Graham McNamee (1)Recensioni

A coming of age story snugly wrapped up in a creature feature.

I liked the premise, but thought it could have pushed even further with the mystery. Loved the characters.

Tyne "Tiny" Greer is anything but tiny. She's 6'6" and trying to amp up her basketball game-- hoping it will be her ticket out of the slums of Toronto. Her dad is the maintenance man of their apartment building, called "The Zoo", and she helps out when she can. During one of these helping situations, she finds a body in the basement wall. Hidden for many years, she wonders who could have done this? When her dad seemingly covers it up, Tiny turns to her best friend/boyfriend, Stick. They decide to find out the truth-- and Tiny is really hoping the truth isn't that her dad is a killer.

My Thoughts:
Did you ever see the Kevin Bacon movie Stir of Echoes? If not, you SO should it's one of my favorite creepy thrillers. If you have, this book was definitely giving me the same vibes, just without the paranormal. This is the story of a girl finding a body in the basement of her apartment building and knowing that somehow her family is connected to the death. What would you do if you found out one or more of your family members has done the worst of the worst? It's such a tough dilemma because bringing the truth out is going to cause hurt to your family, but not doing anything is going to eat away at your conscious. In Tiny's case, she decides to find out the full truth before making a decision. Luckily her boyfriend, Stick, is a sleuth in the making and is able to lead her there.

What I loved about this book: The characters and the setting. This book has such an odd cast that I had fun just trying to picture all these people in my head. Tyne is a giant of a girl, basketball player, trying to fit into a world that is too small for her (literally). Stick is the opposite of Tyne. Called Stick for being so thin, and he doesn't care how odd he and Tyne look together. I felt all the characters have distinct personalities and backstories and issues. It's set in an apartment building in Toronto called The Zoo. I loved the feel of this run-down, almost hopeless place that the Greer family lived. It was a great setting for a body and a mystery to turn up.

Tiny and Stick were practically perfection. I loved that the relationship was more than just romantic. It was a true friendship and a "where you go, I go" sort of love. Because of Tiny's size, she's gawked at, and really doesn't fit in, but it was nice to know she always had someone who didn't care about all that. He accepted her 100%, knew that they looked ridiculous together, and truly gave zero fucks about it.

What I didn't love: The premise was awesome-- find a body and wonder if someone in your family could be responsible-- but when all was said and done, I was hoping for more. I wanted the revelation to be bigger, worse, or something that really made me think. While this book was full of villains, the big reveal almost wanted to sympathize the villain, only to do a 180 and convince you that he/she really is evil. It was sort of a wishy-washy feeling that I didn't really love. Also, why so many nicknames? It seemed like none of the characters actually went by their given names-- instead there was Squirrel, Tiny, Stick, Mad Dog, etc. I'm all for a good nickname, but I don't want everyone in one book to have one.

OVERALL: I really enjoyed this quick, entertaining read. It had unique, thoroughly developed characters, a cool setting, and a creepy mystery. If not for the oddness of the ending, I would be shouting recommendations for this one.

My Blog:

Acceleration by Graham McNamee

From Goodreads.com:
“It’s a hot, hot summer, and in the depths of the Toronto Transit Authority’s Lost and Found, 17-year-old Duncan is cataloging lost things and sifting through accumulated junk. And between Jacob, the cranky old man who runs the place, and the endless dusty boxes overflowing with stuff no one will ever claim, Duncan’s just about had enough. Then he finds a little leather book. It’s a diary filled with the dark and dirty secrets of a twisted mind, a serial killer stalking his prey in the subway. And Duncan can’t make himself stop reading.

What would you do with a book like that? How far would you go to catch a madman?

And what if time was running out. . . .”

Duncan is an average kid living an average life in a blue collar section of Toronto. He takes a summer job working in the lost and found (aka “The Morgue”) of the subway. There he finds a diary and decides to read it.

