Here, Now – Back in June I gave you a preview of Hugh Howey’s upcoming book I,ZOMBIE. Since I am a very important man, I got a beta version of the book to read and it was better than I expected, and I already expected it to be good. I’ve already reviewed Hugh’s best-selling WOOL series, giving it 5 stars, and it looks like I am giving him five more. Here’s the synopsis:
This book contains foul language and fouler descriptions of life as a zombie. It will offend most anyone, so proceed with caution or not at all. And be forewarned: This is not a zombie book. This is a different sort of tale. It is a story about the unfortunate, about those who did not get away. It is a human story at its rotten heart. It is the reason we can’t stop obsessing about these creatures, in whom we see all too much of ourselves.
I won’t be spoiling anything when I tell you that I,ZOMBIE is about a zombie outbreak told from the point of view of zombies.…
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Here, Now – I’m back with another great Kindle read for under $5. I promised that I would write these things up within hours of reading a book, but I am already four books behind.
Anyway, THE LION, THE LAMB, THE HUNTED is a crime thriller by Andrew E. Kaufman that came highly recommended and hit the #1 spot on Amazon’s Psychological thriller and Mystery & thriller lists.
Here’s the Goodreads synopsis where the book is sitting at a 3.74 with 844 ratings:
“She only step outside for a minute. But a minute was all it took to turn Jean Kingsley’s world upside down–a minute she’d regret for the rest of her life. Because when she returned, she found an open bedroom window and her three-year-old son, Nathan, gone. The boy would never be seen again. A tip leads detectives to the killer, a repeat sex offender, and inside his apartment, a gruesome discovery. A slam-dunk trial sends him off to death row, then several years later, to the electric chair. Now, more than thirty years later, Patrick Bannister unwittingly stumbles across evidence among his dead mother’s belongings.…
Continue ReadingJose Baez Thinks Casey Anthony Is A Wackjob, Nobody Is Shocked
June 27, 2012 at 10:31 am by impqueen
Orlando, FL - Yeah, we knew that was coming. Defense attorney Jose Baez has written a new book, Presumed Guilty: Casey Anthony: The Inside Story, in which he posits that (surprise!) Casey Anthony is a nutjob. Can I get a “well, DUH,” up in here?
In case you’ve been living in an Amish family (or a cave), Casey Anthony is the mother of Caylee Marie Anthony, the adorable toddler who was reported missing on July 15, 2008. Caylee had actually been missing since June 9 of the same year, and was found dead several months later, duct tape wrapped around her skull, a creepy heart sticker over what remained of her mouth.
Casey was charged and acquitted of first-degree murder in one of the great travesties and tragedies of the Florida judicial system last year. The case broke our servers and doubled our membership, and there may have been a pizza incident that landed us on Fox News, so, y’know, it’s close to my heart.
Now, Casey’s defense attorney is just gonna keep on defending his client, yammering on about how no sane person does the things that Casey did.…
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Here, Now – If you have been on this site for any amount of time, then you have heard of Hugh Howey or may even know him. We recently reviewed his Amazon Bestseller, the Wool Omnibus, and now I eagerly await his next book, a zombie book titled I, ZOMBIE.
I can hear some of you complain, “Ah, man… another zombie book?” Yeah, it is indeed a saturated market at the moment. The public really love their zombies. But let me tell you why this is my most anticipated book. I, ZOMBIE will detail a zombie outbreak from the viewpoint of multiple characters. But unlike the plethora of other zombie books out there, these tales will not be told by a group of survivors, it will be told from the zombies themselves.
Imagine that you have been turned into a zombie and have found yourself in your infant’s room. No hope for the poor kid as you reach into his crib and then lift his soft belly up to your mouth and begin chewing.…
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Here, Now – Ok, got another book for you. In preparation for our reviews rebirth, I went on Amazon and bought a few popular books for my Kindle in the thriller genre. TRIAL JUNKIES, a legalish crime thriller by Robert Gregory Browne, was high on the bestsellers list and my first pick.
