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janinepipe's reviews
80 reviews
Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra
5.0
One of the best books I have ever read. I had tears rolling down my cheeks. Heart and gut-wrenching but a real must-read. Fantastically written.
The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
5.0
I thought it was absolutely FAN BLOODY TASTIC.
It has all the feels of 80’s nostalgia, the gang of boys always reminds me of my all-time favourite movie The Goonies. It gives off It vibes and Stranger Things with the boys getting up to adventures too.
Each chapter moves from the 80’s to now and leaves a little cliff hanger or you wanting more. Despite working through two separate timelines, the story follows seamlessly and the characters grow on you. You want to know what happened in the past to shape them in the present and you want to know how things in the 80’s have affected the now.
It is more of a chilling thriller rather than hard-core horror, but there is a lot of creepy suspense. It is full of twists and turns right until the last few pages that will leave you with your mouth wide open and jaw on the floor.
I HIGHLY recommend this book and The Taking of Annie Thorne. Please add C.J. TUDOR to your Must Read author list, and make sure you pre-order The Other People which is released on the 23rd January 2020.
It has all the feels of 80’s nostalgia, the gang of boys always reminds me of my all-time favourite movie The Goonies. It gives off It vibes and Stranger Things with the boys getting up to adventures too.
Each chapter moves from the 80’s to now and leaves a little cliff hanger or you wanting more. Despite working through two separate timelines, the story follows seamlessly and the characters grow on you. You want to know what happened in the past to shape them in the present and you want to know how things in the 80’s have affected the now.
It is more of a chilling thriller rather than hard-core horror, but there is a lot of creepy suspense. It is full of twists and turns right until the last few pages that will leave you with your mouth wide open and jaw on the floor.
I HIGHLY recommend this book and The Taking of Annie Thorne. Please add C.J. TUDOR to your Must Read author list, and make sure you pre-order The Other People which is released on the 23rd January 2020.
The Other People by C.J. Tudor
5.0
https://janinesghoststories.wordpress.com/2020/01/27/the-other-people-by-c-j-tudor-full-review/
TOP is the third instalment from the oh-so talented C J Tudor.
I pre-ordered a signed copy from Waterstones well before Christmas, so there had been a long wait for me after devouring her previous work, The Chalk Man and The Taking of Annie Thorne.
This review will not contain spoilers and remember, everything I write is all just my own opinion.
So?
I bloody loved it. I envy people who are able to just sit and read a book cover-to-cover in one sitting. It must be simply marvellous. For those of us with a job, family, house to run etc. it isn’t always that easy. Despite reading as much as time allowed, it still took me 5 days to finish. This was partly choice too. I wanted to read it all at once but also to savour it since Book 4 will not be out until 2021 *sob*.
Anyway, back to Book 3.
TOP is written in a slightly different style from her previous work, which both relied heavily on switching back and forth between past and present timelines. There is some of this but there is not such a heavy focus.
Again, the lead character is a slightly unlikeable male, with a past (and the odd skeleton in his closet), and children play an integral part.
This book fits neatly into the dark fiction genre, but in two differing ways. It is both a thriller, a murder mystery and crime story, but also (and why I personally love her work so much) has an unexplained supernatural undercurrent.
This is very clever, as it will both appeal to folk who like police procedural dramas, AND horror buffs.
There is a reason why Stephen King (AKA God) is such a fan of Caz.
TOP is a perfect length, running at 388 pages. The chapters are mainly short, sharp and succinct, many with a little cliff hanger right at the end, the tell of an amazing author and a dream come true for an avid reader. It MAKES you read on to the next chapter as if your life depends on it. I blame Caz personally for the bags under my eyes as each night I HAD to read just one more page (and then one more, and one more …).
Another thing I really liked about TOP came from being a mum myself. I felt the raw emotions of the story. My heart was tugged at, my breath was caught.
One of the characters really pissed me off, not only because they were an ass-hat, but also because of my own previous profession and that it was my husband’s name. And HE is super nice! That however is not a criticism, I don’t think he was created to receive any sort of sympathy.
All said, I loved every single part. There were even a few Disney references, another thing Caz and I have in common.
It is no secret that she is one of my all-time favourite authors (alongside Stephen King and Dennis Lehane), and most definitely my favourite NEW writer.
If for some unknown reason, you’ve been living under a rock and you haven’t read any of her work, do yourself a massive favour and go and buy them now. Off you go. Oh and, you’re welcome.
TOP is the third instalment from the oh-so talented C J Tudor.
I pre-ordered a signed copy from Waterstones well before Christmas, so there had been a long wait for me after devouring her previous work, The Chalk Man and The Taking of Annie Thorne.
This review will not contain spoilers and remember, everything I write is all just my own opinion.
So?
