The blog of author Stacy Kingsley - Stacy Kingsley

Book Review - THE NOT GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER by Sharon Lamb

8/12/2019

The Not Good Enough Mother by Sharon Lamb was not really what I hoped it would be. I won a copy of this book in a goodreads giveaway, and it sounded like it would offer an insiders view of what it was like to work as someone who could recommend parents be reunited or permanently separated from their children. Also this is non-fiction, I like to inform my internet people because I know not everyone reads non-fiction.

What this book actually was as a rambling assessment of other parents and children, and the authors own issues and regrets and guilt with her own children. She had two sons who ended up addicted to drugs, and often her stories about other parents lead her to some rumination of only one of her son's addiction and rehab process.

What I wanted in this book was stories about the woman's work, and less about her life. Also, she continued to state that people either were or weren't "good enough." I get that this was part of the title, and I get that she needed to make sure that people understood her branding, but it got tiresome. At the end I wasn't quite sure what I had read, and I wasn't quite sure I had enjoyed it. I, personally, felt muddled, like I was being judged by someone who only knew me from tests she felt were relevant. In fact, proving how muddled this book was, there was an entire section on the Rorschach test and how it came into existence, then the author stated that she couldn't say any of the secrets about how they were read because she would be giving away secrets. I rolled my eyes at that. Her attempts at humor fell flat.

So, while I was excited to read this book, I felt it glossed over the things that should have been important, and it left me wondering why she had inserted herself into it so deeply. I can't say I recommend this, even with the several good reviews that is had. For me it was a little too shallow.

Book Review - THE LAST TIME I LIED by Riley Sager

8/5/2019

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager is a novel that takes you through the game "Two Truths and a Lie" several times.

This novel follows Emma, a young woman who is haunted by the disappearance of three girls when she was at Camp Nightingale, fifteen years earlier. Emma, a painter who has just gotten her first art show, is an up and comer, who is afraid that people will find out not only what she has done in her paintings, but the lies she continually attempts to cover up with her paintings. Emma is most often haunted by Vivian, the girl who took her under her wings when she arrived as a scared 13 year old at Camp Nightingale. Now, the Camp is being opened back up, trying to start over and forget about the disappearance of the three girls fifteen years earlier. Emma is invited by the owner, Franny, to come be a an art instructor, teaching a new batch of campers to paint. When tragedy strikes again, and Emma falls under the suspicion of the police, she must decide, is it time to tell the truth, or has she just buried herself too deep under her lies.

This book is in the same suspenseful vein as Sager's first novel, Final Girls. It has a build up of suspense as the reader needs to decide what is going on, and who they should believe. There are a few twists to make the reader relax, and feel as if they do know what is going on, before it twists again, telling the reader how wrong they are.

Emma is an unreliable narrator. She is a woman who went through and didn't get over, something traumatic that happened to her when she was still a child. She is crazy, and continues to try to convince herself, and the reader, that she isn't crazy. In reality, she likely is since she hasn't really dealt with the trauma, and doesn't seem to be over the disappearances that happened. Most of the other characters are limited in their development, as the reader doesn't get enough information to make judgements for themselves about whether they believe a person is guilty or not. I would have liked a little more development of both Theo and Chet, Franny's two adopted sons. I would have liked to know a little more about their history, or something that could have added a little to their characters. This was especially desired because both boys played very important parts in the story, both in the past disappearances and the present trauma.

Other characters that could have used more development, were, well, most of them. There were characters from the past when Emma was a child at camp, and they weren't given much development, except to say one was an excellent photographer, and the other was a constant smoker. Also, the only character that got development in the present was Chet's wife, Mindy, who was able to tell part of her story when she was in a room with Emma.

The ending of this was a little unsatisfying. I wanted something more along the lines of Final Girls, but instead got something that was trying too hard when it didn't need to. I didn't think the ending was good enough for the book I was reading, and for me, it left me feeling like I had read the book expecting something that was never delivered. While the ending of Final Girls fit the book, the ending to The Last Time I Lied didn't really seem to fit, and it was trying to hard to place the blame on someone who wasn't guilty. It was, in the end, annoying and unsatisfying.

Book Review of THE OTHER SISTER by Dianne Dixon

7/29/2019

The Other Sister by Dianne Dixon was a quick read, but it was also an unsatisfying read. I read this over a few hours, and was incredibly disappointed that I wasted my time with this novel.

