#SciFiMonth Friday Face-Off: “Star” in the Title

Posted on November 12, 2021 17 Comments

Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme created by Books by Proxy! Each Friday, we will pit cover against cover while also taking the opportunity to showcase gorgeous artwork and feature some of our favorite book covers. If you want to join the fun, simply choose a book each Friday that fits that week’s predetermined theme, post and compare two or more different covers available for that book, then name your favorite. A list of future weeks’ themes are available at Lynn’s Book Blog.

This week’s theme is:

~ a cover of a book with “STAR” IN THE TITLE

The Stars Now Unclaimed by Drew Williams

The Stars Now Unclaimed is a book that wastes no time in dumping readers into a story embroiled in secrets, intrigue, and action. Jane, our protagonist who starts off unnamed until her purposes are revealed around halfway through the book, is an agent for the Justified, an organization dedicated to locating and retrieving gifted young people scattered throughout the galaxy. Years ago, when the mysterious Pulse happened, whole worlds were changed when they lost all their technology due to the radiation, but one of its side effects also caused children to be born with strange, incredible powers. The Justified believe that these special children are the key to fixing the damage caused by the Pulse, which is why Jane has been dispatched to a wild and untamed planet to find one of them now, a teenager named Esa. But almost immediately, Jane is ambushed by the Pax, an army of aggressive conquering zealots who were largely unaffected by the Pulse and believe that gives them the right to rule the entire galaxy. The retrieval job quickly devolves into a rescue mission as Jane desperately tries to get Esa off-world to some place safe, recruiting the help of some new and old allies, including her ship’s AI, a sentient robot named Preacher, a Justified information broker, as well as her roguish ex-lover Javi.

Let’s take a look at the covers:

From left to right:
Tor Books (2018) – Simon & Schuster UK (2018)

Simon & Schuster UK (2019) – German Edition (2020)

Winner:

It’s simplistic, but I just love the Simon & Schuster 2018 UK edition with its representation of the planets’ orbits, and in particular the delightful typeface they’ve chosen that goes so perfectly with art style. It wasn’t even close, that one’s my favorite this week.

But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?

Thriller Thursday Audio: These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant

Posted on November 11, 2021 25 Comments

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant

Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 5 of 5 stars

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Macmillan Audio (November 16, 2021)

Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Narrator: Bronson Pinchot

I challenge anyone to read These Silent Woods without falling to pieces. No, seriously, I was an emotional mess after this one, even with prior knowledge that this wasn’t going to your typical sensational thriller. For context though, this is a story about a man and his young daughter living in isolation in a cabin in the northern Appalachians. The father is secretive and careful about keeping to themselves, barely venturing out beyond their patch of forest, relying on a trusted source on the outside to bring them supplies. He’s even nervous about using his real name, going by the alias Cooper instead, while his little girl is given the nickname Finch.

Later, we discover that the two of them have been living like this for a while, ever since Finch was a baby. Out here in the remote wilderness though, with no running water, no electricity, and no contact with the outside world, how long can Cooper hope to keep raising his child under such conditions? Already, Finch has been asking difficult questions, and showing increasing defiance in the face of his strict rules. At eight years old, her precocious mind is craving knowledge as well as social interaction, and Cooper knows what he can provide is not enough, though neither can he bring himself to tell Finch the truth of why they must live this way or how they got here. He’s still haunted by those past events, and he’s afraid of slipping up even just a little bit, because it would mean losing his daughter forever.

Only two people in the world know they exist. One is a local hermit named Scotland whom Cooper barely trusts, but the old man seems amenable to keeping his secrets for now, and he is also kind to Finch. The other is Cooper’s old Army buddy Jake, who actually owns the property and had arranged for them to hide out in his cabin. Every winter, Jake is also the one who brings them their much-needed supplies before the snows set in. But this year, Jake misses his visit, making Cooper very worried for his friend as well as what he must now do to survive. He and his daughter will need food, making a trip into civilization all but unavoidable, and if that wasn’t bad enough, for days, Cooper has been noticing signs that their once safe haven has been breached. A trespasser has been in their woods, that much is clear, but what are their motivations? And how will Cooper keep Finch’s curiosity from putting them at risk?

