Chumley's bookshelf: 2016 en-US Tue, 26 Nov 2024 04:22:25 -0800 60 Chumley's bookshelf: 2016 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Strain (The Strain #1) 7106333 IN ONE WEEK, MANHATTAN COULD BE GONE.
IN FOUR WEEKS, THE COUNTRY.
IN EIGHT WEEKS... THE WORLD.

At New York’s JFK Airport an arriving Boeing 777 taxis along a runway and suddenly stops dead. All the blinds have been drawn, all communications channels have mysteriously gone quiet. Dr Ephraim Goodweather – head of a rapid-response team investigating biological threats – boards the darkened plane … and what he finds makes his blood run cold.

Meanwhile, in a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, aged Holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian knows that the war he has been dreading his entire life is finally here.

Before the next sundown Eph and Setrakian must undertake the ultimate fight for survival. A terrifying contagion has come to the unsuspecting city – hungry, merciless, lethal… vampiric?]]> 495 Guillermo del Toro Chumley 4 2016 3.67 2009 The Strain (The Strain #1)
author: Guillermo del Toro
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2016/05/29
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> High-Rise 70256
Within the concealing walls of an elegant forty-storey tower block, the affluent tenants are hell-bent on an orgy of destruction. Cocktail parties degenerate into marauding attacks on ‘enemy’ floors and the once-luxurious amenities become an arena for riots and technological mayhem.

In this visionary tale of urban disillusionment society slips into a violent reverse as the isolated inhabitants of the high-rise, driven by primal urges, create a dystopian world ruled by the laws of the jungle.

This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard’s works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Iain Sinclair, Ali Smith, Neil Gaiman and Martin Amis) and brand-new cover designs.]]> 272 J.G. Ballard 0586044566 Chumley 5 2016 3.85 1975 High-Rise
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1975
rating: 5
read at: 2016/10/30
date added: 2023/02/25
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Day Four 23869285
That is, until the toilets stop working and the food begins to run out. When the body of a woman is discovered in her cabin the passengers start to panic. There's a murderer on board the Beautiful Dreamer... and maybe something worse.]]> 340 Sarah Lotz 1444775375 Chumley 0 2016, dnf 3.51 2015 Day Four
author: Sarah Lotz
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2016/03/26
date added: 2022/03/02
shelves: 2016, dnf
review:
Couldn't finish it. Got about 120 pages in and lost interest. Just wasn't gripping me.
]]> Baxter 13293675
'The child was even weaker than I thought, and I acted quickly. I was careful not to touch its delicate skin with my teeth. It was a simple matter to grasp its clothing and drag it into the water. It cried out only briefly before I forced it under. It quickly went limp, and I stood back and watched it until I knew its feeble hold on life was broken."

...BAXTER.

He looks like a pet dog, one of millions. He even behaves like one—most of the time. But he's evil. Inhumanly evil. After you have read this novel, you will never, ever look at your family's pet quite like you used to...]]> 144 Jessica Hamilton 0722142102 Chumley 4 2016 3.83 1977 Baxter
author: Jessica Hamilton
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1977
rating: 4
read at: 2016/04/23
date added: 2020/03/26
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Warspite (Warspite #1, Ark Royal #4)]]> 23680160
The First Interstellar War is over, but the Royal Navy still has plenty of work to do. As Earth struggles to recover from the bombardment, Captain John Naiser is placed in command of HMS Warspite - an experimental heavy cruiser - and ordered to escort a squadron of colony ships to a star system of immense strategic importance.

But as the crew struggle to survive hundreds of light years from Earth, they find themselves dealing with the legacy of the war ... and a threat which may sow the seeds of renewed conflict, or a deadly civil war that will rip the human sphere apart.]]> 476 Christopher G. Nuttall Chumley 4 2016 4.01 2014 Warspite (Warspite #1, Ark Royal #4)
author: Christopher G. Nuttall
name: Chumley
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2017/02/11
date added: 2017/02/12
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rise of the Governor (The Walking Dead #1)]]> 12992880 Winner of the 2011 Diamond Gem Award for Trade Book of the Year

