Since my reading was falling off and I felt awful that, as a writer, I was not doing my part to support the Indie scene and be a READER, I asked a few of you to jump in with me and pick a book to read each month. We would come here and perhaps discuss/critique it a bit early on, and then, at the end of the month, we could share our thoughts as well as each write a review.
This month, I am reading Odium by Claire C. Riley. Ain't she just a cutie?!
Well...don't let that face fool you. Claire has horror chops. Since I am a big "anti-spoiler" sort of person, I thought I would open our discussion talking about Claire's descriptive style. If forced to use one word, I would describe her as "vivid". You are treated to all five sense being engaged with Claire. She picks you up off your couch or comfy chair and hurls you into her dead world.
What stands out for me is that she did not have to throw a wall of zombies at you to put you in her created apocalypse. In fact, you don't even actually meet one until chapter three! Bravo!
So, fellow reader, time to share a few early impressions. Feel free to use the comment section below to get a running dialog going.
I'm a huge fan of Claire. I've read a lot of her work, sat on them a while, rolled the after-impressions around on my tongue.
ReplyDeleteClaire's got a distinctive style, a voice all her own and a defined approach to the horror genre. I like that she takes it to a place in the past- where zombies didn't fall in love and regain humanity, where vamps didn't sparkle and have wimpy human girlfriends. Her characters are real and it's easy to tell that she crafts everything in her dead world with dedicated love and attention to minute details. Yes, Todd, 'vivid' is an apt word do describe the mind-children of Claire C. Riley.
i am so glad i trusted you on this one, it was truly a great book! i had to say her characters (as are yours), very easy to relate to, they were flawed and would question their own decisions, which made them more endearing. I truly loved the character development. the story line was great, very impressive, now if you could help me find enough to get me through till July.... BTW-my husband who is reading the Dead series and is a book + behind ran up on a piece of your Ava book and loved it, i was flabergasted, he's not normally a ghoul book reader?? lol.. thanks for the great new author, she's really good, like i said i just need a bunch more of her...... :)
ReplyDeleteI always love hearing things like that. And yes, Claire is very good. I hope you and the hubby both enjoy Ava. She is so much fun to write.
DeleteI'm late on this, sorry! But I'm reading! just started this weekend and getting my blog post up tonight.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying this book. Claire's a talented writer. I sometimes find the 1st person present POV a little distracting, but having read some of Claire's other stories, I wasn't worried. She makes it engrossing and fun. I'm not done yet, and I like watching the characters grow, which is a double edged blade in zombie-lit because I know its just a matter of time before CHOMP!
ReplyDeleteFor anyone not reading this yet, you should.
Meua ha ha, Gregory ha ha
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