The Manhattan Hunt Club discussion

Black Lightning has been chosen as our July/August Group Read. I will really really do this one because I have the unabridged audiobook :-) Hope a few other of yous will join in reading. I remember liking this one quite a bit when I first read it.

hehehe... Good. This was the one I *just* voted for. *facepalm*

I've been rather immersed in books lately and haven't been on GR as much as I could be. Missed the voting I guess.

Well, that makes two of us for Black Lightning :-) Anyone else out there planning to read this book?

I guess not. ;) The newest member has already read it though, so we might have an extra for discussion.

I am really going to do this :-)

I'm going to read it also.

Good, Tiarra! :D It will be a livelier conversation with more than just me and Dustin. ;)

July is fast approaching...when is everyone (that means you other two) planning on reading this? I'll try to read it around the same time for optimum discussion results.

I haven't started another book since I finished Nathaniel (hellishly busy week at work!). I thought I might start it this weekend.

Don't know that I'll start Black Lightning that soon.
.....
Tiarra?

I can always wait a while if need be. It would be interesting to read it all at once. I think I would remember most of the details either way though... I've read it before after all. ;)

I've also read it ONCE before :-)

I am currently reading:


I read several books at the same time, but it will be well into July before I get to Black Lightning.

Hmm... I have a few other books that I could get to reading. I've been putting off a few of them for ages... including Robert R. McCammon's Mine.

Ever read him? His horror is excellent.

I tend not to branch out too much - but trying to try new authors once in a while :-) I haven't read McCammon but he's been recommended to me several times. I own one book by him called Boys Life - do you know if that one's any good?

A Boy's Life is not typical for him. It's actually sort of a quaint retelling of growing up in the 50s. ;) It is well written, but not horror.

Swan Song is his epic... totally amazing post-apocalyptic nightmare. Blue World is a short story collection that I would also recommend. It's less daunting than Swan Song (which is 1000 pages long or something).

I am reading all of his books (and buying them all too, just like Saul). McCammon's writing style is just gorgeous! He is really talented, not just a good story teller.

Here is a clip from one of McCammon's books that I just adored! It's from Mine (need to finish it!) It isn't a scary/gory part, but it is a nice example of his poetic sort of writing style:

"Sergeant Pepper was dead. G.I. Joe lived on. George Bush was president, movies stars were dying from AIDS, kids were smoking crack in the ghettos and the suburbs, Muslims were blowing airliners from the skies, rap music ruled, and nobody cared much about the Movement anymore. It was a dry and dusty thing, like the air in the graves of Hendrix, Joplin, and God. She was letting her thoughts take her into treacherous territory, and the thoughts threatened her smiley face. She stopped thinking about the dead heroes, the burning breed who made the bombs full of roofing nails and planted them in corporate boardrooms and National Guard Armories. She stopped thinking before the awful sadness crushed her.

The sixties were dead. The survivors limped on, growing suits and neckties and potbellies, going bald and telling their children not to listen to that satanic heavy metal. The clock of the Age of Aquarius had turned, hippies and yippies had become preppies and yuppies. The Chicago Seven were old men. The Black Panthers had turned gray. The Grateful Dead were on MTV, and the Airplane had become a Top-40 Starship.

Mary Terror closed her eyes, and thought she heard the noise of wind whistling through the ruins."

I dunno if you're old enough to appreciate this. I'm not old enough to have been there (I'm 30), but I love it!

I'm older than you - born in 1982? I was born in 1980 :-)

That is a good passage. I will have to give him a try sometime. I wonder if any of his books are on Audiobook. I like to listen to audiobooks on my walkman :-)

Have you ever read Dan Chaon? I discovered him in 2010 and I'm hooked. He writes some creepy stuff that is very reflective and can really relate to.

My favorites are Await Your Reply and Stay Awake

I figured after the walkman discussion that you were at least as old as I am. hehe ;)

I looked at the FAQ on McCammon's website. Not too much available in audio.

In October 2011, A Boy's Life and Goin' South (not read that one) were released in mp3 format.

"In November 2011, Audible will release an unabridged audiobook of Swan Song." <---Highly recommend that one!

