DARK ROADS........A SEASONED THRILL-MASTER TAKES YOU ON ANOTHER CHILLING RIDE...

 Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens (2021) *****

               Since I've been a fervent Chevy Stevens fan since reading "Still Missing" and all her subsequent thrillers, I couldn't wait to inhale this newest one at light speed.

            And once again, she doesn't disappoint with this one, where she took her inspiration from British Columbia's infamous "Highway Of Tears", a long, long lonely stretch of road where many young women have disappeared and later found brutally raped and murdered.

               Fictionalized into the 'Cold Creek' highway, the book concentrates on two very different young women whose paths cross in the Canadian wilderness landscape - and whose paths also cross with the homicidal deranged deviate responsible for abducting , assaulting and killing girls all along the length of the highway..

           17 year old Hailey lost her beloved father in a car accident. With her mother long gone, she ends up in the care of her aunt  and to Hailey's everlasting misery, her aunt's loathsome police officer husband, Vaughn.. Vaughn's an threatening, overbearing bully who seems to rule and control the town as if it's his own personal kingdom., and creepily dominates Hailey like she's his newly inherited piece of property..

           Beth is a a grief stricken young woman who's arrived in the highway's isolated, forbidding town in search of answers about the horrific slaying of her sister Amber - the latest victim found on the Cold Creek highway. (and who'd been a loving girlfriend to Hailey. before disappearing).

             And that's all I would want to reveal here, since all the fun of reading a great thriller comes from investing in the characters as they plunge into all the twists and turns of the story..  And "Dark Roads" is one great thrill ride, especially if you want to read about fiercely strong and resourceful women up against some truly scary formidable threats to their lives.

            As a constant Chevy Stevens reader, I knew sooner or later there'd be a nasty, surprise twist somewhere down the road, and once again, she absolutely came through with it. And I love the way that the natural beauty of the Canadian woods, lakes and rivers  becomes as ominous and frightening as any big city dark alley.

               The suspense and overall atmosphere of dread is top notch here, you'll worry yourself no end for the fate of the two girls and fearfully cringe every time that hateful, menacing Officer Vaughn pops up.. It's simply another 5 star (*****) Chevy Stevens winner, with the added bonus of a surprisingly heartfelt, affecting epilogue as well.  You can never have enough stay-up-all-night thrillers, so here's one more that ought to go to top of everyone's TBR pile.

THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET.......HORRORS TO BREAK YOUR HEART

 The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward (2021)  *****

Like to be creeped out to the point of getting actual chills? Like to be dazzled by so many twists, your head' will spin faster than Linda Blair's in "The Exorcist"?

              Hoo boy, have I got a book for you.

               For anyone who, like me, can never get enough scary thrillers to stay up all night with, this one should go on that list titled  "Books I gotta have in my in my hands like yesterday."

                This one plunges so far down a twisted abyss of psychosis, dysfunction and heartbreak, you may never think you or the book will ever crawl out out of it and see daylight again. 

  
                 Four narrators tell the story here....There's ..Ted, a lonely, strange man living a hermit-like life in a lonely strange house with all the windows boarded up, except for a few peepholes. (Feel free to say "Uh oh....")

                 Also in the house -  Lauren, supposedly Ted's young daughter......though it seems she's most likely  the now grown older Lulu, who, at six years old, vanished from a family lakeside vacation, presumably abducted.. It's an unsolved disappearance that happened not far from Ted's house, which led to Ted being briefly questioned and suspected. 

                And also padding and purring around the premises -  Olivia, Ted's cat. (Yes, she's an active narrator too  and a character as vividly rendered and verbal as Ted and Lauren.

                Finally there's  Dee, Lulu's haunted ,driven older sister, who's moved to Ted's street in the obsessed belief that Lulu's still alive. and a prisoner in that forbidding house as a long time captive of Ted. The police may have quickly taken Ted off their suspect list, but he's been on Dee's for a lifetime.

                Is it possible that these three humans and the feline may or may not be unreliable narrators?

