DEAD(ish)

I loved B&N's description of the book:

Linda's had a bad day. First her boyfriend killed her. Then she woke up, still on this boring plane of existence, and with an odd obsession about her missing body.

It turns out Linda can't cross over until she gets reunited with her body. Because she doesn't know where it is, and her boyfriend Mike isn't telling, Linda starts playing cruel pranks on Mike while hiring a P.I. to track down her missing body.

Told from a rotating first-person point-of-view, the plot takes a few twists and turns, including an improbable love quadrangle(?) between Linda, Mike, and the gay couple next door.

The best part of this book is the mischief Linda commits against Mike. The plot itself takes some completely improbable turns, and the ending is completely forgettable. In addition, the dialog is entirely too expletive-laden and distracts from the message being conveyed.

If you've got a NOOK or the NOOK software, you can get this book for free from the Barnes & Noble link above. Amazon is charging only 99¢ for the Kindle version. I don't believe the book exists in hard-copy format. Frankly, that's about what this tale is worth.

Title: DEAD(ish)
Author: Naomi Kramer
Year: 2009
Pages: 100

Bloodfeud: The War of the Fang

Around 1000 A.D., a group of exiled Scotsmen lands on German shores. Deciding they didn't want to travel all the way to uninhabited lands, they find a developing barony and begin raiding the populace. The baron fights back, and each skirmish escalates the level of atrocity committed against the other party. Finally, the two parties draw the wrath of God and both are cursed into becoming creatures of the night. At this point, the fight is taken to an all-new level.

This book is a little slow getting started, taking a lot of time to set up the Scots' presence in Germany and the pre-curse violence. However, once the transformations occur, it turns into a pretty good (although somewhat predictable) vampires vs. werewolves story. The author blurb indicated this is a prequel to a series Fackler has in mind and reads as such.

The speech was a little too modern for the 10th Century, but this may have just been an attempt to keep the book easy to read. However, the characters are fairly well-developed and the personalities of each show through, despite there being a lot of characters for a sub-300-page book.

This is a light, fun read and is worth your time even if it doesn't tread any new ground.

Available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Title: Bloodfeud: The War of the Fang
Author: Jason Fackler
Year: 2010
Pages: 280

361

Recently discharged from the Air Force, Ray Kelly and his father spend some time in New York City. One day, as they're driving down the road, some men pull alongside and open fire. Ray wakes up in the hospital with only one eye, a stiff ankle, a dead father, and a chip on his shoulder. Discovering his sister-in-law was also killed recently, Ray recruits his brother into a scheme of revenge that takes a wicked twist when they abduct the man who they thought orchestrated the attacks.

Westlake is well-known for his easy-reading style. It takes nearly no effort to read this book, and you'll be surprised how many pages you can flip through in an hour. However, Westlake's trademark twists keep the reader guessing throughout the entire story.

Considering this is one of Westlake's earliest books, it doesn't quite have the polish of his later work. If you're a fan of the Hard Case Crime novels or just hard-boiled crime/detective fiction in general, you'll enjoy this book.

Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million.

Title: 361
Author: Donald E. Westlake
Year: 1962
Pages: 208

Charmed: Season 9, Volume 1

I didn't get this for myself, mostly because I was beginning to hate the series towards its end. (If you've got some time, go to Television Without Pity and read their recaps. I pretty much echo their sentiments.) However, my girlfriend liked it, so I got this as a gift for her and then just read it after she finished it.

A year (or thereabouts) after the Season 8 finale, all three witches now have kids, some who are already demonstrating their powers. Meanwhile, a pair of demons is working behind the scenes to resurrect the Source of All Evil (yes, again).

The story is pretty standard Charmed, following the pattern and pacing of most episodes, where the immediate problem is cleanly solved once a certain hurdle is jumped, and the season-wide plot advances in the background. The dialog isn't bad, but a lot of the attempts at humor fall flat.

The art is a mixed bag. While the actual quality of the art degrades as the book goes on, the distinctions between the characters become more obvious. I realize comic book work can't mirror the individual actors all the time, but each person has some distinct visual features (Rose McGowan's chin, Alyssa Milano's eyes and smile, etc.), and the artist needs to bring those out so the reader doesn't have to rely on the dialog to identify who's in the panel.

If you legitimately liked the series and can get past the artwork, this will probably appeal to you. If you weren't a fan or lost interest in the series, there isn't much here to justify bringing you back in.

Available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million.

Title: Charmed: Season 9, Volume 1
Authors: Paul Ruditis and Raven Gregory
Artists: Dave Hoover, Marcio Abreu, and Milen Parvanov
Year: 2011
Pages: 144

The End of the Night

Told in almost reverse chronological order, The End of the Night tells the tale of four youths (called the "Wolf Pack" by the media) travelling from Mexico to New York who decided to embark on their own mini-murder spree. Eventually, the Wolf Pack is caught, tried, and executed for their crimes.

Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Spider Robinson have highly praised MacDonald's work and listed him as one of their favorite authors. Stephen King went as far as to say: "John D. MacDonald has written a novel called The End of the Night which I would argue is one of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century. It ranks with Death of a Salesman, it ranks with An American Tragedy."

Fans of police procedural television shows would likely enjoy this book, as the facts of the story are presented in a very straightforward manner. Because the first chapter deals with the Wolf Pack's executions, there isn't much surprise to the story. However, the most educated member of the Wolf Pack, Kirby Stassen, recounts much of his experiences, and the transition from a group of ne'er-do-wells into a murderous quartet seems like a natural progression.

The plot and tone do show their age somewhat, but it's still an entertaining read. If you enjoy true crime literature, this might be one you should check out.

This book appears to be temporarily out of print, so you might check eBay and see if you can find it there.

Title: The End of the Night
Author: John D. MacDonald
Year: 1960
Pages: 192