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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
BLZBUB has commented on (11) products
Autumn Purification Book 3
by
David Moody
BLZBUB
, October 16, 2011
Previously, in AUTUMN: THE CITY Michael and Emma have continued to make their way across the countryside, stumbling across a military convoy in the process. Out of options, they make a last ditch effort to reach the safety of the military’s underground bunker. In a thrilling, balls-out run, their RV bumps, slides, and crushes its way across an open field of undead before finally skidding to a halt with the bunker doors closed securely behind them. PURIFICATION opens a few weeks after the harrowing race to the security of the military bunker. Cramped and closed in tight quarters with distrusting soldiers, it’s not long before the mass of undead attention they’ve drawn starts causing problems for the remaining survivors. In an effort to remedy some of the issues the undead have inadvertently caused, a catastrophic error in judgment is made and turns the refuge into a slaughter-house. With what little supplies they have, the survivors gather into the remaining vehicles and race off into the dead-infested dark, once again faced with an uncertain future. PURIFICATION is an adrenaline laced cocktail that will have you screaming at the pages to RUN! Gorier and more violent that any of its two precursors, this is most the fulfilling AUTUMN yet, and believe me, IT WILL THRILL YOU. The action scenes are nothing short of phenomenal. The race across an athletics field through a crowd of undead will leave you breathless until the last survivor claws his way onto a hovering helicopter. A group of survivors struggle for survival by crowding into a standing room only bathroom in a scene of terror that will crank your claustrophobia to a hundred and have you screaming to be let out. David Moody has definitely hit his stride with PURIFICATION and one can only hope that this series get turned into a movie or another TV hit like THE WALKING DEAD. Final Verdict: Not since Stephen King’s THE STAND have I read such an in-depth, character driven post apocalyptic story that’s been baptized in the simplest of human instincts: survival. What makes David’s AUTUMN series scary isn’t the dead coming back to life; it’s the emotional realism that he exposes. Whether it’s a person who’s been pushed to the edge and charges out into the mass of the undead out of desperation, or the person who’s chosen to give up, accept his fate and enjoy one last cigarette before the door comes crashing down, David makes you feel every touch, fall, and last gasp of breath. The fourth entry to the AUTUMN series, DISINTERGRATION, is slated for a November 22nd release and will bring this epic series to an end. While I’m looking forward to this final chapter, I’m also saddened because I’ll be saying goodbye to an old group of friends that have been with me since the very first page.
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Painted Darkness
by
Brian James Freeman, Brian Keene
BLZBUB
, September 05, 2010
Henry is a boy with a gift. The gift of imagination. Whether he’s a secret agent out on a mission, dodging bullets and killing bad guys, or a boy following a group of rabbits, his imagination is so vivid that at times it’s difficult for him to distinguish between what is real and what is imagined. Funny thing about imagination though—it can play tricks on you; tricks that can make you want to forget the past ... “Just start at the beginning,” Henry’s dad says, “and the rest will take care of itself.” Brian Freeman’s THE PAINTED DARKNESS can be described in two words: Fucking Awesome. At times The Painted Darkness reads like a mix of Stephen King’s IT, DUMA KEY and THE MANGLER, with parts of ALICE IN WONDER LAND to boot. And, just when you think you have it all figured out, well, let’s just say: What Brian giveth, Brian can taketh away. There’s no question (in my opinion) as to whether or not Uncle Stevie has been an influence in Brian’s writing—as his writing oozes with classic Stephen King style. Brian’s pacing and storytelling were spot-on, invoking a sense of fear and chills as I read, and in the end he took me by surprise with a refreshing twist. The Painted Darkness (CEMETERY DANCE PUBLICATIONS) is scheduled for a November release in hardcover and can be pre-ordered now at CemeteryDance.com. FINAL VERDICT A 5 out of 5. With an opening from horror-master, Brian Keene (an honor in-and-of itself), clever interior illustrations by Jill Bauman, and a tale so wickedly told it begs to be re-read, this is “one for the books” that all the cool kids will be reading. DO NOT MISS THIS ONE! And remember … Just start at the beginning and the rest will take care of itself …
