He started out as a regular guy, did Mark Twitchell.  He was living out his dream as a filmmaker.  A talented costume maker, he made fantastic Halloween costumes, designed his own props for his Star Wars fan film and managed to get the attention of investors willing to make a go of a new feature film.  With his friends and crew, he put together a short horror film to use as a promo piece to attract even more money.

He had a wife and a new daughter, a new home, all in his home town of Edmonton, Alberta.  Everything was going his way.  And then someone introduced him to Dexter.  You've probably heard of Dexter.  A blood spatter expert for the Miami police by day, serial killer by night, initially choosing those who avoid police attention as his victims.  Not exactly a hero, what with being a killer and all, but certain a fascinating character.  Mark Twitchell admired Dexter. Was obsessed with him, actually.

So, using his horror movie as a template, he decide to be like Dexter.  Using a fake personals add on the internet, he lures Johnny Altinger to his film set, and butchers him.

The Devil's Cinema  is the story of the crime, the hunt and the bizarre trial and defence of Mark Twitchell for the murder of Altinger, from the secret diary that described in detail Twitchell's evolution into a killer to his secret affairs.  It examines his Facebook account under Dexter's name where he openly discusses his pending murder plans.

It's an odd tale, but an interesting one.  It's not especially graphic, but, being the story of a rookie serial killer, does included some scenes of violence and butchery, and there is some 'language'.  But what is language compared to murder, right?

I don't read many award winners or even nominees, and I generally try to avoid "quality literature".  I don't know what it is that bothers me about it, but I guess I generally lean towards pop culture, not intellectual whatever.  So at first, The Sisters Brother didn't appeal to me.  I didn't bother to read the description.  I didn't even notice the cover: two silhouettes aiming guns, forming the shape of a skull.

So to my surprise, I enjoyed it, mostly.  It's a bit of a western.  The brothers, Eli and Charlie Sisters, are hit men working for the Commodore.  Eli is getting tired of the work, but commits to finishing this one last job.  the first half of the book is a series of anecdotes from the journey from Oregon City to San Francisco, including a run in with a bear, a dentist appointment where they discover the pleasures of tooth brushing, and a weird old lady who may or may not have cursed them.  About halfway through, the story coalesces into a more standard, straightforward plot.  The brothers discover that their target may be a ticket to riches if they keep him alive. 

I won't suggest this book is for everyone.  While it isn't difficult, it also isn't a rousing action adventure.  It reminded me a lot of True Grit in its pacing and odd diversions.  The appeal to a general audience of teen boys may be limited, but it is certainly worthy of consideration for more thoughtful young men, though more forthe upper teens than lower. 

There are two unusual things about Michael: he hasn't spoken a word since his childhood and he can open any lock or safe without a key or combination. It's these two things that make him the perfect 'boxman' -- someone who is employed by thieves and con men to break into homes and open safes. Michael never wanted to get involved in crime. In fact, with his amazing talent at drawing, he was possibly on his way to art college. But one break and enter sends him doing community service for Mr. Marsh, a man in trouble with big crime bosses and the father of Amelia, who Michael falls in love with. When Michael finds out Amelia will be in danger unless he works for the crime bosses, he agrees to take up the job as boxman. He's given a 5 colour coded pagers -- each one that goes off will lead him to a different 'job'. Soon Michael finds himself in a dangerous world of felony, murder and deception with no way out.

I rarely read adult fiction and many attempts at reading adult novels only seem to confirm that I really rather read kids and teen literature. There are exceptions once in a while though, and this would be one of them.The story is told in parts alternating between Michael's childhood and more recent events of his life, with the events converging at the end so that the complete story is revealed. I thought this was well done and made the storytelling more intriguing. The plot itself kept me interested the whole way through; there was a fair amount of mystery about what traumatic event caused Michael to stop speaking and each job he was called to provided some good action (trigger crazy security guards, thieves turning on each other, etc.). And while there is some romance and heavy issues surround Michael's past, the author never portrays Michael as overly emotional or spend an excessive amount of time taking about his feelings. I think that the whole idea of someone being able to open locks and safes without keys and combinations, and getting employed by criminals to do it is pretty fascinating -- and I would guess that most teen guys would too.

It's weird how some books look like issues books, but either hide it really well or aren't issues at all.  Trash is a good example, because while it is set in the landfills of an unnamed Asian nation (probably the Philippines based on various clues in the novel) and features large populations of homeless people living in those dumps, it's pretty much a straight adventure-mystery.  I expected a lot more commentary on the plight of the people, but while you do get the sense that life sucks for thee people, it's not what the story is about.

Cassel is from a family of Curse Workers -- people with supernatural abilities to influence others with a touch of their hands. Some can change others' emotions, luck, and dreams -- others can modify memories or even kill.
Because of their dangerous abilities, Curse Workers are feared and considered outlaws. Thing is, though, Cassel is the only one in his family who isn't a Curse Worker. He's always felt like an outsider and been torn between trying to lead a somewhat "normal" life and wanting to be like the rest of his family. He's also haunted by a horrifying event in his life -- the fact that he killed his best friend, Lila, but doesn't understand why and cannot remember the details of the event.
When Cassel has a disturbing dream about a white cat and wakes up sleepwalking, a chain of events follow which cause Cassel to question whether or not Lila is really dead and search for the truth about what really happened that day.
It's difficult to find any paranormal teen fiction that isn't about stunning vampires fighting over werewolf boyfriends or zombies competing for popularity at the local high school these days -- all plots that are too close to chicklit for my taste -- and probably plots that wouldn't interest most teen guys. I did find this story pretty intriguing though. The plot moves quite well, and certainly has a darker, more serious mood, without the superficial high school drama or brand name dropping you sometimes find in other YA novels. The idea of Curse Workers kind of reminds me of the mafia and mobsters of the early 1900s, and the book has some good action and seedy characters.

The problem is though, that the covers published in the US (especially the second and third books with photos of a female looking vacantly into space), might put off some guy readers.












I'm not sure if the covers published in the UK are that much bit better --the dripping red glove is kind of cool but the White Cat cover looks a bit drab.












I've only read the first in the Curse Workers series and reviews of the second and third books makes me fear that the story might morph into more of a romance... which would be a shame as this series really does have a good premise.

Like Good Behavior, this is a story about a criminal, though in this case it is fiction (sort of: it looks like non-fiction but it's not). Author Jerry Langton is a normally a journalist specializing in biker gangs. He has seen the worst the Hells Angels, Bandidos and other gangs have had to offer. In Biker, Langton has fictionalized life in a biker gang, but he stresses one thing: the characters are made up, but the details are real. This is what like is really like for the hardcore members of the worst gangs. Drugs, alcohol, violence and murder and other terrible crimes are all a part of the life.

One might ask if this kind of thing is appropriate for teens. After all, this book pulls no punches. It's pretty extreme, and it is all the more frightening because it is pretty close to reality. The language is (very) harsh and the details are unpleasant to say the least, but any kid who has watched TV or movies has seen it all before anyway. This is very much a cautionary tale, if you need justification.

The writing isn't particularly good, but it's a fairly easy read. Langton is a journalist, not a novelist, but something about the style lends itself to the material. To me, though, it feels more 'true' than it would with fancy language and turns of phrase.

This isn't for everyone. Fantasy readers probably won't want to touch it, but more hesitant readers might go for it based on the premise and the fact that the cover is pretty clear about the contents of the book.