strange and random happenstance

The Cloisters by Katy Hays
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

The Cloisters are located in Washington Heights, sitting on a hill in Fort Tryon Park on the Hudson River it is a world away from the hustle and bustle of New York City. The structure is made up of elements from abbeys in France and Catalonia that incorporate four cloisters, the Cuxa, the Saint-Guilhem, the Bonnefont, and the Trie. There are three gardens containing rare medieval species of plants but most people come to see the Met's collection of 5,000 pieces of medieval art. Illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, stained glass, paintings, and sculptures adorn the Gothic chapel, the Fuentidueña chapel, the Langon chapel, the Romanesque hall, and the Treasury room. With even more treasures contained in the library and archives. This is where Ann Stilwell will be spending her summer. An Early Renaissance scholar from Whitman, a small college no one has heard of in Washington, she had secured a position in the Summer Associates Program at the Metropolitan Museum of Art being a glorified intern. It wasn't what she had planned, but it was the only thing that panned out. And it was only for three months. But it was a start. A way to get away from home and its dark memories. When she arrives at the Met they inform her that they no longer have a place for her. She is nothing more than an administrative oversight. She can't believe what she's hearing. She's frozen to the spot. Unable to move when in walks Patrick Roland, the curator of The Cloisters. He's there to inform them that his temporary, and totally unsuitable, associate curator has left him in the lurch. He needs more hands and right there in front of him is Ann. She'll be perfect. And all Ann can think is that it's serendipity, that if she hadn't sat there a moment too long she wouldn't be being swept away from Museum Mile into another world, a sheltered haven of enigmatic curators. Rachel Mondray, the curatorial associate, and Leo Bitburg, the gardener, become her closest friends. When Ann proves adept they decide to bring her into their world of shadowy secrets, rare book dealers, poisonous plants, and, above all, the tarot. The tarot is Patrick's infatuation. But his obsession isn't just academic, he's a true believer, and Ann's discovery of a 15th-century Italian tarot card from a deck previously thought lost changes everything. The power dynamics in the group shift and control is lost and one night things get out of hand and Patrick ends up dead. Any one of them could have done it, but Ann will make sure it isn't her who takes the fall.

I picked up The Cloisters because I have a fascination with the tarot. Not so much it's mystical powers with regard to divination, but the history and the art. Pamela Colman Smith's illustrations for the Rider-Waite Tarot deck are iconic. You would most likely recognize them even if you knew nothing about tarot they are that famous. So while I am more into the practical side of tarot, the mystical side, especially in fiction, is irresistible to me. And the marketing for The Cloisters leaned into this dark academia vibe with a supernaturally aided power play via tarot. In fact Katy Hays went so far as to actually include Ann Stilwell's Guide to Reading Tarot with pages and pages of details about the Ferrara Deck. The major and minor arcana are laid out over twelve pages with associated gods and planetary rulers and detailed descriptions of the illustrations and their meanings. So I have to ask, if the tarot was seemingly so important why is it nothing more than a MacGuffin? You do not write the rules for an entire tarot deck to have that deck be a red herring! That just makes no sense. And yet that's exactly what this book did. The cards don't matter, it's just the shiny object that everyone wants because they think it will bring them power. It literally could have been anything. Hell, they're surrounded by medieval artifacts, why wasn't it a chalice? Go all Indiana Jones! Because the tarot brings baggage, it brings expectations, and none of those were met. There's nothing magical here other than a well told story about four people manipulating each other to see who comes out on top. Words are magic, so I don't need a promise of magic that is never fulfilled because now I feel cheated. I feel so let down. And I can't tell if it's because Katy Hays had other plans for when she outlined the book and what she ended up writing or it if was all an act of misdirection. A way for these sociopaths to justify their behavior by saying it's fate. By claiming the mystical when it's just the mundane. The Cloisters themselves gave such a sense of place, a sense of something bigger than them while still being precious, that I wish the actions of the characters matched the setting. Look to Rosemary's Baby. There is the sense of place, the wish fulfillment, and then the devil. This does show evil but it's not enough to save it from a failure to deliver. I can't help thinking that if Riley Sager was to do a rewrite, bring in a little more of Hill House, that this could be perfection. As it is, it's an incomplete deck lost to time.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ann Stilwell, Dark Academia, Indiana Jones, Intern, Katy Hays, MacGuffin, Murder Most Foul, Museum, New York City, Red Herring, Riley Sager, Rosemary's Baby, The Cloisters, The Haunting of Hill House, The MET

American Horror Story is a cultural phenomenon. It took such a hold over everyone that despite the continuing declining quality over the last decade we all keep tuning in. We watch to see our stable of Ryan Murphy staples in new yet familiar roles. Every season we wait with baited breath to see what Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk will make us fear next. For me it was never seeing Jessica Lange do a David Bowie impersonation ever again. What makes this newest season, Delicate, so unique isn't that they're trying to make us think that Kim Kardashian can act and that she's somehow still human with all that plastic surgery she's had, but that it's based on a book. That's right, we're getting the body horror and the pregnancy trope this time thanks to Danielle Rollins and her book Delicate Condition. So it's nice to actually have a female take on something that's happened in almost every season. Wait, is there even a season without a weird pregnancy? Murder House, obviously, Asylum, yes, with aliens, oh Coven breaks the cycle, but don't worry, there were many more creepy pregnancies in the following seasons. But what's extra weird here is that they were filming the book months before it was even released. And I'm not sure why. Though it's not like this is the first time it's ever happened. The publishing world and how rights are acquired are their own horror show. Also having to split the season in half because of the writers strike, despite production on this season crossing the picket line, didn't do it any favors. Any momentum that it had, and let's be honest, it didn't have much, just died in the womb. This could have been a tight three episode season instead it was a bloated nine. I do give it credit that we learned what the weird immortal "Alice in Wonderland" bunny "delicates" that look like they're from Good Omens were plotting. It was a superrace of monster who were going to take over the world and fix it making it a matriarchy if you were wondering. I mean, OK, but this does seem like a very very long game. Seeing as they controlled Queen Mary couldn't they have achieved their goals faster? But that's beside the point, because even if they had been able to achieve their goals sooner I wouldn't have cared because I hated every single character. The acting was so bad it almost swung around to good again, but don't worry it pushed through and I can definitively say this isn't just the worst acted series of American Horror Story, it might be one of the worst acted series I've even seen. Case in point, Kim Kardashian. She can't act. You think I'm being hyperbolic? In one scene she has to just stand still and shake. She can't even do that. Also her voice is so flat. There's no modulation. Just a monotonous murmur. This season was literally so bad it might have actually made me give up on the show. Something I should have probably done long long ago. I will say that there were two episodes with succinct and interesting plots, and those two episodes were good. Especially the Mia Farrow bit with her on the set of Rosemary's Baby. Because in the end that's all this season wanted to be. Here's a hint. Go watch the film instead. Heck, go watch the remake with Zoe Saldana, because it would be better than this.   

