Analyzing Books

Tag: thriller

  • Where Death is a Hunter

    Where Death is a Hunter

    Where Death is a Hunter

    Recommended Age: 16+

    Warnings: Character Death, Surgery, Mild Violence, Mentions of Alcoholism / Hallucinations

    Pages: 371 (Paperback)

    Christopher Stookey’s Where Death is a Hunter was recently sent to me by Full of Books to review. As with most of my readings assigned for review, I enjoyed the book more than I expected to.  As an avid YA-Fiction fan, I rarely decide to read books from other genres – especially medical thrillers. However, I definitely enjoyed the change in genre, even for just one book.

     Hannah Fatier has just started her first job as an anesthesiologist at Deaconess Hospital in San Francisco, she has just bought a new home, and she is newly engaged. In short, Hannah’s life is going well. That is, until a patient under Hannah’s care dies of mysterious causes during a routine operation. An investigation of the case reveals the cause of death to be a basic medical error that Hannah seems to be responsible for. When she decides to dig deeper into the records concerning the case, Hannah discovers a number of puzzling inconsistencies. She begins to suspect that someone has framed her for the death of her patient, but who? And more importantly, why?

    Let me get this straight: I consider myself to be a ‘scaredy-cat’. I jump easily at horror films, don’t enjoy “scary” activities, and hate seeing blood and gore. However, the medical and thriller aspects of this book didn’t bother me at all. I enjoyed the fact that the book included facts and statistics, which provided further insight to the medical world. (For example: did you know that at least 44,000 people die in hospitals each year because of medical errors?) The plot did not drag back or rush ahead; it moved at a perfect pace. The big reveal of ‘whodunit’ is an unexpected plot twist, and the novel has a strong conclusion. The only drawback is the fact that there was almost no character development. Hannah does learn that she cannot trust everyone, but there is no big realization or change from the beginning to the end of the book.

     

    Views: 2

  • A Stalled Ox

    A Stalled Ox

    Rating: 4 Stars

    Age Recommendation: 16+

    Warnings: Violence, Strong Language. Potential triggers for those living with or caring for those with mental illnesses.

    Genres: Horror, Thriller, Mystery

    Pages: 102 (paperback, given to me in exchange for a review)

    “I have power here. That’s why I didn’t want him showing you what’s upstairs, I didn’t want you messing this up for me… too late for that now, ain’t it?”

    “It’s a shame your God doesn’t share everyone else’s love for you.”

    Dean Moses’s novella, A Stalled Ox, is a story of about one hundred pages that follows a piece of Howard Harrington’s life as he takes on a new investigation. He is a detective, going undercover to look into a cult that worships a character who calls himself “God,” because the members are said to eat meat in a time where there isn’t any on the market. After injectable enhancements created a genetic disease and killed off livestock all over the world, the United States has started trying to find a solution, protecting the last of each animal to no avail. Howard’s investigation proves that “God” and his flock are much more dangerous than they ever expected.

    Howard and his detective partner, Linda, aren’t quite sure what to expect upon arrival, and Howard isn’t exactly known for having a great track record when it comes to jobs. Linda is a strong female character, though the reader is given a chance to see her vulnerable side as well, which made her feel even more realistic and tangible.

    The descriptions were not lyrical or drawn out in any way, but I don’t feel that they needed to be or should have been. Instead, they matched the feeling of the novella as a whole – stark, brief, but powerful nonetheless. My main problem when it came to the writing had to do with Howard’s thoughts throughout. They were used to explain the back story of this version of the United States after 2020 when the animals began dying off. Those moments felt awkward and pulled me out of the story, but there weren’t very many of these expositional sections from him.

    Though short, A Stalled Ox takes on a multitude of social themes and problems that are prevalent in today’s world. The protagonist is the epitome of ‘diversity,’ as an LGBT, Black/Hispanic character. I could say more about him, but I’ve no intention of spoiling anything. I do want to say, however, that the diverse aspects of Howard are not the entire focus of the story, but instead help to tackle the themes brought up within the novel.

    The writing, in my opinion, took some time to get into and to fully understand. It oftentimes felt a little calculated or distancing, but I think that sometimes one has to look at something from a distance to truly understand the intention behind it or the strength that it holds. This story is powerful in ways that I honestly didn’t realize it would be when I first received it.

    A Stalled Ox is a timely story that many would be able to appreciate in today’s world. It’s graphic at times, as is fitting for the genre, but not to the extent that I felt uncomfortable reading it. It was a quick read, which only took me a couple of hours while I was on the train, and surprised me with each chapter. I am not usually a reader of the horror or thriller genres, but I’m very glad that I picked this one up.

