Writer stalked by lovesick  fan
590794
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  Jewel Cave is a thriller, a story about obsession, kidnapping and how a mild, unassuming writer of thrillers runs afoul of a lonely fan.  Clint and Griff have been in a committed relationship for ten years. Griff is a US Marshall and Clint at least a moderately successful author who enjoys interacting with his fans on social media. More trusting than savvy, he doesnt see the signs that Dylan is preparing to act on his fantasy that they are in love.

Clint and Griff are so normal, its kind of endearing and the strong bond between them is clearly portrayed. What we never find it what has changed in their relationship that they have not been intimate for seven monthsthats a long time!

Told in alternating viewpoints with the two main characters, the action moves along quickly. When Clint disappears, Griff and his colleagues swing into action.  The writing is good and the action moves quickly. This is a short book, and so much happens that toward the end, I felt a lack of connection to the characters because not much time was spent on going into more depth about their feelings and reactions.  Also, the clues Griff follows fell into place neatly and without much trouble. Maybe a little too pat.

Still, the first two thirds were absorbing enough to keep me reading. If you enjoy thrillers about nice people victimized through no fault of their own and don't mind the lack of depth in the characterization, this book may be for you.
2170959
Hand's novel is by turns fascinating and repellent, drug-fueled, disconnected photojournalist Cassandra Neary bearing the scars of her love affair with East Village nihilism, long past her sell-by date, yet still enamored of subjects no longer animated by a life force, her book of images, Dead Girls, a cult collector's item. Her shabby apartment cluttered with memories and the detritus of self-abuse, Cass's gift and burden is an artist's eye for genius, a nirvana rarely reached since those first heady years, the craving for chemicals unchanged. An old photograph of a former lover that arrives in the mail from Reykjavik, Iceland, and an unexpected assignment to evaluate a series of "murderabilia" images being sold by a famous former fashion photographer in Helsinki, Finland, are the catalysts for Neary's journey across the globe, the first to earn much-needed funds, the second to reunite with her soul's jagged mirror-image, Quinn O'Boyle.

"I don't care who's buying the round as long as he pays." Cassandra's cavalier attitude changes when she inspects the famous photographer's extraordinary series of "Yuleboys" (Jolasveinar), Nordic demons traced to the earliest religious beliefs in the area, the photographs priceless in a flourishing black market specializing in the esoterica of perversion. A growing discomfort shadows Cass's every move after viewing the images; as instinct inspires her impulsive flight to Iceland, headlines of brutal murders explode in Finland, the perfectly-ordered world of a genius shattered in a gruesome tableau of battered flesh. Cass navigates the dystopian landscape of an economically-ravished Reykjavik, reconnecting with the elusive Quinn only to discover that murder has followed in a wake of violence, danger her traveling companion, evoking Neary's routinely confrontational response to threat.

Paralleling Neary's emotional state, Reykjavik exists in the absence of light, strewn with vacant buildings and desperate souls. Fleeing a murderer's pursuit, Cass collides with her secret past, enmeshed with Quinn in an unraveling confederacy of voyeurs, a pact of jaded collectors stalking the illuminated death. As in Generation Loss, Hand's sharp prose is as seductive and dreadful as the chemicals flooding Neary's veins, an inanimate camera's eye capturing the fleeting spark of life, the incandescent moment on the bridge between here and there, the ambiguity of perfection and decay. The depraved, the criminal, the indifferent and the mad roar in metal rock cacophony, Cass and Quinn forced into complicity. Provocative and unpredictable, Cass is compelling in her abandon, a heroine with the social sensitivity of ground glass, this time flying too close to the sun, a fate Cass intuits long before her flight to Finland: "The edge where I'd lived for all these years was starting to look like a precipice." Luan Gaines/2012.
4872901
Note: I received This is the Story of a Happy Marriage from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

I've been an Ann Patchett fan for years. I loved State of Wonder and adored The Patron Saint of Liars, so when I was given the opportunity to read about Ann Patchett by Ann Patchett, I jumped. And boy, am I glad I did! Confession: I had no idea she started out writing magazine articles. I consider myself to be pretty up-to-snuff when it comes to the writing histories of authors I love, but for some reason I never did much Patchett research. I think this is probably a good thing because it lent an air of mystery to her work.