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: American Horror Story, And the Emmy Goes To, Body Horror, Brad Falchuk, Danielle Rollins, Delicate, Delicate Condition, Emma Roberts, Kim Kardashian, Mia Farrow, Pregnancy, Rosemary's Baby, Ryan Murphy

Stranger Things: The Flight of Icarus by Caitlin Schneiderhan
Published by: Random House Worlds
Publication Date: October 31st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two years before the events of Stranger Things: Season 4, Eddie Munson - Hellfire Club leader, metalhead, and Hawkins outcast - has one shot to make it big.

Hawkins, Indiana: For most, it's simply another idyllic, manicured all-American town. But for Eddie Munson it's like living in a perpetual Tomb of Horrors. Luckily, he has only a few more months to survive at Hawkins High. And what is senior year, really, but killing time between Dungeons and Dragons sessions with the Hellfire Club and gigs with his band?

At the worst dive bar in town, Eddie meets Paige, someone who has pulled off a freaking miracle. She escaped Hawkins and built a wickedly cool life for herself working for a record producer out in Los Angeles. Not only is she the definition of a badass - with killer taste in music - she might be the only person who actually appreciates him as the bard he is instead of the devil incarnate. But the best thing? She's offering him a chance to make something of himself, and all he needs to do is get her a demo tape of Corroded Coffin's best songs.

Just one problem: Recording costs money. Money Eddie doesn't have. But he's willing to do whatever it takes, even if that means relying on his old man, Al Munson. His dad just stumbled back into his life, with another dubious scheme up his sleeve, and yet Eddie knows this is his only option to make enough dough in enough time. It's a risk, but if it pays off he will finally have a one-way ticket out of Hawkins.

Eddie can feel it: 1984 is going to be his year."

Poor Eddie, gone too soon.

The Viper's Nest Roadhouse and Cafe by Seana Kelly
Published by: NYLA
Publication Date: November 15th, 2023
Format: Kindle, 358 Pages
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The official patter:
"I'm Sam, the werewolf book nerd owner of The Slaughtered Lamb Bookstore and Bar. Clive, Fergus, and I are moving into our new home, the business is going well, and our folly is taking shape. The problem? Clive's maker Garyn is coming to San Francisco for a visit, and this reunion has been a thousand years in the making. Back then, Garyn was rather put out when Clive accepted the dark kiss and then took off to avenge his sister's murder. She was looking for a new family. He was looking for lethal skills. And so, Garyn has had plenty of time to align her forces. When her allies begin stepping out of the shadows, Clive's foundation will be shaken.

Stheno and her sisters are adding to their rather impressive portfolio of businesses around the world by acquiring The Viper's Nest Roadhouse and Café. Medusa found the place when she was visiting San Francisco. A dive bar filled with hot tattooed bikers? Yes, please!

Clive and I will need neutral territory for our meeting with Garyn, and a biker bar (and café, Stheno insisted) should fit the bill. I'd assumed my necromancy would give us an advantage. I hadn’t anticipated, though, just how powerful Garyn and her allies were. When the fangs descend and the heads start rolling, it's going to take every friend we have and a nocturne full of vamps at our backs to even the playing field. Wish us luck. We’re going to need it."

It feels like forever since the last Sam Quinn book, which means it's only been a year...

Haunted Echoes and Southern Nights by Peter D. Baker
Published by: Peter Baker
Publication Date: October 31st, 2023
Format: Paperback, 222 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Children going missing.

A corrupt police officer.

A drug-dealing motorcycle gang.

A car breaking down on the way to see the Great American Bash.

And Daniel Belascoe deals with it all while trying to impress the woman of his dreams-who is far too smart for him.

Long before Daniel raised his tough-as-nails daughter Bethany Belascoe, he was a rookie Savannah cop trying to do some good despite his rotten partner. When that partner seems guilty of more than just negligence, Daniel begins investigating.

Things get even trickier when Daniel finds himself stranded in a small town with his new paramour, Rebecca Church - and he stumbles upon a mystery involving lost children, a local legend, and the stench of demonic activity.

Can Daniel get to the bottom of these mysteries in time to find a missing child, fix the car, and see Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair fight for the championship inside of a steel cage?

And will Rebecca decide he's worth the trip despite the fact that he's never seen Gremlins?"

I mean, how can you never have seen Gremlins?

When I'm Dead by Hannah Morrissey
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 31st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One girl murdered...another one missing...and a medical examiner desperate to uncover the truth in When I'm Dead, the latest Black Harbor mystery by acclaimed author Hannah Morrissey.

On a bone-chilling October night, Medical Examiner Rowan Winthorp investigates the death of her daughter's best friend. Hours later, the tragedy hits even closer to home when she makes a devastating discovery - her daughter, Chloe, is gone. But, not without a trace.

A morbid mosaic of clues forces Rowan and her husband to question how deeply they really knew their daughter. As they work closely to peel back the layers of this case, they begin to unearth disturbing details about Chloe and her secret transgressions...details that threaten to tear them apart.

Amidst the noise of navigating her newfound grief and reconciling the sins of her past, an undeniable fact rings true for Rowan: karma has finally come to collect."

I'm getting a distinct Twin Peaks Laura Palmer vibe.

Nestlings by Nat Cassidy
Published by: Tor Nightfire
Publication Date: October 31st, 2023
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Nat Cassidy is at his razor-sharp best again with his horror novel Nestlings, which harnesses the creeping paranoia of Rosemary's Baby and the urban horror of Salem's Lot, set in an exclusive New York City residential building.

