futuristic novels such as 1984 or The Time Machine. Brave New World could be the ideal complementary reading for students of Philosophy, but not my cup of tea at these moments in which I really read for pure FUN.

Anyway right at the end the novel gets momentum and leaves a feeling of hopelessness on the reader. Thanks goodness that the reading was worthy in the end!


(Image taken fron the Amazon Kindle edition)