The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell

Book Two on my quest to read all the 2011 Alex Awards. I requested these without even reading the summaries so my first thought upon starting Reapers was basically that I wasn't sure the world needed (or that I could handle reading) another zombie book.

Temple won me over.

Temple is 15, she's been born into a world where zombies exist and she is definitely a product of this new world. She accepts her world, at times revels in it, but carries its weight on her shoulders. She is my favorite type of female protagonist. She's strong, she's assertive, she's pragmatic, she's far from perfect.

She's also basically a drifter and a loner, but when one of the undead wash up on her island sanctuary she knows its time to move on. The novel follows her on her journey from place to place meeting different groups of survivors until the day she meets up with an unresponsive man and her fate becomes entwined with his.

I liked the setting. This is basically the wild west. There are vigilantes, there are the modern day equivalent of wagon trains, there are new "cities" where people are forging a new life for themselves. There are also grotesque things that will make your skin crawl (Spoiler --> like mainlining zombie brains holyeffincrap!!! <-- end spoiler) But, you know, there are ZOMBIES so there is bound to be some nastiness.

I'm a little torn on the ending, one the one hand the story was barreling to that conclusion and on the other hand it seemed a little over the top.

=====================================
Book Source = Library Copy

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I've been on a Sarah Waters kick ever since I picked up a couple of her books at a booksale. First I read Fingersmith, which was perfection. Next I picked up The Little Stranger, and although these are set in very different time periods (Victorian England versus Post WWII England) I can see that she has a distinct writing style. She's very descriptive, she keeps us a bit distant from her characters, and she infuses her books with foreboding and a constant creeping sense of dread. Bad things are coming people! BAD THINGS!!!

The Little Stranger introduces us to an upper class family who has fallen on hard times, their estate is literally crumbling down around them. Enter a country doctor who manages to insert himself into their daily life. The book is told from his perspective as he becomes friendly with the family and witnesses their complete disintegration.

From his point of view they are suffering from hysteria or mental illness as one by one they succumb to the belief that there is something evil in the house that wants to hurt them. We are never sure whether or not this is really true. Faraday, the doctor, does not seem to be the most reliable narrator. From the beginning, I really disliked him. It seemed distasteful to me how he insinuated himself into the family, I was never sure whether or not I trusted him. Did he just want to jump into a higher class? Or did he genuinely care for them? He was complex enough that I think either could be true, or both, and the author certainly never clears it up for us. But by the end of the book I was thoroughly disgusted with him and I hoped the house did him in too (spoiler: sadly it did not).

What the author did so well was create atmosphere and tension so thick that the reader is pretty much foaming at the mouth at the end wanting to know what it was. And perhaps wisely, we don't find out. during the last tragedy the character clearly recognizes the guilty party (be it ghost, poltergeist, or live person) but the reader is never privy to who/what it actually is. This frustrated the heck out of me because I WANTED TO KNOW!!!! DESPERATELY!!!

The book is excellent despite this, but note to the author: next time, just tell us. I hoped and hoped it would be the doctor and then all my disgust and animosity would be rewarded because he was the culprit and clearly it was ok to hate him. As it is, now I just have all this anger at him and I'm not sure it is deserved. Very unsettling, Ms. Waters, very unsettling.

====================================================

Book Source: Personal Copy

I am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells

I haven’t looked around, but I’m almost positive that anyone who reads this book will say it is about a teenaged Dexter with a dash of Six Feet Under. And it is, sort of. John lives above the mortuary/funeral home his mother and aunt own. He is also a sociopath and having recognized himself as such has constructed a complex set of rules that he has to follow. Rules like if he gets too interested in one person he’ll force himself to pretend they don’t exist for a week, or if he feels like hurting someone he has to give them a compliment. So it is different than Dexter, who channeled his killin’ lovin’ ways into killing other serial killers. But who knows, there are 2 more books to come in the series – maybe that’s where we’re headed next.

Wells also loads his character John with either a destiny or a huge set of uncomfortable coincidences. His full name is John Wayne Cleaver. Depending on your frame of reference he’s either named after a cowboy or a serial killer (John Wayne Gacy). His last name is Cleaver, which can make a convenient murder weapon. His father’s name is Sam, so he is also literally the Son of Sam. The scene in which he goes over this with his therapist is sort of hilarious.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one. On the one hand, I couldn’t put it down. I found John to be a compelling character and his voice to be chilling while at the same time pretty humorous in his ability to pinpoint his disconnect with normal. I liked how the arrival of a serial killer in his town is the catalyst that puts John’s rules for living to the test. I also really liked John’s relationships with his therapist and his mother.

However, there were some plot points that threw me for a loop. Scroll over to see spoilers ->The ding dang serial that comes to town is a freakin’ demon! I’m just not sure how I feel about this melding of fantasy and gritty reality. I mean, I did appreciate how the demon turns out to be more human than John, but come on, a demon? And the way it is introduced. He just tells you things like, “but that was before we knew it was a demon.” I kept thinking he was speaking metaphorically or something. Turns out he wasn’t. It was strange and did odd things to the suspense for me. <- end of spoilers.

There was a lot to like and the issues I had, were more to do with genre bending and so might not be an issue to other readers. I also don’t like gore and this verged on too much gore for me. I am extremely curious as to where the story will go in its next installment. Does he run into another serial killer? Does he take up killing himself? So many possibilities.

==========================

Book Source: Publisher Review Copy