The plot of the book sounded interesting. Morgan and Ali are fraternal twins. Morgan feels Ali has had all of the luck and that maybe, just maybe, life would be better for her if Ali never existed. The end of the synopsis adds, "As their lives spin toward something neither one of them can control, a terrifying crime reveals how those who know us best can destroy....or save us." This made the book sound like a crime thriller, which it was not. It wasn't a domestic thriller either. I don't think this book knew what it wanted to be.

The character of Morgan was an annoying and underdeveloped character. She had only part of her own self in this story, and most of the time she spent was feeling angry or jealous of her fraternal twin, Ali. Part of this is understandable. Ali is engaged to and eventually marries a man named Matt. This man met Morgan first, and he was interested in her, until he met her sister, Ali, then he fell in love quite quickly. Morgan feels like this sums up her life with Ali as her sister. Everyone loves her Ali and Morgan is always second best.

When tragedy strikes and Morgan feels that her sister has abandoned her, things begin to change. This is really where the story got dull. In the beginning it seemed like it would be a story of revenge or of sisters who eventually learn to love each other, despite the terrible things one sister has done. Then it acted as if it was going to be a thriller or mystery, as Matt left and was discovered the next day looking beaten and abused, by Morgan. Then it changed again after the tragedy happens and Ali has several decisions to make. It never really makes up its mind what genre it wants to be, or what story it wants to tell. Instead it tried to accomplish too much and became very dull.

In the end several things happened, and a few of them didn't seem at all realistic, or even true to the story. The crime committed seemed to be put into the novel only to force something bad to happen to a character, and for another to discover what everyone would eventually know before she breaks her silence. It also made several of the female characters look dumb, like they all only cared about one thing, money, not love, or their children, or even what was going on in their marriages.

Of course, there is a lot of stuff around the husbands, and the secrets every is keeping, some of which are really stupid.

So, after stating all of this, would I recommend this book? No. Nope. Zero percent. Skip it, this is one book that is just too frustrating to read.

Virginia Writer's Symposium on August 3

7/28/2019

Hello everyone in Internet land! I will be running a workshop at the Virginia Writer's Symposium on "How to Write Horror."

I will be delving into fear, writing, and publishing horror.

I want to invite everyone to join, as there will be a lot of great workshops there! Come see me and others who can help you in your writing careers!

The theme this year is From Pondering to Publishing to Promoting. Invite anyone and everyone that needs help with any of these in their writing career.

See you on Saturday.

You can sign up at:
www.virginiawritersclub.org/Workshop-Information

You can look up the workshops at:
www.facebook.com/VirginiaWritersClub/

Book Review of TALON OF GOD by Wesley Snipes and Ray Norman

7/23/2019

I want to start this review by saying I don't often read Christian or spiritual fiction, so my review may be a little off putting for someone who is spiritual, just because I found that aspect to be an annoying part of the story. My fault though.

What is Talon of God about? Talon of God by Wesley Snipes and Ray Norman is about a holy warrior who has to make Lauren, a doctor with no faith, believe so they can stop powerful demon and his minions from bringing hell to earth. Everyone who becomes "possessed" is lacking of faith, ad is easily duped into letting a demon inhabit their body and feed off of their souls. This books is set in streets of Chicago, and revolves around Lauren, the aforementioned doctor, her ex-boyfriend, Will, a cop, and Talon, a man on a holy mission.

Overall, this book read like it was the beginning of a script for a movie. It was full of dialogue and action, which made it enjoyable for someone like me, who doesn't read a lot of Christian or spiritual fiction. It was an honest mistake on my part. I saw the book for sale, saw that it was written by Wesley Snipes, and only briefly read the synopsis. If I had read the synopsis I probably wouldn't have bought it. It is not the typical book for me, and when I read other descriptions it sounded more like urban fantasy and not so much like a religious book, although the notes were there.

The characters were okay, although Will and Lauren both became a little dull in their quest to not follow or believe anything Talon was saying, and it was written so Lauren had some special magic that made her great for helping those who were possessed, but there was really not an explanation as to why she was the "one." The religious debates and chats they continued to have throughout the book, well, they were a little drawn out. I wished that they could have been a little less frequent, especially since they lasted through the entire book, and Lauren took too long to get through her doubt. In the end it was over probably two-thirds of the book before Lauren really started to think about her beliefs.

