Book Review: The Thin Executioner

Synopsis: In a harsh, unforgiving world of slavery and glorified executions, one boy's humiliation leads him to embark on a perilous quest to the faraway lair of a mysterious god. It is a dark, brutal, nightmarish journey which few have ever survived. But to Jebel Rum, the risk is worth it... to retrieve his honor, to win the hand of the girl he loves, to wield unimaginable power, and to become The Thin Executioner.

Another "teen reader" type book, I've read that the basis for it is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. If true, the times they are a'changin. I guess sort of like ole Huck this kid does go wandering off on an adventure with an older slave in tow and they face some hazards, but this one has tons of action and violence to tell the story. In the end it's really about finding kindness in your heart but getting there takes some brutal bloodshed and death. Learning about bigotry, death and compassion along the way makes the tale more about the journey than the destination really.

I found it pretty gripping and enveloping actually. The characters are well-developed and the adventures come fast and furious. The world that is built is very interesting, full of a lot of different types of people who worship and live in all sorts of different way. Some peaceful, some violent, some religious but all believable. In addition to all the violence there is some humor, enough to lighten up things when they get too heavy. A few nice twists and turns along the way kept me guessing. And then something I really want out of a book... a very satisfying ending. In fact I had to smile at the whole last couple of chapters. Well done.

I can see teens eating this up but I assure you that adults will enjoy this as well. Darren Shan is no Mark Twain, but who is? Darren Shan is fully capable of writing a very interesting and fun book though I will say, and he's done just that. One of my favorites this year. Good story, good message, good read.

9/10

Book Review: The Intruder

The Intruder
by Peter Blauner

Synopsis: John Gates is a mentally disturbed homeless man in Manhattan who has come to believe that a lawyer named Jake Schiff has stolen his family and ruined his life, and he begins to focus on Jake's wife. When Schiff takes up extreme measures to put an end to Gates' harassment, the world is turned upside down for both men. How far would you go to protect what's yours?

There's some pretty good characterizations in this John Grisham-eske thriller, and the story takes a few twists and turns while moving along at a nice, quick pace. It's got a bit less courtroom drama than a Grisham novel and quite a bit more violence, but it still reminded me of his work, and I mean that in a good way. I did think the outcome of main court case was pretty predictable and I saw it coming from the first few stages so that takes away from some of the suspense, but that's not where the story ends at least and what takes place afterwards pretty much put the stamp on the whole story.

Overall a nice morality play that sort of plays to people's paranoia about how fragile peace of mind is. If you like crime dramas, especially ones that co-star the city of New York and surrounding Burroughs, you'll enjoy this.

7.5/10

Book Review: Lockdown: Escape From Furnace

Lockdown: Escape From Furnace
by Alexander Gordon Smith

Synopsis: The series opener of this teen novel series, it's set in a squalid prison for juvenile offenders built deep underground and patrolled by surgically altered supermen with vicious, skinless dogs. Framed (like a suspicious number of his fellow inmates) for a murder he did not commit, Alex is plunged into a desperate struggle for survival amid constant sirens, lurid lighting, nightmares, gang violence, and terrifying encounters with the prison’s scary guardians.

Yes, ocassionally I read books aimed at young adults. All you Twlight, Hunger Games and Harry Potter fans just shut up right now. It's still pretty violent and even visceral, just not gratuitous or over-the-top. There's no foul language or sex.

The first thing you should know, there's no closure here. It's left as a cliffhanger. Obviously going to be a series and this one just does a lot of character introduction and set-up (I believe the next 2 books are called Solitary and Death Sentence... with a 4th on the way called Fugitives).

Actually a very fun, fast paced story with some nice young yet real characters, some terror (bordering on horror) and a bit of dark humor. A quick read, it's a survival story that hooks you in pretty quickly and never gets dull. There's some mildly graphic descriptions but really it's just a good solid story that's well written and interesting, for all ages. I'd recommend it, but probably starting at about age 15 or 16 and up. Unless you want your kids younger than that to read about torture, murder, violence, brutality and savagery. Watered down a bit? Sure, but still it's not Dr. Suess.

And of course, now I'll have to read the others since this one really leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

7/10

Book Review: Darkness On The Edge of Town

Darkness On The Edge of Town
by Brian Keene

From The Publisher: One morning the residents of Walden, Virginia, woke up to find the rest of the world gone. Just . . . gone. Surrounding their town was a wall of inky darkness, plummeting Walden into permanent night. Nothing can get in - not light, not people, not even electricity, radio, TV, Internet, food, or water. And nothing can get out. No one who dared to penetrate the mysterious barrier has ever been seen again. Only their screams were heard. But for some, the darkness is not the worst of their fears. Driven mad by thirst, hunger, and perpetual night, the residents of Walden are ready to explode. The last few sane prisoners of this small town must prepare a final stand against their neighbors, themselves, and something even worse... something out there... in the darkness.

I like Brian Keene quite a bit and have read several of his novels, but I think this one was a bit of a letdown. The plot is pretty straightforward, simple and interesting and he's drawn some great characters... but nothing really goes on and then the book ends abruptly.

