Gingerbread Man by Maggie Shayne

I had been going through a real dry patch lately with free Kindle books, as well as the ones offered in the Prime members lending library.  But as they say, when it rains, it pours, and there have been some really great thriller/horror offerings as of late.

Next up is Gingerbread Man, by Maggie Shayne.  Murder mystery in a small town...doesn't get much better than that.  Detective Vince O'Mally is strung out and overworked, after promising a distraught mother he would find her missing children.  He finds them alright...both dead in an abandoned warehouse.  His department forces him to take some time off, but he has a different plan.  He found an old children's book at the murder scene, which he traces to a nearby small town, Dilmun.

He rents a house on lake, planning on researching the murders on his own from a distance, as well as digging into the origin of the book.  It all links him back to a troubled woman named Holly, who lost her sister to a kidnapping, and presumed murder, at a young age.  As Vince and Holly dig into the long-cold case, they realize that they may have pinned the wrong man for the murder, and that the real kidnapper/killer may still be on the loose.

Not only are secrets seemingly being covered up in this small town, but there are lots of interesting characters in the mix, including an aging horror film star, his oddly-behaving niece, a Native American doctor, Holly's overprotective uncle, and a whole bunch of people that want Vince to stop putting his nose where it doesn't belong.  Will they find the real killer?

I really liked this book overall, and it was a fast-paced and interesting thriller.  I think the culprit was well-positioned and I was pretty surprised to see who it was.  There were a lot of creepy little elements, and that small-town, almost Twin Peaks-dynamic that definitely added to the story.     The book was a good length, and everything tied up nicely.

However **SPOILER ALERT** there were a couple things that kinda bugged me a little about this story.  First, how did this girl not recognize her own sister?  I have known my sister for 27 years and I would recognize her anywhere even if we hadn't seen each other in years. Or even the mom? And no one else saw the resemblance or the coincidence of her disappearance and subsequent return?  Secondly, I felt that, while the romance between Vince and Holly sizzled somewhat, they fell into bed far too quickly and awkwardly.  First this chick is a sheltered little mouse that gets scared at the drop of a pin, then she suddenly turns seductress?

Regret by Michael Robertson Jr. and Dan Dawkins

After reading Rough Draft  I was thrilled to find out that another Michael Robertson Jr./Dan Dawkins book, Regret, was available for free in the Amazon Prime Lending Library.  After reading both books, especially in such quick succession, I'll say that Regret was definitely my favorite of the two.

Regret is the story of Dan Dawkins, who up until recently is an unassuming English teacher, living a quiet life with his wife, Amy. While cleaning out their attic, Amy finds some stories that Dan wrote in college, and encourages him to pick up writing again.  This leads to him landing a lucrative book deal, and flying to New York to meet with his young and attractive agent, Jenna.  One thing leads to another, and he strays from his marriage, with deadly results.

Suicidal and confused, he sells his house and begins meandering across the country, landing at a quiet bed and breakfast in rural Oklahoma.  Initially stranded there because of the storm, he decides it will be a good place to hole up for a bit as he gets his shit together.  Not only does he find himself getting cozy with the routine and anonymity of small town life, but he finds himself itching to write again.  But not about just anything.  He's clamoring to write about Jackson, the incredibly violent protagonist of his hit book.  But it seems like he can't keep Jackson's evil actions on the page...

I really enjoyed this book, and found it to be a fun ride throughout.  Although there definitely is blood and gore, and plenty of sick thoughts, none of it is put in just for shock value.  It all ties in together, and I like how the ending wrapped it all up.  I personally appreciated the character development, and found it very creepy how cold and disconnected Dan became throughout the story.

I will say that it was a little odd that no one ever suspected who was responsible for the violence until Mr. FBI showed up, but I imagine that's the trusting country attitude versus my incredibly wary and cynical city view.  Definitely check out Regret -- it's only $2.99 on Kindle, or free through the Prime members lending library.

Rough Draft by Michael Robertson Jr. and Dan Dawkins

Looks like this is one of those Stephen King/Richard Bachman type of situations, and Michael Robertson and Dan Dawkins are the same person.  I saw this book pop up for free on Kindle and really liked the premise.  Three horror writers stuck in a horror novel?  Awesome.

