Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn is one of my very favorite writers. She writes stories of broken, imperfect people who just don't care that they are broken. They accept that they will never be super models, never find Prince Charming, and probably never be anything but that crazy mix of imperfection that they are. Most of the time, they aren't even what you would call "likable." Even so, she takes all of that and creates a set of characters that you get wrapped up in, despite the fact that you may not like them all that much. To me, that's talent. These aren't lovable Dexter-type characters that make you like them with their hidden hearts of gold. These are people you have a hard time even seeing a glint of shine anywhere, even in their decent moments. Gone Girl is the third book I have read by Ms. Flynn. From page one I was riveted. I could not read it before bed because if I did there was no way I was sleeping before I finished it. I loved the story so much I wanted to drag it out some, chapter at a time. Otherwise it would be too long a wait until her next one and the story would end too soon.

Gone Girl is about Amy and Nick. It's their 5th wedding anniversary, and Nick comes home to find Amy missing and the house a mess. Did someone take her? Did he kill her? The story is broken up into the two viewpoints and time lines, separate books and sections that take you though the first moments of Nick & Amy's relationship all the way to the end. My advice is to not read ahead on those, let the story unfold on its own without any clues. Hear Nick's voice as he discovers Amy gone and hear her voice in her diary pages. Slowly uncover who these two people are to each other, who they were, and where they go. Seriously, it's like peeling an onion,and each layer is full of things you are happy to learn but also wish you didn't know. You start off in the first section with all of these doubts, and every page after that just  brings more doubt, darkness, and twists so that you really don't know where you will end up. I've never been so manipulated when reading a book, well, since Will Lavender's books (his books are what made me add the "mindf*ck" tag to this blog), and I loved every freaking second of it. I want to say more, but I don't want to give anything away. Just know that the Nick & Amy you meet at the beginning are not who you end up with at the end. And seriously, I didn't see it coming. Not by a long shot. But I do think it's one of those imperfect, perfect tales that show no matter how well you think you know someone, or know some one's relationship, you can never truly know what's in their hearts & minds.

I love Gillian Flynn. I love what her amazing brain comes up so much I almost don't want to read her books just so I can read them for the first time. I only wish she could write faster so I could read something new from her every month. 

Rating: 5 Purrrrrs. More Please!!

Sinister

It's October. That basically means 31 days of as many horror movies as I can squeeze in as possible. It's horror movie lovers Christmas time, and my poor JudoMaster endures it well. Case in point, today we ventured out to see Sinister. Sometimes I get lucky and find a scary movie that he thinks is more scary than silly. Sinister is one of those movies.

What made me happiest about Sinister is finally someone made a scary movie that they didn't completely ruin in the trailer or make you think you were getting one thing and end up getting another. I'll try to do the same, because frankly this sort of movie relies so much on not knowing too much, so you uncover the truth along with the protagonist. Knowing too much will destroy the tension the movie builds, and it does build that tension very, very well. So much so that I felt like a tightly wound spring by the end.

So what's it all about? Ethan Hawke (who would make me happy just reading the back of a cereal box) and his family are moving in to a new house, a house where something Really Bad happened. Something that seems to happen to children. Apparently, Hawke is a true crime writer, and he's moved in to that house where the Really Bad Thing happened to write about that Really Bad Thing. (It's obvious he is a writer - he's wearing a neutral cable knit sweater and has glasses. He drinks whiskey and smokes. He has a Mac. Of course he a writer. ) He discovers this box of Super 8 films in the attic and very quickly discovers that that Really Bad Thing is something that's Really Not Normal and has been happening for a long time to not just one family. According to Vincent D'Onofrio AKA supernatural crimes professor at the local college ( because there is always one of those in a small town, right?), Ethan Hawke's Really Bad Thing happens to be some sort of weird pagan deity that likes to eat children for breakfast.  Maybe literally. He's Mr. Creepy and he likes to move around in pictures like those Harry Potter folks. Things start to go bump in the night, kids start doing creepy stuff, and naturally the wife isn't too happy to see everything falling apart. Soon I was on the edge of my seat trying not to yelp out loud in the movie theater because even though little scares kept happening to break the tension, it just didn't let up even at the end. Which I won't tell you about. Trust me, you want to put two and two together on your own.

What I was most worried about was that Sinister would be just another Insidious. And while there were similarities, they really are two different, good at what they do, horror movies. Both had a haunted house, family in danger, creepy noises go bump in the night, and even the supernatural element. One word titles. Creepy bad guys with weird faces. Spooky children. But Sinister was slower, sometimes maybe a little too slow, and never ended up with the weird gadgets and medium, a la Poltergeist. You have this nice wrapper story with the Ethan Hawke family around those genuinely disturbing Super 8 films, all slowly building into this ending that I really didn't see coming. I know I won't forget it quickly, but I'd certainly watch it again. Just not at night, alone, in the dark. Not a chance in Hell.

Rating: 5 Purrrrrs for a movie that's going to make it hard to sleep tonight.

Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff

I have had this book on my shelf for a long while, kept looking at it, picking it up, and then putting it back. I wish I had read it earlier because it was a very fun, witty, surprising read. You really don't know who is telling the truth or who is lying right up until the end, when it throws you for a complete loop.

In Bad Monkeys, Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. During her interview, she tells the police she is a member of a secret organization that fights evil. Not crime, but evil. Her job is to get rid of "bad monkeys" AKA irredeemable persons.

The whole book is Jane Charlotte being interviewed by the psych ward doctor, and she walks through her childhood, her first contact with the group, and way the group works. The whole time you don't know if she is lying or telling the truth or if she is just down-right crazy.

The book is one that really didn't give anything away. It kept me guessing the entire time. It made me laugh at the wit (the Catering department sets up ops for Jane). If you like the style of Jasper Fforde but with a little darker twist, you would like this one.

Rating: 5 Purrs for a book I am going to recommend over & over

Audition by Ryu Murakami

I have to say right off that I am a huge fan of the movie Audition by Miike, and when I saw that I won a free early reviewers copy of the novel I literally clapped my hands.

Audition is about a widower named Aoyama, who after many years has decided to take the advice of his son and try to find a new wife. To do so he teams up with a buddy to hold auditions for a movie in hopes that one of the girls who auditions for the lead role might be his new wife. He meets Yamasaki Asami, a shy girl who captures his attention and of course he falls head over heels in love. Despite his friend's concern he pursues her, only to find out there are worse things than being alone at 40.

The movie followed the book pretty closely, only the book really gives you much more why behind it all. Let me tell you some of the imagery is downright gruesome and beautifully written. Miike certainly made it his own when he made the movie, but the book was well worth the read, even knowing how it all turns out.

Rating: 5 Purrs because once it starts rolling it just doesn't give up.

Watch Instantly Day

I am trapped at the house today waiting on the FedEx guy so I decided to take advantage of my Roku. Horror movies on Watch Instantly all day. Whee!

Pin: Ahh, the tales of a boy and his best friend Pin, the anatomically correct medical teaching dummy. Leon and Ursula grow up with their doctor dad who uses Pin, his medical teaching dummy, to teach them the lessons of life. Trouble is, Ursula grows up and knows Pin isn't real. Leon doesn't. In fact, Pin becomes his only friend, and Pin is jealous. Pin likes the stabby and the smacky and the beaty with blunt objects. This one was creepy in a maybe I should bathe with Lysol and steel wool sort of way.

House: No, not that one. This one with Michael Madsen for about two seconds. Two couples end up with torn up tires on a back country road. They stumble upon an old country bed & breakfast that may or may not have been there before. Creepy Leslie Easterbrook is the lady of the house, and soon the young couples realize not all is right with this family. Somehow the house is using their deep, dark secrets against them. Will they survive the night? Not too bad for a straight to DVD flick but nothing really new here.

Hack!: Well, they name checked Argento in the first few minutes so I am hoping the rest goes so well. There are several actors that have a name - Juliet Landau, Danika Macellar, Justin CHou (from Twilight!?)...and the idea is okay. A group of college students go to an island to observe the wildlife as an extra credit assignment. Someone starts killing them. Horror movie in-jokes and references abound. None of the actors are terrible, it just ends up dissolving into a tongue in cheek horror movie that could have been a contender.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick

I never read a lot of PDK before this year. I read some of his short stories, which I liked well enough, but I didn't like them enough to really pick up a full book and give it a whirl. That was until my friend John recommended Ubik. Then I fell into serious lust. I believe I went right out and bought another 5 PKD books the very next day after finishing that one. I was told to pick up Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? next. I have to admit, I loved it, but not as much as Ubik. Not that Androids wasn't exceptional, trust me. It was. But Ubik was such a mind fuck, I don't know that anything will top it.

I loved the movie, Blade Runner, so I fully expected to find many similarities between the two, but as most book adaptations go, it was not meant to be. Actually, I didn't mind that at all, which is unusual for me. Androids focuses on Rick Deckard, an android bounty hunter, his pursuit of some escaped androids, and his desire to own a real animal, which is some sort of status symbol/religous thing in this story's universe. Really, though, the whole story focuses on the question of what it is to be human, as many of the androids Deckard hunts maintain that he himself is more android, more machine, than they are, and what happens to our humanity once we rely on technology so much that we have to own a real animal just to feel a bond with another living thing.

I love the ending, which I can't go into here because it is really worth reading for yourself. Other than that, I must say Androids is definitely work reading, although Ubik is still my favorite. Of course, I think I have about 4 other PDK books to read, so something else might knock Ubik out of its number 1 spot. Maybe.

Rating: 4 Purrs

Ubik by Philip K. Dick

I had a friend recommend Ubik to me, saying it's one of those books that leaves you saying, "what the hell just happened?" Well, he was right, because that's the exact reaction I had when I read the last paragraph. I can't get this book out of my head. 

I read a collection of Philip K. Dick short stories awhile back, and I really wasn't sure I would like another go around. His short stories just felt like too much of a "ta-da" ending, a la Twilight Zone, but I think that's because it was a whole lot of them all at once. Ubik was almost a whole other animal. Glen Runciter runs a business full of anti-telepaths that people hire to protect their secrets. On a trip to the moon, a bomb goes off and the real adventure begins. Who lived and who died? Reality starts to change, shifting backwards in time and soon you don't know what is going on or what is real and neither do the characters.

I want to say more about the plot, but I am afraid that giving too much away would spoil the greatness that is Ubik. I'll never doubt Philip K. Dick again, and dang it, now I have to accept that every time that friend recommends a book I should pay attention. I can't get this damn book out of my head, and I keep twisting and turning it about like maybe then I could figure it out. 

Rating:  5 Purrs for totally blowing me away

Closing out the year...

I never did finish up all of my reviews from the movies and books I watched last year, and instead of writing them all out I'm just going to go with the abbreviated version.

On Writing by Stephen King was one of my favorite books that I read last year. I loved the insight into his process, and you can tell that Mr. King really, truly enjoys what he does for a living. Not only that, but he is very honest about his history, his addiction, and the inspiration he finds for his stories. Inspiring, funny, and just another great example of why I love to read his books so much.

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey was a fun little mystery where a detective investigates the Richard III murders, believing that the face of Richard III isn't the face of a murder.

If I Am Missing or Dead by Janine Lutz is the true story of two sisters who end up in abusive relationships after a lifetime of difficult (to put it lightly) parenting by a disturbing father. One sister doesn't survive. It's depressing, it's scary as hell, but it's worth a read.

Pathology staring everyone's favorite Hero, Milo Ventimiglia, and the beautiful Laurel Holloman, (now on CSI and previously sexy L Word chef). A group of pathologists in training play "let's see who can commit the most disturbing and unsolvable murder" a la Flatliners. Lots of sex, lots of violence, kind of silly but I still liked it quite a bit.

Vault of Horror is one of those anthology horror movies. Five men end up in the basement vault of a building, brought together to tell tales. One is about vampires, another about dismemberment, magic rope, scams, and deadly paintings. This one stars Tom Baker of Doctor Who scarfdom.

The Shuttered Room stars Carol Lynley as a woman returning to the island she used to call home with her much older husband (woefully miscast Gig Young - talk about unbelievable). Come to find out, the island home of her youth is haunted by something naughty in the woodshed. This was better than I expected, much due to Oliver Reed playing the evil, inbred hooligan that is enamored with Carol Lynley's character.

And now I am free to fall behind in my 2009 books and movies.

Obedience by Will Lavender

As the case usually goes, I found this book via my paperback book club. Good old Quality Paperback Books. You are the reason I have over 1000 books in my library. QPB, you and I are soul mates. Truly, deeply, madly, forever. Obedience by Will Lavender is one of those books that seal the deal. It’s one of those that bind us together forever, QPB. Yes, it does.

When you start Obedience, you are introduced to a cast of very intriguing characters (and the characterization is just one of the reasons why I love this book. It's subtle, but Mary is a great character.). You have Mary, the insecure girl who feels compelled to be the one who answers everyone’s questions, who is only made more nervous by seeing that her ex-boyfriend, Dennis is in her new philosophy class. Dennis is the self-confident one, the star, the one who usually gets what he wants. There’s Brian, the boy who has a troubled past and is hiding some secrets, including a possible affection for Mary. Then there's good old Professor Williams. His classes are rumored to be much more entertaining than your normal philosophy courses. He opens the Logic and Reasoning class with this: there's this girl; her name is Polly. She's been kidnapped and you have until the end of the course to save her (six weeks). Otherwise she's dead, murdered by her kidnapper. As the professor introduces more and more clues (including real photographs of real people and places that the trio know), they get more and more involved, and all begin to wonder if the story is true. Is Polly really alive? Who took her? What is Dr. Williams' real purpose? Is it really just a game or is Polly dying day by day?

Like I said before, the characters were interesting, and the plot moves pretty rapidly once the game is afoot. The title of this book is pretty much what the whole story is all about. It’s the heart of the matter, so to speak, but you might not get that until the very end. Read until the end, find out the solution. It’s worth it, even if it does feel a bit like a let down. I know some have felt that way. I, however, laughed. It was perfect.

Rating: 4 1/2 Purrs. Loved it. Loved it right down to the fact that Mary thinks Poirot is just a little bit sexy. I even loved the end. Well, the end, but not the *end.* I wasn't happy with what happened to a couple of characters, but I can't say more or I'll give it away.