I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

It’s almost Halloween, so it’s the perfect time to revisit our favorite creepy classics.  I Am Legend was written in 1954 and set in (what was then) the futuristic Los Angeles of the 1970’s.  It has twice been adapted to film, first in 1964 starring Vincent Price as The Last Man on Earth, and again [...]

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Sarah’s Key by Tatiana DeRosnay

There’s no denying that the subject of this book is disturbing and tragic.  In 1942, on the orders of the Germans, 4500 Parisian police rounded up almost 13,000 French Jews, almost one third of them children, and herded many of them into the Vel’ d’Hiv’, a stadium used for bicycle races.  After being held there for [...]

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Angelica by Arthur Phillips

In the beginning,  Angelica plods along with all the lethargy of Constance Barton’s husband, Joseph.  However, once I made it past Constance’s hand-wringing hysterics to meet the fascinating Anne Montague, the pacing picks up dramatically, and Angelica turns into a very satisfying horror tale in the tradition of The Haunting of Hill House.  The story opens in [...]

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Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

 Garden Spells would make a great “chick flick”.  If it were one, it would be a cross between Chocolat and Sleeping With the Enemy.  Bascom, North Carolina is home to an odd assortment of citizens, and none are more eccentric than the Waverleys.   Each Waverley has a special gift.  Claire caters the affairs in town [...]

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The Sound of Butterflies by Rachael King

I gave it a really good effort (at least I think I did) and got through three chapters before I gave up on this one.  Amateur naturalist Thomas Edgar leaves his young wife behind while he travels to the Amazon in search of his ‘papilio sophia’, an elusive butterfly.  When Thomas returns, shell-shocked and unable [...]

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The Witch’s Trinity by Erika Mailman

What a fascinating and beautifully well-written first novel.  It’s Germany in the year 1507, a time when pagan beliefs had not yet totally given over to Christianity.  The hamlet of Tierkinddorf is experiencing a devastating famine, and all are nearly crazed with hunger and desperate to discover the “witch” who has caused the misery.   Suspicion [...]

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