Rough Draft is the story of three horror writers - Victoria, Bob, and Finn, who are joined together at a remote cabin under strange circumstances.  They've all be blackmailed to write a book about a ghost town named Pike, located in rural Colorado.  In the cabin, they are completely cut off from the world.  No cell service, no internet, and the batteries removed from the cars they drove in.  Someone is monitoring the computers they are writing on, making sure they move the book along.

Although annoyed at the situation, the trio does not seem too afraid to write the book.  They figure they can bang it out fairly quickly, especially with all the research available to them.  But of course, it couldn't be that easy.  As they begin to write the book, they become plagued by strange events and supernatural occurrences.  Determined to escape, they try to find a way out, but Evil Dead-style, are blocked at every turn.  They finally do find out the reason behind their mission, which I did think tied in very well, just at the point when I was starting to get a little bored of the ghost battles.

I do wish the female character in this book could have been developed a little more.  We got a lot of background on Bob and Finn, but very little attention paid to Victoria.  I felt like she could have been more of an asset to the story than the stereotypical wishy-washy emotional mess who constantly needed to be held or protected by a man.

Overall, I did like this story, and the author's style of writing.  I'm constantly on the lookout for a new horror writer to follow, since I read Blake Crouch and J.A. Konrath books faster than they can write them!  I actually downloaded his other book, Regret, right away, and I'm currently reading it, so expect a review on that soon!  Read on, horror lovers!

Snowbound by Blake Crouch

I loved this book.  So much so that I read it twice in fairly short order. Although I really love Blake Crouch's extreme horror in the Andrew Z. Thomas series, this reads more like Run which is probably my favorite Blake Crouch novel.  Snowbound pulls in one character from the Crouch/Konrath universe, Javier Estrada, who interacted with Luther Kite in a previous work.  But everything else is fresh meat, and what a great story.

In Snowbound, a lawyer/husband/dad, Will, is working late at home, preparing for a case the following day.  His daughter, Devlin, suffers from cystic fibrosis, and he tucks her into bed, as he waits for the return of his wife, Rachael, who is working late as well.  However, Rachael is about to run into some trouble on the way home, and be kidnapped by Javier.  Of course, the husband becomes the prime suspect in the case, and Will and Devlin flee the area quickly, to live their lives outside of the scrutiny of the local police force.

For five years, they are successful in hiding themselves away, until Kalyn Sharp appears on their doorstep.  A disgraced FBI agent, she lost her sister in a case similar to Rachael's and feels that she's getting close to finding who is responsible.  Will, Kalyn, and Devlin thwart the law and begin their own investigation to find their missing loved ones.  What starts a drive to Javier's home to ask some questions, turns into a flight to the wilds of Alaska in search of "The Lodge That Doesn't Exist."  Will they find the missing women?  Or will it be another dead end.

I found this book to be thrilling, and I was excited to read through it again to catch anything I may have missed the first time around.  Sure, some parts are a little extreme (a girl is trapped naked in the snow, but survives, wolves are somehow trained to attack only certain people) but with a slight suspension of reality, this book was a real trip.  I look forward to more of these types of stories from Crouch.

Haunted House by Jack Kilborn and J.A. Konrath

If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know that I'm a big Jack Kilborn/J.A. Konrath fan.  If you don't already know, J.A. Konrath is the author's real name, and he releases some extreme horror novels under the name Jack Kilborn.  I've read tons of both types of his books, and I do prefer the Kilborn fare, so I was really looking forward to Haunted House.

Haunted House brings together several characters from Kilborn/Konrath's past novels.  The author says you don't need to read the other books to make sense of this one, but it would definitely help if you did.  I was most excited to see Mal/Deb from Endurance and Sarah from Trapped.  

I loved the warm up to the arrival at the haunted house.  I appreciated the detail paid to each of the characters and felt that it really provided a great background for when they would join together later.  Basically, each of the characters has experienced some horrible type of situation in their lives, and are being recruited for a government project to learn about creating an antidote for fear.  This of course ties back to both Afraid and Trapped.  

Some people are reluctant to go, some are coerced, and some outright refuse.  They are summoned to the Butler House, a large plantation mansion which has had a bloody and violent history.  It is also known to be quite haunted.  But if the "subjects" spend one night there, they will receive $1 million, and in some cases, some additional help.

This is a Kilborn book, so of course the house is truly one of horrors.  There's torture, viciously broken bones, hands used as sandwiches, bloody masturbation, and a severed head giving oral sex to it's own body.  And that's just the beginning.  It was a gory thrill ride, with plenty of mayhem for the average Kilborn fan.

