Publisher: Hachette

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Posted August 10, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Horror / 0 Comments

Title: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Goodreads)
Author: Seth Grahame-Smith
Published: Grand Central Publishing, 2010
Pages: 353
Genres: Horror
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Abraham Lincoln was one of America’s top leaders and also a vampire hunter (according to this book). Lincoln’s secret journal has been found and it tells the story different from what you learn in history. Seth Grahame-Smith is known for mashing Pride and Prejudice with zombies but this book feels like a mash up of Vampire hunting and a Wikipedia entry of Abraham Lincoln’s life.

One of the main problems I had with this book was the narrative; was it supposed to be written in a biography or diary format? Because it really didn’t work at all in this book. Also I felt like there was a shift from a first to third person perspective which never really sat easy with me. But my biggest issue was the attempts in making the narrative sound historical; Grahame-Smith just adds phrases and words into the writing that sound old fashion but the rest of the book continues as if it was written in 2010.

I wanted to read this book because of the upcoming movie adaptation. The movie might be entertaining but this book really had too many flaws and holes in it to make this a decent read. I know it isn’t supposed to be high literature and this is written as pure entertainment but seriously; can’t you research better than opening up Wikipedia? I’m not huge into dark fantasy either but I felt the attempts this book made never really worked. There are some graphic and dark scenes but nothing really came together as an overall book. I expected so much more from this book and I felt let down. I don’t think I’ll be reading another Seth Grahame-Smith anytime soon.

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

Posted June 21, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Gothic, Historical Fiction, Horror / 0 Comments

Title: Dark Matter (Goodreads)
Author: Michelle Paver
Published: Orion, 2010
Pages: 256
Genres: Gothic, Historical Fiction, Horror
My Copy: Library Book

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver is a slow burning ghost story; slowly the tension builds and builds until… The story kicks off on 7th January 1937, the first entry being written in the journal of Jack Miller who is preparing for an expedition to Gruhuken. This uninhabited location in Arctic is the back drop of this chilling story, the atmosphere and solitude all playing a role in building the tension within this story. The relationship between Jack and his companions Gus, Algie, Hugo and Teddy are one of the key aspects that hold this book together.

It’s really hard to review a book like this as I don’t want to give too much of this book away, but I’ll try my best. The story was a very basic one, the isolations, feeling of being completely alone works rather well in the book. The plot and surroundings all slowly build the tension that Jack is feeling. I started off reading this book feeling a little distracted but the further I got in the book the more absorbed in the story I found myself. It’s one of those books you want to read on a cold winter night; the snow outside and nothing but the creaking of the house to keep you company. Unfortunately it never snows and never gets cold here but I can just imagine reading this book in that situation and enjoying it a lot more.

The novel is a well polished ghost tale, reminding me of the old gothic novels of the 19th century; building the tension and characters as you read. While it’s a short book it did a great job at capturing all the key elements to haunt the reader. I’m reminded a bit of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James and even to a less extent The Woman in Black by Susan Hill in the way they can build tension in such a short time. I really love the chilling gothic styles of a book like this, I would love to read some more books similar to this one and compare it to the ones I’ve already read. While I really enjoy this novel I can’t see myself rating this book higher than three and a half stars, but I can’t tell you what was missing in this novel.

Beat The Reaper by Josh Bazell

Posted May 5, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Thriller / 0 Comments

Title: Beat The Reaper (Goodreads)
Author: Josh Bazell
Series: Peter Brown #1
Published: Little Brown and Company, 2008
Pages: 310
Genres: Thriller
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

I was recommended this book last year, and while it looks interesting, I kept putting this book off. I’m not sure why I did, as this book was so much fun to read. Think mob book (in the style of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch) meets Scrubs but with a much darker sense of humour. Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell tells the story of Peter Brown, an intern for Manhattan’s worst hospital. Dr. Brown is in the Federal Witness Protection Program having previously been a mob hitman named Pietro Brwna. I know, the feds lacked imagination and yet the mob failed to find him until one of them ends up being a patient of Dr. Peter Brown.

