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14th out of 28 books
—
14 voters
Trauma
Something is happening to Bonnie Winter.
She's a working wife and mother, and her job is cleaning up crime scenes. Considering what she sees everyday, it must take a lot to disturb a woman like Bonnie Winter.
You can't imagine.
In this brilliantly unnerving novella, Graham Masterton speaks the unspeakable with terrifying precision and elegance, and finds menace in the m...more
She's a working wife and mother, and her job is cleaning up crime scenes. Considering what she sees everyday, it must take a lot to disturb a woman like Bonnie Winter.
You can't imagine.
In this brilliantly unnerving novella, Graham Masterton speaks the unspeakable with terrifying precision and elegance, and finds menace in the m...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
January 1st 2002
by Signet
(first published 2001)
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Bonnie cleans up crime scenes. Bonnie cleans up some really nasty crime scenes. Bonnie Winters is the heroine of this novella by Graham Masteron, and Bonnie Winters is not doing so well.
This isn't what I would call a horror book, or even a thriller. It is more of a psychological drama. Masterton has expertly, in the space of 200 pages (if you buy paperback), woven a tight, brilliantly paced story about Bonnie, her life's work, and her life's ruin. Although what details Masterton chooses to inclu...more
This isn't what I would call a horror book, or even a thriller. It is more of a psychological drama. Masterton has expertly, in the space of 200 pages (if you buy paperback), woven a tight, brilliantly paced story about Bonnie, her life's work, and her life's ruin. Although what details Masterton chooses to inclu...more
Bonnie Winters runs a crime scene clean-up service, meaning she goes in and clean up places where violent scenes have taken place. She also works as a cosmetics lady when she's not cleaning crime scenes, just to remind herself that she's something other than a mother/wife/cleaning lady. Bonnie works as the sole supporter of her family since her husband lost his job, which he blames on the Mexicans as a whole, and her son is just a teenager going through a difficult time.
I really liked how he did...more
I really liked how he did...more
This was a unique story about a hard-working married woman who starts her own business cleaning up crime scenes. Her husband and son are not so great shakes and she had a bunch of other men she works with lusting after her, but she goes on with her day to day taking care of her home and working two jobs(sounds like my life- very tedious!). The story was short and sweet (or maybe not so sweet- this being a horror story after all). The characters were ok, some character development and all, just t...more
I didn't think I'd be enjoying this book as much as I did. It's a good story that is read smoothly and doesn't tire much. The writer has done a lot of research on cleaning crime scenes and I enjoyed reading about it, because it was written in a casual way, like cleaning up the remains of a brain from a wall was a normal everyday activity, and it was (kind of), for Bonnie Winters, the heroine. I think, if I could, I'd give it 3.5 stars. It was a good read, not very good or great, but I don't feel...more
This is a wonderfully subtle story about the horror of everyday life, especially when that everyday life seems so disappointing. It's an everyday life that has failed to live up to youthful expectations. It's an everyday life in which big dreams are crushed by a lousy marriage and working two jobs that pay the bills but don't provide any fulfillment. Into that everyday life comes some mystery and excitement that offer a way out. Is it any surprise that the character takes advantage of that oppor...more
This is my first Graham Masterton novel, well, novella I guess, and it was pretty good.
It's a very fast read, and what I liked about it was the subtle suspense of it. You just know something bad is going to happen. Heck, it says so on the cover. But the way he pulls you along in anticipation of it is masterful (yes, I meant to do that pun).
I don't know a lot about his work, but from what I've seen, I don't think this one is regarded has his strongest work. That's good, because I enjoyed this, an...more
It's a very fast read, and what I liked about it was the subtle suspense of it. You just know something bad is going to happen. Heck, it says so on the cover. But the way he pulls you along in anticipation of it is masterful (yes, I meant to do that pun).
I don't know a lot about his work, but from what I've seen, I don't think this one is regarded has his strongest work. That's good, because I enjoyed this, an...more
Feb 28, 2010
Sandie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Sandie by:
Stephanie Doherty
Shelves:
horror-suspense
I loved this book as much the second time around as I did the first. I think this is considered a horror story, but its not like a hack em horror book. I don't think you ever suspect the true intent of this book until the very end and then you sit back and are like whoa, never saw that coming.
