Horror | Book Chatter

The Captive Condition
By Kevin. P. Keating
Pantheon Books, Hardcover, 9780804169288, July 2015, 288pp.

The Short of It:

Dark and sinister, yet funny and smart.

The Rest of It:

Edmund Campion’s thesis is rejected by Dr. Kingsley so Edmund takes a job as a groundskeeper, working for a guy called The Gonk. Unfortunately, The Gonk is not a good guy and has some secrets of his own.

Dr. Kingsley has secrets too. The woman he’s been having an affair with, Emily Ryan, is found by her two daughters, face down in her own swimming pool. Charlie, unable to raise his daughters on his own, literally abandons them by leaving them with Kingsley and his wife. The girls, however, are more “in the know” than the adults think and they do things to their adult counterparts to keep them on their toes. Oh, these girls are beyond creepy and do their best to make Kingsley afraid of his own shadow. Twins, no less. Reminded me of The Shining a little bit.

This story has a great setting. There’s the highbrow academic side, set against the backdrop of a small Midwestern town. But there’s the other side, the darker side complete with a graveyard and cottage. The promise of something sinister lurks on every page. I enjoyed this part very much.

Kingsley, is an interesting character but the story, I think, is meant to be Edmund’s and he didn’t hold my interest as much as some of the other characters did. The first half was fairly strong, but in the second half, things became a little disjointed. I admit to skimming through a few parts just to get back to Kingsley.

This is a black comedy. Have you read one lately? I think I expected more of a ghost story. There are ghostly elements and graveyards and murders to keep you turning the pages, but it’s peppered with humor which gives it a different feel.

Although the ending did not hold my interest as much as the first half did, I’d absolutely read another novel by this author.

For more information on the author, click here.

I had not planned to read this one for R.I.P X but it falls into that genre so I am going to count it towards the challenge.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher via TLC Book Tours.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Misery
By Stephen King
(Signet Book, Mass Market Paperbound, 9780451169525, 352pp.)

The Short of It:

Annie Wilkes is Paul Sheldon’s #1 fan and when she finds her favorite author on the side of the road, injured in a car crash, she takes him home to “nurse” his wounds.

The Rest of It:

It’s King! And this one is a doozy. I’d forgotten the ending even though I’ve read it twice before and seen the movie so reading this book for the third time was like reading it for the first time.

Why did I read it again? This.

#MiseryRAL

I am a total sucker for read alongs involving Uncle Stevie. As long as my eyes are not scratched up by a hair brush, I will say yes. That’s all I’m saying about that. So when Care asked, I of course said yes.

The book. Wow. I had forgotten how intense the story is but I was quickly reminded just a few pages in. I won’t go into details because if you haven’t read it, you really must. Basically, Annie is nuts and when she finds Paul Sheldon on the side of the road, injured and needing help, she steps in and takes it a little too far.

Annie Wilkes is quite the character and King takes great pleasure in sharing all her cockadoodie mannerisms and oogie hygiene habits. Those words are sprinkled throughout the book, numerous times and every time I heard them, I got chills up my back. They are SO Annie.

And Paul, not as helpless as you think but still, what a predicament to be in. Trapped, injured and having to rely on Annie?? Oh my word. Yes, a tough situation to say the very least.

On the gore chart, this one is a little intense. But on the supernatural front, there is nothing really to speak of. What makes this story scary is that it could actually happen.

What’s neat about the book is that there is a story within a story. Paul is writing a book while held captive and King spends a good chunk of time fleshing that story out. Almost to the point where one blogger wanted to read the rest of THAT story! No? Yes!

Overall, this was just too much fun to read as a group. Every time we came across a little gem, we’d hop on Twitter to comment. If you want to check out the comments, search for #MiseryRAL. I guarantee you will want to join in on the next King read along after reading some of those tweets.

To sum this up, I enjoyed the book more this time around than the first two times. I must have been very young when I read it before because I really didn’t remember too many of the details. So glad I decided to read it again.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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