Mark Leslie (1)Reseñas

This was a pretty good book about bookstores and libraries that are haunted. Nothing scary though within the pages as it was just general information about different bookstores and libraries around the world that are haunted. Some of the stories have pictures, but they were not very clear on the kindle.

There are quite a few stories within this book - 59 to be exact. I will just list what stories I really liked.
The Eerie Elevator, Ghosts in the Attic, The Rocking Chair Ghost, Spectres in the Stacks, The Portal, The Ghost of Harriet Haskell, The Many Lives of Carnegie Library, A Ghost Called Lola, The Curse of Old Lady Gray, Things That Go Ding In the Night, The White Lady of the Haunted Bookshop, A Treasure of Infinite Haunts, and The Restless Librarian. The other stories were good, but I liked those listed above the best. Three stars for this one.

It's werewolf story, so who needs a plot? but even on that basis this is ridiculously thin. It's 180 pages of emo-werewolf before anything happens. The remaining 100 pages don't progress matters in any way.

I've not read the first book in the series, but there's what feels like sufficient re-cap to get the gist: Michael was attacked somewhere in Canada and suffers uncontrolled lycanthropy after sunset whenever the moon is 80% full, so for about 10 nights a month. He's got used to this and is making a successful living as a writer. When he came clean to a previous girlfriend she dumped him for his years of evasions and he's been unable to cope since. Nearly all of this book is him yearning/moralising/flirting/regretting with random women he comes across which is creepy.

He flies out to LA (carefulyl avoiding his trigger periods) to be part of the film being made of one of his books. At no time does any werewolf action happen instead he mopes around a lot goes to bars, meets several women who fall at his feet before he picks one of them, moans some more, beats up some right wingers without going doggy and then comes home.

Do not bother.½

2 great snowmen stories!

Snowman Shivers: Two Dark Humor Takes about Snowmen by Mark Leslie has one story from the woman's point of view. The other story is very clever too!

Read for #Spookathon challenge spooky word in the title: Haunted.

This is a book of "real" ghost stories mostly set in various care facilities in Canada, with a few of the more famous American ones thrown in. I liked that when able the authors actually went to the facilities to take tours and see the actual places where the sightings supposedly happened. My favorite thing about the book is that most of the stories were new to me which is a bit strange since I love books like this and have read so many of them. I really recommend this book if you're interested in the Paranormal.

I could barely make it through this book! Its just not very interesting. Its told as a diary or blog like book. Just not my kind of book.

I enjoyed the majority of this book. The sex scenes were more detailed than necessary, but the narrative is written from a young mans perspective. The story development was pretty good. The second half of the book moved faster than the first half. The ending seemed a bit abrupt. The author could have worked with Sarah returning more before the end. It was almost like the author got tired of writing and just ended the story as quickly as he could.

This review is based on a pre-published copy of the book. Nonetheless, I was very impressed with the creative way in which it was written. Most of it is written as a blog complete with comments from people out there on the internet, which provides in an interesting way, dialogue. Peter O'Mallick, the blogger, started the blog at the suggestion of his school guidance counselor. Peter believes that he can cause the death and suffering of those around him in some way, starting with his mother who died giving birth to him and his father who died when he was seven by getting run over by a car when he followed Peter who disobeyed and ran across the street to play with his friends. He also believes he killed his childhood friend in a hunting accident when the kid ran ahead and tripped and shot himself.

At the beginning of his blog his girlfriend, Sarah, won't speak to him. Her father had recently caught her performing a sexual act on him and when he confronted Peter he didn't yell at him, he just expressed his disappointment, which angered Peter. Right after that, he ended up with a brain tumor. Peter believes that Sarah must blame him for her father's tumor and that that is the reason she is not speaking to him. He loves her so much he is almost stalking her at school. The internet commenters tell him to give her some room and that she just got some bad news about her father and needs to process it. So he is trying to give her the room she needs. He is also having these horrific nightmares that follow him throughout the book.

