Darkness and Bloodshed by Lennie Grace

Hello everyone.

Last time I was talking about my sisters being triplets. As we got older, my parents ruled on disputes mostly by majority rule, they wanted to keep the peace. So when I wanted to watch a television show with a teen idol on it, I was quickly over-ruled in favor of a kiddie show. One thing we could always agree on, especially as they got a bit older was a great movie. There were a couple of really spooky films we loved, like the movie Two on a Guillotine. I had some wild idea years ago that it would make a great surprise gift for the trips. I spent ages waiting for it to be released, stalking every movie seller. Finally Warner Brothers ended my search, putting it out on dvd.  It is the story of a daughter, Connie Stevens, who has just buried her father, a world renowned magician. She is about to inherit his not so magical mansion but she must live there first. To help her is a newspaper man, Dean Jones, yes of Disney fame. It is a great movie. I think you can see it on Amazon Prime and Turner Classic Movies runs it every once in a while.

I was in the second grade when I first saw Two on a Guillotine. How do I know?  Because we were asked to write a story, and I wrote about a haunted house after seeing this movie. My second grade teacher, Mrs. Schwartz, said my story was so creative I should think about becoming a writer. Producing a creepy book never happened for me, but it has for some. One of those people is Lennie Grace. Lennie wrote the book Darkness and Bloodshed, which I recently read. This is a collection of three short stories. The book itself is not very long at 170+ pages, double spaced.

The first of the stories is called Blood Moon. It is about a woman who gets attacked by a large dog, she survives and makes it home only to later start behaving strangely. Let me stop here. This book is self published. Some of my favorite books have been self published, so don't shy away from this alternative source of reading joy. What self publishing usually doesn't benefit from is professional proofreaders. (I could use one myself!) Darkness and Bloodshed has several typos, which the author says she is working to have fixed. Honestly, I really had to search for them. They did not distract from the stories at all. I think the opening scene of the book, where the woman is attacked by the dog is the roughest part of the whole thing. I really don't mean "rough" I just can't think of any way to describe it. The author is showing us an attack, naturally it doesn't flow like conversations or everyday life, and it shouldn't. So if you buy this collection, and I'd suggest you give it a whirl, don't stop there. Lennie Grace really excels at her reaction between people. In addition, there are little things that she notices and includes that really make the stories come alive. For example, kids trying to hear what their parents are saying, kneeling on the couch leaning over the back, that was so easy to picture and brought back many memories. Silly details like putting on shark slippers. These little observations may seem like nothing, but really add to the world this author is building.

As far as the three stories go, the first was plenty entertaining but not my favorite. I also really liked the third story, called They Came From The Sky. It is about weather gone amok and then odd beings descending from the sky, absolutely terrifying. I was reading this alone at two am and I literally started hearing all kinds of noises around the house.  I went and woke up hubby to go down and "check" the first floor.  I told him to blame the author! But, my hands down favorite was the second story called All That Glitters.  This tale really reminded me of The Heart Shaped Box, by Joe Hill, Stephen King's son. Only this is different. All That Glitters could so easily be expanded into a full 300 page novel and hold my attention the entire time. I loved it. I don't want to give it away but the plot idea is so good.  Overall, the writing is strong, all shorts feature interesting plots. The stories stay on topic and are well paced, making for very pleasant reading.

If you have a chance and you don't mind hearing every creek and groan in your house, give this book a go. If Lennie Grace ever turns the second story, All That Glitters, into a full book, I'll be one of her happy customers.

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding

Hello everyone.

I know I've told you that I have three sisters, younger sisters they would point out. Have I ever told you that they are triplets? They arrived in a world long, long ago...picturing Star Wars opening text scrolling away from me...when multiple births other than twins were highly unusual. No fertility drugs, just bad luck or good luck, depending on if they are driving me crazy or not. My parents wanted a boy, don't ask my why as boys are such problems!  They had me. They tried again and had triplet girls, they quit having kids.

Triplets were so unusual at the time, their birth was featured in the newspaper. I remember the press photographer coming to the house to take photos for the article. At first my mother was told she was going to have twins, so my parents had purchased two of everything. Businesses in the small town I grew up in made a big fuss, delivering a third of everything as a gift. My parents were even given free diaper service. For you youngsters, this is the time of cloth diapers. This is gross, but you likely don't know, with cloth diapers you actually rinse them by hand...BY HAND in the toilet, then wash. In my parent's case, they set aside the toilet water rinsed, wet and smelly diapers for the service to pick up and launder. That is a smell I will NEVER forget. Ick. Aren't you so glad you signed on today? And to think all you wanted was to hear if a book sucks or not.

Yes, having triplets in the family, especially when it was unusual, was a different experience. They would be noticed everywhere, people would come to our table at restaurants asking about them. Strangers would always say "you must be so happy being the big sister."  I should have asked them if they ever smelled dirty diapers times three! Bless my parents, I don't know how they did it. In later years, I remember my dad fake complaining about trying to get in the bathroom and it being a blur of mascara wands. Needless to say, he really loved it. He was a great Dad. I can still see him pushing a stroller with three seats across. Frankly, I think he was proud as could be.

