Talk about a tough crowd.
Take
Charlie Broadmoor’s life. Please. Charlie sucks at stand-up comedy. He
gets by, though. Things are okay. His life is decent. Until the night he
makes fun of a demon’s comb-over. Big mistake. What kind of demon wears
a comb-over? The sensitive kind. The kind who’s not going to let an
insult slide. A demon who’s going to take Charlie down. As in down to
Hell. And he intends on dragging everyone Charlie cares about along for
the ride.
My Review:
When I was briefly on Netgalley this was a book that I was approved for but I was unhappy that the publisher asked me not to publish a low star review if that was my opinion and I told them I wasn't prepared to do that and never read it. I must say that this was nothing to do with the author who was horrified when it came to his attention, and he kindly sent me a review copy to look at.
Charlie is a fading comic in a club who is struggling with his audience who don't seem to find anything funny, especially him. He takes the fateful decision to pick on a man in the audience with a dodgy comb-over, hoping to get the crowd laughing at him. Sadly for Charlie the crowd don't laugh anyway and the angry man confronts him after the show about his rudeness. Charlie is unrepentant even when the man reveals himself to be a demon and will get revenge on him and the people he loves. It soon becomes clear that the man is a demon and he will not stop until he gets Charlie.
The
demon Kobal tells Charlie that he intends to destroy his life and Charlie
quickly believes it when someone he cares about dies suddenly and the
gleeful demon makes an appearance at the funeral. He has to turn to one
of his fellow comics for help to protect him and his daughter Serena but
Kobal ensures that everything Charlie does goes wrong causing all kinds
of problems for him to deal with.
The main problem I had was that I didn't really like the MC Charlie or find him funny. Part of this is down to the fact that I have a particular dislike for comics in real life who decide to make bitchy comments to members of the audience about their appearance. These people have no regard for how upsetting or humiliating this can be for someone who just wanted a night out, as long as they get the cheap laugh for it. This was pretty much how I felt about Charlie and it was hard to feel any sympathy for the mess he was in. He is struggling as a comic because he isn't really much good and his act is tanking badly in front of his latest audience. He decides that picking on a man in the audience and slagging off his comb-over is a good way to get the crowd going, which is a pretty nasty thing to do. It was like watching a train wreck as Charlie gets more insulting and desperate and only infuriates the man. It was Charlie's loved ones that I actually had sympathy for.
It was the side characters that I actually found more interesting. The mysterious Kenneth only appeared briefly as the strange neighbour but he was the one that I really wanted to find out more about and I was a bit disappointed that we never got his back story by the time the book finished. I like the foul mouthed, foul mannered Burgess who managed to be naturally funnier than Charlie ever was and tries to help with the demon problem. His ex Celia, Serena's mother was also quite interesting in the little bursts that we got of her. I'd have liked to see her meeting Burgess and being along for the trip so I could see more of her strange habits. However I found The Angels so annoying that I actually wanted to kill them. I didn't really get the scenes between them and Charlie and what the purpose of them was for the plot.
I did struggle with the book in parts so overall I didn't know whether to give it 2, 2.5 or 3 stars when I finished it. I'm still struggling to rate it. For me the humour fell totally flat but of course what we find funny is a purely personal thing and that doesn't mean that the writing wasn't funny so I'm sure others will be amused by it. I didn't find Charlie funny at all and ploughing through a few of his unfunny routines through the book didn't greatly entertain me. I really hated The Angels but liked the other side characters. I also wasn't greatly keen on the sex scenes with Charlie and Sylvia which added nothing to the story and I skimmed past them. I did finish the book to see what happens, and there were a few things I did like in it but the struggles I had with it means I have little option but to drop the star rating accordingly.
The one thing I did find is that there was nothing wrong with the actual writing style or story development and as I do have other books by the author on my ereader, I might well try something else by Mr West in the future as he seems to write a mix of genres and something else may suit me better.
Read August 2018.
2 stars.
In the Everglades, there are sights that should never be seen…
Deep in the Florida Everglades, a tragic accident has ignited a deadly feud between two families.
Meanwhile,
a young writer, his girlfriend and her family take a boat ride into the
isolated wilds of the Everglades for research on a new book, only to
become unwitting witnesses to a brutal crime.
Now, as night
falls, forced to travel on foot, they must flee through the treacherous
wilderness while desperately avoiding the deadly wildlife—and the far
more lethal human predators that are hunting them.
My Review:
Everyone knows better than to mess with the Roy family, a violent bunch of psychopaths that live out in the swamps, so things look bad when a young boy is accused of an unfair attack on young Travis Roy, and the Roys declare war on their new enemies and set out for revenge. The row escalates into murder and a group of innocent tourists are about to be caught up in the carnage.
