BOOK REVIEW: The Killing Hour, by Paul Cleave

The Killing Hour
Author: Paul Cleave
Publisher: Atria
Publication Date: April 23, 2013
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Source: Edelweiss and NetGalley



Yay! Paul Cleave! I was so pleasantly surprised (okay, thrilled) to stumble upon Paul Cleave's previous novel, The Cleaner, so I was very excited about this one. And then...

I admit this book spent a long time on my ebook reader before I got around to finishing it. I was so excited to read more from Paul Cleave, so what happened? 

BOOK REVIEW: The Summer of Dead Toys, by Antonio Hill

The Summer of Dead Toys
Series: Inspector Salgado

Author: Antonio Hill

Publisher: Random House

Publication Date: June 18, 2013

Source: NetGalley and Edelweiss

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Every time I tried to read The Summer of Dead Toys--which was a lot of times, I had the advanced copy for, like, ever--I had the exact same thought, "Is this the book that's supposed to be so good? Do I have the right book?" And then I'd go and read some of the advanced buzz and reviews and see that everyone seems to love this book. Like crazy love it. So I'd think, "I must just be reading it wrong." And I'd keep reading. Another hundred pages in I'd think, "Surely not EVERYONE loves this book, right? I can't be the only one who is finding it boring as hell, right? Am I?" And I'd look at online reviews and find out that yup, I was. So I again figured I was reading it wrong. By the time I had slogged through two thirds of the book I realized that nothing was going to make me like it but it was too late to stop at that point. So I finished...eventually.

BOOK REVIEW: Murder as a Fine Art, by David Morrell

Murder as a Fine Art, by David Morrell

Published by Mulholland Books on May 7, 2013

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If you took No Country For Old Men (or at least the movie, I haven't read the book), Ripper Street (the British TV show...I only saw one episode but it seemed like turn-of-the-century London meets Law and Order SVU) and Kate Summerscale's The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher (the book, not the TV movie, although that was great as well) and shook them up in a jar, the result would be Murder as a Fine Art. 
David Morrell weaves facts about mid-1800's London (some of which are absolutely horrifying) with a story of a brutal mass murderer (fiction, but based on some real cases, such as the Ratcliffe Highway murders) and injects them with a fictionalized version of the real British essayist Thomas De Quincey (of Confessions of an English Opium Eater fame). De Quincey wrote an essay entitled, "Murder as a Fine Art," which was the inspiration for both Morrell's novel and the killing spree of his fictional character therein. As such, the opium addicted De Quincey (in the novel) becomes the chief suspect in the murders and struggles to clear his name through a fog of drug addiction.

BOOK REVIEW: The Silent Wife, by A.S.A. Harrison (book and audiobook)

The Silent Wife
Author: A.S.A. Harrison
Audiobook Narrators: Karen White and Donald Corren
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: June 25, 2013
Source: Goodreads (paperback from the publisher), audiobook from local library
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I just don't understand the hype about this book. I've had it on my shelf for months and I can't even recall how many times I've picked it up, tried to plough through a few more chapters, only to wonder--again--why it's so boring. Surely it should be better, after all the attention it's gotten? But the characters are not just unlikable, they're downright inscrutable. What is their motivation for anything they do? I couldn't get a handle on any of them, and I absolutely could not get myself to care.