As I Lay Reading

Book Reviews & Occasional Author and Book - Fangirling

Inheritance by Thomas Wymark

By Leave a Comment

Inheritance by Thomas Wymark was a book that took me by surprise. Typically, books like these can take time to build into something that you just can’t put down. However, the magic in this particular book lies within its characters. So, I found myself hooked within the first chapter or two.

Our main character — Christine is both protagonist and antagonist. She’s spunky, smart, and always tries to stay positive. After an unfortunate incident has left her vulnerable and turns her world upside down, Christine embarks on a journey where she finds more than she bargained for.

The fact that Christine was both the good guy and the bad guy at times, left my head spinning. It was interesting as a reader trying to make sense of the personality we came to know in the beginning (and throughout the book really) with the personality that would emerge from the visions and dreams that plagued her. Her suspicious nature also left me suspicious. I wasn’t sure anyone in the book could be trusted.

Some reviews you might read on Amazon mention that the book is  repetitious at times — repeating what we (the reader) already know about its main character and the situation. However, I found her reaction very real– in the sense that any person who experienced the same would react similarly. Christine was on a journey to find answers and I think the repetition was essential from the perspective that we were able to get a closer and truer look at the people in her life.

There are some twists and turns in this book that you won’t see coming, guaranteed! The ending is kind of predictable though and I was able to put the pieces together at about 60-ish% of the way in.

I’m giving this story a solid 4 stars. It was well-written and engaging. The fact that I read it for 5 hours straight on a road trip (hubs was driving) without wanting to put it down, says a lot about this book. I read so many books that I have become pickier about the ones I choose to spend my time with! If you like psychological thrillers, you should definitely give this one a shot!

My Rating for Inheritance by Thomas Wymark:
4-star

 

 

Mr. Mercedes

By Leave a Comment

Mr. Mercedes is a novel by the king of horror — Stephen King.  It is a story about an unlikely band of heroes and their quest to take down a sadistic serial killer.

The story opens to a large group of jobless folks standing in line at a job fair.  Horror strikes the group as a Mercedes runs through the crowd in a brutal massacre that kills everyone, including a young mom and her baby.

Detective Bill Hodges (Ret Det as the killer calls him), has recently retired.  He was lead detective on the Mercedes Killer case but due to the fact that there were no fresh leads and the owner of the car committed suicide, the case soon went cold.  Until he retired, that is.

In steps the Mercedes Killer.  He taunts the retired Detective in a game of cat and mouse.  Ret Det Bill Hodges knows that he must try and stay one step ahead of the killer in order to prevent the next mass killing.

As in all of Stephen King’s novels, the character development is excellent.  Initially, I wasn’t a huge fan of the main character, retired Detective Hodges.  He seemed sad and resigned to spend the rest of his days watching Judge Judy in a recliner.  He toyed with thoughts of suicide.  He seemed one step away from a heart attack.  He seemed out matched with the Mercedes Killer.  Then, King managed to change my mind.  Half way through the book, I began to see Hodges in a different light.

As Detective Hodges sets out to unofficially investigate the Mercedes Killer case once more, he makes some unusual allies along the way.  My favorite part of the story was getting to know some of the other key players and how they folded into the storyline and became the allies and heroes they ended up being.

This book is written in King’s usual style but doesn’t deal with the usual supernatural subject matter.  Still, it is a really good book and worth the read!

For me personally, it wasn’t a book that I couldn’t put down (like 11/22/63) and I did get bored / struggle through some parts of the beginning of the book as the characters were fleshed out and some back stories told.  The characters themselves weren’t interesting (except for maybe the Mercedes Killer) but they became interesting as the story unfolded.  I’m not an avid King reader and i’m not used to his style yet, so maybe that’s why.  This marks the second Stephen King book that I have read as I am slowly delving into his work.

My Rating for Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King (really this is more like 3-1/2 stars.  I think I need to make a graphic for that):

3-star