Friday, November 22, 2013

POLICE by Jo Nesbo Another Top Notch Crime Thriller

Police by Jo Nesbo is the latest in the outstanding crime novel series that features Oslo police detective Harry Hole.

This time, Harry is no longer active on the police force after being seriously wounded in a prior case. He now works as an expert criminology instructor at the police academy.

Meanwhile, a series of police officers are being murdered in gruesome fashion at former crime scenes that they worked. A diabolical serial killer is behind the string of deaths.

A team of Harry's police colleagues pursues the killer in Harry's absence. The character cast is familiar from earlier novels in the series. Forensic expert Beate Lonn. Detectives Katrine Bratt and Bjorn Holm. Criminal psychologist Stale Aune.

But in a shocking plot twist, one of the team members becomes a target of the vicious killer. That event brings Harry Hole himself into the hunt for the cold blooded butcher of policemen.

Police is another great read for fans of the Harry Hole series and reaffirms Jo Nesbo's place as one of the best crime novelists in the genre.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Best Horror Novels of 2013

This year saw the release of two outstanding Horror novels, one by a long famous name in the genre and the other by a younger writer who may be the famous author's heir, in more ways than one.

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill - An epic struggle of Good vs. Evil, filled with dark, disturbing imagery and original characters who stay in your mind. Nosferatu is the German word for vampire. The vampire here is the inhuman fiend Charlie Manx, who abducts children, then feeds off their lives in order to keep himself young.

The hideous alternate world called Christmasland where Manx takes the captive children is a unique horror creation. Equally grotesque is the ancient Rolls Royce model called The Wraith, a car with its own malevolent powers, which is used to trap the trusting children inside it.

Beyond its scary story, the novel is also a profound metaphor for the real life crimes of abducted. abused, or exploited children worldwide.

NOS4A2 is a remarkable and unforgettable read for Horror fiction fans.


Doctor Sleep by Stephen King - A semi-sequel to The Shining, one of King's early and most popular supernatural Horror classics. Here the boy Danny Torrance is now an adult man, but he still possesses the paranormal psychic sense called the Shining.

Dan comes to the aid of a young girl named Abra, who has an even more powerful shining ability. Abra is the target of the True Knot, a ramshackle crew of psychic vampires, who feed off the vital essence of human psychics as they are tortured to death.

Stephen King has always excelled at the depiction of the existence of pure evil. His creation of the grisly, business-like malevolence of the True Knot is as chilling as any he has produced in his writing work.

Doctor Sleep is a compelling read and a new portrayal of a long time King interest in paranormal abilities. It also marks the author's return to the mainstream Horror genre, which his fans should be well pleased with.