Richard Shanti, a
guilt-ridden slaughterhouse worker, has serious misgivings about his
job. He's known as the Ice Pick - the calmest, most efficient
bolt-gunner in Abyrne's history. Yet, in secret, he and his family are
vegetarian. If the authorities find out, he'll be tried and slaughtered
for sacrilege along with the Chosen - Abyrne's livestock.
My Review:
Abyrne
is a town in the wastelands that survives mainly on the locally
produced meat from the slaughterhouse. Richard is the most efficient
'killer' there and has been trying to hide from his employers the fact
he can't stomach eating the meat any longer, an activity that is
regarded with suspicion and can get you killed. Now he hears of an
uprising of people who want to save the cows and find a new way and he
decides to risk himself and his family for what is right.
This
book is gory, brutal and stomach churning and NOT for readers who are
squeamish or of a nervous disposition. The author in the first few
chapters describes the death process in the slaughterhouse in great
detail which is pretty disturbing to read, and if you pay attention when
you are reading it, you'll pick up on the subtle clues left by the
author about what is happening. I realised the true plot quite early on
and believe me, it makes it an even more horrifying read. I think what
worries me most is that I could see this happening in reality after a
global disaster and it really makes you shudder!
For those who
are against the way the town is being run, there is nowhere to go. There
are no real alternatives to doing what you are told and getting on with
it or the evil man in charge of the town might just put you out of your
misery. Some conform willingly, some reluctantly and the minority are
starting to rebel. It shows the way all varieties of people in a small
town think and what they endure to survive. It is disturbing on a
psychological level as well as you wonder what you would do faced with
their circumstances. I suspect most of us would conform, too afraid to
step out of line. I'm pretty sure I would.
Yes Meat is gruesome
if read purely as a horror story but it does make you think about how
meat arrives at our dinner table. Not liking most vegetables, I have
little option but to eat meat and pasta but I suspect the brutality in
this book might turn a few people vegetarian!
The one thing that
stops me from giving it a higher rating is the way the plot slows down
in the middle and starts focusing more on the inner workings of the
minds of the main characters and Richard's journey of self discovery. It
is still interesting but I feel a bit more action was needed at this
point just to keep things moving along. I did like the development of
the good and evil characters and the overall plot was intriguing. I also
enjoyed the ending.
This is a horror story with an environmental
message running through it and was the second book by the author I read
and enjoyed. I recommend it to fans of horror.
New Year's Day,
2009. Somewhere on the bottom of the world, six teams of adventurers and
explorers have gathered to race one another, on foot, to the South
Pole. It is the first time that anyone has undertaken such a race in
almost a hundred years; the first time since the great Norwegian, Roald
Amundsen, beat Captain Scott to the same goal in 1911.
The
stakes are high, as double-Olympic Gold-winning medallist James
Cracknell and TV presenter and adventurer Ben Fogle must contend with
hidden crevasses, frostbite and the favourites to win: a team of
teak-hard former soldiers from Norway, trained in Arctic warfare.
Temperatures as low as minus 45 degrees Celsius lie in store for the
teams as they attempt to ski across 800 kilometres of unforgiving, icy
wilderness, pulling behind them sledges laden with equipment, tents and
food.
"Race to the Pole" is a rip-roaring 'boy's own' adventure
packed with excitement, humour and even a few tears. But with just a few
months to learn to cross-country ski before the start, and with
national pride at stake, can Ben and James re-write history and beat the
Norwegians?
My Review:
I
like this kind of adventure book, following a modern day race to the
pole. I liked reading about the race and who was in it and the
difficulties that they faced in this extreme environment.
Ben
had a terrible time during the preparation for the expedition, catching a
tropical disease that almost cost him the chance to compete and then
the terrible loss of their unborn child. The mental strain of this and
the physical trauma on his body...well, lesser mortals would never have
made it to the start line. Ben was strong throughout and my admiration
for him grew as the book progressed. I admire his wife as well. What is
was like to lose a child then fear losing your husband on this trip
doesn't bear thinking about.
Frankly, if Ed and Ben had gone on
their own, they probably could have won. It was James and his catalogue
of mistakes and arrogant attitude that meant they lost. James was self
obsessed, arrogant, rude, bullying and of course knew everything. When
things went wrong, it was always someone elses's fault and poor Ed took
the brunt of these childish tantrums. He failed to employ common sense
at the start and despite knowing he was being stupid, carried on anyway
which of course led to the problems with his feet that left him holding
the team up at various stages. He was determined to lead them across an
area filled with crevasse danger because he was in a bad mood and wanted
to cut time off the journey. The man is a reckless idiot and this
lunacy could have killed all of them. The others should never have
followed his idiotic example! His sulking and whinging about being so
weak and injured got on my nerves because his injuries were all down to
his own stupidity and I had little sympathy. The way he took everything
out on his team was childish to say the least. I might admire his
athletic and adventure achievements but I sure wouldn't want to hang out
with him.
