Tag: Always Lost

Categories
Non Fiction

Chase Darkness With Me

By Billy Jensen. Pub Date August 13, 2019

5 Stars. Best enjoyed in the dark.

I’d like to preface this review by saying I’m a Murderino, a term adopted by “My Favorite Murder” listeners and fans as a calling card of the subset of people in our society who are fascinated by true crime, mostly by the heinous act of murder, what leads to it, what makes a murderer tick, and finding justice for victims. As I sit here typing my thoughts–days after finishing Jensen’s book–I am watching season 2 of Mindhunter, with BAU agents Ford and Tensch (Jonathan Groff and Hold McCallany) questioning a rather convincing David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam”, played by a prosthetics-clad Oliver Cooper (whom– oddly enough–you won’t find credited in IMDB, even though he does a fantastic job).

That said, as a Murderino, I’m naturally inclined toward a morbid curiosity, one which so often draws me to stories of true crime. I’m also a fan of supporting the interests of our niche community, of which Billy Jensen is a part. However, that does not in any way mean that this book does not fully earn the 5 stars that I have given it, nor that I let that influence me–matter of fact, it made me extra critical. What it does mean is that my interests in it are driven by my own aforementioned inclinations and, quite frankly, whenever I had the chance to pick this up it was often difficult to set it back down.

Chase Darkness With Me is one part memoir, one part true crime anthology, one heaping scoop of how-to manual, and a dash of in memoriam for a fallen friend. It covers pieces of Jensen’s young life, including how he became interested in true crime and his beginnings as a journalist, eventually moving into the convergence of the two halves. As he progresses, it becomes clear how entwined these two pieces became as he tells us bits of his personal life in between descriptions of the murder and missing persons cases he worked on. Some of these cases were rather high-profile. Not just the GSK, but also the Allentown Murders investigation (known by some as the Bear Creek case) and the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting (which happened while he was on vacation in Orlando), among others. However, he mostly wanted to help with the less high-profile cases, the ones that weren’t getting media exposure and were, therefore, less likely to be solved without some help. He described the way in which he was involved and the techniques he used to bring attention and much-needed tips for finding the identity of perpetrators and information on where missing persons were last seen.

It also talks about his relationship with his friend and professional partner, the late Michelle McNamara, the brilliant mind whose interest and in-depth investigation into the East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker–whom she coined the “Golden State Killer”–eventually helped to catch the serial offender behind these crimes. Although her partial victory was posthumous, through Jensen we get some insight into who McNamara was to her friends and family and how massively important her legacy was. We get the chance to witness the excitement on the night GSK was captured and justice could finally be served for so many victims and their families.

There is a lot of information within these pages and Jensen does not hide his reasoning behind writing it. As a front-lines champion of crowd source criminal investigation and a forefather of social media tip campaigns, his main interest is the recruitment of the right kind of people to help along investigations in the same way that he has done. It’s too much for one man to take on and too many people are getting away with literal murder every year. The homicide detectives charged with investigating these murders are often so buried that they don’t always have the time or manpower required to do so, especially as crime doesn’t take a day off. However, the victims and their families need justice, and there are things that civilians can do to help, even if it feels like something small. Jensen provides a step by step guide to those who wish to contribute in the same way he has, which has proven successful on more than one occasion, but definitely isn’t for the undedicated or faint of heart.

Chase Darkness With Me is a not necessarily a window into Jensen’s life and passion, it is more like a sliding glass door. He beckons us towards it, allowing us to see not only the things he has experienced and been involved in, but also the details into his methodology–the ways in which he has accomplished the things he’s done. He then asks those who are brave enough to come out of their comfort zone–to grip the handle of this door, slide it open, and follow his lead–and help him chase the darkness.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for providing an advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Categories
Fantasy Romance

Echo North (& East/West)

A Review of Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer

4 Stars. Best enjoyed wrapped in a blanket thinking of all that snow!

I’m obsessed with fairy tales. Not just any fairy tales, but the kind where the author rehashes the old tropes and injects some steroids into the often meek heroines that plague the originals, creating a stronger & smarter female lead. There are very few fairy tales where this doesn’t need to happen, and most mainstream classic Disney-type stories are often guilty of containing weaker protagonists.