Ana and Reid needed a lucky break.

The horrifically complicated birth of their first child has left Ana paralyzed, bitter, and struggling: with mobility, with her relationship with Reid, with resentment for her baby. That's about to change with the words any New Yorker would love to hear - affordable housing lottery.

They've won an apartment in the Deptford, one of Manhattan's most revered buildings with beautiful vistas of Central Park and stunning architecture.

Reid dismisses disturbing events and Ana's deep unease and paranoia as the price of living in New York - people are odd - but he can't explain the needle-like bite marks on the baby."

This year is THE YEAR for all the Rosemary's Baby pastiches.

The Night Raven by Johan Rundberg
Published by: Amazon Crossing Kids
Publication Date: October 31st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Mika is not your average twelve-year-old - and she's about to prove it.

It's 1880, and in the frigid city of Stockholm, death lurks around every corner. Twelve-year-old Mika knows that everyone in her orphanage will struggle to survive this winter. But at least the notorious serial killer the Night Raven is finally off the streets...or is he?

Mika is shocked when a newborn baby is left at the orphanage in the middle of the night, by a boy with a cryptic message. Who is he? And who is this "Dark Angel" he speaks of? When a detective shows up, Mika senses something even more sinister is going on.

Drawn in by Mika's unique ability to notice small details - a skill Mika has always used to survive - the gruff Detective Hoff unwittingly recruits her to help him with his investigation into a gruesome murder. Mika knows she should stay far, far away, and yet...with such little hope for her future, could this be an opportunity? Maybe, just maybe, this is Mika's chance to be someone who matters."

Well, everyone matters, but whether that leads to a means of survival is another thing...

What the Rivers Knows by Isabel Ibañez
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: October 31st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in What the River Knows, Isabel Ibañez's lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt and filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.

Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old world magic that's been largely left behind or forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns the most: her globetrotting parents - who frequently leave her behind.

When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and a golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there's more to her parent's disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.

With her guardian's infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent's disappearance - or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

What the River Knows is the first book in the thrilling Secrets of the Nile duology."

Oh my, EGYPT! 

The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: October 31st, 2023
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A haunted paleontologist returns to the museum where his sister was abducted years earlier and is faced with a terrifying and murderous spirit in this chilling novel from the author of A History of Fear - perfect for fans of Simone St. James and Katy Hays.

Curator of paleontology Dr. Simon Nealy never expected to return to his Pennsylvania hometown, let alone the Hawthorne Museum of Natural History. He was just a boy when his six-year-old sister, Morgan, was abducted from the museum under his watch, and the guilt has haunted Simon ever since. After a recent break-up and the death of the aunt who raised him, Simon feels drawn back to the place where Morgan vanished, in search of the bones they never found.

But from the moment he arrives, things aren't what he expected. The Hawthorne is a crumbling ruin, still closed amid the ongoing pandemic, and plummeting toward financial catastrophe. Worse, Simon begins seeing and hearing things he can't explain. Strange animal sounds. Bloody footprints that no living creature could have left. A prehistoric killer looming in the shadows of the museum. Terrified he's losing his grasp on reality, Simon turns to the handwritten research diaries of his predecessor and uncovers a blood-soaked mystery 150 million years in the making that could be the answer to everything.

Are these the ravings of a madman? Or is there something supernatural at play? And what does this have to do with Morgan's disappearance?

Another atmospheric mystery from Luke Dumas, The Paleontologist is a ghost story unlike any other that will haunt you long after you turn the final page."

It's like Michael Crichton decided to write a ghost story!

The Costumes of Downton Abbey by Emma Marriott
Published by: Weldon Owen
Publication Date: October 31st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An Official Companion to the Downton Abbey Films and TV Series: An exclusive inside look at the intricate and glamorous costuming of the popular PBS series, with complete historical detail and beautiful imagery.

An inside look at the intricate costuming of the popular PBS series, including character costume choices and the historic fashion trends characteristic of the aristocracy during the Edwardian era.

Appealing to Anglophiles, costume and sewing aficionados, and fans of the hit series, The Costumes of Downton Abbey presents - with comprehensive historical detail and beautiful imagery - the design decisions and wardrobe intricacies that shaped the glamour and elegance of the characters of Downton Abbey.

Featuring the fashion of both upstairs and downstairs cast members, this title explores the unique daytime, evening, special occasion, and wedding wardrobes that led to a 2011 Emmy and several Emmy nominations for Outstanding Costumes for a Series. Detailed photographs, fan-favorite stills from the television series, and designer notes and insights make this a delightful and informative guide to the role costumes played in the character portrayal, story development, and art direction of the series."

The touring exhibit of the costumes was so amazing, if this book is even a fraction of that experience it will be worth it.

Being Henry: The Fonz...and Beyond by Henry Winkler
Published by: Celadon Books
Publication Date: October 31st, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Emmy-award winning actor, author, comedian, producer, and director Henry Winkler, a deeply thoughtful memoir of the lifelong effects of stardom and the struggle to become whole.

Henry Winkler, launched into prominence as "The Fonz" in the beloved Happy Days, has transcended the role that made him who he is. Brilliant, funny, and widely-regarded as the nicest man in Hollywood (though he would be the first to tell you that it's simply not the case, he's really just grateful to be here), Henry shares in this achingly vulnerable memoir the disheartening truth of his childhood, the difficulties of a life with severe dyslexia, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own, and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you.

Since the glorious era of Happy Days fame, Henry has endeared himself to a new generation with roles in such adored shows as Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation, and Barry, where he's been revealed as an actor with immense depth and pathos, a departure from the period of his life when he was so distinctly typecast as The Fonz, he could hardly find work.

Filled with profound heart, charm, and self-deprecating humor, Being Henry is a memoir about so much more than a life in Hollywood and the curse of stardom. It is a meaningful testament to the power of sharing truth and kindness and of finding fulfillment within yourself."