Here’s the Goodreads synopsis:
“Ethan “Hutch” Hutchinson hasn’t seen his old college pals in nearly ten years. Now fate has brought them together again as one of the gang is put on trial for a brutal, senseless murder. The Chicago police and prosecutor think they have their perp, but Hutch isn’t about to sit silently in a courtroom as someone he cares about is wrongfully convicted. When Hutch and his friends join forces to search for the real killer, what they find shatters every notion they have about friendship, loss and redemption, and may very well cost Hutch—and the woman he loves—their lives.”
Sounded decent, the reviews were good and the price was cheap. Three criteria I look for when trying out prostitutes or books from authors I have never been exposed to.…
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Here, Now – I mentioned over the weekend that we’ll be bringing back book and movie articles to compliment our news articles and help round out the overall theme of D’D. The only difference is that they will not be full-fledged reviews, but rather recommendations from us to the D’D reader.
So, that being said, I couldn’t think of a better way to kick things off than with Hugh Howey’s WOOL OMNIBUS EDITION.
Anyone who has been on this site long enough is familiar with Hugh Howey. He was one of our writers, one of the site founders, and a very close, longtime friend of mine. A while back he decided he wanted to be an author, and within a short amount of time, he was.
Already having written a handful of well-received books, it was his latest effort, the self-published WOOL series, that shot him to the top of everyone’s reading list, landed him in Entertainment Weekly and with a movie deal.
I reviewed the first WOOL, a novella involving people living in an underground silo after some kind of catastrophe made living above ground impossible.…
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Here, Now – Since we are trying to get back into the groove with the book and movie suggestions, it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t point you guys towards our very own Hugh Howey’s recent novelette titled Wool. We get emails from time to time, asking about Hugh’s whereabouts, from people unaware he had changed professions. He is no longer our resident troll and site co-founder, trading all that to become an author.
Full disclosure: Hugh and I go back more years than I care to mention. I admit this because I don’t want anyone assuming that because of this, I am willing to forego journalistic integrity (lol!) so that a good friend can make some coin. I’m no shill (sometimes to a fault in regards to this site) and I take my recommendations seriously. I know what it feels like to waste time with a bad movie or book because some jackass got a free copy and repaid the creator with a blowjob disguised as a glowing review chock full of bullshit.…
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Here, Now – I’m an avid reader who, like a lot of you, found it harder and harder to squeeze in quality reading time within a normal day. It got to the point where most of my reading was being done sitting on the toilet. That is until I broke down and bought a Kindle. Now I read everywhere, including the toilet, finishing one to two books every couple of weeks.
That’s the reason for the resurgence of book reviews in Cracked Spine. That and the fact I want to point out books I found worth my time that you may enjoy as well. I’m here to please, people. I may not get to the bad books as I don’t have time to waste on them (although I did finish the highly praised The Priest’s Graveyard that featured a chick so goddamn annoying it took all I could to finish it) but I plan on talking about the good books like the one I read last month.
It’s the debut novel from S.J.…
Continue ReadingThe Cracked Spine: Tom Franklin’s “Crooked Letter Crooked Letter”
October 21, 2011 at 3:29 pm by Morbid
Here’s another book recommendation for you. I already missed one day and if I go two days without telling you all about a good book or movie, then it’s all over with. This would just hurt you ’cause if I recommend it, then it’s worth checking out. That’s a fact.
Today’s suggestion is Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin. I’ve never read anything from the guy, but his book was high on the Amazon must-read list, and the synopsis sounded promising:
“In the 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas “32″ Jones were boyhood pals in a small town in rural Mississippi. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry was the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, black single mother. But then Larry took a girl to a drive-in movie and she was never seen or heard from again. He never confessed . . . and was never charged.
More than twenty years have passed. Larry lives a solitary, shunned existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion.…
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I’m trying to get back into the groove of writing up reviews, so here’s another book for you. This is the last one I finished called The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton. I regularly peruse the Best Books of the Month on Amazon and this particular book was high on the list in January. I was already familiar with Hamilton’s McKnight series, which this is not a part of, so I checked out the official synopsis:
Marked by tragedy, traumatized at the age of eight, Michael, now eighteen, is no ordinary young man. Besides not uttering a single word in ten years, he discovers the one thing he can somehow do better than anyone else. Whether it’s a locked door without a key, a padlock with no combination, or even an 800-pound safe… he can open them all.