In the Walking Dead universe, there is no greater villain than The Governor. The despot who runs the walled-off town of Woodbury, he has his own sick sense of justice: whether it's forcing prisoners to battle zombies in an arena for the townspeople's amusement, or chopping off the appendages of those who cross him. The Governor was voted "Villain of the Year" by Wizard magazine the year he debuted, and his story arc was the most controversial in the history of the Walking Dead comic book series. Now, for the first time, fans of The Walking Dead will discover how The Governor became the man he is, and what drove him to such extremes]]> 328 Robert Kirkman 1250008395 Chumley 4 2016, 2017 3.90 2011 Rise of the Governor (The Walking Dead #1)
author: Robert Kirkman
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2017/01/13
date added: 2017/01/16
shelves: 2016, 2017
review:
Bearing in mind that it's a tie-in with a TV/Comic series, it's extremely well-written.
]]> Concrete Island 70251 176 J.G. Ballard 031242034X Chumley 4 2016 3.70 1974 Concrete Island
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at: 2016/12/21
date added: 2016/12/21
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Trafalgar Gambit (Ark Royal, #3)]]> 22428252
The one hope is to make contact with alien factions that might oppose the war. But, as Ark Royal sets off on a desperate diplomatic mission, it rapidly becomes clear that there are both human and alien factions that wish to fight the war to the bitter end - and that her previous missions have sown the seeds of success ... or total failure.]]> 353 Christopher G. Nuttall Chumley 4 2016 4.03 2014 The Trafalgar Gambit (Ark Royal, #3)
author: Christopher G. Nuttall
name: Chumley
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2016/12/13
date added: 2016/12/13
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> The Brotherhood 604715 Stephen Knight 0586059830 Chumley 4 2016 3.35 1984 The Brotherhood
author: Stephen Knight
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.35
book published: 1984
rating: 4
read at: 2016/12/13
date added: 2016/12/13
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation]]> 5199185 "Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn 'em to ashes, then burn the ashes."

For Guy Montag, a career fireman for whom kerosene is perfume, this is not just an official slogan. It is a mantra, a duty, a way of life in a tightly monitored world where thinking is dangerous and books are forbidden.

In 1953, Ray Bradbury envisioned one of the world's most unforgettable dystopian futures, and in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the artist Tim Hamilton translates this frightening modern masterpiece into a gorgeously imagined graphic novel. As could only occur with Bradbury's full cooperation in this authorized adaptation, Hamilton has created a striking work of art that uniquely captures Montag's awakening to the evil of government-controlled thought and the inestimable value of philosophy, theology, and literature.

Including an original foreword by Ray Bradbury and fully depicting the brilliance and force of his canonic and beloved masterwork, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is an exceptional, haunting work of graphic literature.]]> 151 Tim Hamilton 080905101X Chumley 3 2016 3.93 2009 Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation
author: Tim Hamilton
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2016/12/04
date added: 2016/12/05
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Nemesis 8709880
COLLECTING: Millar & McNiven 's Nemesis 1-4]]> 112 Mark Millar 0785148655 Chumley 3 2016 3.43 2012 Nemesis
author: Mark Millar
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2016/12/06
date added: 2016/12/05
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Judge Dredd: Anderson, Psi-Division]]> 23331519 104 Matt Smith 1631402218 Chumley 3 2016 3.43 2015 Judge Dredd: Anderson, Psi-Division
author: Matt Smith
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2016/11/29
date added: 2016/11/29
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Vlad the Impaler: the Man Who Was Dracula]]> 6415686 128 Sid Jacobson 1594630585 Chumley 2 2016 3.02 2009 Vlad the Impaler: the Man Who Was Dracula
author: Sid Jacobson
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.02
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2016/11/29
date added: 2016/11/28
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Autobiography of a Thief 13765314 432 Bruce Reynolds 0753539179 Chumley 3 2016 4.27 1996 Autobiography of a Thief
author: Bruce Reynolds
name: Chumley
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1996
rating: 3
read at: 2016/11/26
date added: 2016/11/28
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Indoctrinaire 615188
The world has been devastated by nuclear weapons and poison gas. Only South America has survived, yet vestiges of one of the war gases remain to create 'The Disturbances' and threaten the social order. Wentik must return to his own time to find out how the gas and its antidote were produced. But he is returned to the wrong time slot.

The War has already begun. The holocaust gathers momentum. Wentik must decide whether to escape into the future or stay to die in his own time . . .]]> 192 Christopher Priest 0330256084 Chumley 4 2016 3.06 1970 Indoctrinaire
author: Christopher Priest
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.06
book published: 1970
rating: 4
read at: 2016/11/21
date added: 2016/11/23
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Miracles of Life: Shanghai to Shepperton, An Autobiography]]> 13812165 272 J.G. Ballard 0871404206 Chumley 4 2016 4.00 2008 Miracles of Life: Shanghai to Shepperton, An Autobiography
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Chumley
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2016/10/21
date added: 2016/10/23
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Millennium People 10157531 Compelling, disturbing, and eerily prophetic. Millenium People affirms J. G. Ballard's legacy, in the words of China Mieville, "probably the most original English writer of the last century."