Ida Roy is the head of the family with her sons Harlon and Tucker, Tucker's wife Jolene and their son Travis. She rules the family and nobody wants to get on her bad side. When Travis picks a fight with Noah and loses, Travis is too scared to admit it and lies that he was set on by Noah and his brother Ethan, which outrages the furious Roys. Jolene is sent to seek vengeance against the boys who hit her son but the dispute gets worse when Noah hotly denies what Travis said and an accident provokes the Roys to declare war on the terrified Daigle family. They know exactly what the clan are capable of and they anxiously wait for the attack to come.
Elizabeth is introducing her new boyfriend Dan to her parents Russ and Vicky. Dan is a horror writing who is writing a new book with a scene with a snake eating someone and wants to do some reearch on it while in Florida. The family arrange for Dan to join them on a boat trip in the Everglades where boat owner Sam is able to give him some answers. Sam decides to take the boat to the Roy's house to see the alligators that they keep on the property but he arrives at the wrong moment and witnesses the result of the fued, exposing his tourists to the very worst of human nature.
This was my first book by the author and I read it during a good reading spell in the summer where I was getting through some really good reads. I can never resist a story with the redneck killer family from hell torturing and causing terror for their victims so I was pretty keen to read this and the sequel, both of which I really enjoyed (review of sequel to follow). The story is typical of the type in the genre but it was exactly what I expected and wanted so I crtainly have no complaints. The plot moves along at good speed with just enough information to give the characters enough personality for the reader to care about.
There isn't a lot that I can say about the plot without saying what happens in it and ruining it. The Roy family are just plain evil in their behaviour but I can at least see why they are angry over the alleged unfair events. The chain of events that happens because of one lie makes me want to just strangle Travis for being a whiny, pathetic little git! I did actually quite like his father Tucker, who is not as keen on the violence and revenge as the rest of his family, and struggles over what to do with the captives they have. The rest of the Roys are a nightmare. The book cover features alligators and they do have a cameo role in the plot though the main focus is the Roy family.
I liked the writing of the author and the way he told the story. It's the kind of horror that I enjoy with no messing about in the plot and getting straight to the story. I'm looking forward to trying another series of the author next year and I hope I enjoy it the way I did with Wildlife.
Read August 2018.
4 stars.
In the year 2044,
reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels
alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS.
Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this
world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's
obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive
power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.
When Wade stumbles upon
the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to
take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to
survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been
so desperate to escape.
My Review:
James Halliday was the creator of a new and improved version of the internet called OASIS has died. His entire fortune of 240 billion is now up for grabs-if you can find the Easter Egg hidden within OASIS. The way to get to the egg is to solve the clues to find the keys to open the gates and every gamer in the world wants to win that prize. After years of failure for everyone, Wade stumbles across the first answer and everyone goes wild over the contest again. Wade is competing against gamers who are friends as well as enemies who are ready to kill to win the prize. Who will find the egg first?
"Three hidden keys open three secret gates, wherein the errant will be tested for worthy traits. And those with the skill to to survive these straits will reach the End where the prize awaits"
I'm not the biggest fan of science fiction in general though I do like certain things like monsters and dinosaurs killing people on planets or on board spacecraft, some dystopian plots like The Hunger Games, some time travel like Future Shock. I'm not a gamer either though I sometimes watch my dad play. I really didn't think for a minute that I was going to like this book but I wanted to read it before I tried watching the film. I was so surprised to really enjoy it!
I loved the worldbuilding in this book so much. It is a grim future world set in the ongoing energy crisis and against a backdrop of extreme poverty, disease and war. Crime is rampant especially in the stacks where Wade lives. Basically, mobile homes are stacked in huge towers to save space, leaving the occupants crammed in. The lower homes have no light, the upper homes with a long journey to get in and out their homes, and dark alleys running between them where criminals prey on the vulnerable. I could feel the misery that these people in the stacks endure on a day to day basis. People rent out any extra space in their mobile homes to other families to get more money for themselves as Wade's nasty aunt does. Fifteen people are crammed into her trailer and her contempt for Wade has her reluctant to feed him but happy to take welfare from the government and steal any items of value that he finds. With such a grim life to endure, it is easy to see why people want to spend all their time in the OASIS.
The OASIS sounded so amazing-a virtual reality global network that can be used for everything from education and chat rooms to gaming and media. You can go to school and learn without leaving your home, and it is programmed so that nobody can misbehave in the virtual classrooms, making it easier for kids to learn and teachers not having to discipline the class. Access to the basic OASIS is free for all citizens but the more money you have, the more freedom you have to explore the countless worlds at your fingertips. Instead of just playing a game on a console as we do now, the created avatars of the players can get on a spaceship and go and explore whole new worlds, fight countless other avatars, meet up in chat rooms and play all the old retro games that are no longer around. It sounds great! I was always a Pac Man, Space Invaders and Chuckie Egg kind of gal!
