Under The Radar Books.

Category: The BLOG.

  • Revelator.

    Revelator by Daryl Gregory

    Synopsis.

    From the acclaimed author of Spoonbenders comes the gripping tale of a family’s mysterious religion, and the daughter who turns her back on their god.

    In 1933, nine-year-old Stella is left in the care of her grandmother, Motty, in the backwoods of Tennessee. These remote hills of the Smoky Mountains are home to dangerous secrets, and soon after she arrives, Stella wanders into a dark cavern where she encounters the family’s personal god, an entity known as the Ghostdaddy.

    Years later, after a tragic incident that caused her to flee, Stella–now a professional bootlegger–returns for Motty’s funeral, and to check on the mysterious ten-year-old girl named Sunny that Motty adopted. Sunny appears innocent enough, but she is more powerful than Stella could imagine–and she’s a direct link to Stella’s buried past and her family’s destructive faith.

    Haunting and wholly engrossing, summoning mesmerizing voices and giving shape to the dark, Revelator is a southern gothic tale for the ages.

    The Review

    Revelator

    By: Daryl Gregory

    Revelator by Daryl Gregory

    Told in dual timelines with fascinating characters and written by a talented author, REVELATOR is full of quick words, an incredible gothic atmosphere, deep religious family roots, and a fast-paced mystery is set at the heart.

    This book is said to be horror, but it read more like a mystery to me with Southern Gothic roots. The writing reminded me a little of Jennifer McMahon, so fans of hers should definitely check this one out. The religious aspects and folk-lore elements were unsettling, but this is not a scary or horrifying book. It is more odd than anything else. But I like odd!!

    I thought there were names (GHOSTDADDY) that were comical and scenes that were almost whimsical, like ALICE IN WONDERLAND, but in a really twisted way. I don’t recommend this book to everyone. There were parts that were slower than others, and if you are not allured by the magic of it, you may not totally get it. However, if you’re a reader that enjoys the journey as much as the destination, then I recommend picking this one up.

    And just a little heads up. You’re going to be seeing this book everywhere. It’s Jordy’s Book Club pick for August, and I bet a lot of people are going to be talking about who their GHOSTDADDY is!

    I really enjoyed this one, and I’ve put in my pre-order for this beautiful book!

    Have you seen the cover???

    Special thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy of this book!

    4 Stars

    Buy from Bookshop.org
    Shop Literary Reserve

  • The Atmospherians

    The Atmospherians by Alex McElroy

    Synopsis.

    A “dazzling” (Bryan Washington, author of Memorial and Lot ) and brilliantly satirical debut novel for fans of Women Talking and Red Clocks about two best friends—a disgraced influencer and a struggling actor—who form The Atmosphere, a cult designed to reform problematic men.

    Sasha Marcus was once the epitome of contemporary success: an internet sensation, social media darling, and a creator of a high profile wellness brand for women. But a confrontation with an abusive troll has taken a horrifying turn, and now she’s at rock bottom: canceled and doxxed online, fired from her waitress job and fortressed in her apartment while men’s rights protestors rage outside. All that once glittered now condemns.

    Sasha confides in her oldest childhood friend, Dyson—a failed actor with a history of body issues—who hatches a plan for Sasha to restore her reputation by becoming the face of his new business venture, The Atmosphere: a rehabilitation community for men. Based in an abandoned summer camp and billed as a workshop for job training, it is actually a rigorous program designed to rid men of their toxic masculinity and heal them physically, emotionally, and socially. Sasha has little choice but to accept. But what horrors await her as the resident female leader of a crew of washed up, desperate men? And what exactly does Dyson want?

    Explosive and wickedly funny, this “Fight Club for the millennial generation” (Mat Johnson, author of Pym) peers straight into the dark heart of wellness and woke-ness, self-mythology and self-awareness, by asking what happens when we become addicted to the performance of ourselves

    The Review

    Savage

    This book is SAVAGE!! It doesn’t seem like it in the beginning. It’s snarky and intelligent in the beginning, but the savage comes later.

    If you get the humor and not the insult, you’ll appreciate it at page one. This book was what I would shelve as “witty” and “dark humor.” I don’t think it’s for everyone.

