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Café Insomniac

Book Review of Café Insomniac, by Mark Capell

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Cafe InsomniacAuthor, Mark Capell sent me a copy of his novel, Café Insomniac.

Description from Amazon:
“The trick is not to fear the shadows but to embrace them… Night-time has become a good friend,” says Justin.

But for how long?

Twenty-five-year-old insomniac Justin Brooks opens an all-night café for something to do, to fill the long nights. But soon after opening, one of his customers is found murdered in a side street.

What Justin doesn’t know is that his insomnia is connected to the murder.

Even before the murder, inexplicable things were starting to happen in Justin’s life. But after it, life becomes very strange indeed…

…..His eyes stream when it rains outside….. Another café appears, out of the fog, out of nowhere….. Footsteps follow him everywhere….. The dead person talks to him, though it’s not a ghost….. And a magician waits for him, perched on a high wire, high up in the night sky…..

Strange things indeed. But these strange things can’t possibly have anything to do with the murder. 

Can they?

Nobody who visits Café Insomniac can ever look at the world in the same way again.

“I don’t know what’s real and what isn’t — and which is most dangerous.”

Review:
In some ways this is a really interesting novel. It’s certainly well written. Mr. Capell sure knows how to string a sentence together for the most emotional impact. It’s also well edited. And since you spend a decent amount of time in Justin’s head (befuddled as it may be) you get a feel for him. There is a lot of such praise I could give the book.

Unfortunately, I also thought it dragged. Now, some of this is, I’m sure, purposeful on the author’s part. Justin’s sleep deprived mind moves at the speed of molasses. The slow pace of the novel echoes this, creating a certain appropriate atmosphere. But it also made the book feel much longer than it actually is. (And at 360+ pages, it’s already pretty long.)

What’s more, despite all Justin’s hallucinatory, confused ideas creating unexpected twists to the plot, the whole thing was disappointingly predictable in the end. If felt very much like the author wimped out a little bit and veered back onto safer ground before his conclusion.

I was also left with a few questions, though most of it did wrap up nicely. For example (and I’m trying valiantly to not include a spoiler here), was he ever really beat up? One would presume so since he really did know his sister’s problem, which infers he really did go to the hospital. If he was really beat up, who did it if XXX was a hallucination? Or what caused the injury to his hand at the end, if the events of the previous night weren’t real? Essentially, the book isn’t always careful to ensure that the effects of things explained away are also explained.

For the most part, however, it’s an interesting and enjoyable read. Well worth picking up if the blurb sounds interesting to you.

Book Review of The Pack or the Panther, by Tara Lain

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The Pack or the PantherI bought a copy of the Pack or the Panther, by Tara Lain.

Description from Goodreads:
Cole Harker, son of an alpha werewolf, is bigger and more powerful than most wolves, tongue-tied in groups, and gay. For twenty-four years, he’s lived to please his family and pack—even letting them promise him in marriage to female werewolf Analiese to secure a pack alliance and help save them from a powerful gangster who wants their land. Then Cole meets Analiese’s half-brother, panther shifter Paris Marketo, and for the first time, Cole wants something for himself. 

When Analiese runs off to marry a human, Cole finally has a chance with Paris, but the solitary cat rejects him, the pack, and everything it represents. Then Cole discovers the gangster wants Paris too and won’t rest until he has him. What started as a land dispute turns into World War Wolf! But the bigger fight is the battle between cats and dogs.

Review:
Goodness, I’ve had rotten luck lately in the book department. I’m not one of those ‘find fault with everything’ readers. I promise I’m not. But this one ticked very few boxes in my ‘likely to love it’ listing.

The writing itself is fine. It seemed pretty well-edited, and Cole is to die for. He’s an endearing mix of big, tough alpha wolf and tongue-tied, flustered cutie. Oh, and there are some cool side characters. I liked Cole’s best friend, Lindsay, though it was pretty darned convenient that he had so many connections and could do all the save-the-day type things he could. But I liked him. And it was pretty awesome that Cole’s mom is so kickass on her own. But that’s where my praise ends. 

I hated Paris. He was like some amped-up caricature of a sassy, slutty (in the fun way, if you know what I mean) bottom. He was selfish, and a lot of his issues weren’t well explained. He seemed to be damaged in some way but claimed to have had a happy life. 

Then there was the sex. OMG, the sex. It was just wrong in so many ways. It was effortless, crude, rushed, and the things they said…cringe. I’m embarrassed for them, and that’s before I factor in the howling. No, it didn’t do it for me. I didn’t find it arousing AT ALL.

Then there was the sappy, ‘everyone apologises and tells them how great they are’ ending. I mean, it’s great that Cole’s parents finally came around, but that whole scene in the new house was hard to swallow—like trying to drink straight agave. Not happening. And the twist at the very end? It made no sense. Why keep that hidden throughout the whole book? I can think of a number of times that ability would have smoothed already difficult situations.

So, on the whole, this is a failure for me. There were things I appreciated, and, again, the writing ok. But on my ‘personal preferences’ list, it didn’t score well.

nothing serious

Book Review of Nothing Serious, by Jay Northcote

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Nothing Special

I bought a copy of Nothing Serious, by Jay Northcote.

Description from Goodreads:
Mark O’Brien is finally being honest with himself. His relationship with Rachel is over and he’s moving out of the home they’ve shared for six years. They get along, but he can’t fix a relationship when the person he’s with is the wrong gender.

Jamie Robertson, one of the removal men, is huge and ridiculously gorgeous, and Mark is smitten at first sight. When a cardboard box splits, revealing items of a personal nature that Mark never wanted anybody to see, he’s mortified. But it sparks the start of a beautiful friendship with benefits.

As Jamie initiates Mark into the joys of gay sex, the two men get increasingly close and “nothing serious” turns into something rather important to both of them. But communication isn’t their strong point. Will either man ever find the courage to be honest about his feelings?

Review:
I have to give this book credit for being EXACTLY what it sets itself out to be in its blurb. However, it is that and only that. There is no more to it. A man breaks up with his girlfriend of 9 years because he finally decides to admit he’s gay. (Mostly because he’s approaching 30 and his mom keeps pushing him to marry her.) 

Lucky for him she’s the understanding type, who isn’t pissed to also be pushing 30, largely past prime childbearing age (not to mention, what our sexist culture tells women is basically their prime—she was with Mark from roughly age 20-29) and dropped without preamble. While I thought she was far, far too understanding, considering she’d invested 9 years into the relationship, I also appreciate there were no screechy, banshee women here. 

Also lucky for Mark was that he happened to meet and fall in love with literally the first gay man he comes across after moving out (actually as he’s moving out.) No need to negotiate life as a single gay man in the city for Mark. Things couldn’t have gone any easier for him. 

I’m tempted to call this PWP, except the fact that the two of them are having a lot of pointless sex kind of is the plot. Somehow, during their downtime they’re supposed to be falling in love, but we’re never really shown these bits of the story. We’re told they happen. For example, Friday nights become pizza and movie night. But I didn’t find the romance particularly believable. 

Both characters are really sweet and it’s a nice intro to man on man sex, with Jamie being possibly the most patient considerate lover on the face of the earth. So, it’s a pleasant enough read. As the title says, it’s Nothing Serious. An easy, rainy afternoon read.