My review is not without a couple of criticisms however.  The involvement of Fran, Josh, and Duncan (from Afraid) just seemed like an afterthought.  The monkey has always been slightly ridiculous, but now it's got a GI Joe helmet and the world's smallest gun?   I feel that story arch may have been better left out.  And, the editing.  I spotted several errors, and while that doesn't turn me off a book totally, I'm an editor-of-sorts by day, and those things stand out like a sore thumb.  Mr. Kilborn, if you ever need someone to give your next story an early read, I work real cheap ;)

Overall, I really liked Haunted House, and am always looking forward to Kilborn/Konrath's next book!! 

The Neighbors by Ania Ahlborn

I loved Ms. Ahlborn's previous novel, Seed, so I was thrilled to check out The Neighbors, thanks to the Amazon Prime Lending Library.  Amazon calls it a blend of Blue Velvet and Basic Instinct, and I call it creepy as hell.

The Neighbors follows a man, Andrew Morrison, who escapes the trappings of his life and caring for his alcoholic and agoraphobic mother to go live with a childhood friend. As he travels down the street that the house is located on, he is thrilled to see a beautiful neighborhood with immaculate houses.  However, when he arrives at his new rental, it is rundown and completely out of place in the neighborhood.

He tries to make the best of his new living situation with his roommate, Mickey, but things are hard.  The house is a pigsty, and Mickey is mostly uncommunicative and absorbed in video games. The light at the end of the tunnel for Andrew is his seemingly perfect neighbors, Red and Harlow.  Not only is Harlow the perfect mother he never had, but he also finds himself attracted to her flawless looks at well.  The couple immediately takes to Andrew, inviting him over for meals and even give him a job doing housework.  Drew ignores Mickey's warnings against the couple, and spends more and more time there, despite Harlow's increasing flirtations, and overall strange behavior.

There is something dark and scary hiding under the pristine surface of Harlow and Red's perfect life.  But it seems that Drew will discover it when he is already in way too deep.  Not only is there violence involved, but sexual deviance, crazy families, hidden bodies, and conspiracy.

I can't say I liked this is much as Seed, since, in my opinion, I don't think it was ever able to achieve the true eeriness that Ahlborn's previous book invoked.  I also agree with other reviewers/readers that it seems like the author held back a bit.  I saw her heading down the road of extreme horror a la Crouch and Kilborn, but she seemed to snap back and show (maybe a little too much) restraint.  I really liked the story, but I would have appreciated it to go even a little deeper and more gritty.  Definitely worth a read though, and check out Seed if you haven't already!

 

Afraid by Jack Kilborn

I'm in a bit of a funk lately, mostly due to an extreme amount of stress at work.   Therefore, when I reach for my Kindle, or my remote, I'm sort of wanting to avoid any intense thought or concentration.  Therefore, I've been doing a lot of re-reads and re-watches, not to mention zoning out in front of mindless reality television.

I read Afraid sometime last year, when I was plowing through Kilborn/Konrath books at lightning speed.  Although I favored Trapped and Endurance (both of which I apparently remembered to write reviews about) Afraid was pretty damn good as well.  So in my re-read stage, I decided I'd give it another go and actually write a review this time.

Afraid involves some characters from other Kilborn works, most notably Taylor from Truck Stop, Serial, and Trapped.  Both Kilborn/Konrath and Blake Crouch's books have characters that move in and out of them, as some books take place before others and vice versa.  This particular book focuses on a special ops unit that has crashed into a small Wisconsin town.  The unit is programmed to achieve a specific objective, by any means necessary.  The group consists of various death row and psychiatric hospital escapees who have been modified to conform to these standards.  They've been enhanced both physically and mentally, being able to withstand extreme amounts of pain, as well as causing it.

Afraid involves many "townspeople" characters, and jumps back and forth between the viewpoints of different people.  The characters were well-developed, and Konrath/Kilborn showcases his incredible talent for providing detail, especially in terms of the violent parts of the story, of which there were many.  The plot has a lot of moving parts, but I didn't find it difficult to keep track of.  There are several components to the story -- from thriller to extreme horror to military history.  Definitely not a read for the squeamish -- the toe scenes and kidney-mauling definitely got to me -- but this one is classic Kilborn/Konrath, so check it out if you're a fan.