Sometimes you go into a book with expectations, but then get something you weren’t prepared for, something that makes you think and feel in ways that surprise you. I love it when that happens, and These Silent Woods was that kind of novel. Yes, it’s a thriller, but calling it that feels inadequate and risks selling it short. It is also a family drama, a story about genuine characters just doing all they can to try and stay together and survive. Cooper is many things—a widower, a war veteran, a man in hiding—but above everything else he is a loving father who wants to do right by his daughter. He knows he’ll have to explain everything to her at some point, but he can’t quite bring himself to do it just yet because…well, it’s complicated.

And so, the plot gradually sheds its layers of secrets, revealing to readers, little by little, the events in Cooper’s life that have led him and Finch to this point. Along the way we are also treated to some pretty intense situations, like for instance, with their too-curious neighbor Scotland who always seems to be poking his nose into their business, and who may or may not have ulterior motives for keeping such a close eye on them. Then there are all the too-close encounters in town, where every friendly citizen stopping to engage in small talk with Cooper suddenly becomes a high-stress edge-of-your-seat scenario that threatens to expose him. All this tension culminates eventually in a moment of truth as an unexpected ally shows up at the cabin, and Finch spies a lone stranger with a camera taking pictures of the woods around where they live.

As for the rest, you’re going to have to find out for yourselves by picking up this book, because I’m not going to reveal anything more about the plot past this point except to say that the story just gets better and better. As for how my emotions got completely destroyed, well, that came later in the novel, in the climax and denouement sections of the ending, and all I can say about that is…wow. Just wow.

Needless to say, I highly recommend These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant, and looks like I’m going to have to look into what else she’s written, because now I want to read more! I also want to praise the audiobook and give a shoutout to Bronson Pinchot, who did most of the narration. This isn’t the first audiobook I’ve heard him read, but by far it’s his most memorable performance and one of my favorites. He was absolutely perfect as Cooper, his voice conveying all the strength and emotional weight required for this beautiful tale to come alive.

#SciFiMonth Waiting on Wednesday 11/10/21

Posted on November 10, 2021 14 Comments

Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that first originated at Breaking the Spine but has since linked up with “Can’t Wait Wednesday” at Wishful Endings now that the original creator is unable to host it anymore. Either way, this fun feature is a chance to showcase the upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!

Mogsy’s Pick

Rosebud by Paul Cornell (April 26, 2022 by Tor.com)

In honor of Sci-Fi Month, I’m featuring sci-fi picks for my Waiting on Wednesday posts for the whole of November! This week, the spotlight is on this upcoming novella by Paul Cornell. Sure, I may prefer longer novels, but this one had me at the locked-room premise. How can I resist that?

“A multilayered, locked-room science fiction novella from Paul Cornell in which five digital beings unravel their existences to discover the truth of their humanity.

“The crew of the Rosebud are, currently, and by force of law, a balloon, a goth with a swagger stick, some sort of science aristocrat possibly, a ball of hands, and a swarm of insects.”

When five sentient digital beings—condemned for over three hundred years to crew the small survey ship by the all-powerful Company—encounter a mysterious black sphere, their course of action is clear: obtain the object, inform the Company, earn lots of praise.

But the ship malfunctions, and the crew has no choice but to approach the sphere and survey it themselves. They have no idea that this object—and the transcendent truth hidden within—will change the fate of all existence, the Company, and themselves.”

#SciFiMonth Excerpt & US Giveaway: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

Posted on November 9, 2021 9 Comments

***The giveaway is now over, thank you to everyone who entered!***

As part of Sci-Fi Month, I’m excited to celebrate the highly anticipated paperback edition of Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline, which officially releases today with a gorgeous new cover! Back in 2011, the author’s debut Ready Player One took the world by storm with its depiction of virtual worlds and 80s nostalgia. Now in the sequel, protagonist Wade Watts returns with another action-packed adventure. The BiblioSanctum is pleased to be working with the publisher to feature an excerpt and giveaway for the book, so we hope you’ll check it out and also see the end of the post for more information on how you can win a copy!

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

An unexpected quest. Two worlds at stake. Are you ready?

Days after Oasis founder James Halliday’s contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything.

Hidden within Halliday’s vault, waiting for his heir to find, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the Oasis a thousand times more wondrous, and addictive, than even Wade dreamed possible. With it comes a new riddle and a new quest. A last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize.

And an unexpected, impossibly powerful, and dangerous new rival awaits, one who will kill millions to get what he wants. Wade’s life and the future of the Oasis are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.

