Dark Rivers of the Heart (Dean Koontz)

The story begins at a bar, a man with a secret falling instantly in love with a woman he has never met before. You would think that this would be a turn off for me, as you know that I lack the romantic soul that believes in love at first site (you know what, that is the first time that I have admitted that. I guess a part of me wanted to believe because of Mr. Misty, but I never really did love him). Despite this affliction I kept reading- it is Dean Koontz after all. This infatuation leads him into a world of political subterfuge, a race for his life, and the revelation of his secrets. Amazingly it takes about half of the book for him to meet up with the woman again, after an amazingly dull car chase.
For me the most interesting parts came when following the mindset of Roy, the books crazy man. It becomes deeply disturbing because even though you know that he is made up, that this man is totally nuts, there probably is someone out there like that. Not to mention the fact that though his ideas were completely out of this world crazy, some of his ideas struck a cord- I quite like the idea of a future where everyone wears the same clothes.
Once again Koontz masterfully describes his scenes, the catacombs are easy, and disturbing, to picture- I’m just not a fan of car chases. And I can’t imagine masturbating more over three hours; five minutes will do me.
I enjoyed the book; I enjoyed the Ira Levin type ending. I could have done without the love story- but that is just me.

21 Read, 31 To Go

Blood Memory (Greg Iles)

This is one of those books where I guessed the ending within the first few moments of reading but was compelled to read on, hoping against hope that the author would surprise me. But he didn't.
That doesn't make Blood Memory and less interesting. Cat Ferry is a 31-year-old odontologist who was born into a rich Mississipian family, but that hasn't stopped her from growing up troubled. She works her speciality on some cases for the New Orleans Police Department and on occasion, with the knowledge she gained during med school before she was expelled, solves other murder cases with her married lover, Sean. She's drunk and has been since she was a teenager, tormented not only by the unexplained murder of her father but also by something she doesn't know; her memories have been repressed. Her sexual proclivities would have given Freud a headache. Now she's pregnant and working on a serial case, but she suffers panic attacks at some of the scenes, recurring nightmares and a desperate need to find out what happened to her as a child.
It takes you for a ride through the discovery of Cat's lost memories of childhood sexual abuse and the heartache that comes with it. Greg Iles takes this topic which could have turned into a modern day cliche that you wanted to bang you head against, but he somehow manages to make it worth the read, even if for the predictable ending.
I at times felt let down by how half hearted her emotions were- I'm sure most people would be a lot more emotional when trying to quit drinking while wondering if your lover is going to leave his wife to be with you. But her emotions were clinical and flat, not heart wrenching or thought provoking as they should be.
It's one of those books that doesn't really stick around after it had been read, which is a shame because Iles has some good ideas.

Cell (Stephen King)

There is much I like about this novel, and much I dislike, but in the end it left me feeling satisfied. It could be the Cube-like vagueness or the Levin-esque ending. It could be the predictability mixed with a few surprises. It could be that this in a way a return to form since he went bonkers and thought that the world owed him something.
The one thing that really bothered me was that Mr. King has over the years written himself into a pigeonhole. When I say this I point you to Rose Madder, a story that began as a brilliant portrayal of spousal abuse but was cheapened by his diversion into the supernatural. In fact my favourite stories of his are those that he did as Richard Bachman. That isn't to say that all the 'supernatural' elements in Cell are unwarranted- I, for example, believe in telepathy as science. It was the levitating that I thought depreciated the value of his vision.
It has an amazing start that draws you in immediately, never letting you stop (a scene that I think would transcribe well to the screen) to think about what has happened, how it happened.
It begins with the Pulse, a 'virus carried by every cell phone' in the world, a virus that sends anyone listening to it into a blind rage with no focus. Clayton Riddell does not own a 'cell' phone, but his son does.
But Clay has hope. His son's phone is often left unattended and with a flat battery and all Clay wants to do is reach him or his estranged wife to make sure they are safe. So he sets out on a road trip on foot (a common theme in King's novels that resonates deeply in me) with Tom, who has no one to lose but his cat, and Alice, a teenage girl who has lost her entire family.
This novel will lose something over time, many of the references are so contemporary and US-centric that in the future people reading it will fail to completely understand some of the references (even some people living outside of the USA today who did not follow the New Orleans aftermath will have issues with some of it). And personally the middle eastern bashing infuriated me. To me terrorism has always been around and always will be, and it isn't a middle eastern phenomenon. However it could be said that he was taking the mickey out of US paranoia.
But it won't lose the terror that people have over modern technology or the emotions that many people don't want to admit to when faced with a challenging situation. His characters aren't always perfect and sometimes a little superficial. The story never lets up and is easy to read. It is definitely a worthwhile read. Who doesn't have a 'cell' phone?
7/10