I never liked Happy Days, but always admired Henry Winkler, especially for his work in Scream, Arrested Development, and most recently, the amazing Barry. He's a nice guy with an amazing ability of reinvention.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Barry, Downton Abbey, Hannah Morrissey, Henry Winkler, Isabel Ibañez, Johan Rundberg, Laura Palmer, Luke Dumas, Nat Cassidy, Peter D. Baker, Rosemary's Baby, Sam Quinn, Seana Kelly, Stranger Things, Twin Peaks

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 381 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Jules's life has gone spectacularly to shit. But a new job opportunity might just give her the breathing room to get it back on track. She's willing to take it, caveats and all. And there are a lot of caveats. She would be an apartment sitter at the tony Bartholomew. This apartment is one of THE most famous in all of Manhattan. All the residents are rich and famous, some even infamous. So obviously one of the caveats is to not disturb them. She is to come and go and do nothing else. She must never leave the apartment unattended overnight and she must never invite a guest over. Given the opportunity and the life of luxury she would be living, the rules don't seem untoward. Plus, she would be PAID to live a life she could never even dream of. Floor to ceiling windows overlooking Central Park! Views to die for. Only, maybe people did die for them... There are actually a few other apartment sitters in residence and Jules starts to befriend Ingrid, the sitter taking care of the apartment right below Jules that has a convenient dumbwaiter so they can communicate with each other. Ingrid reminds Jules painfully of her sister she lost eight years earlier. So when Ingrid disappears, Jules isn't going to rest until she finds her. She might have forever lost her sister to the wide world, but Ingrid can't just be gone as well! Plus, Ingrid had some very dark theories about what is actually going on at the Bartholomew. The building has a history. A dark history. Also, the building feels as if it's watching and waiting. With Ingrid missing Jules decides to dig deeper. Not just into the Bartholomew's history, but into her fellow residents. She learns that the turnover rate for apartment sitters is quite high. They all jump at the chance to make $12,000 but then rarely do they stay for the length of the job. They disappear in the middle of the night, just like Ingrid. Also, looking back, it seems odd that Jules was asked so much about her lack of family and friends in her job interview. Why would her lack of connections matter? Unless of course the Bartholomew doesn't want anyone looking for you... Jules knows she's probably in danger just looking for Ingrid, but she's been in danger since she took the job. What's one more foolhardy risk at this point?

I remember the first time I walked past The Dakota in New York City. At the time I didn't even register that that was where I was. I had been walking around the Upper West Side and I felt this chill in the air and I noticed that the building I was passing had actual gas lamps around the entrance. Who would have actual gas lamps in this day and age, which admittedly was a few decades back, but still!?! They're so impractical and of another era I was flabbergasted. It didn't even sink in that the entrance they were surrounding was where John Lennon was killed. I just got a creepy vibe off the building and moved quickly to Central Park where I would no longer be in the shadow of this building. Later that day I put two and two together. And oddly enough it wasn't finding myself in Strawberry Fields that did it but talking to a friend of mine about her first experience of New York and what were the sights she most remembered and everything clicked into place. And the vibe I got made sense. John Lennon's death aside, there's a reason Roman Polanski chose this building to be the "Bramford" in Rosemary's Baby. This building feels off, yet at the same time, it feels quintessentially New York. Lock Every Door is Riley Sager's ode to this duality of New York and The Dakota and in extension Rosemary's Baby. The Bartholomew gives you this feeling of what you imagine New York to be but that it never is. Or at least it never will be for you. It's luxury and class, but then, there's the sting. New York is an old city with old money and people set in their ways and the "other" New York is what lurks beneath. What is behind an apartment that is too good to be true? What are you inadvertently sacrificing to "live the dream?" What will be revealed if you dig deep enough? Also there's that pull to not dig, to not look, to just blindly ignore everything and just remember to not pinch yourself in case you wake yourself up. Because why would you want to? You're being paid to live the dream with a hansom doctor, exuding a season two Dynasty Nick Toscani vibe, right next door. I'd be tempted to ignore my sixth sense, wouldn't you?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Central Park, Dynasty, Going Gothic, John Lennon, Lock Every Door, Missing, New York City, Nick Toscani, Riley Sager, Roman Polanski, Rosemary's Baby, The Bartholomew, The Bramford, The Dakota, Upper West Side

Murder at Crossways by Alyssa Maxwell
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: July 30th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 388 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In late August 1898, reporter Emma Cross attends the final fête of the Newport social season and discovers the party's over for a visiting prince...

The days are getting shorter as summer's end approaches, which means it's time for the Harvest Festival, the last big event of the season, held by Mamie Fish, wife of millionaire railroad tycoon Stuyvesant Fish, at their grand "cottage," Crossways. The neocolonial mansion is decked out in artificial autumn splendor, and an extravagant scavenger hunt will be held. But the crowning jewel of the evening will be the guest of honor, Prince Otto of Austria.

As acting editor-in-chief of the Newport Messenger, Emma had hoped to leave her days as a society reporter behind her. But at the last moment, she must fill in and attend the Harvest Festival. With nearly every eligible daughter of Newport high society in attendance, Emma can almost hear romantic dreams shattering like glass slippers when the prince fails to appear. The next morning, he is found dead in the side garden at Crossways, making it clear a murderer crashed the party.

The prince has been stabbed in the same manner as another man, recently found on nearby Bailey's Beach - who strongly resembles Emma's half-brother Brady's father, presumed dead for nearly thirty years after a yachting mishap. As Emma investigates a connection between the two victims, she is joined on the hunt by Mamie Fish herself. But they must hurry - before the killer slips away like the fading summer..."

What a way to start the end of summer than a book set during it's waning days?

The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: July 30th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The bright lights of the theater district, the glamour and danger of 1950s New York, and the wild scene at the iconic Chelsea Hotel come together in a dazzling new novel about a twenty-year friendship that will irrevocably change two women's lives - from the national bestselling author of The Dollhouse and The Address.

From the dramatic redbrick facade to the sweeping staircase dripping with art, the Chelsea Hotel has long been New York City's creative oasis for the many artists, writers, musicians, actors, filmmakers, and poets who have called it home - a scene playwright Hazel Riley and actress Maxine Mead are determined to use to their advantage. Yet they soon discover that the greatest obstacle to putting up a show on Broadway has nothing to do with their art, and everything to do with politics. A Red scare is sweeping across America, and Senator Joseph McCarthy has started a witch hunt for Communists, with those in the entertainment industry in the crosshairs. As the pressure builds to name names, it is more than Hazel and Maxine's Broadway dreams that may suffer as they grapple with the terrible consequences, but also their livelihood, their friendship, and even their freedom.

