Evil Eye: Four Novellas of Love Gone Wrong
by Joyce Carol Oates
Narrated by Donna Postel, Luci Christian, Chris Patton, Tamara Marston
Genre: Gothic / Horror
Publisher: HighBridge
Publish Date: September 3, 2013
Format: Audio, 6 hours | 28 minutes
Audio Listening Level: Easy
Rating: 4 of 5
Publisher’s Synopsis:
Joyce Carol Oates has proven herself one of the world’s foremost chroniclers of the darkness that lurks within the human heart. In Evil Eye, Oates offers four chilling novellas of love so powerful that people might die — or kill — for it.
Drenched with suspense and dread, and featuring the razor-sharp prose that has made Joyce Carol Oates a living legend, Evil Eye shows love as sporadically magical, mysterious, and murderous.
My Thoughts:
Joyce Carol Oates can be a hit or miss with me, but where she always excels is in the short story and gothic format. Evil Eye consists of four novellas, each a little more disturbing than the one before. They are twisted, creepy and weird but all are riveting. Are they nightmare inducing? Perhaps for some readers they could be, but I slept just fine!
In the title story, Evil Eye, Marianna is recently married to a three decades older man, Austin. When his first wife drops in for a visit she learns shocking secrets about her husband. Or does she? Who is telling the truth? This one had a Twilight Zone-ish feel which I liked, but it ended abruptly with no resolution. I went back and listened to the last few minutes again thinking I had missed something but no, it just ended. (Rating: 4)
In So Near, Anytime, Always teenager Lizbeth meets handsome Desmond at the public library. She is thrilled to finally have a boy take an interest in her until he begins to behave like a stalker. This was my favorite. Even though I anticipated the ending, the mix of suspense and tension made for a story that could have gone in several directions. (Rating: 5)
The Execution was my least favorite. It was also the most disturbing and violent of the four. Spoiled, psychopathic college student Bart Hansen plots to murder his parents to inherit their money after they cancel his credit card. What he didn’t count on was the power of a mother to forgive. (Rating: 3)
In The Flatbed, Cecelia has kept secret a childhood trauma which is preventing her from having physical relationships with men. Most of them write her off as a tease until she meets “M”, a man who finally understands her. This is the creepiest and most satisfying story of the four as Cecelia seeks revenge for what happened years ago. (Rating: 4½)
Each novella was performed by a different narrator; all were new voices for me and each did a great job with the production. Each narrator had a different style, each a good match with the tone of the story. The short story and novella genre are good choices for audiobooks, especially for new or infrequent listeners. The writing is usually tighter, the plot less complex and more direct, and the story can often be completed in one listening session.
Joyce Carol Oates knows how to spin a compelling tale. I highly recommend this to those that enjoy gothic tales. A good choice for Halloween night listening!
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Linked to the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril, VIII event.
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Source: Review copy from HighBridge Audio through Audiobook Jukebox.
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Almost wordless: Most of the vegetation was still green last week but this vine was brilliant red in the morning sun, still wet with dew.
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week. Currently on tour, it is hosted by a different blog each month.
The October host is Book Dragon’s Lair.
An October chill is in the air this morning and Halloween is right around the corner. Yikes, is it that time already?
It’s been a busy week for me again and most of my reading last week was during the 24 Hour Read-a-thon. I was able to finish up two books I had started earlier in the week and start a new one. Audio books have kept me reading at a good pace so I’m always glad to see a few more of those arrive.
Print Books
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt from Little, Brown
A young boy in New York City, Theo Decker, miraculously survives an accident that takes the life of his mother. Alone and abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by a friend’s family and struggles to make sense of his new life.
Audiobooks
Lighthouse Island by Paulette Jiles.
An audiobook download from Harper Audio.
In the coming centuries, the world’s population has exploded and covered the earth with endless cities. Animals are nearly all gone. Drought plagues the land and cloudy water is issued by the quart. There are no maps, no borders, no numbered years. On this urban planet the only relief from the overcrowding, the petty informers, and the harsh rule of the big Agencies is the television in every living space, offering dreams of vanished waterfalls …
What are you reading?
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© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Doctor Sleep
by Stephen King
Narrated by Will Patton
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Publish Date: September 24, 2013
Format: Audio, 18 hours | 35 minutes
Audio Listening Level: Easy – Intermediate
Rating: 5 of 5
From the Publisher:
Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.
My Thoughts:
Stephen King has made many of his fans happy by penning a sequel to one of his scariest horror novels. At last we get to find out what happened to Danny Torrance, the young boy so traumatized in The Shining.