The explosive J.G. Ballard renaissance, which began with the 2009 publication of The Complete Stories of J.G. Ballard, continues with the appearance of Millennium People, Ballard's first new novel to be published in America in nearly a decade. No writer, certainly no fiction writer, has examined in recent times the profound social malaise of the middle classes as presciently as Ballard, whose penultimate novel, Millennium People, a brilliant political satire, is filled with stunning psychological insights, twisted humor, and unrelenting suspense.

When a bomb goes off at Heathrow Airport it looks like another random act of violence to psychologist David Markham. But then he discovers that his ex-wife Laura is among the victims. Following a police lead that suggests the explosion was not the work of a foreign terrorist, but instead a shadowy and ruthless group based in the comfortable Thameside estate of Chelsea Marina, Markham begins to infiltrate London's fringe protest movement.

Led by Richard Gould, a charismatic pediatrician turned cult leader, the clandestine group aims to rouse London's squeezed middle classes to anger and violence, to free them from both the self-imposed burdens of civic responsibility and the trappings of a consumer society: private schools, foreign nannies, health insurance, and overpriced housing. But when Markham becomes enamored with an exotic film studies professor who moonlights as a terrorist cell leader, he too gets caught up in the idealistic campaign spiraling rapidly out of control. At last succumbing to the irresistible charms of Gould, the group's leader, Markham abandons his original investigation to give his unyielding support to the uprising, becoming an active participant in the process.

As widespread rioting erupts and England's capital city becomes a crucible of existential rage, a frenzied English populous begins destroying the very symbols that define their middle-class status, setting fire to Volvos, destroying travel agencies, and smoke-bombing department stores. In an unnerving and prophetic ending that is so jarring it will resonate well beyond the confines of fiction, Millennium People becomes more than a novel; it becomes a shockingly plausible, deeply unsettling vision of society in collapse, one that, in the words of John Gray in the New Statesman, "dissects the perverse psychology that links terrorists with their innocent victims."]]> 288 J.G. Ballard 039308177X Chumley 4 2016 3.26 2003 Millennium People
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2016/10/12
date added: 2016/10/12
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> The Drought 70257

Water. Man’s most precious commodity is a luxury of the past. Radioactive waste from years of industrial dumping has caused the sea to form a protective skin strong enough to devastate the Earth it once sustained. And while the remorseless sun beats down on the dying land, civilization itself begins to crack. Violence erupts and insanity reigns as the remnants of mankind struggle for survival in a worldwide desert of despair.


Remarkable for its prescience and the originality of its vision, The Drought is a work of major importance from the early career of one of Britain’s most acclaimed novelists.


This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard’s works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Ned Beauman, Ali Smith, Neil Gaiman and Martin Amis) and brand-new cover designs.]]> 232 J.G. Ballard 0586089969 Chumley 4 2016 3.63 1964 The Drought
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1964
rating: 4
read at: 2016/10/04
date added: 2016/10/04
shelves: 2016
review:
Occasionally a plod when Ballard disappears off on a tangent into what Charles Bukowski used to refer to as "Star Trek Rambling", but the imagery and the sheer, clinical strangeness of Ballard's vision is irresistibly compelling.
]]> Wolves 18481000
Two friends are working at the cutting edge of this technology and when they are offered backing to take the idea and make it into the next global entertainment they realise that wolves hunt in this imagined world. And the wolves might be them.

A story about technology becomes a personal quest into a changed world and the pursuit of a secret from the past. A secret about a missing mother, a secret that could hide a murder. This is no dry analysis of how a technology might change us, it is a terrifying thriller, a picture of a dark tomorrow that is just around the corner.]]> 295 Simon Ings Chumley 3 2016 3.23 2014 Wolves
author: Simon Ings
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2016/10/03
date added: 2016/10/02
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tenderness of Wolves (Zero #3)]]> 24830028
Collecting: Zero 11-14]]> 128 Aleš Kot 1632152525 Chumley 3 2016 3.83 2015 Tenderness of Wolves (Zero #3)
author: Aleš Kot
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2016/09/26
date added: 2016/09/26
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[At the Heart of It All (Zero #2)]]> 22358456
Collecting: Zero 6-10]]> 160 Aleš Kot 1632151057 Chumley 4 2016 3.84 2014 At the Heart of It All (Zero #2)
author: Aleš Kot
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2016/09/26
date added: 2016/09/26
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Extreme Metaphors 19098942 528 J.G. Ballard 0007454864 Chumley 5 2016 4.68 2012 Extreme Metaphors
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Chumley
average rating: 4.68
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2016/09/22
date added: 2016/09/23
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Kingdom Come 16300824
A gunman opens fire in a shopping mall. Not a terrorist, apparently, but a madman with a rifle. Or not, as he is mysteriously (and quickly) set free without charge.