Speaking of babies in strollers, I recently read a great book called Little Darlings by Melanie Golding. This story is part thriller, part mystery with a bit of horror thrown in for good measure. Lauren and Patrick have just had twin sons, Riley and Morgan. One night in the hospital Lauren meets a creepy, insistent woman with two children who wants to swap babies. The next day, the odd lady is gone and the staff maintains they know nothing about this unusual patient.  After it happens repeatedly and the strange woman actually physically grabs Lauren, the police are involved. Even after Lauren takes her new children home, the strange woman reappears. But being a new mom, under stress and completely exhausted, Lauren quickly becomes an unreliable narrator and the reader doesn't know who to believe, especially when the police woman working on the case finds evidence that Lauren might be telling the truth. This becomes even more complicated when Lauren falls asleep while resting after pushing a double stroller through a riverside park. She wakes to find the babies and stroller missing. The children are quickly found, still in the stroller,  looking the same and unharmed but the new mom knows they are not her children.

This story is creepy, atmospheric, and engaging from page one. It moves quickly to a satisfying end staying on topic the whole way, making the book impossible to put down. While I think many of us love psychological thrillers this one may hit home with more people. Thankfully, not many of us have a spouse that kills for sport but oh so many readers are new moms, full of doubt, questions and very low on sleep. This book plays on all those experiences that are so common making this story one to really send a shiver up your spine.

If you are ready for a twisty, suspenseful read, this is a great one. If you are about to deliver your own little bundle of joy, don't pack Little Darlings in your hospital bag.

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth

Hello everyone.

I have to give you a bit of housewife trivia. Our daggum (insert swearing like a sailor here, although I've known several sailors that never swore but do your best...make it really profane) ....as I was saying our daggum dishwasher is broken again. Of course, it was right after we cooked a whole bunch. We took several meals to a friend who doesn't cook, then there was Easter which we cooked for at the same time. End result, a kitchen that looked like a bomb went off. Actually, that would have made for a tidier kitchen! We made ham, turkey, boiled eggs, egg salad, chocolate cake, roasted carrots, my grandma's green bean casserole, and the always pain the butt sugar cookies complete with royal icing piping. But wait there is more...that is on top of the normal dinner dishes, errant bowls, and of course endless array of coffee cups. We just had the dishwasher fixed; they installed a new brain/control panel. That was short lived. The problem is that I love this dishwasher. I know there are people that have real problems, I get it, honestly, I do. But I love my dishwasher, like I love air conditioning, heating and skipping through commercials on the heaven-sent DVR machine. Sadly, hubby has informed me that he has figured it out that my beloved scouring friend is 14 years old and not worth sinking any more money into. Hold on, still more.... he has had some big system conversion thing followed by being on call. I don't understand it, all I know is he works 16 hours days and dishwasher mania must wait until the work load lightens.  You guessed it, leaving me with chipped nails and very dry hands and I still can't get dishes done faster than we use them.

During one of these silverware scrubbing sessions, I was thinking about sayings. Just little things people say, usually specific to their geographic region or age. The south is great for these types of things, like "tripping a$$ over tea kettle" or "slicker than cat s$#t on linoleum."  My mom had one she said often, I have no idea where she got it from. If Mom had to go out of her way, she'd say she had to go "round Robin Hood's barn." Now, I don't know about you but I never knew Robin Hood had a barn. Maybe all that take from the rich and give to the poor thing left him in need for storage for his ill-gotten gain. Perhaps Robin Hood's barn was a storage unit. Maybe before donning tights, he was a dairy farmer and housed his cows in the previously mentioned barn. I don't know, honestly..."round Robin Hood's barn." I'm shaking my head at the thought.

I recently read The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth. This is kind of billed as a thriller, but it is really a flat-out mystery. In the book we follow an extended family, but the story is told from the perspective of the two main characters, Lucy and her mother-in-law, Diana. Now despite Diana and her husband being well off financially, she refuses to help her family, yet has a charity that helps others. Hmmmm, curious.  She is cold and uncaring, sometimes completely apathetic. One day, Diana is found dead. A suicide note is found in the drawer of her desk. If you're committing suicide, wouldn't you leave the note in a more prominent place? Then there is the group she is a member of, where they discuss taking certain kinds of poison to end their own life. Diana is found with her mouth full of such a liquid. However, the autopsy reveals that she had no poison in her system and appears to have been smothered. Then why the note and mouth full of bleck? This is the mystery that this book explores. As it does, a saying came to mind.... for Diana "there is a method to my madness".  Ever hear that one? You'll understand by the time you solve this mystery. Yep, that is what ran through my head as I read this book. Read is too normal of a word, I flew through this novel. Two days, start to finish and that is with my constant mountain of dirty dishes beckoning me. Obviously, the pacing of this is fantastic or a pokey reader like me would still be on chapter five.

Don't wait, get yourself a copy of this book, a cup of coffee, and prepare to be dazzled.  I suggest a paper cup. I've got enough to wash!