Spanning from the 1940s to the 1960s, The Chelsea Girls deftly pulls back the curtain on the desperate political pressures of McCarthyism, the complicated bonds of female friendship, and the siren call of the uninhibited Chelsea Hotel."

To me, summer means the stifling heat of New York City, which is perhaps why I recently rewatched Rosemary's Baby and definitely why you should check out this book! 

Asylum by Jack Adams
Published by: Atlas Productions Pty Ltd
Publication Date: July 30th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 310 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Joe was their friend; the man they spoke to through the wire fence of the Lunatic Asylum, and 10-year-old best friends, Nathan Walker and Adam Murphy, knew he wasn't insane. Then, one day, Joe was gone.

Now hitting their thirties - jobs and divorces in their wake - ex-cop, current P.I. Nate and psychiatrist Adam decide to share office space and a receptionist. That's when the letter arrives advising them that they have received 'Expectations'. A quaint, old-fashioned bequest delivered by a solicitor which amounts to an inheritance for two boys - left by Joseph O'Connell, a missing-believed-deceased former patient at the River Park Lunatic Asylum."

Dun, dun, DUN! I know you need to know what happens next!

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: July 30th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In Megan Goldin's unforgettable debut, The Escape Room, four young Wall Street rising stars discover the price of ambition when an escape room challenge turns into a lethal game of revenge.

Welcome to the escape room. Your goal is simple. Get out alive.

In the lucrative world of finance, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are at the top of their game. They’ve mastered the art of the deal and celebrate their success in style - but a life of extreme luxury always comes at a cost.

Invited to participate in an escape room as a team-building exercise, the ferociously competitive co-workers crowd into the elevator of a high rise building, eager to prove themselves. But when the lights go off and the doors stay shut, it quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary competition: they’re caught in a dangerous game of survival.

Trapped in the dark, the colleagues must put aside their bitter rivalries and work together to solve cryptic clues to break free. But as the game begins to reveal the team’s darkest secrets, they realize there’s a price to be paid for the terrible deeds they committed in their ruthless climb up the corporate ladder. As tempers fray, and the clues turn deadly, they must solve one final chilling puzzle: which one of them will kill in order to survive?"

Escape Rooms fascinate me and hopefully I'll be doing one for my birthday this year, but more importantly, I'm so glad they've been embraced in book form!

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: July 30th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One way or another, we always feed the crows.

A future chieftain.

Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.

A fugitive prince.

When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses - and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

A too-cunning bodyguard.

Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?"

Crows are really in this YA season and I'm all for it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alyssa Maxwell, Asylum, Fiona Davis, Gilded Newport, Jack Adams, Margaret Owen, Megan Goldin, Murder at Crossways, New York, Rosemary's Baby, The Chelsea Girls, The Escape Room, The Merciful Crow, Tuesday Tomorrow

Don't Look Now
Based on the short story by Daphne Du Maurier
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania, Sharon Williams, Nicholas Salter, Leopoldo Trieste, Massimo Serato, Renato Scarpa, Bruno Cattaneo, David Tree, Ann Rye, and Adelina Poerio
Release Date: October 16th, 1973
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

John and Laura Baxter are trying to pick up the pieces of their life after their young daughter Christine's death by accidental drowning in their backyard. Now in Venice John is working to restore a church while his wife is mired in her grief. Taking off time from work John takes Laura out to lunch where she helps two elderly sisters in the bathroom of the restaurant. One of the sisters is blind and claims to not only be psychic but to see Christine. This revelation has a profound effect on Laura. She collapses at the restaurant but later, back at their hotel, John and her passionately reconnect. Laura makes plans to meet the sisters again and try to contact Christine in a seance. Christine has one message, her father must leave Venice. He is in danger. The threat is unclear and John thinks it's a trick the sisters are playing on him and his wife and is angry. What does he have to fear in Venice?

Maybe the threat isn't in Venice? There's a late night phone call from their son's boarding school saying he has been in an accident. Laura rushes to England but when she is supposed to be homeward bound John sees her with the sisters making a stately procession down one of the canals. Convinced that the sisters tricked his wife into staying behind when their son needs her he frantically searches Venice for the three of them, actually going to the police in the end. But the police have their hands full with a recent spate of murders. In fact they find John's story so unlikely that they think he might just be involved in the murders somehow. When John finally finds Laura she is in England. But how? And more importantly, all this is detracting from the warning. John is still in Venice... is this wise?

Don't Look Now is the only adaptation of her work that Daphne Du Maurier ever blessed with her seal of approval. Frankly it's quite easy to see why she liked this most of all the various adaptations of her work. Don't Look Now remains true to the spirit of her short story. Instead of drastically changing locals or time frames or having Mrs. Danvers self immolate Nicholas Roeg took what Du Maurier had written and used it as a framework and built on it. Everything that happens seems like a natural progression of the short story from the page to the screen. What's more, many of the faults of the story, smug narration, a lack of foreshadowing, are eliminated by the simple expedient of the visual medium of film being able to show us instead of tell us. What I felt worked best was that Roeg carried various thematic imagery through the film but tied it back more firmly to the loss of Christine.

In Du Maurier's short story Christine's death is the driving force of the story but at the same time an afterthought. Her death from meningitis distances the reader. It's rare this could happen to them. But by having Christine drown in an accident it's more relatable. This could happen to anyone. Plus Venice being a city on water the threat of drowning is constantly present. With water and mirrors there is this reflective quality used throughout the film not just being a constant reminder of Christine's death but how it reflects back on her parents and on us. In fact I was reminded again and again of the Michael Caine classic, Dressed to Kill. Don't Look Now has that same feeling of relevancy and horror despite being made over forty years ago.