Danny is now the middle-aged Dan Torrance. The year at The Overlook Hotel has scarred him for life. Unstable and drifting for decades, suffering from alcoholism and fits of violence, for years he was unable to hold a job and haunted by thoughts of being like his father. After some rough times Dan joins AA, lands a job at a nursing home and finds he has a talent for easing dying people through their final journey and becomes known as Doctor Sleep.
When Dan meets Abra Stone, a young girl with a shining brighter than his, he becomes pulled into her battle with the True Knot, an evil group of life-force-sucking vampires that hide out in plain sight by disguising themselves as harmless old folks. They live in Winnebagos and roam the highways, blending into the background. They feed off the shining, but can do so only when the person is tortured to death.
While Doctor Sleep can be read as a stand-alone – King does include just enough explanation to fill in any major questions – I urge readers to pick up The Shining first. Doctor Sleep on its own (without The Shining) feels like a more mature, less raw, gritty and in your face novel. Oh, it was scary and the True Knot were quite creepy, but they were not as psychologically disturbing as some of the other evil he has created. And while Rose was a horrible creature, I wasn’t fearing her as much as I was disgusted by her. What did up the creep factor for me were all the references to the first novel: The Overlook Hotel, the dead bodies, the hedge animals, the injuries to Wendy, Danny mother, and most of all his father, Jack.
Even in horror novels with supernatural elements swirling around us, many of King’s characters remain relatable. They like pop culture, watch TV shows we are familiar with and read novels by John Sandford, Jodi Picoult, Dean Koontz and Lisa Gardner. King lulls us in with a sense of familiarity and when we let down our guard, hits us with the macabre.
The audio performance by Will Patton was excellent. I can’t put a finger on any specific thing that stands out, it was all good. It flowed, it moved, it got me involved, and at 18 hours it went by quickly. A perfect combination of written and verbal performance. You won’t go wrong with this one if you choose the audio.
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Linked to the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril, VIII event.
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Source: Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster Audio.
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Let the Reading Begin!
Hundreds of book bloggers are participating in this event, all starting at the same time. Here in Chicago that was 7am.
This morning I am out bird watching for a few hours but will be listening to audio in the car. Later I’ll be sitting down with some print books or perhaps more audio as I multitask around the house and garden.
I will be adding to this post throughout the day with updates and challenges.
Introduction
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
USA, Chicago
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
I have a healthy snack today – apples from my tree, and some unhealthy chocolate bars for energy. Energy, yes, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! I also have some microwave popcorn for the evening munchies.
Read more…
Almost wordless: Canada Thistle is still blooming long after other flowers have faded away. It’s an invasive, noxious weed in most of North America but the bees are happy to feed on it.
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Sanctuary Line
by Jane Urquhart
Genre: Literature
Publisher: MacLehose Press
Publish Date: September 3, 2013
Format: Hardcover | 240 pages
Rating: 4 of 5
Publisher’s Synopsis:
Set in the present day on a farm at the shores of Lake Erie, Jane Urquhart’s stunning new novel weaves elements from the nineteenth-century past, in Ireland and Ontario, into a gradually unfolding contemporary story of events in the lives of the members of one family that come to alter their futures irrevocably.
There are ancestral lighthouse-keepers, seasonal Mexican workers; the migratory patterns and survival techniques of the Monarch butterfly; the tragedy of a young woman’s death during a tour of duty in Afghanistan; three very different but equally powerful love stories.
My Thoughts:
Liz Crane has returned to her family’s farmhouse on the shore of Lake Erie, a once happy place where she spent many summers as a young girl. Now the house is empty, the farm falling into ruins and most of her family has moved on or passed away. Liz is now an entomologist studying the migratory habits of the Monarch butterfly; the old farm seems like a good place for her to do her research.
Before long Liz is haunted by nostalgic thoughts from the past. Triggering these thought were the recent death of Amanda, her cousin and constant playmate during those lakeside summers. The summer when Liz was sixteen, her uncle, Amanda’s father, left the farm one night never to be seen again. Eventually Liz reveals the mystery of his disappearance and the sorrow and pain surrounding it.
The story is told by Liz in a beautifully descriptive narrative, delicately peeling back the layers of her family history and their relationship with the land. Slow moving, richly detailed and with well-developed characters, the reader needs to have patience to appreciate this novel. The pace is leisurely and meandering.
This is a very literary, multi-layered novel, with symbolism throughout. The plot doesn’t come together until the last quarter of the book. There were a few times when I considered abandoning the book because, while I do enjoy literature, nothing was happening to move this story along. Yes, the pace of the novel was slow, but the ending was powerful, thought-provoking and one that will linger. The wait was worth it.
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Source: Review copy provided by the publicist.
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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