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!

Not for the faint of heart

Sworn to Silence
Linda Castillo

First, a warning: this book is pretty messed up in places. There's a serial killer, and he's not the nice kind that kills you all quick-like. No, he drags things out and makes life extra-painful. In other words, he's just like high school.

Ok, so, background: Kate Burkholder grew up Amish but left the community and is now chief of police. Her skills are put to the test when young women turn up dead. Roman numerals carved into their stomachs indicate the killer's rampage has been a long one -- even though he was presumed dead over a decade ago.

In many ways, the story is cliched: Kate battles the predominately-male police force and fights to prove her worth. She's also hiding a dark secret that could destroy her. An alcoholic detective who is battling his own demons is sent to help with the investigation. What if he uncovers Kate's secret? And what about the hotshot investigator who slowly infringes upon Kate's case?

These cliches, however, do not detract from the novel. Sworn to Silence is a solid mystery that follows genre conventions and delivers chills along the way. I could have done without the predictable and unnecessary romance that pops up midway through the novel -- hello, serial killer on the loose, put it back in your pants until you catch him, mmmkay?

Overall, the story was an intriguing one. The violence and brutality featured in the novel are not for the faint of heart. However, for those looking for a disturbing, atmospheric mystery to complement this time of year, Sworn to Silence is a a perfect fit. That said, I don't think I'll read the sequel that continues the story of Kate Burkholder; one was enough for me.

In a nutshell: Disturbing, taut, and compelling, Sworn to Silence probably shouldn't be read late at night, especially if you live alone.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: downloaded a version o'this for me Kindle

RIPV: Sworn to Silence is the second book that counts toward this year's RIP challenge.

More bore than gore

Patient Zero
Jonathan Maberry

So, the terrorists are coming, and they've got biological weapons!! What, you've heard this one before?

Ok, then how about: the terrorists are coming, and they've got biological weapons that turn people into flesh-eating zombies. dum dum DUM!!!

So goes the plot of Jonathan Maberry's Patient Zero. Baltimore detective Joe Ledger has just found himself smack in the middle of a terror plot of epic proportions. A group of religious zealots has created Seif al Din, the sword of the faithful, a disease that will wreak havoc on the heathen West. Fast foward a bit, and yadda yadda yadda battle to save humanity blah blah blah zombies.

Yeah, this is a book about zombies, so one should expect a certain level of grit and violence. So far, so good. The action was gritty, the violence was high, and the zombies were hungry. Still, some things annoyed me. The religious zealots, for example. I mean, really? A zombie plague? You sure that won't come back to bite you in the ass? Ok, fine, logical reasoning might not be a fundamentalist's strong point.

But fundamentalist logic aside, those pesky flaws remain. Some parts needed editing and dragged on a bit when they were supposed to be suspenseful. Some aspects were a bit too unbelievable (in a zombie book, I know -- ironic), and some cliches could have been dispensed with. Finally, a few characters were so flat and two-dimensional I couldn't tell them apart. Sigh.

In a nutshell: More cop than zombie. More bore than gore. Oh well.

Bibliolatry Scale: 2.5 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Checked out this bad boy from the library. Have I cured my shopping addiction, you wonder? Ah, no.

RIPV: Even though Patient Zero didn't make me poop in my pants, it still counts toward this year's RIP challenge.

Bad things hide in the dark*

Crescent
Phil Rossi

UGHHHHH. I'm SO behind on reviews. Damn you, real job. Ergo, I'm gonna let Amazon do the work today:

Darkness has inspired fear since mankind first watched the sun go down. Bad things hide in the dark, feral beasts with mouths full of razors waiting for a taste of flesh. But now, the darkness is stirring with a life of its own. Crescent Station is the last bastion of civilization, floating in the cold, outer systems where colonized space gives way to the sparser settlements of the Frontier. Like the boom towns of distant Earth's Old American West, Crescent Station is a gateway to power, wealth, and opportunity for anyone who isn't afraid to get his or her hands dirty. But deep within the station's bowels, in Crescent's darkest and most secret places, an ancient evil is awakening and hungry, and it threatens the very fabric of space and time. Will the residents of Crescent Station find a way to stop it before the terror drives them insane? Or is it already too late?