               Are you kidding?  This book takes unreliable narration to almost unheard of, stratospheric heights. This may be the first thriller I've read where virtually every sentence might prove untrustworthy.  You can try to make rational, educated guesses as to what's going on, but nothing can quite prepare you for the actual reveals in store for you.

                As the novel progressively turns sicker, sadder and weirder, author Ward slowly but surely peels away all the secrets and twists like multiple layers of an onion.. And it's one hell of a deep, dark onion.

                And none of these secrets, twists and stunning surprises are anything I'd expected when I started reading it.  Yes, there's horror aplenty here, but as the revelations unfold, I could see this author had way more ambitious intentions on her mind ......to move her readers emotionally.

                And she achieves that brilliantly. This story's designed to haunt and unsettle you long after you've turned the last page.

. 
                I dare not say one more word other than my rating. Without question a 5 star (*****) must read  all the way.  The kind of book that can give you a few nightmares and break your heart at the same time.

THE KAIJU PRESERVATION SOCIETY......MONSTROUS FUN WITH MONSTERS.......

 The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi (2022) ****

                Though I devoured sci-fi as a pre-teen (both books and films) I rarely dip into the genre today.......but how could I resist this one?

                 Kaiju, folks, freakin' Kaiju!  (Japanese for 'strange beast' and the quick 'n easy word to use when referring to Godzilla movies that feature all variety of giant creatures stepping on cities and/or kicking each other's giant asses into oblivion.  

                 Author Scalzi takes the concept of Kaiju and fashions a wild and fun adventure that reads like a screenplay for a future summertime blockbuster.  (If that actually comes about, you'll find us first in line.....)

                 In Covid-wracked NYC, Jamie Gray's reduced to a food delivery driver.......ironic, since he previously served as an executive for a rival GrubHub-type app, until forced out by a slimy new boss.

                Things pick up for him when he signs up to work for what's described to him as...uh......caring and supervising rare animals......

                  Imagine his surprise when the job entails being zapped in a lush jungle on an alternate Earth where massive, mammoth creatures (or 'Kaiju') wander about.  The creatures, so titanic, they're covered with dangerous man-sized, crab-like parasites, also have built in nuclear reactors in their guts. 

                   So you don't want to be anywhere near a Kaiju if they become so distressed that they literally detonate, nuking themselves and everything else in their vicinity.  You know the feeling.....we all get it when we turn on the evening news.......

                  Jamie's so-called 'heavy lifting' job takes him and a team of scientists on harrowing helicopter missions that circle around the creatures, keeping tabs on the monsters as they mate and spawn and otherwise stomp around.  And the book renders all of this with a huge amounts of thrills and humor. 

                   The suspense and potential danger ramp up even more with the arrival of a visiting 'tourist' group of bigwigs and corporate execs.......including the douchebag who fired Jamie. 

                   For everyone (including me) who's reaching exhaustion from the whole 'multiverse' thing, don't let that keep you away from this book.  The pace is fast, the action non-stop and the wit makes it a roaring good read.  4 stars (****)

                   

MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW.......A TEEN RAISED ON SLASHERS PREPARES FOR AN EPIC CLASH

 My Heart Is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (2021)

                  Even with the tantalizing subject matter of slasher movies and "final" girls, nobody should approach this book thinking it's going to be a fun, breezy, lightning fast, hot buttered popcorn treat to read.

                  On the contrary, it bears the heavy density (and sometimes obtuseness and pretension ) of literary fiction, a slow, tortuous journey through the troubled mind of its lead character.

                  And unless readers come to this novel pre-equipped with an encyclopedic knowledge of the last 60 years of slasher/splatter films along with their casts and director credits, they might consider keeping IMDB cued up on a separate device for instant references as they read..

                  If you're willing to take the plunge (and as a lifelong hardcore movie buff I couldn't possibly resist), you're in a for a deeply thought out, deeply disturbing 10 course meal not only in slasher lore but in ALL the American ills  -  the mistreatment of Native Americans, the toxic economic disparity in today's society, systemic racism and horrific, hidden sexual abuse of children. 