Stark (Ben Elton)

I had a little bit of difficulty getting into this novel, despite the story being about environmental issues- and despite most of the main characters being Australian. In one way that was the problem, they were Australian and they were stereotypical pie chowing Australians, except the hippies of course, who fell into their own clichs. I think the clincher came when he used the term 'saussies' as slang for sausages. Given, I was only an itty-bitty nine-year-old when this book was published, but I have never heard anyone use this colloquialism. The collectively agreed upon slang for sausage is 'snag' and even then any user would elicit an inordinate amount of inward groans. Unfortunately the entire book is riddled with this sort of banter, though on several occasions he does ridicule it himself. And this is his first novel after all, and for a first novel you have to give him props.
Like every other Ben Elton novel that I own you can see a dozen or so cat's ears defiling the pages because he has said something so poignant or witty or that I completely agree with that I don't want to forget where it is- so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I loved The Young Ones (but never watched Black Adder). This story begins in with two complete opposites in Western Australia- CD the poor, self centred wanker who thinks he is the greatest, and Sly, self made billionaire who doesn't even know where half his money is. Neither of them is likeable. None of them are except the psychotic war vet who rants and raves when looking at cherry tomatoes.
Sly is part of the Stark consortium, a group of mega-rich nut jobs who know the world is coming to an end and they have a nasty plan. CD, the girl that he is trying to seduce, a journalist, Aboriginals who lost their homes and a few crazy hippies are suspicious- what are they to do?
This is basically a precursor to This Other Eden, following the same topics and in a manner the same conclusions, but earlier and with different people- this is supposed to be the present after all and This Other Eden is some time in the future.
It's still worth reading, even if only for the times that you burst out laughing in public.

This Other Eden (Ben Elton)

This is without a doubt one of the best books that I have read in a long time- even I enjoyed the ending. The story takes place in the foreseeable future, sometime during our lifetime. The world is finally coming to an end through human stupidity, and people are bored with hearing of it, waiting impatiently for it to take its final breath so they can begin the Rat Run. Plastic Tolstoy is running eighty percent of the world media; Nathan has a dangerous script that preaches the truth; Max is a super celebrity who gets and erection at the thought of his own performances; Thor is the 'last sane man' on the planet; Rosalie is a greenie on a mission to save the world. Claustropheres (self contained geodesic domes) are popping up all over the world, perhaps the only answer to the survival of an eco-Armageddon- or perhaps it is traitorous to the earth, accepting the world is dying and not doing anything about it. On one hand they present a survival of the species, self-preservation; on the other their creation is destructive. Would you buy one? Or after much debating would you forego this luxury? And what could you afford?
I had to admit, sadly, right at the beginning that I would have been one of the first to purchase a Claustrophere had I the money, because I am a dooms-sayer, the end of the world is always nigh.
Ben Elton is entertaining, often eliciting random giggles from me at the most inappropriate moments- you wouldn't believe the looks that you get when you are sitting quietly at the bus stop reading then sudden burst into spontaneous laughter. He expresses things that I have often thought in such a poignant way that I don't feel so crazy.
His style is a little haphazard, and British. I found the chapters within chapters easy to read, enticing even.
We should all know that I can't read a book without guessing the ending a few pages into the book, sometimes even before I start reading, and this was no different- but I wasn't at all disappointed. I ENJOYED THE ENDING. It made sense; it was all so logical, right and amusing. He made his point.
Disappointingly I would probably still build a fall out shelter or buy my own Claustrophere, all the while attempting to better the environment, but that is just because I am crazy.

Forever Odd (Dean Koontz)

I don't want to compare this to Odd Thomas, but it must- not just because it is a sequel, but because there are times that you need to refer to the original to understand what Odd is talking about. Actually I am having difficulty writing a review for this novel because it really had no effect on me other than a slight sense of disappointment. I like Odd Thomas, he is an affable character who can see ghosts, is haunted by Elvis and is trying to cope with the loss of the love of his life in the book's predecessor. Forever Odd's bad guy (or in this case woman) is fascinatingly insane, but she is introduced and disposed of too quickly without having earned her full potential as a character.
I think what really disappointed me was that this was nothing more than a three hundred and thirty three page chase scene that ends abruptly and all the titbits tied up in the last two pages as though Koontz had run out of time and realized that he had to explaining to do.