Erm. Well.

Long story short: I downloaded this one for my Kindle. It was either free or only a dollar or two, so it was worth it. Not the best book I ever read, but it kept me entertained while I was on my treadmill. The Big Bad in Crescent was a bit confusing, though, since I was never entirely sure what the ef it was, but it didn't really matter.

In a nutshell: Entertaining enough. And space! The final frontier, and all that.

Bibliolatry Scale: 3 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: personal Kindle copy



*Ugh, I suck so bad, I couldn't even come up with a better title. My brain = barf.

Spoiler free: Mockingjay!

Mockingjay
Suzanne Collins

So, the odds were ever in my favor when I learned that the kindle edition of Mockingjay was released at the same time as the "real" version. Woohoo! I could join in with the rest of the fangirls (and boys) and find out how this sitch would play out.

Don't worry, I won't spoil nothin.

So, spoiler free, eh? Okay, I can do this. Collins has achieved the nearly impossible: she has ended her trilogy satisfactorily, without weaseling out of anything painful, and yet somehow still giving her characters the ending they deserve.

At times, I was a little eye-rolley at the continued melodrama of Katniss' love triangle, but Collins anticipates such feelings, as one character snarkily remarks on Katniss' constant boy problems. Also, there are a few places where things get reaallll convenient, but that's part of the fun, too.

Still, the ending was perfect, and the final line? Absolute perfection. Erase any fears you may have that Mockingjay will disappoint. It won't.

What else needs to be said? If you're a fan of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, you simply must read Mockingjay. And if you're not a fan, well...what's wrong with you?

In a nutshell: Ultimately, the trilogy ends well -- but not too well -- for those we have come to love since reading The Hunger Games.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: personal Kindle edition...awwwww, yeah

Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell

Falling Angel
William Hjortsberg

Where do you search for a guy who was never there to begin with?

Private detective Harry Angel ponders this very question as he searches for his quarry, who has disappeared under peculiar circumstances. Hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre to find a missing crooner, Johnny Favorite, Angel's search soon takes him to the seedy underbelly of the city and introduces him to the dark world of voodoo devil worship. It isn't long before Angel finds himself irrevocably entangled in these dark events.

I first heard of this novel when Carlos Ruiz Zafon listed his top 10 20th-century gothic novels. He said Falling Angel is "the best mystery thriller ever written. It has the classic elements of a Chandler novel combined with the solid tradition of the 1970s supernatural thrillers .... The writing, plotting and characterisation are superb." He ended his blurb by adding, "This is a hard title to find, but do yourself a favour and go looking." He wasn't kidding.

The harder I looked for this book, the more I wanted to read it. Struck out on Amazon (unless I wanted to pay over 40 bucks for a copy). No luck at the library. I finally ordered a used copy from the UK (thanks, guys). Then, the waiting began.

My book arrived in the late afternoon; a few hours later, I had fully devoured it. Zafon was spot on when he said the plotting is superb; the story hooks you immediately and doesn't relent until you've finished the final page.

In a nutshell: A gripping mystery with a nice dash of horror, Falling Angel is a must for those looking for a gritty, atmospheric read.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Mine, but only because not a single library in my state carried the book. WTF, library system??? W.T.F?!?

Victory is mine

Dark Places
Gillian Flynn

My absence, dear friends, hath nary an excuse to support it. I'd like to say that I've been using my time wisely, filling it with charitable deeds and random works of kindness, but instead I've just been watching every episode of True Blood (Eric!) and biding my time until the return of Jersey Shore.

(Please don't judge me.)

I have, however, done one good thing since my last post: I have -- now, brace yourselves -- VISITED THE LIBRARY.

Now, now, now: I know what you're thinking: have I fallen ill? Fear not, friends, I'm neither ill nor lying: I actually went to the library instead of buying books.

Anyway, that's where I stumbled across Dark Places, and since I'd enjoyed her previous work, Sharp Objects, and because Dark Places has been on my TBR list for awhile now, I thought, why not?