                   Half Indian 17 year old Jade lives an internally solitary life as her lakeside community's oddball outcast resident juvenile delinquent.  As an escape from all of those who abuse, mock, torment and chastise her, she lives in her own private world governed by the tropes of all the slasher movies she knows by heart (such as the "Halloween", "Friday The  13th" and "Nightmare On Elm Street" series.)......films that she worships as practically Holy Scripture.

                  With proof of  the mysterious deaths of two young tourists, Jade's convinced herself that her town now plays host to a genuine slasher with a revenge-fueled agenda and that a blood-soaked body count is imminent - most likely during the town's big annual 4th of July celebration on the lake.

                    She's even picked out and anointed the girl she's designated as the Final Girl  - the traditional Last Girl Standing in every slasher movie. In this case it's the stunningly perfect Letha Mondragon, daughter of one of the ultra wealthy newcomers to the town who are building their own mini-kingdom of McMansions along the lake shoreline. 

                     Along the way to the expected spectacular slaughter bloodbath (which really has more in common with the 2010 remake of "Piranha" than a slasher flick), Jade tries to desperately orchestrate events according to her slasher precepts - including grooming and preparing Letha to assume her role of the Final Girl who steps up to do battle with the monstrous killer.

                     But as in real life and horror films alike, things go awry for Jade, leading her to confront  amidst literally a sea of carnage, all of the horrors in her life, especially the very worst of her inner torments. 

                    As I already mentioned in this review, this is no easy-peasy, walk-in-the-park to read, even though it will no doubt make you smile and nod at the hundreds upon hundreds of slasher-splatter film reference (some going all the way back to the genre's roots in the 1960's Italian gorefests like Mario Bava's '"Bay Of Blood")

                     "My Heart Is A Chainsaw" is a quite the staggering, ambitious effort, equal to any of Stephen King's  600 page door-stoppers. True, it does sometimes bear the labored overwriting that afflicts uppercrust literary fiction, but as a lifelong consumer of horror novels and films, I still  found it a 4 star feast to behold.  (****).

THE LAST TO VANISH......TRAILS AND TRIBULATIONS IN APPALACHIA.......

 The Last To Vanish by Megan Miranda (2022)    

               I wish I liked this more because the set-up for it promises a creepy good time. 

              Off we go to the Passage Inn in the woods and mountains of North Carolina. The guests can shop and dine at Cutter's Pass, the cozy little town just down the road. Then they can strap on their backpacks and go hiking up the Appalachian Trail....or less challenging but equally scenic spots surrounding the inn.

              Except that every so often, they disappear forever with no trace. Sometimes in whole bunches. Sometimes one at a time. With no bodies ever recovered, no wonder the place gets dubbed the most dangerous place to vacation.

               These ominous mysteries hovering over the Inn don't sit well with its young manager Abigail Lovett nor the guy who just checked in, the brother of a journalist who was the last to disappear. And the journalist, wouldn't you know it, was there investigating all the previous missing victims. 

                 Yes, an intriguing premise.......and host of potential suspects who populate the town. 

                  And then the book commits what I consider one of the most heinous, debilitating mistakes that any author of thrillers can make. It plunges head first into the quicksand of the lead character's internal thoughts, fears, suspicions, and assorted musings.

                 You know what that means........pages and pages of uninteresting prose as Abigail blah-blah-blahs to herself while struggling, ever so slowly, to pry loose all the secrets out of Cutter's Pass.

                 Thrillers that fall down this overwriting rabbit hole seem to dare me not finish them......though in the interests of this blog and you, dear visitors, I pressed on.

                  When the big reveals and twists finally arrive in the final pages, I can only say they vary in credulity.......and you may or may not swallow some of them. 

                  If you're a fan of Megan Miranda's previous books, you'll want to check this one out. Because I've enjoyed some of her other books, I didn't want to pass this one up .but I don't think it'll  stand among her best.  A few scary, atmospheric moments scattered about, but overall a mediocre effort. 2 stars (**). 