Black Rain (Masuji Ibuse)

I waited six months to get my hands on a copy of this book, eager to read it because it is supposed to be one of the best in the genre. The anticipation made me a little hesitant when beginning it, putting it off for another few weeks because I had high hopes- hopes that were fulfilled.
Ibuse bases his story on interviews and diaries of survivors, using real many authentic incidents. But this is also the partially fictional tale of Yasuko and her family as they struggle with life and acceptance following the bombing of Hiroshima. Though not in the direct line of the bomb and suffering no noticeable injury or illness but having been caught in the 'black rain' that fell after, Yasuko has to worry about the future of not only herself but any children that she may have. This is one of the reasons that though of marrying age she has as of yet succeeded in securing a husband and the cause for both her and her Uncle Shizuma to begin copying their diaries from the day of the bombing and the days following. The novel goes backwards and forwards in time, giving the reader a sense of what it is like for the people who lived through the atrocity, as well as horror that was the bombing itself and the aftermath.
It's all matter of fact, never shying away from the gory detail to appease the reader, never adding drama where it isn't needed but still manages to convey the suffering.
As an Australian reading this some fifty years plus after Hiroshima you could assume that it would be difficult to understand many of the emotions and customs that come up in the book (as I did with On The Beach, feeling as though the characters were cold and lacking certain emotions or attachments, but realizing that this was because of the generational gap), but Ibuse still managed to convey an image that crosses generations and cultures.
You become involved with Shizuma's and any other's plight, the predicament that Yasuko finds herself and the desperate fight for survival during wartime. You want it to turn out to the best for them, knowing full well the horror that is nuclear warfare. It's impossible not to see how indiscriminate it is and wonder why anyone would ever use such horrific force then, and especially now when we know how awful the truth is.
It is such a superb book that should be on anyone's must read list (and sent to every leader who has nuclear capabilities).

The Prodigal Project Book II: Exodus (Ken Abraham & Daniel Hart)

Let's get it out of the way- I have to force myself to read this novel, the second instalment of Abraham and Hart's Prodigal Project series and I held very little hope that it would improve at all. Not to mention that if his style of writing continues into the remaining five books then this entire series could have been condensed into one single two hundred or so volume.
The beginning didn't bode well for the rest of the book, nothing more than a rehash of previous events and sermon, which had been repeated unnecessarily more times than I'd like to count in the first two hundred pages of Book One. Every fifty pages could be turned into one and his point would still be pushed sufficiently to proceed. The question is, what is the point?
I stick firmly by my opinion that Abraham and Hart are crazy, Bush loving Republicans- the sort that would have changed 'French' fries into 'freedom' fries because of their objection to an entire nation (yet I have to wonder, if they hated the French that much then why not just remove the object of objection (the 'fry') rather than rename it?). They even have some more than obvious PC attacks on homosexuals, pushing the notion that this is a 'two sex world' and one goes with the other- even adding the obligatory new romance which is enough to bug me further.
The only thing of consequence to happen in the beginning was Thomas Church's miraculous (and thoroughly ridiculous) discovery of his son. This is the only incidence in when I think it would have been appropriate to add a few more pages to a scene.
Around ninety percent of this book is a reiteration of everything that is said in the first instalment, and other than the confirmation that no, Noir cannot be killed, the fiery hail and one hint towards something sinister in Azul (which we already knew), nothing- and I mean nothing- of any consequence happens and this entire book could have been edited out.
I doubt that I will read the next instalments- even though I could probably skip three and five without missing anything, because this is nothing more than a repetitive, Republican piece of propaganda. I do not recommend it.

The Prodigal Project Book I: Genesis (Ken Abraham & Daniel Hart)

It is obvious what it was that inspired me to buy this book- it is religious in nature and about the end of the world, two of my favourite subjects (along with World War Two and nuclear warfare). This is part one of seven, as you can tell by the subtitle, and I am still unsure whether I will read all of the instalments even though I am curious. I am curious as to how of if Abraham is going to pull himself out of the reliance on time worn stereotypes, leading into racism and a clearly misogynistic point of view.
It is a story about the Rapture, the time when all the good-hearted Christians are taken from the world to be with God. Millions are left behind but this story focuses on seven people, from a covert government worker to a mother with a disabled child. Most of them are non-believers, or rather not the devout going-to-church-every-Sunday-and-reading-the-bible-every-day Christians, unlike their families; they are the ones who couldn't fully accept what God, Jesus and the bible are all about.
Then there is Dante and Noir, the faces of good and evil, respectively. Azul Dante is attempting to establish the Prodigal Project, a corporation of sort that will try to reunite the world following the Rapture, the project to which all the characters are drawn to or will be drawn into at some point (as you could have discerned by the title).
This was novel published in 2003, which was after the planes hit the World Trade Centre and written, I assume, before the invasion of Iraq. It is riddled with thinly veiled attacks on Muslims, lumping them all into one category and trying it's hardest to not look racist, sort of in the same manner that someone say "I'm not homophobic, I just don't think its right." It infuriates me that he tries to justify it but continues to push the stereotypes, not least of all by having them as the enemy to the Western world, run by the devil himself. Abraham is clearly a Republican; his disappearing President is a barely concealed Bush, which pushes the idea that he is infallible.
You get glimpses of intelligence shining through at times, Abraham having strong female protagonists who are destined to do something worthy (but it is yet to be seen what it is that they do, I see a whore of Babylon shining through in one of them), but he brings that crashing down by insinuating that the only way that a woman could be perfect was to stay at home and succumb to her husband's every whim.
I will read the following book in the (desperate) hope that Abraham is just a good writer who is toying with the reader, leading them down a path that will lead to a completely different conclusion (and hopefully stop being so racist), but that is yet to be seen.
This instalment is basically the opening chapter to the following books, setting the scene and character development- it is very little other than a couple of hundred pages of evangelism. It's almost like trying to review a book after reading the first chapter (then again, we all know that I have probably predicted the outcome already). I'll read the next one before I decide to recommend it or not.

Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

Kafka on the Shore is what would happen if Franz Kafka and Chuck Palahniuk got together and had a baby.
I decided to read it upon reading the review written by This Person, which is very unusual considering that usually I read books without an inkling as to what the story is about. But this novel is about Kafka Tamura, a fifteen-year-old runaway, and the elderly Nakata, who never recovered from a mysterious coma when he was a child. It is hard to become taken immediately with Kafka (if at all) whom has no recollection of his mother or sister (but definitely has some sort of oedipal complex), however it is easy to fall instantly in love with Nakata. I rarely become involved with characters, I am merely an observer, but when confronted with the brilliant portrayal of Nakata I couldn't help but feel for him.
We are presented with both their stories on their journey to one another, or to themselves as the case may be. Kafka is nothing more than a boy who has suffered through the abandonment of his mother, he mental abuse from his father and his terrifying prophecy. He runs away from home and finds drawn to a private library and things begin to fall into place.
Nakata on the other hand is an illiterate elderly man living on a sub city, earning some extra money finding cats (because he can talk to them) and finding himself on a journey that he doesn't understand. Fish and leeches fall from the sky, Colonel Sanders is embodied and books are read.
The characters all seem a little too erudite, talking like they have all the knowledge in the world and as though the only way that Murakami could get his point across was having someone explain it directly. But that doesn't make it any easier to understand, the book is rife with existentialisms (a subject I will admit to not caring for), hidden meanings and some pretty strange themes that I wasn't all that comfortable with. At times it became a little convoluted.
The books starts off magnificently but starts to slide off into a tangent that is little more than predictable, trying to make sense of everything and tying it into a little bundle but in the end leaves many things inadequately explained. The novel has so much potential such as brilliantly written characters and an interesting scenario, but falters towards the end. This is my introduction to Murakami and certainly will not be the last.

Selected Stories (Anton Chekov)

I have a selection of Stand-by Books, ones that sit on the shelf waiting for the day that I have nothing else to read. Mostly they are classics and authors that I consider must reads, or books that I have bought and just couldn't get into but intend on finishing. This is one of the classics that I thought was necessary. It would be impossible not to be able to get into the stories, because few of them are more than a few pages long and are over before you have the chance to really become engaged, or disinterested.
As far as I can tell, Chekov is an art for arts sake sort of man, writing the truth rather than trying to subtly add some sort of hidden meaning or moral into his word. But that doesn't stop you from stopping and thinking about the characters in the character driven stories, stories that are written almost entirely in conversation form.
There isn't really much to say, the stories were interesting but they didn't have the sort of depth that I love.

Helloland (Nick Walker)

I bought this book for $2 at the cheap store because I liked the cover; I was however put off reading it for over a month because each time I opened it it smelt like vinegar (which is what you get for purchasing a book at a dollar store, I guess). I had no idea what this book was going to be about because the blurb made absolutely no sense and gave no indication about the plot what-so-ever. The general gist? Chip is a one armed man obsessed with shuttle launches, working on the phones at a cheap motel and organising a party. Doesn't sound to appealing, does it? Oddly enough after getting through the first few chapters it became enticing and a story began to develop.
I'm not much for comedy (to compare: the authors I find most amusing are Ben Elton and Graham Greene) but it was well done and did elicit a few giggles at times. Mostly written in conversational form between Chip, the other guests and his womanising boss it had the added flash backs that told the story of how it came to be and was astonishingly well written and with a clever director could translate well to film (it is a very visual novel). It was entertaining enough that I will be going in search of Nick Walkers other books.