Ok, so, Libby Day's family was murdered by her older brother over twenty years ago. Since the murders, she's been in a fog of sorts, but one day she realizes she has no more money and then she encounters some people who don't believe her brother is guilty and before you know it she just up and decides to find out what REALLY happened the night her family was butchered.

Improbable? Yeah, a bit, but it works. Glad I got this from the library, though. (Take from that what you will.)

In a nutshell: Like Sharp Objects, Dark Places is a bit sensational and a bit unbelievable, but it's ultimately a fast, compelling thriller. Great summer reading.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: The library FTW!

victory is mine

Kristen Stewart and Katniss = BFF forever

Catching Fire
Suzanne Collins

So it took me forever to read this book because I refused to read anything but the Kindle edition, since that's how I read The Hunger Games. And because Scholastic and Amazon had some kind of pissing contest over the digital version, I couldn't read it until now. Snore.

Anyway, I loved the first book; this one, not so much. Perhaps it was due to the super-long delay? Perhaps. Or perhaps Katniss was just super-annoying this time.

Here's the entire book in short form:

Gale. Peeta. Gale. Peeta. Oh, shit. The president hates me. GaleGaleGale. Peeta. Peeta. Gale. PeetaPeeta. Problems that are a bit more important than this silly love triangle. Gale. Peeta. Peeta. End of book.

AND THEN because Katniss was so annoying I couldn't help but picture Kristen Stewart in her role and then the whole thing went to hell.

you have no idea how long this took me

In fact, Kristen Stewart would seem the ideal person to play Katniss, since all the both of them do is bitch and moan. To be fair, though, Katniss is living under an oppressive regime while KStew is just oppressed by the ravages of fame. Yawn. Go bathe in your millions.

In a nutshell: Not as great as the first, but I'm still looking forward to the third and final installment.

Bibliolatry Scale: 3.5 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Personal kindle edition

The long, mostly interesting (but very long) passage

The Passage
Justin Cronin

Oh, The Passage. I loved it, I hated it, it drove me insane.

Let's break those reactions down a bit, shall we?

ADORE
The best part of The Passage? The beginning. The reader knows shit's gonna hit the fan, but it takes awhile to hit. No problem: the buildup is the best part. Meanwhile, the characters in the first third are complex, interesting, and sympathetic, and the plot is tight and fast-paced. At this point in the novel, glowing vampires virals couldn't tear me away from the book.


SNORE
...that is, until I hit the middle, when anything bright and/or shiny could distract me from reading. At this point, the shit has met the fan, mess = everywhere, and people are fighting for survival. Except that each fight is soooo drawn out and -- dare I say it? -- BORING. (How can fighting deadly creatures be boring you ask? Trust me, it's possible. Had the novel been condensed by, oh, maybe 300 pages, I would have gotten jiggy with it.*) Also, there are SOOOO many characters and many of them are alike, making it hard to differentiate between Dude A who hates vampires and Dude B who hates vampires. The characters who did stand out, meanwhile, weren't terribly likable and/or interesting, with only one or two exceptions.


LAKDJFAKORE
Finally, other aspects of the novel drove me insane. Like, Alicia. We're told again and again (and again) how tough she is, how she's such a badass blah blah blah and how she NEVER cries. And then, once we're introduced to these "facts," she cries in NEARLY EVERY SCENE she's in -- all the while saying "don't tell anyone I'm crying." SHUT UP ALREADY, YOU BIG BABY!

Note: this crybaby is WAY more entertaining than Alicia. LOL FOREVER

Ultimately, The Passage was OKAY. I'm glad I got the Kindle version rather than the hardback. I'll probably read the second and third installments; even though I don't really care about the characters, I'm interested in seeing where this is headed.

In a nutshell: Good, boring, then okay, The Passage makes vampires scary and interminable.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars (I almost did 3.5, but am feeling charitable; take this rating with a grain of salt.)

FTCBS: personal Kindle version, mwah ha ha ha ha ha




*why yes, apparently it IS 1997, thank you very much

Not even Stains could save this one

The Knife of Never Letting Go
Patrick Ness

As part of my on-going effort to avoid another reading funk, I've surrounded myself with "quick reads" to keep me moving. Based on the many reviews I've read of The Knife of Never Letting Go, I figured this combination of dystopia, thriller, and bildungsroman was guaranteed to excite.