One of the victims is the father of Richard Pearson, unemployed advertising executive and life-long rebel. Now he is driving out to Brooklands, the apparently peaceful town on the M25 which has at its heart the very shiny shoppers’ paradise where the shooting happened – the Metro-Centre.

Then the main suspect is released – thanks to the testimony of self-styled pillars of the community like the doctor who treated Richard’s father on his deathbed. Richard, determined to unravel the mystery, starts to believe that something deeply sinister lurks behind the pristine facades of the labyrinthine mall, its 24-hour cable TV and sports club…]]> 280 J.G. Ballard 0007242891 Chumley 5 2016 3.33 2006 Kingdom Come
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2016/09/24
date added: 2016/09/23
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Slights 6555133
But she brings her victims back to life to demand of them: "WHAT DO YOU SEE?P"

Now she's about to find out for herself...

After an accident in which her mother dies, Stevie has a near-death experience, and finds herself in a room full of people - everyone she's ever annoyed. They clutch at her, scratch and tear at her. But she finds herself drawn back to this place, again and again, determined to unlock its secrets. Which means she has to die, again and again. And Stevie starts to wonder whether other people see the same room... when they die.

The most disturbing novel of 2010... read it if you dare.]]> 500 Kaaron Warren 0007322429 Chumley 5 2016 3.40 2009 Slights
author: Kaaron Warren
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2016/09/19
date added: 2016/09/18
shelves: 2016
review:
Dark, disturbing, hypnotic, terrifying and weirdly touching. The sad, strange, psychotic tale of Stevie Searle will haunt me for a long time to come.
]]> <![CDATA[The End of the World Running Club]]> 26046368 THE ULTIMATE RACE AGAINST TIME THRILLER

When the world ends and you find yourself stranded on the wrong side of the country, every second counts.

No one knows this more than Edgar Hill. 550 miles away from his family, he must push himself to the very limit to get back to them, or risk losing them forever...

His best option is to run.
But what if your best isn’t good enough?]]> 455 Adrian J. Walker 1785032666 Chumley 3 2016 3.72 2014 The End of the World Running Club
author: Adrian J. Walker
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2016/09/08
date added: 2016/09/08
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> The Last Days of Jack Sparks 28765598
It was no secret that journalist Jack Sparks had been researching the occult for his new book. No stranger to controversy, he'd already triggered a furious Twitter storm by mocking an exorcism he witnessed.

Then there was that video: forty seconds of chilling footage that Jack repeatedly claimed was not of his making, yet was posted from his own YouTube account.

Nobody knew what happened to Jack in the days that followed - until now.]]> 336 Jason Arnopp 0356507181 Chumley 4 2016 3.83 2016 The Last Days of Jack Sparks
author: Jason Arnopp
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2016/08/30
date added: 2016/08/29
shelves: 2016
review:
Good, but I guessed exactly where it was going to end up as soon as the fate of "red bottle" and "the priest's book" came into play early-on.
]]> Rig 28016315
Barricade introduced artificial lifeform, Kenstibec. Steeple saw him reduced to the level of humanity. Now Kenstibec must fight his way to the home of the man who created him and the other Ficials. The man who tipped the world into war and sealed humanity's fate. Can Kenstibec win a future back for man?

Jon Wallace has written a series of short, high-action yet thoughtful SF thrillers. Controversial yet full of dark humour these are rewarding SF thrillers that echo the pleasures of noir and bring a sharp new perspective to British SF.]]> 304 Jon Wallace 057511889X Chumley 5 2016 3.75 2016 Rig
author: Jon Wallace
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/08/23
date added: 2016/08/24
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror]]> 9211183 243 Chris Priestley 1408802767 Chumley 5 2016 3.96 2007 Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror
author: Chris Priestley
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2016/08/11
date added: 2016/08/10
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Steeple 25110622
Kenstibec is a Ficial - a genetically engineered artificial life form; tough, skilled, hard to kill. Or at least he was. He's lost the nanotech that constantly repaired him. Life just got real. Just like it is for the few remaining humans in this blighted world - the Reals; locked in a fight over a ruined world with the Ficials they created to make Utopia.

