January 2025 Reads

But before then, I will slip in the two reads, I rounded off 2024 with. They were:

The Radleys, Matt Haig
Aside from some small idiosyncrasies in the plot, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought it would be my least favourite of the author’s that I’ve read so far from the blurb alone. In some ways, this is true. But I liked it far more than I expected to. I think this is in part because I watched the film first, which is an okay watch, but not a patch on an excellent book. Saying that, I found this a slow build, with an ending that is worth the wait. It’s at heart a family drama, but one that sheds on light on the power of true love and whether and when we should forgive. The questions and answers it raises may well differ by reader, but it’s the part of the book towards the end that makes an unusual book effective.

The Burning Girls, C.J.Tudor
A well plotted mystery with supernatural, atmospheric elements and enough twists to keep the reader gripped. Yes, some things seem obvious, but you’re given enough choices to keep one guessing as to the truth with a cast of interesting and surprising characters. I enjoyed every moment spent with this book. At no point did I feel disappointed. The story has remained with me after I closed the last page. So far, I’ve enjoyed all the books I’ve read by this author.

January

Life Expectancy, Dean Koontz

A reread for me told in first person, so the tone of this book differs from most well-known Koontz books, yet I found the story as entertaining this time around as I did the first time. Although once I finished the book, I laughed a little over how crazy the plot actually is, I still found it entertaining and mostly gripping, as well as being a good example of what an author can come up with thinking outside the box. I like an author’s work when it can be as surprisingly different as this book is, and who doesn’t love to hate murderous clowns?

Firefly: Coup De Grace, Una McCormack

Another good story in the world of Firefly. Whether everything matches the characters, what they would say, and how we expect them to act is no doubt for the individual to decide. A couple of things jarred here, but overall I enjoyed this one and it was nice to see some characters acting strongly and with determination in situations they hadn’t been so forceful in before. I also found the parts of the novel written in first person by someone who isn’t part of the crew took me out of the story a little, but I can’t see how else the author could have written the book. I was also sorry to see quite a few typos and even missing words in sentences; even though I could work out what was missing, it spoils the experience and I’ve never come across so many in a Firefly novel before. This made the book feel a little sloppy.

The Night House, Jo Nesbo

A hard book to review without giving too much away. In one way, this book’s quite inventive. But it’s in three parts, each of which reads different from the other, and the intended age of the reader seems to grow up with the progressing stories. I’ve seen something similar before, told in a way I enjoyed better, although both books are different enough. I enjoyed each section, but there’s a part of me that remained a little ‘incomplete’ I guess is the best way to describe it. The story ties up, but left me with this stop/start feeling, which isn’t the same as disappointment. I’m glad I read it, and the story format definitely sticks in the mind.

Mothlight, Adam Scovell

If it’s possible to be compelled and repelled by a book while reading it, I’d say that’s how I felt reading this. Not a lot happens and the story being told is quite basic, but it’s the excellent writing and many subtle nuances blending death, gruesomeness, obsession, and various kinds of haunting that make this book. I felt myself reluctantly warming to the characters, occasionally bored, sometimes repulsed. I found it difficult to care for people capturing poor innocent creatures, be they moths, to stick pinned in frames on the wall, although clearly this is part of being a Lepidopterist — one element of the book I didn’t realise before I began reading. Expertly composed, still the big reveal isn’t so big — indeed, some elements remain deliberately vague — and I can’t say I enjoyed the read. The best I can say is that the story lingers, which is down to the writer’s skill.

Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell

This is a book I would have loved to come across as a younger reader, although I imagine what children want from a book now may well differ from the Treasure Island type of adventures I adored. When the moments of sadness arrive, they are heartfelt. There were other times when I felt uncomfortable hearing what Karana had to do to survive, but such would be the way of life when living on an island surviving in the wilds. What the ‘civilised men’ do, shattering Karana’s world, is far worse, and she learns to temper killing with mercy. I feared for her more at the prospect of her leaving her island than what happens to her while alone, though the author addresses this by the ‘fact behind the fiction’ note at the end.

Gwendy’s Button Box, Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

I’ve had this book for ages buried in my TBR mountain. I knew nothing about it and the first image to come to my mind — that of my grandmother’s box of clothes buttons — couldn’t be more off. Gwendy’s box of buttons is something far more menacing. I wouldn’t usually like a book written in this style, but I found it so easy to read, I didn’t mind so much. On to the second and third book.

