Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

Amy is living paycheck to paycheck in suburban Ohio, while working at the Ikea knockoff store Orsk. When the store manager, Basil, asks her to work an overnight shift to see who is sneaking in the store and messing with merchandise at night, she takes the opportunity to make some extra pay in cash. Amy is working retail as “just a job” but Basil fully believes in the teamwork and pride of working there. Amy is dreading her night shift, but there is no way she could predict how the night would end up. As she is working the shift with Ruth Anne, a loyal employee who treats everyone like family, they notice fellow team members Trinity and Matt have snuck in the store overnight to do some ghost hunting. They join up and at first, the mysterious things happening in the store are attributed to a homeless man named Carl, but the group finds that things are not as they seem.

The layout of such a mega store is meant to be disorienting to customers to get them stuck in a shopping loop, but several characters start to get stuck and turned around more often than not in the familiar-to-them store layout. As the creepy factor turns up, it’s hard for the employees to determine if it’s a person or a ghost. The plot thickens as we find out that Orsk is built on the site of a former prison, where the warden was convinced that he could cure criminal minds with forced labor. The amount of terrifying things happening dramatically increases as the “warden” takes control of the store and the inmate ghosts are torturing the Orsk employees. The warden strikes a psychological chord with Amy as he calls out her troubled spirit and aimless life. As the frightening night goes on, she starts to see why Basil values the teamwork of Orsk and learns leadership from him. She fights her way out, but Orsk corporate is determined to keep what happened under wraps. The book is left open for a follow up, which will no doubt be another great story

TL:DR- A quick to read, yet exciting horror book with a deep look at the retail world, purpose, teamwork, and leadership.

Publication Date: September 23, 2014                                                         Page Count: 248

ISBN: 1594745269                                                                                               Publisher: Quirk

Buffalo Lockjaw By Greg Ames

James, a somewhat uninspired son, goes back to his hometown of Buffalo, New York for Thanksgiving to see his parents. While there, he comes face to face with his mother’s dementia and possible impending death. While it is not initially painful for James to visit his hometown, it is not really a joy. He is a mostly mellow character who works for a greeting card company in NYC and is getting by. Once he is home and sees his mother, Ellen’s, current condition he starts to remember a past conversation with her in which she mentioned that if it came to it, she would want assisted suicide to be an option. As a nurse, James knows that she has thought this through. His father, Rodney, is against the idea and doesn't want to discuss it. He is a stereotypical male baby boomer, with the generational traits of a hard worker who swallows his problems and doesn’t complain. As James describes it, “talk about Buffalo lockjaw. He could teach a master class”. There is a nice foreshadowing in the writing about how James will come to find beauty in life’s cruel situations. The cast of his friends and family in this novel help him see his situation differently and add enjoyable depth to the story. Though James has trouble connecting with his father, and it is tough for him to deal with his mother’s decline, the book has a surprising and satisfying ending.

TL:DR- A thoughtful, melancholy, and yet uplifting look at the inevitable and tough choices in life.

Reviewed by Katie Holland, who is a Chicago based artist, creative mind and bookworm.

Publication Date: January 1, 2009                                                 Page Count: 304

ISBN: 1401309801                                                                              Publisher: Hachette Books

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

The Shining Girls is a riveting time traveling serial killer mystery, based in various years of the 20th century and set in Chicago. Harper, the killer, is inexplicably drawn to the “House” and finds in his own handwriting the names of his victims: the Shining Girls. These victims are all strong and unique women that Harper stalks through time, waiting to find the perfect moment to kill them and take trophies. He takes trophies to enjoy personally in the House and to also leave with the next victim’s body, therefore creating a circle that he feels the need to complete. We get no background on Harper and why he ended up doing what he does, but it doesn’t really matter because what is happening in the moment is everything to Harper. There is magic realism in play and a conversation about free will and the unexplainable need to do something. Harper can leave the House and go to whatever time period in the future while staying in Chicago. He uses this to stalk his victims, finding some when they are young and telling them that he will be back for them. It’s interesting to see one character, Alice, look forward to him coming back having no idea what will eventually happen to her. Another character, Catherine, can’t handle the knowledge that a stranger is following her and ends up becoming a drug addict. As an adult she makes art by tearing and painting on paper saying that “destruction is a natural instinct”. This is the only feasible explanation for why Harper does what he does as a serial killer, he has no free will to stop what he is doing.  

Harper’s one surviving victim, Kirby, eventually starts to look for him. She is drawn to do so thinking she has no other choice (again bringing up the topic of free will). She lands an internship at the Chicago Sun-Times with the reporter who originally covered her attack. She uses the paper’s resources to track down similar murders in Chicago and at first the span of time seems impossible, but Kirby keeps working on it. It’s satisfying to see Kirby work through the evidence to find what she is looking for. The way the story goes back and forth in perspective, especially from the victim's point of view is a real strong point of Beukes’ novel.

TL:DR- The Shining Girls is a compelling time travel mystery tracking a killer and his one surviving victim; both of them thinking they are doing the only thing they can because they have no other choice.  

Reviewed by Katie Holland, who is a Chicago based artist, creative mind and bookworm.

Publication Date: June 4, 2013                                            Page Count: 375

ISBN: 0316216852                                                                   Publisher: Mulholland Books

Rich and Pretty by Rumaan Alam

A tale so many can relate to: best friends who went through high school and college together, who are now navigating adult life in their own ways. Sarah comes from wealth and privilege, while Lauren is from a working class suburban family making her way in New York City on her own. They are growing up and slightly apart as their lives diverge into different paths. Sarah is getting married and expecting her first baby; she is following a fairly typical life path. Lauren goes from boyfriend to boyfriend and has no real interest in settling down. She is aware of this and doesn’t mind that this is where she is in life, even with Sarah’s occasional comments on her life choices.  

We read the book through the perspective of each woman and how they view their relationship. The friendship has become a bit distant, but is still comfortable and familiar to both Lauren and Sarah. There is no major conflict in the book as they accept things to be the way they are. At one point, Sarah does express displeasure about a one night stand Lauren has during the bachelorette trip. Even though we know that Sarah is saying this just to be heard, but knows it won’t change Lauren’s mind at all. Eventually, as Lauren sees her friend become a mom she does admit to being wrapped up in her own life.

I enjoyed the intimate look at the thoughts of both characters; the internal dialogue about how they think of each other and what is going on in their lives, even the mundane things. We see that a friendship can last through the years even if it’s not as close as it used to be. This book explores the bonds that are inexplicably set up at a young age and stay intact no matter what.

TL:DR- Was an enjoyable and slightly melancholy read, but I was left wanting more to the story.

Disclosure: I won this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway and was asked for my opinion of it in return. This review is based on an advanced reader's edition.

Reviewed by Katie Holland, who is a Chicago based artist, creative mind and bookworm.

Publication Date: June 7, 2016                                                Page Count: 304

ISBN: 0062429930                                                                     Publisher: Ecco

Letters To Wendy's by Joe Wenderoth

Nihilistic weird fiction. Interested? If you’re looking for something to shake up your to-read list, then this is one to consider. I went back and forth between laughing out loud and being completely perplexed. Based on the idea of a person (who seems to be the author’s alter ego) leaving notes in a Wendy’s comment box for a year; and yes, it’s basically as weird as it sounds. Each page is a short poem, thought, or rambling. It’s not as narrative as I had expected and blurs the line between fiction and non-fiction. It felt as if Wenderoth was truly stepping into the character vs. writing about the character. What would the type of person who goes to Wendy’s nearly every day think about? I kept forgetting I wasn’t reading the actual thoughts of this person. A book with this subject matter sounds like it wouldn’t get too deep, but there was interesting commentary about modern “throw-away” culture, Christianity, self medicating with food, the things in life that hold us back, etc. There is also an underlying current that there is no point to any of this, which is the point. Delightful.

TL:DR Need something weird to laugh at, but still make you think? Pick this one up and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Reviewed by Katie Holland, who is a Chicago based artist, creative mind and bookworm.

Publication Date: November 27, 2000                         Page Count: 296

ISBN: 0970367201                                                              Publisher: Wave Books