Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Constant readers of this review site will know that I am not a huge fan of Stephen King any longer. Most of his books are political or long-winded and boring. However, his new book fairy tale is brilliant.

The story flows well and even though it is long-winded with a very long entry intro before we get into the meat of the story, I feel that most of that intro worked well and it built up the story as a good lead-in.

Happily, there was only one Trump comment not shrouded in derangement and two democratic talking points. The rest of the story was story. And what a story it was. 

Hints of pre-accident King was clearly evident and I think he enjoyed writing that story. It seems to have taken him two years so it's a big book, it's a long story, and if you use Audio-book like I did it's really excellent to listen to.

The narrator was great and King even narrated a small section of the book which was an audio tape recording.

The story is about a boy named Charlie and his dog Radar. The dog is old and in the other world (Empis) the Fairyland world there is a sundial that can reverse age. It should be an easy journey, but, Fairyland is not as nice or safe as it once was, especially when the sun goes down.

This book is a quick and compulsive read, even though I use the audiobook, I found myself listening when I was working out or walking the dogs and killing time listening to it just sitting at home in my room.

This book is brilliant, but it has flaws. It's told in first person, where the MC occasionally talks to the reader and gives away the result of the action taking place eg. "Of course, things don't always go the way you planned". And there was the constant millionth-time reminder about the different language the people in other world used eg. "That's not what he said, but my brain translates it as such."  It's very repetitive and gets old very quickly. Finally, our hero Charlie often talks about how he was such a bad person after his mother's death and the bad things he did with Billy (?), and he says he's no hero. The things he did with the great reveal, are nothing that terrible. I thought he had maimed or committed manslaughter. What a let down.  

The Undead book 2 by R. R. Haywood

Book Two (Days 4, 5, and 6) introduces the virus as a conscious entity, that can think, reason, and plan. Also, we are introduced to a host of new characters. Howie plans to go to London and get his sister (Sarah) who is holed up in her apartment block. He has heard that London has fallen and the zombies fill the streets. He needs an APC (armored personal carrier) and so he and Dave head to Salisbury to acquire one. When there, he meets a bunch of new recruits, young guys, 10, I think. There are a couple that decide to strike out on their own. Howie becomes the unwilling leader. 

Dave is in his element. He trains the recruits in weaponry. On the way to London, the recruits become skilled in zombie killing. And Dave and Howie just like to fight face to face with only knives and an axe. One of the recruits, Darren, gets a tiny spay of saliva on his lip. So small and unfelt. He licks his lip and gets turned. But the virus decides not to turn him so fast. Darren acts as the inside man and all the plans that are made, the virus learns and decides to stop them.  

On the way into London, they meet Big Chris and his ex-military men who protect and small haven and around 200 people, living life normally (before zombies). They make a deal to team up. The haven has a hospital and it needs supplies and Howie needs to find his sister. 

Problems with this book. Too much killing without anything new. It seems mostly the same. Howie has internal thoughts bringing hate into his actions allowing him to kill thousands of zombies. This book seems a bit off -- like it was unnecessarily drawn out. And the virus jumping from humans to a cat, then rats required a large suspension of disbelief.   

The best section is the (mall?) with a Burger King and a small group of people.  

The narration is fucking brilliant. Dan Morgan really brings the characters to life. 

   

Lockdown by Peter May

I bought this book while going through Reader's Block, so it took me a couple of months to get through the 398 pages. I listened to a lot of audiobooks during this time. My reading has returned in the meantime and I polished off the final hundred pages of Lockdown. 

It's a cop story set in the pandemic and we get a very bleak version of London's lockdown, this fictional one (published in 2020, but written fifteen years earlier). The army ensures no one without a pass is on the streets after a certain time. D.I. Jack MacNeil is on his last day on the force. Retirement looms, but he desperately wants to find the killer of a child and successfully finish off a ruined career. All the while, his son lies dying of the virus in a bed surrounded by thousands of others in the same situation. 

This book kicks off at a good pace but slows down a lot as the characters are fleshed out. And I feel a lot of time is spent on Amy and her need to put a face on the bones that were found. 

This book was written in 2005 and was unpublished. This was my introduction to Peter May. I bought three of his books in one hit. I hope this book isn't a hint of what is to come. Lockdown wandered, and in the end, D.I. MacNeil finds the answers to who the child is, what happened to her, and by whom. However, there are a lot of holes in this book, and all the threads used in this book are not fully resolved. And it comes across as a bit formulaic. 

It is an easy read, and I think Pinky was the perfect villain (and the star of the book. I loved his scenes). 

The Undead Part 1 by R. R. Haywood

The book focuses on the first three days. 