James Bond, Diamonds are Forever (audio), Ian Fleming, Read by Damian Lewis

My least favourite James Bond book so far, possibly because of the subject, which involves a lot of gambling, horse racing and the like. There seemed to be a lot less action in this, or maybe it only seemed that way because of the pacing. This one struggled to hold my attention. I am pleased the women are often stronger than they come across in the films. However, the way Bond notices their clothes down to the smallest degree amuses me. But most irritating… if Bond ‘shrugs his shoulders’ one more time, my eyes might roll out of my head. There’s no need to ‘shrug shoulders’ as a shrug on its own works fine — what else do you shrug but your shoulders? Still, letting that go, even back when the books were written, it’s amazing no one picked up that Bond goes around shrugging his shoulders just about everywhere at everything. Other characters shrug their shoulders, too, though not as much as though the habit is catching. This has irritated me in every book so far.

Reads Oct/Nov 2024

Owing to ongoing issues, I’ve clubbed together two months, especially as I didn’t get much read in November.

October
Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett
Although in some ways this may be my least favourite of the Discworld novels doubtless owing to my lack of interest in football, I still fell in love with the new characters and again with the old, and I laughed during the match and smiled by the end of the book. This still carries all the charm and magic of Terry’s world. I’ve not hurried to read the last few novels I had to read because I knew they were the last, so in a wacky sense I was almost saving them even though I’m sure Terry would have told me that was a dangerous thing to do being none of us know how long we have. Terry is sorely missed and so will be the books he may have written, but he’s left us with a legacy that will now be my pleasure to begin all over again.

Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist, (audio), M.C.Beaton, read by Penelope Keith
This time Agatha takes a holiday in search of love, but finds herself caught up in another murder investigation. Surprisingly, the new setting worked well, treating the audience to a tangle of both Agatha being a suspect, and her increasingly muddled love life.

Lost Girl, Adam Nevill
I might well vote this to be the author’s best book. By that I don’t mean my favourite, which sounds odd when I’ve called it the best. I’ve not read all the author’s titles yet, though I intend to. The subject of the book — the desperate search by a father for his missing child — is a hard topic to like best, but I also have an outstanding favourite that, as much as I adore this writer’s work, any other title may well struggle to knock off the top spot.

In Lost Girl, we’re treated to a writer getting almost every sentence right. Every emotion. Every self-doubt, self-loathing, conviction to do what he must for the sake of his little girl. I doubt someone who wasn’t a parent could have written this, and part of the well-captured horror is the question of our capacity to become the monster when someone threatens those we love, even when the ultimate blame lies with those who cause the terrible things they might force others to do.

For those looking for the supernatural element in Nevill’s work, it’s here but is a subtext to a warped mind in a warped world that isn’t as far off as we would like. This glimpse of a possible, even probable future pulls on the heartstrings as much as the plight of ‘the father’ in this prescient warning. I wouldn’t call this horror, though there are horrific elements. This novel crosses genres. Horror, thriller, drama, crime… whatever one wants to call it, the author led this reader willingly towards a satisfying conclusion.

October October, Katya Balen
Picking a book at random from my book mountain, I saw this and thought, well, it’s October, so why not choose this? I wanted to love this book as much as so many others do. Fine, I’m not the intended audience, but adults are the ones who decide the best books for children and at what age. I wanted the book to leave me smiling, but I felt torn in so many ways all the way through.

At first, I was on October’s side. This book makes you feel how stifled she feels in London and longs for wide-open skies. In this, she was close to my heart. Yet I also wondered about her father having raised her entirely in the woods. There’s little of practical home schooling, no arrangements of what would happen to her if something happened to her father… which is exactly what occurs. Despite who is at fault, and even that is a grey area leaving me feeling they’re all to blame, the point is no one seemed to consider the possibility of a child’s care if the worst happened. No one seems to much care about her natural development and how she would cope in the outside world should it ever become necessary or something she might want. Then she’s ripped out of the only life she’s known into an alien environment that’s understandably frightening with a woman she doesn’t want to know.

