Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up reading dark fiction, and the only two books I kept from that period were The Wicked Heart and Whisper of Death, both by Christopher Pike. Though both were categorized as horror, the first is a crime mystery that partly follows the murderer, while the latter feels like an episode out of The Twilight Zone. I never cared for pure horror, and a book doesn’t have to scare me for me to find them enjoyable. What I often wanted was a tangible sense of dread paired with insight into the human psyche, which I believe makes for a more potent reading experience. 


I wrote

Lesath

By A.M. Kherbash,

Book cover of Lesath

What is my book about?

Amateur journalist Greg travels to a remote mountain area to investigate rumors of a sinister building only to find himself…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Monster: Volume 1

A.M. Kherbash Why did I love this book?

When Dr. Tenma sacrifices his social standing by defying orders to save a child, he takes comfort in the fact that he did the right thing. Its not that he thinks one life is more important than the other; it simply happens that the boy was rushed in first with a gunshot wound in the head. Who wouldn’t put him ahead of all emergencies? 

At the heart of Monster is a knot of ethical conundrums: are all lives equal? Who do we save? Who deserves to die? What happens if the right choice leads to the worse outcome? What do we do then? Do we try to undo the good that we did? Naoki’s Monster is as cynical as it is compassionate. It’s almost rare to find a brilliant psychological thriller with this much heart in it.

By Naoki Urasawa,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Monster as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Johan is a cold and calculating killer with a mysterious past, and brilliant Dr. Kenzo Tenma is the only one who can stop him! Conspiracy and serial murder open the door to a compelling, intricately woven plot in this masterwork of suspense.

Everyone faces uncertainty at some point in their lives. Even a brilliant surgeon like Kenzo Tenma is no exception. But there's no way he could have known that his decision to stop chasing professional success and instead concentrate on his oath to save peoples' lives would result in the birth of an abomination. The questions of good and…


Book cover of The Crucible

A.M. Kherbash Why did I love this book?

How do witch hunts start? How do they keep? Who keeps them churning until all parties involved are dizzy, and only the accusers are innocent?

A group of girls in 1692 are caught dancing around a fire in the woods, trying to conjure spirits or cast spells. They discover they can escape retribution by blaming the slave, Tituba, which starts a slew of false accusations. Whenever the so-called prosecution comes close to the truth, whenever evidence is about to expose the girlselaborate lie, they scream, fall to hysterics amidst befuddled men, as if some witch is tormenting them, and so point out a fresh victim for the witch hounds to pursue. The biggest lark is that none of them are witches, and the only craft the girls weaved was condemning innocent lives to torture and eventually death. You have to wonder whos to blame here: Abigail and the girls who followed her example? Or the credulous adults who believed every finger point, every shriek, and saw the devils influence where it suited them?

By Arthur Miller,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Crucible as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Based on historical people and real events, Arthur Miller's play uses the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence unleashed by the rumors of witchcraft as a powerful parable about McCarthyism.


Book cover of The Secret History of Twin Peaks

A.M. Kherbash Why did I love this book?

What a sensible-sounding title to a series that was anything but. David Lynch is famously known for avoiding explaining his work lest he kills the mystery, but not only did Frost deftly provide an explanation while keeping the mystery alive, he aggrandized the lore behind it into mythology. 

By Mark Frost,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Secret History of Twin Peaks as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Secret History of Twin Peaks enlarges the world of the original series, placing the unexplained phenomena that unfolded there into a vastly layered, wide-ranging history, beginning with the journals of Lewis and Clark and ending with the shocking events that closed the finale. The perfect way to get in the mood for the upcoming Showtime series.


Book cover of The Monkey's Paw

A.M. Kherbash Why did I love this book?

The Monkeys Paw is one of those short stories we either read or heard someone tell us about it. And so it goes overlooked. If you havent read it, do yourself a favor and read it. If you have read it, do yourself a favor and revisit it. Its short, its available, its a horror classic, and its very likely what Stephen King had in mind when he wrote Pet Sematary

By W.W. Jacobs,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Monkey's Paw as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Outside, the night is cold and wet. Inside, the White family sits and waits. Where is their visitor? There is a knock at the door. A man is standing outside in the dark. Their visitor has arrived. The visitor waits. He has been in India for many years. What has he got? He has brought the hand of a small, dead animal - a monkey's paw. Outside, in the dark, the visitor smiles and waits for the door to open.


Book cover of Shutter Island

A.M. Kherbash Why did I love this book?

One of the most famous questions that confront certain works of fiction is: knowing what happens (or: having seen the movie,) should I still read it?” The human mind works in funny ways: sometimes youre in the middle of a book or movie, and you well-know the outcome, but for a brief moment, youre convinced the events will unfold in another way. You know the ending, but youre curious about the events that led to it, so you go in to retrace the steps—and then you forget and start to hope for a better outcome. 

That is to say, yes, read the book even if youve seen the movie. But—funny how the human mind works…

Some stories are not worth picking up again once you know how it ends. Not Shutter Island: even knowing how the story unfolds, reading the book in the spirit of “enjoying the journey” made me appreciate the layering and trail Lehane paved towards its conclusion. If you’ve ever gone back to re-read a good mystery, or watched Memento, The Prestige, Fight Club, The Usual Suspects, or Seven more than once, you know what I’m talking about.

By Dennis Lehane,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked Shutter Island as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The basis for the blockbuster motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island by New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane is a gripping and atmospheric psychological thriller where nothing is quite what it seems. The New York Times calls Shutter Island, “Startlingly original.” The Washington Post raves, “Brilliantly conceived and executed.” A masterwork of suspense and surprise from the author of Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone, Shutter Island carries the reader into a nightmare world of madness, mind control, and CIA Cold War paranoia andis unlike anything you’ve ever read before.


Explore my book 😀

Lesath

By A.M. Kherbash,

Book cover of Lesath

What is my book about?

Amateur journalist Greg travels to a remote mountain area to investigate rumors of a sinister building only to find himself imprisoned there. As he tries to escape, he evinces symptoms of a strange affliction and struggles to remain conscious while maintaining an uncertain hold on reality.

Book cover of Monster: Volume 1
Book cover of The Crucible
Book cover of The Secret History of Twin Peaks

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Book cover of The Curious Reader's Field Guide to Nonfiction

Anne Janzer

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