Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

I remember the premise of this one - unhappy humans can pay a company to put them to sleep for decades, centuries if requested; and it all ends up having a sinister purpose - but I don't recall what the big reveal, the evil plan, really is. My mind is saying the Druufs are involved...but I don't know. Voltz's first few books seemed removed or tenuously attached to main story arcs, like they were testing him out.

William Voltz…with a few books in the series, Voltz became one of my favourite PR writers. He was not part of the original stable of names, but he made a big impression with #66, this entry, any of them. My understanding is that he became a very significant contributor to the future development of the series (ie. the parts that have never been translated). #91 is amazing, and heart-breaking.

As a serial killer novel with some (1940s) police-procedural feel to it - Ellery is an amateur sleuth, but he's surrounded by cops here, including his father - this unique entry in the series can suddenly have its 'modern' moments. Something seems very obvious in these late stages...but I'm not sure I buy it. I'm holding out for a twist. If there isn't one, I still like the book, overall - but we need a good finish.

Ellery Q. and his father enmeshed in a serial killer case has a different feel than all the other ones I've read. A lot of the discussion about what the psychology of an apparently random-victim killer could be seems like the template for similar discussions in modern serial-murderer books. I am very curious to see if all things are as random as they seem, and if a character we've met is the killer...

Loving it to undeath. Years ago, I had just finished Neither the Sea Nor the Sand, and wanted more zombies in books. I bought The Mammoth Book of Zombies, and Stephen Jones, in the Intro, explained that zombies were not as big in print, compared to their success in film. Zombies in novels were scarce; Jones did reference Damnation Game, and Neither the Sea (etc.). Things have changed! Now there’s lots!

Off to a good start; me in the mood for a fizzing, nasty modern Horror novel - so, away we go! I think I'm in love with either orange or green covers...so indulge me, until that hankering passes. In the meantime, we'll see how many books turn out to be as cool as their orange, or green, covers. It's a thing.

This is definitely one short-story book I would never ever contemplate reading all the way through, like tackling a novel. Best to just return to it for short spans. I mean, Horror stories centred on all things sexual are not really my uh, turn-on - but I'll read anything Ramsey Campbell, and so far this has been a different side of him than I'm used to.

This, as I recall, finishes the storyline launched in #76. The ones that feature Atlan narrating in the first-person have an interesting effect on me; everything else is in third-person, when it comes to what I have access to in translation…and since the only psyche we ever get to know is Atlan’s — his inner life - it’s weird, in the other books, when he becomes a mere supporting character. I miss the inner Atlan.

Well, I feel good that I've gone back to this book, after months of letting it sit neglected simply because its size discourages me from carrying it around for between-novels short-stuff sampling. Today had to be the day to give it more love! I just finished a fine whodunit shortie, and though it was written by an Irishman, between that and Freeman Wills Crofts, I'm starving for something actually SET IN Ireland...

If I happen to finish this later today, at least I have book of Irish short stories on the go, that I can finally get back to tomorrow. So far, Cheyne Mystery is functioning more like a fast-paced Thriller than a whodunit. But I like it.