Book Review: Virginia Creeper by Blaine Pardoe

I love me a good serial killer story, so when I was approached to review Virginia Creeper by Blaine Pardoe, I jumped at the chance. The publisher generously provided me with a .mobi file of the book and I immediately put it on my Kindle and started reading.

Then, a funny thing happened when I was about 20% through the story. The book's print font on my Kindle suddenly changed. It became almost unreadable. The print was either way too large or way too tiny. And it was only happening with this book. Other books retained their fonts. I tried deleting it and reloading it to no avail. I was already caught up in the story, so there was no way I was not going to finish it, so I ultimately had to load the file on to my Android smartphone and I was able to finish reading it using the Kindle reader app, which allowed for a more comfortable font size to be used.

The story takes place back in the 1980s during the time of the Clinton White House scandal and it focuses on the Route 211 Killings in Virginia and the process in which the killer, Andrew Fitzwater, was brought to justice. The author, Pardoe, launches into the tale from his own point of view as the book is written as a play-by-play to the "real-life" events as they supposedly happened and he played a significant role in the killer's due process.

I was immediately drawn in to the story as Pardoe did an excellent job of giving it a deepening sense of dread while continually warning the reader of the unexpectedness that lied in wait. Early on, the story's intrigue and the fact that this notorious killer has been virtually erased from America's encyclopedia of serial killers kept me wanting to find out exactly what the hell happened up there on Pignut Mountain.

The details Pardoe injected into the book left me wanting to know more about this case, but just like he says, you just can't find any information about the killings or Andrew Fitzwater. Since the Clinton debacle was taking center stage at the time, the local serial killer story became page six news. Nevermind the fact that America has an incredible fascination with serial killers; Andrew just happens to have been the latest in an entire family of serial killers that nobody, including anybody on the Internet, seems to know anything about. I was starting to wonder just whether or not Pardoe was pulling my leg in the "true-life" direction he was trying to lead me in.

Ultimately, Virginia Creeper is a tale of two books. The first half of the book is incredibly intriguing and it encourages you to keep reading. But, the second half of the book started to get a little repetitive. Throughout the second half of the book, Pardoe makes countless, and I mean countless, mentions of how busy he was dealing with clients and working on projects and traveling for meetings and just how much work he's always doing. It started to feel as if some lines were thrown in just to make the word count as they didn't add to the story at all. Next, the second half of the book is littered with typos and misspellings to the point that it started to take away from the enjoyment of the story. I mean, I couldn't get through a single page without at least one grammar or spelling miscue. Since Pardoe is a professional writer by trade, I'm hoping that the mistakes are just due to the usual e-book formatting headaches because if they aren't, then he seriously needs to re-read his material or at least hire a better editor before putting out another book.

Sadly, it's because of the problems that plagued the second half of book that I have to give Virginia Creeper *** out of *****. The first half was stellar, but the mistakes and unnecessary self-promotion in the second half kills the book's momentum like the fictional Fitzwater family kills Virginia co-eds.

Audiobook Review: Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines

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Book Review: The Five by Robert McCammon

I've been a huge fan of Robert McCammon's work for a long, long time, so when his novel The Five was released back in May of 2011, I was quick to order it. I also quickly devoured it, savoring every chapter, every word. It's been a while since I finished it, and I'm finally getting around to reviewing it, so Mr. McCammon, I apologize for the delay.

Let me start by saying The Five is unlike any other story written by Mr. McCammon. This novel is largely grounded in reality, with a slight supernatural angle, if it can even be called that. The events that occur are eye-opening, world-shattering, and oddly-enough at times, touching.

Artwork by Vincent Chong

The story follows a small indie rock band called The Five as they struggle with the hardships of being a small band with a small, but stable following, as they are making their way across the country on a tour that is most likely going to be their last. The band is made up of five castaways from other bands, some more successful than others, and the music industry has taken its toll on each one of them. The band goes through the progressions and gets through the shows until one night in the American Southwest, things change.

During a televised interview with a local car salesman, the band is noticed by a veteran of the Iraqi war who has not come home 100%. Guided by his ghostly "Sergeant," the veteran makes it his mission to kill the five members of The Five.

Artwork by Vincent Chong

The Five is a remarkably poignant story of love, friendship, loyalty, terror and violence, all set against the rich backdrop of the American Southwest and the gritty rock-and-roll lifestyle. Beautifully written and a pure pleasure to read from cover to cover, I loved this book and give it my highest recommendations. If you have read any of Robert McCammon's work previously, then you're going to be surprised by The Five, and not in the way you might expect.