Once he realizes it is the diary of a serial killer in training Duncan doesn’t know what to do. He tries to take it to the police, who ignore him. He decides to try to find out who “Roach” (the nickname he gives the diary’s author) is and what is his next move. He enlists first the help of his friend Vinnie. Vinnie is smart and soon figures out where “Roach” feels most comfortable. That is where he is likely to strike, or so Vinnie believes because of all the books he has read.

Wayne is Duncan’s oldest friend. They grew up in “the jungle” (the nickname of the housing complex where all three live) together. Wayne is a petty criminal and is working at a fast food place for the summer. Wayne and Vinnie don’t get along so Duncan ends up working first with Vinnie and then with Wayne to solve this mystery.

It isn’t the most realistic mystery ever. How many teenage boys would actually stalk a serial killer, and then break into his house (with his deaf grandmother in the living room)? It is a compelling story though. I wanted Duncan to catch “Roach”.

Each character had his good qualities and his flaws. Vinnie has a deformed arm and hand and is super sensitive about it. He is smart but cautious. Wayne is not the sharpest knife in the drawer but he is street savvy and that comes in handy when Duncan decides to break into “Roach’s” house. Duncan is plagued by a drowning death he witnessed and was unable to save the girl. He is looking for some sort of redemption.

I listened to the audio CD of this book. The reader did an excellent job of setting the tone and the mood. I would recommend this book to teen boys but I think girls will enjoy it too. It is, as many mysteries are, fairly predictable but an entertaining read.

Acceleration starts with a great premise: a teenager takes a summer job at the transit authority lost and found department in Toronto. While working in the "stacks," he finds a lost diary. As he reads it, he realizes that it is the rantings of what is probably a serial killer. If this story had remained focused on the mystery of finding the serial killer, it could have been a really good story, but it gets mired in the personal life of the main character. Most of the story deals with Duncan and his relationship with his friends and family, which changed dramatically after an unsuccessful attempt to save a drowning girl in a pool during a previous summer. Now he sees his attempt to find the serial killer as an attempt at redemption. The book moves very slowly after the initial problem is introduced and doesn't really pick up again until near the end of the book. The ending is as unsatisfying as most of the rest of the story. To say the least, a very disappointing book.

Excellent book about a boy called Duncan who works at the lost and found department of an underground railway system. One day he stumbles across a notebook with hand written entries and curious, he starts reading...and finds himself plunged into the mind of a psychopath. He can't stop reading and he wonders if he should tell the "authorities" about what this man has done and plans to do. And then one day, a man comes looking at Lost and Found for a brown notebook he left on the train.. Seriously creepy novel with Duncan's minor problems in life contrasting brilliantly against the rantings of the notebook owner. Full of suspense and intrigue. Highly recommended.

What if your shadow controlled you? What if your shadow tried to kill you? What if when you flatlined, something came back to life with you? Not to mention what if you were a teenage girl in high school just trying to be normal and have a boyfriend like other girls?

Beyond: A Ghost Story deals with serious issues - abuse, kidnapping, predators - framed in the guise of a ghost story dealing with the wounds on the psyche such events can have on the individuals involved. This story manages to do this with plenty of "normal" activities mixed in such as a good family life, a great best friend, and creative outlets to express one's uniqueness.

An easy read - one that kept me turning the pages on my lunch hour to find out what happens to Jane as one weird thing after another keeps happening to her.

A coming of age story snugly wrapped up in a creature feature.

I am quite disappointed with this book. It was anticlimactic and failed to give justice to a premise that would’ve made for a really terrific, suspenseful read.The only positive thing about this book is that it’s a fast-paced and quick read—which is also the main reason for my not enjoying it. The execution is severely lacking and left much to be desired.

There are a lot of plot points and progression that could’ve been elaborated on for the readers to establish a bond with the characters, empathize and relate to them, just to get to know them a bit more, especially the complicated relationships they have—from Duncan’s somewhat awkward way of getting along with his mother; to his longing for his ex-girlfriend that he obviously still has feelings for; and even his bond with his eccentric best friend who he sometimes does petty theft with.

