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| ★★★★★ |
Synopsis: Jack Sparks died while writing this book. In 2014, Jack Sparks - the controversial pop culture journalist - died in mysterious circumstances. To his fans, Jack was a fearless rebel; to his detractors, he was a talentless hack. Either way, his death came as a shock to everyone. It was no secret that Jack had been researching the occult for his new book. He'd already triggered a furious Twitter storm by mocking an exorcism he witnessed in rural Italy. Then there was that video: thirty-six seconds of chilling footage that Jack repeatedly claimed was not of his making, yet was posted from his own YouTube account. This book, compiled from the files found after his death, reveals the chilling details of Jack's final hours.
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Review: This book was one hell of a ride. One HELL... geddit? Ahem. Okay, well, I really enjoyed it. It was a rollercoaster - I wasn't too sure at the start, then it drew me in, then it started to dip a bit, and just when I thought it was about to drop from four stars down to three, it rocketed right up to five stars. With a bit of time to process the experience and allow for the flaws, I've put it back down to four. I know, right? What kind of book is this? Haven't a notion.
It's very well written. I don't want to oversell the writing, because - for example - I didn't *really* like any of the characters at all - particularly Jack. But what I would say for the writing is that I spent half the book thinking I hated the writing style, when in fact in turned out in the second half that I hated the persona Jack Sparks exudes in the pages of his book, and this turns around a bit in the second half. His writing is full of witty sarcasm and cynicism, which at times is very funny, at times slightly annoying, and later in the book, features irritating refusal to accept mountains of evidence for apparent facts.
What I loved about this was the adventure. It's not a fun adventure for Jack - after all, we know he winds up dead. But it's creepy, drawing on just enough of the standard tropes to support its own original direction. What was unexpected about this book is that it is not just a quest to disprove the existence of the paranormal, but something much closer to home too.
The ending though. I absolutely bloody LOVED the ending. Fantastic. Perfect. Flawless. It redeemed all of the questionable aspects of this book to make me absolutely love it. This is one I'm gonna be buying in hardcopy and rereading. It's quirky, funny, sometimes gross, a little bit creepy and - I think - quite clever in the end. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5/5
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