            

THE GATEKEEPER.....A CHEEKY ACTION HERO THWARTS A VAST CONSPIRACY

 The Gatekeeper by James Byrne (2022)

            Wow, simply wow. The most fun, most thrilling, and most purely entertaining read I've had so far this year.

             How could you not love this? A 90 mile an hour pace, bone crushing action, and all of it liberally seasoned with moments to make you smile or burst into laughter.

             On top of all that, you witness the birth of an unforgettable new action hero......the ever polite and charming Desmond Aloysius Limerick.......who's like a mad, mad, mad combination of Jack Reacher, James Bond, Popeye, the Hulk, Crocodile Dundee and the Lucky Charms Leprechaun.\

            Yes, he's magically delicious......a battle-hardened, soldier-of-fortune mercenary with a twinkle in his eye, a ready quip on his lips, and sometimes a rock 'n roll guitar bass player (keyboards too, if called upon.)

             And just like Jack Reacher, he stumbles upon, through no fault of his own, a stunning, high powered corporate goddess just as a horde of heavily armed commandos try to abduct her.

             Her rescue by "Dez" is only the beginning..... as it leads to our hero uncovering, unraveling, outwitting, and doing fierce battle with a vast national conspiracy literally ripped from today's ever toxic headlines.

              Along the way, very much like Robert B. Parker's Boston P.I. Spenser, Dez deploys his understated but deadly razor sharp wit to confound and enrage a host of clueless folks who make the mistake of underestimating him. (Not to mention they've no sense of ironic humor)

              I can't even remember the last time I had as good a time diving into a new action-adventure book as I did with this one. And I can only hope that author Byrne is right now busy working on the the 'Gatekeeper's next adventure. Here's hoping he doesn't keep any of us waiting too long. 5 stars (*****).

THE MAID......AN UNLIKELY DETECTIVE ACHIEVES A STATE OF PERFECTION...

 The Maid by Nita Prose (2022)

Molly, you had me at hello........

            Let me state right out that I'm head over heels in love with Molly the Maid, the indomitable and oddly enough adorable young woman who narrates her own story here.

            I don't think I've ever used the word delightful in describing a book I've discussed or reviewed but  it seems like that's the perfect adjective to describe Nita Prose's "The Maid"

           While the book might be easily categorized as comic cozy mystery, after a few chapters, I began to thoroughly enjoy it as kind of a modern day fairy-tale fable.  

             Molly, a super efficient maid at a plush luxury hotel, is almost like a Brothers Grimm Princess........she's clearly on the autism spectrum (possibly Asperger's Syndrome) and incapable of processing sarcasm, irony or similar subtleties in her everyday interactions with people.  Her guile-free, sometimes awkwardly direct way of communicating had led to a life where she's subjected to abuse, insults and mockery from those who misunderstand her and can't comprehend that her mind's wired differently..

              At the hotel, she's cruelly duped  by the shifty, criminal barman whom she's nursed a crush on and finds herself falsely charged with drug dealing and the murder of the hotel's most prestige guest, a corporate bigwig.  (You won't know whether to laugh or wince or do both as Molly's straight-ahead behavior confounds and exasperates police detectives, lawyers and judges as she tumbles into the criminal justice system..)

              Take heart,, though, there's a group of 'good eggs' (as Molly would refer to them) who rally 'round her as her own Scooby-Doo gang and help her put things right.....

             I found Molly and her story far more interesting than the murder mystery itself....which does wrap up with a deft, neat twist. Once her trials and tribulations reach a peak halfway through the book, the second half becomes a lengthy, but nevertheless smile-inducing journey that makes for one of most satisfying, pleasurable reads I've had all year.  

              You may laugh out loud more than few times and you may have to hold back a tear or two in Molly's backstory of being raised in decency, good manners, and devotion to obsessive cleanliness by her beloved late grandmother. 

               Molly announces to the hotel guests, "I'm here to return your room to a state of perfection.".  I think that's what NIta Prose has done with Molly's story.....told it to a 5 star state of perfection. (*****)