Horror Annotation

Author: Stephen King

Title: Salem’s Lot
Genre: Horror
Publication Date: January 1975
Number of Pages: 653 pages
Geographical Setting: Jerusalem’s Lot, Maine, West Coast/Mexico
Time Period: 1975
Series: Not part of a series, but characters do appear in other books
Plot Summary:
Author Ben Mears returns back to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot after being away for 25 years.  After suffering the loss of his wife in a motorcycle accident, Ben is in need of inspiration to produce his third novel.  He decides to publish his book about the Marsten House, a large house in which a 1930s hitman murdered his wife and committed suicide.  Upon returning to town, Ben begins a romantic relationship with Susan Norton, a young college graduate that Ben meets in the park.  He also develops a friendship with the high school teacher Matt Burke. 
As Ben is writing about the Marsten house, he inquires about renting it only to discover that the house that has been abandoned for several decades has been purchased by out of towners Kurt Barlow and his business partner in antique dealing Richard Straker.  Barlow, who is out of town on a purchasing trip, has Straker set up an antique store downtown.  As the men get established in the community, strange occurrences begin to happen.  A dog is discovered brutally murdered in a graveyard.  The Glick brothers disappear after walking through the woods on the way to a friend’s house.  One is found dead while the other is discovered suffering from extreme shock.  Although previously healthy, the brother dies of anemia.  At night, Danny Glick rises from the dead and is seen by townspeople.  As other people begin to also get sick and die, Ben and Matt begin to question if this small town has been overrun by supernatural monsters.  Are Staker and Barlow behind all of this?  Can Ben and the other townspeople save the town from this evil force? 
Subject Headings: Maine—Fiction, Vampire—Fiction, City and town life—fiction (World Cat)
Appeal:

- Character-Driven

- Fast-paced

- Super-natural monsters

- Unresolved ending

- Protagonists are “haunted, shattered individuals.” (Saricks 113)

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:

                Paul Barber, Vampires, Burial, and Death:  Folklore and Reality

                                - Scientific explanation for the origins of vampire legends

                                - Supernatural elements

                Mark Collins Jenkins, Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of the Enduring Legend

                                - Includes both historical and contemporary view of vampires

                Stephen King, Danse Macabre

                                - Non fiction work by King

                                - Discusses the behind the scene of Salem’s Lot and King’s inspiration for the characters

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

                Laurell K. Hamilton, Cravings

                                - Compelling

                                - Fast Paced

                                - Supernatural elements (Vampires)

                Dean Koontz, Phantoms

                                - Fast Paced

                                - Disappearance of a town

                                - Horror/Suspense story

                Brian Lumley, Necroscope: The Plague-Bearer

                                - Vampires

                                - Intricately plotted

                                - Fast paced

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn - Kirkus Review

            In only her third novel, Gillian Flynn drops her readers into the dissolution of a marriage in an unpredictable story of suspense categorized by kidnapping, murder, and an affair. 

Out-of-work authors and married couple Nick and Amy Dunne leave their unaffordable life in New York City to move to Nick’s small hometown of Carthage, Missouri.  Amy, whose psychologist parents have made a small fortunate writing an informational series called “Amazing Amy,” allows Nick to invest her trust money into a bar that he co-owns with his sister Margo.  While Nick is starting to settle into their new life, Amy struggles to adapt and expresses her unhappiness to a neighbor.  Nick returns home one day to discover the house in shambles and his wife missing.  Over the next few days, the evidence stacks up against Nick as readers learn about his mistress, the extra life insurance policy discovered in Amy’s name, and the recent financial hardships of the underperforming bar and empty trust account.   The story is told in Nick’s present day perspective as the reader is also provided with Amy’s journal to give her point of view.  A shocking twist in the halfway through causes the reader to question the plot of the first half and their own beliefs on who and what is worthy of believing. 

While Flynn’s story resembles a story ripped out of the headlines, her many twists and turns keeps her characters complex and the plot fresh and interesting. 

