Book Review: The Guardians by Andrew Pyper (horror)

Would you like to learn how to create suspense and build on it? Andrew Pyper teaches you how to pick up that hot potato and never let it go in The Guardians.  

The Guardians by Andrew Pyper is a haunted house story. The Thurman house keeps dark secrets within its walls--but for how long? They want to get out.

Buy this book

Published by Doubleday Canada

an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada

Published in 2011

Forty-year-old Trevor is watching his life slip away as Parkinson's claims his body. He's alone but he wasn't always. In 1984, Trevor and his three friends Randy, Ben, and Carl played hockey for the Grimshaw Guardians. Flash forward twenty-four years to 2008 and Ben's death brings Trevor back to his hometown of Grimshaw, Ontario. It brings him face-to-face with that which haunts him--the Thurman house and his once girlfriend Sarah. One offers him death, the other life--which will Trevor choose?

To help Trevor cope with Parkinson's, doctors advise him to keep a journal. He takes this advice but he doesn't write about Parkinson's. He recounts the events that transpired in the winter of 1984 when he was sixteen. This dual timeline kept me on the edge of my seat. 

In fact, if I were, to sum up, The Guardians in one word that word would be suspenseful. 

New release by Andrew Pyper--The Residence

Virtual Reading...

Wednesday, October 28

just in time for Halloween

Larry 

a ghost story

November on this blog...

Sunday, November 1

Short Story:  A Bedtime Story 

Leanne Dyck

A sweet story about a child's bedtime ritual with her farmer father.

Sunday, November 8

Book Review:  How to Pronounce Knife (short story collection)

Souvankham  Thammavongsa

Nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize

The Scotiabank Giller Prize ceremony will be held tomorrow--Monday, November 9

Sunday, November 15

Short Story:  Is She Me?

Leanne Dyck

An anthem for women of a certain age.

Sunday, November 22

Book Review:  All We Left Behind (historical fiction)

Danielle R Graham

A war-time romance between Chidori and Hayden--set on a remote island off Canada's west coast (Mayne Island)

Sunday, November 29

Book Review:  MASH (historical fiction)

Richard Hooker

This novel about doctors servicing in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean war became the popular TV show MASH starring Alan Alda.

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Sharing my author's journey...

Thanks to the Vancouver Writers Festival, I had an opportunity to visit with Oliver Jeffers. 

'On this pale blue dot, everyone you love, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives... Every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there, on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam'

 

-Carl Sagan

Word count:   5,742 /40,000

This week was all about planning and filling in the blanks. For example, naming some of my key secondary characters. Often 

Writing about Writers (list of quotes) collected by Leanne Dyck

On October 10th this blog will be nine years old. Do you believe it? Nine. To celebrate, I re-read the quotes I gathered since 2012--when I started reviewing books for this blog. I'll offer these quotes in thematic collections over the next three months--including October, including today. Please click on the links provided under each quote to read my book reviews.

"An Autumn Road" photo by ldyck

Writing about Writers

To be a successful writer:  ' "You must have talent. A thick skin. And most important luck... To make luck you must be clever, or blessed." ' The Delusionist, Grant Buday

'I wonder if I'll ever write anything worth anything.' 

The Help, Kathryn Stockett

'What's the point of writing something that no one will ever read? I forget who said that a work of art does not exist without an audience--that it's not enough for it to be made.' 

Motherhood, Sheila Heti

'[N]early everything seems a letdown after a writer has finished writing something.' 

The World According to Garp, John Irving

'This is how we go on:  one day at a time, one meal at a time, one pain at a time, one breath at a time... If you write books, you go one page at a time.' Bag of Bones, Stephen King

'As a child I wrote small books which I began with the words The End. I needed to know the end was guaranteed.' 

Bluebeard's Egg, Margaret Atwood

'The writing had burned off all thoughts of the real world, at least temporarily. I think that, in the end, that's what it's for. Good or bad, it passes the time.' Bag of Bones, Stephen King

My teacher 'said that when you are writing a book you have to include some descriptions of things... She also said that I should describe people in the story by mentioning one or two details about them so that people could make a picture of them in their head.' 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mark Haddon

'When you make your daily bread in the land of make-believe, the line between what is and what seems to be is much finer.' 

Bag of Bones, Stephen King

'Writers are a strange breed. Magpies, scavengers. So fearful of the world they would prefer to describe it than live in it, yet brave to the point of idiocy when in pursuit of inspiration. The real ones will slip their heads into the noose and pull the lever themselves if they think a hanging would make a good tale.' 

The Only Child, Andrew Pyper

'[B]ut in dreams, perhaps everyone is a novelist.' 

Bag of Bones, Stephen King

'Flowers in the Fall' photo by ldyck

Next Sunday evening on this blog... 

