Locke & Key Vol 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe HIll (02/04/20)

I thoroughly enjoyed this first volume in the Locke & Key series. I have been a big fan of Joe Hill's work for a long time. I first read a Joe Hill book back when I was about 13 and it was Heart Shaped Box. I loved how dark and at point actually scary his writing was. I am as of yet, to read something by Hill that I don't like.

I was curious to see how his writing style transferred to graphic novel. I wasn't worried, his dark writing would suit graphic novels perfectly with the right art work. Gabriel Rodriguez pulls it off brilliantly. I love the clean lines and bold colours. I was genuinely enraptured with the whole thing. It was an excellent introduction the the main characters and I honestly can't wait to continue.

The only downside I had was i read my copy on my phone as part of my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I would love to have these volumes in real life so i could spend longer enjoying the art work.

This book basically introduces us to the 3 Locke children and how they are dealing with the aftermath of their father being shot and murdered, and then the murderer coming after them. Each child deals with the grief in very different ways. Ty the oldest and arguably with the most trauma is seen not coping well and blaming himself for his fathers murder. His sister Kinsey used to and out there rocker but after her father dies, just wants to fit in, so in fact de-individualises herself which is a really interesting look into how teenagers try to get attention. And finally, Bode the youngest seeks escape from reality and finds it in their new home the 'Keyhouse'.

It is very gory, and gruesome so not one for younger teens to read and I have yet to start watching the Netflix show but I can already see this series as a whole becoming a firm favorite!







This book hit everything I really like in book/graphic novel so gets a solid 4****.

I would have given it 5 stars but I want some room to see how the rest of the series goes and to be able to have so distinction in my appreciation.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter (14/01/15)

This is the first book in the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsey. It could roughly be classed in the genre of crime. However unlike other crime novels this is told from the murders perspective. It isn’t often I start a book and consider the fact that I am going to be on the killer side. I have watched most of the TV show which I thoroughly enjoyed, the book is different enough that you don’t feel like you have been through it before.

The book starts with Dexter and his ‘Dark Passenger’ the voice inside him that drives his need to kill. Dealing with a killer worse than him by far. We follow him and his strange thoughts through his day to day life. He repeatedly mentions that he is not human and does feel the way he should towards others. His closest relationship is with is foster sister Deborah who is following in her father’s footsteps and aims to move up from the normal police to the homicide team. Dexter is a blood spatter analyst and manages to keep his extra curricula activities hidden from all the police officers and detective around him. However Dexter starts to question himself and his grasp on sanity when it starts to look like he is involved with a string of vicious murders on hookers grips Miami.

This book was so easy and fun to read. At no point did anything Lindsey wrote feel like a chore to get through. I started to forget about the show and just go with his utter brilliance that shone through every single page. It is such a good book I can’t think of any other way to explain it. The book won’t make you think too deeply but it is fun and different and happily part of a larger series of books.

My lasting impression of this book is liking a character that should be likeable. Hoping he stays out of the clutches of the law which will always try and stop him. Also I can tell there is more to Dexter than meets the eye and I can’t wait to read the rest and delve into his sick and twisted mind again.