And at that point in her life, I felt it unfair to have someone who left her own daughter at such a young age thrust upon her. I felt the unfairness of childhood when you have no say. For practical reasons alone, there is of course a good reason for October to know her mother — so that she wouldn’t end up in the situation she finds herself in, but why did this woman disappear for so long only attempting, poorly, to communicate rather than show up? If they were going to force the issue, why not do it when October was younger? The opportunities to explain and help October understand in her informative years seem entirely overlooked. I understand and sympathised that the father couldn’t live in the mother’s world and vice versa but they are parents and this seems to be something they should have worked out beforehand and, when times got tough, considered what’s best for their child, not just up and please themselves.

Both parents come across as selfish, so it’s hardly surprising October acts selfishly sometimes. Perhaps the parents’ behaviour goes someway to explain why October seems younger than her years. And the idea this girl from the woods could fit into a school, especially after her behaviour when she first arrives, is unrealistic. In reality, she’d be a perfect candidate for bullying. I’ve also spent many a minute wondering where these woods are an hour and a half away from London where they can live with scarce interaction with the outside world or the education authority — you have to prove you’re educating your child to a standard if you opt for home schooling. Much of the plot is unrealistic, so to enjoy the book it’s necessary to set all that aside.

I’m happy to say the lessons she learns about the owl are painful but important, and the underlying themes are good, especially that of parents being apart doesn’t mean they don’t both love you (dealt with better in Mrs Doubtfire), but these subjects weren’t delved into deeply enough. On a good point, the first person tone and style work well for the book and young readers. The author makes October’s world, both good and bad, come to life. Given more depth and developmental edits, this could have been a splendid book instead of good.

The Watch House, Robert Westall
If I call this a pleasant read it may give the wrong impression for a ghost story, but it’s still atmospheric and I liked the cast of interesting characters, the unusual setting, different ghosts, and background stories. An excellent read for younger readers but absorbing enough for some adults.

November
All Hallows, Christopher Golden
An easy enjoyable read. I throughly lived in the world of Parmenter Road and the characters who inhabit the place. The Haunted Woods allowed me to experience the kind of Halloween and Trick or Treat that’s uncommon in the UK be it with more than horror thrown in than anyone is prepared for. A spooky piece of entertainment both teens and adults will enjoy with fully-fledged characters that live on the page and make you feel for them. Some of the facts about the true horror came across as a little vague but this adds to the sense of bewilderment and fear. I liked that some aspects weren’t what they seemed. Can’t call this scary, though.

The Uglimen, Mark Morris
I can’t say I found this scary, though a couple of moments made me pause, but I loved the quite disturbing ideas that went into this. This may not be terrifying but it’s an enjoyable read, and one that’s kept me entertained through a not so great time.

August Reads 2024

My reading for the last month is pitiful because, strangely, I couldn’t focus on a book during this last holiday; perhaps because the ship was swaying so much, or because I’ve been suffering from a lack of proper sleep for a long time (or both), I fell asleep an awful lot, especially when I tried reading. Hope to do better in September.

The Night Eternal, Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Parts of this book were enjoyable, but out of the three, I’m afraid this last book in the trilogy dragged in places for me. I also found some of the plot points a little too convenient; a little Deus Ex Machina. The ending was also a little over the top. I can’t help feeling, in order to heighten tension, some stories drag out action scenes beyond human endurance. While we expect that in many action films, I’m not sure it works so well on the page. Because of this, I can’t help feeling the writers always wanted this to air as a show.

Firefly: What Makes Us Might, M.K.England
Another decent addition to the Firefly universe with a writer who portrays the characters ‘voices’ and personality. Enough intrigue and action, and for those of us who are fans, one way to continue to enjoy the series, which ended far too soon.

July 2024 Reads

The Strain, Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Having watched the series, I wanted to read the books, although having completed the first, there was no true reason to — the adaptation was more than decent, though characters are a little stereotypical and wooden at times. Still, this first of the trilogy doesn’t entirely disappoint. I like the way the authors created unconventional vampires. That, when turned, people become monsters different from the classic. If anything, the TV series humanised those turned more than the book does. I can’t say I found this scary and there were few creepy moments, but I’m hard to scare. The fear here comes from a pandemic of epic proportions running rile and of a type that would be tough to make anyone believe until the situation was far beyond saving. Here, losing someone means to lose them to something truly worse than death only to have them perpetuate the disease with an ease rarely seen in the modern vampire genre. The ease and speed with which the vampires propagate is what makes this story frightening. This is for anyone who likes their vampires nasty.

