Review of 'I Am Death' by Chris Carter

I'm a big fan of crime dramas on TV. NCIS, CSI, the Mentalist, Dexter: you name it, I've probably at least dabbled in watching it. However, I've never branched out into reading crime novels. Agatha Christie is not a novelist whose work I've even attempted, and I've avoided all other great crime novelists bar Raymond Chandler. 

I Am Death follows Detective Robert Hunter and his partner's attempts to catch the work of one of the most horrific serial killers they've had the misfortune to engage with yet. The killer subverts all serial killer norms: he approaches the police directly (covering his tracks of course), taunts them, and changes his MO every single time he kills. Each murder is carried out on an unsuspecting female, who he has no persona relation to. The only similarity between each killing is that they maximise the amount of pain that the victim feels. And that the message 'I Am Death' is found with each body.

The Monster also keeps captive a young boy. This boy is named Squirm, and is forced to watch all of the killings: he is punished if he looks away. Squirm is mistreated in every way possible, and dehumanised to the point of being completely stripped of his name; it is replaced with Squirm. 

The investigation hot up with each new taunt, especially when the killer visits Detective Hunter's home, sliding a threatening letter under his door. 

Have you read it? What did you think?

Review of "I Let You Go"

(Image taken from Amazon)

After falling a little in lvoe with Gillian Flynn's writing, I decided that perhaps thrillers are the way forward in terms of my reading bucket list for this summer. I'm usually all about the chick flicks: whilst doing my degree I wanted something easy to flick through whilst studying the likes of Stein, Shakespeare and other tricky reads. This book was really intriguing, and led me through the process of realising that you never know someone as well as you think you do. So, if you want your beliefs challenged and judgement parameters widened, pick up this beauty.

What do you do when your world falls apart? A hit and run on a dark rainy night leaves a mother of a five year old boy childless. Despite DI Stevens' and Kate's best efforts, the killer remains at large, Upset with the lack of progress in the case, the child's mother leaves town in an attempt to move on from the past.

Arriving in Penfach, Wales, Jennifer seeks to move away from her traumatic old life. Packing up her sculptor ways, she begins a love affair with photography. But what happens when your past catches up with you? And what if the new life you have created cannot merge with the old?

Ever forcing your opinions awry, this mystery keeps you guessing, forcing you to realise that things are never as they seem on the surface.

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x

Review of "Gone Girl"

Let's face it, I'm a big fan of any book that keeps me guessing, forcing me to question my initial value judgements of characters. To say that this book did is a massive understatement. I've heard so much hype about it from other book bloggers, and it definitely lived up to the rumours about just how good it is! Just one hint: don't let anyone spoiler this for you because you really don't want to miss out on this thriller. Speaking of which, sorry for the minor spoiler above, but hey I've gotta give something away about it, right?!

Amy and Nick are supposed to be celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary, but when he returns home to spend time with her he finds her gone, and the house in a state of disrepair. Immediately calling the police, he is terrified about what could have happened to her, despite the rocky state of their marriage. 

Every year on their wedding anniversary, Amy leaves a series of clues for a treasure hunt based on inside jokes between her and Nick, Every year however, Nick's inability to listen to her means that he can't complete all of the clues, and never reaches the end of the hunt of his own accord. 

But what if this year's clues hold the answer to Amy's mysterious disappearance? Has she been taken? Or is there something far more sinister going on ...

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x

Review of "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves"

A story about story-telling if done right is always going to be an interesting read, and this was done right. Karen Joy Fowler's novel, shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker prize has been the subject of many book blogger reviews over the past few months. This had its benefits and drawbacks for me: on the one hand, it caused me to pick the book up, on the other a massive plot twist was alluded to in so many reviews that I missed the twist whilst looking for one (whoops). SO, from now on I am going to make sure I use reviews to guide my picks, but not alter my expectations. 

Rosemary is a pretty normal college student - apart from the fact that she hardly ever speaks. And never about her family (something which she finds is difficult to do when she moves to college). However, Rosemary hasn't always been like this: as a child no one could get her to stop talking. So what happened? Her twin sister Fern disappeared at the age of five, and Rosemary has never understood why. When her older brother leaves home to find Fern, you realise that this family may have even darker secrets than you had ever considered ...

*Don't read if you're trying to avoid any spoilers*

I'm pretty much a fan of every Planet of the Apes movie ever, so when I found out quite early on that Fern was actually a chimpanzee my interest was spiked. Plus, as someone who is really interested in animal rights, the effort that Fowler put into researching the subject matter she is writing about made it quite an educational read!

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x

Review of "The Man of Mode"

The above excerpt from this 17th century play sounds like it could have come out of the mouth of Lady Macbeth, however, writing over half a century later, the playwright Etherege had quite a number of different aims in his portrayal of the scorned women. The political climate of Etherege's writing was one of libertinism. Charles 1 had been killed and a spirit of puritanism had entertained the interregnum, but with the Restoration seeing Charles II put on the throne, a period of somewhat licentious behaviour ensued. Charles II was known for his many mistresses, and if you've ever read any of Rochester's poetry, you'll know how, let's say "saucy" Restoration literature can be! 

Dorimant, a man of wit, convinces the town that through the contraction of a venereal disease he has become impotent. In this way he can allow men to let him have access to their wives, believing that he can do them no harm (the rogue!). Mrs Loveitt is one of the first to fall under his wiles and realise that she desires him. After this, women seem to keep falling into his trap. Sir Fopling Flutter on the other hand, as his name suggests, is the foppish laughing stock of the play - misplaced attempts at wit, unfashionable clothing and outdated speech make him far less desirable to the women. The real question of the play is: will Dorimant's trickery be discovered? And by the men or the women of the play?

This play really made me think about how restrictive Victorian literature has been on the notion of sexuality, especially female sexuality. All of the women in this play display some level of sexual desire, even if it is misplaced in this man of supposed impotence. However, Mrs "Loveitt"s name in particularly gives a slightly negative outlook upon the notion of women chasing after men they desire. The complex natures of the women were also interesting as again, in later English literature this seems to have disappeared a tad. Here the women are at once devious, loving, skeptical, chaste and yet sexual creatures.

Rating:

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph