In under 10 minutes, 99.9% of the world’s population will be dead… or changed. Conversion is instant. Headshots just make them angry. And they’re getting smarter.
Ken Strickland has made it through the first moments. But his family is still out there.
Can he survive? Can he find them? And even if he does, what comes next? Will they survive? Will they, with the few other survivors they have found, find a way to stop this menace? Or will they simply become a few more of the creatures that now rule our world?
@Barney I have bought a bunch of them. I even listened to one. The prices are great. You can download them to a phone. I did a thing to my crappy fire tablet so I can download them there too.
He didn’t like the seaweed ones tho. Ha ate one, then looked at me like I was crazy. I think he would have spat it out if he didn’t already have it down.
@Barney@Gypsigirl213 Aww, Mr. Whiskers said “chirrup” and purred…he’s just a little guy at 7 or 8 pounds. He has some health issues but he is chugging along.
Just posted a reply in the 3 week old thread attached to the “What are you reading this fall?” poll, and thought I’d copy/paste this section in case anyone is looking for a good Halloween season read:
Currently reading Let the Right One In for the 3rd time, just for lack of other ideas what to read.
For those not familiar with it, it is a very creepy, disturbing vampire story. Would be a great read for Halloween season.
I think one of the things that’s so creepy and disturbing about it is that the author paints a very realistic world. It’s not magical, mystical, fantasy vampires like Interview or Twilight, just gritty, realistic, psychologically damaged characters.
Fair warning, it was originally written in Swedish and the translation can get kind of clunky sometimes, and it is likewise set in Sweden, which can make some of the cultural references difficult to relate to.
Also, the original, Swedish movie adaptation is one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I’ve seen, and way better than the American remake (which wasn’t all that bad).
@f00l@sammydog01 Yes, the American film is titled Let Me In and the more expensive eBook must be the movie tie-in version. No idea if the text would be any different.
Don’t read up too much about it - the two editorial reviews on the kindle site had major spoilers.
IIRC, I originally heard about the Swedish movie on some internet list of ‘best horror movies you’ve never seen’ or some such.
Was a really intriguing story so I read the book and wasn’t disappointed.
When I say it’s disturbing, I don’t mean just the violence, gore and, um… difficult themes. The original movie did a fair job of capturing it, but the way the writer portrays the bleak, depressing existence of the characters creates this dark background that just makes it so much more affecting.
Kind of thing that gives you nightmares, even more so than Stephen King’s best, IMO.
@DennisG2014 I loved this book and the zombie one he wrote: Handling the Undead. It’s as disturbing as LTROI but in a very different way. Highly recommended.
@erisire Yesterday when I was raving about this book, I was wondering to myself, “why haven’t I checked out his other books?”
No idea.
Still didn’t do it yesterday, but after reading your post I took a look on Amazon…
There’s a collection of short stories that has sequels to both LTROI and Handling the Undead. Let the Old Dreams Die (Amazon link)
Now I know the next couple of books I’ll be reading.
Thanks!
@DennisG2014 You and me both! I ended up buying 2 and borrowing one from the library. Make that buying 3 now I know the short stories have sequels! THERE ARE DOZENS OF US!!
I’m finally onto the third book in Mick Herron’s excellent Jackson Lamb series. I’m half way through Real Tigers. I’m liking it better than book 2 Dead Lions, and nearly as good as the first book, Slow Horses.
I always re-read Grady Hendrix this time of year. Horrorstor is GREAT - imagine working late at a closed IKEA that’s either haunted or you’re losing it, but in We Sold Our Souls the 90’s metal vibe that pallalels with a parody of the 2000’s “metal” is excellent; especially with actual satan.
Amazon has the Camber of Culdi trilogy for kindle on daily deal for $1.99, same price as it was back in August (when I bought it). I remember remember really liking all of Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni books in my mis-spent, fantasy-loving youth, but haven’t read them in years and am not sure if reading them now I’d be all hmm, this lady sure is a trained hypnotist and member of the modern Order of the Golden Dawn in the same way a rereading of The Mists of Avalon made me think this is… just Wicca… which is OK, but really an anachronism.
Anyway, KIND-OF HISTORICAL FANTASY! Not really historical. https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01LXGL10L/
I just wrapped up Carnival Row: Tangle in the Dark. Not at all my cup of tea. I only semi-enjoyed the Amazon Prime Video series, so I can’t imagine what compelled me to give Tangle in the Dark a shot. I mean, the title should have clued me to the content.
Now I’m a couple chapters into Scalzi’s Fuzzy Nation. I do enjoy Scalzi’s stuff.
@ruouttaurmind@sammydog01 Might be a good read when you are sitting in the Honda dealer’s waiting room after having your Odyssey towed back to the them when they’ve screwed up their repair.
Noticed an offer banner on Amazon’s main kindle book page (it has to be activated, says by invitation only [but why wouldn’t everyone get it?]) where you spend $60 on kindle e-books between Oct. 22-29th and get back $40 in e-book credit that you’ll have to spend within 21 days. I can’t decide if it’s a good deal or not, because that’s a lot of money to spend on e-books at one time (or, over one week). Sure, I have a bunch of expensive kindle editions of things saved on my amazon shopping list that I have no intention of buying (hello, The Jumbies’ Playing Ground: Old World Influences on Afro-Creole Masquerades in the Eastern Caribbean (Folklore Studies in a Multicultural World Series) and Religion and the Decline of Magic [which is somewhat reasonable but which I already own in hardcover]), but… is it a good idea to buy them? If I can spend the same money all over again on, say, Gladys Mitchell mysteries? Or is it stupid?
I accepted the kindle offer, and promptly bought a bunch of books by Robert Littell; he is an American novelist who writes rather realistically about the “spy trade”, a la John Le Carre.
@Barney@f00l@sammydog01 Well, I’m pretty sure you said that you bought The Rising of the Moon, and that one’s really good, and apparently her personal favorite, but it’s more serious than her other stuff I’ve read. If you want something that’s more Mrs.-Bradley-wears-clashing-colors-and-everyone-is-weird-and-there-may-be-satanists, yes, there are several from which to choose. I was going to offer to lend you the kindle editions, but they don’t appear to be lendable at this time (which is super-annoying).
@Barney@f00l@sammydog01 PS There are a bunch uploaded to archive.org for some reason. I would say anything published before the '60’s is probably pretty good. They’re pretty formulaic, but sometimes there is an occult element and sometimes pig farming. Sometimes both!
Stuff published in the 1920’s is either out of copyright or soon to be that way. Hence archive.org versions.
All that (Sherlock Holmes etc) is either free on kindle or ought to be. Sometimes they charge $1 or so for pretty formatting and editing the errors out.
Pays to read reviews on these; there are usually multiple similar versions, and some of them will be horribly-done digital imports. Some will be fine.
I have spent much of the prev month listening to Craig Johnson’s Longmire series, which I really like. I’m about 2/3 of the way thru them, tho have not messed with the books which are novella and short story collections.
The only thing that disappoints in that we don’t get to know anyone but the title character nearly as well as we would like; which is a pity, as I really want to know more about Vic, Henry, Lucian, and several others.
The writer has a gift for bringing individual characters completely to life and into sharp focus.
I would like to know more also of Longmire’s daughter, Cady; but as far as I have gotten in the series, she is more of a long distance plot device than she is a developed individual. She get used mostly (so far) as character background and motivation for Longmire.
Lucian, the retired, elderly ex-sheriff, gets a lot of space in the second novel in the series, and in Steamboat, an exceptional novella. Makes me simply want more of him on the page.
Johnson brings Wyoming geography, weather, and culture into full life, as Hillerman does with northern NM and AZ. And that’s worth a lot in itself.
Hey @RiotDemon: didn’t you first mention these books here on Meh? If so, much thx.
The Complete Colony Saga: (box set)
IT ONLY TAKES TEN MINUTES FOR THE WORLD TO END…
In under 10 minutes, 99.9% of the world’s population will be dead… or changed. Conversion is instant. Headshots just make them angry. And they’re getting smarter.
Ken Strickland has made it through the first moments. But his family is still out there.
Can he survive? Can he find them? And even if he does, what comes next? Will they survive? Will they, with the few other survivors they have found, find a way to stop this menace? Or will they simply become a few more of the creatures that now rule our world?
1418 pages. 4 stars with 100 reviews. $0.99
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Colony-Saga-box-Book-ebook/dp/B07G1LPBSF/ref=sr_1_3?crid=N7VUWOI92L64&keywords=the+complete+colony+saga&qid=1570022467&sprefix=the+complete+colony%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-3
@Barney Are we all gonna die?
