Book Review - 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz

 

Books Read in 2024 - No. 4

Hey Fellow Readers!

I unexpectedly read 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz.

I started it at work whilst waiting for calls to come through.  Work had some books brought in to help with mental health.

I picked 77 Shadow Street as it was the only one that appealed to me.  The other books being cosy romance novels. I also hadn't read any horror in many years.  I'd never read a Koontz book but had heard of him.

The novel starts out as a typical haunted house story.   The residents of the Pendleton, who are in separate apartments in the building, start having different experiences.  Some of the residents see ghosts from the Pendleton's past.  Others see strange creatures which turn out are from the future.

What does it mean when the Pendleton shifts to a near future, taken over by AI nanotech creatures joined together as One?

Overall - A spooky read.  Although there are some slow parts as we delve into characters and their back stories.  There are some creepy moments too which can be scary.  As it was the first horror I'd read since my late teens, I was impressed.

Some of the characters are clichéd, like contract killer Mickey Dime. Most characters are fleshed out well.  Even though the story is slow to start with the residents experiencing spooky things, although this is the best part.  When the house shifts you wonder what will happen but the last few pages feel slightly rushed.

Spoilers - the AI nanotech which lives as the One in the future is quite appropriate for today with a rise of all things AI. Koontz was thinking ahead when he wrote the book in 2011.

Score -  7/10

My Goodreads Score -  3.5/10

November 2024 Update!

Hello Chums!

October over already!  An eventful month even though I've been off work with stress!

October Review -

Finished the excellent Guards Guards!  A great read. See a past blog post for my review.

I also took my daughter to see a great spooky play, before I went off from work sick. Called The Haunting of Blaine Manor.  Again, see a past blog post for the review.

Near the end of October I also got to meet two great fantasy authors, RJ Barker and John Gywnne.  A fabulous and insightful event which you can read about in a past blog post.

In November -

Firstly I need to manage my stress and anxiety. Hopefully getting back to work and earning money again.

November is also my birthday month and I'll be reaching the ripe old age of 48!

Reading -  I should finish 77 Shadow Street in the next day or two as I've only 30 pages left to read.  I have definitely failed at reading 24 books in 2024.

Writing - Hope to start writing as I've had lots of encouragement recently going to author events. 

Already in November I've attended an event at Denby Dale.  A lovely village near Huddersfield.  The event was to promote Yorkshire Authors.

I went as I'd never been to Denby Dale and to support Karen who I went to Cleckheaton Writing Group with.

Also there was my author friend Nick who I've been to Edge-lit with.

Both Karen and Nick encouraged me to get writing again.

Have a great November folks!

Neil x

Venom 3 - The Last Dance - Film Review

 Hey Film Nerds!

Treated by daughter to the final Sony Venom film staring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom for her birthday.

The Last Dance is the last outing for Tom Hardy as the character. Although if Venom goes to the MCU with the aid of the piece of Venom that was left behind, then he may come back to voice Venom.

The film starts off in the MCU in the cut scene from Spiderman - No Way Home.

Eddie and Venom get zapped back to his own universe where they are immediately being hunted by Rex Strickland (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor). A soldier working with Area 51 which is holding Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham).  He survived the ending of Venom 2.  Strickland is also holding other symbiotes who are running away from Knull. He's the creator of the symbiotes who have imprisoned him to stop him destroying the Universe.

Knull has sent creatures called Xenophage across the universes to find a Codex. This can free Knull from his prison and is created when a symbiote resurrects a host.  Venom resurrected Eddie in the first film.

As Eddie and Venom make their way to New York where Eddie believes a judge Eddie knows can help him with the trouble they are in, they come across a hippy family going to Area 51. The family is led by Martin (played by Rhys Ifans).

Eventually everyone ends up at Area 51 for a showdown with the Xenophage.

Overall - This is probably my favourite of the Venom films as it had some laugh out moments and went fast.  The interaction with Eddie and Venom was the best so far and packed and emotional punch with it being the last film with the two.

The acting and the action scenes were well done and had more than previous movies but still could have had more action.

As much as I like the Venom films and this one, I still think there has been a missed opportunity to not introduce a Spiderman.  I feel it would have been good in this film to have Andrew Garfield's Spiderman show up and help Venom at the end.

It's also weird they have used actors who have been in the Spiderman and Marvel films before.  Rhys Ifans as Martin was weird when he was the Lizard in the Amazing Spiderman and No Way Home.

Plus Chiwetel playing a soldier when he's played Baron Mordo in the Doctor Strange films.

There also wasn't much connection with the MCU, other than the first scene.  The post credit scenes didn't connect with the MCU either which was disappointing.

Bels Score -  9/10

My Score    - 8.5/10

An Evening with John Gwynne and RJ Barker - Leeds Waterstones

 

John Gwynne and son Will.

Hello Readers!

I managed to go see and meet John Gwynne at last!  He was due to be the guest of honour at Edge-Lit in 2020 when it was cancelled due to COVID.

When the opportunity arose and he was to be in Leeds I jumped at the chance.  I loved his Faith and the Fallen series which I reviewed last year and for me he was the natural successor to David Gemmell.

Joining John, was his son Will, who I follow on YouTube on his Booktube channel and the channel he shares with his brother Ed. The Brothers Gywnne.

Will was there as a host to ask his Papa Gwynne questions.

Will was also there to ask another author, RJ Barker questions on his new book too.

I've seen RJ before when he brought his first book out, Age of Assassins.  I've now got his first two series he's written but yet to read them.

RJ Barker and John Gwynne.

John Gwynne was there to promote the final book in his Bloodsworn trilogy. The Fury of the Gods.

RJ was there to promote the sequel in his Forsaken trilogy. Warlords of Wyrdwood.

Will asked some great questions to the authors and we learned how they write their novels.  John does a lot of research about history including Norse legends, which he used on his Bloodsworn trilogy.

RJ does a mix of things including writing his most bizarre ideas down so has to plan what happens or he would lose track on the plots.

Sadly I didn't video any of the event like I used to when I started going to author events.  I didn't make any notes either like I used to.  They used to distract me from living the experience.  So this blog is mainly from memory.

Will asked about their inspirations.  Sadly can't remember the authors RJ mentioned but he did mention he reads a lot of folklore and weird stories and legends.  He also mentioned he reads outside the fantasy genre he writes and likes crime novels.

He is also writing a crime series under the name RJ Dark.

John mentioned a few authors but said my favourite author, David Gemmell, was a big inspiration and said he stayed up reading Legend all night as a teenager.

The event got emotional when John spoke about writing Fury of the Gods as his daughter Harriett passed away before he started writing it.  He had a break from writing and social media after that. With support from family and friends and the arrival of his Granddaughter, it got him back onto the writing saddle.

Will opened questions up to the audience.

One question was how the authors got into writing.

John said he was late to writing and only started to write in his thirties, when he took time of work to look after Harriett.

His wife suggested he write a book and using his historical knowledge he wrote Malice.  His family encouraged him to send it off to agents and the rest is history.

RJ said an agent saw his killer zombie sheepdog short story on his blog and took him on.

Unfortunately the ideas he sent the agent didn't stick and they got no buyers.  His agent suggested other agents to him which he contacted with Age of Assassins and the rest is again history.

RJ also mentioned he was hoping to be a rock musician but couldn't play an instrument and his other hobby was reading so that's how he started to write.

There were many more questions and we got a great insight into the authors.

It was both a fun and emotional evening and RJ as always was hilarious.

They are both working on new series. They couldn't say anything on pain of death.

It was then time to queue up and get our books signed.  The line was long and luckily I wasn't too far from the front.

I was nervous when I met John and babbled on about almost seeing him at the cancelled Edge-lit which might have confused him. 

I managed to get a photo with him, took by the guy stood behind me and I'm peed off I didn't smile more!

Me and John Gywnne.

I have a few "why didn't I do that" moments.

As I was wanting to get off for train home I didn't get chance to say hello to RJ and was too skint to buy his new book.

I'm also gutted I didn't say hello to Will and say how much I like his Booktube channel.

Also, as I queued up to sit down at the beginning of the event a woman and her boyfriend was stood behind me and I recognised her.  Later I realised it was the Booktuber Becca from Becca and the Books.  I'm gutted I didn't say hello to her too and say how much I liked her channel.

I rushed for my train after the event not realising Leeds had a light show on and trains were cancelled, replaced by buses.  It took ages getting home, but worth it to see two great authors.

Hopefully they will be at Leeds Waterstones again soon.

Neil x

Theatre Review - The Haunting of Blaine Manor

Welcome!

Very mild Spoilers!

I did something I haven't done in many years.  Visited the theatre to watch a play.  I'm not usually one for watching theatre productions but I feel after watching the fantastic and eerie Haunting of Blaine Manor I will make the effort to go more often and support the theatre and arts.

A few weeks ago on the bus home with my daughter we saw an advert for The Haunting of Blaine Manor.  We were intrigued and as October is spooky season looked into it and booked.  The trailer for the play hooked me straight away.

The story, set in 1953, follows Doctor Roy Earle (played by Peter Slater), a sceptic of the paranormal and debunker.  He's been invited by the owner of Blaine Manor, Mister Tyler to attend a seance and prove the house isn't haunted.

The séance is held by Cairo (played by Andrew Yates).  A renowned mind reader and spiritualist. 

Other guest include Vivian Rutledge (played by Jo Haydock). A well known reporter.  Vincent De Lambre (played by Ed Barry).  The lawyer of Mister Tyler.

There is also Adolphus Scarabus (played by Jimmy Allen). An eccentric Psychic medium.

Lastly there is Grady (played by Joe O'Byrne). He's the mysterious butler of the house.

The characters give their back stories as they unravel the mystery of the missing owner Mister Tyler and whether the house is really haunted and by what.

Overall -  A fantastic production, with a story that kept you engaged all the way through.  With relevations about the characters throughout and twist and turns including a twist at the end I didn't see coming.

With theatre, it's more about character than spectacle unlike most films at the cinema and it was a credit to the writing and acting that kept you watching.  Although there were some scares due to lighting and sound at the right moments.

