Bonechiller by Graham McNamee

Bonechiller by Graham McNamee

Blizzard conditions in October?  Freezing weather?  What’s going on?  Since I was huddled at home on Saturday listening to trees cracking and crashing all around me I figured I’d read about people colder and much more on edge than myself. 

In the middle of nowhere Canada – truly, middle of nowhere – it is usually about twenty below on a warm day in the winter.  Also in this small town in the middle of nowhere is one of the scariest creatures ever.  For this cold place has been the home for a creature of the cold.  A creature that hungers for the young.  A creature who transforms his prey into creatures of the cold like itself.

While in some ways this is the typical horror monster tale, it is very different in its crafting.  It’s a very different retelling of the Native American wendigo story.  The monster isn’t as you’d expect and the way it hunts is very unique.  If you’re looking for a fun action-packed tale that keeps you guessing, and keeps you freezing, get chilled to the bone with this one.

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Seventeen-year old Luce is sent to a reform school in Georgia after the mysterious death of her boyfriend.  No one knows how Luce killed him, or even if she actually did, but she was alone with him in the cabin when it started to burn.  Not helping assure those around her of her innocence is Luce’s problem: the shadow figures that she sees and no one else believes in.  You’d think that would make her an oddity at her new school, but everyone there has a history and some are even darker than hers.  This is Luce’s opportunity to start over.  Or so she thinks. 

Luce meets two nice boys, both alluring in their own ways, makes some friends, and seems to be dragged into the battle.  And I mean THE battle.  The one between angels and demons and all that end of the world stuff.  There are fallen angels out there and Luce has met them before.  She keeps meeting the same people, life after life, but this time history isn’t repeating itself.  This time she may find out what the shadows are and why they are haunting her.  This time she won’t get another chance to live her life.

If you’re looking for a multi-part paranormal romance I would point you here (and also to Shiver by Stiefvater).  I’ll admit I’m not a fan of Bella and Edward.  I never got what the two of them saw in each other.  In Fallen you understand the emotion between the two characters and you don’t want a third character (Jacob, to extend the Twilight comparison) coming between them.  And I’ll admit that too, I was a Jacob fan.  Not what you’re supposed to be in a young-love-against-all-odds romance!  In this one, you do want love to prevail against horrific odds and you root for them to the end, waiting impatiently to get your hands on the sequel.  (I really enjoyed it on audio.)

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland

Louisa Cosgrove is going to spend some time with friends of the family in the country.  It’s Victorian England and that is the sort of thing young ladies do.  However, Lou never arrives at her perceived destination.  Instead she arrives at Wildthorn, a mental institution where everyone is convinced that her true name is Lucy Childs and she is just too mad to know it.   Who has committed her?  Why?  How can she possibly get away?

This is a great view of the inner workings of an asylum of the time.  It’s a harsh and unjust place and brings up a disturbing question: how do you convince those who believe you are crazy that you are not?  Is it even possible?

Spoiler: this historical novel with a huge psychological element is also the story of one girl’s awakening into herself.  She discovers that she is a lesbian and comes to terms with her feelings.  Yet another spoiler: it is refreshing that her sexual preferences are not the reason she is committed (when in that time period it could have been).  No, there are more sinister goings on afoot that Louisa is going to be challenged to discover and devastated to know.

Imaginary Girls by Nova Rem Suma

Imaginary Girls by Nova Rem Suma

Chloe idolized her big sister Ruby.  Ruby is the girl that everyone wants to be and everyone bends over backwards to please.  Chloe enjoys being Ruby’s little sister; Ruby who has basically raised her since their mom spends most of her time at the local pub.  One day, while hanging out at the Hudson Valley reservoir one of Chloe’s classmates, sixteen-year old London, is found dead floating in a rowboat.  Chloe’s dad sends for her to live with him and his new family in Pennsylvania and she goes reluctantly.

