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Security
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“Original and imaginative . . . Ripping suspense, sheer terror, and a wrenching love story.” —Sandra Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Friction
The terrible truth about Manderley is that someone is always watching. Manderley Resort is a gleaming, new twenty-story hotel on the California coast. It’s about to open its doors, and the world--at least those with the m ...more
The terrible truth about Manderley is that someone is always watching. Manderley Resort is a gleaming, new twenty-story hotel on the California coast. It’s about to open its doors, and the world--at least those with the m ...more
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Hardcover, 229 pages
Published
June 7th 2016
by Algonquin Books
(first published June 6th 2016)
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Community Reviews
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Start your review of Security
"That's not food. It's meat, but it's not."
this book is not going to win the pulitzer, but if ponies ever become wishes and they start giving out literary awards in the category of "fun, funny slasher novels," this book will have a very good chance at winning one. it's a very simple premise centering around the manderley - an ultra-luxe hotel with an ominous name, complete with a mandatory horror-hotel hedge maze, secret passages, an excruciatingly slow glass elevator, and asking-for-it white ca ...more
this book is not going to win the pulitzer, but if ponies ever become wishes and they start giving out literary awards in the category of "fun, funny slasher novels," this book will have a very good chance at winning one. it's a very simple premise centering around the manderley - an ultra-luxe hotel with an ominous name, complete with a mandatory horror-hotel hedge maze, secret passages, an excruciatingly slow glass elevator, and asking-for-it white ca ...more
With sincere thanks to Netgalley and Algonquin Books, I offer my thoughts on Security by Gina Wohlsdorf, due to be published June 7, 2016.
Now that was different! Just when you think there’s nothing new an author can do to shock or astonish along comes a book like Security. Gina Wohlsdorf has been compared to so many horrors’ twisty writers but I’ve got a new one to add. I’d call Security the book Agatha Christie gone mad might have written instead of And Then There Were None. It’s got all the el ...more
Now that was different! Just when you think there’s nothing new an author can do to shock or astonish along comes a book like Security. Gina Wohlsdorf has been compared to so many horrors’ twisty writers but I’ve got a new one to add. I’d call Security the book Agatha Christie gone mad might have written instead of And Then There Were None. It’s got all the el ...more
So, this book was amazing.
I think perhaps I owe Joe Abercrombie an apology. I almost gave up on this book once the violence started. It's graphic, horrible, detailed violence and honestly it made me sick. I don't enjoy reading about people being horribly, painfully and slowly murdered.
However, I had it on good authority that this was a great novel. And my authority was correct: actually this is stunning, amazing novel. Five stars. On my favorites shelf, which is no joke.
What does that have to do ...more
I think perhaps I owe Joe Abercrombie an apology. I almost gave up on this book once the violence started. It's graphic, horrible, detailed violence and honestly it made me sick. I don't enjoy reading about people being horribly, painfully and slowly murdered.
However, I had it on good authority that this was a great novel. And my authority was correct: actually this is stunning, amazing novel. Five stars. On my favorites shelf, which is no joke.
What does that have to do ...more
Jun 20, 2016
Heena Rathore P.
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Heena by:
Kim
"The best security is invisible security."
First off, I'd like to thank Kim, one of the best book reviewers ever and a dear friend, who personally recommended this book to me. Thanks a bunch, Kim, you've introduced me to some pretty awesome books, but this one takes the cake.
Read Kim's review of Security here .
"The most thorough safety is safety one's object of protection doesn't know about."
Coming back to the review: This is an INSANELY AMAZING book!!!
I loved Security for ...more
Tessa take her job as the hotel manager at the new Manderley Resort in Santa Barbara very seriously. She has her staff working on all the last minute details before the opening coming up in twenty four hours to make sure everything ends up perfect. The only problem is Tessa and the staff don't know there is a killer at large in the building and now this luxury resort is becoming one of nightmares despite the top of the line high tech security.
Security by Gina Wohlsdorf is one of the books when f ...more
Security by Gina Wohlsdorf is one of the books when f ...more
Sep 23, 2019
Olivia (Stories For Coffee)
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
one-setting-close-quarters,
library-book
Me: I want to read a slasher book set in close quarters where a group of people who aren't necessarily close to one another is killed off one by one
This book: *is a slasher book set in close quarters where a group of people who aren't necessarily close to one another is killed off one by one*
Me: I'm shocked. I'm positively shocked that every character I grow attached to dies eventually.
Security is most probably one of the most uniquely structured novels that I've ever had the pleasure of readin ...more
This book: *is a slasher book set in close quarters where a group of people who aren't necessarily close to one another is killed off one by one*
Me: I'm shocked. I'm positively shocked that every character I grow attached to dies eventually.