@Barney Anyway, it looked good, and I had some digital credit to burn…thanks!
@therealjrn Yeah, we’re all gonna die, but maybe not right now.
@Barney @therealjrn A dollar? SOLD!
Has anyone joined/purchased audiobooks from Chirp? This is a new audiobook service from Bookbub.
chirpbooks.com
Maybe I’ve missed the discussions about this?
Anyway, the prices look pretty good to me.
@Barney I have bought a bunch of them. I even listened to one. The prices are great. You can download them to a phone. I did a thing to my crappy fire tablet so I can download them there too.
@sammydog01 So you are telling me that I should probably get my phone out of my nightstand drawer?
@Barney
Have bought a bunch. Whatever looks good on the sale list, wherever I remember to look at it.
Have not listened yet. So can’t comment re the quality of the player app.
Solar Crash Box Set: The Complete Solar Crash Series - Books 1-6
Where you be when the lights go out? Will you be one of the survivors?
880 pages. No stars for the set (it’s new), but individual books have stars, if you want to look them up. 99 cents.
https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Crash-Box-Set-Complete-ebook/dp/B07YDYSN6T/ref=sr_1_7?crid=2KLONTN0CVFMB&keywords=solar+crash+series&qid=1570228197&sprefix=solar+crash%2Caps%2C259&sr=8-7
@Barney Asimov’s Nightfall is one of my favorite stories. Is this like Nightfall?
@therealjrn I don’t know. I haven’t read either (any?) of them.
I’m thinking of pricing the books I post by the cost per page.
@Barney This one is 800 pages, that’s a lot for 99 cents.
@therealjrn Yep, more bang for your buck.
@Barney Except in my case it’s $0.00 because I have digital credits from back-order no-rush shipping. I may never get my dog treats for Mr. Whiskers.
@therealjrn Isn’t Mr. Whiskers a cat?
@Barney Why yes, yes he is.
But those dog treats were little.
He didn’t like the seaweed ones tho. Ha ate one, then looked at me like I was crazy. I think he would have spat it out if he didn’t already have it down.
He turned 17 September 16th
@therealjrn Happy belated birthday to Mr. Whiskers.
@Barney He loveloveloves the Member’s Mark Mesquite Grilled Chicken Breast. I’ll fix him up some tonight and tell him it’s from his friend Barney.
@therealjrn Aww…
@Barney @therealjrn My dog treats came this week!
@sammydog01 @therealjrn My salmon ones were delivered last Sunday, but I still don’t have the hickory smoked beef ones.
@Barney @therealjrn 17??? That’s an old kitty. Scritches to the little (or big?) guy.
@Barney @Gypsigirl213 Aww, Mr. Whiskers said “chirrup” and purred…he’s just a little guy at 7 or 8 pounds. He has some health issues but he is chugging along.
Just posted a reply in the 3 week old thread attached to the “What are you reading this fall?” poll, and thought I’d copy/paste this section in case anyone is looking for a good Halloween season read:
Currently reading Let the Right One In for the 3rd time, just for lack of other ideas what to read.
For those not familiar with it, it is a very creepy, disturbing vampire story. Would be a great read for Halloween season.
I think one of the things that’s so creepy and disturbing about it is that the author paints a very realistic world. It’s not magical, mystical, fantasy vampires like Interview or Twilight, just gritty, realistic, psychologically damaged characters.
Fair warning, it was originally written in Swedish and the translation can get kind of clunky sometimes, and it is likewise set in Sweden, which can make some of the cultural references difficult to relate to.
Also, the original, Swedish movie adaptation is one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I’ve seen, and way better than the American remake (which wasn’t all that bad).
@DennisG2014
Had not heard of. Sounds interesting. Thanks.
@DennisG2014
This book seems to be in English under two different titles, at least on Amazon.
Let the Right one In
$2.99
Kindle version
https://www.amazon.com/Let-Right-John-Ajvide-Lindqvist-ebook/dp/B00I1W23IG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3IM74F2PY3XIS&keywords=let+the+right+one+in&qid=1570566410&s=digital-text&sprefix=Let+the+%2Cdigital-text%2C221&sr=1-1
Which is also the name of the film.
https://www.amazon.com/Let-Right-One-English-Subtitled/dp/B00G4Q0E9Q
And Let Me In
$9.99
Kindle version
https://www.amazon.com/Let-Me-John-Ajvide-Lindqvist-ebook/dp/B00I1W23GI/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1570566854&sr=8-3
(Also audible version under this title)
https://www.amazon.com/Let-Me-In/dp/B00435DZ50/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1M0R0XV54DDL4&keywords=let+me+in&qid=1570566854&sprefix=Let+me+in%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-3
Based on a 5 sec glance at the synopsis, they are by the same writer and seem to be the same book.
