I just finished reading the book and while I liked it, I don't consider it to be one of his best. My favorite is and always will be The Stand, I gues...moreI just finished reading the book and while I liked it, I don't consider it to be one of his best. My favorite is and always will be The Stand, I guess. T
Edgar Freemantle was a happily married, middle aged owner of a construction firm when a horrible accident severely injured him physically and mentally. In the aftermath of such traumatic injuries, he's changed and as a result, his life takes some dramatic changes. His therapist suggests a change of scenery and Edgar chooses to relocate from Minnesota to Duma Key, FL.
Edgar had already begun sketching by the time he moves to the house he renames "Big Pink". Suddenly, he is a prolific artist, moving on from pencil drawings to oils.
There is a chilling mystery on Duma Island. Why is the southern part overgrown with trees and plants not really native to the area? Why does no one live on that part of the island? Edgar's only neighbors are an elderly patron of the arts struggling with Alzheimer's and her caretaker. As Edgar becomes friends with them and learns more about them, his artwork takes a dark turn.
I don't want to go any further and include spoilers. I enjoyed the book but felt it was too long. That's been an issue with some King books I've read, particularly the ones since his accident. His writing has changed and while I haven't read everything he's written since then, I haven't been a big fan of the stuff I have read. The story could have ended a lot sooner. Part of the ending reminded me of something that happened in one of his other stories and I didn't think it was necessary to have it happen in this book.
I love Stephen King and will continue to read whatever he writes, including going back and re-reading the old stuff.(less)
Hatch Harrison and his wife Lindsey were on their way back from a vacation to try and rekindle their marriage (they lost their son almost 5 years ago)...moreHatch Harrison and his wife Lindsey were on their way back from a vacation to try and rekindle their marriage (they lost their son almost 5 years ago) when they are in a terrible car accident. Hatch is actually killed in the accident but is successfully resuscitated by a dedicated doctor at the hospital. It's this second chance at life that revitalizes their marriage and Hatch and Lindsey decide to adopt a disabled child, Regina. Unfortunately, Hatch seems to have brought back a disturbing ability with him -- he has an inexplicable connection to a psychotic serial killer and is able to see through that man's eyes.
As Hatch struggles with the disturbing visions and dreams, he soon realizes that the killer is also able to see through his eyes and that it places his new little family in danger.
Is the killer a human or some evil manifestation from hell? That's just one of the myeteries to be cleared up.
This was an exciting, very suspenseful book which became almost unbearable toward the end. There was a couple of real nail biting twists in the story, something Koontz is very skilled at introducing into his stories.
This is one of his earlier books but one I hadn't read. I'm looking forward to reading more of his books.(less)
I've finally managed to finish not one but two books! I'd switched to large print books because I'm having such trouble focusing on regular print. I...moreI've finally managed to finish not one but two books! I'd switched to large print books because I'm having such trouble focusing on regular print. It's really driving me crazy because I have hundreds of books I want to read but am not able to do so. I have an appointment to see my eye doctor tomorrow and if there's nothing wrong with my eyes, the next step is to isolate the medicinal culprit--and I'm pretty sure I know which one(s) it is!
First I read Black Ice by Michael Connelly. Another blogger recommended him to me and I'm glad he did. The only drawback is that my blogger friend said it didn't matter in which order I read the books but I believe it does. There were references in this book made to an earlier story. It didn't detract except that I was then curious to know what the earlier book was about. Luckily, I missed only the first in the series and I now have a list of the books in chronological order.
Harry Bosch is a troubled maverick detective who becomes involved in what originally appeared to be the suicide of a cop gone bad. Although his superiors would like to cover the whole thing up, Harry just can't stay out of it especially when the autopsy results come back "inconclusive". His investigation takes him down into Mexico and involves him in the seedy dealings of drug dealers introducing a new form of dope to this country--"black ice": a mix of heroin, cocaine, and PCP.
