A Bookworm's Book Reviews

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Introduction

Hello all!

I am C.M. Mills, an avid book lover looking for the next good book. I usually read fantasy and historical fiction. I’ve started branching out into thrillers. I’m not the biggest fan of purely romantic books. Sure, put it in a book, but it shouldn’t take the place of a good plot. I am willing to give any book a try. I enjoy reading nonfiction, too. Most of the nonfiction books I’ve read are memoirs, but I’d be willing to give other types of nonfiction a try. I’ve slogged through terrible books and will put up with a lot before I give up on a book.

Some things that I love in a book: a map (if needed), a pronunciation guide (if needed), a reason to care about the characters, and suspense to keep me going. Give me a connection to the protagonist. Authors get brownie points if the villain has a relatable motive, or has a unique stance.

Some turn offs include: introducing too many characters at once (looking at you Game of Thrones), characters with difficult names to pronounce (a pronunciation guide can offset this), not enough character relatability, boring plot, not enough action, etc.

I do enjoy a sappy romance, but it drives me nuts when the characters won’t admit their feelings (yes I know it can be a plot point, but don’t let it be the main plot point), or have again off again relations (it can get annoying). Also too many steamy scenes cause me to skip or skim over book.

Some of my favorite books include The Book Thief (for its writing style and humor despite being a WW2 setting book), Redeeming Love (a slightly predicable romance/historical fiction set in during the California gold rush), The Last Sin Eater (a historical fiction focused on an unusual British Isle tradition) , Immanuel’s Veins (a unique take on vampirish/angelic lore set to a historical fiction book), The Lord of the Rings (a dense read but so unique), Harry Potter (magic, cause why not), and The Chronicles of Narnia (for the world within). These are the first that came to my mind. I have so many more that I’ve enjoyed.

Some of my favorite authors include Francine Rivers (for her takes on historical fiction interwoven with classic tales, also has some sappy romantic books), Ted Dekker (for his unique thrillers and ability to keep the reader interested), Paula Brackston (for her historical fiction and use of worldly magic), Arturo Perez-Reverte (for his descriptive historical fiction use of vocabulary), and Elizabeth Camden (for a sappy love story and use of historical fiction). These are the authors I usually gravitate towards.

Feel free to send me recommendations and requests. I’d love to hear about other genres, books, and authors. I’ll try my best to read those books as soon as I can. My room is a partial library of unread books. Also feel free to ask me questions. I’ll respond as soon as I can.

What the Wind Knows – Amy Harmon

Title: What the Wind Knows

Author: Amy Harmon

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: Anne Gallagher is a second generation Irish immigrant and well established author in 2001. Her grandfather, Eoin, raised her in America. His parents died in the fight for Irish independence from the British. Anne grew up hearing of their bravery and how they helped with the fight. Despite Anne’s pleading, Eoin wouldn’t take her to visit Ireland, saying it wasn’t safe for her. But when Eoin passes, he instructs Anne to take his ashes to Ireland and scatter them in Lough Gill, near his hometown of Sligo. When Anne goes to the lough, she suddenly finds herself in 1919 Ireland, and shot by a bullet. The local doctor, Thomas Smith, takes Anne in and tends to her wound. While she’s healing, she’s soon swept up in the fight for Irish independence. Thomas Smith was one of the prominent members for independence. She soon meets other members of the fight, like Micheal Collins and the O’Toole family. The more time Anne spends in the past, the more she comes to fall for Thomas and care for a young Eoin. And the longer she’s in the past, the more Anne wants to stay there. But she must tread carefully, as there are some people who think she’s a British spy. Will Anne be able to stay in the past? Can she find a way to stay with Thomas? Or will the past and present day separate them forever?

Rating: 4.0 – a sappy story of time travel

Opinion: This was a fascinating book. I haven’t really read any books about this time period. The author clearly did her research. There was a lot of interesting history. I enjoyed learning about the Irish side of the fight. Though, I’m sure the story was a little more sanitized than what actually happened. It was interesting how many Irish people wanted complete separation from England and the first treaty the Irish leaders didn’t feel like enough for lots of the people. It made me look up how much longer the Irish people fought for complete independence from England. I thought the characters in the book were well written and well developed. They had distinct personalities and motivations. I was really rooting for most of the characters in the book. I really wanted the best for them. I’m glad the author kept the scenes cleaner when characters fell in love. You know what the characters were doing, but there wasn’t a ton of details. This was a nice break from some of the other romance books I’ve read lately. The author also did a great job wrapping everything up in the book. I really wanted the characters together in the end and I was not disappointed. They tried to separate some of the characters and I begged the author while reading to bring them back together and I’m glad she did. I figured she wouldn’t keep them apart, but there was that slight doubt in the back of my mind. This book kind of reminded me of a cleaner, and Irish, version of Outlander. Overall, I’d highly recommend this book for anyone who loves historical fiction and Outlander.

