REVIEW: Fiend

PLOT: There’s more than one kind of monster. When Chase Daniels first sees the little girl in umbrella socks tearing open the Rottweiler, he's not too concerned. As a longtime meth addict, he’s no stranger to horrifying, drug-fueled hallucinations. But as he and his fellow junkies soon discover, the little girl is no illusion. The end of the world really has arrived. The funny thing is, Chase’s life was over long before the apocalypse got here, his existence already reduced to a stinking basement apartment and a filthy mattress and an endless grind of buying and selling and using. He’s lied and cheated and stolen and broken his parents’ hearts a thousand times. And he threw away his only shot at sobriety a long time ago, when he chose the embrace of the drug over the woman he still loves. And if your life’s already shattered beyond any normal hopes of redemption…well, maybe the end of the world is an opportunity. Maybe it’s a last chance for Chase to hit restart and become the man he once dreamed of being. Soon he’s fighting to reconnect with his lost love and dreaming of becoming her hero among civilization’s ruins. But is salvation just another pipe dream?

REVIEW: I had requested this from the library for obvious reasons, it has zombies in it. I had forgotten that upon requesting it, it had also been about meth users in a zombie apocalypse. I was quickly greeted with very dark and gritty narration, that leaves nothing to the imagination when it comes to the use of methamphetamine. Chase Daniels is a meth user, and when he sees a little girl with umbrella socks opening up a rottweiler for her first meal, he thinks he's just hallucinating. As time goes on, the visions become more and more real and Chase realizes it isn't the drugs making these visions appear, it's actually happening. Chase and his buddy Typewriter, A.K.A. John, embark on a journey of survival in more ways than one, quickly after this book begins. At first the book is difficult to follow, with the two main characters bantering back and forth, because the author chose to use a different style in terms of writing dialogue. There are no quotes around any of the words spoken by any of the characters, but rather it is led by a "he said" or "she said" type line. I found this to be somewhat refreshing and a different take, and I'm curious as to the reason of said decision but it did take some getting used to.

The zombies in the book are definitely a little different from the usual as well, as for some reason these zombies chuckle or giggle. This is how our characters are able to differentiate between the walking dead and the spun out human beings they encounter on their journey. There's a lot left to the imagination in terms of how this apocalypse arrived and why it is that these people are shambling, yet giggling, walking dead. I'm curious as to the hidden meaning of a lot of things in this book, as I have a feeling there are a few. I noticed upon finishing the book that Peter Stenson is a recovering addict, and I'm going to assume it's from use of methamphetamine but I'm not sure because there was no clarification of that on the back of the book. It really shows though in terms of the descriptions when our main characters are using drugs, preparing drugs, or rattling off rapid fire thoughts they have while high on meth. While it can at times be disturbing, it's a very rattling and seemingly true perspective through the eyes of a meth addict. The meth use is prominent through the book, so if drug use is something that bothers you, you should definitely shy away from this book. The thoughts are often times irrational, erratic, and downright absurd from our main character Chase, but it's all part of the dream that he's living out in real life.

I find myself caught between really liking this book, but also questioning why so much was left up to interpretation or was inconclusive. The book kind of just ends and you wonder what happens to Chase Daniels after such an excruciating journey through his addiction, solving other people's problems through his meth visions, and of course the zombies, A.K.A. Chucklers. I like a lot about the book, as it was very different and definitely was a different zombie tale that stands out from the rest of the craze that has recently swept the bookshelves. Peter Stenson weaves an incredibly macabre story of a meth addict in a post apocalyptic world, and you can't help but to keep turning the pages to find out what the character is going to do, or think, next. I would recommend this to the most hardcore fans of zombie fiction, and even drug fiction and meth takes the front seat in this ride. The zombies are definitely there, but I don't feel that it's the true focus of the story. The battle inside Chase over his meth addiction, and the battle outside for the people around him are at the forefront of the emotional impact this story has, and even though it all sounds like a ridiculous premise I was pretty impressed. If you're sad that Breaking Bad is coming to a close in the next two weeks, and you have to wait a month until the fourth season of The Walking Dead premieres, this is probably the perfect book to satisfy your addiction and pass the time.

RATED : ( R )

WRITING : ( 9 / 10 )

STORY : ( 7 / 10 )

COVER : ( 9 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 9 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 8 / 10 )

REVIEW: Plague Town

PLOT: Ashley was just trying to get through a tough day when the world turned upside down. A terrifying virus appears, quickly becoming a pandemic that leaves its victims, not dead, but far worse. Attacked by zombies, Ashley discovers that she is a 'Wild-Card' -- immune to the virus -- and she is recruited to fight back and try to control the outbreak.

REVIEW: I have been wanting to read this series for a long time because it's one of the higher rated zombie series out. At first, I fell in love with Plague Town because of the chatty protagonist, Ashley Parker. She is very reminiscent of someone like Buffy but in a world full of zombies. Her sarcasm and quick thinking really provide a lot of entertainment at the beginning of the book. However, as Plague Town progresses it is plagued with a lot of unnecessary dialogue and just little to no action. I'm not an action fiend but I just don't feel like there was a whole lot to the story and it was just Ashley and the Wild Cards against the apocalypse. Also, the story with Ashley and Gabriel is just strange and I will never understand how these relationships come to be in books when the lead male interest is a dick. This is urban fantasy, with zombies, and a charming female lead but outside of that there really wasn't much left to enjoy, at least for me. Definitely for fans of zombies and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I don't know about who else.

RATED : ( R )

WRITING : ( 6 / 10 )

STORY : ( 3 / 10 )

COVER : ( 5 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 4 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 4 / 10 )

REVIEW: The Lone Ranger (2013)

PLOT: Native American warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice.

