As well as his constant spinning of records and writing about all he listens to, Andy, at the UK's brilliant Fear and Loathing fanzine, has been reading a lot lately and caught up on quite a few Earth Island Books publications. The latest he's reviewed is Theta House by Jim X Dodge:
"I was pretty intrigued by this book, a novella / horror story based on the ‘escape-room’ concept. In this particular tale, a group of ‘young adults’ from various contemporary subcultures / backgrounds are selected to take part in an overnight competition to solve the clues and escape from an old mansion, with a tempting cash prize ensuring that no-one turns down the offer. I was enjoying the story as the various twists and turns advanced, as well as seeing how the characters developed and revealed more about themselves and their motivations, but suddenly found myself with only a few pages left to go and, within those few pages, everything is brought to an abrupt and (for me) unsatisfying conclusion. That said, the ending certainly left plenty of scope for a follow-up or even an extended re-write of this story, but for now, the ending is a bit frustrating as it doesn’t do justice to the pace and tension that had been building-up in the preceding pages. Jim X Dodge obviously has a talent for story-telling and this book reveals a strong creativity. I will certainly be interested to see how his literary endeavours develop from here."
But over the last months he's also found time for A Hardcore Heart
A book like this tells the story of people finding their own voice and doing something because they believe in it.
a genuinely entertaining novel with a believable depth to the characters and valid observations about the nature of friendship, trust and determination.
you well may find yourself engrossed in the story and increasingly keen to discover what happens next.
this one takes things further to give you a chance to see what was really going on and why ‘Combat Rock’ turned out to be the beginning of the end.
This book covers a large period of my life in which many of these bands provided the ongoing soundtrack. A solid volume that documents bands that all played a part in the music of their times and, in many cases, remain valid to this day.
Read this book because it’s very entertaining, and you may well find it to be a source of inspiration for your own journeys…
I still find it exciting to discover new, younger bands that blow me away. In a world where no-one has enough time to listen to everything, this book will at least point you in the right direction.
Many twists and turns, something that will draw you in deeper with every page you read.
Check out all of Fear and Loathing's book and fanzine reviews here: http://www.fearandloathingfanzine.com/books--fanzines.html
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