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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Don't believe the hype! This book has so many great reviews. It is declared a thriller, a ghost story, and a true crime; it is garbage. Chizmar's prose is so dull and formulaic, often going into far too much detail. I feel insulted as if he doesn't trust the reader to draw our own conclusions. The problem with this book, for me, was not that it is set up as true crime, but that his storytelling skills are severely lacking.
There's no poetic value to his prose, which may seem contradictory since those are two opposites.
Too much detail. Too long to get to the story.
There's no poetic value to his prose, which may seem contradictory since those are two opposites.
Too much detail. Too long to get to the story.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A refreshing, creative and unique suspense novel that reads like true crime!
I enjoyed the book's setting in the real-life small town of Edgewood, which the author paints a vivid picture of. It feels like part-love letter and part-tribute to the place where the author grew up.
There are even photographs of the supposed victims and crime scenes, adding a layer of authenticity to the novel and making things seem all the more realistic.
The whodunit totally blindsided me (I was making so many wild guesses lol) but at the same time, made perfect sense.
Murder mystery aside, Chasing the Boogeyman is also a compelling deep dive into the human psyche. Not only does it examine the various reactions to horrific crime, the book also explores "the loss of innocence" and how "suspicion had begun to replace caution" in Edgewood,
Don't miss the equally fascinating author's note, in which Richard Chizmar shares how the book came about and describes it as "a personal snapshot of a very special time in my life that took place in a very special small town."
Even though Chasing the Boogeyman didn't wow me like I'd hoped it would after seeing so many rave 5-star reviews, it's still a clever book and definitely worth the read. Despite a slow start, I ended up really enjoying and appreciating it.
✨ "People think detective work is exciting and glamorous, full of gun battles and car chases. The truth is it's rarely any of those things. It's drudgery — sifting through hundreds, sometimes thousands of pages or reports and photographs, watching hours of security footage, knocking on doors and making phone calls and talking to people who are either too eager to talk, but have nothing to say, or have crucial information, but refuse to talk at all."
I enjoyed the book's setting in the real-life small town of Edgewood, which the author paints a vivid picture of. It feels like part-love letter and part-tribute to the place where the author grew up.
There are even photographs of the supposed victims and crime scenes, adding a layer of authenticity to the novel and making things seem all the more realistic.
The whodunit totally blindsided me (I was making so many wild guesses lol) but at the same time, made perfect sense.
Murder mystery aside, Chasing the Boogeyman is also a compelling deep dive into the human psyche. Not only does it examine the various reactions to horrific crime, the book also explores "the loss of innocence" and how "suspicion had begun to replace caution" in Edgewood,
Don't miss the equally fascinating author's note, in which Richard Chizmar shares how the book came about and describes it as "a personal snapshot of a very special time in my life that took place in a very special small town."
Even though Chasing the Boogeyman didn't wow me like I'd hoped it would after seeing so many rave 5-star reviews, it's still a clever book and definitely worth the read. Despite a slow start, I ended up really enjoying and appreciating it.
✨ "People think detective work is exciting and glamorous, full of gun battles and car chases. The truth is it's rarely any of those things. It's drudgery — sifting through hundreds, sometimes thousands of pages or reports and photographs, watching hours of security footage, knocking on doors and making phone calls and talking to people who are either too eager to talk, but have nothing to say, or have crucial information, but refuse to talk at all."
Chasing the Boogeyman is so realistic that you will forget that you aren’t reading a True Crime novel.
I read an arc of the sequel, Becoming the Boogeyman, earlier in the year but I think it added to the terror and intrigue as I read the book knowing who the Boogeyman is. Both books are exciting, humorous at times and the feasible authenticity of the tale makes it hard to wrap your head around the fact that it is fictional.
I read an arc of the sequel, Becoming the Boogeyman, earlier in the year but I think it added to the terror and intrigue as I read the book knowing who the Boogeyman is. Both books are exciting, humorous at times and the feasible authenticity of the tale makes it hard to wrap your head around the fact that it is fictional.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
2.5 ⭐️’s
I’m baffled by how positively this book has been reviewed by some readers. It isn’t a bad piece of work, but it’s otherwise unremarkable. The author seems to have tried to produce something akin to the works of his friend Stephen King without any of the deep character development that makes King’s stories so engrossing. And while the prose is easy to read, it leans into cliches.
I’m baffled by how positively this book has been reviewed by some readers. It isn’t a bad piece of work, but it’s otherwise unremarkable. The author seems to have tried to produce something akin to the works of his friend Stephen King without any of the deep character development that makes King’s stories so engrossing. And while the prose is easy to read, it leans into cliches.
this was a weird reading experience.
The first 30 pages nearly had me marking this one as a dnf because of how dry and very boring it was until all of a sudden I was Invested. After I passed that bit in the beginning I breezed through this in a matter of days and I was enthralled right to the last page.
Its a true crime book, but its fiction....and the actual author is the main character. I know...weird...but it somehow works? The book isn't surprising in any way as it's a very common plot of 'small town killer but somehow eludes the police for years' kinda true crime but its the way its executed is what makes it compelling to read.
the writer does a great job at setting up the town of edgewood and getting you familiar with it in every way so you feel like you are a resident and experiencing these crimes personally. The author shines in those moments when he introduced you to a new victim and sets up the scene in a way that it is like you're watching a true crime documentary and it is done exceptionally well.
All in all, its a good read! I'm glad I didn't give up on it in the beginning and pushed through the slow bits because it ended up being a perfect book to begin my 2022 reading challenge!
The first 30 pages nearly had me marking this one as a dnf because of how dry and very boring it was until all of a sudden I was Invested. After I passed that bit in the beginning I breezed through this in a matter of days and I was enthralled right to the last page.
Its a true crime book, but its fiction....and the actual author is the main character. I know...weird...but it somehow works? The book isn't surprising in any way as it's a very common plot of 'small town killer but somehow eludes the police for years' kinda true crime but its the way its executed is what makes it compelling to read.
the writer does a great job at setting up the town of edgewood and getting you familiar with it in every way so you feel like you are a resident and experiencing these crimes personally. The author shines in those moments when he introduced you to a new victim and sets up the scene in a way that it is like you're watching a true crime documentary and it is done exceptionally well.
All in all, its a good read! I'm glad I didn't give up on it in the beginning and pushed through the slow bits because it ended up being a perfect book to begin my 2022 reading challenge!
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated