Nick

This very short story packs a punch. In just a short amount of time, Laurel Hightower gives the reader a crash course in grief and the lengths a parent would go through to bring back a lost child. There are some real spooky happenings, but it's essentially a mix between the monkey's paw and any ghost story. Ending didn't do much for me, but overall, I'd recommend.

So, I'm going to rant a little bit. This book is like 146 pages or something like that. The price tag new for the paperback version is $9.99. If that seems like a stretch for as mass market edition of a 146 page story, please consider that this is edited like an 8th grader's 3 page essay. There's a loooooot of blank paper, let's say. The margins are ridiculously big, the font is a tad larger than King's short story collections, there are illustrations, the whole gamut. If this went by word count there would be 5 extra pages of whited out words. It's glaringly obvious that this book was only released as a cash grab. I can't imagine King needs the money, so I'm assuming this was done by the publisher.

Having said all of that, this "novella" (short story is what it really is) should have been released in a collection. It isn't strong by any means. In fact, it's pretty weak. As others have said, it's just such a Boomer story. Ugh. If anyone wants to read an exceptional story with a similar vibe, please do yourself a favor and check out King's son Joe Hill's story "Pop Art."

This was a really short, quick read but it was fun. It started off really strong and then ending was pretty good. The middle really didn't make much sense to me. I dunno, the Lovecraftian stuff was just...eh. Cool concept though.

I liked this book. I didn't love it like others, but that's OK.

First and foremost: Dan Ozzi is an incredible writer. I recommend reading anything the guy touches.

For some, this book chronicles a small blip in music history. For others like myself, this book is life. Ozzi starts this book where they all start off: Green Day. From there, he hits up all the classics from the poppy and moody Jawbreaker and Jimmy Eat World to harder rocking The Distillers and Rise Against and concluding with Against Me and many more in between. There are 11 chapters in total and 11 bands.

So, what is the book about? For those in the know, the word "sellout" comes with a negative connotation that might be hard to explain to an outsider. Ozzi does it well here by chronicling each band's early years and growth from large independent stars and their stories of jumping to major labels. With many from the punk scene shunning the idea of moving from a small, independent music label to a corporate-run label, the bands all struggle with the crossroads they've encountered. Do they stick to their ideals and do everything themselves but limit exposure, or do they compromise a little (or a lot sometimes) and ask for help?

What's amazing with these stories is that every band's story is so different but so similar. Some bands cared more about their punk credentials than others. Some bands wanted to take over the world and others just maybe wanted to pay rent. Some bands exploded into mega stars while others imploded. The overall arc is clear though. Each one of these bands had to build their own following and major labels wanted to make money off of that. As opposed to manufactured vocalists and pop groups, these bands all had to work their asses off to get where they got. They had to make a choice: do they stay stagnant or do they see how far they can go?

Obviously, Ozzi couldn't fit every single band here but he does mention quite a few bands who fit the bill such as Bad Religion, The Offspring, Anti-Flag, The Muffs, and others. I would personally love to see a part 2.

What a fucking shitty book. I’m not even going to bother writing a review.

Why? Why? Why Why? Why Why Why? Why Why Why Why Why? Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why?

This single word echoed in my head with every single new plot point like the world’s most annoying Fibonacci Sequence.

From the get-go the reader is promised a fun little romp where a bunch of strangers vie for a dead millionaire’s fortune and things immediately go south. It’s a dumb but entertaining flip from Escape Room to the Saw movies as one could probably guess. Quickly, the author shoves the hook away and apparently starts slamming his fist on the keyboard. By the second escape room, the silliness snowballs into an incomprehensible mess.

I figured, by the way the book started, that the plot would slowly unfold into some huge interconnected web where everything came together. Well, that’s not so much what happened. The one-dimensional characters remained in 1D World. They made silly decisions. The world’s greatest puzzle maker made shitty puzzles. Stuff just sort of happened with no rhyme or reason. Attempts at humor fell flat. Plot twists happen that will make you scratch your head. Honestly, I’m not certain Dan Brown didn’t ghost write this. That’s how bad it was.

Even though it wasn’t his first published, this was apparently the first book Stephen King wrote, and I gotta say: I’m pretty damn impressed by that!

The premise here is somewhere between the Hunger Games saga and King’s (or Bachman’s) own The Running Man. Although the reader isn’t given much story behind the dystopian society, it’s apparently some sort of military dictatorship where young men sacrificing themselves is the main source of entertainment each year.

I really liked the premise and I really liked the cast of characters, but the story fell flat in a few ways for me. For one, the book was very uneven. About 75% of the book tells of the first 1/3 or so of the Walk. The last quarter rushes things. My other gripe is that, even though my suspension of disbelief allowed me to buy the premise, I didn’t feel that the walkers’ stamina was very realistic. Even with extensive vetting, I can’t believe that more people weren’t out within the first 25 miles nor can I believe how long the Walk went on. The stories for why people decided to join were mostly silly too.

A few tweaks and the book could be perfect imo. I see that they’re making a movie. Maybe they can smooth over some of those things.

I wanted to give this book 5 stars but I really feel like he trolled the reader with that ending.

In all seriousness, if you haven’t had a chance to check out Victor LaValle’s writings, I highly recommend him. He really knows how to tell a story.

Here we have the classic American romance story that brings a baby into this world. All is well until the father mysteriously vanishes one day without a trace. The boy grows up wondering what happened to him and there’s this eerie feeling that the dad is still trying to communicate with him from beyond. Dreams, appearances, a box full of things dropped off at the door. The boy grows up in a similar situation. He meets the girl of his dreams. They fall in love, get married, and have a baby of their own.

This is where the story starts to really pick up. Without spoiling anything, the man is drawn into a world he didn’t know existed online, real, and fantastical.

The final 10-15% of the book didn’t do it for me, but it was overall great. I loved the themes of family, what parents will do (or won’t) for their children, and tradition. I highly recommend.

Some of the stories I breezed through, and some of them seemed to take forever, so I’m giving his three stars. Nothing was exceptionally amazing or terrible. One thing I will say is that Gingerbread Girl and A Very Tight Place were essentially the same story except GG was an excuse to call a woman “bitch” a million times and Tight Place was an excuse to use a bunch of homophobic slurs.