At this same time he is falling in love with Shakespeare. Especially Hamlet and goes to the English teacher to ask for suggestions on what to read when he sees her with Sarah and becomes jealous of the teacher who has been spending so much time with her. That night the teacher and Sarah are in a car accident and the teacher ends up in a coma, while Sarah is lucky to walk away with just some cuts and bruises.

They get a new teacher, Robbie who introduces Peter into the world of books. Be prepared to add many authors to your reading lists here such as Sean Costello, Richard Layman, and Robert J. Sawyer. He feels a real rapport with this teacher and he even starts to stop thinking of Sarah some and start thinking of a girl named Monica instead. The day after he asks her out and she blows him off something has happened to her and Peter blames himself once again whether it's his fault or not. And yes, more bad things will happen. And there's a mystery man who is in search of Peter for his own nefarious purposes.

By this time he is interacting more with the people who comment on his blog. Sometimes this will be an antagonistic relationship as he feels as though some of these people do not understand him or are giving him bad advice. This book shows how intimate we can become with complete strangers online and how angry and emotional that relationship can become when we feel we are not being heard or understood. Yet, it's hard to convey an emotional conversation online (though in this case, Leslie conveys these conversations and actual ones recalled rather well). It is easier to get your meaning across if you are face-to-face with the person. But even then, while you might be understood, you still could be wrong. Leslie masters this unique way of writing in blog form with comments.

There will be times when you will want to give Peter a hug and tell him it will be alright and at times you will want to shake him and tell him to snap out of it. He's a teenager, so that's a common feeling when dealing with teenagers. This book quickly had me hooked and I did not figure it out so I was surprised by the ending. I cannot recommend it enough.

This story has an interesting concept. The basis is a teenage boy feels like he is "stalked" by death all through his life. Wherever he goes, death follows. So he's coming to terms with this and starts a blog to share his story. It's mostly written in a blog post format, so you see the story and character progress through his blog posts about his life and experiences. It is written very much like the mind of a troubled teenage boy, so in that sense it's very believable.
This boy is apparently cursed with the "gift" of death, if he gets angry and "wishes" death or bad things upon people, death follows and whoever that ill will was set towards, ends up dying not too long after. He quickly catches onto this trend and starts blogging about it. but it seems like others know of this curse and have caught on too...
Target audience is definitely towards teenagers and early 20's it has some graphic content pertaining to violence and sex, so be aware of that if you are looking to read it.
All in all it's an interesting concept and an interesting execution, but i found it hard for me to get into and hard to make myself want to read this book. It's just over all not really my cup of tea in terms of style of story telling, but I can see how others would enjoy it.

I liked the concept, but I never got invested in the characters and by half way through was rooting for the bad guy. I think the blog format of the first half is what put me off. I don't read blogs and it seemed very repetitive and naval gazing. There is quite a bit of sex and violence, and I think the target audience is probably 25 to 35 years younger than me.

Really interesting premise but doesn't entirely deliver the goods

Quick synopsis -- a HS senior, Peter, loses his girlfriend, in part as a result of being caught by her father doing something fathers don't like to see their daughters doing. Peter has what may be the power to 'wish' people dead and does not take well to losing his girlfriend -- think teenage angst but with Dexter as the teen.

The first part, which is about half the book, is told through his blog entries. He may, or may not, be an unreliable narrator. The second part of the book, the briefest (but in my mind, the best) section, is told by a man chasing Peter. He is not a nice man. The third part of the book is in the third person and ties up the various story lines, not entirely convincingly, but with enough violence to keep you going even when you know what's going to happen.

I really like the idea behind the book and the way it's set up. In theory, at least, the blog entries are a great way to trace what's going on with the main character, particularly as it keeps you guessing whether he's sane. The problem is that the entries become very repetitive (I suppose also true of most actual blogs) and it's tough to think anyone's blog containing this kind of information would get so few (and such lame) comments. The entries also written in a style that may well be that of a high school senior, but just isn't one that captivates adult readers (or, at least, this adult reader). So, first section -- really strong on plot but not a lot of fun to read because you can't quite suspend your disbelief and the style gets in the way.

All that said, there are some really nice little flourishes. One I especially like is this ongoing commentary on Hamlet that works well with what's going on in the story. And there are a number of meta-references to other Leslie books and other genre authors that are fun.

