The supernatural stuff was good fun. I especially liked how the ghost elements tied into the unfolding werewolf plot. It was well told and highly entertaining for it.

Most of the ~15,000 stormlanders and men of the Reach who had previously supported Renly abandoned Stannis [34] by the hundreds [15] Slate (1984): Daniel and Clarisse finally realize their dream of opening their own bar. All goes well until a dead man turns up on the dance floor and Daniel must clear his own name.Surviving captains from Joffrey's warships River Arrow, Wildwind and Prince Aemon, and under officers from Godsgrace, Ramshead, Lance and Lady of Silk, honored by the crown. [8]

The City Watch of King's Landing contains six thousand men, although only two thousand of these, who had received their gold cloaks from Robert I Baratheon, are seasoned men. [4] Three hundred gold cloaks later escort Petyr Baelish to Bitterbridge, [23] leaving only five thousand seven hundred. McDowell was diagnosed with AIDS in 1994. After his diagnosis, McDowell taught screenwriting at Boston University and Tufts University while continuing to write commissioned screenplays. One of his final projects, upon which he was working at the time of his death, was a sequel to Beetlejuice. His final, unfinished novel Candles Burning was completed by novelist Tabitha King and published in 2006. The writing reminded me a lot of Jeffery Archer's style (note, I've only read one book of his, but...) : while I became very familiar with the characters, I didn't find there was a whole lot of depth to many of them. Familiarity was gained by exposure to them and how the story carried them along. The characters that were fleshed out better were known through dialogue, which, at times, was where McDowell really excelled. Anyone who likes graphic novels, POC and disability and queer rep, teens with teen struggles, characters who make mistakes but grow, imperfect parent relationships, werewolves, and adorable m/m romance.Regarding himself, McDowell once said, "I am a commercial writer and I'm proud of that. I am writing things to be put in the bookstore next month. I think it is a mistake to try to write for the ages." Yet, his work - recently made available again thanks to Valancourt Books - feels strong enough for the ages. He's a marvelous writer and he has more than considerable skill. His writing is vivid, immensely engaging - even, at times, very funny. Some may put it another way: he spins a great yarn. You can also upgrade to Premium Plus membership, which includes all of the benefits above plus access to all Places Leisure centres in the UK! Terms and conditions Content Warning: bullying, violence, animal carcass, gore, homophobia, parental neglect, mentions of death.

So yeah, there was certainly quite a lot of drama, at least until Marie-Love was finally killed, but it was still not marring my enjoyment of the book for some reason. Regardless of all the schemes and machinations, I usually couldn't wait to see new family members and find out how they would get along, what they would end up doing, what was to become of the Caskeys.

I think this may be my favorite McDowell so far. It has all the Southern gothic pieces I've enjoyed from his other books, but in this long family epic, I got to really stretch out and luxuriate in it. This is my second 30+ hour listen of pandemic times and while it takes me a longer time to get through than it normally would, there's a real pleasure in staying in the same world and characters for so long. I also enjoyed the illustrations and how it said in the start that both creators alternated drawing chapters in this book. And I found the art styles of both creators to not be super drastic in change which was nice. The moment I saw this book, I knew that I wanted to read it. A horror/fantasy graphic novel with queer main characters? Sign me up! I was ecstatic to get it in my hands, and I started to read it as soon as possible. My first two thoughts of the book went like this: The Caskeys are rich, owning several wood mills on the river, but right from the beginning Elinor makes clear that her intention is to make them more rich — richer than any of them could ever imagine. Without a history and only the flimsiest of explanations, Elinor soon worms her way into the Caskey family, marrying James's son Oscar and setting herself against the family matriarch, Mary-Love Caskey, against whom Elinor will wage war for the next few decades.