Wade, like other gamers who want to win the prize, spends a lot of time researching the 80's on OASIS as James Halliday loved the music, films and games from that era of entertainment. He hides his computer gear in a pile of abandoned cars which he retreats to for privacy, using OASIS to go to school and meet gamer friends. With little money, he is stuck on his school's planet and unable to experience the whole experience but it doesn't stop him finding the answer to the first clue and becoming an overnight sensation online. His best friend is fellow gamer Aech and their bromance is a lot of fun. Wade is also a big fan of female gamer Art3mis, who has a huge following and becomes a friend and rival for the prize. Also on the leaderboard are Shoto and Daito, and others start to figure out the clue for themselves. I really enjoyed the chatroom interaction between the main characters as they try to stop the clues for each stage.
101 are a rival company who are gathering gamers to work for them, but the victory will belong to the company rather than the gamer who finds the egg, though other rewards are offered. When 101 start filling up the leaderboard behing them, Wade and his friends are alarmed, knowing if 101 win, they will remove free access for OASIS and everything will be pay for use. However when the five gamers are approached by 101, Wade is curious about their intentions and agrees to meet them, a decision that will prove to have fatal consequences. I'm not going to say anything else about the plot as I don't want to spoil the story but this is where everything starts to kick off!
I really loved the 80's references because I was an 80's child, growing up with the music, the Brat Pack films and playing my first games on the old Atari system. I really got the world that James Halliday loved and incorporated into his work. I used to spend hours playing Pac Man and Ateroids with my parents and the place we went on holiday every year had a big Space Invaders game that I loved! It was a nostalgic look back at a time in my life when I was really happy so that was fun to have in a book. I liked the blending of OASIS and real life, the great characters and battling the big bad evil company who wanted to ruin things for everyone. I enjoyed the quest and the clue solving, which was really interesting and the worlds that the characters visited. It was just a great piece of writing that appealed so much to me. I'm also interested in the fact that there is a sequel in the works and I have no idea what plot it could have, but I'll read it!
Read August 2018.
4 stars.
I've been meaning to do this tag for weeks but never got round to it so I guess I better do it now before the year disappears! This tag was created by https://jenniely.com/ and I've seen it on a few blogs.
Want to do this one? Consider yourself tagged!
1) Received an ARC and not reviewed it
No. I don't read ARCs but if I got them I'd always review it even if I DNFed it.
2) Have less than 60% feedback rating on Netgalley
No. I only read about 8 books when I briefly used Netgalley but my feedback was 100% as that was my part of the bargain and it should be fulfilled if you are getting a free copy to review.
3) Rated a book on Goodreads and promised a full review was to come on your blog and never did
No. I'm months behind at the moment on getting the reviews uploaded to Goodreads and my blog but I always get them done in the end!
4) Folded down the pages of a book
NO! This is one of my pet hates! I hate dog eared pages! I might have done this as a kid though I don't remember but never as an adult reader!
5) Accidently spilled on a book
Yes. I don't remember specific occasions but I'm pretty sure it will have happened more than once. I did drop a book in the bath on one memorable occasion...nice Radox smell from it afterwards!
6) DNF a book
Yes though I don't regard it as naughty. There are too many books out there to waste time on something I'm just not enjoying.
7) Bought a book purely because it was pretty with no intention of reading it
No. I don't see the point in buying a book I never intend to read. It's a waste of money. If I like the cover that much I'll put it on Pinterest instead or put it in a blog post!
8) Read whilst you were meant to be doing something else
Yes. Housework is not as important as reading!
9) Skim read a book
Yes and No. I've never skimmed an entire book but I have sometimes skimmed to the end of a book I'm DNFing if there is something specific I want to find out.
10) Completely missed your Goodreads goal
No. If it looks like I'm close to missing my target, I'd lower the target!
11) Borrowed a book and not returned it
Yes. I forgot to return a book to the library when I was a student and I still actually have it!
12) Broke a book buying ban
Yes, all the time! I have no self control and the book monster within made me do it!
13) Started a review, left it for ages then forgot what the book was about
No. I finish every review I start. I do have older books that I never got round to starting a review for and now can't remember a thing about them or why I DNFed them. They'll be hard to review now but I will do it eventually!
14) Wrote in a book you were reading
Yes. In my defence it wasn't a real book. It was a copy of Hamlet that I bought for reading it at school. I wrote all my notes and translations in the wide margins for study purposes. I'd never do it to one of my precious books though! Why do you think I never had children?! Children destroy books!
15) Finished a book and not added it to your Goodreads
No. They all get added eventually!
It's finally time to look at the best books of the year, which I'm kind of dreading as I read so many good ones this year.
TOP TEN BEST SERIES
TOP TEN BOOKS
THE OVERALL TOP 12 READS (no order)
1) Carolyn McCray-Salechii
2) Matthew Reilly-Contest
3) Jeff Strand-The Haunted Forest Tour
4) Sonya Bateman-Master and Apprentice
5) Carrie Vaughn-Kitty's House of Horrors
6) SM Wilson-The Extinction Trials
7) Jack Kilborn-Endurance
8) PA Glaspy-When The Power is Gone
9) Tim Waggoner-Teeth of the Sea
10) George RR Martin-A Dance With Dragons
11) Ryan Graudin-Wolf by Wolf
12) Vivian Shaw-Strange Practice