The book is about Bonnie Winter and her business of cleaning up after death. Of course you meet her family and all their problems. There is also Dan Munoz on the police force and Ralph, the cheating husban...more
The book is about Bonnie Winter and her business of cleaning up after death. Of course you meet her family and all their problems. There is also Dan Munoz on the police force and Ralph, the cheating husban...more
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I am a gigantic Masterton fan of only about a year--I have only read one or two of his novels that I did not absolutely love so I am a bit biased. I have managed to run through 17 of his books in the last year or so. I thought this was a great read. Disturbing and melancholy and peppered with the mythological background that makes me love his novels and short stories so much. He researches his ideas so well, that you find yourself thinking about the mythological context much later after the book...more
This book was creepy at the end. I liked the main character and her demeanor. The book was no masterpiece but it was a fast read with a good ending.
I get the feeling this book was written many years before it was published and wasn't revised properly. There were many references that didn't fit with the age this character was in 2002.
I get the feeling this book was written many years before it was published and wasn't revised properly. There were many references that didn't fit with the age this character was in 2002.
What a chillingly fabulous little gem of a book this was! Graham Masterton is brilliant. I loved the forensic details. The mystical aspects of the story were great too. This was one of those books you rush through--I found myself carrying it around the house, reading bits whenever I could, just to see what would happen next.
This was my first Graham Masterton novel, and it won't be my last.
It deals with the somewhat troubled life of Bonnie Winter, a lower middle class wife and mother who works two jobs: cosmetics saleswoman and crime scene cleaner. It is in the latter job that she stumbles across sinister evidence of the presence of an ancient evil. The supernatural element of the novel is unique and dealt with sparingly, but not in a playful or trifling matter; the monster is well-balanced against Bonnie's day-to-...more
It deals with the somewhat troubled life of Bonnie Winter, a lower middle class wife and mother who works two jobs: cosmetics saleswoman and crime scene cleaner. It is in the latter job that she stumbles across sinister evidence of the presence of an ancient evil. The supernatural element of the novel is unique and dealt with sparingly, but not in a playful or trifling matter; the monster is well-balanced against Bonnie's day-to-...more
This is a good, quick read. So far Masterton has been a dependable writer. He concocts neat plots and peoples them with characters that are worth following. He describes action well and doesn't applies just the right amount of gore and violence for effect. This is the kind of horror I was hoping for when I joined the Leisure Horror Book Club for a year; unfortunately, it was the kind of horror I rarely received in the mail.
It's worth noting that this is a novella, and not a full-length novel. It...more
It's worth noting that this is a novella, and not a full-length novel. It...more
Υπέροχος κεντρικός χαρακτήρας! Ωραίο βιβλίο, έξυπνο αν και με άφησε με την απορία στο τέλος αν υπάρχει ή όχι μεταφυσικό στοιχείο...
Great story. Gotta love the ending.
This book was an easy enough book to read. It just felt slow and not really my cup of tea. Just didn't hit me and I know other people love Masterton, I even have read other of his books and enjoyed, but for some reason I didn't care for this one.
Not bad - Masterton is a great writer - but this didn't draw me in like his other work and maybe it was the character, maybe it was the setting, but it didn't hold my attention particularly.
A chilling little short novel about a death handler and what happens to her when she finds this black moth at every death scene. I didn't sleep well for weeks after this.
Psychological and totally creepy.
May 11, 2013
Kathleen Davies
marked it as to-read
Apr 26, 2013
Kyle
marked it as to-read
Apr 18, 2013
Lily Pilly
marked it as to-read
Apr 15, 2013
Marissa Jamie
is currently reading it
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Graham Masterton was born in Edinburgh in 1946. His grandfather was Thomas Thorne Baker, the eminent scientist who invented DayGlo and was the first man to transmit news photographs by wireless. After training as a newspaper reporter, Graham went on to edit the new British menis magazine Mayfair, where he encouraged William Burroughs to develop a series of scientific and philosophical articles whi...more
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