REVIEW: Don't go see this movie. I thought I would start out by warning you really not to go see this movie, because if you only read the first line at least you would get the most important part. Part of me can't even begin to explain just how bad The Lone Ranger was. But I feel a duty to the people of the world to write this review in some capacity to give you the most information I can, for you to make an educated decision. There's already so much said online about this film that I don't even feel like I can add anything to the discussion, but I just have to join in on this bashing because it's deserved. It's like the movie was so bad, that so many people were able to articulate so many jokes and comments about this movie on its very first day of release that it's actually more entertaining to read those than see the movie itself. It's unbelievable to me really, even after watching all of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, that you could make something so painstakingly awful that I'd rather watch all 4 of those in one sitting than to watch this movie again.

This isn't the first rodeo for director Gore Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and actor Johnny Depp, but hopefully this is their last as they've seemingly made a rodeo of a movie out of the television classic of the same name. Having worked on the first three Pirates films together, one sort of knew what to expect from The Lone Ranger. But it turns out that even mediocre expectations were an overestimation on the quality of this film. I was a huge fan of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and a few years ago probably would have told you it was in my Top 25 or so favorite films. As time has gone on and more Pirates have come out, that opinion has slowly faded away. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest wasn't awful, but then when I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End I was forced to re-evaluate that opinion as it was even worse than the one before it. Then a fourth came out and I'd just had it, because Disney has been trying to capitalize off of the popular character Johnny Depp portrayed in those movies, Jack Sparrow for too long now.

If there was any reason that I wanted to see this movie, it was because of Johnny Depp. I respect the guy as an actor, and he's true artist and passionate about his roles. I can't really say one way or the other that I hated Depp in the film, nor did I love him but he was easily one of the better parts of the movie if there were any at all. From time to time he would drop a wise but humorous comment and it would get a chuckle, but a lot of it I just shook my head at. Even the people that were laughing at the beginning of the film, were no longer laughing past halfway through I'm assuming for the same reasons I wasn't. The fact that he said kimosabe five thousand times really got on my nerves, before they had to point it out in the movie about why Tonto was saying it and why it was significant. This was a good description of the movie as it seemed like one overly long joke that wasn't really funny in the first place, and you were just continuously saying "get on with it already". Depp's portrayal of Tonto is almost only a Native American guised Jack Sparrow, which just goes to show what this movie was always about from the beginning, and that would be money. I understand Depp probably got into the character and the role, but I can't put it past Disney to have said, "hey Johnny, we want you to do quirky. We know you can do quirky. Yeah, kind of like that Jack Sparrow guy you did for the last 10 years." Again, it was funny at first but by the end of the movie you just really feel for Johnny Depp in real life, not Tonto in the film, as you just want to yell at him to run away from that Disney contract as soon as humanly possible.

Now, for the character of the Lone Ranger himself you've got Armie Hammer, whom I assume was chosen because of his good turn as the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network. After seeing this movie, I'm not entirely sure what the draw to this guy was, but let's not act like everyone wasn't going to see this movie for Johnny Depp over whoever they chose for the character anyways. So here's what I know about the Ranger: he wears a mask, there's something important about a silver bullet, and he's got a white horse. So here's what I don't know about the Ranger: honestly I don't remember his name ever being said but more than a couple times if that, but it was really hard to care I guess. Why does he wear the mask? What's with the bullet? Is the horse magic or something? I just could not wrap my head around the fact that even though this was an origin story to a classic character from several generations ago, that they would leave out such important information that people like myself may need baffled me completely. The movie is so frenetic and just all over the place in terms of tone and story, it's hard to keep any semblance of anything at all in your mind as the viewer. You can't tell an epic story like the Ranger's without the details and assume that everyone already knows, but anyone under 50 doesn't likely remember the show with much clarity. So Hammer was okay I guess, but again who really cared? Johnny Depp is in the movie.

I really like Johnny Depp, and it was so hard for me to dislike him in this movie even though it was so awful. And I could even say I'm a fan of Verbinski's because I thought Rango was cute though it was not for kids, Mouse Hunt is one of my favorite family films, and The Ring isn't horrible at all for a PG-13 horror film even though it started one of the worst film fads in recent memory. It was just so damn hard to have fun with The Lone Ranger, and probably the only thing I truly liked about the film even though it was completely ruined by the rest was William Fichtner's bad guy Butch Cavendish. I am not sure if it's just because I like the guy and he was absolutely disgusting and unlikable in the sense that he was a villain, but he was the only thing I was happy to dislike about the movie. So I'm not even really sure if that's a good thing. Either way, this movie sucked. I can't talk about it anymore, I really can't. A strange indian, Zorro, and a unicorn walk into the West, and this is what you get. Save your money this July 4th weekend and treat yourself to something like The Walking Dead marathon on AMC like I plan to, or buy yourself a Big Mac meal from McDonald's for lunch AND dinner, or hell go see Monsters University with the family which is what I saw previous to this film. Just please, don't waste your money, or give Disney another excuse to sign Johnny Depp onto a movie to have Jerry Bruckheimer produce it and Gore Verbinski in the director's chair again. I do not want to end up seeing trailers for The Return of the Lone Ranger, so please be smart this holiday weekend and celebrate responsibly. Spare us the unneccesary torment Disney. And Johnny, I think this is the last mulligan we can give you. You have got to make some better decisions starting right now. And please for all that is holy, put Jack Sparrow back in the closet because his 15 minutes are long past.
  

ACTING : ( 4 / 10 )
STORY : ( 1 / 10 )
EXECUTION : ( 1 / 10 )
POSTER : ( 8 / 10 )
AWESOME : ( 2 / 10 )
FINAL RATING : ( 2 / 10 )