However, these are the stories that act as the gateway drug into the world of the folkloric fiction found in anthologies containing the likes of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. It was in one of these anthologies where I found one of my absolute favorite fairy tales, East of the Sun, West of the Moon. When I see new fiction which claims to take its basis off of this story, I jump on it. Echo North was one that made such claims–and delivered quite well.

Our protagonist, Echo, is a sympathetic character who has been deemed as ‘lesser’ and ‘cursed’ by the people in her village because of the horrific scarring on her face caused by a white wolf whom she was trying to save from a trap when she was a mere child. This act of compassion led basically to social exile. However, she never lost the kindness in her heart or her compassionate nature, even when the only people in the village who looked at her as a person were her father and brother. Her new stepmother, whom her father brings home, seems revolted by Echo. Echo decides to try to leave for university in the nearest city, an endeavor which is sufficiently roadblocked by this vile woman whom has quickly driven her once somewhat prosperous father into poverty. In order to try to improve their conditions, her father ventures out to sell his most prized possessions just to keep them fed and housed. Many months pass without his return.

Echo’s father goes missing, but the Wolf returns.

The Wolf gives Echo a choice: She can let her father die, or she can save him in exchange for spending one year with him in a house in the middle of a deadly forest where the rooms must be kept sewn to the rest of the house. She chooses to save her father.

In going with the wolf and staying in the house for one year, she must follow two simple rules: don’t open the door at night, no matter what is heard, and do not light the lamp.

The bulk of the story follows East/West pretty well, but the ending–Oh The Glorious Ending. It absolutely took me into a brand new place. Although I was able to suss out a lot of the midway plot points, the end was so far beyond what I could have guessed it would be and it was so very beautiful and completely fulfilling in its unpredictability. Naturally, some of the magic revolves around the big ‘L’ word.

“What is the oldest magic?” “Love. That is what created the universe, and that is what will destroy it, in the end. Threads of old magic, binding the world together.”

The overall imagery and well thought out protagonist help to keep the story going at a fair clip, even though there is a slight slow down in the plot, but that’s to be expected as she is staying in the house for a year. She almost makes that full year, too…it if not for [spoiler] the Wolf Queen and her meddling. But Echo doesn’t give up, despite the trials she endures in her life and the trials she must endure to save the boy hidden within the wolf, no–she persists.

That’s my favorite part.

Categories
Fantasy Romance

With a Thunderous ROAR

REVIEW OF ROAR (STORM HEARTS #1) BY CORA CORMACK

3.5 Stars. Best enjoyed in a thunderstorm.

Aurora Pavan is princess and heir to the throne of Pavan, Stormling kingdom, in a completely new world, Caelira, where storms move and destroy on instinct and the only way to stop them is by stealing their hearts. Stormling royals are known to be the only people in Caelira who are capable of ripping the hearts from the storms. This makes the the only barrier keeping humans safe from these disastrous and destructive forces.

Raised with grace, dignity, and diplomacy, the highly intelligent princess seems primed to take the throne when it is her time….except that Aurora is strangely void of the very ability to control storms that makes her an asset to Pavan. The Queen and Aurora have kept this secret for as long as they could to avoid risking the loss of their kingdom. However, As the sole heir, they can only keep this weakness hidden for so long.

The Queen arranges a marriage for Aurora to prince Cassius of Locke, a Stormling who is well versed in bringing storms to their knees. At first, it seems like the perfect match, but the mood quickly sours when Aurora finds out that Cassius has ulterior motives. Desperate to find out what he’s up to, she follows Prince Cassius in the dead of night to a hidden black market in the heart if the city. She gets more than she bargained for when she runs into a handsome and enigmatic Storm Hunter name Locke. Because of this encounter, Aurora discovers that Storm Hunters are able to control storms.

People who aren’t born Stormlings.

