Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Jake

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I love reading! (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Jake's Quick Questions interview.)

Jake's Reviews:

Horror Month 2023: #7

The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman

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This is the kind of horror I was hoping to get into when I started my horror-only commitment this month. While I don’t think it was an especially good book, it did what it needed to do for me and I enjoyed it. I’ve never been a big horror movie fan for several reasons: 1. I’m a scaredy cat, 2. I find most of the blood and gore stuff to be tastelessly pornographic. 3. I prefer verisimilitude in books and movies. Also, jump scares really […]

Horror Month 2023: #6

The Darkness of Others by Cate Holahan

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Took a break from this season of horror reading to get to a thriller I’ve been meaning to check off the ol’ TBR. Mixed feelings on it. It was one of those roller coaster books. No it did not thrill me like a roller coaster. But the shape of my enjoyment went from flat to a high curve and back to flat again. Cate Holahan develops an intricate mystery here, even if large parts of it are predictable. And she imbues it with some quality […]

Horror Month 2023: #5

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison

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I don’t know that I’m ever going to be an out-and-out horror fan but I’m beginning to settle into the kind of horror I like and it’s similar to the kind of mystery/crime I like: give me characters, give them purpose. Why am I investing my time reading about this person, whether they’re doing something I find interesting (solving a murder) or not (turning into a werewolf)? If it ain’t got that purpose, it can’t hold my attention. Rachel Harrison does these kinds of character/theme-focused […]

Horror Month 2023: #4

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

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The other Grady Hendrix book was the one I really wanted to like. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires had its moments and its subtext was a clever metaphorical look at societal exploitation. But I couldn’t connect with the characters the way Hendrix wanted  me to and I felt like he got too caught up in the concept to execute well. That’s not the case here. While both are 4-star reads in their own ways, this felt like a more realized book. Because while the […]

Horror Month 2023: #3

Last Days by Adam Nevill

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This is a book that shouldn’t have worked for me. There’s little characterization and what is there made the MC come off as an insufferable prig. The book follows a formula of the film crew going to one location, talking to someone attached to the cult, being spooked out by the house on location…and then moving on and doing the same thing over-and-over. The scares themselves are of that jumpscare variety that’s never been my kind of horror. And it takes 531 pages to get […]

Horror Month 2023: #2

Holly by Stephen King

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I suppose I should address the conversation around the book before the book itself. There’s been a lot of grousing from center/center-right/right wing King fans about how political this book is. That all the villains are painted as MAGA doofuses. These comments usually have some variety of “King was never political until now!” To which I say…have you ever read Stephen King? His early books are steeped in 70s paranoia. He wrote a book about a man trying to assassinate a presidential candidate, the latter […]



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