Excerpted from Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline. Copyright © 2020 by Ernest Cline. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cutscene

After I won Halliday’s contest, I remained offline for nine straight days—a new personal record.When I finally logged back in to my OASIS account, I was sitting in my new corner office on the top floor of the GSS skyscraper in downtown Columbus, Ohio, preparing to start my gig as one of the company’s new owners. The other three were still scattered across the globe: Shoto had flown back home to Japan to take over operations at GSS’s Hokkaido division. Aech was enjoying an extended vacation in Senegal, a country she’d dreamed of visiting her whole life, because her ancestors had come from there. And Samantha had flown back to Vancouver to pack up her belongings and say goodbye to her grandmother, Evelyn. She wasn’t due to arrive here in Columbus for another four days, which seemed like an eternity. I needed to distract myself until our reunion, so I decided to log back in to the OASIS and try out a few more of the superuser abilities my avatar now possessed.

I climbed into my brand-new top-of-the-line OASIS immersion rig, a Habashaw OIR-9400, then put on my visor and haptic gloves and initiated the login sequence. My avatar reappeared where I’d last logged out, on the planet Chthonia, standing outside the gates of Castle Anorak. As I’d anticipated, there were thousands of other avatars already gathered there, all waiting patiently for me to make an appearance. According to the newsfeed headlines, some of them had been camped out there all week—ever since I’d resurrected them in the aftermath of our epic battle against the Sixers.

In my first official act as one of GSS’s new owners, just a few hours after the fight ended, I’d authorized our admins to restore all the items, credits, and power levels those heroic users had lost, along with their avatars. I thought it was the least we could do to repay them for their help, and Samantha, Aech, and Shoto had agreed. It was the first decision we’d voted on as the company’s new co-owners.

As soon as the avatars in my vicinity spotted me, they began to run in my direction, closing in on me from all sides at once. To avoid getting mobbed, I teleported inside the castle, into Anorak’s study—a room in the highest tower that I alone could enter, thanks to the Robes of Anorak I now wore. The obsidian-black garment endowed my avatar with the godlike powers Halliday’s own avatar had once possessed.

I glanced around the cluttered study. Here, just over a week ago, Anorak had declared me the winner of Halliday’s contest and changed my life forever.

My eyes fell upon the painting of a black dragon that hung on the wall. Beneath it stood an ornate crystal pedestal with a jewel-encrusted chalice resting on top of it. And cradled within the chalice was the object I’d spent so many years searching for: Halliday’s silver Easter egg.

I walked over to admire it, and that was when I noticed something strange—an inscription on the egg’s otherwise pristine surface. One that definitely hadn’t been there when I’d last seen it, nine days earlier.

No other avatars could enter this room. No one could’ve tampered with the egg. So there was only one way that inscription could’ve gotten there. Halliday himself must have programmed it to appear on the egg’s surface. It could have appeared right after Anorak gave me his robes, and I’d just been too distracted to notice.

I bent down to read the inscription: GSS—13th Floor—Vault #42–8675309.

About the Author

Ernest Cline is a #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, screenwriter, father, and full-time geek. He is the author of the novels Ready Player One and Armada and co-screenwriter of the film adaptation of Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg. His books have been published in over fifty countries and have spent more than 150 weeks on The New York Times bestsellers list. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his family, a time-traveling DeLorean, and a large collection of classic video games.

Ready Player Two Giveaway

And now it’s time for the giveaway! With thanks to Random House, we have three copies of the Ready Player Two paperbacks up for grabs. With apologies to our international readers, due to geographical restrictions, this giveaway is only available to addresses/residents in the US only.

As to how you can enter, this part’s super easy. All you have to do is fill out the form below with your name and email address. Winners will be randomly selected and noticed by email once the giveaway entry period ends in one week. All information will only be used for the purposes of contacting the winner and sending them their prize.

So what are you waiting for? Enter now for your chance to win! Good luck!

#SciFiMonth Review: The Body Scout by Lincoln Michel

Posted on November 8, 2021 18 Comments

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Body Scout by Lincoln Michel

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Orbit (September 21, 2021)

Length: 291 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

I’m always trying to read more cyberpunk, which can be a problem sometimes because the genre doesn’t always agree with me. Most of what we think of as more traditional cyberpunk tends to on the darker side and too bleak for my tastes, or the technological aspects might be far too complex and overwhelming for me to handle. So you can imagine what a pleasant surprise it was when I came across Lincoln Michel’s The Body Scout, and found a perfect balance of cyberpunk noir, futuristic sci-fi, and easy, wonderful readability.