It starts out strong and got me really involved, but then the majority of the pages are just spent with people trying to figure out what's happening. There are a couple of sequences of some action or gore, but mainly there's a lot of head scratching and chatting. There's the requisite "creepy old homeless guy" in town that seems to know what's going on and it's all quite interesting, but then it just doesn't go anywhere with it. There's no twist or feeling of completion. Or answers. Reading the synopsis I cut-and-pasted above pretty much leaves you with the same amount of knowledge as you get reading the entire book.

It's an interesting, short read but far from one of Keene's best for my taste. Try Stephen King's "Under the Dome" or "Mist" for similar tales maybe.

5/10

Book Review: The Black Train

The Black Train

by Edward Lee



Synopsis (from the publisher): WELCOME TO THE GAST HOUSE - A historical bed and breakfast or a monument to the obscene? Collier doesn't need to know the building's rich history: women raped to death for sport, slaves beheaded and threshed into the soil, and pregnant teenagers buried alive. Who or what could mitigate such horrors over 150 years ago? And what is the atrocious connection between the old railroad and the house? Each room hides a new, revolting secret. At night, he can smell the mansion's odors and hear its appalling whispers. Little girls giggle where there are no little girls, and out back, when Collier listens closely, he can hear the train's whistle and see the things chained up in its clattering prison cars. Little does he know, the mansion and the railroad aren't haunted by ghosts but an unspeakable carnality and a horror as palpable as excited human flesh. WELCOME TO A PLACE WORSE THAN HELL...



Civil War horror? I guess that's where you'd put this. I like Edward Lee so I checked this one out. In typical Lee fashion, it's pretty macabre, brutal and full of gore and sex. Also in typical Lee fashion he does a nice job of character building, and a couple of "heroes" of the book are very likable and interesting (especially for me since both are beer connoisseurs... one writes books on beer while the other is a brewer). I can relate.



The flashbacks are full of savagery and brutality for sure. Some of the scenes described will probably haunt you for a bit, so be warned. The book does a nice job of building suspense throughout as things unfold, but I have to say I was disappointed in the end really. I expected all hell to break loose, so to speak, and a crazy finish. Really, it's pretty tame compared to the set-up and a bit of a letdown to me. This left me feeling a little disappointed in it.



A good, dark "Civil War horror" novel, definitely worth a read, but I'm going to stop short of praising it like other Edward Lee titles I've read. Not bad, but not his best.



6/10

Book Review: I Am Ozzy

I Am Ozzy
by Ozzy Osbourne with Chris Ayres

Ozzy Osbourne ~ "People ask me how come I'm still alive, and I don't know what to say. When I was growing up, if you'd have put me up against a wall with the other kids from my street and asked me which one of us was gonna make it to the age of sixty, which one of us would end up with five kids and four grandkids and houses in Buckinghamshire and Beverly Hills, I wouldn't have put money on me, no f'n way. But here I am: ready to tell my story, in my own words, for the first time. It haunts me, all this crazy stuff. Every day of my life has been an event. I took lethal combinations of booze and drugs for thirty f'n years. I survived a direct hit by a plane, suicidal overdoses, STDs. I've been accused of attempted murder. Then I almost died while riding over a bump on a quad bike at f'n two miles per hour. A lot of it ain't gonna be pretty. I've done some bad things in my time. I've always been drawn to the dark side, me. But I ain't the devil. I'm just John Osbourne: a working-class kid from Aston, who quit his job in the factory and went looking for a good time."

I've been waiting for years for Ozzy's memoir of his long and insane career and this book captures it pretty nicely. You're in the mind of a legendary rock n roll wild man and it's an entertaining place to be. He talks about his family, relationships, kids, parents, early jobs, jail time, drugs, sex, alcohol, guns, more drugs, more alcohol, Black Sabbath, solo years, Sharon and The Osbournes TV show. Some of the stories you've probably heard before, but it's good to hear Ozzy's version of peeing on the Alamo or what actually occurred in the conference room when he bit the head off of a dove or when he tried to strangle Sharon to death or when Randy's plane crashed or his side of the lawsuit by the parents of the kid who committed suicide. Sometimes it ain't pretty and I was frustrated with him for some of the stupid, self-destructive things he's done, but he doesn't back away from how much stupidity he's displayed in the past either.

Faults? Well he spent a lot of time on his drug and booze fueled antics and just flew right through a lot of his musical career. There's very little of Zakk Wylde and that whole era here, nothing to speak of about Jake E. Lee really, no mention of Joe Holmes on the Ozzmosis tour and just a few paragraphs really about his travelling metal show Ozzfest. There could be a whole crazy book on Ozzfest I'm guessing and I'd loved to have heard a lot more about Jake and Zakk and the songs and albums from those eras. That was disappointing. I think the book could add about 100-200 pages and hit these topics much heavier and be way more satisfying to the fans of Ozzy's solo work, not just of his fame and antics.

Still though, obviously a must read for fans of Black Sabbath (he covers these years pretty well), Ozzy Osbourne, and rock 'n' roll memoirs in general but it's highly memorable and recommended for anyone really. Ozzy has had a very "interesting" life to say the least. It feels very open and honest and is often quite humorous.

8/10