Summer’s Never Over – Darby Bozeman

Title: Summer’s Never Over

Author: Darby Bozeman

Genre: Mystery

Plot: Five years ago, Greer left Dread’s Cove after a series of increasingly bizarre accidents caused by a local legend called the Phantom. Dread’s Cove, had to close early after a fire burned part of the camp. Greer is forced to return after her mother passed. Her mother owned and ran the camp. Now Greer is forced to decide if she wants to take over Dread’s Cove or leave it in the hands of her old friend Chelsea. To top it off, another old friend, Margo, shows up as a reporter. She wants to investigate the truth of what really happened to Stephanie the night of the fire. And what happened to Stephanie’s mother. Then strange things start to happen again. Greer wants to dismiss them, but then they start escalating. Greer refuses to believe the Phantom has returned. The more she helps Margo learn about Stephanie’s mother, the more she learns the dark secrets of the people she’s trusted the most. But who was really behind the Phantom’s accidents? It couldn’t really be one person, could it? And what really happened to Stephanie? And her mother?

Rating: 3.5 – a classic summertime mystery

Opinion: This was an interesting book. There was a lot of classic tropes of someone goes missing at a summer camp and there’s a mysterious figure lurking around camp. For the most part, I liked that the author kept it realistic, character wise. They’re well written in the fact that they have realistic reactions to the mysterious things that happen around the camp. They got overwhelmed when things got too much for them. Though I wish some of the characters grew up a little bit more. They still seem a little childish in the five years later parts. Also, I didn’t love some of the character’s motivation. It was hard for me to see the connection for their actions and motivation for their actions. It seemed like a stretch for me. I will give the author credit for doing a great job of keeping me guessing about who did it. I liked that she gave lots of good hints that it might not have been one person. It was nice that some of the accidents weren’t all connected to one person. It made it harder to figure out who did it. Overall, this wasn’t a bad book, but it wasn’t amazing. It was an easy read and an interesting mystery. There was enough going on to keep me interested. I recommend it for anyone who wants an easy, summer themed mystery.

The Last Contract of Isako – Fonda Lee

Title: The Last Contact of Isako

Author: Fonda Lee

Genre: Sci-Fi

Plot: Isako is a long time contractor, and swordswoman, for AstroCorp. She’s the CEO’s right hand man, taking care of the dirty work. When her boss suddenly retires, Isako assumes she’ll be forced to retire. Then her new boss offers her one more job before she leaves. Isako isn’t in a position to refuse. She needs to get the dirt on her boss’s competing company’s leader Director Uchi. Then she learns that her latest apprentice, Martim, is involved in Uchi’s schemes. She’s quick to help him. But he’s missing and no one has seen him in a week. Uchi claim he was fired and assumed dead. Isako doesn’t buy it. She searches for answers underground and with resistance fighters for answers. But Isako may not like the answers she finds. She may be in way over her head. Can she find out what really happened to her apprentice? Or will the other shadowy figures get in her way?

Rating: 3.7 – an interesting take on colonizing other worlds

Opinion: This was an interesting book. The author did a great job with world building. She did her research and everything felt plausible. This book had a realistic description of what terraforming would look like on a real scale timeline. There were a lot of intricacies in the world but it didn’t feel overwhelming. With sci-fi it can be easy to overwhelm the reader with world building but this author did a great job with not overwhelming the reader. At first it almost felt like Firefly, with more technology for everyone. I liked how the author split the story into thirds. I was curious to see how the author would bring the two stories together. She did a great job but the ending fell a little flat for me. It didn’t really feel like much changed from the beginning. Maybe that was the point but the ending didn’t do the book justice. Maybe it was the corporate politics that killed it for me. While I don’t mind politics in books, it just was a little too much for me. Overall, I did like this book, I just wished for a better ending. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves sci-fi.