And now Kestibec must take a trip to the pinnicle of our failed civilisation. The Steeple is a one thousand storey tower that looms over the wreckage of London. It is worshipped, feared and haunted by attack droids and cannibals. And the location of a secret that just might save Kenstibec's life. The only way is up.]]> 256 Jon Wallace 057511844X Chumley 5 2016 3.96 2015 Steeple
author: Jon Wallace
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2016/08/04
date added: 2016/08/03
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Barricade 21080346 256 Jon Wallace 057511794X Chumley 5 2016 3.55 2014 Barricade
author: Jon Wallace
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2016/07/29
date added: 2016/07/31
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Truths, Half Truths and Little White Lies]]> 27403528
Nick's family life was difficult, blighted by alcoholism, illness and sudden misfortune meaning they lost everything overnight. He left school early and drifted from job to job dogged by his own personal demons. It's something of a miracle that Nick survived and even more that he would achieve such success with his writing, acting and comedy.

In Truths, Half Truths and Little White Lies Nick paints a brilliantly funny, moving and brutally candid portrait of childhood, adolescence and eventual success.]]> 314 Nick Frost 1473620864 Chumley 4 2016 3.86 2015 Truths, Half Truths and Little White Lies
author: Nick Frost
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/07/15
date added: 2016/07/26
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Cinema Panopticum 634790 104 Thomas Ott 1560976497 Chumley 4 2016 4.09 2005 Cinema Panopticum
author: Thomas Ott
name: Chumley
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2016/07/17
date added: 2016/07/17
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Nemo: Heart of Ice 16132075
In the grim cold of February surfaces a thrilling new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book: NEMO: HEART OF ICE, a full-color 56-page adventure in the classic pulp tradition by the inestimable Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill.

It's 1925, fifteen long years since Janni Dakkar first tried to escape the legacy of her dying science-pirate father, only to accept her destiny as the new Nemo, captain of the legendary Nautilus. Now, tired of her unending spree of plunder and destruction, Janni launches a grand expedition to surpass her father's greatest failure: the exploration of Antarctica. Hot on her frozen trail are a trio of genius inventors, hired by an influential publishing tycoon to retrieve the plundered valuables of an African queen. It's a deadly race to the bottom of the world -- an uncharted land of wonder and horror where time is broken and the mountains bring madness. Jules Verne meets H.P. Lovecraft in the unforgettable final showdown, lost in the living, beating and appallingly inhuman HEART OF ICE.]]> 56 Alan Moore 1603092749 Chumley 2 2016 3.42 2013 Nemo: Heart of Ice
author: Alan Moore
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2016/07/17
date added: 2016/07/17
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Absolute Pandemonium: The Autobiography]]> 28368135 0 Brian Blessed 0283072512 Chumley 4 2016 3.33 2015 Absolute Pandemonium: The Autobiography
author: Brian Blessed
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/07/11
date added: 2016/07/11
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Crossed, Vol. 11: Badlands 24585076 160 Justin Jordan 1592912486 Chumley 4 2016
** stars

"The Folly" knocks it out of the park though. Not a huge amount in the way of action or violence, but I found myself completely swept up in young Isaac's travails. I've not read any of Si Spurrier's work on "Crossed: Wish You Were Here" but after reading this, I'll definitely be checking it out.

stars

]]> 3.11 2015 Crossed, Vol. 11: Badlands
author: Justin Jordan
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.11
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/07/05
date added: 2016/07/07
shelves: 2016
review:
The first story - I forget the title - is pretty predictable and not really much to write home about.

** stars

"The Folly" knocks it out of the park though. Not a huge amount in the way of action or violence, but I found myself completely swept up in young Isaac's travails. I've not read any of Si Spurrier's work on "Crossed: Wish You Were Here" but after reading this, I'll definitely be checking it out.

stars


]]> Crossed, Vol. 10: Badlands 22129123 176 Garth Ennis 1592912427 Chumley 5 2016 3.55 2014 Crossed, Vol. 10: Badlands
author: Garth Ennis
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2016/07/04
date added: 2016/07/04
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Crossed, Vol. 9: Badlands 20673696 176 Simon Spurrier 1592912265 Chumley 4 2016 3.09 2014 Crossed, Vol. 9: Badlands
author: Simon Spurrier
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.09
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2016/07/04
date added: 2016/07/04
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Night Eternal (The Strain Trilogy, #3)]]> 11793611 371 Guillermo del Toro 0007384432 Chumley 2 2016 3.48 2011 The Night Eternal (The Strain Trilogy, #3)
author: Guillermo del Toro
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2016/07/02
date added: 2016/07/03
shelves: 2016
review:
It was all a bit of a limp-to-the-end, to be honest.
]]> <![CDATA[The Fall (The Strain Trilogy, #2)]]> 8722865
It took the world just sixty days to end…

By the time the crisis went to Congress, and was analysed, legislated, and ultimately vetoed, we had already lost. The night belonged to them. Leaving us longing for daylight when it was ours no more…

Ephraim Goodweather, director of the New York office of the Centers of Disease Control, is one of the few humans who understands what is really happening. Vampires have arrived in New York City, and their condition is contagious. If they cannot be contained, the entire world is at risk of infection.

