RaveLitReactorSometimes I forget that nonfiction can be just as entertaining and thought-provoking as fiction. If you think any of these essays stay on one path for very long, you have obviously never driven in a car with this particular author ... Klosterman has clearly been in the game for a long time, and in this collection he reprints a fair share of past interviews he’s conducted with athletes and musicians. These interviews go beyond what one might expect and I cannot recommend them enough. Klosterman knows how to dig deep and retrieve solid answers from his subjects. They are well worth the time, even the ones involving artists you may have never even heard of before. Of course, this book isn’t only about sports and music. There’s a great essay about nostalgia, about what it really means, and maybe it isn’t as good as you think. Hell, there are even articles about zombies and Harry Potter. I’m glad I gave this book a chance, and I’m positive you will be, too.
Victor LaValle
RaveLitReactorIf you’re a fan of dark fairy tales, then this thing has your name written all over it, especially if your name happens to be Victor LaValle, since his name is on almost every other page. This book definitely benefits from knowing as little as possible, so I’ll just say this: read it. Read the book. Don’t be a jerk. Stop reading this review and go read the damn book. Read. The. Book. You won’t be disappointed. Well, you might be disappointed if you hate good books, I guess.
Dennis Lehane
PanLitReactorWhen you think of mind-numbingly dull fiction, you typically do not think of Dennis Lehane. Well, I have bad news for you. His latest one is a real letdown, unless your idea of a good time involves a person looking at photographs and asking a whole lot of questions. This book is over 400 pages, and it takes about half of those pages before the actual plot starts to kick in ... The pacing in Since We Fell is bizarre, to say the least. I don’t think Lehane quite knew what he wanted to do with this book, and it shows.
Jeff VanderMeer
RaveLitReactorAs usual, VanderMeer’s worldbuilding is concrete, and to read this book is to take a small vacation into another world. I instantly fell in love with Borne, and also Borne the character, and I’ve no doubt in my mind you will as well. This is a must-read.
Kathleen Kent
MixedLitReactor\"...within the first page, Kent had me sold. The first chapter of The Dime is some of the most intense crime fiction I’ve ever read. Kent understands how to open up a book. How to immediately command control of her readers’ attention. After chapter one, however, I’m afraid things take a mind-numbing halt, and the story takes a very long detour before picking back up again. There are many instances throughout The Dime where Kent loses her momentum and the story drags, but when she regains her confidence and steps on the gas pedal, things really start to fly ... If you dig intense crime thrillers with unpredictable twists and witty dialogue, I highly recommend you pick this one up. I enjoyed it for the most part. I just would have maybe preferred less drawn out scenes in police stations consisting of story-board dialogue.\
Ted Chiang
RaveLitReactorThe amount of research and concentration each one must have taken surely would have caused multiple head explosions in lesser writers. But Ted, he’s at the top of his class. He’s the King on the Hill, screaming alien math equations into the stars ... There are many other stories in this collection, all of them good in their own ways, but the absolute winner is 'Story of Your Life.' I possess no hyperbole when I tell you this might be one of the best short stories I’ve ever read—or ever will.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
RaveLitReactorSimply put, this book is fun as hell ... You like your vampires bloody and violent? This is what you need. You enjoy clever, immersive world-building? Here you go. You dig noirish narco shoot-outs? You just hit bingo, motherfucker. Certain Dark Things is a mixture of emotions: terrifying, suspenseful, heartwarming, and humorous. You’re going to deeply care about the characters in this book, and there’s nothing you can do about it. So buckle in and enjoy the ride.
Kea Wilson
RaveLitReactor...second-person can be easy to screw up, but luckily Wilson handles this style like a pro ... The way Wilson is able to spin a sentence and describe violence is akin to a beautiful poem carved into a corpse’s rotting flesh. You will not merely read about the Amazon jungle. You will be transported there ... We Eat Our Own will impress you in numerous ways. From its well-researched horror film history, to its ability to casually weave together multiple storylines. We Eat Our Own should not be a debut novel. It should be the release of a horror veteran.
Bonnie Nadzam
RaveLitReactorLions is a novel short on plot and heavy on atmosphere. Not much happens in this book, but this is an intentional move by Nadzam to represent the idleness found in small towns across America ... Nadzam’s prose is beautiful and poetic, haunting and depressing. If you love [Donald Ray] Pollock’s Knockemstiff as much as I do, then you’d be doing yourself a favor checking this one out. It won't disappoint.
Paul Tremblay
PositiveLit ReactorTremblay is a master of slowly poisoning his readers with horror. You think you know where this book is going but you don’t know shit...Like IV drops introduced to your system over a long period of time, you don’t realize you’re high as a kite until the morphine’s long gone. The cosmic horror in this novel sneaks up and quietly caresses you. Once you feel its touch, it’s far too late to escape.
Ian McGuire
MixedLitReactorThis is a book full of very disgusting, evil men. Men who maybe aren’t as developed as I’d like, but men nonetheless. It’s okay to hate a book’s characters, but it’s not okay not to care about them at all. The North Water struggles with a cast of characters who aren't all fully fleshed out. This book is gruesome, but also intelligent. It's a literary horror novel with a punch. Imagine if Eli Roth directed an adaptation of Moby Dick.