Blood Bound – Ellis Hunter

Title: Blood Bound

Author: Ellis Hunter

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: Astrid has been training for a duel for her country’s fate her whole life. If she wins the duel, she earns the heart, the source of all magic. The heart can heal the blight that’s ruining her kingdom. But her opponent is Prince Zryan, one of the most powerful dragon riders. Astrid knows her chances of winning are slim, but she has no choice. Then Skylar appears in the city with her group of traveling performers. When people with magic, called Blooded, around Skylar start begin disappearing, Skylar and friends wonder why. Then Astrid’s mother finds Skylar and realizes that she’s the true heir to Prince Zryan’s kingdom. Now Skylar has to fight in the duel and Astrid has a chance to win. But the more Astrid and Skylar learn about the heart, the disappearances, and king and queen, the more they question their upcoming duel. Will Astrid and Skylar be able to find a way out of their duel? Can they protect those they love? Or will everyone they love be lost?

Opinion: 4.0 – a different style of magic and dragons

Rating: This was an interesting book. It took me a little bit to get into the book, but I ended up really enjoying it. The authors did a great job of setting up the first book for a series. The set up was great at world building without overwhelming the reader. I liked the fact that there were different kinds of magic and different strengths of magic users. I also liked the fact that dragons aren’t entirely tame. They picked the humans they wanted to ride them. I found it interesting that the dragon’s amplified their bonded human’s power. There was also interesting that wording of spells came into play. I liked that meanings of words and phrases came into play with the spell that created the duel. Could certain things happen or not happen based on certain phrases in the spell? The authors did a great job writing the characters. Everyone seemed well written with their own personalities and motivations. They did a great job making the reader dislike the ‘bad guys’ and making the true bad guys a little more secretive. The few things I wish there’d been a little more details about the blooded magic and there’d been a few more hints at other worlds in the book. The subtle hints at politics were annoying, but I understand it why the authors did it. But overall, I really did enjoy this book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves magic and dragons.

Poppy War Trilogy – R. F. Kuang

Trigger warning: book 1 talks in depth about war crimes and what soldiers did to the people they concurred, men and women.

Titles: Book 1 – The Poppy War, Book 2 – The Dragon Empire, Book 3 – The Burning God

Author: R. F. Kuang

Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Plot: 1 – Rin is bound and determined to make a better life for herself. She was taken in as a war orphan by a cruel family in Tarkany, a poor southern city. There is one way for Rin to escape her life, the Keju. It’s a test to determine which school you can enter and make a better life. Rin finds a tutor and begs him to teach her. The tutor reluctantly agrees. Somehow, Rin finds out she aced the test and can attend Sineguard, the most elite military academy in the Nikara. There, she finds only more discrimination, as the only poor student from the south. She uses her cunning and ingenuity to find ways around the discrimination. While at school, the threat of the enemy Mungenese Empire across the sea is growing. When Rin shows an unusual talent, Master Jiang takes Rin under his wing. Rin starts to learn how to use her new talents, and starts to become a shaman. Then the war begins and Rin and her schoolmates are called to fight. Can Rin harness her newfound powers in time? Or will her powers and enemies get the best of her?

2 – Thanks to Rin, the Mungenese Empire has been almost completely destroyed. Most people are upset with how Rin handled things at the end of the war. But the Dragon Warlord, Yin Vaisra, sees potential in her. He seems like the best teacher for Rin. And he needs her help to unite Nikara under him. Which doesn’t help her issues with poppy addiction and her fight to control her powers with the Phoenix god. To top it off, they find Daji, the former empress. Can she be trusted? Does the Dragon Warlord really have the country’s best interests at heart? Will Rin ever be able to completely control her powers?

3 – Rin has become a legend and an almost god to the people of the southern part of Nikara. She has decided that she wants a better life for the entire country, not just the north. Which leads to her disillusionment with the Dragon Warlord. She abandons him and returns to southern Nikara. The south has been ravaged. Rin must find a way to unite the south and raise an army. Her new ragtag army is slow to gain traction. All of her ideas come up short. All of her allies end up dying or abandoning her as well. All this while the Dragon Warlord has allied with the new enemy, the Hesparians. These new enemies have much more advanced weaponry and airships to better fight the southern army. Rin despises them as they think the Nikarans, her people, are lesser in every way. She wants them all destroyed. She’ll stop at nothing to rid the world of them. Rin finally finds a way to defeat all of her enemies. But can she actually accomplish all of her goals? Or will her enemies overwhelm her and her army?