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Seeking Spirits: The Lost Cases of the Atlantic Paranormal Society
by
Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson and Michael Jan Friedman
BLZBUB
, March 27, 2010
In 1984 the question: "Who you gonna call?" was forever immortalized on the silver screen in Ivan Reitman’s GHOST BUSTERS. For those of you who somehow slept through the eighties and managed to miss this movie, it was a about an outcast team of professors with an affinity for investigating the paranormal and capturing ghosts. In the movie Dan Aykroyd (Stantz), Bill Murray (Venkman) and Harold Ramis (Spengler) strap on proton packs and blast away at evil spirits with particle beams and containment traps, eventually saving New York City from a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. While far from reality, the movie entertained and started what some might call an obsession with the paranormal, second only to William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist. Unlike GHOST BUSTERS, The Atlantic Paranormal Society (T.A.P.S.) is a seasoned team of professionals who research and help in very real cases of the paranormal. SEEKING SPIRITS: The Lost Cases of The Atlantic Paranormal Society is the follow-up to T.A.P.S. bestselling GHOST HUNTING: True Stories of Unexplained Phenomena from The Atlantic Paranormal Society. The same reading formula of CASE-ADVICE exists here as is the glossary in the back, defining some of the terms used by today’s ghost hunting experts. Thirty-six cases of some of the most spine-tingling, thought-provoking, head-scratching WTFs T.A.P.S. has experienced in its 10+ years, make this a read that will please anyone’s appetite for a taste of the late night jitters. Several of the cases really intrigued me (or left me wondering rather), like in the case of POTS AND PANS, where a man is plagued with a spirit that moves his furniture and stacks his cookware into a neat pile on the kitchen floor. I mean seriously, I’m ghost trapped on earth and that’s what I choose to do? Or, in a more serious case, BESIDE HERSELF, where a woman finds that forgetfulness is a result of living with her own doppelganger. OUR BIGGEST REGRET stands out most though. Ontario Canada native, April Singer, has been relentlessly attacked in her bathroom and she reaches out to T.A.P.S. for help. Unfortunately, this is before the success of SYFY and T.A.P.S. lacks the resources to fly to Canada and help; however, they do aid in trying to find another group in Canada that might—to no avail. Eventually the calls from the woman stop and theirs go unanswered, until one evening they receive a call from a distraught woman informing them that her sister [April] is dead, and that she hit her head on the bathroom sink and then drowned in the tub that was over ten feet away. No matter what your belief in the paranormal, there’s no doubt that the team over to T.A.P.S. has helped numerous people who’ve struggled with the unknown. Be it a case of someone who just wants to get on TV, or a family who’s in desperate need for answers, they’ve consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty, applying best practices and setting the standards in this truly unconventional science. My hat's off to these guys and their ongoing efforts. Final Verdict: For whatever the reason, the paranormal has always held a fascination with me. SEEKING SPIRITS has afforded me a brief, vicarious glimpse at some of the most intense and thrilling documented cases on the subject. If you’re looking for some real-life experiences by two of the most respected men in this field, then this is one read you won’t want to miss.
