Lee Hunts

I just finished reading the Death Note Manga by Tsugumi Ohba, which is almost a decade after watching the anime several times through, so I was actually quite familiar with the story going in. This was one of those life changing stories that shattered my understanding of storytelling, so I wanted to go back and revisit the story to see if the merit still held up after writing my own books, and reading countless others since. What we have in this story is a game of cat and mouse. It starts when a high school student finds a Death Note that allows him to kill people when he writes their name down inside, while thinking of their face. He starts killing people in the name of justice in order to create a new world where only kind and good people live. L, the world's greatest detective, recognizes this pattern of deaths and understands that someone is behind this. What follows is the investigation, as the two track each other down in an attempt to capture the other. Scheming I was partic...

Lee Hunts DESTROYS Carroll Wainwright! WRECKED!!! The Unbearable Heaviness of Being: or, Life Reviled is a self-published book that was released in the last few months. While it is a narrative, the story is moreso a frame for talking about anti-natalism, which is the philosophical position supposed by the author. I have a smaller review of the book itself posted on Goodreads; I will link to the review in the description. In this post, I plan on actually addressing the philosophy itself, as I found the discussion to be rather fascinating. While I am arguing against a very pessimistic philosophy, this should not imply that I am an optimist in my own philosophy. I am an optimist in my personal life, which is what matters, haha—but I am pessimistic about reality and human nature and morality in my own ways. Carrol Wainwright seems to recognize a contradiction between life itself and morality. He has chosen morality and thus rejected life. I technically took the precise opposite approach. I...

I just finished reading False Witness, by Karin Slaughter. This is a psychological thriller novel along the same vein as Gillian Flynn. It stars two female leads who are sisters with a dark shared secret between them that threatens to blow wide open after someone unexpected comes back into their lives. Like Flynn (and Jewel), this story is incredibly character driven, with much of the time spent going over the backstories of the two characters, and much of the plot centered on how the two sisters react to the provocations of the central threat. I think this story was one of the better psychological thriller novels that I have read. I especially like the focus on the characters, the woman's perspective (both the characters and the author), and the way the story progressed. And the realism that was acquired by bringing the pandemic into the story was also a nice touch. As usual for thrillers, I will only do a spoiler section, as these stories are best read going in blind. Just know t...

Cujo: Book Review (Quickie) I just finished reading Cujo, by Stephen King, which is one of his most popular books—so popular, in fact, that Cujo is now a household name known by basically everyone. Most people already know the basic premise: a 200 pound Saint Bernard goes rabid and threatens the lives of the main characters. All things considered, I think this is one of my favorite King novels. The horror is close to home, the supernatural elements are pared back to great effect, and the characterization is on point. Overall (No Spoilers) The last three King novels that I have read have been disappointing, even if there were elements in the stories that I liked. For reference, those stories were The Stand, Pet Sematary, and The Outsider—and you can go read my reviews of all these books on this blog. Because of this, Cujo was a refreshing return to form. King created serious conflict with compelling tension and an amazing ending. I read one review suggesting that all that cocaine gave h...

I just finished The Wisdom of Crowds, which is the third book in the Age of Madness trilogy, by Joe Abercrombie. As such, this book concludes the narrative that began in A Little Hatred and picks up in the immediate aftermath of The Trouble with Peace. What follows is a tense and epic tale mirroring key historical events that I won't mention for the sake of keeping this spoiler free. The Weaver's plans have finally kicked into gear, and now we get to the frenzied climax and the resulting horror of his actions. This book was quite simply amazing. I think it brought Abercrombie's best trilogy to a close. Overall (No Spoilers) Almost everything that I have to say about this story is positive. I'm not sure that there are any negatives at all, though I might have a nitpick here and there. The best part of the story, of course, is how everything comes together in the end. This book concludes the trilogy, ending the story in a manner that I felt was perfect. I will have to sav...