I give The Five a full ***** out of *****. Pick up a copy today and prepare to be blown away.

Book Review: Niceville by Carsten Stroud

Niceville by Carsten Stroud is an odd little book. Part crime story and part supernatural mystery, Niceville is not your average friendly read - and like Martha Stewart says, that's a good thing.

Stroud, author of such novels as Black Water Transit, Cobraville: A Novel, and Lizardskin, among others, fills his story with a number of wily characters doing all sorts of nasty business, from grand theft and blackmail to cold-blooded murder and throughout it all is the spectre of something weird.

You see, Niceville has a tinge about it. There's something wrong here. Some say that it has something to do with Crater Sink, the thousand-foot deep circular crater filled with black water that lies on the edge of town. There are all sorts of tales and theories about that crater, and none of them are good. There's also the unsettling fact that in Niceville, 179 people have mysteriously vanished over the past 100 years.

This book, which is the first in a trilogy, begins with the disappearance of Rainey Teague. Security camera footage shows the boy standing in front of a store window looking at an old mirror one minute and the next, he's gone. Detective Nick Kavanaugh, an ex-special forces soldier, takes on the case. Meanwhile, a trio pulls off a deadly high-stakes robbery that quickly goes bad. The stories then branch out and weave through each other in the most unusual of ways. Everything is linked and everything is linked to Niceville's past.

I was immediately drawn into Niceville by its weaving storyline, straight-shooter dialogue, and realistic characters. This is a gritty novel that is different from anything out there right now. Creative, unique, and complex, Niceville is one of those novels that people are either going to love or hate, for those very same reasons. I happened to really enjoy my visit to Niceville, even though the people there aren't the "nicest." I was glad to learn that it is the first book in a series because the mystery of Crater Sink is largely avoided here. It is more of a background piece in Niceville. And while the book does have an ending, there are a few things left unexplained, which I hope the author plans to wrap up in the two planned sequels, The Homecoming (June 2013) and The Departure (June 2014). 

All in all, Niceville is a compelling story unlike anything I've read before. I give it **** out of *****.

Check out the book trailer for Niceville below:

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Why Television Sucks and Books Rule

Let me start by saying, I'm not opposed to all television, but the more I watch it, the more I find myself hating it. The constant onslaught of reality programming is enough to make me want to take an ax to my television set. How do these scumbags and hos get their own programs? Or better yet, WHY do people actually give these dregs of humanity their valuable time? I just don't get it! What ever happened to smartly-written programs that leave you on the edge of your seat every week? Those programs that made you care about the characters and that you looked forward to all week to watch? Why are we getting fewer of those and more of the crappy reality garbage?

Oh, wait a minute... I think I DO get it after all.

The thing about reality television is that regardless of how mediocre it is, it at least has a fucking RESOLUTION! And that's what we all want, right? A resolution to the story. All too often, a well-written program (ok, it doesn't even have to be well-written; it could just be exciting!) finds a decent audience only to leave that dedicated audience stranded on the side of the road by ending the season on a cliffhanger and then CANCELING the fucking show! All that time, wasted. Those characters you started rooting for, gone. As much as I absolutely can't stand reality programming, there is a comfort knowing that some idiot is going to outwit, outplay and out-whatever everybody else, that some idiot is going to last all summer long in a house of games, that some idiot is going to become an executive chef of some fancy restaurant, that some degenerate may or may not get married, that somebody is going to lose a ton of weight and ultimately change their life. The list goes on and on. Is it any surprise that reality crap is taking over the airwaves?

I hate all reality shows with a dreaded passion, but it doesn't stop me from watching (some of them, at least) season after season. You know why? Because I like an ending... even when I'm praying for the ending halfway through episode one!

When studios broadcast scripted programs, they don't give a shit about the people who watch them. No other form of entertainment treats its fans the way television studios do. In movies, there's a resolution. In video games, there's a resolution. In books, there's a resolution (or, in the case of a trilogy, at least an eventual resolution). Never is the fan left hanging by a thread other than when it comes to television programming.

Case in point, the BBC hit drama, The Fades. That was such an outstanding show that it even won the BAFTA for best drama television program and guess what? It was canceled prior to taking home the gold, after it left us hanging by an unbelievably kick-ass cliffhanger! What the FUCK?! And The Fades is just one in a long, long line of great shows to be killed off all too soon in both America and Britian. So, I ask you, television head honchos, why should I invest my time in your tempting offerings when you're only going to pull them out from under me once they start getting really good? To you, I say, "Go fuck yourself. I'm happier with my books."