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Tomes of the Dead: Way of the Barefoot Zombie
by
Jaspre Bark
BLZBUB
, March 07, 2010
Looking to maximize your income? Already among the world’s richest elite? Then for the small price of five million dollars you too can attend Doc Papa’s Way of the Barefoot Zombie. Learn to set aside distracting human feelings like guilt, sympathy and fear. Maximize your potential for wealth, power and personal gain. You must remember the five rules though, for these rules are all that stand between the living and the dead. Zombies, Voodoo and Magic. Oh My! Jasper Bark’s WAY OF THE BAREFOOT ZOMBIE is in a league all its own. I’m not even sure how I’d classify it. I guess somewhere between Dawn of the Dead, The Serpent and the Rainbow and Silent Hill. If you’re a fan of any of the afore mentioned, then this is a read that you won't want to miss. I’d thought I’d seen everything that a Zombie book/movie has to offer. I was wrong. Some of the scenes Jasper paints are so obscene that you have to wonder if he has a little red phone on his writing desk that’s a direct line to the gore-fairy himself. Intestines wrapped around boat’s propeller, still-seeing eyeballs removed from their owner’s heads then crushed like grapes, and for the first time ever I think, a man sodomized by a fly infested Zombie. Crap, just writing all that is giving me the willies again. Final Verdict: I loved this book. This is a must-have for all you Zombie lovers out there. It read quick and smooth, and was extremely entertaining. Jasper has a unique voice and if Way of the Barefoot Zombie is any hint to what goes on in that head of his, then I’m not sure if I want to know any more. :)
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Darkness On The Edge Of Town
by
Brian Keene
BLZBUB
, March 05, 2010
When the residents of Walden, Virginia wake to find the sun hasn’t risen and the town is surrounded in total darkness, they think nothing of it. They get up, shower, and head off to work, some even driving off into the black abyss. However, it’s not long before they realize the darkness is more than a simple storm front that’s blocked the sun’s illuminating rays… something is in the darkness…something that wants them. DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN is one man’s account of what happens to his town as the surrounding darkness slowly consumes it and sends the inhabitants into an eventual state of primeval carnage. Reminiscent of Stephen King’s THE MIST, which Keene makes reference to, DOTEOT plays on the human fear of the unknown, of ‘there’s something in the darkness,’ that drives a stimulating curiosity and fear that’ll keep you turning pages. Brian Keene’s writing reads effortlessly and whether he intended to or not, he had me laughing out loud several times, partly out of finding humor in a given situation and partly out of a tingle of fear that made me wonder what would I do in that situation? In one scene our ‘hero’ (anti-hero?) is trying to enlist a crew to venture into the darkness. He finds the people of the crowd all staring at him, waiting to hear his words and thinks, “Suddenly, I had to take a massive shit.” This had me laughing long after I’d closed the book, as I could relate to addressing a group of people and some of the anxieties that come along with it and lets face it, it's just funny. Brian Keene is consistent. He always creates a fun story that reads so smoothly you forget you’re reading. Honestly, I don’t know how he does it. Some of my all-time favorite authors, ones that I’d wait in line for on the day of a new release, have written stories I’ve started but never finished, either out of boredom or just a simple lack of interest. Over fourteen novels of reading later, Keene continues to keep my interest and the pages turning. Final Verdict: Keene delivers again in Darkness on the Edge of Town. His intense situations that force you to consider what you’d do and how you’d react, make this a personable read that yields a sharpness rarely found in a horror novel.
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Horns
by
Joe Hill
BLZBUB
, March 03, 2010
Un-freaking-believable. That’s the first word that comes to mind as I sit down to write this review. It has been a long time since I’ve read a book in a single sitting. Joe Hill’s HORNS is simply incredible and just goes to prove that he has the talent to stand on his own rather than ride the shirt-tails of his father. In short: Joe Hill rocks! HORNS, tells the story of a broken man who wakes one day to find devilish horns have sprung from his head. At first he’s shocked and believes he’s dying, but he soon discovers that these horns have a great power—albeit an unpleasant one. Throughout the story he reminds us of what it means to be human, to love, to err, to hate and to kill. He shows us the darker side of human nature as well as the lighter side of forgiveness and love. In the end Joe has us questioning ourselves, our motives, and rightly so, the choices we make and the reasons (or lack thereof) for making them. Joe took me on an emotional rollercoaster of a ride—an awesome one at that. I felt what Ig felt, I hated as Ig hated, I wanted revenge as Ig did and in the end, had I acted on my initial impulses, I would have learned how very wrong I could’ve been for doing so. In HORNS, Joe reminds us how impulsive we are as a people, how open we are to suggestion and how we tend to react without all the facts. Several times I learned that if I had been Ig and had reacted immediately (as sometimes I do), I would have committed unspeakable acts for all the wrong reasons and hated myself as a result. Whether he intended to or not, Joe teaches a valuable lesson in not jumping to conclusions, patience, truth and forgiveness. How many times I have stood in line, silently cursing the slow person in front of me, only to discover after that this person had a handicap and a simple thing like reaching for a wallet or signing a check was a major accomplishment for them. I’ve done it and I’ve felt horrible afterwards. HORNS will have you thinking twice next time you start to get irritated with someone or something. My verdict: I absolutely loved HORNS and you will too. Look for it on February 16, 2010 and make sure to add this to your must reads for 2010. You won’t be disappointed; I promise.
