Let the Right Book In

Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old, Cory Mackenson - a place where monsters swim the river and friends are forever. "See, this is my opinion: we all start out knowing magic. We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls. We get it churched out, spanked out, washed out, and combed out. We get put on the straight and narrow and told to be responsible. Told to act our ages. Told to grow up, for God's sake. And you know why we were told that? Because the people doing the telling were afraid of our wildness and youth, and because the magic we knew made them ashamed and sad of what they'd allowed to wither in themselves." If you haven't read Boy's Life yet, if you don't even have a copy, drop everything you're doing and get a copy and read it. It's not

After Sophie is abandoned by her mother, Mitch takes on the role of looking after his niece. After Sophie tragically dies, his life is flipped upside down. But then across the world, scores of children inexplicably rise from the dead, and Sophie is one of them... "He knew from experience, it only takes a single night for the whole world to change." Come to Dust was a bit of a mixed bag, the start was really promising and had a few chilling scenes that would unsettle even the most hardened horror veteran. However, around the middle it becomes a tad stale and drags on for longer than necessary. It also becomes more action heavy, which is not to my personal taste. Towards the end it became more of a crawl to the finish line, than a race, which is always a letdown. Horror set against a backdrop of grief and loss can be bookish heaven if executed correctly, but this one just fell short of the mark. He does a great job of tapping into every parent's worst fear, t

An eleven-year-old's body is found in a park following a brutal murder. Eyewitness accounts and fingerprint evidence point to the popular Little League coach and teacher, Terry Maitland. But Terry also has an alibi for the time of the crime... "Reality is thin ice, but most people skate on it their whole lives and never fall through until the very end." MY BOY'S STILL GOT IT. I straight up loved this book from the very first page until the final words. King proves once again that he is the master when it comes to horror and suspense. This book had me feeling disturbed and unsettled on a few occasions, whilst also having me sending frantic messages to my BG friends like "What the eff just happened?!" Those first 2-300 pages were simply unputdownable. It was so addictive that I was seriously considering booking days off work so that I could just fly through it. But it's also so good that I wanted to take my time and really savour being in a g

Retired Detective Bill Hodges and his sidekick Holly find themselves investigating a recent spree of suicides. But all of the dead are connected by a common thread: each of them had been in previous contact with Brady Hartsfield, the notorious Mercedes Killer.  “Because things can get better, and if you give them a chance, they usually do." Reviewing this book brings up an internal debate about how one should rate a book using the standard star system. If a book is given a 5 star rating by myself, usually it will mean that I LOVED it, and the book was particularly special or unique, or just offered something different. But I do not think you can directly compare 5 star books to each other. For example, I gave Charlie the Choo Choo 5 stars, because it was such a cool, unique idea and I couldn’t fault it, for what IT was, but by no means is Charlie the Choo in the same league as Pet Sematary or 11/22/63 (both of which I also gave 5 stars). You get me? I think the genre

Petty criminal Morris Bellamy robs and murders acclaimed author John Rohnstein after feeling unsatisfied with the ending of his famous trilogy of books. Morris ends up going to jail on a rape charge, but years later Peter Saubers finds the trunk that Morris buried containing the stolen money and Rohnstein's unpublished works. A few years after Peter's discovery, Morris is released from prison and wants back what he feels is his... "For readers, one of life's most electrifying discoveries is that they are readers - not just capable of doing it, but in love with it. Hopelessly. Head over heels." You love books, I love books. We all love books. But King takes this book obsession to another level with two of his characters: one of which is the simply iconic and unforgettable Annie Wilkes, and the other is the despicable Morris Bellamy. Please never go this far, guys. Holding your favourite author hostage/murdering him so you can steal his unpublished works i