The narrator of The Knife of Never Letting Go, Todd Hewitt, lives in Prentisstown, where the thoughts of men and animals are heard by everyone. This Noise, as it's called, makes life nearly unbearable, as true privacy and peace are impossible to find. The novel opens as Todd and his dog, Manchee, find something they've never found before: silence. Soon, Todd's running for his life and yadda yadda yadda. So, did The Knife of Never Letting Go live up to the hype?

Unfortunately, no.

Todd annoyed me. Even Manchee, the talking dog, annoyed me -- and I love dogs. However, I soon replaced my original image of Manchee with Stains, the internet's beloved hypnodog, and my love for Manchee soared.

"Poo! Poo!" says Manchee ... over and over (and over)

Alas, that which annoyed me nearly outweighed that which didn't. Todd's voice was uneven and clunky, the plotting was fast-paced but silly in places, and, while I am intrigued by a world where thoughts are public, the overall execution was a bit weak for me.

Or maybe TKoNLG suffered from poor timing. I've just read several EXCELLENT books, one of which I'm still unable to post about, it was that good (and no, it is NOT The Savage Detectives, thank you for asking), so it was inevitable I'd find fault with TKoNLG. That said, TKoNLG was a fast, light read perfect for breaking a funk.

In a nutshell: Flawed but fast-paced, The Knife of Never Letting Go is relentless and and entertaining, to a point.

Bibliolatry Scale: 2 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Personal copy (shut up)

Deep water, deep trouble

Deep Storm
Lincoln Child

So here I was, feeling all smug that I had finished my February reviews well before the end of the month itself. Then I remembered Deep Storm.

Don't be fooled: my poor memory is not an indication of the novel's quality -- Deep Storm was a real "page" turner. My forgetting is due more to the fact that I had downloaded this one for my Kindle, and, as such, did not have a physical copy lying around as a visual reminder of the outstanding review.

Deep Storm is a bit outlandish, but this quality just adds to the fun. I wasn't expecting literature; I was expecting a fast-paced thriller, and I wasn't disappointed.

The novel begins as naval physician Peter Crane reaches an oil rig to help treat what he thinks is a run-of-the-mill problem. By the time he gets there, however, he learns that he won't be treating people on the rig itself, but rather miles and miles below it. You see, the oil rig is just a cover for a government-run research facility located many miles below the surface. What are they excavating down there? Why all the secrecy? And what is attacking the residents?

Deep Storm provides enough surprises to prevent the tale from feeling predictable, and readers won't have time to feel bored due to the fast pacing. This novel was a fun read perfect for the Kindle, as reading Deep Storm on the treadmill helped me walk through page after page.

In a nutshell: Thrilling, chilling, and just incredible enough, this one is a fun, fast read. I'm on the hunt for my next read by this author.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Bought the Kindle version; this book's perfect for the treadmill!

I wasn't scared (but I was a little uneasy)

I'm Not Scared
Niccolo Ammaniti

Be careful reading too many reviews of this novel; some of them give away too much. It's best to know as little about this book as possible.

It's 1978, and nine-year-old Michele Amitrano discovers a horrible secret in his tiny Italian village. (Some reviewers divulge this secret, and while it's true Amitrano discovers it fairly early in the novel, there's no need to ruin the surprise.) This secret will soon teach Amitrano far more than he has ever wanted to learn about the world, his village, and himself.

This novel is fast-paced (one can read it in a day) and never lingers over description, and yet the stark, arid atmosphere of the sweltering summer nearly rises from the pages. Also brought to life are the characters inhabiting Amitrano's small village -- encompassing only five houses, this small hamlet in Tuscany is home to some pretty colorful characters.

The story is told from the child's perspective as he struggles to understand the whys and hows of the secret. Can Amitrano come to grips with the secret and what it means for his family, his friends -- even himself?

In a nutshell: A fast, thrilling read, I'm Not Scared will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Bought this one myself.

Memories are worse than bullets

The Shadow of the Wind
Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Whew! My first read of 2010 was of the magical kind, the type of novel you don't ever want to put down and the kind that haunts you after you do.

