Slap Happy Fun Time

        Strangers - Dean Koontz         So in the eighties there was a race to see who the greatest horror writer was and there were only two names that I can think of right of the top of my head. Sure, there may have been others, but King and Koontz were the ones who had the biggest followings. King was more of a horror guy and Koontz for the most part was all sorts of different things. I was team King and always found Koontz a bit dry and boring but I do remember devouring Twilight Eyes. That was the only book of his I can remember reading and not being bored out of my skull. As an adult I occasionally revisit his stuff just to see if maybe the problem wasn't Koontz at all and just a result of my teenage brain not being equipped to deal with Koontz's writing style. The guy loves detail and aliens and conspiricies. His novels really seem to be all about the same shadowy figures lurking just out of our view. Nope, the problem wasn't me at all...

 Darklings - Ray Garton                                                                  Darklings isn't a new book nor is it one that a lot of people remember, It was released during the horror boom of the eighties and what a time it was! So many classic novels were released and of course Stephen King was leading the charge with his middle finger raised high. I would spend the majority of my allowence on horror novels and shit, there were a lot to choose from. The covers on some of these were so good, and yes, even terrible but that was what grabbed my attention. If it had an interesting cover odds were I'd pick up the book just to see what it was about and odds were, I'd end up buying it. The problem was a lot of these writers were just looking to cash in on the horror boom so while you had a lot of great and even mid...

 Pet Sematary - Stephen King                                                                          Writers always have books they cite as major influences and this one is mine. I was ten when I first read this and suddenly a light bulb clicked on in my head and I wanted to be a writer. I was ten so I wasn't thinking about anyting other than writing. Writing was more than enough and it turns out, I'm pretty good at it despite not making any money from being a published author. Odds are, you've never read anything I've written but if you look up Michael Noe on Amazon, you'll find some of my work. The point is King's novel is dark and sinister and deals with a subject no one likes to talk about. We think about it a lot and even see it on our television screens but we pretend that it can't happen to u...

 As Long As We Both Shall Live - JoAnn Chaney                                                                What makes a book great? For me, it's about the story, the writing and the characters. Chaney's novel is something familiar but at the same time it's done well. This is a writer who explores the dark side of human nature, and marriage and does in a way that's compelling. Matt's first wife dies in a horrific home invasion and then twenty years later, his second wife falls off a cliff. Is it a case of bad luck or something far more sinister? The interesting thing is that deep down you think Matt not only killed his first wife, but also had something to do with Marie's dissapearance. He's not a character you get to learn a great deal about, but you can't help but feel that he's guilty mainly due to how the book is writte...

 'Salem's Lot Stephen King                                                                                  It's hard to believe that 'Salem's Lot is Stephen King's second novel or maybe it isn't so hard to believe. When we think of King now a lot of words come to mind, but back then, he was simply a new writer trying to find his voice. Carrie was a great introduction to King's writing style and what an introduction it was. Carrie is a classic horror novel and showed us how great horror could be if done correctly. 'Salem's Lot was King's attempt at story about vampires invading a small town and it includes a few Easter Eggs as a nod to Bram Stoker's classic novel. I remember reading this as a kid and not liking it all that much so I hadn't bothered to reread it. One day I pic...

       In The Dark - Richard Laymon                                                                       Jane is a librarian working through rhe last of her shift when she spots an envelope with her name on it and inside is a letter inviting her to play with someone named the Master Of Games. The simple task sets of a chain of events that slowly escalate to the point where the money becomes more important than Jane's safety. Who is The Master Of Games? What's his motivation? This is what drives the novel as well as the escalation of each dare. At any point Jane can quit, but the pull of easy money is far too hard to ignore even though she sees first hand just how dangerous things are becoming. Laymon stacks the novel with a great deal of suspense while throwing in his usual trademarks. At its c...