Howie son of Howard, is a night manager at a supermarket. During the day, he is forced to attend a manager's meeting. This means he doesn't need to work the night shift. It's a rare Friday night off. All day he has been hearing about random attacks in Europe, on the radio, and on TV. Small snippets of information are gathered before his attention is stolen. 

This book is fast with characters you'll love or hate (like all of R. R. Haywood's books). Howie wants to check on his mum and dad. He steals a bike. This gives us a view of a disseminated town and highway. They have gone looking for him, so he heads back to his place. He stops in at his old workplace and runs into Dave (not David) one of his night shelf packers, and together they head to London to find Howie's sister. 

Along the way, there are many battles and many discoveries. 

For instance, during the day, the zombies move slowly with stiff joints. But at night, they growl and awaken into high speed killing machines. 

Part one ends on a cliffhanger. Luckily I bought a pack on 1-20. Already halfway through Part two. 

   

The Caller by Chris Carter

The Caller is book 8 in this series. But it's the first I've read of this author. When I say 'read' I mean 'listened to, as I had the audiobook. 

It's a pity this book sucked as the premise was great. A killer finds people to kill and adds a touch of torture for friends or family. By video call, the victim's friend or whatever is asked a series of three questions, and every wrong answer ends in the victim suffering and dying. 

One day, he video calls Mr. Jay. Mr. Jay doesn't like watching his wife get killed because he can't answer one question. Mr. Jay is a hitman for a cartel and knows how to find people. It is his job. 

Throw in the mix, two cops, Detective Robert Hunter, and Carlos Garcia. Hunter seems to know a lot. 

One of the letdowns in this book is his Captain needs to be told how a stalker acts, and the mind behind such acts. Shouldn't the Captain have a rudimentary understanding of that?  He explains a lot. 

Another letdown of this book is the narrator (Thomas Judd). His voice sounds dull, and drones on. He seems uninspired with this project and just wants to get it done. This is the main reason I couldn't get into this book. 

The killings were great, but the rest was dull. 

Two stars for the murders only. 

The Devil's Stop by Scott Blade

 

The Devil's Stop is a thriller that starts a bit like Rambo, in that a sheriff stops to chat with a drifter and sends him off in the opposite direction. But Jack is on a mission, and that is to visit as many towns and places across the US that has "devil" in the name. 

He is an ex-navy Seal, when he left he had nothing to do, no plan, zip. Until he sees a sign with the name "devil" in it and wonders how many places in the US have a devil, or reference it, in their name. 

Apparently, there are quite a few.

Hell's Bent is on the ass-end of North America. It borders a massive forest that can take one to Canada. 

The town has a few secrets. An unnamed grave, many bikers have just left, and more bikers are moving in. 

He stops for breakfast at a diner and asks about the grave. The reception turns cold and some truckers want him to leave. 

In town, he helps an old couple with a heavy box. He sees a very pregnant woman get off the train (bus?) and the truckers circle him. 

And that's where the story kicks off.  

Scott Blade has written a killer of a story. The hero isn't Superman, just a well trainer Seal, retired. But he knows weapons, he knows how to follow a trail, and spring surprises. But so does the man he is hunting. 

Some of this story is quite gruesome according to some. I didn't think so. I also felt it was believable and in many ways reminded me of Jack Reacher. 

This is book 10 in a series. I had no idea. It reads like an individual book. There's no need to read others before this (like Jack Reacher). 

 

Amok by Barry Eisler

This is the first Barry Eisler book that I have read. The publicity of his first book many moons ago introduced his books to me, but I never got around to buying them.  (John Rain books.)

AMOK is a stand-alone novel involving an ex-military man pulled into helping the CIA. He'll get 5 grand a week, and they will keep his abusive father in prison. But Dox doesn't think his old man should stay in prison. His father's parole is coming up and he's in two minds about it. The family wants him to side with them and requests he stays in prison.

He accepts the job, or else there is no book. 

Next, we meet Felix, Joko, and the lovely and single-minded Isabel.  She has tapes to get to America. She wants to expose what happens when the cameras have stopped rolling. 

This book is set in 1991. Eisler mixes fiction with real events with expert ease. 

It's a good story and fast-paced. There's even a love story, but the timeline is too short for the book's deep "I love you" part. 

The characters acted as I would expect them to. The meat of the book is to expose a hidden war raging in Timor for the last 16 years. 

The face-off between Dox and Joko seemed too fast after the build-up. But Joko ultimately won. 

All up, this is a brilliant book. The story is a cracker 👏 and it's well worth a few notes of your hard-earned cash.