Rating: 3.5 – a detailed historical fantasy

Opinion: I had high hopes for this trilogy. I’d heard so many good things about these books online. While the trilogy was good, just not as good of all of the hype. I almost gave up after the first one. There was so much world building and politics and history of the world, that I got frustrated with the lack of plot. While the politics and history was important to the story, I feel like it could’ve been spread out more in the first book. Though, it got better after the first half of the first book, it still wasn’t amazing. It was good enough for me to keep reading it. It had a harder time keeping my interest because of all of the politics and drama between the characters. I kept reading because I wanted to see if Rin and her allies could actually overthrow the governments. I always love a good underdog story. But the characters couldn’t catch a break. The betrayals got a little repetitive for me. Luckily the characters do learn lessons with the mistakes they make, while becoming a little more paranoid along the way. I really enjoyed seeing the parallels with real world history and the fantasy world the author created. I did like that the author added the hardships that happen after characters overthrow the evil governments. I’m glad the characters still struggled after achieving all of their goals. While I’m okay with the trilogy aspect, I feel like this trilogy would’ve been better with shorter books. Keep all of the story, but break it up into smaller books. Maybe I would’ve liked it more. While I liked the ideas in the book and wanted the best for the characters, it wasn’t an amazing trilogy. I really wanted to love the series, but there was too much politics and betrayals for me to really enjoy the books. I’d recommend for those who enjoy historical fantasies with lots of world building, history, and don’t mind politics.

I Was Anastasia – Ariel Lawhon

Title: I was Anastasia

Author: Ariel Lawhon

Narrators: Jane Collingwood, Sion Thomas, Ariel Lawhon read her intro and author’s note

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: Tsarivna Anastasia is the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicolas II. The Russian revolution has begun. Anastasia, her three sisters and brother Alexi, and her parents are sentenced to house arrest at first. Her family is forced to label and take care of the grounds by the soldiers enforcing their arrest. The soldiers have eyes for her older sisters, especially Olga. But they bide their time. As the revolution escalates, the family is moved to an abandoned governor’s house in Siberia. Again the family is forced to work and take care of the house and grounds. The family manages to find ways to hide things from the guards. The guards still let them have sense of normalcy for the time, school for the children and family reading time at the end of the day. Then a new revolution starts up with new people in charge. The new soldiers are harsher. They allow the family less and less freedom. Until the family is separated. The Tsar and his wife are sent to prison with Anastasia’s sister, Maria. They’re treated well until Anastasia, Alexi, and two sisters are asked to meet their parents. On the train they’re not treated well. Will Anastasia and her family survive? Or will they all be killed? Or will Anastasia survive like the legends say?

Anna Anderson is a woman who has a striking resemblance to the lost Russian princess, Anastasia. That’s what most of the world believes. There are some who are unconvinced. Anna tries her best to prove that she is the lost Russian princess. There is a fair amount of evidence that says she could be Anastasia, but there’s also evidence that she is not. Anna is quiet about her past and what happened before she was found in Berlin. She doesn’t want to speak much Russian, which has some people concerned. The more evidence both sides collect, the greater the divide between people who believe, and those who don’t. Anna continues to let people believe what they want to believe. She plays along and lets people take care of her as long as they want to. Until they get annoyed with her lack of answers and behavior. Then she’s shuffled off to someone else. But is Anna really the lost princess, Anastasia? Or is she a fake? Either way, why did she go through all of these charades?

Opinion: 4.0 – a great retelling of story of Anastasia

Rating: I really enjoyed listening to this book. Both the narrators, one for Anna and one for Anastasia, did an excellent job. They made each character’s voice unique. It made it easy to remember who was who. There were so many of them to keep track of. So the different voices were amazing. The history of both stories was incredible. The author clearly did her research. Though some parts of the story felt embellished. In the chaos of the times, it’s hard to find accurate information to what really happened. The characters felt well written. Along with the different character voices, they each felt well written and well developed. Everyone has their own development and growth. When hard things happened to the characters, the author did a good job how it affected different characters and how they related to each other. The author did a good job writing one character going forward in time, and the other character going back in time. The book started with the end of one character’s story, and the beginning of the other’s. I was wondering if the author would write the historically accurate ending, or the happy ending of the legend of Anastasia. I was happy with the ending and how the author explained why she chose that ending. Overall, I really liked this book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves historical fiction.