Everything about the plot has just been rushed. The characters’ personalities—even the Duncan’s, the main character—are glossed over, and there is hardly any proper build-up for the subplots. It was a decent read, but it could’ve been more.½

This book was really an impulsive read. I came across this book on my public library's online e-book/audio book website. The cover drew my attention, as that is one of the only things the website displays during a search, the cover and the title. I decided to take a look at it and found that it wasn't an overly long book and appeared to be a stand-alone. I figured that it would be an easy read and that I could get through the book fairly quickly. This turned out to be the case, as I managed to finish it over the course of two days.

This book seemed a little slow at the beginning, which is understandable considering that it was setting up the story and developing the characters. Once the initial character development was made, the story did appear to pick up. Once Duncan found the diary, I found it more interesting to read what was found in the diary and Duncan's response than the actual day to day stuff that Duncan was doing.

Overall, this book was interesting to me as I am an avid fan of looking into the criminal mind, as some of my favorite T.V. shows include investigation shows such as Criminal Minds and C.S.I. This book provides an interesting look into a case where a young boy finds himself with a criminal's diary and seeming to be the only one who can actually prevent any potentially fatal crimes from happening to unsuspecting civilians.

This book sort of meanders until about halfway through, the you just better hold on for the ride to they end.

How do authors come up with such clever and captivating story ideas? Graham McNamee has a unique one with Acceleration.

A teenager, Duncan, is working a summer job below the streets in the subway. He's in the lost and found department where massive amounts of stuff are stored waiting for owners to claim; sunglasses, hats, bowling balks, a leather bound book. The job is seriously boring, so Duncan one day picks up the leather bound journal and leafs through. This is no ordinary rendition of a persons thoughts. It is the intricate thoughts and plans of a madman who starts with the torture of small animals. When this is no longer fulfilling, he progresses to stalking women and planning their capture and torture. All of this is detailed in this book. But could it just be words on a paper? Duncan follows the notes in the journal which does lead him to a woman the writer is slowly following or stalking her unawares. Duncan realized, the man he has dubbed, Roach, is very close to carrying out his evil plan to take and torture this unsuspecting woman. Acceleration refers to serial killers who start off torturing animals then must accelerate to humans to fulfill their sick desires.

Now what does a kid do with this kind of info? Will the cops take him seriously or blow him off for being a kid with an over active imagination! Whatever, Duncan has launched himself I into a deadly game.

I really enjoyed this lit circle novel. It is well-written and suspenseful. It kept my freshmen engaged and also kept me engaged as well.
Duncan works in a subway lost and found where he finds a journal that seems to belong to a serial killer. Now that he's found this novel, he has to decide what to do with the information. Should he bring it to the police? Would they believe him? Who is this sick-o? Would anyone be able to find him with just a journal to help?


The book was quick to read and entertaining. Definitely a great book for a wide variety of audiences.

So my reading practices keep me entertained. I usually read three books at one time. I have a physical book that takes me from mornings to around 6pm. I then climb into an ebook from there till I fall asleep. In-between those times, while walking, cooking or whatever, I listen to an ebook. That's always been my way of doing things. Well, with Beyond: A Ghost Story, by Graham McNamee, I cheated. I read this all the way through!

The story is about a girl who can't seem to escape death. She was born dead (resuscitated) and throughout her life she's encountered strange incidences and accidents that should have taken her from this world- yet somehow she manages to survive! Now she thinks something's actually causing these happenings. Something that wants her dead... and to stay dead.
(Original photo from http://paranormalhorror.com, edited by me.)

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book. It's a YA tale that compels you reading. From the first chapter, to the ending, I held tight for the ride, enjoying each mystery and reality in between. Jane was realistic, though I think some of the police snooping, for her age, was unreal. Other than that- it was a great book.