Two years later Ruby, whom Chloe has never known to leave their hometown in upstate New York, goes to Pennsylvania to retrieve her sister.  When Chloe gets back to the town she notices that things are strange.  London is alive, and no one seems to think it strange.  And everyone is being unbelievably nice, subservient even, to Ruby.

This is a really strange book, but I mean it in a good way.  It leaves you off balance as you see the world through Chloe’s eyes and try to make sense of the world around her.  If you are a fan of magical realism, think Alice Hoffman, then you may want to enter the strange world of this small town in New York.

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

Chip Linton was a pilot before the accident.  Now he doesn’t like to see airplanes or birds.  Chip was piloting a regional jet when a flock of geese flew into his plane and killed both engines.  Thinking he couldn’t return to Burlington or make it to Plattsburgh he decided to recreate the Miracle on the Hudson on Lake Champlain.  It started out well, but the wave created by a ferry turning to help caught the wings and flipped the plane over while it was still moving at a very high speed.  The plane broke apart, and while there were survivors, including Chip, 39 people lost their lives.

Chip, his wife and twin daughters, decide to start over in a rambling Victorian in rural Vermont.  The neighbors are all extremely kind and constantly sharing the bounty of their greenhouses.   All seems idyllic until Chip notices the small door in the basement.  The door sealed shut with 39 carriage bolts…

I really enjoy Bohjalian’s books (like The Double Bind and Skeletons at the Feast) and I was looking forward to this one.  I am pleased to say that the man can not only write great psychological fiction and historical fiction, but he tells a great ghost story as well.

The White Devil by Justin Evans

The White Devil by Justin Evans

Andrew Taylor should have graduated from his prestigious boarding school in America, but after being forced out without finishing and turned away by the colleges which previously accepted him, he must go to England, to the Harrow School, to finish out his senior year.  Being the only Yank in school is difficult enough but being the target for the local ghost is making things unbearable.  Taylor bears a striking resemblance to former alumni, and famous poet, Lord Byron and his presence is awakening a two hundred year old obsession.

Creepy, disturbing and beautifully crafted this would be a great read for fans of historical mysteries that don’t mind a touch of horror and the unusual.   

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

Reviewed by Cassandra, Librarian at Mary Jacobs Library

Candice Millard, author of the bestselling book River of Doubt, brings history back to life with the riveting three-way biography of President James Garfield, Charles Guiteau, who was Garfield's assassin; and inventor Alexander Graham Bell, whose part in the story was an unsuccessful deathbed attempt to locate the bullet lodged somewhere in the president's body.  

The historical narrative, which sounds like a plot that might have been cooked up by Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton, focuses around the fact that the 20^th president of the United States, James A. Garfield, is shot by a madman. It isn’t a mystery that the president dies just a few short months later; not from the assassin’s bullet but from extreme infection brought on by filthy medical practices.

The cast of characters is remarkable. There is Garfield himself, so poor that he worked as a janitor to put himself through his first year of college; so brilliant that he was promoted to lecturer for his second year of college; so unassuming that he did everything he could to block his own nomination to the presidency. Then there is his vice president, Chester Arthur, given the job to placate Garfield's foes and with the assumption that Arthur would never actually be president. Everyone was horrified by the sudden prospect that Arthur actually would be president, not least Arthur himself.  The biography of Charles Guiteau is equally intriguing and disturbing.

Of course there is Garfield's egomaniacal primary physician, Dr. Doctor William Bliss -- yes, his first name was Doctor -- whose unsanitary probing for a bullet that was doing no harm led to the infections that actually killed Garfield. When the truth came out, it led a younger doctor to say, "Ignorance is Bliss."

It is a thoroughly intriguing and interesting treat; however be warned that it gets pretty gruesome with the descriptions of “modern” medicine. It is also great on audio.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Welcome to the Mercy Falls and the teenagers (both of the werewolf and human) variety. If you are looking for a paranormal romance I would suggest heading here instead of to Twilight. Granted, I’ve only listened to the first one of these, but the last book of the trilogy HAS to be better than the last Twilight book.