Skin – Ted Dekker

Title: Skin

Author: Ted Dekker

Narrator: Adam Verner

Genre: Thriller

Plot: Wendy is driving through the Nevada desert to meet her mom in Utah. It’s pouring outside and she can hardly see the road. Suddenly there’s a pickup truck. She crashes. Wendy goes to see what happened to the truck. But no one’s there and the truck’s been shot. When someone down the road calls for help, Wendy goes to help. She meets Carey and Nicole, brother and sister. Nicole was bitten by a snake. Wendy offers to help. They take Nicole to the closest town, Summerville. Colt is a cop in Summerville. He’s dealing with a gunman, who calls himself Sterling Red, who’s taking down cops when Carey, Nicole, and Wendy drive into town. The three of them beg Colt for help. Colt reluctantly agrees and takes them to find the town doctor. There, they’re forced to hunker down when the storm gets worse with Nicole getting worse. Morning comes and they can leave. But Colt’s car is dead and phones are down, so they’re forced to stay. Then Sterling Red finds them. He demands they play his sick game. The ugliest dies, or he kills seven more people. But who really is Red? What does he really want? How do they escape? Play his game? Or beat him? Is that really possible? Whatever the case, they have six hours to figure it out.

Rating: 4.0 – an interesting case of who done it

Opinion: I thought this was an interesting book. It’d been awhile since I’ve read anything by Ted Dekker, and I wanted to give this one a try. And I wanted to see if his audiobooks were just as creepy. I wouldn’t call it creepy, but more of a psychological thriller. It makes a really good case for a who’s really pulling the strings? and can I really trust my neighbor/partner/friend? The more the characters learned, the deeper you realize the rabbit hole is. They realize who they can really trust, and who’s really who they say they are. The technology and video game addition was a nice touch. It was a nice that the mysteries were slowly revealed. The way the author wrote the ending made me wonder if the author wrote a sequel. He didn’t but it drove the point home of can I trust what’s going on inside my head? The book did a great job of making the characters question their reality. The little bit of romance in this book made more sense than in other Ted Dekker books I’ve read, but still felt unnecessary. I could see it coming and I just rolled my eyes. I get that it helped some of the characters overcome their past hurts, but it still didn’t feel completely necessary. I’ll give Ted Dekker credit for weaving this romance in better and not forcing it as much this time. I also enjoyed the narrator in the book. He did a good job giving each character their own voice and inflections. I also liked that the narrator played with the sounds in the book. He put in a good effort to make the sounds realistic. Overall, I enjoyed this book. I’d recommend this book for anyone looking for a good psychological thriller.

Hemlock & Silver – T. Kingfisher

Title: Hemlock & Silver

Author: T. Kingfisher

Narrator: Jennifer Pickens

Genre: Fantasy

Plot: Anja is local poison expert. She’s dedicated years of her life to saving those who’ve been poisoned. The one day the king appears in her doorway, asking for help. His daughter, Snow, is sick and he thinks she’s being poisoned. Anja agrees but makes no promises of a cure. Two guards, Aaron and Javier escort her to the desert city for privacy. There she meets Snow and sees how sick she is. Anja runs every test she knows to see what kinds of poison it could be. When all else fails, she searches the castle for answers. In a garden, she sees Snow eat a mysterious apple. Anja knows this is the key to all the answers, but it doesn’t easily give up its answers. Until she stumbles into the mirror, literally. With all of her scientific knowledge, Anja struggles with the idea that the answer could be magic. But will Anja find an answer and a cure for Snow in time? Or will whoever is behind Snow’s ailment get her out of the picture first?

Rating: 4.0 – a different kind of fairy tale

Opinion: I decided to give another audiobook a try. I liked this one so much more. I think it helped the narrator didn’t have as much of a monotone as the last one. The narrator did character voices, not great but she did try. I also listened to the book at a slightly faster pace, which might’ve also helped. The book itself was more my style anyway. But the characters were well written and witty. I liked that Anja wasn’t your typical protagonist. She was a little older, not small and petite, and knew her strengths and weaknesses. Anja knew she might not be the best at comforting, but did it the best way she knew how. She was willing to help and was willing to admit that she might not have a cure. She was okay with asking for help when she needed it. I liked that when she didn’t know something, she sought answers scientifically. When someone challenged her ideas, she was willing to look at things in a new way, and consider new possibilities, as scientific as she was. I also that this was a new tales of the magic mirror and poisoned apple story of Snow White. The author wasn’t afraid to make it her own and make it a little darker. It wasn’t as dark as the original Grimm’s Fairy Tale but darker than Disney’s Snow White. I liked this author’s writing style. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book with a sarcastic narrator. It made everything a little brighter, made me smile. I found some lines that made me laugh out loud. It helped me listen to and enjoy the story better. Even when things got a little creepy. The story’s plot took a little to pick up, but was still interesting throughout the whole thing. The romance could’ve developed a little more in the first half, but the author still made it work. Overall, I really liked this book. I’d highly recommend it for anyone who wants a new twist on a classic fantasy book.