Shadow Walker, Prometheus 3, Esther Mitchell
I can’t read this author without imaging these stories as a filmed series. It’s hard to believe they’re not more widely read. The effort put in to the creation is clear. Another way to look at them might be a supernatural take on Suzanne Brockman’s work, and by that I don’t mean a facsimile. These are extremely different, but the blend of romance and action is there. I quickly grew to love the two leads in this novel. Trevor and Jaye are a couple you can’t wait to reconcile, and the need to know what happened between them is only one thing keeping the reader engaged. This is the best book in the series so far, an emotional tug of war. I love the author understands how people can feel several emotions at once, using that passionate upheaval to pull the reader apart in a chapter, a paragraph, or even a sentence.

A Summer Fling (audio), Milly Johnson, read by Colleen Prenderghast
I’ve listened to several of the author’s work on audio, but this one was the first that took me a while to get into. I admit almost stopped listening a few times, but a few threads kept me wondering enough to finish this. As I learned more about these characters and their stories took on more shape, I grew slowly invested in them. Though the reader hopes for and expects happy endings here, the journeys aren’t easy, and are sometimes surprising. Filled with some fun characters, I ended up enjoying most of the storylines, in particular the one featuring Vladimir Dark. Still, this one felt a little overlong, though that’s understandable when featuring a large cast with all the required outcomes.

The Betrayals, Bridget Collins
Like a beautiful orchestration. When I began reading this, I thought I was in for a treat, but that feeling dissipated. I felt dumped into a setting, into a world I didn’t quite understand. I doubt many of us have heard of the term Grand jeu, and even when I looked it up, the idea of a university situated around this ‘game of music’ made little sense to me. However, as the story continued, it worked like a gentle rift, building up to a majestic crescendo. The plot could be called basic, but it’s the style of the writing where individual notes tug on the heartstrings in various ways that’s slowly gripping. The even obvious plot points weren’t at all diminished even if I spotted them. A strange but unexpected love story.

The Fall, Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
The second book in The Strain trilogy. This one certainly picks up the pace, leaving the reader with an edge-of-the-seat feeling. This is bleak in the best sense, and a great set-up for the last book.

The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsaukawa
This odd sounding book caught my attention and I’m so very glad it did. Lightly mystical stories that pass through four strange labyrinths with a talking cat as the guide, slowly revealing why books are so important and why people love them. This left me smiling and unable to part with the novel. One for those who love books, or a great present to give or read to someone. For anyone who wishes to pass their love of books on.

June 2024 Reads

Not much read this month owing to a busy holiday and health issues, but here they are:

Anna Dressed in Blood, Kendare Blake
I confess the title made me pick this up, that and the cover, though I’d heard a little buzz about this book, and I was interested to see how YA horror would work. The book’s well-written and entertaining, but ultimately too short to give the reader the pay-off the idea deserves. To make that clearer, to develop the love-interest element and to keep Anna scary enough required more time than this length of books allows for. Saying that, I feel the author did well in the allotted space, and certain genres require authors to keep to certain word counts. Still, I can’t help feeling the story would be far better had the book been longer, providing more time for something other than love (or is it infatuation?) to develop more believably, and also hiking up the creepy factor and scares. Hence, the genre still confuses me a little.

The writing is of YA style, be it an elevated type, and the details graphic without being gory like an adult horror novel might be (though no story needs to be graphic to be scary). The story itself was fun with some prominent characters, but as someone who read Stephen King, and James Herbert, when I was barely a teen, I guess it’s confusing why this category exists. Also, the protagonist is 17, which is adult enough for me. Sure, in the UK and USA it’s generally 18 by law, but what you can and can’t do by age can be a little ridiculous. A 17-year-old can surely read adult horror, and many start reading and watching far younger (not debating whether they should here). Anyone of that age might find this book to be as mild as I did, but the story was an excellent idea and the novel entertaining.

The Taking, Dean Koontz
A re-read for me that made me instantly question how I ever could have forgotten this book. Or perhaps the subject didn’t connect with me as a younger reader. Koontz is often ‘accused’ of injecting his religious beliefs into his work. The same could be said here, though to good effect. This is an alien encounter like no other, blending horror and supernatural elements expertly, yet being in some ways thought-provoking. Those who enjoyed Phantoms might like this, and there’s no need to let personal faith or lack of spoil this. Highly imaginative, and the story has a satisfying conclusion.

