Book Review: Wicked Intentions

Hello there Cuppajoes!

How's your day been? Had your hot beverage yet? I always prefer mine in the morning. It's the very first thing I need when I wake up. I cannot function clearly without a hot cup of coffee or choco, for when I'm trying to watch my health. Trying to steer clear of heart palpitations when I can.
Anyway, I'm just trying to put up yet another book review before Christmas. I was thinking of going for Christmas themed books, or book set during Christmas the next time. You know, 'cause it's Christmas an all that. So it's a season thing. I'm planning to review at least 3 books before the season ends. I probably might need to buy new books, or I might reread my old ones. You never know.

Well enough with the chitchat for now, let's get on with the review!

Wicked Intentions is the true crime story of the Sheila Labarre murders written by Kevin Flynn. Flynn was a reporter back then who covered the case. Right off the bat we get a disclaimer saying that what goes on in the book is to the best of his knowledge, taken from his interviews and experiences from the witnesses. The book is in the form of a documentary but the writer made it somewhat into a novel. So basically you get mostly facts, and a little bit of some fiction here and there. (If you wanna read up on the actual murder cases I added the link above.) Now, there has been a lot of editions to the book I bet because I saw a lot of covers over the internet which is different from my copy. My copy includes pictures of sheila and the victims.

So this here's my copy, although I've seen different covers for this book.

These are just a couple of the pics in the book.

Set in Silver Leopard Farm around march 2006. It recounts the gruesome events of the murder of Kenneth Countie at the hands of famed black widow, Sheila Labarre. Then soon after, tales of all the other men that Sheila has victimized also crop up. (see what I did there? Farm? Crop? Hehe you get it.) Sheila is made up as this kind of murderer who pegs herself as an angel who gets rid of pedophiles. She was under the delusion that her victims were such and that was why she killed them. Facts, however seem to say otherwise. In the book, her actions deem her, a manipulative, mean lady who gets off bullying and taking advantage of men who have a mental disability. In the end when she got caught of course she plead insanity, but the evidence made it clear out that she was in her right mind when she did what she did. Was she really crazy as her actions portrayed her to be? Or was she just a sadistic and evil person capable of murder? Well, you gotta read the book (or google it, whichever you prefer) to find out.

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So, what can I say about WI? Well, this book was a bit of a half and half for me. The good thing I like about it mainly was because it’s a true crime story. The bulk of the story was of course, Sheila being caught for the murder of Kenneth Countie (who was allegedly missing at the time). Trying to evade arrest and then eventually her being convicted for the crime and for the murders of the other men in her life. I liked how the writer wrote the scenarios as if he were there. The only downside is, it kinda feels more novelized so, you might think “did this really happen or not” granted the writer himself was present during the whole case and trials and inevitable conviction. But, there was a disclaimer in the beginning of the book that he wrote it to the best of his knowledge, and he did collate interviews from witnesses and recounted as much as he could. Anyway, you get to sort of imagine what it was like living with sheila. Picture what her victims have gone through and all that. So, I don't know 'bout you, because for other people it might throw 'em off thinking that some of the scenes in the book might not be real; but for me, it was nice to have some background (even  if imagined).

The one thing that I really didn't like about the book was how the writer portrayed Sheila as  this evil person throughout the whole thing but he himself wanted to sympathize with her. I mean, c'mon! You make her out to be such a villain but when you wrote yourself in the book you wanted to understand her and sh*t? Like, what the hell? (pardon the french). I really got frustrated with the end part during the trials because that's when he got in contact with Sheila. I don't really know if those were even true but it really grinds my gears. Sorry, if that's gonna spoil the book for ya folks. Oh! and one more pet peeve I got with the book, it jumps from present to past without any notice so that also takes you away from the moment of sorts. Oh and there was way unnecessary descriptions on it for me as well. It's like when you got stumped in writing an essay but you gotta pass on the deadline so you just over describe pretty much everything. That was a bit funny for me. I don't really have a lot to say about the book. I wouldn't really recommend it, except for true crime buffs who love stories like this. And well that's that.

Okay! So Halloween season's over. Move over pumpkin spice and scares and say hello to eggnogs and cheers! Can't wait for Christmas this year, 2016 is almost ending! And what better way to end the year than with the season of giving (what with everything else that's been going on). Nah, I'm just rambling on.

Book Review: Mischief in Mudbug

Hey fellow Cuppajoes!

'Tis almost the most wonderful season of the year. You guessed it. Christmas! Now, I don't know 'bout you, but Christmas is pretty much my most favorite season of the year. Not because it's cold and boy do I love to read and drink because of the cold, but because there's a sense of just pure happines around that time. I also love looking at the snow. Mind you, just looking at it. Like at pictures or on TV or the internet, that's cause we don'e have snow here in the Philippines. Just plain cold weather, sunny weather and a little bit of thunderstorms here and there. Anyway, back to the post.

Now, before Christmas there is one event that highlights my year too. My most favorite celebration is Halloween!! That's  when all the ghouls and ghosts and vampires and all the other supernatural creatures get to be in the limelight for the year. Just a few more days till that special day arrives and in lieu to  that event, I'm reviewing Mischief in Mudbug by Jana Deleon. It's not a horror story, mind you. But it's got elements of the supernatural (like a ghost) and a little bit of a thrilling side (there's murder!) to it. So there ya go.

Now, I've already written a small review about this book on Goodreads.com which can be read here.
But on this post I'm gonna give out a more detailed review.

Mischief in Mudbug is the second book in the Ghost-in-law series. I haven't read the first book yet, which is: Trouble in Mudbug. There are 8 books in the whole series if you'd like to read em all. I should seriously start collecting series books, cause so far I've always been reading books as stand alone ones, if ya know what I mean. So anyway, I read this book on its own, not knowing of its background and what not. And I was entertained. It could go for a stand alone book by itself. I mean, I haven't read any of the other books in the series, so I really can't compare. But all in all I really liked the book. And because of it, If I could find any of the other books in the series I would definitely buy them.

Alright, so on with the review. The story of MIM focuses on one Sabine LeVeche. The bestfriend of
Maryse Robicheaux, who was the protagonist of the first book. Now, Sabine just found out that she has leukemia and that she needs a donor fast! Also, she's starting to see the ghost of Helena Henry who is Maryse's late mother-in-law, whom she believes means that she doesn't have much time left. Quick back story: In the first book, Sabine has this theory that whenever you saw helena henry then death is coming for you. Pretty grim eh? Alright, so back to her present predicament of having this very fatal disease, she needed to find her family so she could get a donor. And she hires this really good looking detective, Beau Velenueve, a former FBI agent whom she is immediately attracted to. And so on her quest to find her family. It soon becomes apparent that someone has it out for her. Her shop gets burgled into in the middle of the day; she gets shot at; car chases ensue and all the hijinks galore! Eventually, she finds her family, but soon regrets that. Not to mention she hooks up with the detective in the process. I wouldn't wanna spoil the ending, so I'm just gonna say it was a very nice twist at the end. Seemed like it was a bit rushed, and that all of a sudden the focus shifts, but the climax gets you going and the ending pretty much gave it closure at least.


Okay, So that's it for my review! writing any more than that would spoil the fun. I always think people should read for themselves first to try and see if they would like it rather than read the reviews first. Who knows, their cup of tea might be different from yours, eh? So, enjoy the cold breeze in the air that comes with the ber months and savour that warm cup of joe and Happy Halloween folks!