James – Percival Everett

Title: James

Author: Percival Everett

Genre: Historical Fiction

Plot: James is a slave in Missouri. Two local white boys, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, like James because he’ll ‘play’ with the boys. One day, James hears rumors that his master is going to sell him. So he makes the brave decision to runaway. While James hides out on Jefferson Island, Huck Finn finds him. Huck says he’s running away from his abusive father and says he faked his death. At first, James is upset because the white people will think James killed Huck. But allows Huck to tag along when they’re finally able to make a break for freedom. They follow the Mississippi River to freedom. Along the way, they meet two conmen, the Duke and the King, and are separated after a con goes wrong. The story follows James as he keeps getting passed from white person to white person. Through everything, he keeps his head up and keeps his hopes to free his family with whatever money he earns. When he finds Huck again, he must make some difficult choices. Can he save his new friends? Will he be able to save his family? Or will James and Huck have to keep running?

Rating: 4.5 – a great retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Opinion: I found this book interesting. I’d read parts of Huck Finn in high school. I never got around to finishing it though. From what I remember, James follows the original book well, but puts his own twist on it. I’m glad they made James smarter than in the original book, but he had to hide it because of the white people’s ideas of what black people could and couldn’t do. This makes sense considering the historical context. The book does a good job with the fact that slaves were much smarter than white people thought. I found it interesting that some slaves were ‘brainwashed’ into thinking they had a good life as a slave. I could see why that would happen, but still found it strange. It helps that the book was written by a black author. He was better able to give an insider’s perspective about what really went on during that time. He was better able to understand what happened during that time and find more accurate information about what went on during that time. The story was well written and well paced. It was easy to see that the author did his research. It kept me interested even when things got slow. I enjoyed seeing a classic tale retold in a new, and probably more accurate, way. This is the second book about this time period that I’ve read this year that is written by a black person. It makes me very happy that this stories are being written and doing well. Overall, I really liked this book. I’d highly recommend this book for anyone who’s read Huck Finn and/or likes historical fiction.

You Like it Darker – Stephen King

Title: You Like it Darker

Author: Stephen King

Genre: Short Stories, Thriller

Plot: This is a collection of short stories. The main ones are Two Talented Bastids, Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream, Rattlesnakes, The Dreamers, and The Answer Man. Two Talented Bastids is about how a reporter learns how two old friends became so popular in their respective fields. What really happened? And why are they no longer friends? Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream is about Danny’s dream about a murder victim turns his life upside down. When his dream turns out to be true, the police think he did it. But did he really do it? Or was it someone else? Rattlesnakes is about Vic Trenton forty years after the events of Cujo and his time at his friend’s house in Florida. But when the neighbor is pushing an empty stroller and saying her twins are there, what is really going on? The Dreamers is about what happened to a Vietnam vet turned stenographer sees something he shouldn’t have. The Answer Man is about a man who meets someone with all the answers. The answers will cost him, but what?

Rating: 3.5 – an interesting collection of short stories

Opinion: This was a good collection of stories. I wish I would’ve read the first couple short stories when I was more awake. I was super tired when I started the book. The two shortest stories didn’t really capture my attention as much as the other ones did. I might go try to reread them someday. But they were a little too short for me to get to know the characters. Rattlesnakes was my favorite short story. It was the sequel to Cujo. It talked about grief, loss, and forgiving yourself. This one was also the most typical Stephen King story. Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream was a little annoying for me. It was about all consuming obsession. I kept thinking there’d be a huge fight at the end. I was presently surprised when it ended fairly smoothly and with an unanswered question. I find it interesting that Stephen King finds ways to connect most, or all, of his stories. Maybe I’ll reread the shorter stories again, when I’m more in the mood for a short story. Overall, I’d recommend this collection of short stories to anyone who enjoys Stephen King’s books.