Reads May 2024

The Old Man, Thomas Perry
This is a thriller with believable, interesting characters, though I found the pacing uneven. Even in a thriller, not all the chapters should be at speed, but I found the flow here a little off pace; I’d get used to one momentum before being thrust into another and back again. Still, I found the story absorbing. Anyone who expects to find the television series in these pages may be put off. Maybe that’s why I found this a little jarring. Much more happens in the series than here, and the ending wraps up a little abruptly. It’s hard for me to choose which version I preferred.

Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage (audio), M.C.Beaton, read by Penelope Keith
In this one, things go awry when Agatha ignores the possibility that her estranged husband could still be alive. I found this instalment entertaining, possibly because the more Agatha tries to solve one murder another ensues and she finds herself at the heart of the investigation.

Everfound (Book 3 of the Skinjacker Trilogy), Neal Shusterman
Perhaps the best of the three, which means the author did his job well, increasing the tension as the overall story progressed, making this a trilogy worth finishing. He’ll (eagerly?) throw characters into the worst scenarios, perhaps situations that mean the end of them, often just when you love them the most. This shouldn’t put anyone off, though, as it adds tension and drama. I also liked that the author showed that even unpleasant characters have layers and motivation for what they do, something sometimes not highly dealt with in books for younger audiences. I grieved for those I earlier thought deserved their bad ends, which takes some doing no matter the age of the reader. As for the age of that audience, I find it difficult to judge, being as I read books like Oliver Twist when I was 7 or 8 years old. A satisfying series.

House of Leaves, Mark Z.Danielewski
This is a tough book to review without breaking it into parts. Johnny Truant tells us his story of reading the Navidson report as written by an old man called Zampano. I found Truant’s sections irritating, constantly going off on tangents and telling a story seemingly unrelated to the notebook he’s reading, especially his gratuitous sexual encounters; although at one point I wondered if these were as imaginary as some of his hallucinations of personal peril. However, Navidson’s story as ‘written’ by the character of Zampano grabbed my attention but alas, made me want to read those sections without the interference of the rest.

Then there are the annotations, again many of which seem to tell the reader nothing. At best, they lend a kind of authenticity to Zampano’s note taking, but are almost entirely unnecessary. The experimental style of the book is mildly interesting, but all this extraneous information is taxing and makes the book drag. Early in the ‘report’, Zampano includes almost two pages of names, which turn out to be (according to a footnote) names of photographers. I didn’t bother reading through an entire list of names, which were there for no apparent reason I could see. The references to echoes and labyrinths seem somehow to refer to the novel itself. As does the sentence ‘All solutions are necessarily personal’ (page 115) appearing to suggest the outcome of the story (good or bad) will be unique to the individual.

In another, the author notes a real or fictional article (I don’t know which) remarking ‘In the future, readers of newspapers and magazines will probably view news pictures more as illustrations than as reportage…’ referring to the inability eventually to distinguish between genuine images and those manipulated. But in this, and references to other technology, once again the writer seems to manipulate the reader, telling us we can trust nothing.

And what is the point of the boxes of text or blank pages, other than to suggest the maze of corridors and wide open spaces within the supernatural realms of the ‘house’ investigated in the Navidson report? Likewise later, lines the reader needs to read in the opposite direction, or from a corner, etc., appear to be representations of Navidson’s exploration.

Whilst reading I couldn’t help thinking that so many reviewers told others not to bother, and yet, the book remains acclaimed. On the one hand, the author has written something incredible when one considers the work of putting all the content together — that of Zampano’s notebook and Truant’s experiences while reading said book — with all the annotations. It must have been a pain to organise, and to print, especially when first published. But has the author, in actuality, written something ultimately pretentious with little substance, leaving readers floundering around trying to find personal meaning in a literary labyrinth? In that regard, the book almost reads like a joke played on everyone who gets lost in its pages.