The humour alone makes this book worth reading, but then on top of that you have the story of a kick ass doctor in what would make a great blockbuster movie if it was directed by someone like Guy Ritchie or Quentin Tarantino. Having said that there are rumours of this book being made into a movie (New Regency acquired the rights in 2009) or even a TV series (HBO started development in 2011) but both seemed to be interested in Leonardo DiCaprio as the protagonist. I can’t see DiCaprio as Peter Brown; I often imagined him more of Vinnie Jones type character even though he probably isn’t right for the role either.

While I think it would make a great adaptation, I’m not going to hold my breath for one; let alone a good one. Beat the Reaper could be the next sleeper hit; with an increasing cult following, this book was well worth the read. All readers interested in an edge of your seat action novel, or a dark medical/mob read should go out and grab a copy of this book. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book in this series.

Past The Shallows by Favel Parrett

Posted April 20, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literary Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: Past The Shallows (Goodreads)
Author: Favel Parrett
Published: Hachette, 2011
Pages: 272
Genres: Literary Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Past the Shallows tells the story of Miles and Harry, growing up in a remote Tasmanian fishing village with their father. While the book tries to deal with overcoming personal fears, loss of their mother and, more recently, their grandfather and trying to survive their bitter alcoholic father, this book tends to be far too familiar. When I first started reading this book I first thought it reminded me of The Shipping News by Annie Proulx, a glimpse of The Man Without a Face by Isabelle Holland (when talking about George) and then it moved on to even more familiar territory which seems to be covered in just about every book and movie out there.

One of the main problems I had with this book was that I started off liking Miles and Harry but then, as I kept reading. I began to stop caring about them, and in the end I really didn’t care about them at all. There were so many characters that could have been good but didn’t appear in the book to fully understand them. Mr Roberts was one example. I also spend a lot of time trying to work out Miles and Harry’s older brother Joe; I wasn’t sure whether to like him or hate him but in the end I just didn’t care. The stand out character for me in this book wasn’t a person but the ocean, the dark deeps that Harry feared wasn’t necessary a typical character but seemed to have the best personality in the book.

The novel seemed to be more a book of the bonds of brotherhood and family. The two boys are confronted with the painful family secrets while having to deal with their dad. Favel Parrett does a great job of turning the word ‘Dad’ into a chilling and sinister word that makes the actions of the father more impacting to the reader. The lifestyle of this small country town, while different to the one I grew up in brings back so many memories; small country show, show bags and farm animals.

Favel Parrett’s debut novel is at times gut wrenching and shocking but I never went away from this book feeling like I had just read something interesting. It all felt way too familiar and that left me wanting to read something new and maybe unpredictable. I adored the writing style in Past the Shallows, it was almost poetic and it just pushed me through this book with such ease; even in the parts of the book I wasn’t enjoying.

Nominated for the Miles Franklin award (an annual literary prize for the best Australian novel) this year I think the book stands a good chance. While I thought it was a decent read, I never felt emotional towards it; but I’m sure there were tears shed and hearts broken from many readers. I think the lyrical poses are enough to make this one of the better literary works in Australia from last year. Having said that the book is up against some other great novels (which I haven’t read yet) including All That I Am by Anna Funder and The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman; so I will be interested to see whether or not this book takes out the top prize.

I will admit that I don’t read nearly enough Australian novels; I’m still trying to play catch up with all the classics and other great literary works; but I do plan to fix that. Maybe when next year’s Miles Franklin short list is announced I will have a better idea of what books are worth reading. But for now I do believe that Past the Shallows is a great debut novel by Favel Parrett. I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next; hopefully another book that is hauntingly beautiful.

This book was read as part of my local National Year of Reading program; I also live tweeted my way through this book and that can be found here; http://sfy.co/pJq