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Possessed
by
Kate Cann
BLZBUB
, March 03, 2010
Young, attractive teens? Check. Romantic conflict? Check. Hot young guy driving really fast on a motorcycle? Check. Clichéd spooky keep with a horrid past? Check. Lots of hard body testosterone flying around? Check. Possessed, has us following Rayne as she struggles to leave the craziness of her everyday life behind. Like many teens today, she’s desperate to find a place where she belongs, a place where she can be at peace and one that is far away from how she currently just exists. In her quest for freedom she’s hired on as staff at Morton’s Keep, to work in the tea room, serving its visitors as they tour the creepy old landmark and inquire about its rumored sordid past. Not long after her arrival she meets with a young group of attractive teens that take her in as one of their own almost immediately. However, she soon learns that there may be other motives behind her new-found friends. I’m really not sure what to think after reading Possessed It read quickly and was actually entertaining, but I felt like the story kept going nowhere. In fact, you really don’t learn anything about Rayne’s friends and the black past of Morton’s Keep until the last five or six chapters. To be fair, I’m not a Young Adult Fiction fan; however, I can’t help but think that Possessed will be a great hit among its intended audience. It follows the same seductive formula not too unlike that of the Stephanie Myer’s, Twilight Series, which is really hot among young readers right now. My verdict: If you want a quick, easy and guilty pleasure read, check out Kate Cann’s, Possessed.
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Dust To Dust
by
Heather Graham
BLZBUB
, March 03, 2010
I’ve read other great works by Heather: THE SÉANCE, HAUNTED and GHOST WALK to name a few, all of which were fun reads, so when I saw DUST TO DUST I was pretty excited to sit down and get started. Sadly, I was disappointed. While it shared promise with ties to the book of Revelation (a personal favorite of mine), Mayan prophecies of the world ending in 2012 and the realm of the supernatural, it ended up just being a bunch of blah. Characters with great potential were left untouched, while the ones we were supposed to care for I found boring if not annoying. And finally, there’s the twist towards the end that made it hard for me to finish reading. I hate writing negative reviews about a book, especially seeing as I know how much work goes into writing one, but part of our mission statement is to give honest opinions—good or bad. My Verdict: I was bored and had a hard time finishing. I thought maybe I was being too harsh so I read other reviews online and again, sadly, I was not alone in my opinion. You could certainly do worse; however, this one is safe to skip. Instead go watch an episode of NBC's HEROES. The back-cover: Not long ago, Scott Bryant would have described himself as an ordinary guy. But one act of heroism has changed his life forever—or at least until the apocalypse occurs. Because the end of the world is on its way. Suddenly and inexplicably possessed of superhuman strength, Scott finds himself allied with the enigmatic and alluring Melanie Regan in a quest to find the mysterious Oracle in hopes of averting the absolute destruction that threatens. Melanie herself has been falling into trances, sketching terrifying visions of future events—and she wants answers. She knows better than Scott where to look for help, but even she cannot fathom the powers that have thrust them together in an epic battle of good against evil. The earth itself will soon turn against its inhabitants, and now mortal and immortal must join forces if any are to survive.
