Looking for Laughs? 'Take the Monkeys and Run'

Review: TAKE THE MONKEYS AND RUN (Kindle Edition 2010)
Author: Karen Cantwell

Barbara Marr, a typical (if slightly frazzled) suburban mom, has her world go topsy-turvy. First, her husband, Howard (who resembles George Clooney -- hmm), walks out on her without explanation. (Something vague about needing "space.") As the book opens, Marr is investigating strange goings on in the night at the house next door.

This house (which Marr and her neighborhood pals have come to call "The House of Many Bones") has something of an odd history. The house has been vacant for years and the fellow who comes around to cut the grass occasionally has been less than gracious. Being a woman of active imagination (perhaps, overly so) and fascinated with film, Marr would like to know just what's up with that, anyway.

Things really take a turn when, after her nocturnal wanderings, Marr wakes up to find a raft of monkeys swinging from the trees in her backyard. This development leads to a closer examination of the empty house next door. This examination leads to the discovery of something horrible. Let's just say the House of Many Bones lives up to its name.

This sets off a chain of events that lead Marr to call upon an old suitor from college (a hunky sort who Marr compares to Robert Redford -- yow!). As the (now single) mother of three daughters, she needs all the help she can get. She occasionally gets a little too much help from her mother (a real force of nature, in her own right). Marr is also ably assisted by a couple of neighbor moms. Altogether they make a charming and funny team of people who simply want to know what's happening. Especially when guys who'd qualify for appearances on Jersey Shore or The Sopranos start showing up.

Oh, and did I forget to mention the cop who resembles Brad Pitt who's called in to investigate the monkey infestation? Hmm ... methinks there's the tiniest bit of potential for romantic tension here.

TAKE THE MONKEYS AND RUN has a lightness and confectionary quality that balances well with the dark and dreadful aspects of the danger Marr eventually faces. Karen Cantwell has a quick and nimble wit that makes the serious stuff more palatable. (And for cat lovers, don't let, um, a particular scene put you off. Keep going. You won't be sorry.)

As the plot builds up in danger, suspense and intensity, Cantwell never loses her focus on the funny. As each scene unfolds, nothing is as it seems in this rollicking send up of the various action movies and gangster films that Marr (as a wannabe film blogger) often mentions.

The story builds to a big finish, its exposition coming at you in a rush and a tumble. Totally in keeping with the beleaguered protagonist's thoughts. (And the "quick mental recap" in Chapter 19 is priceless!)

Combining the wackiness of its (ostensible) Woody Allen namesake with the antics of The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, TAKE THE MONKEYS AND RUN has enough LOL moments (literally!) and wild twists to keep you turning the pages, until you reach the end. An ending that simply begs for a sequel -- starring George Clooney, Robert Redford and Brad Pitt, of course. :)

Mystery Scene Review of 'The Devil' by Ken Bruen

The last installment in my series of Mystery Scene Magazine reviews from the Fall Issue is for THE DEVIL by Ken Bruen.

You can read the review right here.

I've heard so much about Ken Bruen. Now I finally know what all the excitement is about.

Formerly Amish Sheriff Talks Tough in 'Sworn to Silence'

Review: SWORN TO SILENCE (Macmillan Audio 2009)
By guest blogger Star Lawrence
Author, Linda Castillo; read by Kathleen McInerney

Do you like mildly "chicklit" books starring former Amish people who wield the F-Bomb? Good news—this is a series now. Sheriff Kate Burkholder left the sect but still knows the players in this neck of Ohio and is determined to catch a killer of young women, both Amish and "English" (non-Amish).

Burkholder eventually hooks up with a state-level cop with his own demons. Oh—did I mention, that she thinks the killer may be a man who assaulted her and whom her Amish family "dispatched" to the next world—maybe—she had never really been sure he was dead? I didn't mention it? Well, it's true.

There is some hooking up (the mildly chicklit part) but nothing too icky. Two damaged souls bumping in the night.

We are not talking "Witness" here with dreamy sponge baths and barn raisings. More like where shall we stash the stiff. Kathleen McInerney does a fair job of reading without getting all girlish and inserting charming little pauses. I hate it when that happens.

Star Lawrence owns a recession site called Do the Hopey Copey (http://hopeycopey.blogspot.com) and can be reached at jkellaw@aol.com.

'Draculas' Has More Than a Bit of Biting Humor

Review: DRACULAS (Kindle Edition 2010)
Authors: J.A. Konrath (aka Jack Kilborn), Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson

The intro to DRACULAS includes the following dire words: "If you're easily disturbed, have a weak stomach, or are prone to nightmares, stop reading right now. There are no sexy teen heartthrobs herein.

"You have been warned."

Now those words could either be met with a knowing snicker or a pang of dread. Oddly enough, both responses would be appropriate.

DRACULAS starts off looking like your fairly average horror novel. An aged eccentric recluse buys an unearthed Transylvanian skull that appears to be that of Dracula. He does something I won't tell you (too much of a spoiler -- yes, already!) that leads to all sorts of problems.

Essentially, the eccentric man's actions lead to the creation of another Dracula. But the problems don't end there. No sir. The problems are just beginning.

Most of the story takes place in a hospital (one that's out in the remote countryside, naturally), where the Dracula gets loose and starts biting people and turning them into Draculas. Thus, the name of the book in plural. Not just Dracula, but Draculas -- and an awful and ever-increasing lot of them.