Do you even need a summary of this book? Because I feel like the last person to have read it. Also, it seems as though it's the type of novel that defies easy summary, and I am feeling particularly lazy today. (Today, you're thinking? As opposed to how you feel everyday!?!?! Touche, reader, touche. And, ouch.)

Anyway, here's something via Amazon:

The time is the 1950s; the place, Barcelona. Daniel Sempere, the son of a widowed bookstore owner, is 10 when he discovers a novel, The Shadow of the Wind, by Julián Carax. The novel is rare, the author obscure, and rumors tell of a horribly disfigured man who has been burning every copy he can find of Carax's novels. The man calls himself Laín Coubert -- the name of the devil in one of Carax's novels. As he grows up, Daniel's fascination with the mysterious Carax links him to a blind femme fatale with a "porcelain gaze," Clara Barceló; another fan, a leftist jack-of-all-trades, Fermín Romero de Torres; his best friend's sister, the delectable Beatriz Aguilar; and, as he begins investigating the life and death of Carax, a cast of characters with secrets to hide. Officially, Carax's dead body was dumped in an alley in 1936. But discrepancies in this story surface. Meanwhile, Daniel and Fermín are being harried by a sadistic policeman, Carax's childhood friend. As Daniel's quest continues, frightening parallels between his own life and Carax's begin to emerge.

Ok so that was a lot better than I'm capable of doing right now. Suffice to say, I loved reading this novel; it was fun, it was engaging, it was about books, and -- this is key -- the ending was perfect, in a heart-wrenching kind of way.

For some reason, though, I can't give it a perfect score. Why? I'm not sure. At times it was too perfect; I also have beef over some points that seemed important at the time but then didn't come to much. But these are minor quibbles. And I'm giving it a nearly perfect score, anyway.

However, this book made me feel like A Really Stupid American. Spain had a civil war?? That happened when??? For real? Who knew? Clearly, not me. To wikipedia I go!

In a nutshell: Fun, magical, both highbrow and lowbrow -- what's not to love?

Bibliolatry Scale: 5.5 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Santa left this one at my mom's house, and she was kind enough to pass it along. Many thanks, mom!

A disease from the past? Great, something else to fear.

Year Zero
Jeff Long

About two years ago, I happened upon Jeff Long's Deeper, and I knew I had to read more by this author. A month ago, when searching for some good "Kindle books," I found my second opportunity to hang out with this author.

The plot for this one sounds rather complicated (it doesn't feel complicated when reading the novel, thankfully), so bear with me. A big earthquake levels much of the Middle East. Boo. However, parts of Jesus' actual neighborhood are now accessible. Yay! Unfortunately, some of the artifacts are tainted with disease. Boo. Now a deadly plague is tearing across the globe. Poop.

Nathan Lee, our intrepid protagonist, after numerous adventures that culminate in his imprisonment in a Tibetan jail, finds himself unguarded once the plague begins to rear its ugly head. Finally free, he slowly makes his way to America, specifically Los Alamos, where surviving scientists struggle to find a cure for the plague. Lee's in for an even bigger surprise, though: the scientists are making clones from the DNA found on the artifacts! And then things go from bad to worse. Oh boy.

Year Zero provides readers with an interesting, thrilling scenario. While I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Deeper, I was entertained enough to want to search out more by Jeff Long. And I won't wait another two years to do it, either!

In a nutshell: Intriguing and fast paced, Year Zero was an original and fun read.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I bought this one for the Kindle.

The real horror is next door to us

Contagious
Scott Sigler

Another day closer to 2010, another late review.

This time, I'm reviewing another of October's reads -- Contagious, the sequel to Infected, which I read in September. Contagious follows our intrepid hero and anti-hero as they seek to stop the impending invasion.

Contagious, like its predecessor, is relentless in its pacing; once you commit to the opening pages (actually, scratch that -- once you read Infected), you won't be able to put this book down until the last page.

Contagious picks up pretty much where Infected left off. Margaret Montoya and Dew Phillips have teamed up with badass Perry Dawsey to stave off the new wave of the invasion. Doing so won't be easy, however -- these aliens are feisty buggers with more than one trick up their sleeves.

