RR10: September

September was a good reading month for me, especially when you remember that I returned to school and have been quite busy with the little devils.

Also, I've been KILLING my first entry into RIP, so I'm proud to say that I'm fulfilling a challenge, and fulfilling it well.

Unfortunately, I have, as before, continued my excellent streak of reading NOT A SINGLE THING on my reading resolution. EXCELLENT.

Anyway, let's get to it.


BOOKS READ, SEPTEMBER 2010

Castillo, Linda. Sworn to Silence
Cottam, F.G. Dark Echo
Harwood, John. The Seance
Maberry, Jonathan. Patient Zero
McGrath, Patrick. Dr. Haggard's Disease
Sigler, Scott. Ancestor
Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome


RESOLUTION TITLES = 0 (9/80)

NON-RESOLUTION TITLES = 7

TOTAL READ IN SEPTEMBER 2010 = 7

TOTAL READ IN 2010 = 53

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Dark Echo
F.G. Cottam

Ok, so, awhile ago I read The House of Lost Souls, and I was pleased with its atmospheric creepiness. Fast forward a bit, blah blah blah, RIPV, and here we are. Dark Echo time.

So, the Dark Echo is a boat, and apparently she's cursed. Back in the day she was owned by Harry Spalding, a flamboyant playboy from the 1920s. And then all of a sudden zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sorry, fell asleep.

Anyway, so Harry Spalding is a devil-worshipper who sold his soul. There are some genuinely spooky bits involving the horrible acts committed by Spalding, but the beginning of the book is all about THE FRIGGIN BOAT. And, give or take one or two spooky bits, the boat is pretty damn boring. (Oh, and the protag's father buys the haunted yacht and plans to sail across the Atlantic on it -- nevermind the fact he knows its haunted. And the protag goes along with him, because, well, it's his father. Meanwhile, everyone's all, OH NOES THE BOAT IS HAUNTED. And therein lies the plot.)

This book is about 350 pages long, but it felt like 3 billion. Dark Echo didn't get really good until AT LEAST page 250, and that's being kind. Unfortunately, Dark Echo did nothing to disabuse me of the notion that boats = BORING.

Sigh.

In a nutshell: The final third was soooo good. Wish the beginning bits were more interesting.

Bibliolatry Scale: 2 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Library'd this one. Sha-zam!

RIPV: Selling your soul to the devil after completing the requisite degenerate acts qualifies Dark Echo for this year's RIP challenge. woot woot

Ethel, I think you underestimated your transmitter!

The Seance
John Harwood

Can I just say how much I LOVE this time of year? True, the fall also coincides with a return to work which is, of course, full of UGH, but even a return to grading and poorly constructed sentences and forgotten homework can't make me entirely dislike autumn. AND, it's time for SPOOKY READS! Which are, of course, full of win.

So, you might remember John Harwood from The Ghost Writer, which was, as I recall, "a pretty good time." Now he's back with The Seance, an equally atmospheric Gothic mystery set in Victorian England.

Constance Langton has problems. Her father doesn't care about her, and her mother is too busy mourning her dead sister to care much about her, either. Constance begins to delve into the nascent spiritualist community in hopes of helping her mother move on from her grief.

Whoops. So much for THAT. The best of intentions, and all that. Before you know it, Constance learns she has inherited Wraxford Hall, a mouldering old mansion in the countryside, from a distant reputation. The lawyer who tells her of this inheritance warns her to sell the building without setting foot in it -- it has been the site of numerous apparitions, disappearances, and deaths. The Hall remains shrouded in mystery.

But this wouldn't be an entertaining novel if Constance were to listen. Soon she finds herself searching for the truth behind Wraxford Hall.

The Seance is a nice little novel that is both spooky and endearing. My only complaint is that I had a hard time envisioning some of the action (especially as the mystery was explained); however, this confusion is probably due to my unfamiliarity with the layout of such great homes. (Also, I was reading on my Kindle while walking on my treadmill. So I'm sure that didn't increase my comprehension. Oh well.)

In a nutshell: Charming, spooky, mysterious -- great fun.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Personal Kindle copy here

RIPV: Ghosts, seances, and a mystery? You're darn right The Seance counts toward this year's RIP challenge. BAM!

Want to cure an obsession? Get another one.

Dr. Haggard's Disease
Patrick McGrath

Oh, Mr. McGrath. You are so wonderful. So literary, yet so Gothic. You tax my brain at the same time you chill my spine. How I love you.

Anyway, not so long ago (or almost two years!? insert obligatory lament re: time flying, and all that), I read a wee little tale called Asylum, and my love for Patrick McGrath was born. Alas, I had not the time nor the insight to seek out more of his work -- until now. Now that I've read my second McGrath, it's nearly all I can do to stop myself from buying every single thing the man's ever written. SO. GOOD.

Ok, so - Dr. Haggard's Disease. Dr. Haggard, injured and alone, has retired to a gothic manor to obsess over his lost love. As a young doctor, he had a brief but torrid affair with Fanny, the wife of a senior staff member. Unfortunately THINGS HAPPEN, and now Dr. Haggard is, well, a bit haggard. Now Fanny-less, he pines for his lost life -- until he receives a visit from Fanny's young son. And then he gets REALLY WEIRD.

In a nutshell: Love. Obsession. Addiction. Haunting, rhythmic prose. A crumbling seaside mansion. What's not to love?

Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: This one's all mine. And so shall every other McGrath out there. You've been warned.

RIPV: Thanks to its Gothic nature, Dr. Haggard's Disease most definitely counts toward this year's RIP challenge. I'm killing this challenge! KILLING IT!

I only care about Mookie, not gonna lie

Ancestor
Scott Sigler

After reading Infected and its sequel Contagious, I couldn't wait to read Sigler's next novel. Would Ancestor live up to my earlier experiences?

Ancestor moves away from the alien invasion that played a part in his first two novels, and instead focuses on a monster much closer to home. A biotech company is seeking to engineer a suitable animal host that can support organs for human transplantation. As cow embryo after embryo fails to do the job, they decide to go back a bit further, introducing genes from an ancestor. It seems to work, and the crew watches as their livestock brings these no-longer extinct animals back to live.

Of course, what seems like a good idea really isn't. These scientists have unwittingly given life to a super-predator, and it isn't long before the dozens of creatures they have bred get hungry. Very hungry. Oh, and they are quite smart. Ruh-roh, guys. Ruh-roh.

Ancestor is grounded in science and sounds eerily plausible, even if such an "ancestor" never existed. My only beef is the first 40% of the novel (thanks, kindle!) was a little too heavy on the science. Had that been condensed a bit, my enjoyment would have been complete.

Overall, I can't complain. Yet again, Sigler has written a fast-paced, thought-provoking novel that delivers. And, he came through with Mookie -- that meant a lot, man.

In a nutshell: Smart and unsettling, Ancestor prompts us to fear the monsters of tomorrow (and, ironically enough, of yesterday).

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: downloaded this one for my Kindle

RIPV: Those freaky ancestors and the spine-tingling suspense that marks the final third of the novel are more than enough to qualify Ancestor for this year's RIP challenge. That would be numero 3. Bam!