I won't go into all the particulars and will just say that it was an enjoyable book. It's not great literature but I did get hooked and was unable to put the book down for a while. The only down side was that it seemed to drag a little in some places but that's okay.(less)
I was very disappointed with The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. He wrote the book especially for "Hard Case Crime", a series of books by cla...moreI was very disappointed with The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. He wrote the book especially for "Hard Case Crime", a series of books by classic mystery writers and new ones that were supposed to have a 1940s/1950s old time mystery feel to them. I was expecting a hard boiled crime story and what I got was two old geezers in Maine telling their wide-eyed intern about some guy from Colorado who may or may not have choked to death on a steak sandwich. I kept waiting for the book to get better and it was charming but that is about all. Waste of time.(less)
I enjoy historical fiction and the fact that the main character is a medium, channelling the spirits of dead soldiers and sailors, added a level of fa...moreI enjoy historical fiction and the fact that the main character is a medium, channelling the spirits of dead soldiers and sailors, added a level of fascination and interest. The only thing is, I think the book should have ended 100 pages sooner...with the death of the fiancee, Billy.
The book begins when Helen Schneider, the young medium in training, is just 13. Her grandmother is her mentor and the elder woman is also a medium, although not always a very honest one. Helen, though, has natural and true abilities. She is a strong medium.
In the years before the war, the author weaves in real events to add to the story. She's got the Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" radio program scare that sent people into the streets in a panic because they thought the Martians were landing! I'm surprised, though, that there was no mention of the Hindenburg.
Helen has always been in love with Billy Mackey. That was the other plot line in the book. Sometimes there'd be mention of Billy's younger brother Lloyd but it was just to show what a wild young man he was.
After the war begins, Helen is visited by soldier after soldier. She also has a visual materialization involving the deaths of many Jewish people. The Army gets wind of all this and warns her about using her power. That puts a damper on Helen's abilities.
Billy starts out working for a defense plant but as he and Helen decide to get married, he feels compelled to join the service.
Up until this point, my only complaint was that the characters seemed superficial. For instance, there is anti-German-American sentiment but the feelings of the family isn't explored much about that. Even Helen's grief about Billy seemed sort of detached to me. I felt that the story really ended at that point and yet it went on.
It wasn't a bad story. It was pretty entertaining. It just ran a little too long and the last hundred pages or so were too melodramatic (Helen is arrested as a posible spy by the army)for me. Try it, you might like it a lot better than I did.(less)
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter was written by Carson McCullers when she was only 22 or 23 years old. What a perceptive person she was at such a y...more The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter was written by Carson McCullers when she was only 22 or 23 years old. What a perceptive person she was at such a young age!
The central character has to be John Singer, although he is not a major player in the story. All the other characters revolve around him, however, and without him there would be no coherence in the story. John Singer is deaf, isolated by that fact and by the fact that his only friend--another deaf man--is taken away to an insane asylum. Singer is desperately lonely and while he had his friend, Antonapoulous, with him, he'd sign and sign and sign and tell everything in his soul. It didn't matter that his friend didn't respond in kind.
Once his friend is taken away, Singer can't stand the loneliness of his apartment and so he rents a room in a boardhouse run by the Kelly family. Not long after that, he has four frequent visitors who proceed to talk and talk and talk to him and it doesn't matter that he doesn't respond often. Ironic, eh?
The first visitor is Jake Blount, an alcoholic rabble rouser. Blount tries to stir up the emotions of the people, frequently ranting about their rights and the oppressive nature of the bosses and so on. No one listens to him and many times, people laugh at him. However, he believes Singer understands him and so he visits.
Another visitor is young Mick Kelly, a tomboy sort of girl with music in her head and a desire to compose. She wanders around the town at night, restless, looking for radios playing music she wants to hear.
There is Dr. Copeland, a bitter black physician who is disappointed in his children and in his people.
Finally, there's the owner of the diner/bar that Singer frequents, Biff Brannon, a timid sort of man.
Each person believes that Singer belongs to him or her, their "special" friend. One time when they all show up at the same time, Singer mistakenly believes that they'll all enjoy a good time. Instead, everyone is uncomfortable and Singer doesn't understand it. He's a very kind mind and so if he doesn't always understand what his guest is going on about he keeps it to himself.
Singer has his own secret--a yearning for his old friend. He disappears a couple of times to go and visit his friend and doesn't share where he's gone. He also keeps his hands shoved deeply in his pockets, hiding them. And then he learns that Antonapolous has died of an illness and it sets off a shocking act of violence that stuns the small group of visitors.
The book was made into a movie starring Alan Arkin. I remember going to see it with my parents and some friends of theirs. All the deaf adults hated it. They felt that Antonoupolous portrayed deaf people as fools and Arkin's Singer was the "perfect" deaf person. No deaf person could read lips so well, they declared. No hearing person would hang around the deaf.