It’s an unforgivable talent. A talent that will make young Michael a hot commodity with the wrong people and, whether he likes it or not, push him ever closer to a life of crime.…
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It’s been awhile since I have had anything resembling a review on the site, and this is mostly due to a lack of time. So in order to combat that, I am simply going to stop trying to write long-ass, mostly skipped over reviews and just offer some recommendations. Sort of like the Oprah Book Club, but for DD readers and without all the crap.
To be honest, all I really want to do is navigate DD readers, who probably share some of my morbid interests, around the stinking turds and towards material they may enjoy as much as I did. I’ll leave actual reviews to the people who are paid for it and will link to them within my future recommendations if you’re looking for more in-depth analysis.
To start things off, I’d like to talk about one of the best books I have read this year, Harlan Coben’s 17th novel, Caught. Here’s the official synopsis:
17 year-old Haley McWaid is a good girl, the pride of her suburban New Jersey family, captain of the lacrosse team, headed off to college next year with all the hopes and dreams her doting parents can pin on her.…
Continue ReadingBrother Of Notorious Serial Killer Fred West Setting Record Straight With New Book
February 23, 2011 at 10:48 am by Morleysaurus
Brother of notorious English serial killer Fred West is planning to release a book on his infamous brother and lovely wife Rose and their House of Horrors. Fed up with people always getting it wrong, he wants to set the record straight on what really went on behind the doors of 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, England.
Doug West, 64, claims “Nobody knew Fred and Rose like I did. Nobody spent as much time with them over the years outside of their family.”
“Hardly any of the stuff you read about them in other books is right, which really annoys me. They are full of inaccuracies and get so much wrong. A book of my own would be a good opportunity to put the record straight.”
This charming couple tortured, raped, and killed at least 12 women and young girls over a 20-year period between 1967 and 1987, including their daughter Heather whose remains were found under their patio. Rose is also responsible for killing Fred’s stepdaughter Charmaine whilst he was incarcerated for theft.…
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I was talking with Lizard a little while back when the conversation turned to my favorite subject – horror. We were discussing some of our favorite horror novels when I mentioned my love for the Southern Gothic as well as “rabbit hole” stories consisting of characters experiencing a situation that gets progressively worse. She asked if I’d ever read or heard of a book by Michael McDowell titled THE ELEMENTALS
To welcome back Dreamin’ Demon’s Cracked Spine book recommendations, I have one Jaded will love. Just so you know, she likes her horror books chock full of blood and guts so she will be pleased to know that Vincent Churchill’s THE BUTCHER BRIDE has all that as well as a healthy dollop of sleaze.
Here’s the official synopsis: Thirty years ago, a depraved assault during a Halloween costume ball shattered a young woman’s mind, turning her into a brutal mass murderer. Dressed in her rival’s blood-soaked wedding gown, the legend of the Butcher Bride was born. Now, decades later, everyone who enters the Silas Mansion will encounter a frightening spirit ravenous to satisfy perverse appetites. Death is the only escape. Here comes The Bride…
Evie is a girl after Morbid’s black heart. She is gorgeous, has a healthy sexual appetite and a morbid fascination with serial killers. In particular, the mass murderer Marlie Downing, the Butcher Bride. Twenty-five years ago Downing went on a killing spree during an annual Halloween party held at the famous Silas Mansion, dispatching of a handful of guests in a gruesome fashion.…
Continue ReadingReview: Trick ‘r Treat – Tales of Mayhem, Mystery, and Mischief
October 9, 2009 at 12:07 am by Morbid
It’s been a while since we have any book reviews here, so it just seems fitting that the one book I felt like writing anything about happens to be a companion piece to one of my favorite movies – Trick ‘r Treat (our review). But this book goes far past some slick advertisement for the film. It is a big, glossy, beautiful advertisement for the film – with the added bonus of being a nice addition to any of you Halloween lovers out there. Sure the book delves into the making of the movie and detail almost every aspect of Trick ‘r Treat from its inception to its filming, but like the movie, this book also touches on a lot of the traditions associated with Halloween and how they originated. Jack o Lanterns, black cats, trick-or-treating; it’s all discussed in this book. But it doesn’t end there. As an added bonus, the book acts as proverbial trick-or-treat bag stuffed with various treats in the form of comics, masks, stickers, posters, postcards and pumpkin stencils.…
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I don’t know about anyone else, but I fear that the horror genre may be dead. I settled in to read Dead City, by Joe McKinney. I was expecting cheese of the good variety. The cover of the paperback showed faces in the gloom, and a tagline straight from a horror flick: “They won’t stay dead.”
