Vanessa Savage's "Woods"

 

You can find this book here.

Two girls went in. Only one came out.

This is part of the fairy story Tess's mother used to read to her and her younger sister Bella; but now the line mars her present with a past horror she can't remember.  

Tess's past not only haunts her, but was a haunted experience for her: new neighbours brought chaos to her life; local girls, murdered by someone who was never convicted, and her sister died, but only Tess herself believes someone murdered her. The interesting part of this haunting? Tess herself does not remember what happened to her sister, even though she had been found with her that night. 

As she has to move back to her old home where it all happened, she is haunted by being around people from the past again, not being able to sleep and suffering from hallucinations of her dead sister. Or, is she an actual ghost?

Tess is an unreliable narrator; so this makes the story's progress interesting. It chops and changes in her present, whilst bringing to light her past. Her unreliability comes from the fact that she is so emotionally charged and (to me at least) appears to not see past her own nose, and so you may find yourself drifting between sympathy to strong dislike. 

The novel has a nice pace to it, which helps to keep the creepy vibe going. I was able to pick up on some of the twists; let's see if you think it is predictable. The rest of the characters all have secrets and difficulties with being back where they grew up though, increasing the suspense when reading, which was good to see. So overall, it was a good read for me. 

Links for you

Savage in the Library:

Woman in the dark

Read-a-likes in the Library:

Mother-in-law

Sally Hepworth

This novel has an unreliable narrator as well and focusses on secrets in a psychological suspense genre. The author is also Australian. There is an eBook copy of this also if you prefer, available in the library here.

In a dark, dark wood

Ruth Ware

This book is similar as it is a psychological suspense novel where the protagonist wakes up in hospital and does not remember what happened. And what happened was something horrible. 

Read-a-likes in cloudLibrary:

When the lights go out

Mary Kubica

Is a psychological suspense novel with an unreliable narrator. 

David Jackson's "Resident"

 

You can find this book here.

Who wants Thomas Brogan living in their loft (or attic)? No one. 

Brogan is a serial killer who is on the run from the police. He finds an abandoned home with a loft that has a secret: the loft joins to three other houses. This of course will make a lot of fun for a serial killer no one knows is living up there. Oh, the games he intends to play with the neighbours!

The book is a first-person narrative; though most of the conversation Brogan has is with the voice in his head. To be honest, without this element, the book would be a boring read because most of the book is him watching and playing games to gauge reactions from the people below him. 

The perspective of a serial killer was interesting. You slowly find out about Brogan as the novel goes on and possibly motivations for why he does what he does. But since he talks to a voice in his head, you also know he's not sane. 

Because the book focusses on a very restricted environment, there is a sense of claustrophobia to it. There is enough information to attach yourselves to the characters in the book; though whether you grow sympathetically to Brogan's situation or not is up to you when you read it. 

Watch out for the black humour; and though the reviews on the cover suggest it is a thriller, I found it a slow burn and not very creepy. This is good though, because it builds tension rather slowly, shows you the state of Brogan and other characters and possibly even the claustrophobia they feel, even though they aren't stuck up in an attic. 

It wasn't terrifying, but it was a little bit of fun.

Links for you:

Read-a-likes in the Library:

Please be aware that I have chosen these read-a-likes because their point of view (POV) of the main character is that of the killer, stalkker, etc.

You and Hidden bodies

Caroline Kepnes

Dexter: an omnibus

Jeff Lindsay

American psycho: a novel

Brett Easton Ellis

Highlight: Western fiction

 

Before we get even more of a fix on any Western fiction coming to the Library this year, let's highlight some of last year's arrivals that you may not have read yet!

Click on the covers to be taken to the catalogue so you can reserve your copy!

William W. Johnstone had been writing fiction, particularly Western fiction, from 1979. This totalled to over two hundred books (though not two hundred Westerns). After his death; the name continued with his nephew J. A Johnstone so that the Westerns he was well known for could continue coming. 

The Jensen boys are back! They find themselves inside the meanest, dirtiest prison in the Arizona territory with no chance of surviving unless they bust out of their hellhole.

Once upon a time in the Old West, Buck Trammel was a Pinkerton agent with a promising future. But after a tragic incident in a case gone wrong, he struck out for the wide-open spaces of Wichita, Kansas. But soon enough, his gun skills are put to the test. The Bowman gang show up, turning a friendly card game with a Wyoming cattleman into a killer-takes-all shooting match. Buck saves the cattleman's life, but at the cost of Bowman's two sons. That's when Deputy Wyatt Earp arrives. He warns Buck that he'd better get out of town, pronto, and take the cattle baron with him. The rest is history--if he lives long enough to tell it.