International publishing can get complicated.
I bought the audiobook, and also the cheaper Kindle book.
Wikipedia note:
@DennisG2014 @f00l I saw the movie but if it’s good for re-reading I’ll give the book a shot. Thanks!
@f00l @sammydog01 Yes, the American film is titled Let Me In and the more expensive eBook must be the movie tie-in version. No idea if the text would be any different.
Don’t read up too much about it - the two editorial reviews on the kindle site had major spoilers.
IIRC, I originally heard about the Swedish movie on some internet list of ‘best horror movies you’ve never seen’ or some such.
Was a really intriguing story so I read the book and wasn’t disappointed.
When I say it’s disturbing, I don’t mean just the violence, gore and, um… difficult themes. The original movie did a fair job of capturing it, but the way the writer portrays the bleak, depressing existence of the characters creates this dark background that just makes it so much more affecting.
Kind of thing that gives you nightmares, even more so than Stephen King’s best, IMO.
Enjoy! lol
@DennisG2014 I loved this book and the zombie one he wrote: Handling the Undead. It’s as disturbing as LTROI but in a very different way. Highly recommended.
@erisire Yesterday when I was raving about this book, I was wondering to myself, “why haven’t I checked out his other books?”
No idea.
Still didn’t do it yesterday, but after reading your post I took a look on Amazon…
There’s a collection of short stories that has sequels to both LTROI and Handling the Undead.
Let the Old Dreams Die (Amazon link)
Now I know the next couple of books I’ll be reading.
Thanks!
@DennisG2014 @f00l I’m pretty sure the film I watched had subtitles so I probably missed a lot of it. I remember creepy.
@DennisG2014 You and me both! I ended up buying 2 and borrowing one from the library. Make that buying 3 now I know the short stories have sequels! THERE ARE DOZENS OF US!!
I’m finally onto the third book in Mick Herron’s excellent Jackson Lamb series. I’m half way through Real Tigers. I’m liking it better than book 2 Dead Lions, and nearly as good as the first book, Slow Horses.
This is the month I finally read House of Leaves. I hope.
I’m going to be reading “Fantasy Football for Dummies” I hope I finish it before the season is over.
@therealjrn Well you beat me this week. Twice.
@sammydog01 @therealjrn
I could one info on Fantasy Football.
But I’m up to speed on being a Dummy.
/giphy dummy
@f00l Oh, stop it.
@therealjrn
/image staaaapppp!
I always re-read Grady Hendrix this time of year. Horrorstor is GREAT - imagine working late at a closed IKEA that’s either haunted or you’re losing it, but in We Sold Our Souls the 90’s metal vibe that pallalels with a parody of the 2000’s “metal” is excellent; especially with actual satan.
Amazon has the Camber of Culdi trilogy for kindle on daily deal for $1.99, same price as it was back in August (when I bought it). I remember remember really liking all of Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni books in my mis-spent, fantasy-loving youth, but haven’t read them in years and am not sure if reading them now I’d be all hmm, this lady sure is a trained hypnotist and member of the modern Order of the Golden Dawn in the same way a rereading of The Mists of Avalon made me think this is… just Wicca… which is OK, but really an anachronism.
Anyway, KIND-OF HISTORICAL FANTASY! Not really historical.
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01LXGL10L/
I just wrapped up Carnival Row: Tangle in the Dark. Not at all my cup of tea. I only semi-enjoyed the Amazon Prime Video series, so I can’t imagine what compelled me to give Tangle in the Dark a shot. I mean, the title should have clued me to the content.
Now I’m a couple chapters into Scalzi’s Fuzzy Nation. I do enjoy Scalzi’s stuff.
@ruouttaurmind I have Fuzzy Nation. I’m saving it for a special time. I don’t know when.
@sammydog01 There’s a puppy! (no spoilers since the dog is introduced in the first paragraph)
@ruouttaurmind @sammydog01 Might be a good read when you are sitting in the Honda dealer’s waiting room after having your Odyssey towed back to the them when they’ve screwed up their repair.