Security is most probably one of the most uniquely structured novels that I've ever had the pleasure of readin ...more
I can't think of the last time I had this much fun with a book. Security was pure enjoyment from start to finish. A high-rise hotel is about to have its grand opening, but before that can happen some assassins get in, and blood will be spattered like ketchup over a plate of fries before it's all over. Hotel manager Tessa is brisk and businesslike, but she's thrown for an understandable loop when a man from her past shows up unexpectedly...and when her coworkers start turning up violently dead. T
...more
This is a slasher novel, so I guess it's redundant to say that it is gory ("the Killer is throwing organs out of X as if she were a toy box") and unpleasant. Hapless victims are picked off one by one. It also has a romantic coupling with a back story straight out of a soap opera, leading to some icky, semi-incestuous soft core porn. If I could have skimmed my way past the "love" story, I would have, but the two threads of the story were generally jumbled together in the same paragraph so it was
...more
Actual Rating: 3.75
*I won an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
The writing style for this was definitely something! It's a while before the identity of the narrator is revealed, and therefore the book is written in third person omniscient, which really adds to the eerie tone of the story.
There were some really cool formatted pages too - meant to depict the multi-view security perspective; I've read a few reviews who talk about the formatting made it difficult to understand. How ...more
*I won an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
The writing style for this was definitely something! It's a while before the identity of the narrator is revealed, and therefore the book is written in third person omniscient, which really adds to the eerie tone of the story.
There were some really cool formatted pages too - meant to depict the multi-view security perspective; I've read a few reviews who talk about the formatting made it difficult to understand. How ...more
First, I much prefer the red cover opposed to the one pictured now.
This book was a bit of a head scratcher for me. I couldn't quite figure out the point. There wasn't much of a plot other than murder.
It felt like the author tried to give us a subplot with the main character's love story - which was really only a weak back story ending in current sex. I STILL don't understand the point of their story being told.
The killer(s)- there was NO plot. They killed. Period. There weren't any reasons wh ...more
This book was a bit of a head scratcher for me. I couldn't quite figure out the point. There wasn't much of a plot other than murder.
It felt like the author tried to give us a subplot with the main character's love story - which was really only a weak back story ending in current sex. I STILL don't understand the point of their story being told.
The killer(s)- there was NO plot. They killed. Period. There weren't any reasons wh ...more
May 02, 2017
Greg at 2 Book Lovers Reviews
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
contemporary-adventure,
2017
Ever since I first came across Security, there was something intriguing about the book; it has a “big brother” aspect about it that piqued by interest. I downloaded the sample, something I would recommend, and was captivated and strangely intrigued by the point-of-view from which the story was told.
I find it strange to say that the point-of-view was the best part of the book. It is told in first person, but who is this person? I ran with many theories as I continued through the story. The narrat ...more
I find it strange to say that the point-of-view was the best part of the book. It is told in first person, but who is this person? I ran with many theories as I continued through the story. The narrat ...more
After all the hype I've read about this book and how it was going to be the book of the summer, I gotta say I was thoroughly disappointed. For me, the book was just okay. I finished it with a lot of unanswered questions and I skipped a lot of pages that were just seeming redundant. I also had a hard time reading it. I'm not sure if it's because it was an advance copy or not, but the editing was horrible.
I guess my biggest question is what was the point? Who were the killers and why were they doi ...more
I guess my biggest question is what was the point? Who were the killers and why were they doi ...more
Original, twisted, gory, and an unexpected tragic love story all wrapped in one. Excellent, excellent read for fans of Stephen King. Had me sweating/gasping out loud on public transportation during its breakneck finale!! Full review to come on CBTB!
Hoo boy, this was a perfect gut shot of gore & terror & who knows why any of this horrific stuff is even happening and WHO IS THE NARRATOR? & someone calls a guy "you Tantric whippet-bodied woman-stealer," so it was pretty incredible.
...more
Not bad for a $1.99 impulse Kindle purchase. Mileage will vary on this one, but those who enjoy B-Horror films will absolutely find more to enjoy here than others. Security is also distinguished, personally, by being the first book to ever be read entirely on my cell phone. Perhaps it's that reason the formatting was so wonky; certainly the abrupt and awkward transitions between scenes and characters did not help. The quality of writing veers as sharply as the transitions. Wohlsdorf is waxing ph
...more
Stunning premise, steady writing, and original presentation but the plot fell flat for me and it was too confusing to keep track of what was going on to whom in which room.. This was not my style.
WOW. This book took all of my expectations and dumped them upside down, then twisted them into pretzels and cut their heads off and put the heads on a mantelpiece (err...spoiler alert??). I loved so much how unpredictable this story is, it's just twist after twist after jaw-dropping realization (I am thinking of a specific jaw-dropping realization, somewhere around the middle of the story, which might have changed me as a person and definitely changed me as a reader. Talk about unreliable narrat
...more
I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley for this title and was really excited about it, since the blurb compared it to "A Visit from the Goon Squad."
