Review: Annihilation

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

By the time we were ready to cross the border, we knew everything … and we knew nothing.

I'm not sure how to feel about Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer's first book in the Southern Reach series. I found it to be intriguing, but not compelling.

A group of scientists are the latest in a series of expeditions that are sent across a strange, invisible border into the mysterious Area X to explore and document the region. They're given limited information about what previous expeditions found in the area and are provided very little in way of tools to conduct their research or weapons to protect themselves from whatever dangers might be present. And dangers do exist within Area X - some members of previous expeditions never made it back, others reappeared mysteriously back at their homes, but appear to be changed in some way.

Annihilation is told from the viewpoint of an unnamed biologist, one of the four never-named members of this latest expedition, whose husband had been a member of the previous group. She describes her experiences and observations of Area X and the other members of her group, and their encounter with a "Crawler" found within an underground Tower located near their base camp but missing from maps provided to them. As members of the expedition experience the effects of Area X, the biologist begins to suspect that what they have been told by their superiors about the region and the fate of previous expeditions was incomplete at best. Exploration of a previously identified Lighthouse further away from the base camp leads to more questions than answers.

I know that many readers have enjoyed this book and its sequels, but I think my journey into the Southern Reach series ends here. As I said: intriguing, but not compelling for me.

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Review: In the Tall Grass

In the Tall Grass by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Robert Frost wrote of the difference taking the road less traveled can make - and it certainly did in this story about a brother and sister, Cal and Becky DeMuth, taking a cross country trip that goes horribly awry.

A fun, relatively quick read with characters that grow on you, and several that really creep you out! Definite Children of the Corn vibes, but a very different underlying story.

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Review: Veil

Veil by Jonathan Janz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Veil by Jonathan Janz is Predator meets Falling Skies and The A-Team all rolled into one fantastic, wild ride!

What starts out as a simple story of John Calhoun, a father desperately trying to keep his family from falling apart, turns horrific as first his son, then his separated wife, and finally his daughter are abducted in the midst of nation-wide series of unexplained disappearances. Rumors spread that the abductions are part of an alien invasion as reports surface of people literally vanishing into thin-air. As the world around him devolves into chaos, John wants nothing more than to bring his family back together, and joins with a small group of misfits who have a risky and radical plan to find and battle the abductors and bring their loved ones home.

With Veil, Janz has crafted a tension-filled story that evolves into an action-packed thriller, with strong and interesting characters and skillfully applied echoes of government and citizen reactions to the 2020 pandemic.

I'll be looking for more books by Jonathan Janz.
Recommended!

Thanks to #NetGalley for the early review copy of #Veil

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Review: Uncanny Ireland: Otherworldly Tales of the Strange and Sublime

Uncanny Ireland: Otherworldly Tales of the Strange and Sublime by Maria Giakaniki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a wonderful book for lovers of Irish myth and mystery, highlighting the varied and rich history of Irish story telling and legends, ghost stories and weird tales. My favorite was "The Monks of Saint Bride" which tells the story of Michael Bresnahan, who wanted nothing more than for his wife to stop finding fault with everything that he did. Michael finds himself seeking a solution on All Soul's Night at midnight in the haunted St. Bride abbey, In abject terror he witnesses the ghosts of dead religious Brothers say prayers for the the soul of the dead Lord of the castle from across the valley who was accused of murdering his wife and his brother; a task they must repeat each year for all eternity unless the curse binding them is lifted. The author of "The Monks of Saint Bride" weaves a delightfully scary tale in a style written as it would have been spoken by the locals.

There are many interesting stories contained within "Uncanny Ireland", some of which may be familiar to readers but others are likely less well known and are well worth discovering within these pages.


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Review: No One is Safe!

No One is Safe! by Philip Fracassi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not sure what took me so long to get around to reading No One is Safe!. This is a wonderful collection of short stories by Philip Fracassi and should be on the TBR pile of anyone who is a Fracassi fan or wants to get a sense of what kind of storyteller he is.

I wouldn't describe it as a "horror" collection, although there are some stories that do fit that category/genre, but all of these tales have elements of horror in them. From "The Wish", about a boy who wants nothing more than to be able to see his father again, to "Row", about an idyllic weekend away that goes horribly awry, these stories all bring their characters to life (and sometimes to death!) in a compelling fashion.

Highly Recommended!

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