The Woman is the last
of her kind, the lone survivor of a tribe of feral cannibals who have
terrorized the Maine coast for years. She is wounded and weak, but she's
found refuge in a cave overlooking the sea. Christopher Cleek is an
amoral—and unstable—lawyer who sees her bathing in a stream one day
while he's out hunting. Cleek has dark, cruel secrets and he will now
add one more. He will capture the Woman, lock her in his cellar, and
attempt to tame her, with the help of his wife and children. But very soon the question will become: Who is more savage, the hunter or the prey?
My Review:
Chris
is out hunting when he sees the wild, feral woman, nursing an injury.
He starts to get an idea of bringing her home and keeping her in his
barn, training her to behave and live in a normal human society. He
manages to catch her and when she wakes up she is captive in the barn
and Chris proudly shows her to his family.
Belle, his wife is
horrified and suspicious of what he has in mind for the woman, but is
too scared of her husband to stand up to him. She agrees to help feed
and clean her, cook for her and make her clothes, trying to keep on the
right side of Chris. His son Brian is delighted by his dad's catch and
spies on her where possible, having fantasies about raping her, just
like his vile dad. Chris has been raping his daughter Peg for years with
the full knowledge of his wife, so Peg is the only one with any
sympathy for the woman, when Chris starts raping her. She wonders if she
can help her escape, but the woman has plans for the whole family if
escape happens, and she is watchful for the opportunity.
What a
lovely family! Chris is an evil git who needs shooting, so I found I was
rooting for the woman to escape and give him what for! I despised Belle
for standing by and let her husband rape their daughter, instead of
taking the girls and running away, or reporting him. She seems more upset at the idea that her husband is cheating on HER than him being a serial rapist and paedophile! You can fully
understand why Peg hates her parents and fears for her younger sister.
When you add in a teacher at school who is concerned about Peg and
starts sticking her nose into family business, things are getting
dangerous at the barn...
You are not meant to like the men in
this family, or Belle either, most probably so for once I didn't mind
horrible main characters. It gave you something to hope for, that they
would get what they deserve eventually. Peg is someone you had great
sympathy for, with the terrible situation she was in, and nobody she
could trust. She starts to find an affinity with the woman and tries to
look out for her the best she can.
In true horror style, the book
is leading up to a grand finale that you can see coming a mile off,
starting with the teacher deciding to visit Peg's parents despite Peg
warning her not to get involved. What happens next is typical Jack
Ketchum gore and it was fun to read. I did like the way it ended.
The "HVZA: Hudson
Valley Zombie Apocalypse" novels have created a terrifying world where a
mysterious parasite has turned ordinary people into killers and
cannibals. This short story begins at the onset of the infection, at the
region's largest shopping mall, the Palisades Center in West Nyack, NY.
Follow the lives of several people as they attend the sale, only to
come face to face with their worst nightmares. Some will survive, and
some will die, but no one will ever be the same.
My Review:
An
unknown virus is sweeping the country and people start staying home
when reports start of infected people attacking normal people. Worried
retailers fear going out of business and decide to tempt people back to
the shopping malls by having a massive Apocalypse SAle. Lots of people
rush to the bargains but so do a few of the infected...
I was
really amused by the concept of this one. Retailers desperate to get
shoppers braving the plague, shoppers greedy enough to risk their life
for a few dumb bargains on things that mean zip when the apocalypse
comes! I liked the reference to it being the Black Death sale instead of
Black Friday!
The story then moves onto a traditional zombie
melee where shoppers are attacked all through the mall. I liked the
descriptions of the zombie attacks, the people running for their lives,
the human side to those about to be eaten. I thought it was well
written, it flowed nicely and the author obviously knows how to
entertain with her zombies! It lacked the tension of people trying to
sneak away and hide that you get in full length zombie novels but this
being a short story, it didn't need that element to keep me interested. I
liked what I saw here so I'm taking the plunge and buying the first two
novels in the series.
I haven't been blogging since the weekend due to a pile of annoying things that have made me into Grumpy Chuckles! I have NOT been a pleasure to deal with this week, I can tell you!
My dad has another ear infection and is going to have to go and get his ears syringed again which he is grousing about because the nurse who does this has the touch of Nellie the Elephant and he was in agony last time she did it. I wouldn't let her near me! The last time she tried to take blood from me, she said 'I'm not very good at this !' Boy, was she right... As for me, my ingrown toenail has went infected and despite a week of strong antibiotics and 3 weeks of magnesium sulphate paste, there is no change in it so I'll need to go back AGAIN. And I stub the damn thing at least five times a day. *grouses* We're never away from the bloody doctors these days.
Then it was the joy of getting in the Christmas extras. Obviously meat joints etc have to wait until closer to the time, but we get in extra juice, freezer stored food, tins, things that don't go off, kitchen towel, toilet rolls, toiletries etc to be fully stocked up for winter in case we get bad weather. It means we only need to nip out for papers, milk and small essentials during thebad weather days in winter. It is back breaking to carry all that crap into the house!
Today was the changing of the beds. Do I ever mention how much I HATE that job??? There is not a lot of room to work with in my bedroom and is a job from hell. I feel like my arms are hanging out the sockets! That was followed by two loads of washing that needed hanging up in front of the fire. Then I dragged myself in for a shower and my back has decided to go wonky, so I'm on the darn painkillers now. ARRGGHHH!
AND I've no time or energy to read or blog much! I've flopped in front of the TV watching Classic Coronation Street from 1977 which has been fun but NOT productive for the tbr. Tonight I really need to read something! Wish me luck! And hopefully I'll be in a better mood tomorrow...!
Hello everyone, Dave here!
For those who don't know me, I'm a bit of mad pumpkin guy and I live with my mum, Chuckles, her dad and a pile of furry monkeys and other assorted things up in Scotland. I finally got to show myself on line this Halloween and thought I'd say a special hello to those kind bloggers who were asking after me on Stacking the Shelves! *waves*
So what does a furry pumpkin do on Halloween, you might wonder? I was hanging out with my homicidal child hating frog friend, Alfie, who you might meet on future posts. He hates children and always has cunning plans to scare them. He was hiding out in the bushes and tickling the ankles if they got too close to the gate...being a pumpkin and having no arms, this lacked appeal for me so I decided to sit inside and use my stalk to launch stones at the little brats instead! *heh heh*
Alfie and I then had a nice film night while mum finished reading her Monster Haven books by RL Naquin. She loves that Closet Monster guy Maurice and is always moaning that she wants one as a best friend as he also cooks and cleans...great books with action and lots of humour. They get the Dave seal of approval!
Alfie and I watched the orginal and ever classic Halloween. That spooky music and the creepy guy in a mask is pretty darm unsettling even for brave pumpkins like me! We also watched the original version of The Fog which I loved, though I got a bit freaked out when I saw fog around our house as we watched. *shudder* We also lightened the mood a bit by watching the first two Harry Potter films. The last thing I needed was to go to bed and have nightmares about being carved out by kids and a candle stuck through my bum! Seriously, what is wrong with you people?!! Carve up a turnip instead of my family!
Hope you all had a good Halloween!
luv Dave x