Stirred by J.A. Konrath and Blake Crouch

Over the summer, I became completely obsessed with J.A. Konrath/Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch.  I devoured many of their books, and took a break, wondering if I had a mental disorder for loving the blood, torture, and carnage a little too much.  I never got too hooked on the Jack Daniels series; although she was featured in a few of Konrath's stories, I just couldn't ever picture/identify with her.  Kind of like Sookie Stackhouse in Charlaine Harris's books.  But, you know, with decapitations and such.

Stirred called to me, being that I was entirely concerned about the Luther Kite/Andrew Z. Thomas ending in Break You.  The thought of someone being isolated, force fed, mutilated, etc. but still being kept alive, really freaked me the fuck out.  The premise of an ending to all of this was quite promising.

You can definitely read this without having knowledge of the previous Jack Daniels stories, but it's definitely more enjoyable if you've read about Lucy, Donaldson, Kite, and Thomas.  Where Daniels floats from story to story, I find the "killers" more intriguing and unbreakable. 

Stirred picks up 7 years after Thomas was imprisoned, his love Violet, and his son, Max, taken away from him.  Luther Kite is truly planning an awesome revenge against Jack Daniels and others who have wronged him.  Daniels on the other hand is retired and hugely pregnant, essentially engaged to a former fugitive.  She seems uninterested in being a mother, and more focused on her former life of solving crime.  Unfortunately, she needs to be constantly protected by friends and confidantes, for fear that a former killer seeks revenge.

At the same time that Luther concocts his elaborate plan, Lucy and Donaldson are plotting as well.  Shells of human beings, rotting away in a prison hospital, they stockpile drugs and plan their escape.  They, too, seek out Daniels, but also wish to inflict pain on Luther, who burned them terribly after their first escape from a hospital.

What ensues is a mix between Seven and Saw: The Final Chapter, where Daniels must follow clues, and then finds herself in an abandoned city, going through a series of traps set to mimic Dante's Inferno.  Everything is contained in these games, from strangers to friends to lovers to her own baby. 

Although slightly unbelievable at times (a grizzly bear, really?) Stirred was a wonderful collaboration between Konrath and Crouch.   They claim that this is the last Kite/Thomas book, but the ending certainly leaves it open for a sequel.  I've read a fair amount of horror in the last few years, and Konrath/Crouch are the only authors that continue to kill it hardcore.  Rock on, horror brothers.

Seed by Ania Ahlborn (2011)

It's been a while, since I wrote a book review.  What happened is that I raced through pretty much the entire collection of Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch, and then needed a break from the onslaught of blood, guts, and general creepiness I had subjected myself to.  After a few weeks of trashy romance novels (my guilty pleasure), I decided to delve back into the world of horror fiction and was glad to stumble upon Seed.  The description related this story to works of King, Crouch, and Kilborn, and of course, I was instantly hooked.

Seed is the story of a young family: father Jack, mother Aimee, 10-year old Abigail, and 6-year old Charlotte/Charlie.  Jack harbors dark secrets from his childhood, which culminated in him running away from home at the early age of 14.  One evening, while driving home late at night with his family, he swerves off the road to dodge what he thinks is an animal.  No one else sees the animal, except for Charlie.

After the accident, things begin to change.  Jack begins to see the evil in Charlie that he saw in himself as a child.  In conjunction with the current story, we also get a slow and steady reveal of Jack's childhood.  Charlie becomes scarier and more intimidating, as her older sister and mother shrink away from her.  Jack, however, is intrigued by his changed daughter.

This book had a level of creepiness that is sincerely difficult to achieve.  I read some sentences/scenes repeatedly, as I loved how they were written.  I find it's challenging to paint a child as an antagonist, a la Damien and Reagan, but Ahlborn hit the nail right on the head.  I flew through this book in two days, and literally could not put it down.  I would highly recommend.

Desert Places by Blake Crouch

I got turned on to Blake Crouch while reading J.A. Konrath/Jack Kilborn's array of extreme horror novels.  He collaborated with Blake Crouch on Serial and after I plowed through all the books he had to offer, I knew Crouch was next for me.