Aurora disguises herself as a girl named Roar and strikes out on her own, joining Locke’s band of misfit Hunters. She discovers that there is more magic in the world than she knew, and slowly the gilt of her world chips away. She sees the government corruption that has taken over the world outside her ivory tower, the people put in danger by politics, and is all the more determined to gain storm magic so she can take her rightful place as Queen and right the wrongs that have been done to the citizens of not only Pavan but all of Caelira.

Okay, so first things first, the story grabbed me from the beginning and shook me into the story, whispering ALL the promises. The start was amazing, although the characterization of Rora was a little surface-y, but that makes sense given that she was pretty much kept from society with very little consistent human interaction so as to not tip off the people around her that she was without the powers that they expected would keep them safe when she took the throne. However, she gets more and more fleshed out as the story goes on, and her determination to learn and adapt to life in the wilds with the storm hunters makes you really want to root for her. All other characters felt a lot more ‘there’. I could picture Jinx, Bait, Sly, and the rest of the Storm Hunter crew just perfectly–they were all a pretty unique and motley crew. It would have been hilarious if there was a character called Sixx…but alas, no classic rock band references in sight (yet).

It was so interesting seeing how the characters interacted. In all honestly, though, the reason I left one or two stars off was mostly because of the middle of the book. It slowed down to a point where I felt like I was just slogging through and the new plot points were just interesting enough to keep my inner detective curious, like her strong emotional reaction to the storms, and the occasional dip into the mind of an unknown enemy who is hatching a nefarious scheme–and whose soul seems to sense Aurora’s! However, if you just keep reading, it gets so incredibly amazing near the end. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. There are so many new things that are revealed, but so few pages left that you just know that this was only the beginning.

**Spoiler**The romance with Locke left something to be desired, although it is very clear that they go well together (it didn’t hurt that all I could picture was a longer haired version of Sam Winchester). I think maybe it’s because he never really knows who she is until near the end, and the feelings seem so surface and they purposely bait each other, with Roar getting genuinely mad but not really mad? I don’t know, it doesn’t feel deep enough for me. Cassius is a bit arrogant, but also super cunning, and his trying to play his cards close to his chest. I know this romance option is so problematic from minute one, but he also has some back story that makes me feel that all he really wants is to rule the kingdom with Aurora by his side and also to figure out a way to brush his family off. Even if it’s not love, there’s definitely some delicious lust brewing in there, and I kind of just want him to be okay? Then there’s the third option–the one I’m most curious about, the one we haven’t actually seen yet, and he’s pure evil, but I have a feeling the StormLord is going to the be Yang to Roar’s Yin.

IN conclusion, I’m super excited for the next book. I feel like it’s going to get the true start of the Storm Hearts saga/trilogy and I can’t wait until I get the chance to devour it!

Categories
Musings of a Bibliomaniac

Heroines Are My Heroine

Dude. Life is hard. Being and adult is never what we think it is. The freedom is nice, but it truly only goes so far. When you’re a kid, the only people you’re really held accountable to are your parents, teachers, and some religious figures, but you always have your parents as a buffer to the most other authority. As an adult, the only people who can act as a buffer between us and other authority figures are called ‘lawyers’. As adults, we have to contend with our managers and coworkers at work, the IRS, the Law, our phone companies, the power company, landlords, mortgage brokers, and all other people who may want to open a vein in our bank account and drain away the funds that we trade our souls for at our nine-to-fives.

I love my job and some freedoms that come with being ‘of age’, but it’s an indisputable fact that being an adult really sucks most of the time–so many consequences.

This is why it’s nice to have some kind of escape from it all. Some people choose alcohol, some choose pot, some choose hard drugs, some choose to numb their bodies and minds with strenuous exercise that takes whatever energy they have left and throws it into barbells and treadmills. I choose books and the occasional whiskey. Podcasts are probably the only thing that get me through the day at work, keeping the office dementors at bay, but when I get home there’s nothing better than climbing into my hammock with some strong female who is fighting against all odds to get what she wants, whether that be the hot warrior who struts into her peripheral or to save her entire kingdom from the hands of some conquering patriarchy. Heroines are my heroine.