Seeing Christine's more relatable death isn't the only way Roeg makes the trauma more real. In Du Maurier's story John and Laura are in Venice on holiday, which, to an extent, makes them feel a little uncaring to the reader. Let's just forget about our dead daughter and our grieving son at boarding school and take a little trip shall we? Yeah, not the most sympathetic of characters. In the film John is in Venice for work. By them being in Venice for work and not play makes their suffering more alive. They aren't just trying to brush it under the carpet, they aren't just trying to make do and mend, they are still trapped in the sorrow but are attempting to keep moving forward. John is burying himself in work so that he won't constantly be in pain.

Their pain is a constant presence throughout the film and this connects you to John and Laura. Anyone with an once of empathy has to feel something for them. The scene that really struck me as getting to the heart of their relationship and therefore their story was a rather graphic sex scene, bizarre armpit licking and all. The reason this scene works is it shows two humans groping toward each other, trying to connect; yet at the same time it shows the distance that has grown up between them. They are physically together but mentally apart. This scene, which is a little uncomfortable to watch, is heartbreaking. To be together and apart simultaneously, it shows us, without anything but action, what grief and despair really are.

Roeg is also able to show the seedy side of Venice. This isn't a holiday for John and his wife, they are there off season. Venice is cold and wet and full of pigeons. In the story it's almost tourist perfect, with the murders shoved as far in the background as possible until that salient plot point can't be avoided. Hence when "the end" comes you missed all the clues because Du Maurier used them so sparingly, perhaps wanting that shock to the system at the very end. Roeg uses the murders ubiquitously, but in the background. Always there, always waiting, adding a level of danger, suffusing it throughout the film but never drawing too much attention to it. I loved how one of the sisters described Venice as being "a city in aspic inhabited by the dead." There's poetry and morbidity and danger all in that one phrase. Here there are alleys and shadows and mystery. Running and rushing and the feeling of danger. We aren't just stuck in John's head, we are running along beside him.

Yet the pay dirt of the film is the inclusion of the church. This is introduced by the simple expedient of John being a church restorer. Though why it's brilliant is because it gives the story balance. We have the supernatural ever present with the sisters and their premonitions. The supernatural was built in from the get go. Yet skepticism doesn't quite balance belief in the supernatural. Skepticism can't destroy evil, only good can, and that would be embodied by the church. This addition also helps to place the film strongly amongst it's peers. Good versus evil and the church were part of the zeitgeist of the early seventies. Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Omen, the classics of the occult horror genre all had this dichotomy. To include it in Don't Look Now? Where it logically fit? It would have been stupid not to and Roeg was cunning in his adaptation. He knew just what to add and just how to do it. No wonder Du Maurier gave it two thumbs up.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Daphne Du Maurier, Don't Look Now, Donald Sutherland, Drowning, Du Maurier December Deux, Grief, Murder, Nicholas Roeg, Psychic, Rosemary's Baby, Seances, Sex, The Exorcist, The Omen, Venice, Warning

The Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices Book 1) by Cassandra Clare
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: August 31st, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

After her Aunt's death Tessa Gray has only one place to turn, her brother Nathaniel. Penniless in New York her brother sends her a lifeline in the form of a steamer ticket to join him in London. But things don't feel right when she arrives in England. Instead of finding her brother eagerly waiting on the docks she is met by the eerie Dark Sisters who show "proof" that her brother had indeed sent them. She soon begins to doubt this as she is imprisoned by the two sisters for weeks and forced to undergo horrific changes while they also claim to hold her brother captive. It turns out that Tessa has a gift. An unwanted gift. Given an object that belongs to someone she can turn into them. She can even get a glimpse of their mind. Or, as is often the case with the Dark Sisters choices, their last minutes on Earth. The change is horrific and just the fact that she can do it makes Tessa question all that she's ever known. She has spent her life living in books, is this someone else's story? Or is she trapped in her own nightmare where she will marry a mysterious figure called the Magister? Then one night an angel appears in the form of Will Herondale. Will and his compatriots rescue Tessa from the Dark Sisters. Realizing that it wasn't all a dream, Tessa must face this new shadow world.

The truth is that Will is literally an angel, one of the Nephilim, a Shadowhunter. He takes Tessa to the London Institute where she will be safe. The Institute is run by Charlotte Branwell and her husband Henry, with Will, Jem, and Jessamine as their wards. They explain the shadow world to Tessa and about it's inhabitants, the Downworlders, such as the Dark Sisters who are warlocks, and others, such as werewolves and vampires. The stuff of penny dreadfuls made real. They found Tessa while investigating a mysterious death of a mundane, what they call regular humans. The truth is they have no idea what Tessa is. Her powers have never been seen outside a warlock, yet she has no markings of one. They agree to offer her safe harbor and help her find her brother, because he wasn't being held in the Dark Sisters house like Tessa or they would have found him. Tessa, besides being shocked by all that she's learned, is almost more shocked by their generosity; she was sure she had just traded one prison for another. But once the investigation is underway things are more complicated than they could have imagined. Vampires breaking truces, automatons wreaking havoc, and who really is the mysterious Magister and why does he want Tessa?

After forcing myself to finish The Mortal Instruments series I honestly didn't know if I had it in me to ever pick up something written by Cassandra Clare again. I am seriously still in awe how anyone could have liked such a badly written series and I am continually surprised that it hasn't come up on charges of plagiarism. Seriously, Joss Whedon and J.K. Rowling's lawyers need to get on this eventually right? Please tell me Clare doesn't get away with it in the end! But here's the catch. Before I'd even started reading The Mortal Instruments I had already bought The Infernal Devices because of the Steampunk aspect. So this left me in a major quandary. I was stuck with this series of books I wanted to sell (in fact this one is a signed first edition!) BUT I have this serious problem wherein I can not sell a book I've bought without reading it. Yes, I knew the chances of it surprising me and actually being good were almost at zero. But the fact remained I own The Infernal Devices and therefore they MUST be read. And that's what Backlog Bonanza is all about! Not just posting reviews that have been left by the wayside, but getting to those books I have been putting off. Books like The Clockwork Angel.