Desert Places is the first in a series of Andrew Thomas novels, Thomas being a writer and the main character in these books.  Desert Places starts out hard and fast -- popular horror novelist Andrew Thomas checks his mail one evening to find an interesting piece of correspondence.  It states that there is a woman buried on his property, covered in his blood and killed with a knife from his house.  At first, Andrew dismisses this as a crazy piece of fan mail, but decides to check it out, just for fun.

What he finds is that there actually is a woman buried on his property, and as he follows the other instructions in the letter, he digs himself a deeper and deeper hole.  He meets the writer of the letter, and finds out that this is no psychotic fan.  This person's interest is even more complicated and close to home.  The two will go on a journey...even when they are not together.

Although not as truly sick as Kilborn/Konrath's works, this book was exciting and demented, and left me wanting more.  There were some truly scary parts of the book (the HI MOM! one being the creepiest for me)  You'll be glad to know that there are at least two more Thomas books, which extend this exciting story.

















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Trapped: A Novel of Terror (2010)

I rarely read a book and think to myself, "they should really make a movie out of this."  Since Hollywood has run out of ideas, they pretty much make a movie out of every book anyway.  But this time is different.  Dear movie producers, pleasepleasepleaseplease make a movie out of Jack's Kilborn's Trapped.  If only I could just see how they make "the pet," my life may very well be complete.

As I mentioned before Jack Kilborn is the horror pen name for J.A. Konrath.  Several of his horror novels were previously unpublished, but the glory of Kindle has made them available for the world.  Trapped was meant to be the sequel to Afraid but even after numerous cuts and edits, the publishers nixed it.  When you download it on Kindle, you get both the original and uncut versions, and the author encourages you to review the book and choose the version you liked better.

I have to be honest, I actually like the cut version better.  Not because of any of the sex and violence that got chopped from it, but the stories just made more sense.  I preferred the army general story to the whole Chinese dude backstory, and Sara being trapped in the box by her sadistic cousin just made more sense than the kidnapping deal. 

Trapped is the story of a couple, on the verge of divorce, who run a sort of halfway house/rehab program for troubled teens.  Unfortunately the center is closing, and a camping trip one of the last times they will have to spend with the kids.  The kids in question are inner-city Detroit fuckups, who have been saved from jail by committing themselves to this program.

Sara and Martin are the couple, and they have brought along their baby, Jack.  Martin knows this island from trips he took with his brother when he was younger, and swears its a good time.  But as soon as they arrive, things start going wrong.  Martin disappears, and when Sara and one of the teens go searching for him, things go horribly wrong.  They discover that the island is inhabited by cannibals, as well as a sick doctor running demented experiments.

I will give it to Kilborn/Konrath, he seriously does his freakin' research for these stories.  The details of the cannibals, torture, surgeries, etc. were amazing and really just sucked you into the story.  I laid awake at night a couple of times, trying to picture the "pet" and Subject 33's torture device.  If loving these stories makes me a sick individual, then get the straightjacket ready, because I can't wait to get to the next one!

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Random: New Obsession - Jack Kilborn/J.A. Konrath

Up until recently, I have been in graduate school for the last two and a half years.  There are lots of things you give up when getting your masters' and one of those casualities is leisure reading.  Commuting and down time in the evening is replaced by reading textbooks and journal articles instead of the gory tomes I love so dear.

I become a bit obsessive with certain authors and types of literature.  I went on a chick-lit spree a couple of summers ago, reading every Jennifer Weiner-esque book I could get my hands on.   Last summer revolved around my discovery of Jack Ketchum, and I found myself standing in line at Borders weekly, plucking up another Ketchum paperback.

For Christmas, I recieved the Amazon Kindle.  I am not into shilling any company, but this is literally one of the best gifts I've ever gotten.  I can read books everywhere, even standing on the subway or sweating on the elliptical, without struggling to keep the pages open.  Additionally, many horror novels on the Kindle are cheap or even FREE. (I'm not kidding)  And this is how I discovered Jack Kilborn/J.A. Konrath.

This man has written many books, a number of which have gone unpublished.  Several of his previously unpublished works are now available on Kindle for rock-bottom prices.  Although he writes many mysteries and thrillers nowadays, most of his rejected and sliced up works were down-and-dirty horror.  I've been wanting to post more book reviews on this site, and Kilborn's books are just the right place to get started.  I'm in the midst of reading Trapped and I literally can't put it down.  I'm sitting at my desk in my office, and my sleeping Kindle is in my bag, taunting me.