 Your Secret Admirer - Carl Laymon                                                                                                                               I know you're asking yourself why I'm reading a cheesy young adult novel but more importantly why am I reviewing it? The answer is simple. Your Secret Admirer was written by none other than the late Richard Laymon and I wonder how he felt about this novel when he started gaining a cult following. Did he know that fans like me would actually track it down just to show them off in their collection? It's funny to see Night In The Lonesome October, Funland and Bite standing next to a book called Your Secret A...

 Beware! - Richard Laymon                                                          Richard Laymon is not only one of my favorite authors, he's also a huge influence on my own writing. Beware! is one of his earlier works and it shows in the early going. It's almost as if he wants to make up for the past mistakes of The Woods Are Dark by tapping into mainstream horror and it almost works The problem with Woods was that the failure wasn't his. His publisher gave him a crappy cover and hacked away half of the book. He has a distinct, almost frenetic writing that pulls you in from the opening paragraph. What it lacks is the usual Laymon trademarks, it more than makes up for in plot and pacing. Beware! is an updated version of the Invisible Man, but here, there's nothing redeemable about the guy. He uses his invisibility to create as much mayhem...

 Mine - Robert R. McCammon                                                                   I've heard a lot about McCammon yet the only experience I've ever really had was with Blue World a short story collection. I can only remember bits and pieces of it and I have tried, and failed to read Swan Song. Mine was picked up on a whim and I thought I was going to read a straight up horror novel but to be fair, it's not, but that's not a bad thing. What we have is a story with multiple threads weaving the plot together while the core focus is on Mary Terror and the baby she's stolen to present to a cult leader. As I read about how easy it was to kindnap the baby it was unsettling and couldn't happen these days. You simply can't go into a hospital wearing a nurses uniform and just snatch someone's kid. There are two st...

Come Out Tonight - Richard Laymon                                                             This isn't my first time reading Laymon's Come Out Tonight but I can tell you that it's still in my top 5 Laymon novels and it was also the 2nd book of his I read. I was given a copy of The Stake many years ago because the woman who owned it didn't care for it and then years later a woman I worked with gave me my first copy of Come Out Tonight and I was instantly pulled into the story. What a story it is and I can see why some people would be turned off by Laymon's style. As I read it again, the shock and awe of Laymon's style still got me. This is not an easy novel to read and isn't recommended for those who dislike violence. Come Out Tonight starts off with a couple planning on making love but don't have any condoms. Duane decided to hit th...

        One Of Us Is Lying - Karen M. McManus  5 stars                                                                   Once in a while you'll find yourself buying a new tablet and setting up all your stuff including your Moonreader app. All I intended to do was get the settings adjusted and well I discovered this among a lot of other books I intended to read but never got around to. If you read the blurb it mentions something about The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars but I aside from the initial detention there's nothing here that comes close to the film at all. One Of Us Is Lying is a great piece of fiction that may be intended for a young adult audience but it's engaging enough for readers of all types. A great novel has the abiiity to cross over into areas effortlessly and engage a...

    Peacemaker #1 3 out of 5 stars                                                                                                I had been doing some comic reviews on another blog I used to use but it seemed to make more sense to move them here. This one is used for book reviews and stuff so why not do comic reviews? They're still books, right? Why not include comic reviews and other comic book related stuff. I read a lot of books and I also read a lot of comics so why can't I do both? You may have a few book snobs who will no doubt frown upon comics being listed among real books, but if you've seen the stuff I read you're probably thinking I'm insane anyway and besides, we could all use a day without our cellphones and just relax on...

      The Haunting at Foxwood Village - Kasey Hill 3/5 stars                                                                                                                                                                     Ghost stories aren't new to fiction and it's hard to keep the genre moving  forward when your subject could be a simple mental condition disguised as something paranormal. I'm not saying that's the case here, but it does follow the usual tropes of paranormal fiction to attract readers while giving you something to think about as you read...

Along Came A Spider - James Patterson 3-5 stars                                                                         It's interesting how you return to a book you've already read and your opinion changes after a long absence. For a long time I was an Alex Cross junkie and devoured the series any chance I could. When I began to read Along Came A Spider I was ready for greatness, ready for that James Patterson rush I used to get everytime I cracked open one of his books. Is it as good as I remember? Yes, and no. Patterson's first Cross novel is an intro of sorts. You get to meet Alex and even meet an sinister guy who's kidnapped a couple of famous kids. Patterson's style is easy to read and focuses more on action than storytelling. Cross is likeable enough but it's Soneji who steals the first half of...

