The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman – Book Review

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman – Book

The education system, as a whole, is a real pain. By the time you earn a serious qualification, you’re already neck-deep in debt. If you’re studying to become a thief, the situation is even worse. The Association of Thieves, known as the Takers’ Guild, is well aware that from this point on, you possess every skill necessary to make money. So, they’ll make you work your guts out for them. Kinch Na Shannack, the protagonist of The Blacktongue Thief, finds himself in an even worse predicament. The mysterious mission he’s forced into offers nothing but loss. However, Christopher Buehlman’s readers are in for a treat, as Kinch Na Shannack’s adventures are incredibly entertaining.

Christopher Buehlman – A Refreshing Voice in Fantasy

Standing out in the fantasy genre is no easy feat, that’s for sure. On one hand, there’s an overproduction crisis, and on the other, thanks to sites like Goodreads, it’s often the most mediocre works that gather the biggest fanbases (see: S. A. Chakraborty’s City of Brass). Yet, the multi-talented Buehlman—writer, poet, actor, comedian—has the ability to disarm readers almost immediately, particularly with his humor.

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Gone For Good by Harlan Coben – Book Review

Gone For Good by Harlan Coben – Book Cover

I think I’ve found the most accurate three sentences that I will use from now on to start every review of a Harlan Coben book. They go like this: “There are two types of Harlan Coben. The brilliant author of the Myron Bolitar series. And the other one, who writes all his other books.” The Klein family’s past, marked by a brutal murder and a brother who disappeared a decade ago, belongs to the other Coben’s works. However, with Gone For Good, it’s not something you can clearly decide until almost the very end.

Harlan Coben, Master of Suburban Thrillers

Indeed. That’s why I usually stop reading all his books after a few pages. Except, of course, for the aforementioned series. The cynicism, coolness, and darkness of the Bolitar books are so sorely lacking in his other works that they all come across as uninteresting. Fortunately, Gone For Good is a different case.

The trials of the Klein family, plagued by grief and ostracism, set a sufficiently grim tone right from the start. This is compounded by a mystery that has remained unsolved for 11 years. But it’s obvious that things didn’t go down the way the police portray them; after all, there’s no way Ken would kill his beloved younger brother’s ex-girlfriend and then disappear without a trace.

What more does a book need to captivate you even more? Love, of course! And the love between Will and Sheila certainly seems like something made in heaven.

At least, until everything falls apart even more…

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Hunting Evil by Chris Carter – Book Review

Hunting Evil by Chris Carter – Book Cover

Chris Carter has an uncanny ability to tap into the zeitgeist: his crime novels, which verge on slasher horror, manage to satisfy fans of multiple genres at once. His infinitely detailed descriptions of gruesome crimes fill readers with both a shudder and a morbid curiosity. And just when you think Carter is merely rewriting the same book over and over again, the American author delivers An Evil Mind, a true monument to human depravity. Hunting Evil is the sequel to this work.

Experiments of a serial killer

In the preface to Hunting Evil, Chris Carter himself suggests starting with the preceding novel, a recommendation that’s hard to disagree with. Without the context of the sixth installment (see An Evil Mind) of the Robert Hunter series, this book is far less impactful.

Without this background, as you progress through the pages of Hunting Evil, you might mistakenly believe that Lucien Folter is just another annoying, attention-seeking, and thus particularly irritating, subtype of serial killer—a mere clown, so to speak.

You couldn’t be more wrong. An Evil Mind makes it clear that this elusive human chameleon, who aspires to create an encyclopedia of serial killers, is the devil himself!

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Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery – Book Review

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery – Book Cover

When the elderly siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, living in the Prince Edward Island village of Avonlea, request an orphan boy from the orphanage to help with the chores around their home, they are quite surprised to find they’ve received a girl instead. But who on earth needs a girl? Certainly not Marilla, the practical, down-to-earth spinster. So what will happen to Anne Shirley, the freckled, skinny, red-haired, plain-looking eleven-year-old girl? How will she ever become Anne of Green Gables?

Anne Shirley is unwanted by anyone

The girl’s only hope is Matthew, the slow-witted, odd, and shy old man who has a pathological fear of women. He doesn’t even look at them, let alone speak to them. (This is somewhat understandable, of course.) So, Anne Shirley’s chances, to put it mildly, are not very promising…

However, the reclusive Matthew, who sticks out like a sore thumb among his peers, is the first to realize—even before the reader—that the lonely and unwanted Anne needs them far more than they need her. (Understanding that the reverse is also true comes later.)

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