As much as I would love to get into realistic fiction and be one of those people with a history degree that likes to just read all the serious history material, my life has already been serious enough. I love the fantasy and creating a new world in my mind, guided by an author who is just as bent on escaping this time and place as I am. It’s like a friend who gets you, who understands that what you need isn’t a reminder of where you are, but that you need to be somewhere else. Don’t get me wrong, I love my husband and my baby girl-dog, but sometimes I need to be able to travel to a completely new place and our budget does not constitute a trip around the world or a time machine. $10.00 for a brand new world and seeing through someone else’s eyes for a few hours is a pretty damn good deal.

I’m closing a chapter of my life right now, nearing the end of one thing that I’ve always wanted, getting my Bachelor’s. It’s in history with a minor in Gen Bus. I’ve been an accountant by trade for about 10 years, and I honestly all I have every wanted was to find a thing I’m passionate about and make it my bread and butter.

However: not how life works.

Most people end up doing something to put food on the table and find their passions through hobbies. What’s one thing I’ve always loved? Books. So now I’m going to take that love and put it toward something constructive. Even if my book blog doesn’t take off, it’ll help my writing–yeah, I kind of want to write a book. It’ll keep me going. It’s something I’ll have fun with. Plus, it’ll give me some place that I can refer people to when they want book recommendations, because that happens ALL. THE. TIME. Sometimes I can’t even remember why I like a book, I just remember the amazing high that the story gave me and I want to share that experience. Books are a great drug in that way. They’re fully legal, people encourage you to share the habit, and they don’t cause physical dependency (though I have a book on me in some form at all times–just in case).

I’m heading into this rabbit hole and you’re all coming with me.

Categories
Adventure

Warrior of the Wild Won My Heart

Review of Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller

4 Stars. Best enjoyed with a Blackberry Smoothie and a Pine Scented Candle

After reading Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young, I was looking everywhere for another Viking-esque YA fantasy adventure that was similar. I saw WotW was on its way to us and patiently waited with baited breathe. Admittedly I was a little busy around the release date, and read some reviews. A few were a tad discouraging, but as with anything, I had a craving that needed to be fulfilled the best thing in that situation is to have a taste for yourself and see if it satisfies your palette. Fortunately, one taste of this led to a full on feast and I was left fully satisfied. 

WotW takes place in an alternative timeline where the trees hide dangerous things and legendary beasts are very real. Rasmira, the youngest daughter of the chieftain of her village, is the next in line for leadership, which obviously doesn’t sit well with her peers. She experiences a deep betrayal that leads to her exile, and the only way to lift it and return home to her sisters–the only people in the world that truly love her–is to kill Peruxolo, the god that has been terrorizing their villages. A seemingly impossible task, yes, but one that she is absolutely determined to take on–or die trying. 

One of the things I loved about Rasmira is that these events really did have an impact on the characterization we see throughout the remainder of the book. When she meets up with two other exiles, the mistrust and hesitation she has is palpable and completely understandable given the events that lead her to be stuck in the Wild. The character build is dynamic and realistic–we see her grow throughout not only as a person, but as a leader. Even though she is hurt and betrayed, she also is made to feel human and admits to some of her personal downfalls and grows from those as well, learning to forgive herself. She never seems to wallow in self-pity, despite her circumstances.Some of the auxiliary characters don’t experience as much growth and admittedly they remain somewhat shallow in their characterization. To be fair, I don’t believe they are the main focus.

If you’re looking for a fiery romance, look elsewhere. Although there is a romance, and said romance is sweet and definitely helps the character development, it’s not the center focus of this story. I love a good romance as much as the next person, but to be honest, the more important romance in this book is the one that Rasmira has WITH RASMIRA–having a character that learns to love herself after being treated like she is unloveable is worth its proverbial weight in gold. 

This is a tale of personal growth, strength, forgiveness, and determination in the face of great adversity. I think it’s an important story for younger girls and boys who love a good adventure but also need to know that if they put their mind to something, they can be unstoppable–and also for adults who need that reminder.