| Author | Message | ||
     Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.237.52 |
Hi all, just back after a couple of weeks in Jamaica. Been catching up on all last years Fantasycon book purchases and thought I would put up a few comments.... Hungry Hearts, Gary McMahon - A perfect holiday read, Zed here sidesteps the style of Different Skins to unleash a rollicking The Bill/Zombie fest, bullets fly, heads explode, totally unpretentious fun - loved it. Tide Of Souls, Simon Bestwick - if anything, Simon bests the Zed with a Zombie gore fest that amazingly manages to combine Zombies with what appears to be Soldier, Soldier, Ultimate Force, Chris Ryan, Zulu & the Charge of The light Brigade. Totally barmy, totally loved it, perfect beach holiday read for the discerning Horror Holiday fan. The Blue Mask - Joel Lane, Very much enjoyed this, I've made no secret that I adore Joels' writing, Mick Curtis made me buy The Lost District a couple of years ago, even though I was spent out, but I'm glad he did. Decay Inevitable - Conrad Williams, good stuff, though not quite as impressive as 'One'(which was one of the most harrowing Horror books I have recently read), this reminded me a little of late 80's Clive Barker...not a bad thing but, as I have commented before, Barker doesn't do it for me anymore.Bit hard to read this book - Solaris need to print a little bigger please! One Of Us, Michael Marshall Smith - I picked this up second hand a few months ago, clever & very noir...Ok, but I found the ending & resolution a bit daft. Catacombs Of Fear, John L.Probert - take a JLP book on holiday with you is like actually taking the chap on holiday and having him read the book to you, rollicking food fun and a great follow up to Faculty Of Terror, unlike the man himself, JLP's stories work best for me in small amounts so I preferred this to Coffin nails which I thought would have worked better if it had been trimmed a little. Slights - Kaaron Warren, this was the freebie given out at Fantasycon last year, very dark, but compulsive, a hard read, and difficult to love, but I couldn't put it down, which is a mark of quality I reckon. The Garbage man, Joseph D'lacey - this was Soozy's and I skimmed it one day, totally unpretentious fun, I know Hutson is almost universally loathed here, but this reminded me of being a teenager reading Shaun Hutson - A guilty pleasure like eating a McDonalds, you don't want to do it too often, but it's good to slob out now & again. Incarnate, Ramsey Campbell, A REAL TREAT. I decided recently i needed to re-read some of the early Campbells which I read so long ago, I could hardly remember what they they were all about, only that i had loved thyem at the time. No problem whether opinion had changed here...Totally brilliant and actually easier to read than I recalled. Also, I had forgotten just how horrific Danny Swain's fate was, definitly up there with THAT scene in The Long Lost for most memorable & horrific scene in a RC BOOK. Honorable mention too for the heartbreaking death scene in The One Safe Place. definitely will be re-reading more of the landlords earlier books soon. Thats all I remember for now folks - Jetlagged ! gcw | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Glad you had a good holiday, mate. And thanks for taking my book with you.  Did you realise that it was, in essence, a tender love story? A lot of people seem to be missing - or ignoring - that. And did you laugh at the funny bits? I did.  | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.237.52 |
I did get it mate Bestwick just topped you though by sheer quantities of Zombies and the fact it reminded me of Zulu! gcw | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Ah, but mine wasn't a zombie story I don't even use the word). It had zombies in it, yes, but they were simply the backdrop to an entirely human drama about a marital affair.  | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.239.78 |
Pretentious wanker. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Oh, aye. Of course. Life's too short to be unpretentious. And to not wank. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.237.52 |
"Pretentious wanker."! C'mon Zed it was all about Cops n'Afghanistan n'irack n'shootin'n'gore'n'....stuff! Bestwick only won, cos' he had more Zombies...And Squaddies rather than the Filth. I loved em both. gcw | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
You have no romance in your soul, mate... | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.237.52 |
I have! - I never give the missus the furry side! gcw | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.158.58.28 |
Holiday reads is a very Middle Class concept. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.237.52 |
Is it? Guess I must be middle class then as I like to read a lot on holiday & catch up with all the books I've bought. Perhaps I should just bung 'em on a shelf then. gcw | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.122.209.76 |
GCW - delighted that Catacombs of Fear did exactly what it was supposed to do. Thanks for reading it! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
Holidays is a very middle class concept. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.239.78 |
Concepts are a very middle class concept. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.158.58.28 |
Holiday reads are what the Famous Five did on Kirrin Island. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.247.161.218 |
I can strongly recommend to add a novel I'm currently reading: "The Dog of the South" by Charles Portis. Ideal for holidays! I didn't know the writer, and I discovered him after finding out that the Coen Brothers are adapting another book of his. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
The middle class is a very middle class concept. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
Are zombies a very middle class concept? Cheers Gcw! Glad you enjoyed it! (Late to the party as always...) | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.227.120 |
Just back from a week away and read Adam Nevill's Apartment 16 - loved it... |