    Views: 1

  • Loss of Reason

    Loss of Reason

    I cherish books and getting books from an author or a company is really energizing. A few months ago, I received Loss of Reason by Miles A. Maxwell and to make things even better, it even had the author’s signature. It is about how a bomb goes off in New York and all the difficulties that the characters go through. A very interesting part of the book is that it’s also very technical.

    I grabbed Loss of Reason while I was on a train which I generally do since I appreciate reading while in transit to work or elsewhere. So with a receptive outlook, I began to read. I had to re-read the initial two pages and I could not get into the book. I do not know whether it was just me or plenty of readers could not get into the book. It was not that the book was boring or horribly written, I just do not know why I could not get into the book. Maybe it was because I have been in a reading slump? Perhaps I was just truly drained? I don’t recognize what it was.

    I was not going to surrender so rapidly, so I set away Loss of Reason and attempted some other time. I was so determined to finish the book that I picked it up again and began to read. At that point it hit me… once more! I just could not get into the book. I trust that it was an excessive amount going on at once and too many characters all at once in the beginning. I thought the characters were not introduced properly and I got confounded frequently. The book was interesting, well at least the plot was. Yet, Loss of Reason was poorly written.

    When I write reviews, I loathe when it’s a negative review. On top of writing negative reviews, I loathe not completing books I began. This was very disappointing for me. I feel bad terrible for simply writing this now. In any case, I’m going to be honest and give my opinion of the book. I would not recommend Loss of Reason to my family or dear companions however I would recommend it to my friend at work since he enjoys science fiction. I gave it two chances and I could not get into it and I am sorry about that. For the rating, I’d have to give Loss of Reason two out of five stars. From what I read I believe that this deserves the rating I gave it.

    Views: 21

  • Lost in Tanganyika

    Lost in Tanganyika

    One week later, a fisherman’s boat carried them to the Island where two British soldiers escorted the visitors to the Consulate of Lieutenant Colonel Hamerton, His Majesty’s Consul and East India Company’s Honorable agent. – Lost in Tanganyika

    I hate to say this but I found Lost in Tanganyika to be rather bland, boring, monotonous and the pacing was just unbearable. Let’s see the characters were single dimensional people with no development or any depth, they were just there to carry on the story, we had Williams and Elizabeth falling ill from time to time in the good old 1850s but no way near where I can feel for them. I felt like I was reading a history book with an encyclopedia and that too in a fictional theme, I loved history in school because it was factual and not a figment of an inspired event from someone else’s journeys.

    By evening, stormy winds subsided and swells diminished, but pitching lasted through the night

    There were too many facts and too little explanation or description about the surroundings. I mean how am I supposed to know every tribe, place, territory and history of a land as rich as Africa. Some explanation is due, right? I mean I was so lost and wandering in the book that I didn’t feel bad for Williams and Elizabeth as much as I felt bad for myself. Please explain to me the landscape, the people, nature and the atmosphere surrounding the Williams and Elizabeth in detail and not just in a vague way. I should know about Williams and Elizabeth so that I can enjoy and suffer with them like reliving their terror and quest for freedom. As far as I am concerned the most knowledge that the majority people have is from the Discovery Channel.

    “People of Uganda are the Waganda, and Wa-Khutu possessions are also U-Khutu. Of course, many tribes have migrated and through wars or slave trade occupied territories of another name. Uzinza, for example, is ruled by two Wanguana chieftains.”

    I also read that Thomas Thorpe was inspired by the journeys of several individuals. God bless them but the thing is that his book, Lost in Tanganyika,  should be inspired by their journey not a word by word account of their adventures, the way I see it is like enjoying others journey then describing them in such a way that the readers can journey together in this awesome land Africa but what do I get? I get a very dull book. Now, of course, some will say that I tend to read the romance genre, I like to point out that some books like John Grisham’s are also inspired by law or events relating to it but it’s the flair of the storyteller that keeps me glued to the book. Although Thomas Thorpe has a rich vocabulary and good command of the language he failed to deliver the masterpiece. He had an abundance of information and facts that can be exploited for the benefit of all but still what was presented was just an inspiration that in my opinion missed the mark by a great distance.

    Here, cuts in the ravines revealed granite and coarse sandstone, brown and green with sun-blackened strata tilted up to outcrops. At higher elevations, the ground was overgrown with shrubbery of mimosas and other thorny gums. 

    I hope that the effort put in Lost in Tanganyika is appreciated by others and maybe they see the light at the end of the tunnel or the end of an epic adventure, me not so much. All the best to the others, it was a very boring read and required loads of effort from my side.

    Rating: 2 Stars- Stars are mostly for the effort

    Views: 37