Xepherus Reads

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!    As a fan of crime thrillers and horror novels, I love to sit down and enjoy a spooky tale. But when my two favorite genres collide and produce something even more exciting, I take it slow and savor the story.   The Outsider is written by Stephen King and is published by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. In this explosive thriller, we are introduced to Ralph Anderson, a detective with the Flint City police. When a child is found murdered, the prime suspect is local kids coach, Terry Maitland. Eyewitnesses put him at the scene and forensic evidence matches Maitland's own. Ralph, infuriated by the police's findings, arrests Maitland at a local ball game. But their evidence is no match for well-documented proof that Maitland was in another city at the time of the murder. Which begs the question: how can one man be in two places at the same time?   The case grows exponentially wei...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!       Many readers love a book so much that a re-read can enhance the book's story. For me, that includes Harry Potter, the Outsiders, and The Exorcist. Picking up a book that you have already e njoyed and diving in agai n can be a puzzle to some. Why on Earth would someone read a book again?  For me, I do this because of nostal gia and often I wish to see how a book holds up as I get older. A nd what better way to celebrate the spooky time of the year than with a scary read.        The Exorcist is written by William Peter Blatty, and it published by Harper Publishing. It tells the story of young Regan MacNeil, an  eleven-year-old   girl seemingly as ordinary as any girl her age. Artistic, cheerful, and still sleeping with stuffed animals, Regan (or Rags, as her mother Chris calls her) looks as if she could do no harm to anyone. Her mother is a movie star filming her latest pict...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!    Choosing a short novel that can pass the time adequately can often be a chore. Enter Stephen King with his amazing short works and at 290 pages (short for me), Carrie filled this requirement quite well.        Carrie is Stephen King's 1974 novel, currently published by Doubleday Books. In the novel of telekinetic terror, we are introduced to Carietta White. An outcast and school punching bag, Carrie does her best to live her life sin-free and keep her head down at school, lest she becomes her classmate's latest prank. Her mother, Margaret, is a hard-working woman who reports to work every day. But Mrs. White has a dark side, one fueled by religious zealotry and insanity. When Carrie is home she lives in fear that her mother may snap at any moment, sending her to be locked in their "prayer closet" for hours on end. Carrie desperately wants to live her life like other girls, but Margaret is always on duty t...