Her stalker, shadow ghost, was pretty cool too. There interaction between Jane and her shadow, and later with Lexi was likable and made the story feel real. It even kept me thrown off on who the villain really was. I loved that, because it kept me guessing until further in to the story.

​ Has it been done before? Yes. Will you still enjoy it? Should you purchase a copy? Yes! Try it out. I think you'll be pleased with Graham McNamee's style of writing, the way the story flows and how close to a true teenager this story relates. Beyond was a youthful thrill that anyone could read and offer up four or more stars. Next...

*For the Full Review: http://bit.ly/AGhostStory
**Book published by Ember, reprint edition.

Character development was very believable, especially the relationship between Danny and his father. Dramatic buildup but the climax of the story ended up being very ANTI-climatic. The end of the story felt very hurried and was very unsatisfying.

While at times his book seemed to drone on and on and on, it did keep my interest. The setting is bone numbing Canada,where deep inside, miles of nowhere, lies the sleepy little place called Harvest Cove. Danny and his father live there. It is only one more place to stop temporarily until the memories of love and loss become unbearable, and then it is time to move again.

Since Danny and his father lost their beloved mother/wife, each day is difficult to get through. Now, obtaining a job as caretaker of a marina, there isn't much for Danny's father to do. Located near a military base, Danny finds three friends who, like him, have moved around quite a bit.

Walking home from his friends house on a bitter cold winter night, Danny is chased by a very large, terrifying animal. Stinging Danny, it leaves it's mark. The author is successful at atmospherically painting the image of cold, cold, freezing cold. And, out of the cold comes this Yeti monster like creature that has killed specific teens for hundreds of years.

Danny, his girlfriend and two other buddies, one of whom was also stung by the creature, search for a way to kill the beast. As the clock ticks and the two teens who were marked by the beast begin to hear voices and are strangely compelled toward their impending death at the hands of this monster, the group must work quickly.

While not a great read, I'll give it a 2.5 for character development, and atmospheric setting of terror.½

A great read, truly scary, and will appeal to boys, especially the kind who "don't like to read." Mature theme in a YA package.

If you believe in Yetis or the Abominable Snowman, this book is for you. Definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat, but I kept finding myself wondering how the four teen protagonists kept the secret from their parents so completely.

Acceleration is the short tale of Duncan, who lives in a low rent apartment block in Toronto called "The Jungle" and has secured, for the long hot summer, a job rooting through the lost and found objects of the Toronto transit authority. Among the assorted and unexpected detritus left behind on subways and city buses, Duncan uncovers the diary of a man who Duncan supposes is a serial killer, or at least about to become one.

Faced with police that don't seem to care and a desire to atone for the last time he failed to be a hero, Duncan feels a responsibility to seek out the author of the morbid book. As the summer wears on, Duncan and his friend Vinny embark on an ill-advised quest to find the near-felon that has haunted Duncan's thoughts ever since he laid eyes on the book. In the end, of course, Duncan gets much more than he bargained for when he decided to take the law into his own hands.

The first thought I had upon finishing Acceleration is that, in a world where a lot of YA seems to cater to a female audience, Acceleration is definitely a book that would hold a strong appeal for boys. It's a short, quick-reading mystery populated with well-written and believable male characters out to prove their worth in a world that doesn't promise much to them. For me, it required a bit more suspension of disbelief than I had to offer, but for its target audience, there is more than enough realism to satisfy.

