Meridian Wallace is a brilliant student studying to be an ornithologist when she meets a physics professor and falls in love. Early in their relationship, he moves to the remote southwest to work on a top secret project. Putting her dreams on hold, she follows him and takes on the traditional role of wife, notContinue reading “The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church”
Tag Archives: Debut novel
Mosquitoland by David Arnold
This is a novel of substance and despair. It is a collection of oddities, and strange ones at that. It is the story of a displaced epiglottis and partial blindness and willful dissidence (read: teenage angst). It is the story of being miles from okay and learning to actually be okay with that. Mary IrisContinue reading “Mosquitoland by David Arnold”
The Marauders by Tom Cooper
What do you do when a book can make you sympathetic to a drug addicted man who neglects his estranged wife and daughter and hunts for treasure when he should be working? You love it. To quote Esquire Tom Cooper’s The Marauders is “more fun that a book about the aftermath of an ecological disasterContinue reading “The Marauders by Tom Cooper”
Winter Reading
December is a rather slow month in publishing, so it seems January is filled with exciting releases instead – and apparently January 20th is going to be a good day. Descent / Tim Johnston. January 6, Algonquin. The stunning vistas of the Rocky Mountains reveal a dark and deadly side in this brilliantly conceived thrillerContinue reading “Winter Reading”
The Ploughmen by Kim Zupan
As I sit here, it just so happens – conveniently – that a raging thunderstorm is passing over the city. If there is any review that deserves to be written while surrounded by dark and gloomy weather, it is The Ploughmen by Kim Zupan. The novel opens with one of the darkest scenes I’ve read in recentContinue reading “The Ploughmen by Kim Zupan”
Ruby by Cynthia Bond
Graphic, bold, riveting, unflinching, dark, difficult and lovely can all be used to describe Cynthia Bond’s debut novel Ruby. At its heart, it’s a love story – Ephram Jennings loves Ruby Bell and that’s all you really need to know. It’s a one-sided love, one which Ephram suffers for, but he’s not willing to compromise.Continue reading “Ruby by Cynthia Bond”
The Land of Steady Habits by Ted Thompson
I was trying to find a suitable way to review a book that made me want to find the bottom of the nearest bottle of wine while simultaneously quoting Bob Dylan (as I’m wont to do when feeling maudlin), I came up with two approaches. I’ll let you be the judge. Approach one, short andContinue reading “The Land of Steady Habits by Ted Thompson”
A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain by Adrienne Harun
Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. So they say. But the devil is alive and well in northwestern Vancouver. And there’s more than one. There’s neglect, poverty, and abuse. There’s chosen ignorance, meth, and moonshine. There is the tyrannical drug dealer and his violent enforcers, the meth manufacturer and the rowdyContinue reading “A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain by Adrienne Harun”
Black Moon by Kenneth Calhoun
In the last decade, pop culture has embraced the coming apocalypse with open arms. It’s inevitable; the only question left is how. Is it the flu? Zombies? Nuclear explosion? Asteroid?* Because clearly, regardless of which method, it’s coming. Personally, I love zombies. I don’t care that (nearly) everyone else loves zombies too. Through the brillianceContinue reading “Black Moon by Kenneth Calhoun”
ROAD TO RECKONING BY ROBERT LAUTNER
The western is dead. Or so you’ve been told. It’s been declared dead more times than Justin Bieber and that’s really saying something. While this declaration usually pertains more to films than fiction, it’s often applied to both. Westerns certainly aren’t enjoying the same success as they did in the 50s and 60s (or evenContinue reading “ROAD TO RECKONING BY ROBERT LAUTNER”
flannel and folklore 