Or does the book attempt to work like the maze Navidson explores? Psychological references try to explain the true meaning of Navidson’s claims, treating these details as the maze of Navidson’s mind. I enjoyed reading the Navidson house storyline, and there was a touch of creepiness in the odd place, but anyone looking for a horror story may be hard-pressed to find it here. Truant’s descent into madness seems insubstantial, although the conclusion of the book, when we learn more about his mother from her own written word, left me questioning if he was always so inclined to a breakdown. Ultimately, I understand the love/loathe reactions. This book will mean different things to different people — lots to some, nothing to others. This has to be one of the most peculiar books I’ve read.

Reads April 2024

Everwild (Book 2 of the Skinjacker Trilogy), Neal Shusterman
This carries on where Everlost left off, being the middle book in a trilogy. The intended audience is a teen readership, but I still feel older and younger can read this depending on the person, even though the themes are much darker here. I’d heard some surprises were disturbing and although I wouldn’t go that far, I hadn’t thought I could feel at all uneasy or surprised. This story certainly evokes the question of just because a person (or in this case, afterlight) has an ability, does this mean they should use it? For the greater good, probably not. I found this book better than the first, and, therefore, intend to finish all three books, when after the first, I felt I might not bother with books 2 and 3.

Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley (audio), M.C.Beaton, Read by Penelope Keith
This outing flows along like most of the Agatha Raisin books, although this time Agatha and her neighbour (and possibly love-interest) James Lacey team up and move temporarily to a village to solve a murder pretending to be a married couple. Romance is in the air in more ways than one, and the end of this book sets up an interest question for the next book to come.

All the Fiends of Hell, Adam L.G. Nevill
Nevill has been among my favourite authors from my first read of his books. My favourite out of those I’ve read so far remains No One Gets Out Alive. This newest novel may well be a close second, although trying to choose the best of this author’s work is difficult. In this (possible) alien invasion, supernatural horror, there’s so much to appreciate. The author well uses every sentence, creates a solid plot, and introduces a protagonist who is an average man thrown into exceptional circumstances. One of the book’s strengths is this character’s reactions. Even when he’s frozen in indecision, making me scream, the reaction is appropriate, genuine, and realistic. Real people aren’t superheroes. When hurt, people writhe in pain, unable to always miraculously drag themselves to their feet. The bad guy reminded me of several people I’ve stumbled across and was an excellent love-to-hate antagonist. The world-building also performs well, creating a steady creeping atmosphere and breakdown of our world. Although the horrors unfolding take place on Earth, they feel terribly genuine. The question of what’s bleeding through into our existence, extraterrestrial, inter-dimensional, denizens of hell… you’ll be wondering about and believing in them all, gazing at the sky and hoping it never turns red.

Moonraker (audio), Ian Fleming, Read by Bill Nighy
I found this surprising. The best thing about this book is the female romantic interest. She’s quite different from what we expect from the Bond universe. Her indifference to Bond was refreshing and nothing about her was quite what we imagine of the average Bond ‘girl’. I thought no one could make a game of cards sound interesting, but Fleming conveys the tension of the players. Negatives are few and in part a sign of past times and writing styles. This exemplifies why a writer shouldn’t solely focus on one human movement, such as the shrugging of shoulders (and what other movements could shrug?), and sprinkle it throughout a book. And the focus on what people wear grew tiring. But these points are minor. Overall, this highlighted the contrast between the films vs reading the books. Of course, Bill Nighy expertly reads the audio, as one would expect.

Crusade in Jeans, Thea Beckman
I knew nothing about this book other than it was award-winning, and never having come across a historical children’s book before, I couldn’t resist having a look. I’ve seen some say the book suffers because of the translation, and I can easily believe this is true, as some stories don’t translate terribly well. Still, this based on fact fiction — an event in history I had only a vague concept of — is extremely readable and adventurous enough to entertain many children and some adults alike. It’s certainly memorable, and it’s an interesting concept — a fifteen-year-old stuck in the wrong time viewing the events with a modern mindset. In reality, early on, people would likely have killed such a visitor, but Dolf’s persistence in trying to save almost ten thousand children will capture the imagination of many. Having read this, I was ready to give up my copy, but I see it’s rare and selling for exorbitant sums.

Snowblind, Don Roff
This started out well, though I was less absorbed by the end. The author uses any cliched horror moments well by making them funny. A relatively light, fast read, that’s entertaining. I can imagine this could make a decent film if done well, and it’s apparently currently in production.