I bloody loved it. I envy people who are able to just sit and read a book cover-to-cover in one sitting. It must be simply marvellous. For those of us with a job, family, house to run etc. it isn’t always that easy. Despite reading as much as time allowed, it still took me 5 days to finish. This was partly choice too. I wanted to read it all at once but also to savour it since Book 4 will not be out until 2021 *sob*.
Anyway, back to Book 3.
TOP is written in a slightly different style from her previous work, which both relied heavily on switching back and forth between past and present timelines. There is some of this but there is not such a heavy focus.
Again, the lead character is a slightly unlikeable male, with a past (and the odd skeleton in his closet), and children play an integral part.
This book fits neatly into the dark fiction genre, but in two differing ways. It is both a thriller, a murder mystery and crime story, but also (and why I personally love her work so much) has an unexplained supernatural undercurrent.
This is very clever, as it will both appeal to folk who like police procedural dramas, AND horror buffs.
There is a reason why Stephen King (AKA God) is such a fan of Caz.
TOP is a perfect length, running at 388 pages. The chapters are mainly short, sharp and succinct, many with a little cliff hanger right at the end, the tell of an amazing author and a dream come true for an avid reader. It MAKES you read on to the next chapter as if your life depends on it. I blame Caz personally for the bags under my eyes as each night I HAD to read just one more page (and then one more, and one more …).
Another thing I really liked about TOP came from being a mum myself. I felt the raw emotions of the story. My heart was tugged at, my breath was caught.
One of the characters really pissed me off, not only because they were an ass-hat, but also because of my own previous profession and that it was my husband’s name. And HE is super nice! That however is not a criticism, I don’t think he was created to receive any sort of sympathy.
All said, I loved every single part. There were even a few Disney references, another thing Caz and I have in common.
It is no secret that she is one of my all-time favourite authors (alongside Stephen King and Dennis Lehane), and most definitely my favourite NEW writer.
If for some unknown reason, you’ve been living under a rock and you haven’t read any of her work, do yourself a massive favour and go and buy them now. Off you go. Oh and, you’re welcome.
Bullets, Teeth, & Fists 3: 20 exciting, violent, and sometimes heartbreaking short stories of noir and pulp fiction. by Jason Beech
5.0
As a short story writer myself, I was intrigued by Jason BEECHs latest collection, Bullets, Teeth and Fists Vol.3.
There is a varied mix of stories, both in content and length, but they all fall neatly within the dark fiction genre.
Several I thought more as mini-thrillers rather than horror, but they all broached the darker-side of existence. My favourite of these were Into the Dark, The Tip Off and Jabs and Uppercuts.
A few had supernatural elements and of these I particularly liked Chicken Neck and Edna (good twist at the end).
And I also really liked the last story, Bloody Path to New Mexico, which was one of my favourite horror sub-genres, zombies.
Blood, Sweat and Sawdust had an almost Hannibal/Saw feel to it which I also enjoyed.
Clowns just plain scared me as I hate them.
I also liked the rawness of Spare Change. Jason often uses characteristics that lie dormant within us all, which makes his stories very realistically frightening.
BEECH writes in a way not dissimilar to my own work. His stories often involve a twist, and the characters are not always all they seem. Some of the endings are fairly open too, leaving you to decide what you think the ultimate outcome was.
I was asked to read and review this by Blackthorn Books and am very glad that they reached out to me. This might have been a book that just got lost amongst the thousands of others on Amazon, and I am pleased that I have been able to help support Jason in this way.
If you enjoy pulp fiction, dark crime, supernatural or noir, then there will be something for you.
I wish Jason all the luck in the world with this and his future work, and again, thank you to Blackthorn Books for asking me to be part of this Blog Tour.
There is a varied mix of stories, both in content and length, but they all fall neatly within the dark fiction genre.
Several I thought more as mini-thrillers rather than horror, but they all broached the darker-side of existence. My favourite of these were Into the Dark, The Tip Off and Jabs and Uppercuts.
A few had supernatural elements and of these I particularly liked Chicken Neck and Edna (good twist at the end).
And I also really liked the last story, Bloody Path to New Mexico, which was one of my favourite horror sub-genres, zombies.
Blood, Sweat and Sawdust had an almost Hannibal/Saw feel to it which I also enjoyed.
Clowns just plain scared me as I hate them.
I also liked the rawness of Spare Change. Jason often uses characteristics that lie dormant within us all, which makes his stories very realistically frightening.
BEECH writes in a way not dissimilar to my own work. His stories often involve a twist, and the characters are not always all they seem. Some of the endings are fairly open too, leaving you to decide what you think the ultimate outcome was.
I was asked to read and review this by Blackthorn Books and am very glad that they reached out to me. This might have been a book that just got lost amongst the thousands of others on Amazon, and I am pleased that I have been able to help support Jason in this way.
If you enjoy pulp fiction, dark crime, supernatural or noir, then there will be something for you.
I wish Jason all the luck in the world with this and his future work, and again, thank you to Blackthorn Books for asking me to be part of this Blog Tour.