Time for some mini-reviews! What are mini-reviews, you ask? As the title suggests, these are short reviews, consisting of one paragraph tops, about a book. It’s a way to catch up on the books I’ve read a while ago, but never got around to reviewing.

The World’s Creepiest Places

Title: The World’s Creepiest Places

Author: Bob Curran

Genre: Non-Fiction, True Haunting

Rating: 3,5

Purchase: Amazon

“Just sit back and relax as Dr. Bob Curran takes you to places that only your mind can create with his words and stories. He has captivated the radio listening audience as he will captivate the reader. From vampires, to the undead, to green men, Dr. Curran will delight the imagination.”

–Tom Danheiser, producer, “Coast To Coast AM”

There are some places in the world where humans quite simply should not go. Not just haunted places, but sites where ancient forces still hold sway. We can recognize such locations by the responses they evoke within us–that feeling we call “the creeps.”

But just where are these places, and why do they terrify us?

In The World’s Creepiest Places, Dr. Curran visits some of these sites, looking at their history and traditions and exploring the creepy feeling they evoke in people who have been there. His travels range widely–from his native Ireland and through the empty deserts of the Middle East, to the misty hills of Tibet and back through Europe to America. He’s not only looking for ghosts, but also for sinister people, vampires, the living dead, doorways to other worlds–even venturing close to the Gates of Hell itself.

This is not just a ghostly travel book. It’s for those who want to explore the weird, out-of-the-way locations of our planet and test the boundaries of the reality many of us take for granted.

We dare you to take the journey with us.

Review: Intriguing book about, well, as the title suggests, the creepiest places in the world. The author goes into great detail, offering history and background story for each of the locations. I liked that the book didn’t limited itself to the USA, but instead focused on creepy places all over the world.

Beyond the Wall

Title: Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin’s Song of Fire

Author: James Lowder (Editor), several contributors

Genre: Non-Fiction

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase: Amazon

Foreword by New York Times bestselling author R.A. Salvatore

Go beyond the Wall and across the narrow sea with this collection about George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, from A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons.

The epic game of thrones chronicled in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series has captured the imaginations of millions of readers. In Beyond the Wall, bestselling authors and acclaimed critics offer up thought-provoking essays and compelling insights:

Daniel Abraham reveals the unique challenges of adapting the original books into graphic novels.
Westeros.org founders Linda Antonsson and Elio M. García, Jr., explore the series’ complex heroes and villains, and their roots in the Romantic movement.
Wild Cards contributor Caroline Spector delves into the books’ controversial depictions of power and gender.

Plus much more, from military science fiction writer Myke Cole on the way Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder shapes many of the leading characters to author and television writer Ned Vizzini on the biases against genre fiction that color critical reactions to the series.

Review: A great read for fans of the Song of Fire and Ice series. I enjoyed all chapters, and the unique and varying perspectives the authors gives an extra dimension to the book, and to the series it talks about. A must for fans of Game of Thrones.

Killer Charm

Title: Killer Charm: The Double Lives of Psychopaths

Author: Linda Fairstein

Genre: Non-Fiction

Rating: 2 stars

Purchase: Amazon

Linda Fairstein unmasks the true face of psychopathy, and reveals the warning signs that every woman should know

The 2009 “Craigslist Killer” murder case shocked America, not just because of the heinous nature of the crimes but because their perpetrator—a handsome young law student with an unsuspecting girlfriend—seemed a very unlikely suspect. This killer, like others before him, had learned to leverage his charm and golden-boy looks to lure his victims, a skill many psychopaths learn to master. In Killer Charm, legal expert Linda Fairstein draws on her decades of experience in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to uncover what traits psychopaths often share, and how to spot them. She illustrates these points with the stories of some of America’s most notorious sex criminals, such as Ted Bundy and Marvin Teicher. Originally published in Cosmopolitan, this essay is now available in digital format for the first time and features a new introduction by the author

Review: A bit of a dissapointment. Very short, and offers no real insights. It reads more like a prequel to a novel at around 12 pages. Nevertheless, the article itself is interesting, and talks about the peculiar charm of killers. If this was novel-length, I would have enjoyed it more.