As you’d expect, the world of The Body Scout is one where its citizens prize cybernetics and other body modifications, and the use of such enhancements has changed virtually every aspect of human life, including sports. Our protagonist Kobo is a talent scout for the professional baseball league, now controlled by the pharmaceutical companies, making his living traveling around the world recruiting new people for his bosses and hunting for the latest mods to improve performance. A former bionic athlete himself, Kobo used to play for the now defunct Cyber League but is now strapped with huge amounts of debt while trying to make ends meet in a cutthroat industry.

Meanwhile though, his best friend and adoptive brother Zunz is making a name for himself as a rising star playing professionally for the Monsanta Mets, and Kobo couldn’t be prouder and happier for him. But then one day, in the middle of a playoff game in front of millions watching, Zunz suddenly drops dead on the field. Everyone is calling it a tragic accident, pointing to either a mysterious illness or some other issue related to his mods. However, Kobo isn’t buying it. He suspects it may be murder, and the plot thickens as he is next hired by the owner of the Monsanto Mets to investigate Zunz’s death, with the promise of a large reward if he can somehow implicate the team’s rivals. Seizing this opportunity to seek answers to his own questions, Kobo begins his twisted journey into the dark and unforgiving world of sports and corporate politics where everyone has a stake.

First of all, I was pretty impressed that The Body Scout is a debut. This novel was very well put together, with intriguing characters and a compulsive storyline. The premise behind the mystery plot was established fairly early, which proved to be an excellent decision by the author as the bombshell of Zunz’s death pretty much set the tone and pace for the rest of the book, which was quick and punchy. Thing is, I couldn’t even give a crap about baseball, yet I was drawn completely into this story which says a lot about Michel’s writing. For one, it was fascinating the way cybernetics and enhancements were married into the world of sports, and I found all those ideas refreshing and unique in spite of their esoteric nature.

Plus, everyone knows I love a good whodunit. Of course, cyberpunk and crime noir often go hand in hand, but also it takes something special to create an engaging mystery, and The Body Scout has it. Nothing is what it seems, and as we follow Kobo into his strange and unfamiliar world, I was glad that the narrative kept us focused on the key elements while others may have been tempted to go offtrack exploring other facets of the world. God knows there were enough distractions with the near-future setting, the population’s obsession with the staggering variety of technological enhancements, or even all that potential material when it came to baseball. Oh yeah, and there were Neanderthals, which have been brought back through cloning. The point is though, Michel always brought the attention back to what was important—our protagonist’s motivation to find who killed his beloved friend and brother.

I think it was this point that brought something very personal and relatable to the mix. It’s something a lot of cyberpunk books lack, I find, which is this nice warm message about found families and powerful friendships. Sure, things didn’t ultimately turn out too well for our protagonist and his brother, but Kobo’s reactions went on to make him extremely sympathetic to me. Flashbacks to his childhood, brief as they were, of playing with Zunz in the bleak spaces beneath the flooded city of New York were some of my favorites because they somehow made the baseball star’s death even more egregious and horrifying. After all, someone had robbed that boy in his memories of his big dream, and Kobo isn’t going to rest until he finds out why. His long lists of flaws aside, I definitely liked him initially because of his devotion and tenacity, and eventually, it became more about the way the investigation changes him.

So, if you’re hankering for something cyberpunky that’s also accessible and won’t overwhelm you too much with bleakness and sci-fi lingo, look no further—The Body Scout is what you need. While I can see how the heavy focus on baseball might be off-putting to some, I think the story’s unique premise is what will come out on top, not to mention the plot moves so fast you probably won’t even notice. Overall, simply a brilliant and enjoyable debut from Lincoln Michel, with strong characterization and superb storytelling.

Audiobook Review: Hyde by Craig Russell

Posted on November 7, 2021 25 Comments

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Hyde by Craig Russell

Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 2 of 5 stars

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Random House Audio (September 28, 2021)

Length: 14 hrs and 12 min

Author Information: Website

Narrator: James Cosmo

It’s hard to say exactly why Hyde didn’t really work for me, though I did enjoy the author’s last novel The Devil Aspect and somehow I just didn’t feel this one held the same fascination or appeal.

Our story begins in Victorian Edinburgh where Captain Edward Henry Hyde holds the post of chief detective, and as such it is his job to uphold the law and lead the investigation into any serious crimes in the city. And so, when he wakes up one day at the scene of a grisly murder, he is immediately alarmed. For you see, Hyde suffers from a particularly worrying form of epilepsy that causes him to lose time. These amnesic occurrences can come on very suddenly, and every time he finally comes to, he can never remember anything that happened.