The only thing that didn't polish my brass was a few overly-political scenes in which the President and his Cabinet debate how to handle the attack. I also hated how the female Secretary of State was a bleeding-heart liberal who felt that the loss of any innocent life was unconscionable. I consider myself a pretty liberal person, but in the event of any invasion -- alien, zombie, Canadian -- even I say shoot first, ask later. Sorry, Canada.

In a nutshell: Not as awesome as Infected (I actually felt a slight pang in ye olde heart after reading the ending, which was heart-wrenching, albeit utterly appropriate), but pretty awesome nonetheless. In fact, I'm looking up other Sigler titles as I type this. Hello, Ancestor. I'll be seeing you in 2010.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I purchased Contagious for the Kindle.

People, stop going to houses of evil

The House of Lost Souls
F.G. Cottam

Still focusing on nanowrimo, my reading time is severely impaired. Nevertheless, I managed to find time to squeeze in a little House of Lost Souls. I waited eagerly for it to arrive . . . and then took my good old time reading it. Had I not lagged while reading this novel, I might have liked it better. As it was, I started to forget details, and when things began to get a little complicated, I was confused.

The novel opens on a funeral, but not just any funeral, mind you. This one was to bury a suicide, the young girl offing herself after a particularly traumatic experience in the haunted Fischer House. Now, Paul Seaton -- who survived an encounter in the same house a decade earlier -- has been enlisted to help rid the remaining girls of the affliction that continues to stalk them. To save the survivors, Paul must return to the house and put an end to the evil that stalks the grounds. Before he does so, however, the author rewinds the clock, returning us to the events that unleashed the evil decades before.

The House of Lost Souls is creepy, atmospheric, and unsettling. It's a perfect novel to read while curled up on the sofa with the lights down low. At times, I felt the story was bogged down with extraneous information (while other elements, that I wanted to know more about, weren't given the same treatment), but the novel was nevertheless an entertaining, thrilling read, and intriguing enough that I plan to check out more of Cottam's work.

In a nutshell: A little more complicated in places than it needed to be, but I enjoyed it overall.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I bought this book myself.

Strength does not come from physical capacity, but from an indomitable will

Infected
Scott Sigler

I don't remember how I heard about Scott Sigler's Infected, but whoever it is, I owe you a solid. Sigler combines an intelligent premise with fast-paced plot -- and he's got some serious writing chops to boot.

Alien seeds land on earth, most ineffectively falling to the ground or swept away by the weather. A lucky few, however, land on a couple of very unlucky individuals. In time, these seeds grow and evolve, probing deep into the human body. The infected, for their part, at first notice a rash which soon becomes an itchy, triangular growth that is an eerie blue color. Soon, these growths take on a life of their own...literally. It isn't long before the infected become violent, homicidal maniacs driven insane by the voices in their heads.

Thankfully, the CIA is on the case. Agent Dew Phillips seeks to find newly infected persons before they butcher both themselves and their families. CDC epidemiologist Margaret Montoya hopes to discover how to stop these triangles, which dissolve into a gooey mess not long after the host's death. Finally, former football player Perry Dawsey, who might be the best anti-hero ever created, finds himself infected -- and will stop at nothing to free himself from the triangles.

Sidenote: Dear Perry, please be real, and please come hang. We have lots of beer. You are teh awesome. xoxoxo

Anyway.

Infected explores the seeds burgeoning development, moving from mindless probes to sentient beings. There's a lot of science here, but it never feels that way. Infected is intelligent and believable. It's more than a little hair-raising. Equally pleasing, however, is the writing. This isn't a great story with bland writing -- Infected's got it all. As soon as I finished, I started Contagious, the sequel. I just can't get enough.

In a nutshell: Well written, perfectly paced, and a gripping premise -- what else could you ask for? Oh, yeah: no more triangles in the eyeball, please. I have a thing about eyeballs. Otherwise, we're cool.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5.5 out of 6 stars

Fruit baskets and bum days

A Winter Haunting
Dan Simmons

Fruit baskets! I knew it couldn't last.

In the past two years or so, I've read and adored two recent novels written by Dan Simmons. Because I enjoyed his most recent works so much, I've vowed to read more of his earlier work. Hence, A Winter Haunting.