I don't know if it was the copy I received, but the formatting was all off. Sure, there was the quirky way the book was narrated, flipping from story to story the way a security camera might, but there were also glaring incongruences like sentences finishing with the ending of lines a few lines down so you get sentences like this:
"The Kille ...more
I don't know if it was the copy I received, but the formatting was all off. Sure, there was the quirky way the book was narrated, flipping from story to story the way a security camera might, but there were also glaring incongruences like sentences finishing with the ending of lines a few lines down so you get sentences like this:
"The Kille ...more
Very well done! In fact; Bloody brilliant. Literally. Security is an exciting, clever and brutal thriller. It's basically the book equivalent of a slasher film. Well, maybe a slasher-horror novel with a little romance, and a LOT of humor in it, which actually made me laugh, a lot. I spent a lot of last night telling my friends certain scenes in the novel, with the chef, who was cooking his dinner....who's scene I loved.
.
The writing style may not be liked by a lot of readers, but I loved it. I ...more
.
The writing style may not be liked by a lot of readers, but I loved it. I ...more
Any time a mystery/horror novel can change the game, I am interested. And Security definitely has a gimmick. It's an ambitious one, too, so I recommend it solely to have the experience of getting into this book, being really thrown off by this book, and trying to figure out what is actually happening.
The formatting in my e-galley was wonky, so I don't actually know how well some of the structural decisions work, but even if Security can't hold up under much scrutiny (guns! why not just use guns? ...more
The formatting in my e-galley was wonky, so I don't actually know how well some of the structural decisions work, but even if Security can't hold up under much scrutiny (guns! why not just use guns? ...more
Bloody brilliant. Literally.
Security is an exciting, clever and brutal thriller. It's basically the book equivalent of a slasher film.
The writing style may not be everyones cup of tea but I loved it.
A majority of the book is told via security cameras so the pages occasionally split into multiple columns to showcase what is happening in different parts of the hotel. Because of this, I highly suggest reading the hardcover edition (I'm not sure how this would look as an ebook).
I really don't wan ...more
Security is an exciting, clever and brutal thriller. It's basically the book equivalent of a slasher film.
The writing style may not be everyones cup of tea but I loved it.
A majority of the book is told via security cameras so the pages occasionally split into multiple columns to showcase what is happening in different parts of the hotel. Because of this, I highly suggest reading the hardcover edition (I'm not sure how this would look as an ebook).
I really don't wan ...more
LOVED this. I know people have had certain issues with e-copies and my first thing is - even well formatted I don't believe Security would work nearly as well in E-book so my strong recommendation would be you go for real book. Its a beautiful little hardback so worth the extra pennies.
Full Review soon. But this was great for me as a complete sucker for those "pick your survivor" slasher movies with plenty of innovative death scenes - this was that. With added extra's. And stuff. Really clever. ...more
Full Review soon. But this was great for me as a complete sucker for those "pick your survivor" slasher movies with plenty of innovative death scenes - this was that. With added extra's. And stuff. Really clever. ...more
I think it might actually be 4.5 because the ending goes a liiiittle over the line of plausibility - but holy shit I enjoyed the hell out of this book. Structurally interesting, with a voice to die for, it's the story of one night in a massive fancy hotel just before it opens. Supposedly the most secure hotel ever, it is anything but - and so, from the point of view of the security cameras, we track the whole evening. It's a little bit DIE HARD, a little bit SCREAM, and I feel like Edgar Wright
...more
A SLASHER novel! Will be gushing about this book like blood from a deep flesh wound. (Sorry, just had to say that, Wohlsdorf made me do it.)
Review coming up soon.
Review coming up soon.
So I got this book on audio which from what I read in the reviews was a good thing because the formatting seems to make this a difficult book to read. The audio can't make up for all the bad in this book, and there's a lot of it. I could only make myself listen to about 2 hours of a 6 hour audiobook.
I have a couple of serious issues with the book. Short version: bad characters, slightly incestuous adopted sibling relationship, and in the two hours I listened to there was one named gay character ...more
I have a couple of serious issues with the book. Short version: bad characters, slightly incestuous adopted sibling relationship, and in the two hours I listened to there was one named gay character ...more
The fabulous Manderlay resort is about to open. Just a small staff is currently on site, getting things ready for the opening gala. Unbeknownst to them, the hotel has been infiltrated by people bent on murdering them all. Why? Who knows. Up on the locked 20th floor, security monitors see all the action. The killer is tracking them down one by one.
Tessa is the hotel manager. An overachiever trying to make everything perfect for the grand opening. Complicating matters is the arrival of Brian, Tess ...more
Tessa is the hotel manager. An overachiever trying to make everything perfect for the grand opening. Complicating matters is the arrival of Brian, Tess ...more
This was such a fun and crazy book! The last third of the book was insane, my heart was pounding and I could not put the book down - I had to finish! The ending was only a bit unsatisfying, a major question left unanswered, but it was still worth the read!
This book started out really good but then it progressed so slowly that it started boring me. It was ok, not horrible and not really good. Just meh. Though I do think this has a better potential for a movie.
DNF. Don't waste your time, folks.
...more
I don't get the negativity in review for this one. For me, it was more than adequate writing, the story was fast-paced, fun and exciting. Many of the characters were trope-y, but c'mon, this book was a slasher. Each character had their own personality that was constant throughout before (the mority of them) the killer took them out. The way the story was being told by an observer's POV was disconcerting at first, until midway through the book when the reason was made clear. My only real issue wa
...more
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