Grace and Sam are in love. One problem. He’s a werewolf and their time together is limited. In this version of the myth werewolves and made when bitten by other werewolves (with the exception being Grace for some strange reason…)  They have super healing abilities, they don’t quite retain their humanness when wolfish, and cold makes them turn. They turn when the snow starts to fall and they stay wolf until Spring.  Sam is fighting to stay warm and stay with Grace, but another problem with this version of the myth is that every werewolf only has a limited number of turns as a human before they never switch back. And Sam may be out of time.
 
Great on audio with a separate reader for Sam and Grace's part of the narrative.  I'm looking forward to listening to the next part of the story.

The Glass Demon by Helen Grant

The Glass Demon by Helen Grant

Teenager Lin Fox has been dragged, along with the rest of her family, to a crumbling castle in the wild woods of Germany. Her father is taking a sabbatical year to attempt to become a full professor back in England.  He hopes to find and publish on the Allerheiligen glass: a series of famous, and elusive, medieval masterworks in stained glass.  Of course (given the title) the glass is rumored to be possessed by the demon Bonschariant and the curse (and the demon) seem to be active once again.

This is an interesting blend of medieval history and present day mystery.  I know I was having trouble deciding if a mortal human was behind the murders or Bonschariant was on the prowl, especially since broken glass was found at each of the crime scenes.

More psychological fiction than horror this one will keep you on your toes guessing what’s happening and what or who is stalking the woods at night.

The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

Reviewed by Cassandra Alpaugh, Librarian, Mary Jacobs Library

Welcome to a world of vampires, werewolves and otherworldly monsters along with the humans who hunt them. Warning: If you loved the Twilight series and A Discovery of Witches please do not pick up this book expecting it to give you the same ride.  In this book, werewolves live to feed their desire for sex, blood, and food (werewolves only eat humans). Duncan creates a dark and gritty world that is written in a superbly elegant and sophisticated style. The descriptions are brutal, but it is a completely original take on the much done paranormal theme and it is definitely a thrilling ride.

The gist of the story is that Jacob Marlowe is the last werewolf and he has lost the will to live. He is also being hunted by WOCOP (World Organization for the Control of Occult Phenomena). It hasn’t helped that he killed and ate the father of one of the chief operatives. WOCOP’s goal is to give Marlowe something to live for so that the chase is more exciting and meaningful. As Marlowe’s resolve changes, the countdown to the hunt is on and it becomes a race to protect what he cares about most.

I have to admit that I listed to the audio version, read by the supremely talented Robin Sachs. (Sachs has read The Snowman and The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo.) I was completely sucked into the raw, dark, elegant prose and Sach’s voice is so deep and gritty that he was a perfect voice for the story.  I even found myself taking the extra long way to work so I could keep listening. I completely recommend his entertaining and exciting book just as long as you aren’t feeling squeamish.

Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Reviewed by Cassandra Alpaugh, Librarian, Mary Jacobs Library

Discovery of Witches is a hefty tome that will demand all your attention. If you are reading late at night you will probably be exhausted at work the next day because you never went to sleep. If you are listening to it on your commute then you will probably end up driving circles around the parking lot to just finish a chapter. Of course this book isn’t for everyone. The only way that it can be described is as a historical-paranormal-romance-adventure-mystery, which basically means Twilight meets The Da Vinci Code. The characters are interesting and complex and the descriptions are wonderful.

Diana Bishop is a gutsy, brainy academic who is not going to use her magic--at least, that's what she keeps telling herself. She is the last in a long line of powerful witches. Having lost her parents when she was seven years old, she has turned away from her heritage and her magic. While researching alchemical manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, she comes in contact with a volume that reaches out to her magic. Panicked, she returns the book to the stacks, but it is too late--word is out that she has discovered the lost Ashmole 782 and now all species of creatures are after her.

