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onetrackmind77's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.25
failbluedot's review
5.0
Another book that really combines being gripping and uncomfortable as we follow the twists and turns of what life's thrown at the narrator but also experience all the loss, horror and guilt along with them. This is one story that will haunt me for a good while!
shambolick's review
4.0
Tears along. A gripping read,made me wonder how I would react in a similar situation. Loved it.
motherhorror's review
4.0
I've said it before, but I'll mention here now--Alan Baxter absolutely owns the call-shot on the Urban Horror pocket. He nails it every time.
In THE BOOK CLUB, Alan combines the fast-paced energy of a domestic thriller with another familiar trope (that I won't disclose due to potential spoilers).
Jason, is waiting for his wife to come home from her weekly Book Club gathering but it's getting later and later and he's worried. He soon realizes that he doesn't know much about the place or the people having to do with his wife's Book Club. He has a vague location of the meeting and has one phone number for a fellow attendee.
Eventually, Jason has to call the authorities and file a missing person report but he has very little information to give them.
This story feels so authentic. How much do we really know about our loved ones? I mean, do we pay attention to what they're wearing when they leave the house? The name of their co-workers? The addresses of their friends? What time did they leave work? What's the license plate of their car?
All of these details that seem so trivial unless something happens and then they become the most important details in the situation.
I loved the way the author let this story unravel organically and realistically--it makes what ultimately happens, feel so much more...well...you'll see.
My only real complaint was that one of the major characters felt a little underdeveloped to me--I wanted to read more about a certain relationship and I longed for some backstory flshabacks or some other literary device to give me a fuller picture. But it's a very minor *want*. The story is fine without it.
This is a quick, unputdownable, thrilling read.
Highly recommend.
In THE BOOK CLUB, Alan combines the fast-paced energy of a domestic thriller with another familiar trope (that I won't disclose due to potential spoilers).
Jason, is waiting for his wife to come home from her weekly Book Club gathering but it's getting later and later and he's worried. He soon realizes that he doesn't know much about the place or the people having to do with his wife's Book Club. He has a vague location of the meeting and has one phone number for a fellow attendee.
Eventually, Jason has to call the authorities and file a missing person report but he has very little information to give them.
This story feels so authentic. How much do we really know about our loved ones? I mean, do we pay attention to what they're wearing when they leave the house? The name of their co-workers? The addresses of their friends? What time did they leave work? What's the license plate of their car?
All of these details that seem so trivial unless something happens and then they become the most important details in the situation.
I loved the way the author let this story unravel organically and realistically--it makes what ultimately happens, feel so much more...well...you'll see.
My only real complaint was that one of the major characters felt a little underdeveloped to me--I wanted to read more about a certain relationship and I longed for some backstory flshabacks or some other literary device to give me a fuller picture. But it's a very minor *want*. The story is fine without it.
This is a quick, unputdownable, thrilling read.
Highly recommend.
errantdreams's review
5.0
Often when I’m stressed or tired I just want a fun horror book (preferably a novella I can read as a break) to take my mind off of everything. So far Alan Baxter’s books have really hit that niche for me, much like William Meikle’s. The Book Club is the fifth of Baxter’s works that I’ve read, and every single one has rated a 5/5.
Jason Wilkes is waiting for his wife Kate to come home from her monthly book club. When she doesn’t show up, he calls the only member of the group he has a phone number for, but her friend Dave says she left the club as normal. He calls the police and Sergeant Cooke and Office Dale show up. Obviously the spouse is always going to be the first suspect, and Cooke and Dale seem to enjoy playing bad cop/good cop. Jason refuses to sit at home waiting for his wife to call, so he starts poking into things on his own. It turns out Dave’s phone was a burner phone that no longer is in service, and there’s CCTV footage of someone who isn’t Kate driving her car. As Jason goes further and further out on a limb to find out what happened to Kate, he starts to come face-to-face with some unbelievable–and terrifying–truths.
I enjoyed the characters in here. Jason feels very real in his grief and anger, as do the members of his and Kate’s families that we meet. In particular I like the members of the “book club,” because they’re almost certainly guaranteed to not be what you’re expecting! Cooke and Dale take some standard cop traits and twist them a bit, which I also like.
I can’t get into much without giving certain things away, so that’s why this is a short take. This is a grim combination of horror and a bizarre kind of personal optimism.
Originally posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2020/10/short-take-the-book-club-alan-baxter/
Jason Wilkes is waiting for his wife Kate to come home from her monthly book club. When she doesn’t show up, he calls the only member of the group he has a phone number for, but her friend Dave says she left the club as normal. He calls the police and Sergeant Cooke and Office Dale show up. Obviously the spouse is always going to be the first suspect, and Cooke and Dale seem to enjoy playing bad cop/good cop. Jason refuses to sit at home waiting for his wife to call, so he starts poking into things on his own. It turns out Dave’s phone was a burner phone that no longer is in service, and there’s CCTV footage of someone who isn’t Kate driving her car. As Jason goes further and further out on a limb to find out what happened to Kate, he starts to come face-to-face with some unbelievable–and terrifying–truths.
I enjoyed the characters in here. Jason feels very real in his grief and anger, as do the members of his and Kate’s families that we meet. In particular I like the members of the “book club,” because they’re almost certainly guaranteed to not be what you’re expecting! Cooke and Dale take some standard cop traits and twist them a bit, which I also like.
I can’t get into much without giving certain things away, so that’s why this is a short take. This is a grim combination of horror and a bizarre kind of personal optimism.
Originally posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2020/10/short-take-the-book-club-alan-baxter/
maisiesleepywiredstudios's review
4.0
Actual Rating: 4.75
There is an entire reason that I created a shelf called unsurely satisfied. and that reason is Alan Baxter's writing,
Even within the short length of the book, i felt the emotional connection between Jason and his wife and family. and while at times the cops felt like those depicted on SVU I admired the clear emotional frustration and turmoil.
All in all, I found the Book Club as a perfect quick read that engaged my suspenseful side.
There is an entire reason that I created a shelf called unsurely satisfied. and that reason is Alan Baxter's writing,
Even within the short length of the book, i felt the emotional connection between Jason and his wife and family. and while at times the cops felt like those depicted on SVU I admired the clear emotional frustration and turmoil.
All in all, I found the Book Club as a perfect quick read that engaged my suspenseful side.
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