Reading Room Blog
London Below is a dangerous, magical place. In Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, Scotsman Richard Mayhew had just settled in with the upwardly-mobile routines of London Above. He had an office job that might be going places and a stunning if toffee-nosed girlfriend who was perhaps rather too keen on gallery-hopping for his taste. His lovely Jessica had plans for Richard’s life that did not include helping the bloody and broken young lady who lay across their path.
In her first novel, The Murder Farm, Andrea Maria Schenkel presents a fresh, new twist to the mystery genre.
City of Women, by David R. Gillham, is set in 1943, Berlin, which has indeed become a city of women as most of the men have gone off to fight in World War II.
Jamie Ford’s Songs of Willow Frost is a story of love and perseverance set in Depression-era Seattle.
British author F.R. Tallis has always been fascinated with electronic voice phenomena, also known as EVPs. Through these recordings, it is believed that one can pick up otherwise unheard spirit voices, a method long popular yet controversial with paranormal researchers. Sometimes EVPs seem to pick up vital information on the subjects’ past, revealing disturbing events that could have led to their demises. At other times, the recordings have proven to be completely useless and false. The fascination continues, however, as Tallis says on his website, “A ghost that has been objectified by technology is altogether more convincing and subsequently a great deal more frightening.”
In Tallis’ recent novel, The Voices, Christopher Norton, his wife Laura, and their young daughter Faye move into a beautiful Victorian house in London during the stifling summer of 1976. Norton discovers that the size and location of the home is perfect for his career as a film score writer. He finally has the opportunity to build his own sound recording studio. But as the hot summer nights wear on, Laura begins to hear slight knocking sounds on Faye’s baby monitor. Then come the mysterious, unearthly voices that crackle through the speakers.
"Andre the Giant has a posse," wrote Shepherd Fairey when he used the mighty wrestler's image in a wildly successful street art campaign, but the story doesn't end there.
Writer and artist Box Brown tracked down interviews with professional wrestlers to craft a graphic novel that celebrates the legend of Andre the Giant while also acknowledging the foibles of this fascinating figure.
It came from the woods. Most strange things do.
Emily Carroll’s Through the Woods is a collection of visual stories about the sinister things that come from the woods. From mysterious hauntings to creepy creatures, these tales will thrill even the most unflappable reader.
The Girl With All The Gifts, by M.R. Carey, is one of my favorite books of 2014. It's an adult science fiction novel about a 10-year-old girl named Melanie who goes to a special school. She develops a deep love for one of her teachers named Miss Justineau who has also developed a deep affection for her student. Please don’t read anything on the book’s jacket description. Instead, let the story unfold like a flower.
Nursing her aunt during her last illness was not how Victorian socialite Emily Radley expected to spend her holiday season. The forlorn and frozen Irish village is a far cry from London’s fashionable drawing rooms, but in Anne Perry’s A Christmas Grace, that is where she finds herself. Far away from her sleuthing sister Charlotte, it is up to Emma to unravel yuletide secrets.
In Night Film, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath enjoys his desolate late-night jogs through Central Park. One chilly October evening, he finds himself followed by a mysterious, red-cloaked girl who disappears almost as quickly as she is seen. He discovers that she is the beautiful and musically talented Ashley Cordova.
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