In one way, I disagree with that. I think, in Singer, each ot those people found a captive audience...someone who would listen but not have a capability of questioning or criticizing. This was a really good book!(less)
This was the best book for me to read at this moment in time! Right now, things have gone wrong with us financially, physically, emotionally and in j...moreThis was the best book for me to read at this moment in time! Right now, things have gone wrong with us financially, physically, emotionally and in just about every way. The last time this happened, I picked up Why Bad Things Happen To Good People and it felt "right". This time around, the satire and black humor was just right for me!
One thing that is really cool is that Candide's story is timeless, even though it was written in the 18th century! At some point, most people suffer and some more so than others. Why? Well, one theory is that everything happens for a reason so look for the silver lining in the cloud. It was meant to be. It's all for the best. Sometimes I find that idea comforting.
It's pretty clear that Voltaire didn't and, in fact, it angered him to the point he wrote a really funny book about it all.
Candide is a priviliged young man living at the estate of a very wealthy man. His tutor is Dr. Pangloss whose teachings revolve around turning Candide into the eternal optimist, no matter what awful things occur. Candide is ejected forcibly from his comfortable home for making a move on the baron's attractive daughter.
He then goes through some of the worst stuff that could possibly happen to a person. Just one of these calamaties alone would cause a person to fall into despair, but not Candide. I won't go into all of his experience here except for one example. As he, his tutor Dr. Pangloss (who's fallen into ruin himself), and their benefactor sail into Lisbon, there's a huge storm that wrecks the ship and drowns the friend who was caring for them. Dr. Pangloss explains it all away: the harbor was placed there just so that this storm could come and wreck the ship and kill almost everyone on board. Then they are hit by an earthquake, but that was as it's supposed to be, too. Earthquakes happen in Lisbon. It's the best that could happen and was meant to be.
I was just rolling on the floor laughing so hard I almost cried.
The reason this is a timeless book is that you could substitute what happened in Lisbon for what happened during the Christmas tsunami of two years ago. Try telling the survivors it was all for the best and meant to be because tsunamis happen in that part of the world.
The book isn't long at all and it's very easy to read, something that is rare in a classic (for me, anyway). I thoroughly enjoyed it and I know others would too!(less)
In the preface to What Is The What, Valentino Achak Deng says that he told his story to the author, Dave Eggers, over a period of year...moreWow.
In the preface to What Is The What, Valentino Achak Deng says that he told his story to the author, Dave Eggers, over a period of years. Eggers captured Achak's tone and spirit so closely that I kept forgetting that the author was not the man who experienced the horrors of what happened in the Sudan. Some of the passages are fictional out of some necessity and that's why I guess the book can't be classified as a true memoir. Still, it is one of the most chilling and inspiring books I've ever read.
I am one of those people almost completely ignorant of what was going on in the world in the late 1980s and all of the 1990s. My kids were being born and I was busy raising them, working and coping with other unfortunate complications like my first husband's failing health. When I saw Hotel Rwanda I thought, how could I not know about this? This is like what Hitler did.
I feel the same way after reading this book. Achak was a small boy in a poor village in southern Sudan when war and terror arrived in the form of mhraleen, invaders from Khartoum. There was always unease between the Arabs of northern Sudan and the Africans of the south although in Achak's village, they traded freely and were friendly with each other. Achak's village was burned to the ground and he had to run for his life, not knowing if any member of his family survived.
He became one of the "Lost Boys" who walked in a group what became hundreds of refugee children across the Sudan and into Ethiopia first, then Kenya. Along the way, boys died from starvation, exposure and disease. The boy Achak saw other little ones carried off by lions. They were chased and strafed by the Sudanese army. Sanctuary consisted of poor, mean little settlements and it took a long time for Achak to learn what happened to his family and make his way to the United States.
Ironically (although after everything that happens to him I shouldn't have been surprised) the plane taking him to New York was scheduled to depart September 11, 2001. We all know what happened then.
He did make it to Atlanta at last...and after going through all the suffering and misery of his young years, he opens the door one day and his home is invaded. He is beaten and robbed.
That's not even half of it.
If I ever feel too sorry for myself and complain about my woes, I'm going to go back and read this post and remember what this man experienced.