Suspense Book Annotation

Author: James Patterson

Title: Tick Tock

Genre: Suspense

Publication Date: January 2011

Number of Pages: 387 Pages

Geographical Setting: New York City and Breezy Point, New York

Time Period: Late 2000s/early 2010s

Series (If applicable):
1.        Step on a Crack
2.       Run For Your Life
3.       Worst Case
4.       Tick Tock
5.       I, Michael Bennett

Plot Summary: NYPD Detective Michael Bennett is enjoying his summer vacation with his ten adopted children when a fake bomb is discovered at the New York Public Library and Bennett is called back into action.  Although this bomb did not explode, fear spreads throughout the city as bombs do detonate in popular tourists landmarks.  In addition to the bombs, other crimes from kidnapping to murder are committed with notes from the killer to Bennett.  Bennett and his FBI partner Emily Parker discover that this killer is copying other famous New York criminals.  Can they stop him before he causes more damage? 

Subject Headings:
Detective – New York (State) – New York – Fiction
Psychopaths – Fiction
Bombings – Fiction
Bennett, Michael (Fictitious character) – Fiction
Detectives – New York (N.Y.) – Fiction
Mentally ill – Fiction

Appeal:
Fast paced
Serial killer based on historical occurrences
Writing is more dialogue based with smaller emphasis on description

Similar Authors and Works (why are they similar?):
Similar Fiction Works –
Son of Stone by Stuart Woods
     Fast Paced
    Based in New York City
     Part of a mystery/suspense series

Ricochet by Sandra Brown
      Plot driven
      Fast Paced
      Suspense with a romantic element

The Art of Deception by Ridley Pearson
      Fast Paced
      Relationship between lead cop and co-worker
      Part of a series

Similar Non-Fiction Works –
The Mad Bomber of New York:  The Extraordinary True Story of the Manhunt that Paralyzed a City by Michael Greenburg
      New York City True Crime referred to in Tick Tock
      Mentally ill offenders
      Bombers

Son of Sam: A Biography of David Berkowitz by Paul Brody
      New York City True Crime referred to in Tick Tock
      Serial Killers
      Mentally ill offenders

From the Mouth of the Monster: The Joel Rifkin Story by Robert Mladinich
      New York City True Crime referred to in Tick Tock
      Story of serial killer and cop
     Inside perspective into the mind of a murderer  

Reader Profile

My favorite genre to read is classic literature.  I love the idea of reading books that have stood the test of time and finding value in them in today's society.  Although I have read books by Bronte, Dickens, and Austen, I prefer modern classics from early 1900s to approx 1970s.  I love Vonnegut, Bradbury, Dos Pasos, and Salinger.  I like that these authors challenged the ways in which a story should be told by using untraditional story telling.  It also provides me with the satisfaction of completely a goal when reading classic books. 

In terms of more specific genres, I enjoy mysterys/thrillers, fantasy/sci-fi, and nonfiction.  In terms of finding new books to read, I usually visit Amazon to see what books are popular and what books are highly recommended by critics.  I also find books through entertainment blogs such as the Vulture from the New York Magazine or through Entertainment Weekly magazine. 

I am usually not drawn to romance/chick lit novels or westerns.  As I do not have the chance to read as often as I like with work and school, when I do have the opportunity, I like to read books of more substance.  I do not mind romance in books, but I do not like enjoying books entirely devoted to romance, shopping, woman's relationships, etc.  I like to watch TV or movies to relax my mind rather than reading a book to.  If I do read a lighter content books, I like comedies or funny memiors (something by Sedaris or Burroughs).  My dad loves to listen to western novels in this truck, so I am excited at the opportunity to read one of his books for our assignment as I never would have prior to this course. 

Other the last few months, I finished the Tana French mystery series and all of Gillian Flynn's thriller novels  I thought all of these books were fantastic and I am excited at what these authors will be producing in the future.  I have the 4th Geogre RR Martin to read, but I am waiting to finish this upcoming series before I do so