My favorite essay from the book was The Getaway Car. In it, she discusses how she became a writer and gives advice (like don't get an MFA because it's a waste of money) and her self-deprecating process of writing a book. In it, she details the circumstances around writing The Patron Saint of Liars, which is my favorite book by her, and I loved reading the backstory. I think I might actually go back and reread it now that I have some insight into her writing processes.

Voracious readers will love this book. As a writer who is writing about writing (follow all that?), Patchett's love for all things literary is palpable. I, for one, relished in her descriptions of reading, wanting to be a writer as a child, putting pen to paper, and actually put down the book to write a short, personal essay just because she inspired me.
But enough talking about the book. Run to the library and get your copy NOW!
3070071
It's obvious that Professor Shea is a fan of James Merrill (he used a translation by Merrill on the frontispiece and mentions him frequently) and equally obvious that he is NOT a fan of Patience Worth (PW as he calls her, negating her personhood) or Pearl Curran.  Shea is talented in that he can recount sundry facts, opinions, rumors, unrelated verbosities and gossip about Patience Worth or Pearl Curran or quote any disjointed, out-of-context line of poetry, prose or table-talk of Patience Worth and drone on and on and mutilate it in a mishmash of professorial double-talk that supports his view that Patience Worth was nothing but a self-serving alter ego of Pearl Curran. There are of course those who will agree with him and those who will not.  If you are one of the former, you will enjoy this book; if you are one of the latter---maybe not!
4288458
Obsession is the key word. If you can handle that thought it is a warm and fuzzy feeling. Might read more of her.
3026130
She has a new fan with me. Wrote her and she wrote me back. I thought that was so nice. Since reading this book a few days ago I have got a lot more of Gillian work. Planning on reading them all.
4650633
Creepy Crawls is an inspirational book for both aspiring writers and horror movie fanboys.  Originally published as a series of articles in various top notch horror magazines, collecting all of the travel log entries and locales into one place spares everyone the trouble of searching through back issues.  Most importantly, Mr. Marcelo did something that a lot of fans never do: he actually did something with his fandom and wrote a book about his interests and experiences.  The detail of his book indeed does come from a lifetime of traveling and indulging in his dark delights, to copy Mr. Marcelo's Crypt Keeper style of writing.  I'm hoping that others follow in his footsteps and learn to take their passion and indulgences and turn them into something we all can enjoy and learn from.
1798991
Reading this book of fans' recollections of their youthful devotion to various bands and singers was like taking a trip down memory lane. Most of these fans eventually became rock writers and the book is edited and introduced by well-known music critic John Aizlewood. To mention just some of the authors and their fave artists, we find Stuart Maconie on Elvis Costello, Aizlewood on Dexy's Midnight Runners, John Bauldie on Bob Dylan, Danny Kelly on The Clash, Sheryl Garratt on The Bay City Rollers,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Lucy-O-Brien/dp/0826472087/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Lucy O'Brien</a>&nbsp;on Siouxsie and The Banshees, David Sinclair on Mick Jagger, Sid Griffin on&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Gram-Parsons/dp/B000002LKH/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Gram Parsons</a>&nbsp;and D.J. Taylor on The Jam.

My favorite pieces include Bauldie's "Simple Twist Of Fate" where he describes his discovery of pop music via Radio Luxembourg up to actually meeting Dylan, Danny Kelly's "White Riot" in which he narrates his discovery of&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Clash/dp/B00002MVQM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Clash</a>&nbsp;via his early love of reggae music, Garratt's "All Of Me Loves All Of You", a very amusing piece of a young girl who discovered The Bay City Rollers in 1975 and eventually became editor of The Face magazine and Lucy O'Brien's "A Kiss In The Dreamhouse", about her early worship of and later encounters with&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Siouxsie/dp/B000S850GS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Siouxsie</a>. And "Beast of Burden," David Sinclair's essay on&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Mick-Jagger/dp/0007245815/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Mick Jagger</a>&nbsp;and the Stones. Many of the histories are set in the middle to late seventies and are filled with references to the clubs, records, magazines, bands and tours of the punk era.

