Review: The Invited by Jennifer McMahon

5 stars for The Invited by Jennifer McMahon.

Through five generations, nine decades and then some, this is an epic tale of family, curses, gifts, secrets, love, death and survival.

Truth be told, if any horror story can be entwined with sadness, then this chilling ghost of a story is the one. A horror and horrifyingly sad story. It is a story that not only centers on the otherworldly and unexplainable that send chills down my spine, but also one that attempts to connect the dots to a sad past, to come into objects that hold tragic memories and reveal traces of people who have touched them.

Some people move into a haunted house. But this story is about building a haunted house. Indeed, it is a dangerous game to play when the lines are blurred between the past and the present, the dead and the living. But then again, this is precisely what invites readers to The Invited and makes it such a great invitation to read.

The thing is, will you dare to be invited?

Review: Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

5 stars for Dark Matter by Michelle Paver.

There is always a first. In this case, a first time reading a book by this same title again. My first Dark Matter (by author Blake Crouch) was a science fiction which blows me away with its concepts of quantum mechanics and multiverse. While I enjoy this second Dark Matter all the same, it cannot be more different. This is a horror story and it scares the living daylights out of me. No joke.

This book is the result of journal entries by Jack Miller, one of five participants to the 1937 Spitsbergen Expedition. It is a detailed account of events leading to the group's decision to overwinter in the abandoned mining settlement of Gruhuken in Spitsbergen. At first, Jack's entries reads like any other written record of experiences and observations, then, gradually, it becomes a clear documentation of disturbing sightings and distressing auditory imprints.

I shudder to think what it will be like living on a desolate island, let alone in solitary in one of the northernmost regions during the polar night season where night lasts more than twenty-four hours, and weeks without seeing the sun.

The author certainly does an excellent job painting a dark story, literally and figuratively. The story flows so smoothly with shocking prolonged darkness that it affects my mind in ways that I never will have anticipated. I can literally feel the stillness about the land, see the darkness closing in night after night, hear the mysterious clink of metal dragged over rocks, touch the malevolence radiating from the unknown and taste the fear brought about by perhaps an echo of the past. In short, the author has transported me to Gruhuken, an island she creates out of Thin Air (this is a post-dated link; I have no idea that I will be reviewing this book one year on, that is, when I use the term thin air here) that does not even exist on the world map. Such is the power of successful writing and storytelling.

Fabrication of Gruhuken aside, Spitsbergen and Longyearbyen as described in the book are for real. Yes, I have them checked out. Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norway. Constituting the westernmost bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea, and the Greenland Sea. Longyearbyen is the administrative centre and also the largest settlement on the island. It features a hospital, schools, sports centre, library, cultural centre, cinema, bus transport, hotels, a bank and several museums.

Well, I am not sure if I can stand the cold enough to like the Arctic, but I am definitely curious enough after reading this book, to wander about experiencing life in the far north. Perhaps it is worth a visit some day. One day.

Review: The Hunger by Alma Katsu

4.5 stars for The Hunger by Alma Katsu.

I really have no idea that this book is based on a true story, the ill-fated Donner Party, until I read the author's acknowledgements at the end. Once the realisation hit home, I am filled with awe at the amazing way the author weaves a tale by combining history with fiction, and a supernatural one at that.

For the benefit of those who have yet to come across this true story, the following is the gist of it.

The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. Of the eighty-three persons who were snowed in at Donner Lake, forty-two perished, and of the thirty-one emigrants who left Springfield, Illinois, only eighteen lived to reach California.

Frankly speaking, because I am not familiar with the above tragic events of the Donner Party, when I look back at The Hunger, I cannot be sure which portion of it is real and which fiction. Good thing is, the author acknowledges that while much else have been changed to fit her story, names, locations and dates have remained.

In the book, there is talk of supernatural elements such as spirits, demons, skinwalkers and the like and then, there is the natural occurrence of things such as human nature, anger, jealousy and resentment. When combined, it makes for a powerful storyline, one where you cannot be sure which is more dangerous when it rears its ugly head.

As to the wagon party, the author does a remarkable job giving life and depth to some of the more important characters. All of them have a reason for making this perilous journey from Springfield, Illinois to the West, to California, the land of opportunity, and each has his or her own secret to tell. Secrets that are revealed through an inner voice that the author cleverly furnishes the characters with.

The thing most worthy to note in the entire tragedy of this story is that of the human mind. Trapped by mountain of mountains, vast desert, endless prairie, wide rivers, deep snow, it is scary to think what the human mind is capable of. The human mind is, after all, susceptible to insidious influence, especially when people are hungry, tired, and afraid.

Much as I love this story and am prepared to give a 5-star rating at halfway mark, I cannot help but feel disappointed with the ending. Not that the ending is no good, but it feels kind of abrupt when there are still some loose ends to tie up. Perhaps it is a deliberate move by the author to go ambiguous and leave it to the reader's imagination. Still, I will have preferred a more definite ending, not one that triggers a need to find out more by reading the real story behind the fictional one.

Then again, regardless of the closure, the Donner Party true story, has piqued my interest. Yes, I will like to follow up on the two books recommended by the author for further reading. It will be an eye-opener to learn more about the events in this doomed wagon train.

Review: Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan

4 stars for Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan.

There are many books I want to read and many others I want to reread. It is not for lack of want but rather the lack of time that I always choose new reads over old. There is just that much time, that many hours we have in a day which can possibly be allotted to exploring new authors, new books that reading a book all over again takes on a secondary role. Not that I am bragging, but by revisiting this book and finishing it one more time, I think it is by all means no small feat.