Will was an okay character a lot of the time, but he also got tedious with his "I am a cop" and "I don't believe in this stuff" attitude. I was a little annoyed with where the book went, and wish that it had left some things out. For example, I would have liked the human element to remain a human element, without the interference of angels and outside forces. It would have made it a more interesting book. It would have also given us the struggle of the humans as they came to the idea of what having faith meant to them. Instead, once again we get angels and demons who help the characters come to realize what their beliefs might actually be.

Another thing that disappointed me was the ending. Obviously, this book was written to be part of a series, as the ending left things a little up in the air. This frustrated me, only because I didn't have a clue what the relationship was of some of the characters to heaven or hell, and this made assumptions about these characters and what I needed to know, without really giving me all of the information.

Overall, this wasn't a bad book, but it also wasn't the best. I would have liked a little less spent on convincing Lauren and Will that God exists, and a little more spent on the development and the story. As it was it took me a little longer to read because there were moments where the novel was a little overdrawn and I wanted to give up and quit reading it. So, if you want to read this one it is up to you, as I can't help in the field of religious fiction.

Book Review of THE BUTCHERING ART by Lindsey Fitzharris

7/15/2019

The Butchering Art by Lindsey Firzharris is about the Quaker surgeon Joseph Lister, who would change the course of history. The story begins as Lister begins, and his claims that germs were the source of infection, and could be stopped by antiseptics. The novel focuses on the period of his life from 1850-1975, and informs the reader about several issues that plagued the medical community during this time. It reveals the dreariness of the hospitals, the dirty medical schools, deadhouses where the students studied, and the graveyard, where they sought cadavers for use in their education.

The book mostly focuses on surgeon, Joseph Lister, a young Quaker with big ideas, as he tries to make surgery safer, and unite medicine and science.

After reading this book, I was happy to have been born when I did, with the advances that we currently have in medicine. I would have hated to have been one of the poor souls who had been operated on without anesthesia of any sort, and who would end up with only a slight chance at survival. During the time focused on in this novel, surgeons were under a clock when they operated. The point was, get in fast, get is fixed fast, and finish as fast as possible.

Lister was a curious young man, who almost didn't become a surgeon. He became overwhelmed and told his father he was feeling far from his faith and wanted to become a Quaker minister. His father, a confident man, was often the one to turn young Lister around. Through his life he continued to depend on his father, and eventually his wife, Agatha, as well. He was a man with a dream to find a way to keep people from dying after a visit to the hospital.

In the end, Lister's ideas were incorporated and used as it was proven that they did keep people from dying.

I did enjoy this book, although there were some parts where the timeline was a little confusing. An example of this is that it was stated that Lister's father died in 1869, and his father-in-law died in 1860, when in fact his father-in-law died in 1870. I would have also liked a little more about Agatha. I wanted to know more about their relationship and how they got along. While it seemed that Agatha was happy to help her husband, she wasn't incorporated enough in they story. I would have liked to know more about how she felt when her husband operated on his patients on her dining room table.

It was also quite frightening how operations took place. People were losing limbs left and right. People often died of sepsis due to infection after any kind of surgery, especially when a limb was removed or a if there was a compound fracture. Once ether was introduced surgery did become a tad easier, as the patients were not fully awake during the operation. However, the issue was often cleanliness and sterilization. Surgeons would go from one operation to another, without changing or cleaning themselves or their instruments. It was no wonder that so many people died when they had surgery.

There were parts of this book that were a little to superfluous, and they could have been edited out, but the last quarter of it was very interesting, when Lister started publishing his work, and when people began trying to discredit him. I'd recommend this to anyone who is interesting in history, and the history of medicine. It took me a while to finish it, only because I was listening to it on audio book, and only listened when I went out for a walk, but otherwise, I think this is likely to be a fast read and I do recommend it.

Book Review of PARASITE by Mira Grant

7/11/2019

Parasite by Mira Grant is an apocalyptic book that revolves around medical fears and what helps in the medical community. I enjoyed it, but don't know that it would be realistic or relevant because who would willingly put a parasite inside of themselves?

Sally has been in a coma for a few years, and she isn't expected to wake up, until she does. The day she wakes up is the same day her family is asked to give up and let her go. When she wakes up she doesn't remember anything before the coma. She doesn't remember who Sally used to be, or what happened to cause the accident. The only thing she seems to hold on is that she is afraid to be in a car. Deathly afraid. The SymboGen Corporation have a problem that no one knows about. Humanity has a problem they can't figure out. Sally, well she has a problem because she doesn't know who she can trust.