A passage from Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon - I think it's beautiful :-)

The pirates would kiss Hayden, and sometimes they would cut off a hank of hair - 'as a reminder of yer kisses, me lad' - and one of them even cut off a piece of his earlobe.
This particular pirate was Bill McGregor, and he was the one Hayden feared the most. Bill McGregor was the worst of them - and at night when everyone else was asleep, Bill McGregor would come looking for Hayden, his step slow and hollow on the planks of the deck, his voice a deep whisper.
Boy,' he would murmur. 'where are you, boy?'
After Bill McGregor cut off the piece of Hayden's earlobe, he decided that he wanted more. Every time he caught Hayden, he would cut a small piece off of him. The skin of an elbow, the tip of a finger, a piece of his lip. He would grip the squirming Hayden and cut a piece off of him, and then Bill McGregor would eat the piece of flesh.

Just checked library catalog can't find any audiobooks of McCammon. Will have to try reading Mine because it's about half as long as Swan Song.

Ack... it had a problem saving my last comment! :( It was a long one too. The gist:

1. That is a cool passage! Very gruesome. :D
2. Never read him before, but I'm always up for new horror and scifi writers.
3. I adore short stories (great format!), so I will try to pick up Stay Awake if I see it some place.

I'm working on Mine right now. It's interesting... the writing is amazing, but it is too early for me to say how good the plot is. ;) I want to read all of his books anyway just because I love his writing *style* so much. What a way with words!

Swan Song is totally worth it though. I had that book for 3 years before I finally decided to read it (it is MASSIVE after all!). I read it in two days. It was that good!

I'm a slow reader takes me forever to get through a good sized book which is why I stick with the ones that are around 300 pages like many of John Saul and Dean Koontz's books. Are you a Dean Koontz fan by any chance? I also moderate the Koontzland - Dean Koontz group and we read a book in Koontzland every month :-)

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/2...

Dan Chaon isn't really horror or thriller - I just find it very thought provoking and his stories have creepy elements. It's not for everyone, but you should really try Stay Awake :-)

Kylie wrote: "Ack... it had a problem saving my last comment! :( It was a long one too. "

Yeah. been there. very frustrating when that happens on Goodreads :-(

Creepy works for me too! Cutting pieces off a person every time you see them is creepy and fun, for instance. I might like it. Besides, if you don't like a short story, you wasted what? 10 minutes? :D

I read pretty slowly I suppose. I kinda say every word aloud in my head, if that makes sense. Scanning doesn't work at all! It is pretty much like reading it aloud to myself without the sore throat. ;) So it does take a while, but it could be worse. If I get sucked in, I will just read it all night (insomnia is useful once in a while).

I rarely have insomnia, but I love finding a book that keeps me reading - try Stay Awake - I've tried to get people hooked on Dan Chaon but none of my other Goodreads Friends have been quite as excited as myself - just get ready for some stories that will give you something to thing about and not always give you all the answers :-) Hope you like the stories. Stay Awake is also available on Audiobook.

I like stories that make me think. That is one of the things that first drew me to McCammon actually. Blue World (short stories) was the first thing I had ever read by him... lots of social commentary in a few of those. :)

As for not giving all the answers, I usually like that too. Some of my favorite scifi stories make you fill in the blanks at the end too.

You might just be the kind of person that can appreciate Dan Chaon :-) I hope so, but I'll try not to get my hopes up...we'll see.

Count me in on this one, this is my first group read though and I have a question. Do you usually just come here and talk about it when you finish reading or is it broken up to a number of pages each week so we can all read at the same pace and talk about it as we read it with no spoilers from members who may be further along?

Good question, Justin. I think that spoilers may abound here... it would make sense for us to all read at the same pace, but I have terrible trouble putting down a Saul book once I've started it. hehe ;)

Dustin, how have they gone in the past?

Hmmm.. Justin & Dustin. I can already tell I'm going to get confused all the time. ;)

I understand that, most novels take me 2 to 3 days to read so setting a pace would kind of be hard to do. I would enjoy discussing what I thought was going on and my predictions for the end rather than just going in after im done and saying rayher or not i liked it though so I would have to do it and see how it went. Either way though I look forward to my first group read, I just bought the book so I am all set when the homing is done.