As Eph becomes consumed with the battle against the total corruption of humanity, his ex-wife, Kelly, a victim of the vampiric strain, is ever-more determined to claim their son, Zack.

And as the origins of the Master who unleashed the epidemic a gradually revealed, Eph learns that there is a greater, more terrible plan in store for the human race - worse even than annihilation…]]> 308 Guillermo del Toro 0007319517 Chumley 4 2016 3.72 2010 The Fall (The Strain Trilogy, #2)
author: Guillermo del Toro
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2016/06/06
date added: 2016/06/07
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> A Head Full of Ghosts 23019294
To her parents' despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie's descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggests an exorcism; he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is eager to document the Barretts' plight. With John, Marjorie's father, out of work for more than a year and the medical bills looming, the family agrees to be filmed, and soon find themselves the unwitting stars of The Possession, a hit reality television show. When events in the Barrett household explode in tragedy, the show and the shocking incidents it captures become the stuff of urban legend.

Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry. As she recalls those long ago events that took place when she was just eight years old, long-buried secrets and painful memories that clash with what was broadcast on television begin to surface--and a mind-bending tale of psychological horror is unleashed, raising vexing questions about memory and reality, science and religion, and the very nature of evil.]]> 287 Paul Tremblay 0062363239 Chumley 5 2016 3.78 2015 A Head Full of Ghosts
author: Paul Tremblay
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2016/05/19
date added: 2016/05/20
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Robert Heinlein's Citizen of the Galaxy]]> 25471836 104 Robert Lazaro 1631403613 Chumley 2 2016 4.04 2015 Robert Heinlein's Citizen of the Galaxy
author: Robert Lazaro
name: Chumley
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2016/05/01
date added: 2016/05/01
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[eYE Marty: The newly discovered autobiography of a comic genius]]> 28063822 320 Marty Feldman 1444792741 Chumley 4 2016 3.82 2012 eYE Marty: The newly discovered autobiography of a comic genius
author: Marty Feldman
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2016/04/28
date added: 2016/05/01
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Wolf of Shadows 25609845 128 Whitley Strieber 034042611X Chumley 4 2016 3.33 1985 Wolf of Shadows
author: Whitley Strieber
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.33
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2016/04/19
date added: 2016/04/20
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Empire V: The Prince of Hamlet]]> 29243703
He awakens strapped to a set of parallel bars in a richly appointed sitting room, and begins a conversation with a masked man which will change his life. His world has been a facade - one which the mysterious Brahma is about to tear away.

A stunning novel about the real world, and about the hidden channels of power behind the scenes, EMPIRE V is a post-modern satirical novel exploring the cults and corruption of politics, banking and power. And not only are these cults difficult to join - it turns out they may be impossible to leave . . .]]> 400 Victor Pelevin 147321307X Chumley 4 2016 3.77 2006 Empire V: The Prince of Hamlet
author: Victor Pelevin
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2016/04/18
date added: 2016/04/18
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Wolverine: Old Man Logan, Vol. 0: Warzones!]]> 24955233 Collecting: Old Man Logan 1-5]]> 120 Brian Michael Bendis 0785198938 Chumley 1 2016 3.54 2015 Wolverine: Old Man Logan, Vol. 0: Warzones!
author: Brian Michael Bendis
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2015
rating: 1
read at: 2016/04/04
date added: 2016/04/04
shelves: 2016
review:
Did you enjoy the gnarly "Mad Max" meets "Unforgiven" tone of Mark Millar's original "Old Man Logan"? Well if so, give this shameless cash-in a miss. Despite a promising opening, Bendis eschews the gnarly, depraved post-apocalypticism (?) of the original in favour of airy-fairy multiverse horse-crap. Unlike the original, it's not an enclosed story either and it's patently just a set-up for a sequel. Do not go near it.
]]> <![CDATA[Black Widow, Vol. 1: The Finely Woven Thread]]> 19539419 Home is where the hurt is!

And the Black Widow has plenty of that. She may be an Avenger and an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., but the Widow has her own mission: to atone for her past as a KGB assassin. Her methods are dirty. Her heart is cold. But her work is flawless. On an undercover assignment in Russia, she finds that the Hand of God is reaching for her--and it's as merciless as its name. Outmatched by the brute force of this powerful new villain, Natasha discovers a deadly globe-spanning plot. It's a race against time, and the Widow has nowhere to turn for answers. The trail of blood and destruction will test her strength and cunning--but it may also test her faith.

