December Spotlight

 

I read, listen to, and watch a lot of true crime. So when I come across that I haven't heard about, that book usually goes straight onto my TBR. When the case is this crazy as this one, it goes to the top of the pile and gets put on my spotlight. Because what is this...

Of the hundreds of murder cases that noted South Carolina attorney Dick Harpootlian has prosecuted, one in particular haunts him. Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins was a serial killer and rapist, a master manipulator who claimed to have killed over 100 people and is known to have murdered over a dozen, including a toddler, and his own teenage niece. Yet it was on Death Row that he pulled off his most audacious murder—killing another inmate with a military grade explosive.

As personable as he was ruthless, Pee Wee defied easy categories. He killed to avenge minor slights as well as for pleasure, using any convenient method—including stabbing, shooting, poison, suffocation, and drowning. Evidence suggested he forced at least one victim to dig his own grave, stand in it, and be shot.

With escalating callousness, Pee Wee murdered acquaintances, friends, family members, and strangers. Yet within his North Charleston community he was well-liked—a family man who took neighborhood kids to the beach and hosted cookouts. Ice-cold within but outwardly charming, he joked with judges, reporters, and Harpootlian himself, but didn’t hesitate to hatch a plot to kidnap the prosecutor’s daughter in order to extort an escape.

Dig Me a Grave is a haunting look at a prolific, remorseless killer, as well as a provocative exploration of justice and the death penalty.

HAPPY READING!!

November Wrap Up

November's end snuck up on me, probably because I had a trip planned for Thanksgiving, but I managed to get a lot of books read. A lot of really good books. I only DNFed one book this month. Which is is pretty good statistic, one of seven books. I even got so close to finishing my reading goal. Probably by the time I post this (I've been outta town), I'll have hit that goal. Just two books away! So here's the stats:

 

Books Read: 7
BINGO Books: 0

Pages Read: 1683

Negative, nothing, all these books and not a single BINGO square hit. I've given up getting a BINGO this year. I can't even blame the card; it's leaning into being a mood reader. While that's helped me not feel stressed about my reading, it's been hell on this challenge. 

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we haven't yet read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released, but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous folks at Breaking the Spine.

Find the key. Put it back. Get rid of the ghost. It’s supposed to be simple…it’s not.

Thanks to his mother’s job at a local graveyard, twelve-year-old Will Stone has some unique talents. For one, he knows exactly how a burial vault works and why they’re used. For another, he’s great at genealogy and can decode centuries old records. Not your normal every day after school activities, that’s for sure!

But when a centuries old crypt key is lost, his normally peaceful existence at Graceland cemetery is shattered. Trees wither and die. The lake becomes covered with a sinister green slime that threatens to choke out anything living in it. And suddenly, the graveyard’s reputation isn’t the only thing in jeopardy . . . Will and his friends' safety is, too.

Suddenly, Will is forced to consider that the lost key might be an even bigger problem than he originally thought. A dark force has been unleashed within the cemetery gates, and along with his friends Stash, Michelle, and Henry, Will must use his unique skill set to figure out which restless spirit is draining the graveyard of life, and how to end the haunting for good.

Why I'm Waiting: You had my attention at 'mother's job at a local graveyard', everything else is a bonus.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Years ago, a tragedy shook a small community in rural Scotland. A bus driver kidnapped seven elementary school children, drove them into the wildnerness, and held them captive in a cave, before jumping from a cliff's edge. The children were unharmed, and for the most part, young enough to grow up and put their ordeal behind them.

But on the anniversary of their childhood trauma, Maggie, Ant, Ben, Stephanie, Lawrie, Seb, and Cass are on a school survival trip up in the mountains and cut off from the rest of the world when a storm hits. There's no help in sight and the group discovers they are just a stone's throw from the scene of their traumatic kidnapping.

As the group struggles to survive the elements, they realize someone else is on the mountain, someone who knows what really happened all those years ago, someone who wants them dead and is willing to take them out one by one.

HAPPY READING!!