The story of the house and characters felt real with some good back stories and Joe O'Byrne who not only played the butler Grady but also wrote and directed it did a splendid job of all three.

You can see what influences he had.  From old ghost stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Hammer horror.  There was also some humour in there, that reminded me of  The League of Gentlemen TV series.  They too were inspired by classic horror.

The acting was spot on from all the cast including Joe O'Byrne.

The characters on stage the most were Peter Slater as Roy Earle and Jo Haydock as Vivian Rutledge and they held everything together well and didn't miss a beat.

A favourite character of mine was Andrew Yates as Cairo.  He looked like Richard O'Brien from the Crystal Maze but sounded like Londo from Babylon 5.

Jimmy Allen as Adolphus Scarabus was fun to watch too chasing around invisible spooks. 

Ed Barry as Vincent De Lambre was great too with a more serious tone.

Credit goes to the rest of the Blaine Manor crew for lighting and sound.  Although the first five minutes were hard to hear but I think it was just us adjusting to listening to a stage performance.

The staff of the Victoria Theatre were great at their roles and friendly.

A sign that we enjoyed the show was that it went fast.  Too fast.  With two 50 minute acts, they only felt like 15 minutes each and we wanted more.

Joe even came out at the end and thanked the audience and staff which was nice.

I would definitely watch anything the Blaine Manor team create next and wish them great success with the spooky, twisty tale.

Only gripe is drinking lager from what looked like a gravy jug.

Bels Score  -  10/10

My Score    -   10/10

Neil x

Book Review - Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

 

Books Read in 2024 - No. 3

Hey Book Dragons!

At last I've finished Guards! Guard's! By Sir Terry Pratchett.  

I started the novel on the 8th of March of 2024.  That's almost 7 months ago.

I have to admit as much as TP is one of my favourite authors, I don't always get his novels.  I couldn't get into The Colour of Magic and only read a couple of chapters.

I've read Mort and Hogfather years ago. Hogfather was fine but with Mort it was a struggle.

My favourite book of the Discworld so far is The Truth.  I took it on holiday and it's great. I was laughing so much and read it in 4 days.

I was then stuck with the question, which Terry Pratchett book do I read now?

After many recommendations and watching Booktube channels I decided on Guard's Guard's and the City Watch series set in the Discworld.  Although, I've gone crazy and collected most of the City Watch books before finishing Guard's Guard's.

The book introduces Sam Vimes, Captain of the Watch.  He's a drunken loser at the beginning of the book.  In charge of a mostly forgotten and ignored law enforcement with only two other members. 

They are Sergeant Colon and Corporal Nobby.  They are joined by Carrot near the beginning of the book who is a tall guy who thinks he is a dwarf.  This is because he has been raised by them in the mines.  He's obsessed with joining the City Watch and has studied the laws.

 A sinister cult who are wanting change and to take over the city of Ankh-Morpork, summon a dragon to wreck the city and put in charge a hero to slain the dragon, who they can then control as a King.

This is when the City Watch must act and save the day.  But will Vimes stay sober long enough?

Overall -

Guards! Guards! is now my second favourite Terry Pratchett novel. It's funny and made me chuckle quite a few times.  It's also superbly written.  Saying that, it is written unconventionally with no chapters.  A paragraph can switch to a different POV without warning, but it works.

The characters are three dimensional and in future books I hope to see more of Sergeant Colon and Corporal Nobby.

As ever with TP, his world building is fantastic and reflects our own.  With themes of royalty and class and how people always want more until they have it. Plus how some people are happy as they are in society. 

I did enjoy the book a lot but could be hard going in places.  I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't taken so long and read it through quickly.  When I started reading Guards! Guards!, I read the first 40 pages in an hour.  Sadly with going back to work from sick this tailed off.

I now know, I need a better reading (and writing) routine.

Score -  8.5/10

October 2024 - Update

 

Welcome to October!

October/Halloween/Fall is my favourite time of the year.

When the leaves turn to shades of gold and red, the weather gets colder,  but not too cold.  Horror stories are the main theme and Halloween decorations adorn houses, shops and cafes.

I love it.  Even better than the over hyped Christmas season.

September Review - 

My highlight in September was going to Edge-lit 10 in Derby, at the start of the Month.  Seeing and meeting authors and entertainers.  See my previous two blog posts for a run through of the event.

It has been brought to light that for now The Quad, where Edge-lit takes place is staying open and continuing with the event.  This is great news although they are stopping some regular activities which is a shame.  So go visit the Quad in Derby and give some support.  Google them for full details.

In October -

I will most definitely be finished reading both Guards Guards and 77 Shadow Street.  I'm basically at the end of each book.  The next book I read will be spooky as well for Halloween.

Going to Edge-lit has inspired me to write again.  By Halloween I will have finished my short story The Cubby Hole.

I'm doing something I haven't done in a very long time.  I'm off to see a spooky play at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax.  

Called The Haunting of Blaine Manor, it has great reviews and perfect for October and Halloween.

See the link to their trailer below.  I will post a review of it on the blog also.

https://youtu.be/VovjdQ91IJY

Enjoy Halloween Month...

Neil x