Although all the different contributions make for interesting reading, there are some that I didn't really relate to as I do not know the artists - these include David Cavanagh's "Hell Of A Summer" about The Triffids, John Fordham's "Goin' Out Of My Head" on Wes Montgomery, Steve Lamacq's "Eat Yourself Whole" on Kingmaker and Mick Houghton's "Halfway To Paradise" on Billy Fury. The contribution of Mike Edwards (of Jesus Jones) on his love of Arabic music breaks the mould a bit and here I do know some of the artists he mentions, like Fairuz, Samira Tewfiq,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Ofra-Haza/dp/B000008U6H/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Ofra Haza</a>&nbsp;and Oum Kulthoum. Sid Griffin's piece on Gram Parsons is very personal and poignant, one of the best amongst a set of fascinating fan histories.

The book concludes with short notes on the contributors. Love Is The Drug is a great read as most of the pieces are free of pretension, very honest, often funny, memoirs of a time when your favorite band or singer meant everything in the world. It is something with which most lovers of popular music can identify.
273962
Fueled by the twin engines of the writer's love and cynicism, this funny, fabulous, sweeping essay places you right smack in the heady world of Comic-Con and keeps building steam. Wolk illuminates what he calls the "bacchanalian 100-hour orgy of fandom" in touching and hilarious detail, covering the rise of "transmedia," and how "the new movies look like comic books. All the new video games look like movies. All the new comic books look like video games. All the new vinyl toys look like Broadway shows, board games, fragrance lines..." A must-read for those that loved and still love comics.
4082198
This is a story of obsession that goes beyond the object being obsessed about.  Leif and Oola are in their twenties when they meet and were attracted to each other.  Leif has been getting house sitting jobs all over the world and Oola joins him.  During their travels from one house to the next, they only have each other and become isolated.  Leifs obsession with Oola keeps growing until he not only wants to know every inch of her, both physically and mentally, but he wants to become her.

I chose this book because of the beautiful writing by the author that the publisher promised.  And yes, there is beautiful writing in this book, as well as crude, rough language.  The author writes with wit and black humor but I found the book to be very drawn out in parts and offensive in other parts.  I find obsession fascinating and usually like strange, unsettling books but this book also involves drugs, fetishism and gender bending.  Though in thinking about it, Ive read other books involving those topics that I thought highly of.  This one was just too coarse for me.  I think the author does a good job in showing the deterioration of this relationship but I think it possibly requires a younger, more modern audience.  Overall, it just wasn't for me though I did appreciate the authors talent.

This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
335973
In the days before co-writers, how delightful that actors were so erudite.  Here is a man who is beyond articulate and writes with such heart that this book is a joy to read.  It's a love story, not only about his wife, Helen, but also his craft.  They don't make them like that anymore.
3833401
Calista Langley operates an exclusive introduction agency in Victorian London, catering to respectable ladies and gentlemen who find themselves alone in the world. But now, a dangerously obsessed individual has begun sending her trinkets and gifts suitable only for those in deepest mourninga black mirror, a funeral wreath, a ring set with black jet stone. Each is engraved with her initials.

Desperate for help and fearing that the police will be of no assistance, Calista turns to Trent Hastings, a reclusive author of popular crime novels. Believing that Calista may be taking advantage of his lonely sister, who has become one of her clients, Trent doesnt trust her. Scarred by his past, hes learned to keep his emotions at bay, even as an instant attraction threatens his resolve.

But as Trent and Calista comb through files of rejected clients in hopes of identifying her tormentor, it becomes clear that the danger may be coming from Calistas own secret pastand that only her death will satisfy the stalker.

My Review:
Til Death Do Us Part was an enjoyable read although I would have categorized the book under mystery and not romance. My reasons for that is the fact that our h/h felt emotionally disconnected from one another. There's passion in between them but there's no emotional reference, they only feel like they're going through the motions instead of actually feeling what is going on between them. That doesn't take away from the rest of the story but it does leave you feeling a little unfulfilled as their relationship continues. That's the only thing that I wanted more out of the story about. The rest of the adventure, the problem solving, and discovery was interesting and fun.

My Rating:
4 Stars

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Krissys Bookshelf Reviews

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Disclaimer:
Krissys Bookshelf Reviews received a print copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, comments and ratings are my own.

Source:
Received a print copy in exchange for an honest review from Penguin Publishing.