The second part, about a very unpleasant man tracking Peter, is too short but absolutely riveting. Somehow, writing from this guy's point of view works for the author and, though there's a lot of backstory that might seem over the top, it all works. You believe this guy became who he is the way he did. And, frighteningly, you feel sorry for and maybe even a little attracted to him.

The third section, sort of a prolonged denouement, joins together the first two sections and ties up all the mysteries. It's heavy on action but, and I hate to say it, predictable. The Hamlet motif kind of gets shot all to heck and you begin to care a lot less about Peter and his girlfriend. By the time things finished up, I was rooting for the bad guy, if only in hopes this wouldn't end the way it seemed it was going.

So, in summary -- really interesting premise, kind of cool meta-referential thing going on with a lot of possibility and a seriously chilling second part in the middle. Chilling enough that I'd recommend the book just for those 20 or so pages.

Seems perfect to dip into thru the phone! Hoping it has some echoes of the narrator of The Book Thief, one of my top all-time favourites.

An entertaining collection of ghost stories which take place in and around Ottawa. Some were written by the author, some reprinted from various old new sources. Since my mother was born and raised in Ottawa and I spent many summer vacations there, it was with interest that I revisited places like the Ottawa Normal School and Lisgar Collegiate, both of whom my mother attended, as well as the Parliament library, the Chateau Laurier, and some lesser-known sites. The author has an easy way about his storytelling, providing locations and individuals with entertaining background as well as supernatural tales.

I just finished this book and must say that it was a lot of fun. I am so used to paranormal books being about traditional hauntings, such as the ones about highways, castles, homes, or schools. This book was very different and offered a lot of new information. I enjoyed both the historical facts and personal experiences that were shared throughout the paranormal tales. It made the book very easy to read and I would recommend this paperback to anyone who enjoys the ghostly side of life.

I won this book as a goodreads giveaway. I really enjoyed it. It was definitely a thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. Unfortunately, there were a lot of grammatical and typographical errors. The novella went back and forth in time which could have been confusing but it wasn't and in fact added to the appeal. Well done Mr. Leslie!

√ Mildly Interesting Spooks

TOMES OF TERROR is a compilation of a large number of short "ghost" or "spookty" tales involving libraries. The book is divided by world regions, starting with Canada, then USA, then International.

There are stories of elevators starting themselves, books re-arranging themselves (or falling to the floor), wandering spooks, strange sounds, etc.

There are several appendices for further reading on haunted libraries.

√ All in all, an interesting, but not frightening assortment of fun tales.

This latest collection of speculative fiction stories and poems from Canada focuses on the subjects of culture and the arts.

A long-time rock music fan is looking for the ultimate AC/DC bootleg tape, which may or may not actually exist. There is a story about language (not any particular language, but language in general) being intelligent. In a world where genetic engineering has eradicated most congenital diseases, the next genetic abnormality to be eradicated is the "art gene." A famous composer lives alone on a space station orbiting Saturn. His final composition involves playing Saturn's rings like an instrument.

There is a poem called "Zombie Poet". A pair of stories explore the world of dance. The first is about a special kind of memory cloth that can transfer insanity to a sane person, and the other concerns a dance competition between humans and aliens. A woman returns to her high school for her 60th high school reunion. She became a famous singer, and she meets up with an old boyfriend (she is white, and he is black). Muses are treated like intestinal parasites, and removed from people, but destroying them is not easy. A man has rented an isolated cabin in British Columbia to write a novel, but what is on the page becomes a little too real. Another story is about genetic engineering, but, this time, humanity has abolished moods, in effect making Prozac permanent. A desperate attempt is made to bring artists about to die forward in time to provide a dying humanity with emotion and creativity.

This is yet another first-rate collection of stories from Canada. All parts of "the arts" are covered, in very unique ways. Individually, these stories are excellent; together, this book is highly recommended.

If you like horror that (for the most part) isn't too graphic, give this one a try. At the very least, I'm pretty sure you'll never look at snowmen the same way again. Full review: http://www.canadianauthors.net/l/leslie_mark/one_hand_screaming.php½