Acceleration is also a great book for all the Criminal Minds fans out there. McNamee, it seems, wrote an interesting mystery about profiling serial killers before profiling serial killers became big entertainment. Along with offering a fast-moving story, McNamee introduces the basics of criminal profiling in a way that is instructive without being boring. While Acceleration probably won't be in the running for my favorite book of the year, Duncan's world, for one summer at least, is vivid and dangerous and makes for quick, enjoyable reading that is still highly recommendable.½

Duncan is 17 and lives in the Jungle, a blue collar apartment complex in Toronto. He has had a run in with the law and now his father found him summer work in the lost & found department of the city's transit authority. He also is haunted by memories of not being able to save a young girl that drowned while he was swimming nearby. As Duncan works his menial job he is rummaging through lost items and comes across a plain journal. He begins to leaf through and notices some disturbing items about animal abuse. As he looks further he sees the author of the journal starting to talk about hunting women. Duncan is concerned and begins to enlist the help of his friends Wayne & Vinny to try and unravel the mystery and find this budding psycho. He tries to alert the police but they see him as a waste of their time so Duncan decides it is up to him to redeem himself and find this possible killer before it's too late. Using clues in the journal and the help of his friends Duncan gets deeper and deeper into this disturbing situation. Will the author of the journal really kill? Is Duncan too late? Can he atone for the mistakes of his past? A great, quick read that keeps you turning the pages.

Something is wrong with Jane. As a young child, she found herself drinking poison without knowing why she was doing it. A few years later she was almost run over by a train because her body refused to leave the tracks and, soon after that, was electrocuted when her hand reached out to touch a live wire without her consent. At 17, something made her shoot herself in the head with her father’s nail gun.

Read the rest of my review at: http://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/beyond-a-ghost-story-graham-m...

In the last ten years there has been a popular trend of men and woman coming together to tell their stories of near death experiences. Memories that speak of the dead coming back from heaven or hell in order to spread the word of redemption. It is not too often that a book tells the story of a young adult coming back from the other side. A teenager that experiences something so unique that she does not necessarily describe it as good or evil. This book is about a young woman named Jane that has suffered from traumatic accidents, every so often throughout her short life. It is something that has made her a social pariah in the world of teenagers. Not wanting to be alone, she manages to find an ally and close friend in a girl named Lexi. She is a girl that is considered just as strange and odd as Jane. As Jane ages she soon realizes that her bad luck is related to a mysterious shadow that plagues her every movement. As she reaches high school the shadow’s strength changes and becomes lethal. Soon Jane realizes this unearthly being is out the kill her. With the help of her friend Lexi, she attempts to stop it from fulfilling its purpose. Can Jane stop the shadow from killing her? Why is this being so determined to destroy her?

I really enjoyed this book and found it too be a fun read. I have been struggling to pick up and begin reading again, but this book has motivated me. When one moves from one house to another, it just is really hard to get pumped about get organized! I want to say that this book was very interesting as well. I did not get bored at all and I really enjoyed the characters’ personalities. I loved how the main character was a little sassy and had no fear and went for the jugular. I loved the creative concept the author chose and I found the book to be refreshing. I don’t find too many stories about shadow people and I believe this is the first that included shadow people as the aggressor. It was really fascinating to read and kept me interested in the story. I think this book is great for both parents and young adults. I don’t see why people should limit themselves. So often good books go unread due to this reason. I highly recommend this book to both parents, teenagers, non-parents, etc. This is just a great book to read in general. Great job author!

This was a very sad yet touching book in my opinion. Alice was abused and her voice was permanently affected by it but tries to find hope. I think it's inspiring that Alice picks up and tries to move forward with her life. I wouldn't recommend this book to younger children because it's kind of sad. The author has a way of making you forget everything and really indulging you into this story.

Harvest Cove is a tiny, out-of-the-way community trying hard to be a summer cottage location, with not much success, and in the winter the population dwindles. Perfect for Danny and his dad, who are drifting from place to place on the run from the past. His dad takes a temp job as the winter caretaker of the marina, and Danny goes to school with army brats from Base Borden. Pike, loyal but psycho and obsessed with explosives; his anxiety-ridden brother Howie; and Ash, a fierce, half-Ojibwa boxer that he has a mad crush on form his core group. It's a cold, bleak winter, the like of which the area hasn't seen in a while. Late one night on his way home, Danny is attacked by a huge white beast that blends into the ice and snow until it is nearly invisible. Still, he manages to see enough to terrify him, and the speed of its attack makes it nearly impossible for him to escape. But escape he does, after the beast stings him on the hand with its sharp tongue, and that's when the nightmare really begins. Because that's when Danny realizes he didn't get away after all. It's still hunting him night after night, toying with him, and soon his friends are in danger too.

