Book Review: The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker

-
Image
The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker  was published on March 17, 2025. It opens with Detective Declan Shaw at a closed subway station trying to work up the nerve to commit suicide when he receives a call from his partner about a break in and homicide at the home of a true crime author. Shaw makes his way to the crime scene to work the case, and in a turn of events, Declan comes under scrutiny in another case loosely connected to this new case. I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Writer  from NetGalley and Little , Brown, and Company for free in exchange for my honest review. I'm appreciative that my request for this book was approved. With this story opening with the main character trying to commit suicide, I almost didn't go any further with the book. However, I am glad I stuck with it as it took me on a fantastic ride and had my emotions all over the place. There were so many twists and turns that just when I thought I had it all figured out, there was ...
Post a Comment

Book Review: Beach House by R.L. Stine

-
The Running Bibliophile's Young Adult (YA) Horror Book Review of Beach House by R.L. Stine
Over twenty years ago, I bought the book Beach House by R.L. Stine when I was a high school student. I remember feeling that this book by him was so much more mature than his other works and was super impressed by the fact that it alternated between the year 1956 and the present day. With that being said, I was even more impressed that he included time travel into the novel and was totally surprised that one of the characters had "come back from the dead" to kill him. At that point in time, the only other book that had to do with any kind of "time travel" that I read was Mary Downing Hahn's middle grade book Wait Til Helen Comes, which isn't really a comparable book.

A few months ago, I came across a copy of Beach House at Goodwill and decided to buy it because I had such fond memories of it. This past weekend, I finally picked it up and read it within a few hours (maybe 2-3 hours total reading time). As I read it, I had vague memories of the time travel and one of the characters being a time traveler who killed his friends, but I couldn't remember who it was and whether he lived in 1956 or the present day. I had also forgotten the very end of it as well. I enjoyed rereading it for nostalgic reasons but probably won't read it again.

Things I found interesting were songs from the 1950's were included in the book like Shake, Rattle, & Roll and Earth Angel. Boom boxes and Walkman were mentioned as well. I honestly wonder if a tween or teen would even know those songs today or even know what a boom box or Walkman was if they actually read Beach House now. I didn't give these things a second thought when I originally read the book in high school.

Another thing I found interesting was that the present day teens used beach towels that were labelled with MTV and Coke. Having a degree in Communications and having worked in both advertising and the movie industry, I wonder if R.L. Stine was paid for product placement within Beach House or if he was just trying to make the teens appear to be one of the cool kids. I thought nothing of it as a teenager.beach house rl stine

What I find sad is that in today's times, Beach House would likely be classified as a book suitable for kids 8-12 years of age instead of 12-17 years of age. I think most teenagers would laugh at this book now, and many tweens probably would as well because it seems as though kids are growing up a lot faster than they use to. I would definitely recommend this book to a tween or teenager who is young at heart and has been a bit sheltered (because of my previous statements about kids growing up faster).

Synopsis of Beach House by R.L. Stine
Alternating between 1956 and the present day, teen friends are spending their summer vacation at the beach. Slowly, one by one, they are being killed off by a stalker who disappears without a trace.
 
Follow Us On Social Media

https://www.facebook.com/runningbibliophile/https://www.instagram.com/therunningbibliophile/https://www.pinterest.com/therunningbibliophile/youtube the running bibliophile

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: The Dare by Natasha Preston

-
Image
The Dare by Natasha Preston is a young adult horror novel about Marley and her friends Atlas, Lucia, and Jesse are seniors in high school.  The senior pranks are fun and lighthearted until Rhett starts doling out dares that are more serious.  Will Marley and her friends survive? A huge thank you to NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy of The Dare  by Natasha Preston.  The last book I read by this author was so well written, I knew I wanted to give her latest story a try. The first thing I noticed about the story is it's reminiscent of R.L. Stine's Fear Street series, which brought back all the feels from my childhood.  Pretty quickly, the storyline shifts and is eerily similar to the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer .  It's at this point that I became disappointed with the book and almost stopped reading it.   Additionally, there were other parts t hat reminded me of The Secret Diaries by Janice Harrell.  So, overall, The Dare wasn't ...
Read more

Book Review: Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30) by Janet Evanovich

-
Image
Book Review: Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30) by Janet Evanovich Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30) by Janet Evanovich  is the latest installment in the Stephanie Plum book series and opens with Joe Morelli asking Stephanie to dog sit his dog Bob while he is out of town testifying at a trial.  The typical chaos ensues when Stephanie has to bring Bob along to apprehend all of her FTAs and has her asking herself if she wants to be married. Each book in this series typically follows the same formula and is wrapped up in a neat, tidy bow at the end.  It's because of this that I enjoy the series . . . I always know that Stephanie is going to get herself into some sort of trouble and need Ranger or Morelli to help her, and the bad guy is always caught.  Sometimes, I just need something familiar and predictable to read.  And, I don't mean that in a bad way either because it allows me to escape reality and gives me a few chuckles along the way.  It's like the ...
Read more

Product Review: Mr. Clean: Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist - Gain Scent

-
Image
One particular weekend night, I was watching television, and a commercial came on advertising Mr. Clean: Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist. In the ad, it mentioned that it would take off grime and dirt after spraying it on the surface and wiping it off with a simple swipe. It went on to mention that it could be used in the bathroom, and I thought, "I really need to try this product on my bathtub." Excited, I couldn't wait to buy it and looked for it at the grocery store the next day while I was getting my weekly groceries. I wasn't expecting to actually find it in stores yet because it usually takes the stores in my area a few weeks to get products in stock after I see it advertised on television. Much to my surprise and delight, my local Kroger Grocery Store actually had the Mr. Clean: Clean Freak Deep Cleaning Mist in stock and in no less than two scents. I grabbed the Gain Scent bottle and stuck it in my grocery cart. Eventually, I decided to use it to cle...
Read more