Sally, or Sal as she wants to be called now, has been awake for six years, but she feels like a child. While she has a boyfriend, Dr. Nathan Kim, and a part-time job at a shelter, she doesn't understand certain phrases, body gestures are strange, and people keep telling her that she isn't the girl they all knew before. Her family has guardianship over her, partly because every now and then she has fainting episodes, and partly because, since she can't remember anything from before the accident people think she can't be trusted to take care of herself. Suddenly, she has to figure out who to trust, because people all over the country are falling victim to a "Sleeping sickness," which is causing them to forget who they are, move towards an unknown source, and ignore the world around them. After a little while they start becoming violent, and people start to die. The cause? Only the doctors who created the cure can fix the problem. Yet, Dr. Banks and Dr. Canti don't have the same agendas, so the truth? Still not known. Is the problem imagined, or are the parasites to blame?

I've never read anything my Mira Grant, and I thought that this was an interesting idea. I did wonder who would allow themselves to be infected with a parasite to forgo taking medicine or control a medical problem (think allergies or diabetes). There were points in the book I thought could have been edited out. In all honesty, Sal became an annoying character. We didn't need to see as many frightening car freak outs as we did, and the fact that she didn't understand things was stated over and over and over, to the point where I just did not care anymore.

Sal's family was a little over-the-top, especially after one section. After one point in the story her father and mother both allude to the fact that she isn't the same, and this brings up issues for her, especially the way she is treated by her father and then her mother, after something traumatic happens to her. Nathan is too willing, at one point, to welcome someone back into his life who had disappeared long before he even became a doctor, which seemed very out of character for him.

There were only two characters I wished I could have seen more of. Those characters were Tansy, a psychotic little serial killer who had fun with whatever she was doing, and Joyce, Sal's sister. Otherwise, I have to say I got a little bored with the characters. Sal was a little too over anxious, Nathan was dull and I didn't feel that he had much of a personality, the medical professionals were all too obvious as to who they were and what they wanted, and everyone else, besides Tansy and Joyce, weren't developed enough to care about.

This book is the first in a series, and while I though the idea was an interesting choice for an apocalypse, I am not sure the characters were interesting enough to make me want to continue to read. I do have to say, the ending of this book was quite predictable, and I'm not sure it should have ended the way it did.

This might be more interesting for other readers, for me it didn't hold my interest. So why three stars? The writing wasn't bad, and I didn't hate it enough to stop reading it. Plus, when you read enough to like any of the characters I think that is a good reason to give a book more than just a few stars.

Book Review - FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

7/1/2019

I have never read Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley before, which may be surprising since I have a Masters in English, and I'm a horror author. It doesn't seem to be one of those books that one studies anymore, and I am not sure if it is because of the tone, the writing, or the story itself.

If you are unfamiliar with it the story follows a young man named Robert, who is trying to accomplish a mission by sailing from one point to another. He runs across a young man who is floating on an ice sheet. This man turns out to be a man with a surprising story, a story of murder, horror, and creativity. This man is Victor Frankenstein. The story he tells is one of committing an atrocity by creating a monster, one of murder, and one of incredible loss. Victor wants revenge for everything he has been through, but he isn't quite sure how to achieve it.

I am familiar with popular Frankenstein stories, and the plot points of the movies, but besides Frankenstein being the being to create the monster, most of the stories don't actually follow the book. First, we never know how exactly Frankenstein creates the monster, as he never wishes to divulge his secrets. He is worried that someone else with create a monster like he has, and he doesn't want to bring this horror out on the world. Second, in most versions, the monster isn't very verbal, and the monster in the book is actually quite articulate. We actually learn quite a bit about what the monster has gone through before he meets up with his creator again.

There are several other things in the story that are not quite like the movies that have been made to represent it. There are murders that don't happen in most movies that set things in motion for Victor. We learn a lot about Victor's life previous to his leaving for school and creating the monster.

The novel doesn't quite end like most of the movies do either, which did surprise me. I would have liked it better if it had ended like most of the movie versions.

There are things about this novel that I truly enjoyed. The question of who should or should not play god is a very interesting question that we still ask about today. What, as creators, do we owe our creations? Are we responsible for their reactions after we leave the to their own devices? Are we responsible for their bad behavior and should we stop them if we can?

I know this novel is recognized as a horror novel, but I think it is more of a science fiction or a mystery novel, especially since it has science fiction elements and the elements of a murder mystery. I do think this was a good book, and obvious a classic. If I were going to compare it to novels today, I would say I would have liked a different ending. I didn't quite think it was a good ending for the story, and what the audience wants. It feels as if there should be a book two.

