Skippable in the extreme.
All the kids want out of Oleander, Kan.; few will make it alive.
The small, isolated town has horrors in its past. The citizens begin a slow return to the surface on “the day of the killing,” when five people with little in common go on a killing spree, and then four of them kill themselves. Teenager Cass, the only surviving murderer, is quickly institutionalized. Just as the town creeps back toward normalcy, an EF5 tornado whips through and destroys a quarter of the buildings and a nearby secret research facility. The U.S. government places the town under quarantine, with complete autonomy within it, and the citizens all begin to act out their worst impulses. As the adults slip into insanity and grab for power (when not killing each other), a small band of teens—gay footballer West, daughter of meth dealers Jule and struggling street-preacher’s kid Daniel—fights to survive. When Cass returns to reveal the truth of their situation, they fight to escape. Wasserman’s horror/science-fiction blend is ultraviolent in places, ludicrous in others and snooze-inducing in still others. It’s a mess of an attempt at Stephen King–style small-town horror, undermined by an unrealistic and basically uninteresting portrayal of the classic breakdown of civilization amid a too-large cast.
Skippable in the extreme. (Horror. 17 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86877-1
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While gay teens interested in paranormal romance and AIDS history could definitely do worse, this sometimes-busy and...
New York City in the early 1980s is a dark and dangerous scene, especially for a naïve young man from the Midwest.
Bryant Vess is staying with his cousin Wally and Wally’s boyfriend, Patrick, in New York City. Just as his new gay life is beginning to blossom with a sexy boyfriend, gay men across the city are beginning to fall ill with something that is, at first, called Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. At the same time, a series of grisly murders occur in the bathhouses, spawning newspaper articles about the “Village Vampire.” A bathhouse tryst with a mysterious stranger leaves Bryant sick—but not in the same way as his friends; he can’t stand the light and craves raw meat. When he returns to health, Bryant becomes certain that the dark stranger saved his life through this sex act. He hunts the man down to convince him to save everyone and finds himself drawn into an ancient secret society full of mysteries and dangers. A loosely connected companion to In Stone (2013), King’s sex-filled novel makes the most of its setting; the New York City bathhouse scene makes for a potent backdrop. Readers may well find the story’s internal paranormal logic problematic, as it draws some troubling connections among vampirism, homosexuality and AIDS.
While gay teens interested in paranormal romance and AIDS history could definitely do worse, this sometimes-busy and disjointed coming-of-age journal makes for an uncomfortable read. (Paranormal romance. 17 & up)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-60282-971-8
Page Count: 367
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
While a glorious celebration of female power, this novel doesn’t quite fulfill its immense potential.
In this debut novel, the fate of a land rests on two young rulers with little in common.
In Yigris, there is Above and there is Under. Above are the nobles, ruled by a king. Under is home to thieves, assassins, and the queen who leads them. But the balance shifts when both rulers are assassinated and their heirs, Gemma and Tollan, must work together to save their people and Yigris. Gemma has spent most of her life preparing to be queen of Under, but nothing could have truly prepared her for this monumental task. Now she must rely on her training, a trusted band of friends, and a sheltered prince to stop a devastating war. Filak plays with interesting concepts of female empowerment: While Above is inherently patriarchal and misogynistic, Under is liberated and led by women. Although Gemma and the world of Under come vividly to life, other aspects of the novel fall flat. Readers will appreciate Gemma’s strength and wit, but Tollan is frustratingly ineffectual and ends up feeling more like a plot device than a central character. Gemma is white, and Tollan is dark-skinned as well as being gay and exploring his sexuality.
While a glorious celebration of female power, this novel doesn’t quite fulfill its immense potential. (Fantasy. 16-adult)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62414-560-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
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