Reviews

October 4, 2011 0 comments

MPD Psycho, by Eiji Otsuka [manga, serial killer]

Title: MPD Psycho
Author: Eiji Otsuka
Genre: manga, horror, serial killers
Summary: In MPD-Psycho Volume 1, police detective Kobayashi Yousuke’s life is changed forever after a serial killer notices something “special” about him. That same killer mutilates Kobayashi’s wife and kick-starts a “multiple personality battle” within Kobayashi that pushes him into a complex tempest of interconnected deviants and evil forces. Earning praise for its consistently shocking plotlines and Tajima’s clean, arresting art style, MPD-Psycho is the manga event of the decade!

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is some seriously edgy stuff right here. The drawing style is clean and no-nonsense, so you’re not distracted by a lot of motion lines and garbage. The story itself is pretty twisty and at the end you’re left with this vague feeling that you’ve been run over, but that in all it was a fairly awesome experience. If you’re into serial killer stories, mind control, and group psychosis anyway. Not a whole lot of lovey-lovey here AT ALL, though the female lead is pretty sexy (so go ahead and include her in your fanfic!)

Starts off with a police detective following a serial killer. Then it goes all Se7en when a body is delivered in a cooler. From there you have our protagonist experiencing a complete mental breakdown and being institutionalized for awhile. Then he pops up years later and gets sucked back into the catching serials again.

And that’s when the story really starts. Because at the base of it all is some subversive organization pulling for the resurrection of their cult leader. How? Through the powers of genetics. MPD Psycho–Metro Police, or Multiple Personality Disorder Psycho. And that’s what everyone is in this story. Psycho.

NOTE: This is like Wire In the Blood, Touching Evil, Se7en, Red Dragon, and The 6th Day all rolled up in one manga package. Brilliant, at parts confusing, but in all something not to be missed.

October 3, 2011 0 comments

Plastic Jesus, by Poppy Z. Brite

Title: Plastic Jesus
Author: Poppy Z. Brite
Genre: faux-biofic, mm romance
Summary: The 1960’s brought Seth and Payton all they’d fantasized about–perfect friendships, a successful four-man band, and most importantly, each other. Together they embarked on a tour that brought them stimulating highs and shattering lows, and they prospered and suffered in one another’s arms. The two men carried each other and carried a group that created both a history and a future for rock. But at some point their music blurred with the news of their love and the world was faced with the choice to embrace its heroes or revert back to its deep-rooted prejudices.

My rating: 4 out of 5

Based on the Beatles, I found this a very interesting “What if…” Wonderfully written, fairly short, and the edition I read had some pen-drawn illustrations.

A quick-read, it’s one of those books that everyone should read once. If you like the Beatles anyway, and really wish that John and Paul could be more than friends. Though this isn’t the Beatles, of course, this is Seth and Payton. Two guys that just seem very familiar.

If you don’t like m/m, then this is not for you. If you do like m/m, this is an interesting story.

It’s kind of like she took her fanfic, changed a few names around, then published it to a world of AWESOME.

October 1, 2011 0 comments

Dressing Up, by Todd Young

Title: Dressing Up
Author: Todd Young (I keep wanting to call him “Adam Young”)
Genre: m/m romance/light erotica
Summary: Skipper has just arrived at college on a football scholarship. The year kicks off with a costume party. Skipper ends up going as Tarzan, in an all too brief costume. At the party he meets Lake, but can Lake and Skipper ever be more than friends?
My Rating: 3 (I liked it. Not my favorite, but I liked it.)

My Review: At first I wasn’t really sure if this book was my thing. Skipper seemed pretty dumb and I spent most of the book feeling sorry for him and how nearly everyone around him took advantage of him in some way.

In the end, I have to say that this was an entertaining read. I mostly focus on sci-fi and fantasy, so this was a little outside of my purview, but I did end up liking Skipper. I’m not sure whether I really liked Lake though. And there’s about a dozen other people whose asses I would happily kick, but I’m just not as forgiving as Skipper seems to be.

This is a book about a young man going to college and being invited to a costume party. The lady at the costume shop is kind of a jerk and he ends up in a Tarzan costume that doesn’t really cover a whole lot. This leads to a bit of humiliation.

It’s a quick read and fairly entertaining. There are some points where you might want to slap Skipper for being that gullible, but that’s the whole point of the story. He’s not the smartest guy around and everyone knows it, including himself. Because of this, he is taken advantage of and most of the time doesn’t even realize that that’s what’s happening. But once he does realize it… Skipper has a bit of a temper. Slow to get going, but scary because he’s such a big guy.

Some of the things that happened were VERY contrived, but that’s what fiction is all about. This is a lazy day read, since I finished it in less than 1 1/2 hours. There’s not a whole lot of thinking involved and it’s not exactly going to change your personal world, but it is entertaining, and in that end, that’s all that matters.