"Long Black Veil"

“Long Black Veil”

Written by Jennifer Finney

Review written by Diana Iozzia

                I was thoroughly disappointed with the book, “Long Black Veil”. I had received this as a complementary advanced reader’s copy, and I was very hopeful based on the description. The book blurb tells that this fictional story is about a group of friends who had broken into the Eastern State Penitentiary. However, one of them didn’t make it out alive. Then, years later, a mysterious woman named Judith finds her way into this murder investigation.

            This sounded like an interesting murder mystery/thriller. I admit: the first chapter of this book is very intriguing. The first paragraph hook is fantastic, really setting up the scene for the beginning of the book. There are many characters introduced very quickly, and it becomes very confusing to keep track of these characters.

            This book becomes more about the woman, Judith, who has a connection to these friends that is later revealed. In addition, you find the answer to the mystery half-way through the book! This doesn’t create a thrilling conclusion, it just ruins the surprise. It’s not even that a great surprise, who killed the victim and why. Just bland.

            I enjoyed the creepy and eerie chapters where the characters are walking around the Penitentiary. The characters had done this in the eighties, and the murder investigation kicks off in the 2013-2015 range. I had visited these penitentiary ruins last summer, so it was great to read a book about the place, but it was hardly about the prison. The main story is the murder investigation, but it hardly feels like that. It’s basically just Judith’s past and present story and how it relates to everyone else. (Spoiler: it’s not that interesting a connection.) I found myself often skimming this, because I just wasn't that interested.

            The positive points are: LGBT friendly, lots of suspense in the prison exploration, some twists and turns, and the characters Maisie and Rachel. 

"The Tommyknockers"

“The Tommyknockers” by Stephen King

Review Written by Diana Iozzia

            I can tell you right now that Stephen King is my favorite author. He writes horror fiction, which is one of my favorite genres, and he’s damn good at it. Everyone either despises him or worships him. “The Tommyknockers” was one of the only books I’ve read by him that I despised. You read about a very uninteresting and depressed protagonist named Bobbi Anderson. Bobbi is walking in her backyard with her old dog, when she finds a hunk of metal protruding from the ground.

            There are many ways to spoil this book, but I’d rather not completely ruin it for you. It’s very reminiscent of an episode from The Twilight Zone, or at least the beginning is. In many of King’s books, he writes of his inspirations and his connections, but sometimes, they feel so much more coincidental and slightly like he rips off some of his stories.

            I love Mr. King, but this was a very skippable book. It’s absolutely gigantic, and I just could not finish this with my sanity full intact. I was tired and bored of it by the first three chapters. Perhaps, I’ll re-read it in ten years and see if my thoughts have changed. Unfortunately, for now, I wouldn’t recommend this book. If I had a heart, it'd be broken by this book.

"Ruined"

"Ruined" by Paula Morris
Review written by Diana Iozzia






"Ruined" is a young adult fiction novel starring the main character, Rebecca. She recently moved to New Orleans, near the French Quarter, to live with her aunt and her younger cousin. Rebecca starts making new friends at her new school, and naturally, she makes a few enemies. Rebecca visits a cemetery nearby her apartment, which is practically in shambles post Hurricane Katrina. Rebecca meets a girl who she later finds out is a ghost named Lisette.

Throughout the novel, Rebecca finds herself hallucinating that she is back in the times of slavery, when Lisette's family were slaves. Not to give away the ending, which is pretty climatic and intriguing, Rebecca finds out that her ancestors are much more involved in the history of New Orleans than she'd like them to be.

I've read this book at least three to four times as a teenager, and it still holds a place in my heart as probably the first thriller book I read other than "Goosebumps".

"Dark Souls"

"Dark Souls" by Paula Morris
Review written by Diana Iozzia

"Dark Souls" is a young adult fiction novel, full of ghosts, thrilling romance, and exploration in historic York, England. I read this when I was in my teenage years, but I re-read this two summers ago, when I was visiting York, England.

Miranda and her family are on vacation in York for the summer, so her mother can participate in an orchestra program. Miranda makes friends with a hipster-like guy named Nick, who shows her around the city. Soon, you realize that Nick is very shady and might not be telling the entire truth about himself. With lots of haunted folklore, it creates a creepy setting for the lovely city. 

I personally enjoyed "Ruined" by Paula Morris much more than this book, but for a second novel, it was quite creepy and interesting. There is a great sequence before the final climax. Good read for a young adult novel with some thrills and chills.

"Surviving Death" by Leslie Kean

“Surviving Death” by Leslie Kean

Review written by Diana Iozzia

                “Surviving Death” is a book of accounts collected by Leslie Kean that she believes to be proof that there is an afterlife, or consciousness about death. Leslie Kean researched for years about certain people who had near death experiences. The main research type she collected is stories in which children knew information about real life people, but the children did not have any prior knowledge of these people.

                I am very skeptical about paranormal research and E.S.P. phenomena. Although Leslie Kean offers the names of many scientists and doctors, the evidence she provides is mostly based on word of mouth. In many occasions in the book, Kean discusses hypothesizes and conclusion. She mentions that hypothesizes should prove the data to be true, but scientific theory asks the data to prove the hypothesis to be true. We cannot use hypothesizes to explain data. Using the Scientific method, if the hypothesis is not proven by the data, the experiment is not accurate and must be tried again.

                There are many issues I have with this book. However, they are due to the content of this book, and not how this is written. The book is segmented into chapters, in which new stories are told in each. The first two chapters and half of the third both are about a little boy named James, who knew a great amount of information about a military pilot who died in Iwo Jima. However, can we prove that the parents are completely truthful? If we believe every word they say, can that be technically scientific proof? I don’t buy it.

                The writing skills of the author are great. She has a wonderful vocabulary. Her written explanations content makes for a great read, however, the science behind the content is a bit muddled. She is not a scientist, and she bases her research on stories and events she had personally experienced. Can we trust her to be a journalist who tells the truth and nothing but the truth?

                The author reiterated a Henry James quote, which is explained by if you don’t look for a difference of opinions, a change in what you believe, if you don’t have an open mind, you may not be enlightened. Does that not leave the burden of proof on the reader? I shouldn’t have to be the one looking for the proof and making sense of the evidence. If something is proved to be true, I shouldn’t have to dissect it to understand it, to find connections and draw conclusions.

                I liked this book, because of the head ache it gave me. However, I did not like the content.