At the heart of the story (because, this story does have a heart, actually) are three couples: hospice nurse Jenny and her average Joe, lumberjack ex-husband, Randall; Shanna, a biological anthropologist (how convenient) and her lawman/cowboy would-be fiance, Clay; and Stacie, a pregnant woman on the verge of giving birth, along with her preacher husband, Adam.

The book jumps around in perspective from head to head, among the various Draculas and the six protagonists trying to defend themselves from them. It's written with an almost stream-of-consciousness style that keeps the pace fast and the emotions immediate.

However, the bulk of the story is hardly the stuff of nightmares. In fact, it perfectly combines horror with whimsical humor. In fact, it manages to be gross and incredibly funny. Scary, yes, but in the most cartoonish of ways.

Let's put it this way: if Carl Hiaasen and Bram Stoker collaborated, they could've produced this book.

And, as for the Draculas themselves, each has his own distinct personality and agenda. (Although, I could've done with a little less time in their heads. The words "Bloodbloodblood" became less like a threat and more like a drone with each reading.)

And as for one absolutely positively knock-your-socks-off funny scene involving a legless Dracula in a wheelchair. Well, it elicited outright belly laughs from this reader. (Perhaps the intro should be modified to address the hopelessly politically-correct, rather than the easily disturbed. But that wouldn't be much an intro, would it? Never mind, the intro's fine.)

Now, without revealing anything specific about the ending, let's just say that things take a very serious turn right around the time the story reaches the point of becoming resolved. The resolution itself has serious repercussions for each of the couples. And the climax is, in fact, quite explosive.

And the end -- well, remember that pang of dread I mentioned? The noir twist on the ending is truly dreadful. And turns out to be the scariest part of the book.

In any case, DRACULAS is an absolutely brilliant example of macabre humor at its best. (With a lesson: look out for those handsome heartthrobs. They aren't always what they seem.)

And, BTW, total kudos to the four (!!) authors who collaborated on this -- J.A. Konrath (aka Jack Kilborn), Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson -- you guys are frakin' brilliant!

Mystery Scene Review of 'Our Kind of Traitor' by John le Carre

Next up in my latest  Mystery Scene Magazine reviews is the one I wrote about OUR KIND OF TRAITOR by John le Carre.

All I'll say is that this author has been at the spy novel game for quite a while. And he's most definitely still at the top of it.

Calling All (Green) Book Review Bloggers!

Hey, everyone. If anyone out there reading this is a book review blogger, I'd like to share the following message about the 2nd Annual Green Books Campaign. They're looking for 200 bloggers to participate. I've agreed to help, but they're falling short of their goal so far.

If you're a book reviewer/blogger and concerned about the environment like I am (thus, the reason I write this blog :)), I hope you'll consider participating, too. Here's the information:

Eco-Libris is seeking bloggers to participate in the 2nd Annual Green Books Campaign: On November 10, 200 bloggers will simultaneously publish reviews of 200 books printed on recycled paper or FSC-certified paper. The campaign will use the power of the Internet and social media to promote books that are printed in an eco-friendly manner.

According to Eco-Libris: "The first campaign took place last November when over 100 bloggers simultaneously published reviews of more than 100 books printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper. This campaign also involved 40 publishers from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. You can see the books and bloggers that participated on the campaign's page. The campaign was very successful -- more than 15,000 readers were exposed to the campaign and it received very positive feedback from publishers, bloggers and readers. Therefore, we decided to run it again this year, but this time with 200 bloggers! This year we are also collaborating with Indigo Books and Music, the largest book retailer in Canada, to increase the campaign's exposure and impact.

"Just like last year, the idea is to have 200 bloggers, who review books on a regular basis, to simultaneously publish their book review of a 'green book' of their choice on Wednesday, November 10 2010. Our goal also hasn't changed: To use the power of the internet and social media to promote 'green' books and increase the awareness of both readers and publishers to the way books can be printed printed in an eco-friendly manner."

The first step is to choose a "green" book you would like to review from the list of books available. (Please note they recommend increasing the magnification of the web page up to (at least) 125% to see all the details.) The books will be assigned on a first come-first served basis. Once a book is taken, the name of the blog will appear next to it in the column 'assigned blog'.

Eco-Libris describes itself as "a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices in the industry, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books." It's Web site is http://www.ecolibris.net.

If you're interested or would like more details, just get in touch with Raz Godelnik of Eco-Libris at raz@ecolibris.net.


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I'll be participating on this very blog, The Book Grrl. I'll also be sure to include a link to the review on my blog, Green Reality Check, for anyone who might be interested. (How exciting to be able to tie these blogs together. Yay!)

And (FYI) I've chosen to review THE THREE FATES OF HENRIK NORDMARK. I just got it in the mail, and I'm really looking forward to reading it.

Mystery Scene Review of 'Dexter is Delicious' by Jeff Lindsay

Next up is my review from Mystery Scene Magazine of DEXTER IS DELICIOUS by Jeff Lindsay. This book is so awesome (and incredibly funny) that it got me watching the television show (which is actually a bit different, but not in a bad way).

Mystery Scene Review of 'Collusion' by Stuart Neville

The next few posts will provide links to my reviews in the September issue of Mystery Scene Magazine. (And, holy moley, look whose review is featured on the home page! But I'll get to that one later.) First up is COLLUSION by Stuart Neville. Here's the link to my review. All I'll say is, I LOVE Irish noir!