         When it comes to suspense thrillers  there are a lot of names that come up but no one had the appeal that James Patterson had. For a while he was a machine pumping out books that were compelling pieces of fiction. At the time, no one wrote like Patterson which allowed him to carve out his own place on the best seller lists. What I loved the most was just how easy the books were to read, and on top of that Patterson had a knack for keeping the plots simple and easy to follow. To make the experience even more interesting  there were two viewpoints that allowed you to see the story from a variety of angles.You had Cross' narrative and then throughout the story there were others that were far darker and got  you into the mind of the villain. For me, it was the style I gravitated toward. Sure, Patterson kept the chapter short and he didn't use overdrawn flowery language, but that was the point. The Cross novels  were design...

Vox - Christina Dalcher 2/5 stars                                                                      Sometimes you hear about a book and you instantly think, yeah I need to read that. When I heard about Vox there were a lot of comparisons to The Handmaid's Tale, 1984, but the sad part is that Vox isn't in the same ballpark as any of those books. It wants to be, and it tries really hard, but all it has going for it is the theme of government gone amok and it could in a way happen anywhere. There is that small percentage of people who will tell you that the book is controversial, but when you read a book like this you kind of expect that. These are women are allowed to speak only one hundred words a day which sounds insane, and it is, but this is what happens when you want to change in politics and vote the wro...

When The Lights Go Out - Mary Kubica 5/5 stars                                                                       When Jessie's mother suddenly dies of cancer strange things begin to happen and then insomnia settles in and odd things begin to happen. A simple act sets off a chain reaction of events that force Jessie to question not only who she is, but everything she knows. Kubica has a knack for writing books that hurl a lot at you. While Jessie's story in itself is compelling you have her mother's journal adding other layers to the story and there comes a point where you really think you have it all figured out, but then you suddenly realize you were wrong. There are clues sprinkled throughout the story but they don't all fall into place until the end. It's a novel that keeps you guessing until the ver...

The Luckiest Girl Alive - Jessica Knoll  2/5                                                                           Once you begin reading Jessica Knoll's novel the title begins to make sense. It's not an easy read and the things that Ani go through are horrible, and will no doubt make some readers uncomfortable. That's the intent, and Knoll is a decent writer, and the story itself is full of enough twists and turns to keep you reading, but it's the characters that keep this from being a must-read novel. Ani as an adult isn't all that interesting and is the kind of person you loathe on sight and while she's suffered more as a kid than anyone should, it's still not enough to make her likable. I kept reading this for the surprise twist at the end and well, the past and present cause you to f...

The Woman In Our House - Andrew Hart 3/5 stars                                                                           I’ve often said that books like these are a bit like junk food and there’s nothing wrong with that. Junk food is what we all need from time to time and no matter what people say, we all love junk food. The more the better. A Woman In Our House is exactly what I love in a good thriller. It ticks off all the boxes that make a book like this a good, but predictable read and I swear the writers of these must have a checklist tacked up somewhere so they hit all the right spots. The important thing here is the characters. They are the glue that holds these books together, and the plot may be predictable, but it has to connect with the reader somehow. Without the connection, and the cha...

The Cabin At The End Of The World - Paul Tremblay 5/5 stars                                                                          Paul Tremblay I would like to say that I hate you and I love you at the same time. We all love and hate authors. It's nothing new but this hate stems from the way he writes and makes it impossible to stop reading even after he begins to make you uncomfortable. His books slowly build tension while taking in directions you don't want to go yet have no choice. Cabin isn't a simple novel and all I can say is that it's about a home invasion and the apocalypse. The rest is up to you discover and figure out on your own. Tremblay takes two simple genres and creates something we haven't seen before which is the mark of a great author. Each turn of the page gets you closer and...