So what can I say about The Clockwork Angel? Well, it seemed awfully familiar. It's been two years since I slogged my way through The Mortal Instruments so I had to do a bit of brushing up, thank you fan wikis, and I was right in the familiarity of the plot. The best thing I can say is that at least she's ripping off her own material now with a side of Rosemary's Baby... Pandemonium Club starts it all, check. Loved one kidnapped, check. Rescue from evil doers and brought to the Institute, check. Party where we meet Magnus Bane, check. Angsty pretty boys, check. It has all happened before and it will happen again. Especially in the world of Cassandra Clare. Just throw in a few, a very few, Victorian trappings and it's another bestseller. Apparently. I think I could have handled the familiarity, because as I said, at least she's ripping herself off, if it wasn't for the predictability. I mean, seriously people, a monkey with rudimentary crime fighting skills could have solved this in three seconds flat. In fact, I think that monkey might be far more entertaining. Each and every big reveal and plot twist was obvious hundreds of pages in advance. At times I almost started tuning out because it was just all so expected. Were there really supposed to be any surprises? Because seriously, no, there weren't. This is formulaic writing in a voice that is so flat it doesn't seem real, just words on a page.

I mean, literally almost nothing happens. Hundreds of pages of words and more words. Oh, and the poetry quotes before chapters? What. The. Hell. OK, so, thing about me, I'm not the biggest fan of poetry quote before chapters. At the beginning of books they're OK, but there's something about them being at the start of chapters that gets under my skin. Unless they really perfectly resonate with what is going on it that chapter they just come off as pretentious. Here, given the writing style; the lack of voice coupled with the fact that Clare can barely form a grammatically correct sentence the pretension is oozing off the page. With Tessa's love and continuous mentioning of Dickens, I mean it's seriously like beating a dead horse here, I started to wonder... how deep does Clare's pretensions go? Does she actually think of herself as a modern day Dickens? Does she think that her books will stand the test of time? Stephen King has admitted that he knows his books won't be remembered, so how exactly will Clare's? I mean, the minimal plot and lots of padding out the pages is Dickensian. But the thing about Dickens that I don't think Clare gets is that he could really write. I mean REALLY write. Perhaps I should add delusional to her pretensions?

Going back to the whole this is just City of Bones with a Victorian veneer, it's not even a very good veneer. Here's some fog, here's some old streets, here's some outmoded ways of thinking, that's all you're getting. In fact, it seemed that it fell to Tessa and to an extent Jessamine to keep reminding us we where in Victorian England, not "Modern Day" New York. It was almost laughable the cliches coming out of Tessa, "Women can't wear pants!" "Women don't do that!" "What do you mean Charlotte runs the institute? She's a woman!" Seriously!?! How about working this into the plot in some way versus just blurting these weird retro and sexist phrases randomly. Oh wait, that would mean the book has to have a plot... doh. It seriously scares me to think that there are perhaps millennials out there at this minute who think that this is what Victorian England was like. It's almost as fantastical as a world with Shadowhunters! As for the "Steampunk" aspect of this book. Adding a few automatons doesn't allow you the Steampunk designation. Cause here's the thing, Steapmunk is about worldbuilding and alternate history and getting lost in "what ifs." Sure, people latch onto the gadgetry, but it's about the story in the end. Something Clare clearly can not comprehend. On may levels.

So, of course, to entertain myself I started thinking about what this book could have been versus what it was. Tessa barely touches on the idea of if she can turn into anyone then who exactly is she. It's mentioned in passing but that's about it. Yet here is the one flash of light that could have grown into a book about identity and who we are inside. That who we are outside isn't who we really are. Tessa has been thrown into this shadow world and everything has been thrown into question. Is she really human? Did she really know the world before? Does her brother really love her? Who are her friends? Who is she? All these questions need answering and yet... These are all questions we have to answer for ourselves in life and the target audience of young adults is when we really start to think about them. This book could have been so much more. It could have been a journey about finding yourself in a world that is strange and disconcerting. Instead it was a badly plotted generic book that was more interested in making eyes at the cute yet troubled boy than exploring the depths of the girl who was making the eyes. I hope that perhaps the next book in the series which I will be forcing myself to read will answer these questions, but I now have a lot of experience with Clare and my guess is that it will not.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Backlog Bonanza, Cassandra Clare, Charles Dickens, J.K. Rowling, Joss Whedon, Magnus Bane, Rosemary's Baby, Shadowhunter, Steampunk, Stephen King, The Clockwork Angel, The Infernal Devices, Victorian

666 Charing Cross Road by Paul Magrs
Published by: Headline Publishing
Publication Date: 2011
Format: Paperback, 390 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Liza Bathory loves books. The older, more gothic and mysterious, the better. Her niece's boyfriend, Daniel also likes old books, but this will never endear him to Liza. She just doesn't like Shelley's man. She likes him even less when she learns that Shelley is rushing things and has moved in with him on the Upper West Side, giving up her own shitty apartment. If this relationship fails, which Liza is sure it will, then where will Shelley go? To Liza's own little sanctuary on the Upper East Side. At least Liza has her young gay friend Jack. Sure the bookstore he works at is no longer the type of olde thyme bookstore that Liza loves, instead selling all the hip and sexy vampire fiction you can shake a stake at, but he knows Liza's tastes and helps her to find the books she wants.

That's where the trouble starts. Jack sees a little ad in the paper for a bookshop in London, 666 Charing Cross Road, which specializes in what Liza loves, gothic, mysterious, macabre, old vintage paperbacks with lurid covers. They have no phone or website and do their sales only by correspondence, Liza is in heaven. Her first selection of books is beyond her wildest dreams, Fox Soames rarities, paperbacks of the most lurid nature, even if it turns out their address is the more prosaic 66b Charing Cross Road. The second package leaves something to be desired. Mr. Wright, the proprietor, has sent Liza a grimoire stained in blood. The book exudes evil, and Liza should know, she spent a great deal of her past fighting vampires and demons, but that's all done and now she just reads and edits books.

On Thanksgiving when she takes the book to Daniel's for dinner with her niece, Jack and his new boyfriend, Ricardo, a chain of events is set in motion that no one could have seen coming. Liza berates herself later that she should have, given her past, but who could have known? Shelley is stressed but still crowing over the discovery of a weird effigy her and Daniel are showing in their Museum of Outsider Art that has the whole town talking. The weird "Scottish Bride" or Bessie, as she comes to be called, is bringing patrons to the museum for the first time. The effigy has a strange life to it, almost as if she where once alive.