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If any of Krissys Bookshelf Reviews has been helpful please stop by to like or let me know what you think! Thank you!
3553617
Massachusetts author Sharon Love Cook is not only a polished writer who leans toward what she terms `cozy mysteries', but she is also a cartoonist, a rescuer of stray cats (she is the VP of Friends of Beverly Animals, a nonprofit that raises money for the care and feeding of abandoned pets, a sometimes stand- up comic, and one of those authors so full of good ideas that the reader feels the urge to call her to meet for coffee.  She grew up in Gloucester, Massachusetts but now lives in another coastal town - Beverly, just north of Boston, the oldest working seaport in the US. Credentials (outside of being a fascinating person with a keen sense of pacing in tale-telling): she received her BA form Montserrat College and her Masters in writing and Literature from Bennington college. All of the foregoing preparation has thus far resulted in three novels - two (including this one) from the Granite Cove Mysteries Series.

A quick summary of the story of A DEADLY CHRISTMAS CAROL is best related in the author's version: `Reporter Rose McNichols has an opportunity to write about a mediums class given by Hyacinth Chitwick, the charismatic though prickly wife of Pastor Walter Chitwick. That night, after the class, Rose discovers the body of Dionne Dunbar, one of Hyacinth's students, in the road, a hit and run victim. Rose has reason to suspect it wasn't accidental. However, no one believes her. While Rose searches for the truth behind Dionne's death, rehearsals are taking place for a community production of A Christmas Carol...' But only scans the surface of the pleasure derived from settling into Cook's cozy mystery. The writing style is natural, unafraid to use contemporary expletives when indicated, keen on development of the mystery aspect, painting (she is an artist afterall) characters so real they feel like they have steeped out of a photogravure, and a sense of community too often lacking in contemporary literature.

Sharon Love Cook certainly bears watching (the immediate response after reading one of her books is to tap into the others and wait for more to come). Hers are books to tuck into places chosen specially for escapism and warmth. Grady Harp, June 14
2173531
This is a literate book of a terrifying perversion of the need for connection.  So searing is the book, I hesitated to review the book.  This is a tale of the relationship of the writer to the critic gone terribly astray.  Lasdun's stalker had been in one of his consortium and as such had revealed her work to him.  As he points out, the early exchange of the vulnerable writer to the now powerful critic has all the fear and allure of self disclosure.  It made me look again in fact, at the whole process of reviews.

I do think Lasdun does lose his way at some points in his own self exploration and his extensive literary set of connections.  However he is at great pains to understand how the above board appropriate interchange of student and teacher later loses its way in the then adult stalker.  His vulnerability as a white, Jewish teacher interacting with a Persian, ex student in a digital age of the anonymous assault on personality is a lesson in point.  Even hyper aware as he is through his deep reading of literature and fable, he does miss the early signs.

This is an interesting book, if sometimes over torturous in allusions.
2463736
I have looked the reviews for this author's books and one person appears to be out to get him. what a shame. I have never met the man but love his work. This was a great first novel. To  bad sombody our there HAS NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN TRY TO SMEAR THIS MAN'S WRITING.
2681353
KCC has written an unsuspecting love story between a well known author and a book store owner. The book store owner, a man, is stalked and makes a decision contrary to the legalities of the law. This it's an excellent read for th genre.....ER
4214676
I have seen a few episodes of "That Metal Show", and I always figured Eddie Trunk was just a kind of superfan who gets to hang out with his 80's rock idols. Turns out I am right. But he has also worked in rock radio in NYC for more than 25 years, so he comes honestly by his relationships with the rockers.

But he *is* a nerdy superfan. And this book is his love letter to the bands he adores. Each chapter covers a band or singer. Trunk gives us trivia, favorite songs, underground classics, and lots of vintage photos. He also fills his chapters with a very healthy dose of personal anecdote, a factor that is both the book's salvation and it's shame.

The Guide is by no means exhaustive, and it doesn't provide a lot of biographical and discographical info that your standard fan of the genre didn't already know. His personal stories make the book worth reading. My favorite is the night Sebastian Bach got Axl Rose to come on Eddie's radio show during the Chinese Democracy era. Axl hadn't done studio interviews in years, and he apparently hasn't done many since. Eddie talks about he was scared to death someone in the group, especially wrestler Chris Jericho, would say the wrong thing and make Axl leave. He describes it as a bomb specialist afraid of cutting the wire that sets off the explosion.

But if the personal details make the book worth reading, they also come with an obnoxious level of name-droppage. He's constantly referring to "My good friend Mike Piazza" or talking about how special Halford or Dio or this guy or that guy are in his career and life. I can get it -- he's a superfan, remember -- but it gets old.