reviews

Mayhem in Miami Author: Barbara Levenson Publishing confuses me sometimes. The first book I read by Barbara Levenson, Outrageous October, was published in 2013. I didn’t like it. It was also the third book in the series (which didn’t help). Now, the first two books in the series – Fatal February and Justice in June – have 2014 publication dates. What? I don’t know what happened there, but I can say that I enjoyed Justice in June far more than I expected, and much, much more than Outrageous October. Maybe time/space anomalies are good for cozy mystery series. In this, [...]

Brazzaville Beach: A Technically Beautiful, Yet Boring Read Author: William Boyd Interweaving mathematical and scientific theorem with the gravity of personal relationships, mental illness, and research in the war torn country of The Republic of Congo, William Boyd’s Brazzaville Beach is a comprehensive literary tale with more technical merit than actual soul. Praised for its comprehensive nature, the rambling narrative is more interested in maintaining a Pulp Fiction like timeline, confusing the reader about actual events and the emotional state of the distant, self-absorbed narrator. Alternating chapters between past and present, Hope Clearwater reveals her monotonous daily life as a [...]

Classic Horror of the Unknown and the Timelessly Evil By: H.P. Lovecraft Upon the mysterious death of his learned uncle, Francis Wayland Thurston discovers the brutal truth of a dark cult and a mysterious graven image from another time and planet, no doubt relics of Soapstone from the ancient city of R'lyeh among, his uncle’s artifacts. Intrigued by the morbid image, unlike anything crafted by a human hand, his explorations lead him into the heart of research and his uncle’s final realizations. Vitriolic voodoo cults inducing blood rites, falling into insanity under the waning moon while goggle-eyed creatures stare out [...]