Then all hell breaks loose. Liza gives Daniel the grimoire to just get it away from her and he ends up possessed by the book and becoming a vampire King, who turns Jack's boyfriend, Ricardo. Than Bessie comes to life and shows up at Liza's apartment. Soon all of New York is overrun with Vampires and Bessie is convinced that she was brought back to life to help vanquish them. If they can return the book now in Daniel's possession from whence it came, perhaps they have a chance at stopping the evil, or perhaps they might spread this evil to two continents.

This is the book that first alerted me to Paul Magrs. I am a Helene Hanff devote. I liked her most famous book, 64, Charing Cross Road, but I adored her followup, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street and her collection of radio spots for the BBC Woman's Hour. She is, in my mind, New York. Therefore, if you where to pick someone that exuded the book world to be a protagonist in a new series set in New York, I don't think you could do better than to model the lead on Helene Hanff. It also helps that for some reason, despite Helene being played by Anne Bancroft in the movie adaptation of 64, Charing Cross Road, I have actually always pictured her more as Ruth Gordon. The Ruth Gordon most known for the macabre Harold and Maude and of course Rosemary's Baby, is eerily the perfect combination of who Helene Hanff was and what Paul's book is about. Old New York dame, who happens to be an ex vampire slayer, demon hunter and witch defending the world against evil.

For me, the book was a leisurely stroll through the holiday season in New York with impending evil. They didn't really feel like they where pushing to solve the problem, but doing a lot more thinking and then, when push came to shove, solved it all in a flurry of action that left quite a few loose ends, that, while giving the book resolution, also left it open ended enough so that more books could come. I don't know if it was my mood or the writing style, but it felt like a book where you read a little every night and think on it versus pushing through till the end. I like reading this kind of book. It's a less demanding book and more of a nice calm that you lose yourself in. I know, it's weird thinking of vampires and demons as calm, right?

There was a part of me though that felt this had maybe a few too many similarities to Paul's much loved Brenda and Effie series. We have the sweet intentioned gay side kick with the otherworldly boyfriend, the lady made up of spare parts, who really is this world's Brenda, the elderly witch, and than the younger female sidekick with man troubles. Yes, there's much much more than this, but the basic character traits where eerily similar. But I could forgive this all because I loved the parody of modern literature and the hatred Liza has to the modern vampire literati, Moira Sable, who is basically a Laurell K. Hamilton type that goes for sex and blood versus real ability to write. Paul nails the parody of current literature trends with Fangtasm. He also perfectly captured the previous era of literature with Liza, and I can't tell you how amused I was with every little nod and wink to Helene Hanff and her life. Her wacky neighbors and all!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 64 Charing Cross Road, 666 Charing Cross Road, Bride of Frankenstien, Eliza Bathory, Grimoire, Harold and Maude, Helene Hanff, Laurell K Hamilton, New York, Paul Magrs, Rosemary's Baby, Ruth Gordon, Vampires

The Haunting of Andrew Sharpai by Jerome Peterson
Published by: Eloquent
Book Provided by the Author
Publication Date: February 21st, 2010
Format: Paperback, 310 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
Andrew Sharpai is haunted by the life he lost. Tormented by the lose of his love LaRae and his glamorous lifestyle in Vegas he flees to Idaho. There he spends his time either lost in a bottle or cooking at Denny's in a monotonous routine. Eventually Andrew realizes something has to give and he decides that perhaps a hobby to take him out of himself would be a good idea. Remembering a story LaRae had told him about Jesus being a gardener, he decides to sink his hands into mother earth and perhaps grow something. The winter is long and cold, but come spring he sees evidence of the new life he helped to bring forth and he is now bitten by the proverbial bug all thanks to Harry and his nursery. Racing back to tell Harry the good news he is drawn to a young woman working at the nursery, Iris Winkle. With her pentagram necklace and her freckled though shockingly scarred face, Andrew sees someone worth living for. His courtship of Iris soon starts, undeterred by her visible scars and her young daughter, Lily. But soon Andrew hears the rumors about Iris and her witchy ways. While most say that Iris is evil and her ex Devon even more so, Andrew just can't see Iris as anything but a good witch. Soon things start to get weird though and Andrew can't help but listen to the townsfolk and think maybe they were right. Could a woman with a pet crow named Elijah Corbu and an ex capable of bringing horrifying sounds on the wind really be the answer Andrew has been looking for since LaRae's death? Embracing Iris and her life they decide to flee Devon and his influences and desires, one of which is Iris's daughter Lily. Moving to Colorado they think that they have moved beyond Devon's grasp. But Devon's might is stronger than they ever thought and this time he isn't playing games. Death follows and Andrew has to make many choices, hoping that he chooses the right ones.

Jerome Peterson's characters are on a journey of discovery. They are constantly trying to evolve into better people. But he has a knack of showing how hard these choices are. You can't choose who you fall in love with, but you can question it. To have lost a love it is even harder to embrace new love when it comes. Andrew never stops loving LaRae because of Iris and Lily, he is constantly struggling with it. He is haunted by all that LaRae was. But with the added element of witchcraft, we not only have a haunting of the heart, we have a physical and psychological haunting as well. The way that Jerome writes his environments and characters they have a way of leaping off the page, wherein  you end up fully inhabiting their world. You believe in the magic and mystery of this world, whether or not you believe in magic in your day to day life. The struggle of the trio daily fighting with the unknown forces propels you through the book, making you detest the idea of placing it aside till you know the outcome. With the nebulous forces against them and Devon's designs on Lily, as well as the aspects of The Black Mass, I was strongly reminded of Rosemary's Baby and other fare of the sixties and seventies. This book has that iconic feel of good versus evil played out on a small scale with the same suspense that keeps you rushing to the end. Fans of the ongoing search and struggle of man as well as those who need a little mystery should pick this book up today, though it will be harder to put it down.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrew Sharpai, Black Mass, Devon, Elijah Corbu, Iris Winkle, Jerome Peterson, LaRae, Lily, Rosemary's Baby, The Haunting of Andrew Sharpai, Witchcraft