The premise sounds promising: Dale Stewart -- middle-aged, divorced, and depressed (not to mention heavily medicated) -- makes the trek back to his hometown in an effort to isolate himself. Such isolation is necessary to write his novel; of course, it's also necessary for him to face his own personal demons.

You see, years ago, Dale's best friend died under suspicious circumstances, which is partly why Dale returns to the now-empty house of his dead friend. Yes, that's right: he chooses to pass the winter in his dead friend's house, and, what's more, he even chooses to pass each night in his friend's very bed. Allllrighty then.

sounds like a perfectly sane plan!

The reader, of course, can see where this is headed long before dumb Dale does. Dale's personal demons return to haunt him -- both literally and figuratively. While several scenes were surprising, some were simply too...shall I say incredible? to elicit any actual apprehension in the reader.

I also had an issue with the narrative voice, which was a bit awkward for me, even if the premise was an intriguing one. (If you don't mind a minor spoiler -- and one resolved in the first chapter, at that -- you can highlight the following: The narrator is Dale's dead friend. Yes, you read that correctly. And while such a narrator sounds interesting, the execution was somewhat lacking.)

Still, I'm not done with Simmons, not by a long shot. I consider A Winter Haunting merely a pothole on an otherwise perfect highway. Right? RIGHT?

In a nutshell: I knew such high expectations were impossible to maintain. Sigh. I'm not giving up on him, though: we all have our bum days.

Bibliolatry Scale: 2.5 out of 6 stars

Warning: Ignoring this book will have sinister consequences

The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins

So, for months upon months, all I've been hearing is people rave about The Hunger Games. I, being the snooty bitch I am, ignored such praise, since I, of course, do not read YA fiction. Sneered I, I'm sure it's good...to TEENAGERS! And lo, Bibliolatrist ignored the words of the great prophets, and her heart was hardened.

Fortunately, I couldn't ignore it any longer. This book was everywhere I turned. I would hear sinister laughter echoing behind me at odd times, only I'd turn around to find nothing there. I knew it was The Hunger Games. I'd often feel someone following me, but the culprit would vanish before I could catch it. I knew The Hunger Games was following me.

Every dark corner echoed with sinister steps;
this omnipresent novel will never give up!

So even though most (if not all) of you reading this have already devoured The Hunger Games, I'll nevertheless recap the plot for the 0.0001% of you who haven't yet enjoyed this most awesome of novels:

It's the future. The US no longer exists as we know it. Now, 12 districts surround the Capitol, which exacts a terrible price for the districts' submission. Each year, two tributes from each district -- one boy and one girl -- must fight to the death in a televised event known as the Hunger Games. The winner -- there can be only one! -- earns both fame and wealth, and the winning district receives food and other luxuries for the entire year.

Katniss, the girl tribute from District 12, is our protagonist, and we follow her as she leaves her home and prepares to enter the Hunger Games. She, along with Peeta (the other tribute from her district), are sent into a vast arena full of traps -- not to mention deadly foes. OMG, WILL KATNISS SURVIVE??? (Since this is the first book in a trilogy, this isn't the most difficult question to answer.)

Still, despite not truly fearing for Katniss' safety, I couldn't put the friggin thing down. I tore through that beast in a couple hours, barely stopping to eat. (And, trust me: that's saying something.) At night, I dreamed about The Hunger Games. I lovelovelovelove this book like the enchanted tree loves Schmendrick.



In a nutshell: OMG IT IS THAT GOOD ... I just wish Katniss had a different name. And Peeta too. I mean, Peeta? Really? UGH.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5.5 out of 6 stars

No brain required

The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown

This month, I was happy to review The Lost Symbol for the wonderful Pajiba.com.

I had a lot of fun writing this review, and I think it shows. Among other things, I get to dissect Brown's "plundering prose" and paper-thin characterization. I'm not sure Brown intended to write a comedy, but The Lost Symbol had me cackling like a fiend.

Click here to read more and find out just what's so darn funny.

In a nutshell: Exactly what you'd expect, but fun enough that it doesn't really matter.

Bibliolatry Scale: 3 out of 6 stars