The Cell, by Stephen King

The Cell  

by Stephen King

Scribner, NY 2006

Throughout his career, Mr. King has explored the idea of dangerous technology. Christine was a clunker with an evil mission. The Mangler was a demon-possessed laundry press, and Ur told the tale of Amazon Kindle that held unpublished works by dead authors and could predict the future. The Cell is about that indispensable little computer we all carry around in our pocket. It would never turn on us, would it?  

I actually saw Stephen King in Boston walking along the Public Garden across the street from the Four Seasons hotel. Ironically, he was steps from the setting of the opening scene of this book, near the ice cream truck where Pixie Light and Pixie Dark battle it out. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well for a week.

Bottom Line:

King's ability to plant terrifyingly possible what if's in our minds is what ultimately makes his stories so haunting, and The Cell gives off its own nightmare-producing pulse.

Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan

by Scott Westerfeld

Simon Pulse, NY 2009

This Steampunk tale opens at the start of World War II. With the help of only a few trusted advisers and a Cyclop Stormwalker, Alek attempts to evade his parent's assassins.  Meanwhile, Deryn, a young lady disguised as a young man, determined to view the world harnessed to a Huxley (a sort of floating jellyfish) enrolls in the British Air Service. A spectacular accident brings these two opposites together (Alek's a Clanker who believes in the old fashioned competency of steam powered war machines. While Deryn sides with the Darwinists, those quirky scientists who've managed to create fabricated beasts like huge hydrogen breathing air beasts) and thus we have the start of the Leviathan series.

I am a crazed Scott Westerfeld fan. Uglies, Pretties, and Specials? Brilliant, fantastic, and bizarre. So Yesterday? So perfect. And don't even get me started on Peeps. Leviathan did not disappoint, and the illustrations are fantastic.

Bottom Line:

We cannot keep this book (or its sequel, Behemoth) on the FHS Library shelves. The second a student returns it, it is checked back out by another student. And that, my fellow bookworms, is every library book's dream.

Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers

Zeitoun

by Dave Eggers

Vintage Books, NY 2009

Zeitoun sent his family out of New Orleans in preparation for the hurricane named Katrina. All he really expected were some downed trees and a bit of aggravation, so he stayed behind to watch after the house and check on his family's rental properties.  In the days following the infamous storm, he ends up paddling through the city in a canoe helping his neighbors and feeding the neighborhood dogs. Then things take a turn for the worse that you both do and don’t expect and we’re given a first hand account of the madness and chaos that followed hurricane Katrina.

At the end of Zeitoun's stranger than fiction account, I was left with one question: How could this happen here?

Bottom Line:
The author weaves Zeitoun's family history into the tale, personalizing the Katrina tragedy and making it more than the hard to fathom images on the television screen.

The Body of Christopher Creed, by Carol Plum Ucci

The Body of Christopher Creed
by Carol Plum-Ucci

Harcourt, NY 2000

… a town has to feel genuinely sorry for how they mistreated the weird guy who’s gone. To feel genuinely sorry, you have to be honest. And Steepleton needs its lies like a toad needs bugs. (p.10)

No one knows what happened to Christopher Creed, the bullied boy known as the class freak. He simply vanished, leaving only a cryptic farewell note to the school principal. Torey Adams, one of Creed’s tormentors is determined to discover the truth, but in doing so, he implicates himself in the the boy's disappearance. I dug the mystery's supernatural elements and the author's realistic portrayal of both the bully and the bullied, and the ending left me relieved, sad, and satisfied.

Bottom Line:

Thought-provoking in a, Would I have befriended Chris Creed? and Do I gossip too much? way; a keeps-you-guessing mystery.

The Maze Runner, by James Dashner

The Maze Runner

by James Dashner

Delacorte Books for Young Readers, NY 2009

This is the story of a group of amnesiac teenage boys living in a self-sustaining compound surrounded by very high walls with gates that close every night to protect them from the surrounding monster-filled maze. Basically, the boys have no memory of their lives prior to their arrival in the compound, and they can't figure out how to get themselves out of this pickle even though every day several of the detainees attempt to solve the maze. Enter Thomas. This Glader suspects he holds the key to everyone's escape, but is he just leading them from bad to worse? That's what Gally thinks, and he isn't shy about expressing his feelings.

This is the first book in The Maze Runner Trilogy, and I was all "Wait, what? Oh, now I get it!" throughout the story until I got to the end and realized I actually had no idea what was going on - so I went out and got book 2, The Scorch Trials, immediately and I still don't quite know how the story will end. Now I am impatiently waiting for the third and final book to come out.

Bottom Line:

I loves me a good dystopian novel and this one has all the right stuff.

Project 17, by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Project 17

by Lauri Faria Stolarz

Hyperion Books, NY 2007

Project 17 is totally like The Breakfast Club, if it had been set in a decrepit, haunted, abandoned mental institution. Derik (a hot jocky ladies man) hatches an escape-my-future-behind-the-counter-of-my-parent's-diner scheme. The plan is to film a stellar reality show in the old Danvers State Mental Hospital, hoping it will lead to an internship with a local news crew.  He casts several classmates to star in the reality fare; Liza, the gorgeous, miss goody-two-shoes, valedictorian; Chet, the class clown with issues at home; Mimi, the goth chick with a hidden agenda; Greta, the needy attention-seeking theater girl; and Tony, her leading man, whose nicknames for her (babycakes and sweetcheeks) are gag-worthy.

Each chapter is written from a different character's point of view, which is pretty cool, though aside from having different agendas and such, they sort of all "sounded" the same to me. However, supernatural twists and turns kept the pace moving but never went to far into "yeah, right," territory, which I appreciated. Overall, this was an entertaining story, made even more so by its local setting.

Bottom Line:

The scene with the creepy talking doll got to me; I just can't even imagine how hellish this place had to have been when it was a (dis)functioning hospital.

The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCoughren

The White Darkness

by Geraldine McCaughren

Have you heard of the Hollow Earth Theory? Though contradicted by pesky evidence, some conspiracy theorists today believe that, not only is the earth hollow, but a race of subterranean people populate this underworld. Unfortunately for Sym, her Uncle Victor is an enthusiastic believer of this rather terrifying concept. He is certain there is an entrance to this underground world in Antarctica, so guess where they’re going on vacation? Catastrophic events leave Sym fighting for survival, but luckily she has her friend and first love, Titus Oates, to boost her morale. Who's Titus, you ask? He's an explorer who's been dead for about 90 years. 

I can't stop telling people that they have to read this book. So now I am telling you. Read this book - it is so bizarre and fantastic and bleak - you'll love it!

Bottom Line:

Sym's tale proves that denial is quite a convincing frenemy; I now have NO desire to visit Antarctica.

Early Autumn, by Robert B. Parker

Early Autumn

by Robert Parker

Random House, NY 1981

Classic. Detective. Novel.
No one is a cool as Boston Private Investigator Spencer. He runs at least 5 miles a day, quotes Shakespeare and Frost, boxes, has a whit sharp as an heiress's stiletto, and he could charm a raccoon out of the garbage. When a pretty blond asks Spenser to help her get her son back from her ex-husband, Spenser collects the 15-year-old kid with no problem. But when he realizes that Paul's parents are only using him as a pawn, Spenser does his own kidnapping.

I admit that I am totally biased - I LOVE detective stories. Reading a good mystery feels like sipping hot coffee on the back porch under chilly gray autumn skies. So, needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Spenser's so clever that I actually stopped to reread a few sentences just so I could take a moment to enjoy his crackerjack whit.

Bottom Line:

Love detective stories? Don't miss this one. Never tried the genre? This is an excellent start.