My next roll is:
1. Author is a woman - Grump by Liesl Shurtliff
9. Author's last name begins with the letters H, I, J, or K - What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz
16. Genre: fantasy - The Last Gargoyle by Paul Durham (I finished this but haven't written the review yet.)
Landed on:
21. Set in Europe - I'm not sure what I'm reading for this yet
Original post: readingismyescape.booklikes.com/post/1854550/snakes-and-ladders-update-3
Review:
Audience: Adult
Format: Audiobook/Owned
This was just okay. I didn't really like any of the characters and I didn't even hate the villain enough. The main character is a psychologist who doesn't seem to notice that her daughter has symptoms of psychopathy. I'm not giving anything away. If you've read any books or seen any movies about psychopaths, then you know how it goes: no emotions, no sympathy or empathy, hurting animals, etc. How does her mother not notice?? She's supposed to be so busy, but even when the principal calls her in to talk about her daughter's behavior, she still doesn't see it. I found this part hard to believe.
Then there's the killer (who is already in jail btw). When the doctor goes to see him, she gives him a test to see if he's a psychopath. Remember, this is the woman who can't even see it in her own daughter. The killer occasionally breaks into song - children's songs to be exact. It's a little creepy but more annoying than anything.
I listened to the Alien Audible Originals and they are also performances. I liked the format in that case. But for this one, it didn't really seem to fit. Also, it was broken into episodes which was kind of jarring and involved a lot of music. The first time this happened, I thought the whole thing had started over because it also restates the title and author.
At least it was fairly short.
If I had to sum it up in one sentence:
A watered down version of a Hannibal Lecter story.
Original post: readingismyescape.booklikes.com/post/1853605/killer-by-nature-audible-original
My next roll is:
1. Author is a woman - Grump by Liesl Shurtliff
9. Author's last name begins with the letters H, I, J, or K - What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz
Landed on:
16. Genre: fantasy - For this one I'm reading The Last Gargoyle by Paul Durham
Original post: readingismyescape.booklikes.com/post/1853447/snakes-and-ladders-update-2
Review:
Audience: Adult
Format: Audiobook/Owned
What year these events transpired is of no consequence.
- first sentence
Overall, this book was just ok. The children were supposed to be brilliant, but never really talked to each other (or their parents) about the supernatural experiences they were having. The father, John Calvino was my favorite character in the book; he was deeply troubled and haunted by the murder of his parents and sisters (and his killing the murderer) that occurred many years ago. However, despite his supposedly close relationship with his wife, he never confided in her about his fears nor she in him about the weird things happening. If any of them had spoken to each other, the power of the "evil" would have been somewhat thwarted. Calvino is a police detective and somehow manages to reveal some of his suspicions to his boss and his partner, but not his wife (not until much later anyway). The time Koontz spent on the partner and his actions seems wasted as he didn't end up playing as big a role as I thought he would.
The story had some holes and some of the descriptions were a bit overdone. But the end was interesting and the idea that one utterance could cause someone to be so haunted that they basically invited evil to follow them was interesting. The audio was well done and I enjoyed listening but I don't really recommend this one.
I read this one for Snakes and Ladders:
9. Author's last name begins with the letters H, I, J, or K
Original post: readingismyescape.booklikes.com/post/1853446/what-the-night-knows-audiobook
