Carrie

Everybody hates Carrie. Poor Carrie White.  She gets it from everyone and she can’t even find solace at home.  Her Mother is a straight-up monster.  What happens when you push someone to their brink?  What happens when they have telekinetic powers? A few years ago, I stepped into a used bookstore and I picked up…

Charlesgate Confidential

Opening to glitz and glamour in the early 20th century, the Charlesgate Hotel was a crown jewel in the city of Boston.  By 1946 however, it was home to some less than savory characters.  When a card game featuring some of Boston’s most notorious criminals gets upended and looted, those responsible find themselves in the…

The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad #2)

After the events of In The Woods, former undercover officer Cassie Maddox is finally getting back to some sense of normality following her transfer to the domestic violence department.   All that changes when the body of a woman turns up in an Irish countryside.  Cassie’s former boss, Frank MacKey, calls Cassie in to have…

Spider-Man: Life Story

Spider-Man: Life Story is an attempt on the part of Chip Zdarsky to present a true beginning-to-end story of the web-slinger as the character ages in real time from the 1960s onward. I thought this was a great idea.  Comic book characters are essentially immortal (unless you’re killing them off to sell books) and timeless,…

Cascade

Cascade is a collection of six short stories from author Craig Davidson. Craig Davidson’s 2014 novel, Cataract City, is not only my favorite novel of his, but one of my favorites in general.  When I saw that Craig was going to release a short story collection set in the world of Cataract City (Niagara Falls,…

The Chain

You get a phone call that your child has been kidnapped. In order to get your child back, you must pay a ransom and kidnap a child yourself. The parents of the child in your possession must also pay a ransom and kidnap another child. Once that is done, both you and your child will…

Revenge of the Spellmans (The Spellmans #3)

While on a self-imposed sabbatical from detective work, Izzy Spellman is approached by a man with a simple job offer – he wants to know if his wife is having an affair.  Although Izzy agrees to take the job, it becomes the least of her worries.  As always, there is something fishy going on with…

Nightmares and Dreamscapes

In 1993, Stephen King released Nightmares & Dreamscapes, his third short story collection (fifth if you count his two novella collections “Different Seasons” and “Four Past Midnight”). In all honesty, as a collection, I thought this was pretty bad.  When you look at the quality of Night Shift and Skeleton Crew, it’s hard to believe…