Feel free to post anytime while or after you're reading.

You can use spoiler alerts for anything that you think might be a spoiler - this will hide the comment and create a link that the individual must click on to view. In the upper right corner of the comment box you will find (some html is ok) click on this for more information.

to create a spoiler alert you will start with the world "spoiler" inside pointy brackets < > and at the end you will put"/spoiler" inside the pointy brackets < > to indicate the end of the spoiler.

(view spoiler)[ This is spoiler. The cat comes back to life in the pet cemetary (hide spoiler)]

Justin, feel free to post things as you read then. I've already read Black Lightning a few times. I was a Saul addict for years and still find myself rereading constantly. ;)

Even if I haven't made it to the point you are at, I will be able to discuss with you. :D

Dustin, I suppose that I should use spoiler alerts more often then, huh? hehe

Has this group only read 2 books or do you delete the old threads? Also where is the best place for general discussion and asking questions like this one? Thanks in advance. I will probably just comment after reading so I don't have to worry about spoilers, not a big deal since I read most novels in 2-3 days anyway and wouldn't want to slow down.

There are more discussion threads, but they get hidden if none of the topics in the folder has been active. To view them all, click on the Discussion Board or More Discussions from the group page and you are welcome to create a new topic if one doesn't already exist. The previous group read threads get put in "The Books" folder when the group read is over. We've been doing group reads since December 2010, but there hasn't been a lot of participation in them which is why I switched from Monthly to having the them last two months.

Justin wrote: " Also where is the best place for general discussion and asking questions like this one? Thanks in advance. "

I just created a Suggestion & Question thread for this purpose:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/9...

You're Welcome. Thanks for the idea :-)

Sorry just started a new job I'll be reading it by the weekend

Okay, I'll try to start it by next week after I finish The Bride Collector. Good luck with your new job Tiarra!

Thanks Dustin

Yay! If all of you are going to start it soon, that means I can too. ;)

In the mean time, I've been reading a non-fict book that is just not very good. I will happily switch over!

I haven't started yet - still haven't finished The Bride Collector....soon :-)

I think that I'm like 130 pages in or something... not terribly fast read for me. I've been busy at work, but that doesn't usually stop me. I think that perhaps I just haven't been in the mood. hehe

I will still probably be the first to finish at this rate though! ;)

**No Spoilers**

Man... I think I've pinpointed why this book just isn't a page turner!

You know exactly what is going on from the very beginning. He spells it all out for you and leaves no room to question anything. There are no mysterious occurrences. The only questions really are 1. how will it end and 2. how many people will die. Pretty straight-forward for Saul.

Anyway, half way through now. Glad of it really... not one of his better books. I can see why I never got around to rereading it until now. :P

It'll be interesting what I think on re-reading :-) haven't started it yet - next week for sure

So... did you start rereading it, you slacker? ;)

I actually put it on hold for a while about half way in. A friend (irl) was trying to discuss with me 1984, and I realized that I remember tons of details but not how it ends. Guess it just wasn't that important to me, as I've read it some 4 times.

Anyway, I decided to reread 1984 AGAIN so that I can discuss it with her. She gets super insistent, and she's even worse now that she's all hormonal (pregnancies are only fun occasionally I think). ;)

I've already add this book. It was pretty good in my opinion..so I am going to read a book I have to read and it is the title of this group. Hopefully the next book is a good one too!

Manhattan Club is next on your list, Lacey? Have fun! :)

I think that one is a love or hate sort of book. Will be interesting to see what you think of it.

Yes I decided that I better read it since I am in the club..or group named after the club lol

The Manhattan Hunt Club is very good - John Saul did a lot of research :-)

I finally started Black Lightning and I'm enjoying it so far :-)

I didn't like The Manhattan Club. I thought it was well-tread territory done far better by other people. My least favorite Saul book... but to each their own, right? ;)

I still haven't picked up Black Lightning again, but I will finish it soon-ish.

Having trouble getting through 1984 too... I think I'm just so busy these days that focusing has become a real problem. Pitiful but true.