When I saw this title first offered by one of my book clubs, I decided to pass. Do I really need to be further depressed by being reminded of how muc...moreWhen I saw this title first offered by one of my book clubs, I decided to pass. Do I really need to be further depressed by being reminded of how much we've damaged the earth? I read a few reviews of it, was intrigued and decided to give it a try. This is not a feel-good book, not by a long shot, although it does offer some hope for the earth if all us human destroyers were suddenly raptured or plagued or kidnapped away. I learned a lot from the book.
For one thing, I didn't know there was a "dead zone" the size of New Jersey near the mouth of the Mississippi. So much for the theory that there's so much ocean polluting it won't matter. :P I knew about the acid rain, dead fresh water lakes, blooming algae, the strangulation of the Chesapeake Bay and a few other places but not about that. I didn't know about a theory that the reason there's no mammoths left in America is because early man killed them all off ala the buffalo. Maybe the reason there are still elephants and giraffes in Africa is because man and animal evolved alongside each other. Those animals learned to be cautious around us lethal bipeds. In North America, the animals were here long before humans and when we appeared they didn't know to hide.
On the up side, life would go on and adapt even though the world would be poisoned for millions of years by heavy metals left in the soil and in the air when nuclear reactors go. It seems the world would be a better place without us. So sad...but would this book bring about change? I wish, but I'm not holding my breath.(less)
When I was a teenager, reading The Diary of Anne Frank and Exodus made me realize how blessed I was to be born in this country. I got the same feelin...moreWhen I was a teenager, reading The Diary of Anne Frank and Exodus made me realize how blessed I was to be born in this country. I got the same feeling after reading Prisoner of Tehran and I think any teenager who read this would feel the same way. When you are sixteen years old, you are trying to break away from parents, traditions and rules to become your own person. In the United States, teens are free to speak their minds and write what they feeling. While I realize that schools can censor what the kids write, those kids aren't then placed on an arrest-to-be-tortured list.
Yet this is what happened to young Marina. When she was born, the shah was still in power and while there were abuses by the government there was also a lot more freedom and independence for women. Under the Ayatollah Kohmeini, all of that changed. Marina and several of her high school friends were arrested for "striking" against the school and for writing a protest newspaper. The strike involved a protest against teachers who chose to lecture on fundamentalist religion rather than on the topics they were supposed to teach (like calculus).
Marina was tortured in an attempt to force her to reveal the names of more friends involved in the protest. She suffered a great deal before being placed in a cell with some of her friends. Some survived; some did not. The ultimate horror--in my opinion anyway--was when Marina's interrogator fell in love with her. I recommend the book to anyone. Read it to find out what happens to Marina.(less)
It's atypical for me to read a book if I can't identify with at least one of the characters. When I started The Thirteenth Tale, I found myself unabl...moreIt's atypical for me to read a book if I can't identify with at least one of the characters. When I started The Thirteenth Tale, I found myself unable to make any kind of connection with the narrator, Margaret Lea, or with the elusive writer Vida Winter. What drew me in and kept me reading for more than half the book was the very strange tale the elderly Winter was spinning for Margaret. By the end of the book, although I still felt nothing for Margaret I most definitely developed a liking and affinity for Vida Winter.
I am not a twin and so I will never understand what it's like to be one. I guess that's why I couldn't connect to Margaret who just seemed to be unnecessarily self-isolating. She has no life other than books and her father's bookstore. She's fascinated with fairly obscure people who lived years ago and has written a couple of biographical essays. It comes as a great surprise when she receives a letter from the very mysterious Vida Winter, inviting Margaret to write her biography, her true story. Over the years, the writer has told a number of different tales to various resporters and interviewers and Margaret is suspicious and reluctant. Still, she goes to meet the writer.
One of Vida's many books was supposed to have 13 stories in it but apparently was a misprinted title--no copy has more than 12. People have wondered and speculated just what that thirteenth tale was supposed to be...could it be Miss Winter's life story? Margaret is mesmerized and eventually obsessed with it.
It's a very gothic tale that Miss Winter tells and includes ghosts and governesses, a very dysfunctional family and well meaning servants. There are so many salutes to Jane Eyre throughout the book and I found myself staying up later and later to read just another page more. I think people who love Jane Eyre and Rebecca will also enjoy this story.(less)
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