Every Body Talks

Published: October 17th, 2012 (first published 1999)
Body Bags (Body of Evidence #1)
By: Christopher Golden
Daring Greatly Corporation
ASIN:  B009SLYJ4A

When Jenna Blake starts her freshman year at Somerset University, she's not only living on her own for the first time, she's moving closer to the father she never really knew.  It's an exciting time, filled with new faces and new challenges, not mention parties and boys and...corpses?

Jenna is torn about her future.  She'd like to be a doctor like her mother, but she can't stand the sight of blood.  Her father, a criminology professor, thinks he has the answer -- and sends her to interview for a job with the Medical Examiner -- an interview that takes place in the middle of an autopsy!

When a congressional aide goes violently insane, and then drops dead, the pathology team at Somerset Medical Center discover that his brain was ravaged with disease -- and loaded with insect larvae.  When Jenna takes on her new job, she is drawn into a web of terrifying disease, dangerous politics, and intriguing mystery.  And when one of her professors ends up dead, she starts making connections even the police haven't seen...which will bring her face to face with a pair of killers, one medical, and one all too human.

Review

       I didn't feel disappointed after reading this, like so many of the other reviewers here on Goodreads.  You want to know my secret?  Extremely low expectations, and the prior knowledge that Golden tends to be the master of the pulpy, Alloy-series type of book.  It was a story centered around Jenna Blake, an incumbent college freshman, who is unsure what she wants to do with the rest of her life.  All she knows is that her mother would love for her to be a doctor like her, but Jenna can't stand the sight of blood.  Her Dad gets her an interview with the local Medical Examiner, who hires Jenna as a pathology assistant.  The first big case is a man who was infected with a mysterious illness, of unknown origin and it becomes a priority to find out exactly what happened, when a teacher on campus dies of the same sickness.  Coincidence or murder?  That's what Jenna will have to find out, especially once her and her dad's lives are endangered.  Can she survive her first week at college?
       This book is extremely short and I didn't really expect too much, since it is the first in a ten-book series.  Also, it's original publication was sixteen years ago, in 1999.  Some of the language, situations, etc. are kind of culturally dated (not as bad as most though, surprisingly).  This type of book is the kind that people who are unfamiliar with YA, and it's ever-widening, reach like to cite when they malign it as all being unmitigated "trash."  It's pulp fiction, pure and simple.  I will say that it reminds me of Nancy Drew, in the sense that Jenna is pretty much just a cardboard cut-out, meant to move along the plot.  Hopefully she and her friends (roommate Yoshiko & southern-boy Hunter) will be better characeterized/fleshed-out in later books.  I do wish that the mystery had been more murder/crime and less of a politically driven, thriller type.  I liked it enough to continue and see if the next couple are any good, but overall I wouldn't recommend it unless you like the type of book that's pure, time-wasting cotton candy.  If you want a really great, plot and character-rich series by Golden, try his Hollow series, co-written with Ford Lytle Gilmore.  Now THAT is an awesome series! :D

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.*

Fact or Fiction, Legend or Reality?

Published:  May 19th, 2005

Horseman (The Hollow #1)

By: Christopher Golden & Ford Lytle Gilmore

Razorbill

ISBN-13:  9781595140241

New to Sleepy Hollow, teens Aimee and Shane Lancaster find that upon their arrival an ancient curse has been unleashed upon the town, tracing back to the town's famous legend, which just might be more truth than myth.  Now an array of evil demons is after them, with the infamous Headless Horseman leading the pack.

Review

     So, let me just start by saying that I've read all four books in this series at least four or five times each!  It might have something to do with my slight obsession with the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, in just about any form.  Surprisingly there aren't that many retellings of the legend.  So, I make do with what is available.  This series just so happens to be extremely well-written, so thankfully it lends itself to re-reading!  Horseman is the first of four books, and while it does do a lot of plot set-up, it manages to be pretty action filled anyways.  From the moment Shane Lancaster and his sister Aimee cross the town line of Sleepy Hollow with their Dad, weird stuff starts happening.  All the street lights blow out, people report seeing what sounds like a hellhound and then the murders start.  The only problem is that the murderer can't be stopped by normal, human means - seeing as he's already dead.  The murderer is the Headless Horseman himself, back from the grave and terrorizing the town once more.  It's up to Shane and Aimee, along with their friend Stacia, to figure out why the Horseman has reappeared now and what he wants - before their heads are the ones left rolling!

     The series mixes real-life teen drama (and family drama) with the supernatural and the series itself reminds me of some of those dime-a-dozen Alloy series from the late 90s.  You know, the mass-produced, short and sweet teen books.  Most of them were crap.  This isn't.  It deals with the fact that the Lancasters are all grieving the loss of their Mom/Wife and dealing with it in their own way.  The kids' Dad decided to move them to a small town and he buries himself in running the local newspaper.  Shane has buried himself in schoolwork and books, shutting out people.  Aimee has become the life of the party, taking risks and breaking rules.  But in the face of danger and the unknown, Shane and Aimee manage to band together to investigate and stay safe.  Albeit, not without some sibling rivalry and heated, sometimes truly nasty, bickering.  There was a LOT of thought put in to the twists and turns of the plot and it was obvious the writers knew what they were talking about.  There are a lot of references to Washington Irving, Ichabod Crane, Baltus Van Tassel and other people thought to be fictional.  

     There are some great investigations, like when Stacia and Aimee check out a supposed Gossip Tree, which is far more sinister than it sounds.  Or when they go to put a protection ward up at the crossroads and run into the hellhound-like black dog called Hizzoner.  I won't say too much more so as not to spoil it, but one of my favorite scenes is the flashback sequence with a ghostly Theodore Hasselbeck at Aimee's friend (and Shane's crush) Stacia's house.  It explains quite a bit, and turns the legend on its head!  Be prepared to rethink everything you thought you knew about Sleepy Hollow.  If you're looking for a fun, slightly creepy read greatly steeped in myth and legend for the Halloween season, I highly recommend this series!

VERDICT:  4/5 Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**