Jeremy Bates

DNF at ~20%.

I stopped reading because the novel never demonstrated an understanding of the ethical, cultural, or narrative weight of its setting. Aokigahara is treated as a generic “spooky forest” that could be relocated almost anywhere without changing the story. Japanese characters and institutions are largely absent or flattened, functioning as background rather than shaping events.

From a craft perspective, characterization is superficial and ornamental. Personal details are show more shoehorned in (a girlfriend who drinks too much, a friend who is a ladies’ man but tender with his sister) without affecting behavior, choices, or conflict. These traits don’t develop the characters; they exist primarily to make the protagonist, Ethan, appear more patient, competent, or morally centered by comparison.

The novel relies on corridor-style walking, heavy exposition, and repeated backstory about death without transformation or pressure. What finally broke my trust were moments of casual disrespect toward the dead, including sexualized commentary about a presumed deceased woman, paired with a complete lack of internal challenge or consequence.

By 20%, it was clear this wasn’t a slow burn but a refusal to engage meaningfully with the material it chose. I didn’t want to continue. show less

The Taste of Fear is a story of survival. American actress, Scarlett Cox, and her billionaire husband, Salvador Brazza, go on Safari in Africa to revive their failing marriage. A robbery leaves them stranded and in need of assistance from the US Embassy. Almost immediately, Cox and Brazza get caught up in an attack on the Embassy in Dar es Salaam and are captured and taken hostage, along with a couple of Embassy workers and an Australian tourist, by a group of Al Qaeda terrorists.

AQ takes show more them deep into the African jungle and away from all known civilization. Assured of a certain death, especially once their identities are discovered, Brazza and Cox must find a way to escape and survive the perils of the Congo - wildlife, terrorists, and cannibals. If they make it through, Brazza must also survive the hired assassin who has tracked him to the Congo.

The story is gripping from the start. The author captures the delicate balance of a fragile marriage and throws in the essential elements to test the partners, their commitment to each other, and the durability of the relationship. The story shows how one careless decision, made in a heated moment, can have disastrous effects. One such decision made by Sal Brazza changes their lives in an instant.

The characters are well developed, flawed, and believable; their relationships are complex and simple at the same time. The author takes us on an intense trip into the jungle, and fills the reader's senses with exotic and horrifying sounds, smells, and tastes. The story is packed with suspense and action and fraught with danger.

From beginning to end, the story is exciting, challenging, realistic and touching show less

This one failed my "Life's Too Short" test fairly early.

The start is a little disturbing but in all the wrong ways.

I know I should be being gripped by how the small, self-protective lies a woman tells escalate and place her in danger.

I should be feeling sorry for her and recognising that this kind of thing could happen to anyone. Or I should be shouting at her to wake up, deal with the confrontation and save herself. I'm not doing either of these things because neither she nor the angry, show more drunk, narcissistic young man threatening her seem real to me. They come across purely as plot devices and the plot isn't attractive. It's shaping up to be another thriller where the "thrill" comes from watching a vulnerable woman being put at risk.

The speed of my decision is mainly down to the writing. When Bates describes places and situations the prose is leaden and as engaging as reading a police report. When Bates takes me inside the head of either the lying young woman or the drunk young man, I don't get to live there, I just get a laboured explanation of what is driving their behaviour that reads more like notes to an actor who will play the characters.

So, I have an unattractive plot, delivered with limping prose and dialogue from characters I don't believe in. Life's too short. show less

I read another Bates book quite a while ago that was enough to keep him on my radar and make me interested in more, but as soon as I saw this one, I couldn't wait to read it, and I'm so glad I went ahead and picked it up. Think House of Leaves + Escape Room in an all-out horror novel that's well-driven by both character and plot, and which flirts with romance but stays pretty firmly in horror territory. It was such an incredibly fun and compelling read, I was only sorry to see it show more end!

Absolutely recommended to horror readers. show less