Enter Matthew Clairmont, renowned scientist and vampire. He has been searching for Ashmole 782 for centuries and is determined to retrieve the book Diana has recalled. He feels drawn to Diana, feeling the need to protect her from the other creatures, despite witches and vampires being notorious separatists. They are thrown into an uneasy friendship when the worlds of witches, vampires and daemons descend upon Diana, all looking for the manuscript.

Both Diana and Matthew will make cringe-worthy decisions and Matthew will seem too overprotective (can we all say Edward and Bella?) but this is definitely an exciting book that will be hard to put down. Fair warning: this is the first book in a three part series.

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

Kate Grable desperately wants to be a doctor when she grows up so volunteering as the first aid person for her high school’s awful football team seems like a great idea.  It has been.  Until she finds unlabeled vials in Coach’s locked cabinet.  Coach says they are just B12 and wants Kate to inject the team.  She refuses.  When one of the defensive linemen pukes black awful smelling vomit all over her car at a party, and she sees the infected injection site on his arm, she thinks back to those vials.  And when more linebackers start acting strangely she knows she’s the only one close enough to the problem to find a solution.  She dreads saying it, but it looks like her town has a zombie problem.

This is a great teen as hero book, and even better, geeky female teen as hero book.  It’s pretty funny, in a sick sort of way.  What sets this one apart from the others is that there is a cure.  There isn’t a lot of science behind the cure, and things don’t totally add up, but the way the transformations are described is neat.  Picture the typical zombie you see in a horror movie – no pain, no blood loss, yet a lot of loss of pieces.  Inject a cure.  Turn back on the blood flow.  BIG mess, possibly life threatening to one suddenly alive again.  Neat idea.

If you need a short distraction from the day to day and want to revisit the halls of your high school (albeit one with a zombie outbreak) take a break with this one.

The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch

The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch

Reviewed by Cassandra, Librarian at Mary Jacobs Library

After spending the summer reading every Michael Koryta and Jo Nesbo book that I could get my hands on I figured I should change things up a little bit. When The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch appeared in a book review magazine I thought it just might be the change of pace I needed. There is nothing like heading into the Halloween season with a good historical thriller.

I love well written historical fiction especially if it takes place any time from Ancient History to Medieval Europe.  This story takes place in Schongau, Germany in 1659 and starts with an unspeakable murder that has the potential to create mass hysteria and the resurgence of the witch trials that took the lives of many town women 70 years prior. It is up to the hangman and the young town physician to find the murderer/murderers before an innocent woman is tried for witchcraft. The tale involves mystery, murder, love, hysteria and every sort of outcast that can be thought up from orphans to lepers. The setting is so real you can almost smell the sewage in the streets and feel the weight of the hangman’s sword or club. The characters are easy to love and hate which makes for a great story.

For me one of the best bits was finding out that this story came from the author’s search into his genealogy.  The story has been translated from German and the translator, Lee Chadeayne does an excellent job.

The Walking Dead – Robert Kirkman, writer

The Walking Dead – Robert Kirkman, writer; Tony Moore/Charlie Adlard, ill.

Reviewed by Chris, Librarian at Bridgewater Library

Police officer Rick Grimes awakens from a coma to learn that the world has been overrun by, well, the walking dead.  His wife and son are gone, and his hometown is all but empty of the living; with only the barest of plans, he sets off for Atlanta in the hope of finding his family, or at least a larger group of humans.

This is a bleak, bleak series.  Interesting; well written; but make no mistake, it's bleak.  The apocalypse has happened and the survivors are running very low on hope.  Many people die; some at the teeth of zombies, but more often at the hands of their fellow humans.  The art style mirrors this: a lot of blank whites and grey tones, lending the book a sparse, washed-out atmosphere; the lack of reds don't minimize the impact of the gore, however.  The artist changed after the first trade, switching to a more realistic style, but the tone remains.