This had a good, monster movie feeling to it and is one of those books in which the title works on several levels. Bonechiller refers to the freezing weather as well as the monster and what it does to its prey, and it also is a word used to convey fear. There's a frankness to the narrative, an immediacy, like Danny is telling the story directly to you, narrating events as they happen. Short, fragmented sentences and use of the present tense help that effect. There aren't a ton of books written in present tense, and it's interesting to see what a different reading experience that is. It's very cinematic, and it works well to convey Danny's panicky frantic scrambling during the beast attacks, less well when Danny is complaining about doing his homework. (There's a little too much of that slice-of-life stuff here.) The descriptions of this tiny town during a freezing winter is excellent -- much of the action happens at night out in the below-freezing wasteland of ice and snow, and the sense of isolation, of there being nowhere to run and no-one to help, is terrifying.

Unfortunately, the past that Danny and his dad are running from is not worth the build-up it gets; McNamee leads you to believe it's a deep, terrible secret (here I was thinking on the run from the mob or his dad being an ex-criminal or something) but they are really just running from his mom's death from a brain tumor. It's sad, yes, but it doesn't merit the dark, suspenseful hints and the reveal as such is underwhelming. McNamee does a good job conveying Danny's loneliness and lingering grief over his mother, however.

The descriptions of the monster are cool, very vivid and scary and menacing. But with a half-hearted Wendigo-ish mythology that was never really put to use, the monster wasn't nearly as effective as it could have been. There were some cool variations and extrapolations on Wendigo lore, and it's not like I expected the characters to snap their fingers and go "A-ha! Wendigo! We know this for sure because it is exactly like the Wikipedia entry!" but I was annoyed by how vague the author left it. It's clear he did his research. Did he have to leave it all out? He basically has his kids shrug their shoulders after doing some historical and scientific research and hearing one Wendigo story from Ash's father, and he doesn't really tie it together. Someone else may like the vagueness but I felt it was kind of a cop-out.

Cover comments: This cover is awesome! It perfectly captures the setting and mood of the book: the huge expanse of snow, the little dark figure highlighted under the lonely street light running pell-mell down a narrow, sloping line, the creepy eyes, and the way the monster's mouth falls where the snow is, so that it actually looks like the snow itself being blown after him, chasing him. I don't have as much to say about the typefaces, since I don't know much about that part of design, but it works for me. The title is suffieciently large and different enough from the background to catch my eye (even though it is also white).

Duncan works in the "lost and found" department of the Toronto subway system; complaining about how boring it is until he finds a journal that belongs to a serial killer. He feels he needs to make up for not saving a drowning girl a year prior and has a drive to help save the women mentioned in the diary. Great teen humor with cliffhangers galore!

Awards/Reviews:
Publishers Weekly starred 11/10/03
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) starred 12/01/03

This novel is great to use when teaching foreshadowing and as a modeled text for kids to practice the use of foreshadowing in their own writing.

I would suggest this to s boy who "hates" reading.

guy book with fast-paced adventure peppered with sarcastic humor

Jane has survived poisoning, electrocution, a near-collision with a train, and most recently, a nail gun to the head. She's not accident-prone, or even suicidal, like people believe. Her shadow is trying to kill her.

Creepy, atmospheric teen thriller that reminds me of my middle-school days, curled up in a chair reading RL Stine's Fear street novels with all the lights on, though with slightly older appeal--8th grade and up, maybe, for those looking for a light scare.