E. Jefferson Clay is a pseudonym for the Australian author, comic book writer and illustrator Paul Wheelahan. So not only should I be highlighting the fact he was an Aussie, but also his talent at Western fiction. Again, his novels ranged in the hundreds as well; but be aware that because he has passed these books are reprints ... still as good as they were the first time round!

They are an odd pair: a one-time Union captain and the former Confederate sergeant. They'd fought each other during the Battle of Pea Ridge and then ended up fighting shoulder to shoulder when a common enemy showed his face and stole two hundred thousand dollars' worth of Confederate gold. Hank Brazos and Duke Benedict never forgot that day, or each other. And when their trails cross again after the War, they team up to reclaim the gold for themselves and get revenge for that day back in 1862.

There was trouble in Fortitude Valley. Someone had set up a lumber camp smack in the middle of cattle country run by paroled convicts! Hank Brazos and Duke Benedict are back and hired to keep the peace between the lumber camp and the Cattleman's Association; however, they have instead landed themselves right in the middle of an all-out war, in which neither side intends to go down without a fight...

Stop! Grammar time.

 

The first Grammar Time of the new year! What does it bring?

OXYMORONS

An oxymoron is when two words with opposite meanings are placed next to each other in the sentence. 

The sentence then looks like it is a contradiction of terms; however, it can add drama to your sentence or speech, or it can make the reader or listener stop and think or laugh at the idea. 

One of the most used oxymorons in Australia is:

Yeah nah

It can be written in different ways (yeah-nah or yeahnah), but that doesn't change its meaning or impact. 

'Yeah nah' actually means that yes, I have heard you speak; no, I don't agree with you. It is a phrase that may minimise offense when you think the person you are speaking with is wrong though you understand what they are saying, or if you think it is a bad idea and won't go along with it. Of course, if there is a longer pause between the words; then the point is being made more strongly that there is disagreement. 

Also with oxymorons, 'yeah nah' can go in the opposite direction: nah yeah

Head spinner! Particularly because whilst it can mean the opposite of 'yeah nah', it also necessarily doesn't. Maybe something was missed from the conversation and so nah, I see your point, but yeah there's also this to consider. Or, maybe it is just to highlight the fact that something isn't right, or it is silly, or it doesn't make sense: nah that's wrong, and yeah I/we know it's wrong. 

I know it is a long explanation; but it shows the depth of oxymorons. There are also plenty of others that are more well-known globally:

That's the same difference.

You are clearly confused.

I better act naturally. 

A small crowd gathered to watch the bittersweet performance.

What others can you think of?

Staff pick: Jane Coverdale's "Jasmine wife"

 

You can find this book here.

Coverdale's novel is a classic historical romance set in India. As the blurb on the back says:

Sara Archer's future as the dutiful wife of a British official in India seems assured, until a chance meeting with the gorgeous and powerful Ravi Sabran changes everything. Under the heat of the Indian sun, the veneer of polite society wears off quickly and soon Sara realises that nothing is as it appears to be, especially her husband Charles. But in the beautiful jasmine gardens of the Maharajah's palace, Sara follows a forbidden path away from her bullying husband, towards Ravi and the long-buried secrets of her own birth.

Romance novels tend to follow very defined patterns, as does any genre, and this book was no exception to that. You may not be surprised by much in this romantic story, but you might enjoy some of the characters. 

Sara, for example, is 'ahead of her time' for the historical setting; being influenced by the beginnings of the Suffragette movement and feeling more at home around the Indian population than the stuffy, bigoted English. This may or may not bother you, depending on whether you think it is realistic or not for Sara to be so open-minded during this period. 

Whilst this novel is not historic in terms of specific dates or even possibly specific events that may have occurred during the time; the descriptions and colours of the environment are very strong. As Coverdale comes from an Art Director and Scenic Artistry background, this makes sense. 

The pace is slow. So, if you like romance and action to move quickly, this may not be the read for you. However, it shows a lot of restraint of characters trying to understand emotions, duties and responsibilities and how to balance these two things together. That might be of interest to you. It is more about characters understanding themselves than an epic romance.