I first read this book in my early teens. If I have not read it then, I doubt I will have enjoyed it as much when I read it now. I believe some stories, especially the Young Adult novels, are best read when you are young, say in your teens, when you are still a long way off from being jaded by reality.

Glad as I am to read this story again, to undergo the horrors and spine-tingling moments drawn out by author Duncan's superb writing, especially at the end of each chapters, I regret to say that I am not able to find the original edition of the story, the one which I have indulged myself in so many years ago.

For practical reasons, the author feels the need to revise her story by incorporating the changes - mobile phone, internet access, messaging, etc - in technology since her story was first written in 1974. Yes, I can understand all that, but still, I will have preferred the old version as it is what I have grown up reading. For the past many weeks, I have tried in vain to secure a copy - whether new or used - of the original book. It will be really nice to own the first edition version to keep my memories of the author who has passed on three years ago.

Review: The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs

4 stars for The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs.

It seems like only yesterday that my Literature teacher shared this story with a class full of fourteen-year-old students. Since then, I have lost count of the number of times I have retold this story never mind the fact that I have never read it myself and in all likelihood, have gotten some of the finer details wrong.

Donkey's years later, I have finally read The Monkey's Paw. Surprisingly, I find myself enjoying this short story much as if I am reading it for the very first time.

In truth, the creepy tale of the Monkey's Paw connects to me in a way no other short story does. And perhaps because I learn of its presence for as long as I remember, it feels like a timeless story to me, one with an underlying message - be careful what you wish for.

Review: Tell No One by Harlan Coben

2 stars for Tell No One by Harlan Coben.

I have read so much - too much - positive feedback on author Coben's books that I think it is not a good thing. Because my expectation for his stories skyrockets.

I am greatly disappointed and sorry to say that Tell No One has not lived up to expectations. The story starts out promising with an air of mystery. The accused is an upstanding member of the community with roots and ties. Everything is fine, that is until I come to the part where the FBI and local cops are deliberately and annoyingly incompetent. And suddenly, it is not fine anymore. The plot has somewhat turned unconvincing and unbelievable.

I manage to finish the book but it is a close call for me to throw in the towel. I will still give some of author Coben's books another go but for the time being, I have enough to last me for quite a while.

Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

4 stars for All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

This book has been on my reading list for as long as I can remember. I am never in a hurry to read it for so many reasons that I can think of. Finally, the time seems about right as I thought to buddy read with my colleague J whose daughter highly recommends it to. In the end when I reach the last page of my book, colleague J reaches the end of her patience, 95% short of mine or thereabouts.

All the Light We Cannot See is a literary fiction that is slow moving but not boring, interesting but not compelling. It may not be my favourite of the favourites for this genre, but the story does have its own unique way of subtly drawing the reader in, if we allow ourselves to.

Set in the time of World War II, this is a story beautifully written to combine true events with a cast of fictional characters. To name a few, it tells of a father's unconditional and boundless love for his daughter, a blind girl's bravery to wake up everyday and live her life, an old man's fear of the ghosts residing in his mind, an old woman's choice to be alive before she dies, an orphan boy's determination to escape the fate of walking the tunnels of the mines where his father has died in, a younger sister's ability to understand more about the workings of the world than her brother.

And then, at the heart of it all is an enchanting legend whereupon lies the entire story and its characters, without which there will be no tale to tell. The Sea of Flames, the size of a pigeon’s egg, the shape of a teardrop, the colour of blue sea with a touch of red at its core, a one-hundred-and-thirty-three-carat diamond, is as rare as the legend goes. Sounds good? Definitely. But the thing is, this precious stone comes with a curse: the keeper of the stone will live forever, but so long as he keeps it, misfortunes will fall on all those he loves one after another in unending rain.

I love the idea of putting forth a folklore, especially one that is so ingeniously weaved into a not-so-long-ago history, to gather up people from all walks of life and thereafter look beyond their facades to see these same people within. With the legend of the Sea of Flames, it is hard to fathom how something so small in size can weigh down the heart of one who possesses it, or the one who pursues it. But then, where matters of life and death is concerned, we can never know for sure.

Now that I have finished the book, I offer to tell the story to colleague J who has decided that she has enough of the story in print. Perhaps she may enjoy listening to the story from me more than reading it by herself. In any case, I am always happy to be the storyteller, especially when the story is a good one.

Review: My Sunshine Away by M. O. Walsh

5 stars for My Sunshine Away by M. O. Walsh.

This book reads very much like a memoir with a good dose of mystery. On the surface, it reads like any other mystery novel to uncover a crime which has been committed, but as I read on, I realise there is actually much more to it, more literary than mystery.

The narrator shares his story reminiscing the pangs of growing up through the onset of his first crush. Through flashbacks, memories of times past with an anchor of before and after, confession of guilt and fantasies, the protagonist tells his difficult years as an adolescent struggling to understand love, responsibilities and what is expected of him.

Sometimes growing up is painful, but oftentimes, it is beautiful too. In this regard, the author does a remarkable job putting them across in print by the use of imagery to create lyrical emotions. I believe, this is one of the reasons that I manage to stop myself from the headlong dash through the book to unravel the mystery, to find out the perpetrator of this horrible crime. After all, it is not the destination but the journey that matters. To this end, I take my time reading and enjoy the story totally.

Indeed, My Sunshine Away is a journey worth travelling, with the destination a bonus upon reaching. I cannot praise it enough. A literary novel with a good dose of mystery where the end of the first chapter is as gratifying as the beginning of the last.