Lee Hunts

I just finished reading My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. This book is about a fifteen year old girl who goes to a boarding school and is groomed into a relationship with a teacher. The story follows two timelines, one in the past, where you see her as a kid being drawn in slowly by the actions of her teacher, and then the present day, where you see her as a thirty-two year-old woman being forced to come to grips with her past. Was the relationship as she had made it out to be, or was there something else buried underneath that she needs to grapple with? This is a highly psychological novel, and it explores the mentality of victims of SA, especially ones who were groomed from a young age. I think I can provide a different perspective from some of the reviews that I have seen, because I have not read the book that this one is consistently compared to: Lolita by Vladimir Nabikov. I will eventually, after having read this, but as of writing this review, I have no knowledge of tha...

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...

I just finished reading Beartown, by Fredrik Backman. This story is a about a small town in decline that is obsessed with Hockey. This sport is not only engrained within the culture of this town, but the town's economic future largely depends on it. For the first time in what seems like forever, the town has a chance to win, which will bring new opportunities to the town including people, schools, stores, and attention for their hockey team. This all rides on Kevin Erdhal, the star player who is carrying the team into the semi-finals and then the finals. But when a serious offense happens off the rink, the town is thrown into turmoil, forced to deal with the consequences in the variety of ways that they do. Overall, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the book, though I think I am more positive than I am negative on it. Overall (No Spoilers) What I liked most about this story was the overall execution. In this case, what I am referring to is the portrayal of the town's r...

I just finished reading The Outsider, by Stephen King. This is a novel about a gruesome child rape. The evidence points to a completely unassuming man whose record is cleaner than you could imagine. The man claims to be innocent, and eventually he manages to put forward an alibi that can't be ignored. This antinomy lies at the heart of this story, confounding the minds of the characters, particularly Ralph Anderson, the lead detective on the case. Overall, I thought this novel was meh. It was not amazing, nor was it horrible. Strides (Spoilers) The first half of the novel is much better than the second half of the novel. The story was set up in such a way that the plot of the story picked up quick, and I was able to get engaged from the outset. The reason I feel the need to bring this up is because of two interconnected reasons: (1) the story somewhat reminds me of BoneMan's Daughters. I won't go into what I think are the similarities; the overall point is that Bon...