In this case, his awakening so near to the crime scene inevitably leads him to wonder whether he had any connection to the murder. To make things worse, the victim was killed in an especially brutal manner called the Threefold Death, linked to an ancient Celtic ritual involving the spirts and sacrifice. As the chief detective though, Hyde has no choice but to keep his condition and suspicions a secret, even as his investigation takes him to some dark places, both literally and figuratively.

First let me just say my issues with this novel are entirely subjective. Craig Russell is an excellent writer, as I found out with The Devil Aspect, and his prose was just as delectable here in Hyde, as was the overall style which was pure immersion and atmosphere. However, it was the story itself that failed to engage me. Due to the circumstances surrounding our protagonist, there was a disjointed feel to the plot that didn’t quite do it for me, not to mention the entire book felt simply too drawn out.

In some ways, I think my indifference might also have been the result of the author doing his job too well. Had my interest been greater in the time period or the ultra-gothic vibes, the book might have resonated with me more. An obvious example of this was the Hyde’s internal exposition detailing his thoughts, emotions and memories, which was heavy-handed to the point of driving all life from the writing. To a lesser extent, this over-telling was also happening with the dialogue, resulting in conversations that felt awkward and contrived.

Ultimately, it became very difficult to care about the story or the characters. This made reading Hyde a struggle for much of my time with it, and it didn’t help that the narrator for the audiobook had a relatively flat, droning kind of voice. Despite zoning out on the audiobook frequently, I also found I was missing very little because of how slowly the plot progressed. Credit where it’s due though, when all was revealed, the final resolution to the mystery was enjoyable, though probably not enough to make up for everything else. I wish we’d gotten more of the mythological side of things too, but instead the story decided to go in another direction. In hindsight, I can understand why, but in the end that did little to help spark my enthusiasm.

Bottom line: you win some, you lose some. I’d looked forward to Hyde ever since having such a great time with The Devil Aspect, so of course I’m heartbroken that this turned out to be a disappointment. My previous positive experience with Craig Russell makes me want to chalk this up to one of those “it’s not this book, it’s me” situations though, so your mileage may vary, and I’m probably going to keep checking out the author’s projects and hope that his next one will be more my speed.

Bookshelf Roundup: 11/06/21: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads

Posted on November 6, 2021 17 Comments

Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every weekend which fills the role of several blog memes, like Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? where I summarize what I’ve finished reading in the last week and what I’m planning to read soon. Mostly it also serves as a recap post, so sometimes I’ll throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.

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Received for Review

My thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!

Another quick update this week, but it’s also the beginning of the month so there are a few audiobooks additions, and there were also a couple new arrivals in the mailbox. Huge thank to Tor Books for an ARC of The Starless Crown by James Rollins. I’ve only known Rollins as a thriller and mystery author, but apparently he started out with fantasy, so it’s quite exciting that he’s starting this new series called Moon Fall.

Also big thanks to Minotaur Books for this surprise arrival of The Return of the Pharaoh by Nicholas Meyer. For obvious reasons the title caught my attention right away, but then there was also the tagline of “From the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.” I found out this is actually the fifth book of a series, but I really hope it can be read as a standalone!

Gimme the thrillers! With thanks to Simon & Schuster Audio for a listening copy of Everything We Didn’t Say by Nicole Baart, as well as Macmillan Audio for The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. Also thank you to Tantor Audio for a listening copy of Noor by Nnedi Okorafor, which is pretty timely seeing as it’s Sci-Fi Month.

Reviews

ReDawn by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson (4 of 5 stars)
The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock (3 of 5 stars)

What I’ve Been Reading

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Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read!

#SciFiMonth Friday Face-Off: First Sci-Fi I Reviewed

Posted on November 5, 2021 25 Comments

This week’s theme is:

~ a cover of an EARLY SCI-FI READ/FIRST SCI-FI REVIEWED

The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough

This week, we’re going back to one of the first sci-fi books I received for review. This was around the time I discovered NetGalley, and well, as they say the rest is history.

From left to right:
Del Rey (2013) – Titan (2013)

German Edition (2016) – Czech Edition (2014)

Winner:

All these covers have a very generic “commercial” feel, which is a shame because this was a great book. Out of these I’ll probably go with the Titan edition because it’s the most dramatic, and the fact it reminds me of Independence Day.

But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?

