The Turtle Boy - Kealan Patrick Burke

'Even as they cast one last glance over their shoulders at the low, hulking building - the antithesis of summers glow - the school had seemed smug and patient knowing the children's leashes were not as long as they thought.' Kealan Patrick Burke

Oh my goodness me, what an awesome story!

Timmy Quinn is enjoying his summer holidays. He and his best friend Pete decide to go down to the local pond to have an adventure. Unfortunately for them, they stumble upon an eerie looking child... a boy who looks a bit like a turtle. He is dipping his feet in the pond, apparently feeding the turtles. This visit to the pond leads to life changing events for Timmy.

This is a straight up ghost story, and a creepy one at that. Congratulations to Mr. Burke, he managed to shake me right up! Burke's writing is just so precise, and to be honest is exactly what I want out of a ghost story. I really enjoyed the prose, Burke is an excellent writer with a brilliant command of language. There were a couple of times during the 'turtle judgement' scene where I felt that Burke slightly lost his way, but he managed to keep up the pace of the narrative and keep it nice and creepy!

When I first started reading it, I really thought I was going to read a coming-of-age story (bildungsroman) in the same vein as 'The Body' by Stephen King, and I guess that in a way, I did, it just wasn't a conventional coming-of-age tale.

In the true style of short stories many details of main characters are missing, and all that is left are the bare skeletons of the story.  The tale is polished, awesome, scary and quite imaginative if I do say so myself. The fact that it was free on Kindle just made it so much better, especially as my last few experiences with free Kindle books have not particularly been good ones.

This novelette is the first of a number of short stories featuring Timmy Quinn (and I believe that there is also a full length novel too), and I am more than happy to get hold of them as soon as possible.

Emma reviewed this tale a long while back, so I recommend you pop over to MabisMab for her take on this ghost story.

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Attack the Block - A Review

Put your hand up if you've seen this movie?
No? Well, you're missing out... big time!

This comes from the fabulous Joe Cornish and produced by the same company as Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. I love it. I can't help it. I just do. A gem from 2011 as far as I'm concerned.

A council estate in London is suddenly invaded by a bunch of scary aliens - they're as black as black and have scary glow in the dark teeth. It comes down to a bunch of yobs to defend their council estate. It's full of scares, laughs, thrills and aliens.


We've all seen the endless films of aliens attacking America, and Americans defending the world against invasion. The film turned the genre on its head. Instead of super brave American heroes defending the planet, in this movie it is a gang of thieves that stand up to the aliens. This film was truly a breath of fresh air, and I enjoyed it not only because it was set in Britain but that the humour was quintessentially British. It didn't take itself seriously - and that is imperative. But don't get me wrong, it's not a Hollywood blockbuster, but as I said, it is refreshing, enjoyable and well thought out. 

It stars Nick Frost, y'know, that guy from Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, but the rest of the cast features relatively unknown actors, especially the boys in the gang. Apparently these boys were selected from drama schools around London and had to audition a number of times before even getting the role.

For those of you outside of the UK, the boys are using real London slang, so it may be necessary to maybe put on the subtitles if needed.

I also really enjoyed the soundtrack, it was pretty much just a load of electronic noises, over remixed music and it suited the whole feel of the movie (haha, that was a very smart way of describing music!)

So, if you're going to watch it, please let me know what you think, I'd love to know! You'll find the trailer below! I really enjoyed it, and in fact it'll probably be in my top 20 favourite movies. Enjoy!

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Cowboys & Aliens - A Review

Cowboys & Aliens (2011) has been a movie that has been on my to-watch list for a while. Everything about it is right up my street - a coupling so bizarre but so brilliant that there was no doubt about it being awesome. I'm very sad to say that I was wrong.

It is 1873 and out of the blue a bunch of gold-grubbing aliens have landed... and are attacking and kidnapping civilians. Cowboys and Natives come together to fight against the aliens - and get their people back. 

The premise is quite simply awesome, the effects weren't too bad, and Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford were great together. The main problem was that the plot line was just so weak! It was so disappointing. They could have done something AMAZING with this movie and it just lost its way.

The length was also a problem, as sometimes, the pace was desperately slow and was more about character development, whilst at other times, it was fast and engaging. 

Cowboys and Aliens also committed one of the cardinal sins of movies, at least in my eyes, by showing us the aliens... in depth. I'm quite OCD about not wanting to see movie monsters/ghosts/aliens etc etc. I'm quite Hitchcock-ish that way; I find things a lot scarier when they're obscured by the film makers. And so, the strange, amphibious aliens were a complete let down and the CGI wasn't mind-blowing enough to really enjoy the aliens.

It also starred the very annoying Olivia Wilde. I'm sorry to say it, but really, the film would have been fine if she hadn't been there. Her acting and the character she played was just so 'blah' and unnecessary. Her back story was so predictable and obvious that it was frustrating. Like I said, she really did not need to be there. 

So overall, this was a disappointment. The very title was enough to have me excited and I was totally let down. 
I recommend it to those who like cowboys... and those who like aliens! But, don't watch it hoping to be blown away. I love quirky movies but this was a waste!

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Flash Gold - Lindsay Buroker

'A fur-clad figure loomed, head an inch shy of the top of the frame. With those broad shoulders and that height, she assumed it was a man, though a cap buried his eyebrows and a scarf swaddled his face. He gripped a rifle in one gloved hand, and the hilt of something - a sword? - poked over his shoulder. Who in tarnation brought a sword to the Klondike?' Flash Gold, Lindsay Buroker

This was another free download from Kindle and I really quite enjoyed it! 

It's steampunked Canada set in the 1890's. Kali, a tough talking and super intelligent inventor is building a steam powered sled for the upcoming dog sled races. Unfortunately, she's also the daughter of a dead alchemist who found out how to make the mythical flash gold. With a huge bounty on her head and all sorts desperate to get hold of the flash gold, a mysterious stranger tries to help her, and Kali has to overcome challenges to try to win the races.

This will be another mixed review I think. I was pleasantly surprised with the novel. The writing was pretty good, the sentence structure tight and the story line propelled at a good pace by the author. As there was not the same type of finish that one expects from mainstream authors, I assume that this book is by an 'indie author'. 

Although I enjoyed the novella, and was definitely surprised, I found the characters quite cliched. I know, that may sound harsh, but it the was the same story just in a different setting... tough talking, I don't trust anybody, super intelligent main female character, being aided by a talk, dark stranger, with a troubled past... until eventually she drops her defences and well, I can just guess what will happen in the sequel. Granted, many people enjoy reading those types of  characters - and I do too! But I would have loved to see more be done with these enigmatic characters. 

The storyline is pretty tight and I have to say Buroker has definitely done a great job in making me want to get a hold of the sequel 'Hunted'. I'll definitely be visiting the world that she's created again to see what happens to Kali and Cedar. 

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