    But one of the characters, at least for me, really starts to come to her full FRUITION around 2/3 in. I love her. She reminds me of the MC in MY YEAR OF YEAR AND RELAXATION. They would loathe each other more than they loathed themselves.

    The book is NOT trying to be the next FIGHT CLUB. It does play a quick homage to it. It is written for what is going on now. Fight Club was vastly written with political, societal, and psychological constructs.

    THE ATMOSPHERIANS is as well but where the books differ is in its very real-life and current details. THE ATMOSPHERIANS will not age as well as the FIGHT CLUB.

    Also, Fight Club is mentioned in the book, which would never happen in Fight Club.

    Ha

    And although the characters are cult-like, reformationist, the author was not trying to recreate Tyler Durden. The characters within this book stand on their own, and do not need alters.

    Does the fact that it’s reminiscent of another book take away from the book or the writing or the characters?

    Not at all!!

    And it didn’t take away from my enjoyment either.

    Don’t miss this one!

    One of my favorites of the year!

    Five Stars!

    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

    Thanks to netgalley and Atria Books for a copy of this title in change for an honest review!

    Buy from Bookshop.org
    Shop Literary Reserve

  • Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost

    Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost by Lindsay Marcott

    Synopsis.

    In a modern and twisty retelling of Jane Eyre, a young woman must question everything she thinks she knows about love, loyalty, and murder.

    Jane has lost everything: job, mother, relationship, even her home. A friend calls to offer an unusual deal—a cottage above the crashing surf of Big Sur on the estate of his employer, Evan Rochester. In return, Jane will tutor his teenage daughter. She accepts.

    But nothing is quite as it seems at the Rochester estate. Though he’s been accused of murdering his glamorous and troubled wife, Evan Rochester insists she drowned herself. Jane is skeptical, but she still finds herself falling for the brilliant and secretive entrepreneur and growing close to his daughter.

    And yet her deepening feelings for Evan can’t disguise dark suspicions aroused when a ghostly presence repeatedly appears in the night’s mist and fog. Jane embarks on an intense search for answers and uncovers evidence that soon puts Evan’s innocence into question. She’s determined to discover what really happened that fateful night, but what will the truth cost her?

    The Review

    Here’s one title coming out in August that I think you can pass on…more after the jump..

    Mrs. Rochesters Ghost

    By: Lindsay Marcott

    I know for sure I was looking for a gothic mystery when I requested this book. I am surprised that I did not DNF. There were several parts where I wanted to. The writing is similar to Taylor Adams of No Exit. Both authors use descriptors that are extremely offputting.

    I’ll try to give you a few non-spoilery examples:

    +This book is filled with designer label drops. Oddly, as were going through the story, the author continues to point out affluent car names. One person is driving a Tesla, someone else is driving an Audi, and I think another main character drives a Highlander. These are not the details I want to remember about your book. Granted, no ones really driving a Mercedes, which is even weirder. These are cars that cost between $50-100K. I think that’s where “luxury” cars begin. What are you telling me about this character that drives a Tesla? This is not a rap song, and the author is not @dojacat. There are no besties in their Tessies killing people.

    +There is a scene far into the book. It’s intended to be a high-stress, tense scene. Yet, the author is pointing out that there are jacuzzis in every bathroom of their hideout hotel room and is detailing what types of alcohol are in the mini-fridge.

    + There are several scenes where things are repeated incessantly. Names, one, in particular, are repeatedly spelled out. The name when I first heard it was unique and exotic. Now, if I hear it again, I’ll scream. Pronouns are as extinct in the writing as they are Facebook Bios. She can take the place of names. Also, when characters are talking, they don’t normally call out each others names.

    These things can really take a reader out of the book, which is what happened to me.

    Recommended for readers who like the book’s ROOM and NO EXIT. I also recommend to readers who love stories that unfold and where you as the readers have a veiled perspective. IE: unreliable narrator. Because you’re not getting all the information here.

    That’s a no from me..

    2 Stars

    Buy from Bookshop.org
    Shop Literary Reserve