@Barney @ruouttaurmind That is why I keep a Kindle in my purse.
@ruouttaurmind @sammydog01 I always have a Kindle with me. I “Don’t leave home without it.”
Noticed an offer banner on Amazon’s main kindle book page (it has to be activated, says by invitation only [but why wouldn’t everyone get it?]) where you spend $60 on kindle e-books between Oct. 22-29th and get back $40 in e-book credit that you’ll have to spend within 21 days. I can’t decide if it’s a good deal or not, because that’s a lot of money to spend on e-books at one time (or, over one week). Sure, I have a bunch of expensive kindle editions of things saved on my amazon shopping list that I have no intention of buying (hello, The Jumbies’ Playing Ground: Old World Influences on Afro-Creole Masquerades in the Eastern Caribbean (Folklore Studies in a Multicultural World Series) and Religion and the Decline of Magic [which is somewhat reasonable but which I already own in hardcover]), but… is it a good idea to buy them? If I can spend the same money all over again on, say, Gladys Mitchell mysteries? Or is it stupid?
@mossygreen Don’t know. Maybe you should ask a fool? @f00l
@mossygreen Also you only have 21 days to spend the $40.
@mossygreen @sammydog01 Y’all can do it. I know you can.
@sammydog01 IT’S A RACE AGAINST TIME!
@mossygreen @sammydog01 @barney
I accepted the kindle offer, and promptly bought a bunch of books by Robert Littell; he is an American novelist who writes rather realistically about the “spy trade”, a la John Le Carre.
Not up to or close to $60 in purchases yet tho.
@Barney @f00l @sammydog01 I did the math and I could spend just over $90 on Gladys Mitchell mysteries. Still thinking about it.
@mossygreen Whatever you decide, I’ll back you all of the way.
@Barney @f00l @mossygreen Can you recommend a Gladys Mitchell book?
@f00l @mossygreen @sammydog01 Was she the nosey neighbor on “Betwitched”?
@Barney @f00l @sammydog01 Well, I’m pretty sure you said that you bought The Rising of the Moon, and that one’s really good, and apparently her personal favorite, but it’s more serious than her other stuff I’ve read. If you want something that’s more Mrs.-Bradley-wears-clashing-colors-and-everyone-is-weird-and-there-may-be-satanists, yes, there are several from which to choose. I was going to offer to lend you the kindle editions, but they don’t appear to be lendable at this time (which is super-annoying).
@Barney @f00l @sammydog01 PS There are a bunch uploaded to archive.org for some reason. I would say anything published before the '60’s is probably pretty good. They’re pretty formulaic, but sometimes there is an occult element and sometimes pig farming. Sometimes both!
@Barney @mossygreen @sammydog01
Stuff published in the 1920’s is either out of copyright or soon to be that way. Hence archive.org versions.
All that (Sherlock Holmes etc) is either free on kindle or ought to be. Sometimes they charge $1 or so for pretty formatting and editing the errors out.
Pays to read reviews on these; there are usually multiple similar versions, and some of them will be horribly-done digital imports. Some will be fine.
@Barney @f00l @mossygreen You’re right I see it in my account.
I have spent much of the prev month listening to Craig Johnson’s Longmire series, which I really like. I’m about 2/3 of the way thru them, tho have not messed with the books which are novella and short story collections.
The only thing that disappoints in that we don’t get to know anyone but the title character nearly as well as we would like; which is a pity, as I really want to know more about Vic, Henry, Lucian, and several others.
The writer has a gift for bringing individual characters completely to life and into sharp focus.
I would like to know more also of Longmire’s daughter, Cady; but as far as I have gotten in the series, she is more of a long distance plot device than she is a developed individual. She get used mostly (so far) as character background and motivation for Longmire.
Lucian, the retired, elderly ex-sheriff, gets a lot of space in the second novel in the series, and in Steamboat, an exceptional novella. Makes me simply want more of him on the page.
Johnson brings Wyoming geography, weather, and culture into full life, as Hillerman does with northern NM and AZ. And that’s worth a lot in itself.
Hey @RiotDemon: didn’t you first mention these books here on Meh? If so, much thx.
@f00l I mentioned the show. It was a great show. Available on Netflix.
@f00l
/image longmire cabin