Collecting: Black Widow 1-6 & material from All-New Marvel Now!.Point One]]> 144 Nathan Edmondson 0785188193 Chumley 2 2016 4.04 2014 Black Widow, Vol. 1: The Finely Woven Thread
author: Nathan Edmondson
name: Chumley
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2016/04/05
date added: 2016/04/04
shelves: 2016
review:
Strictly by the numbers and highly derivative of the Bond film "Quantum Of Solace" towards the end.
]]> R.I.P: Best of 1985-2004 8459051


Presented in the same deluxe format as the now sold-out Cinema Panopticum (for which a softcover release is planned for 2011) and The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8, R.I.P. offers up an even dozen tales of murder, suicide, oppression, terror, mutilation, crime, marital strife, and nuclear annihilation.]]> 196 Thomas Ott 1606994174 Chumley 4 2016 3.98 2002 R.I.P: Best of 1985-2004
author: Thomas Ott
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2016/04/03
date added: 2016/04/04
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Crawl Space Omnibus 20299679 320 Rick Remender 1607069407 Chumley 4 2016 3.24 2014 Crawl Space Omnibus
author: Rick Remender
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/24
date added: 2016/03/28
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Green River Killer: A True Detective Story]]> 11489682 Green River Killer: A True Detective Story is bound to become a well-recognized member of the crime-genre graphic novel family, including titles like Darwyn Cooke’s The Hunter and Alan Moore’s From Hell.]]> 234 Jeff Jensen 1595825606 Chumley 4 2016 3.85 2011 Green River Killer: A True Detective Story
author: Jeff Jensen
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/25
date added: 2016/03/28
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> The Three (The Three, #1) 18453110 Four simultaneous plane crashes. Three child survivors. A religious fanatic who insists the three are harbingers of the apocalypse. What if he's right?

The world is stunned when four commuter planes crash within hours of each other on different continents. Facing global panic, officials are under pressure to find the causes. With terrorist attacks and environmental factors ruled out, there doesn't appear to be a correlation between the crashes, except that in three of the four air disasters a child survivor is found in the wreckage. Dubbed 'The Three' by the international press, the children all exhibit disturbing behavioural problems, presumably caused by the horror they lived through and the unrelenting press attention. This attention becomes more than just intrusive when a rapture cult led by a charismatic evangelical minister insists that the survivors are three of the four harbingers of the apocalypse. The Three are forced to go into hiding, but as the children's behaviour becomes increasingly disturbing, even their guardians begin to question their miraculous survival.]]> 471 Sarah Lotz 031624290X Chumley 3 2016 3.31 2014 The Three (The Three, #1)
author: Sarah Lotz
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2016/03/20
date added: 2016/03/21
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Nelson Touch (Ark Royal, #2)]]> 21531232
But with a crewman who isn't what he seems, untested pilots and international friction – and a new and dangerous alien plan - can Ted and his crew survive their mission ... or will they die, alone and unremarked, hundreds of light years from home?]]> 497 Christopher G. Nuttall Chumley 3 2016 3.93 2014 The Nelson Touch (Ark Royal, #2)
author: Christopher G. Nuttall
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2016/03/12
date added: 2016/03/14
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Escape from Hell (Inferno, #2)]]> 3621648 Sylvia Plath, Carpenter is a modern-day Christ who intends to harrow hell and free the damned.  But now that he's returned to this Dantesque Inferno, can he ever again leave?  ]]> 332 Larry Niven 0765316323 Chumley 4 2016 3.59 2009 Escape from Hell (Inferno, #2)
author: Larry Niven
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/11
date added: 2016/03/14
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Mad Max: Fury Road 25573579
In this collection:

Mad Max: Fury Road: Nux & Immortan Joe #1
Mad Max: Fury Road: Furiosa #1
Mad Max: Fury Road: Mad Max #1-2

(Note: Stand-in cover taken from Mad Max: Fury Road: Nux & Immortan Joe #1.)]]> 160 George Miller 1401259057 Chumley 4 2016 3.73 2015 Mad Max: Fury Road
author: George Miller
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/09
date added: 2016/03/10
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> On Cats 24737353
“The cat is the beautiful devil.â€

Felines touched a vulnerable spot in Charles Bukowski’s crusty soul. For the writer, there was something majestic and elemental about these inscrutable creatures he admired, sentient beings whose searing gaze could penetrate deep into our being. Bukowski considered cats to be unique forces of nature, elusive emissaries of beauty and love.