23 Book Bloggers
a list of 23 bloggers who review books

If you enjoyed this list of quotes, you'll also enjoy...

Writing about Writing (list of quotes)

will be published on this blog on Sunday, November 3

Hmm... (list of quotes)
I invite you to select a quote to focus on during December--a challenging month for many.
will be published on this blog on Sunday, December 1

Book review: The Only Child by Andrew Pyper

Question:  What scares you more the evil you discover in those you label as other or your dark side?

Buy this book

Published by Simon & Schuster Canada

Published in 2017

Author:  After listening to Andrew Payne contribute to a panel discussion, I quickly added his name to my list of must-read authors.

Horror:  One of the brutalist scenes is in the opening chapters--the killing of protagonist Dr. Lily Dominick's mother.

Monster:  To create his monster, Payne borrows from three pioneers of the horror genre--Mary Shelley (Frankenstein), Bram Stoker (Dracula), Robert Stevenson (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde).

'A two-hundred-year-old man who believes he personally inspired Frankenstein, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula.' (p. 59)

' "Three novels, each dramatizing an antagonist bearing a unique mental deformity. The Creature:  a being made of dead parts, a soul tortured by solitude. Hyde:  the psychotic with dissociative identity disorder, one half the responsible physician, the other an escaped patient beyond control. And Dracula, a projection of insatiable lust darkened by sexual anxiety.' (p. 159-160)

Plot:  Following Steven King's formula, Payne introduces us to his protagonist Dr. Lily Dominick and her seemingly ordinary life. Charmed, we follow her down the rabbit hole to the stuff of horror.

Favourite quote:  'Writers are a strange breed. Magpies, scavengers. So fearful of the world they would prefer to describe it than live in it, yet brave to the point of idiocy when in pursuit of inspiration. The real ones will slip their heads into the noose and pull the lever themselves if they think a hanging would make a good tale.' (p. 155)

More...

If you enjoy reading The Only Child by Andrew Pyper, I know you'll enjoy reading The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova--I did.

Next post:  

Book Review
Sunday, November 5 at approximately 5 PM PT

Simon & Schuster's Incite-ful authors show me The Dark Side

Last Wednesday, March 19, I travelled by ferry from Mayne Island to Vancouver to visit my in-laws and to attend The Dark Side (a free literary event—part of the Incite series).

I walked into Vancouver’s central library and felt a change—it was no longer intimidating. I descended the stairs and walked into the Alice McKay room. Even though I was fifteen minutes early, many of the chairs were already occupied. I claimed a chair at the side of the room but decided to move so I could take better photos. Surprisingly, I was surprised to sit right behind Author Robin Spano.

Simon & Schuster had published all of the authors involved in this event.

The evening began with author readings. 

Sean Salder a.k.a. Sean Slater read the first two chapters of his book

Deryn Collier selected a reading that served as a introduction to her protagonist

Andrew Pyper read an exchange between two characters 

Nick Cutter a.k.a. Craig Davidson read the last two chapters of his book.

A question and answer session followed the readings. The audience was engaged and questions flew around the room. Here’s what I heard…

How did you start to write?

I wrote fan fiction.

Writing crime fiction was a desire I had since childhood.

My passion for reading inspired me to write.

The problems involved in writing under a pen name were discussed—especially in light of offering an author reading. (i.e. Who is on the stage?)

Is it easier to write your second book?

In certain ways, yes, because now I know my strengths and can rely on them.

Now I have confidence in my ability to write.

I find that it’s easier to structure my novel but I face more doubts and I impose higher standards on my writing.

When asked which book is their favourite, one author said that it was the one that was in the trunk. He was waiting for the best time to start a project that was dear to his heart. Most of the authors said that it was impossible to pick one favourite—they liked all their books, but for different reasons. “And all come home with different report cards.”

On the subject of formal training in writing, all authors agreed that it wasn’t necessary.

Reading is your education.

Seek out master storytellers and study their craft.

Attend writing events.

The lone author who was working on completing his PhD said that even though formal training wasn’t necessary it could prove valuable if looked at as working on your writing for two years in a supportive environment. Would-be students was cautioned against buying into one-upmanship.

The topic of research was discussed.

I draw on my life experiences.

I’m not writing a procedural.

I don’t hesitate to call up anybody—to answer my research questions.

I try to get the basic details.

Remember that there will be variances between professionals.

It’s the culture of the profession that is most important for me to capture.

When do you write?

Full-time 9 to 5 Monday to Friday

I write when I can. When my children were young, I woke at 4 a.m. and wrote until 7 a.m.

I write before I read emails.

I do what’s working when it’s working and that can vary.

I always leave something exciting to working for the next day.

The evening concluded with book signings.
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Sharing my author journey...