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61 Hours
by
Lee Child
BLZBUB
, March 03, 2010
In 61 HOURS Jack Reacher innocently steps off his never-ending, meandering path smack into the type of disaster only Reacher can solve. The fourteenth novel in the Jack Reacher series is as twisting and suspenseful as every previous story. In tried and true Lee Child style, Child spends the first half of the novel digging Reacher into the deepest hole possible and then the second half letting Reacher logically and physically scramble his way out. Instead of searching for the perfect cup of coffee, Reacher is sleeping on a tour bus crossing South Dakota in a deadly blizzard when a brush of fate slams the bus into a ditch and lands him in a small town with a big problem. A biker gang has settled outside of town and is selling meth. A retired librarian is the star eyewitness to busting up the gang and is under watch 24/7 by the local police who expect a big gun to come to town to take out the witness. But the police are under orders to cover the nearby prison if the prison siren goes off, leaving their storybook grandma witness unprotected. Know anyone with previous bodyguard experience? Or Secret Service experience? Or FBI experience? Or can dig swimming pools by hand? Perhaps lacking in social skills with fists as big as hams? Child’s distinctive voice is spare yet nails the key details that create rich scenes with a minimum of words that consistently place his novels on The New York Times top ten lists. He wields South Dakota weather as a deadly secondary character. The freezing temperature combined with wind chill is ominous every time a person steps outside. I found it more threatening to Reacher’s life than the Mexican drug lord who holds a Heckler &Koch MP5 to Reacher’s face. Of course Reacher evens those odds with a flashlight, brains, and brute strength. Reminiscent of Bill Bixby on TV as the homeless Incredible Hulk, in each novel Reacher steps up when strangers need his unusual talents and then he moves on, leaving me to picture lonely Bill Bixby trudging down the road at the end of each TV episode, the poignant theme song playing in my head. But that is not the way 61 HOURS ends. I won’t give spoilers, but I will say my jaw dropped at the end of this book. Fans will call 61 HOURS one of the most surprising books of 2010.
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Instinct
by
Jeremy Robinson
BLZBUB
, March 03, 2010
Jeremy Robinson has done it again. INSTINCT is a knock-down, thought inducing, all-out-thrill-fest with enough testosterone to put hair on even the wimpiest of chests. The Chess Team is back and once again they’ll travel to the ends of the earth in an effort to save it. When the President suddenly drops dead and no one knows why, the Chess Team suits up for action. Assigned to protect "Pawn" as she leads them to find an answer, the team grabs their gear and leaves for Vietnam...and finds much more than they were looking for. INSTINCT contains all the ingredients you’ve come to expect from a Jeremy Robinson novel: cool technology and weapons, action, adventure and deep at the heart of the story there’s that urban legend that he’s such an expert on intertwining. Rook, Bishop, Knight, King and Queen are all back and bigger than ever, as well as a few new characters that I hope carry on throughout the Chess Team series. What I really enjoyed about INSTINCT was that several times I literally laughed aloud while reading. Making me laugh while reading (fiction at least) isn’t a simple task, yet I found myself doing it several times. I also think this is a much more serious writing by Jeremy, in that unlike PULSE—which was clearly fiction—INSTINCT has a very plausible plot and carries a much finer edge as a result. In 2006 United Artists released Casino Royale which boasted "...discover how James became Bond". At the time a relatively unknown Daniel Craig was cast in the role of Bond and, being the huge fan of the series that I am, it caused me to doubt if he could pull it off (remember Timothy Dalton?). Anyways, after walking out of the theater I’d felt something that I hadn’t felt in a long time—I wanted to be James Bond. INSTINCT did the same for me; I wanted to be a hero, dressed in cool gear with a big gun, constantly staring death in the face and I believe that is a real tribute to the type of read this is. Final Verdict: Jeremy has definitely been honing his writing skills and INSTINCT proves it. Fun, lovable characters, a solid (believable) plot and fast-turning pages makes this one of my favorite reads of 2010 to date.
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New Dead
by
Christopher Golden
BLZBUB
, March 03, 2010
I have been looking forward to this collection for some time now. If you liked THE LIVING DEAD Zombie collection then THE NEW DEAD is a gotta-have to add to your collection. 19 great stories (some better than others) and contibuiting authors such as Joe Hill, John Conolly and Jonathan Maeberry make this Zombie collection one of my favorites to date.
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