On Cats offers Bukowski’s musings on these beloved animals and their toughness and resiliency. He honors them as fighters, hunters, survivors who command awe and respect as they grip tightly onto the world around them: “A cat is only ITSELF, representative of the strong forces of life that won’t let go.â€

Funny, moving, tough, and caring, On Cats brings together the acclaimed writer’s reflections on these animals he so admired. Bukowski’s cats are fierce and demanding—he captures them stalking their prey; crawling across his typewritten pages; waking him up with claws across the face. But they are also affectionate and giving, sources of inspiration and gentle, insistent care.

Poignant yet free of treacle, On Cats is an illuminating portrait of this one-of-a-kind artist and his unique view of the world, witnessed through his relationship with the animals he considered his most profound teachers.]]> 118 Charles Bukowski 0062395998 Chumley 4 2016 3.78 On Cats
author: Charles Bukowski
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.78
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/08
date added: 2016/03/10
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> On Writing 23546679 224 Charles Bukowski 0062396005 Chumley 5 2016 3.81 2014 On Writing
author: Charles Bukowski
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2016/03/03
date added: 2016/03/03
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> World in Winter 3601484
The seasons pass and the cold bites ever harder. The Thames freezes over, stocks of food and fuel run low, and London falls under martial law. That first arctic winter, it seems, was only the beginning, the herald of the incoming Ice Age.

Andrew Leedon has problems of his own. Forced out of his marriage, he joins the exodus of the privileged few with the necessary influence to escape to the warmth of the African sunshine.

But gone, he finds on arrival in Lagos, are the glory days of Empire. The desperate influx of European refugees has enabled the natives to turn the tables on their former colonial masters: it is white men now who, from their shanty-town hovels, serve at table and labour on construction sites, white women who empty the bed-pans and sell their bodies.

Their Nigerian bosses, meanwhile, looking towards the lawless, ice-bound north, have their own plans for expansion.]]> 224 John Christopher 0722123019 Chumley 5 2016 3.39 1962 World in Winter
author: John Christopher
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.39
book published: 1962
rating: 5
read at: 2016/02/25
date added: 2016/02/28
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> A Wrinkle in the Skin 6993058 220 John Christopher 0722122985 Chumley 4 2016 3.75 1965 A Wrinkle in the Skin
author: John Christopher
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1965
rating: 4
read at: 2016/02/22
date added: 2016/02/21
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Ark Royal (Ark Royal, #1) 20556791 -Royal Navy Motto

Seventy years ago, the interstellar supercarrier Ark Royal was the pride of the Royal Navy. But now, her weapons are outdated and her solid-state armour nothing more than a burden on her colossal hull. She floats in permanent orbit near Earth, a dumping ground for the officers and crew the Royal Navy wishes to keep out of the public eye.

But when a deadly alien threat appears, the modern starships built by humanity are no match for the powerful alien weapons. Ark Royal and her mismatched crew must go on the offensive, buying time with their lives. And yet, with a drunkard for a Captain, an over-ambitious first officer and a crew composed of reservists and the dregs of the service, do they have even the faintest hope of surviving...

...and returning to an Earth which may no longer be there?]]> 381 Christopher G. Nuttall Chumley 4 2016 3.81 2014 Ark Royal (Ark Royal, #1)
author: Christopher G. Nuttall
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2016/02/10
date added: 2016/02/10
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life]]> 6735057 311 sounes-howard 1847675603 Chumley 5 2016 4.40 1998 Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life
author: sounes-howard
name: Chumley
average rating: 4.40
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 2016/02/04
date added: 2016/02/03
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Inferno (Inferno, #1) 6586562
After being thrown out the window of his luxury apartment, science fiction writer Allen Carpentier wakes to find himself at the gates of hell. Feeling he's landed in a great opportunity for a book, he attempts to follow Dante's road map. Determined to meet Satan himself, Carpentier treks through the Nine Layers of Hell led by Benito Mussolini, and encounters countless mental and physical tortures. As he struggles to escape, he's taken through new, puzzling, and outlandish versions of sin--recast for the present day.
]]> 239 Larry Niven Chumley 3 2016 4.04 1975 Inferno (Inferno, #1)
author: Larry Niven
name: Chumley
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1975
rating: 3
read at: 2016/01/24
date added: 2016/01/24
shelves: 2016
review:

]]> Rules of Engagement 3212723 480 Graham Hurley 0330313436 Chumley 4 2016 3.40 1991 Rules of Engagement
author: Graham Hurley
name: Chumley
average rating: 3.40
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at: 2016/01/12
date added: 2016/01/15
shelves: 2016
review:

]]>