The Short Review: At least there are zombies.
The Long Review: Five hurricanes have swept the Gulf States. Riots have broken out in the afflicted areas. Remember Rita and Katrina? Yeah. Something like that, but more of it. Evacuees have been flown from Houston to San Antonio. Unbeknownst to everyone, some evacuees are hosts to a deadly virus, turning them into mindless revenants bent on devouring human flesh. Zombies, if you will. The novel is written first-person, from the point of view of Officer Eddie Hudson of the San Antonio PD. This book doesn’t fool around, because right in the first chapter, the shit starts happening. It starts with a call reporting a few people being drunk.…
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Alan Banks and D.I. Annie Cabbot are investigating a fire that consumed two barges in the Yorkshire canal. Investigators find two charred bodies among the ruins, and are also able to determine the fire as having been deliberately set. Two nights later, another fire consumes a remote trailer and claims another life. The fires seem related, so Banks and Cabbot begin their investigation, trying to connect the dots that may link them while also trying to figure out why they are being set in the first place. The answer to that question will aid them in pinpointing the culprit and bring them to justice, possibly stopping them before any further lives are lost.…
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The dead are walking the Earth and wiping out every living thing they can get their rotting fingers on. But these are not your shambling, herd-like zombie made popular in film, nor are they the newer running zombie full o’ rage – both of whose actions are dictated by an unexplainable need to feed on human flesh. These zombies talk, they drive, they shoot guns, they think, plan and organize – and humans are not the only species effected. These zombies are demons who enter the body of the recently deceased and are amassing an undead army under the leadership of Ob, a powerful demon hell-bent on destroying Earth. His motives are quite simple. He enjoys making God cry. Ob, along with his brethren, have a massive chip on their shoulder over being banished to the Void. Now that they are free they are gonna settle the score by destroying all of God’s creations, starting with Earth. They will not rest until they storm the Gates of Heaven itself, and Ob is able to drag God off his thrown by his beard.…
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Donna and her 12-year-old daughter are on the run from her psychotic ex-husband who was recently released from prison. He had always vowed to track them down and kill them both if he ever got out, and they have no doubt he plans on keeping his word.
The pair end up making an unexpected stop in the small coastal town of Malcasa Point, Pop 400. A town with a macabre tourist attraction – an old, Victorian house called Beast House. The house has been the scene of multiple murders over the years in which occupants of the house, both invited and uninvited, have met violent, grisly ends at the hands of some sort of beast. Some believe it is simply a man gone mad, others believe that it is a monster normally only seen in nightmares.
But one thing they all agree on – something lurks in that house at night, looking for the next victim to shred to pieces with its razor-sharp claws. But Donna and Sandy are about to find out the horrifying truth behind the legend after meeting two of the town’s recent visitors; two men who have scores to settle with the thing that lurks within the Beast House.…
Continue ReadingReview: Infected – I’ll Never Look At Chicken Scissors The Same Way
July 15, 2009 at 10:08 am by Morbid
The United States has been invaded by an enemy and no one even knows it. But when they finally realize what has happened, it may be too late to do a damn thing about it. The problem is that this invader is a microscopic parasite. All across the United States, average people are turning into raving lunatics suffering from extreme paranoia and committing horrendous acts of violence against friends and family – even themselves – after becoming a host. Now a small group of investigators must try to determine what this parasite is, what it does and where it came from. Is it natural, having been dormant for thousands of years? An advanced biological weapon? The only link shared with the infected, aside from their acts of violence, are their insane rantings about “triangles” that coincide with the symbols later found on their bodies. Meanwhile, an infected man marked with seven of these triangles, attempts to cure himself before he also does something horrifying – more horrifying than anything anyone could have possibly imagined.…
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