Thriller Thursday Audio: The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock

Posted on November 4, 2021 15 Comments

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock

Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 3 of 5 stars

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Series: Book 1 of Kaldan og Schäfer

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC (October 12, 2021)

Length: 8 hrs and 1 min

Author Information: Website

Narrator: Laura Jennings

The Corpse Flower was an interesting one. It certainly wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. Of course, it being translated from its original language may have something to do with my lukewarm attitude towards it, because everything, from the writing to the characters, just felt so lifeless. It seems that even if you do manage to find the right words for everything, that’s no guarantee any of their presence or emotional weight will come through along with the translation.

Our story takes place in Copenhagen, where journalist Heloise Kaldan is investigating a case from a few years ago involving the grisly murder of prominent attorney Christoffer Mossing. The police had a solid lead on the suspect, a woman named Anna Kiel who was caught on security cameras boldly leaving the scene of the crime with the murder weapon in her hand and blood smeared all over her body. However, Anna’s whereabouts are currently unknown. The woman seems to have vanished into thin air ever since those last images of her were captured.

But then one day, Heloise starts receiving messages addressed to her at the Demokratisk Dagblad paper where she works. The sender identifies herself as Anna Kiel, claiming to have reached out because of a hidden connection between the two of them. To prove this, Anna has included cryptic references to amorphophallus titanum, also known as the corpse flower native to the rainforests of Sumatra, which has special significance to Heloise’s private life. Rattled, our protagonist begins digging into Anna’s history by contacting her fellow journalists and sources at the police, but receives only dire warnings to stay away. Anna Kiel is dangerous, they say, and even real estate tycoon Johannes Mossing, the father of the murdered lawyer, seems strangely reluctant in pursuing justice for his son. But Heloise is undeterred. Anna has gone to great lengths to try to get her attention, and Heloise won’t rest until she finds out why.

While it might not seem like it from the brief summary above, this story does venture into some very dark places. If you don’t want to be exposed to certain highly traumatic, deeply upsetting topics such as child trafficking and sexual abuse, I would stay far away from The Corpse Flower, and I mean it. It’s not an easy book to read, and things in it do get quite disturbing.

Those caveats aside though, the plot itself is admittedly rather typical of a mystery—nothing to write home about, even if perfectly readable. My problem, as I mentioned before, is that I never truly felt connected to any of the characters or had much enthusiasm for the story. Everything about the book felt muted, soulless, simply lacking in energy, and again I feel like maybe this had something to do with a certain quality of the original prose being lost in the translation process. This makes it harder to review a book like this.

Still, the story had its moments. Heloise’s determination for answers drove the plot nicely, and her subsequent hunt for Anna was an interesting game of cat and mouse to follow, despite being permeated throughout by the heaviness of those aforementioned themes. Scandinavian noir or crime mystery is also an exciting subgenre for me, as I find it fascinating to explore new places and read about the way investigations are run in these settings.

I also enjoyed the audiobook. If there were moments where Laura Jennings’ narration felt a little flat, it was most likely due to the limitations of the prose. Overall though, this must have been a pretty difficult story to read, but she did an admirable job.

#SciFiMonth Waiting on Wednesday 11/03/21

Posted on November 3, 2021 12 Comments

Mogsy’s Pick

Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik (February 1, 2022 by Harper Voyager)

For the first Wednesday of Sci-Fi Month, I’m super excited for the first book of Jessie Mihalik’s next sci-fi romance series!

“The critically acclaimed author of Polaris Rising takes readers on an exciting journey with the start of her brand-new series about a female bounty hunter and the man who is her sworn enemy.

Octavia Zarola would do anything to keep her tiny, close-knit bounty hunting crew together—even if it means accepting a job from Torran Fletcher, a ruthless former general and her sworn enemy. When Torran offers her enough credits to not only keep her crew afloat but also hire someone to fix her ship, Tavi knows that she can’t refuse—no matter how much she’d like to.

With so much money on the line, Torran and his crew insist on joining the hunt. Tavi reluctantly agrees because while the handsome, stoic leader pushes all of her buttons—for both anger and desire—she’s endured worse, and the massive bonus payment he’s promised for a completed job is reason enough to shut up and deal.

But when they uncover a deeper plot that threatens the delicate peace between humans and Valoffs, Tavi suspects that Torran has been using her as the impetus for a new war. With the fate of her crew balanced on a knife’s edge, Tavi must decide where her loyalties lie—with the quiet Valoff who’s been lying to her, or with the human leaders who left her squad to die on the battlefield. And this time, she’s put her heart on the line.”