June 27th, 2019

6/27/2019

Paradox by Catherine Coulter is my first experience with her and her novels. While Paradox is the #22 book in the series, I feel like only a little bit of the information within the novel about the character relationships was a little lost.

The novel follows three FBI agents, Dillon Savich, Sherlock, and Sala Porto, and the chief of police of Willicott, Maryland, Ty Christie. It begins with the attempted kidnapping of Savich and Sherlock's young son, Sean, and continues with Ty Christie witnessing a murder from her own lakeside dock.

This novel started out fast, and it kept going for the first few chapters, then it let me down. Like other books I've read, this one gave up who the bad guy was in the first few chapters, leaving nothing for the reader to question. Then another story, or crime, pops up when the body of the first victim is pulled from the lake, and things become a little too intermingled.

I don't think the author should have told us so early who the first killer was. My reason? It was obvious what was happening and what would happen towards the end of the book. There was almost no reason to continue reading. Then at the funeral for this same first victim, it was obvious who the other party to the killer was. The second crime, which was come upon by happenstance, was a lot more interesting than the first, and it took a little longer to figure out what was going on.

There were a few other issues with this novel. There were too many characters, and it got confusing when Savitch was referred to as Dillon, and all of the names began to run together. Then there was the issue of a couple of the characters changing or being obviously someone who the FBI agents and Ty were looking for.

The main killer, or the murderer of the first, and original, victim, gets to be a little repetitive and dull, and I did wish that someone would just end it for him. The killer was whiny and overly reactionary, the plans made didn't make sense, and I was never sure why they were even introduced as the killer. They really didn't seem to have a plan, or reason to do what they were doing. The second crime however, was much more interesting. Also, the second crime was more detailed and the reasoning was more intriguing.

So, while I did enjoy this novel, and there was enough to keep me reading until the end, I don't think I will read any more of this particular series, and I'm not sure I'll read any of Catherine Coulter's books. I just don't think her style of writing is for me, plus I like my thriller/mystery/suspense novels to be a little more suspenseful.

Book Review - FELLSIDE by M.R. Carey

6/24/2019

Fellside by M.R. Carey is not The Girl With All The Gifts. It does not take place in the same place. It does not take place in the same world. It is a totally different book.

Fellside follows Jess, a drug addict who has been sent to Fellside prison due to possibly starting a fire in which a kid, Alex, died. Things inside the prison aren't what they seem, and ghosts follow everyone, watching and waiting for an opportunity to set wrongs right. In the end, Jess has a choice to make, she can either end her life, or fight for someone else's truth.

This novel was quite interesting. I know a lot of people didn't care for it because it wasn't a sequel or in the same universe as The Girl With All The Gifts, but people should realize that authors do write book which are unrelated to each other.

Most of the time, while reading this book, I can say I didn't like Jess. I felt that she was too weak and her headspace often annoyed me. She played the victim too much, and she was often overwhelming with her second guessing and poor me attitude. Often, while she said she wasn't feeling sorry for herself, more often than not she was. I wanted Jess to stand up for herself, not wait for someone else to do it, and not wait for someone else to take care of her. She needed to do it for herself. Even at her first and second hearing/trial she didn't feel she needed to stick up for herself. Even when her ex-boyfriend, Josh, is outed as an abusive jerk.

There are several characters were interesting, Liz, an inmate, being one. There are several characters that I didn't particularly care for, but most were added to give the book someone to hate, antagonists to root against. One of those characters was Devil, a guard in the prison. I was never really sure if he was loving or what towards another prisoner, and to be honest, the amount of things he got away with, I was somewhat surprised that he hadn't been stopped or caught before. Grace, another prisoner, annoyed me. Her crimes were never really brought to life, nor were the reasons why she was so high on the totem pole. It was never discussed how she had gained her power. Sally, the doctor in the hospital was pitiful, and I felt his scenes could have been more interesting if he had stood up for himself at one point in the novel. And lastly there was a nurse, who was to back and forth in her feelings towards how she should treat Jess. At one point she was so worried about getting in trouble, she stressed for every scene about if she should tell someone, or that she would be found out.

Mostly, I found the ending interesting. I did see what was coming, and the ending was predictable, unlike Carey's other book, and the reader really knew what was going to happen.

I did like this book, and I'd be willing to read another book by Carey. I enjoyed The Girl With All The Gifts, and I enjoyed Fellside, so I think, depending on what was written, I'd probably enjoy another book by Carey.