If you like your post-apocalyptic fiction dark, violent, and all but hopeless, this is the series for you.  The current volume is 14; it is not known where the end will be.  The series was also adapted into a TV show on AMC, which will be starting its second will begin on Halloween.

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Last year I was head-over-heels in awe with Feed by Mira Grant.  This year I’m totally hyped over Rot & Ruin.  Zombie (and vampire and werewolf) novels can get pretty stale.  They can all read exactly the same after a while.  When one stands out and makes you think (actually ponder things) and feel (tears in your eyes!) it’s a book to share.  This is one of those rare zombie books. 

Rot & Ruin takes place fourteen years after First Night, the time when the dead started to rise and bite and infect their fellow man.  In Mountainside, a fenced in community of about 8,000, people are living as best they can knowing that zoms are on the other side of the fence line.  Humans have become scavengers, relying on peddlers and bounty hunters to bring them supplies from elsewhere beyond the fence.  At fifteen, the age Benny has just turned, all residents of Mountainside must find a job to qualify for daily rations.  Benny, not a huge fan of his brother Tom, but out of job options decides to apprentice to Tom and become a bounty hunter.  One who quiets the dead.

What sets this book apart from others in the genre is the emotion.  Tom, and in turn many of the other characters, see the zoms not as creatures but as people with a horrific disease.  People who, while not responsible for their actions and completely unthinking, still deserve respect for the human beings they were/are.  It’s something so many books and movies ignore.  These are not simply ravening hoards of monsters; these are people who were once mothers, fathers and children.  These monsters were once us.

Brains: a Zombie Memoir by Robin Becker

Brains: a Zombie Memoir by Robin Becker

Blurbed by Kay, Librarian at Bridgewater Library

This novel was my first venture into zombie literature.  To my surprise, I enjoyed the book which contained interesting but bizarre characters, a fast-paced style and a humorous story-line. The plot describes the attempt of a newly-bitten professor to save the zombie population.  He is an unusual zombie, one who has retained his self-awareness and intelligence. He undertakes this wild journey with the help of other self- aware zombies attempting to save zombies from the living hunters and obtain a truce for the undead.

The story is ghoulish and contains multiple scenes of cannibalism but that’s just what you would expect from the book’s title.

Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne

Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne

Blurbed by Carolyn, Librarian at Bridgewater Library

This is the story of an unnamed naval officer’s survival among the undead that is told in a journal format.  Sometimes humorous, sometimes matter of fact, and sometimes unsettling this fact paced book will appeal to most readers, not just the zombie fans.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

It’s that time of year again!  Time to pick your pumpkins and spooky reading!  What better way to start off the scariest month of the year than with a zombie novel?  Can’t think of anything better myself, and over the coming weeks I’ll give you plenty of horrific reads to choose from. 

In The Forest of Hands and Teeth the village has always been surrounded by chain-link fences to keep the Unconsecrated at bay.  The Sisterhood and the Cathedral have always protected and taught the villagers well.  The Guardians have mended the fences, stocked the platforms and protected the village.  Until now.  Mary’s world has been upended by the disappearance of her father and the changing of her mother.  Her mother chooses to join the Unconsecrated in the Forest of Hands and Teeth; chooses to join her husband as one of the walking dead.  After saying good-bye to her mother Mary is torn between joining the Sisterhood and marrying her childhood friend when the unthinkable happens.  The fences are breached and the Unconsecrated overrun the village.

This is a really interesting take on what the world could look like years after the world is overrun by zombies.  The remnants of humanity live in fenced in villages interconnected (at least at one point) by fenced in pathways.  Stories about the oceans and skyscrapers are seen as myths.  (At one point someone finds an old copy of the New York Times and the paper is so brittle it simply disintegrates – so you know we’re WAY in the future here.)  This is a real interesting view of how one group of people deals with the dangers surrounding them; and also the life of a girl who knows that there must be more to the world somewhere out past the Forest.