If King's works aren't nasty enough for you, and you've already plowed your way through Ketchum's books, then make Kilborn your next stop.  His writing is definitely not for the weak of heart....or stomach.


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Book Review: Full Dark, No Stars (2010)

Believe it or not, I'm an avid reader.  Especially when it comes to Stephen King.  I've read all of the books he's written (save for the Dark Tower series, which I just can't into) and I own most of them, although they're currently residing in my parents' attic in upstate New York.  A Manhattan apartment doesn't bode well for the bibliophile.

Anyway, when I was in graduate school, I really got off track with my reading.  It was just too hard to keep up with reading articles and textbooks for school, along with pleasure reading.  But alas, I've gotten my degree and now I have more time for reading.  I also got a Kindle for Christmas, which I'm totally obsessed with, and the reason I got to read Full Dark, No Stars.

Although I love King's longer works (a la The Stand) I do think he really excels in the novella length story.  Full Dark, No Stars reminded me of Different Seasons both in the length of the stories, and the darker, dramatic, and non-horror-esque feel.  And let me tell you, this book is DARK.  It was hard for me to read at some points, and I saw a lot of reviews on Amazon complaining about the subject matter.  This is definitely a bit of a departure for King.

The first story is 1922, which is a story of a family living on a farm in the 1920s in Nebraska.  The wife, searching for a better and richer life, wishes to sell the land, which belonged to her father, and move to the city.  Her husband is not having this, and conspires with their teenage son to kill her.  Although they are successful, haunting and terrible bad luck results.  One thing about this portion that made me really sad is animal suffering,  I know that sounds strange, but I am a crazy animal lover, and lots of animals have issues in this book and that made me kind of blue.  But overall, this was a great story, with King's classic weaving style.

Second we have Big Driver.  This was sort of an interesting twist on the rape-and-revenge story, which focused on a female writer traveling to a nearby town to do a presentation at a library.  On the way back, the library's director leads her to a shortcut, which unwittingly puts her right in the hands of a serial rapist.  She survives the attack, and instead of going to police, plots her vigilante revenge.

Third is Fair Extension, which profiles a father and husband who is rapidly dying from cancer.  One evening on a drive on a quiet road, he comes across a man selling wares.  Further investigation yields that man sells extensions -- on penis size, height, love, and even life.  The payment?  15 percent of his yearly salary for the rest of his life, and a small token from the house of his enemy.  As it so turns out, the man's enemy is his best friend, who stole his girlfriend in college and married her, has more beautiful children, is rich and successful and has a generally better life.  Thinking that 15 percent of salary is a small price to pay for life, the man is cured and goes on to keep living.  But little does he know the price that his friend/enemy will pay.  I found this story to be the most disturbing, and really sort of sick in a way.

Finally, we have A Good Marriage.  I really thought this was a pretty awesome for a story.  A woman recounts the history of her marriage, from the time of meeting her mild-mannered accountant husband, and spending 25 years of her life with him.  But one fateful day, she goes looking in the garage for batteries and comes across some questionable magazines.  Further investigation reveals evidence that could point to unspeakable crimes.  I don't want to reveal too much more and give it away but it's a pretty wild ride of a story.

Overall, I really liked Full Dark, No Stars.  However, I have to make the observation that I held back on when reading Under the Dome.  Mr. King has fallen out of touch with the times a bit, and he's a little out of practice with how anyone that's not his age thinks and talks.  In Under the Dome, it was the teenagers, who he scripted in an unbelievable manner that seemed like he's never met a teenager before.  And being a woman, I found the inner dialogue in Big Driver to be a bit bizarre, and inaccurate to how a "real" woman would think.  And then just random things, like the woman walking home from the rape who couldn't get cell phone service.  She walks to a pay phone to call a car service.  If I approached a pay phone nowadays, I would not even know what to do with it.  But apparently this woman has her calling card number memorized.  Calling card number memorized?!?!?  The last time I even had a calling card in my possession was Spring Break 2005, when my mom made me bring one to the Bahamas and the damn thing never worked anyway.  I'm nitpicking a bit, but you get what I mean.  I love you, SK, but catch up with the times a bit, and maybe sit down and have a conversation with the subjects of your story before writing a book about them. /endrant

In conclusion (finally, sorry) I really liked this book overall.   I flew through it and it was definitely a page turner.  I recommend.