The book was really good and gives an in depth view of
what it is like to take on this kind of challenge, and what it does to
you physically and mentally. I recommend this for anyone who likes
adventure or expedition type books.
Texas? Toast. Battered by five cataclysmic hurricanes in three weeks, the Texas Gulf
Coast and half of the Lone Star State is reeling from the worst
devastation in history. Thousands are dead or dying--but the worst is
only beginning. Amid the wreckage, something unimaginable is happening: a
deadly virus has broken out, returning the dead to life--with an
insatiable hunger for human flesh. . .
Within hours, the plague has spread all over Texas. San Antonio police
officer Eddie Hudson finds his city overrun by a voracious army of the
living dead. Along with a small group of survivors, Eddie must fight off
the savage horde in a race to save his family. . . There's no place to run. No place to hide. The zombie horde is growing
as the virus runs rampant. Eddie knows he has to find a way to destroy
these walking horrors. . .but he doesn't know the price he will have to
pay. . .
My Review:
I
found it hard to believe that the main character was a cop because of
all the dumb decisions he seems to take through the book. He breaks a
working phone purely because he gets cut off from his wife, meaning
nobody can use it. Smart move. He decides to go off and investigate
every noise he hears. His driving is shocking for a cop as he destroys
half the cars in the city. For someone who is so determined to get home
to his family, he seems very easily distracted by a pile of things that
are nothing to do with him or too dangerous for anyone to even think
about dealing with. But good old Eddie decides to try and be supercop to
all the needy!
Marcus the psycho cop is a complete nutter yet
Eddie still sticks with him and does whatever Marcus wants. On every
single page I wanted him to die. He is beyond obnoxious, his
conversations with Eddie are dumb and pointless and he is so reckless he
seems determined to get them both killed.
The women in this book
are really awful. The attention seeking female reporter who thinks that
trying to be sexy will get her what she wants in the apocalypse. I
HATED the bitch and couldn't understand yet again why Eddie was wasting
his time talking to her when he had a family to find. His wife was
obviously incapable of doing anything except cry and fall apart and seek
advice from a man before blowing her nose, and that was before the
zombies. She was much worse later on, wailing her head off to alert
every zombie in the city because Eddie got mad at her. Jeez.
The
whole plan for driving downtown, where the zombies are at their
thickest and where most criminals are likely to be roaming, just to get
another car was one of the dumbest things I've read. They pass a ton of
abandoned cars, they even move some out of their way!!! But they keep
going into town to get this car??? Crazy crazy plot.
The good points in the book are plenty of zombies, gore and a fast pace. But it does not save the book from dumb characters.
No more from this author thanks!
I haven't posted anything on the blog for a few days and I was asked if everything was ok. Yes everything is fine! I've just embarked on a very time consuming job over on Goodreads which I have spent two days on now. I worked out that there were a lot of blank reviews stretching back in places to books I looked at in 2010/2011.
Now the problem is, most of these books I didn't like so I no longer have the book AND I have lost my book of review notes from back then. So basically from memory, I have to try and do a mini review for each one, and when I saw how many there were, I felt sick! For two solid days I've been writing these darn things and there are more to be done. It is driving me nuts!
I'm determined to get this done before the weekend. If I get this done, I'll then be left with a few books from last year, a few older books which I DO have still in my collection, a few I will write new notes for as I reread them, and the reviews from this year which I DO have all my notes for! That will be a much easier task! I also resolve that when I catch up with these gits, I will NOT let myself get so far behind on them again!!!
Yes it's Horror Week at The Book Cave! This week I'll be catching up with serial killers, monster beasties, and anything that is nasty and scary! I might even sneak in a vampire or zombie if I feel like it! I have a couple of Jack Ketchum books that I certainly want to read and maybe the follow up to Breeding Ground which features giant spiders! I'm also considering the novel based on the screenplay for Doom. Exciting!
Do you have any specific plans for reading this week? Do you like horror books? If you do what are your favourite 'monsters'? Horror too scary for you? Scariest book or film you've read? I'd love to hear about it!
