Acceleration by Graham McNamee

Middle School & High School

This story stars 17-year-old Duncan, who’s working in the depths of the Toronto Transit Authority’s lost and found, cataloging misplaced belongings. 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 has 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.

This was my first taste of psychological horror back in middle school. And I loved it. I’ve listened to this story on book on CD many times and I know some of the lines by heart.

Graham McNamee is a genius at smart-mouth and lovable characters. The way he tells the story and the hilarious dialogue between the characters is incredible. This man is one of my favorite authors. And this man doesn’t stop at just one story that will scare your pants off, he wrote three more…

Forensic Mysteries Series by Alane Ferguson

Happy October!

And to celebrate October, here are some books about supernatural monsters and real life monsters that will get you in the Halloween mood.

High School

In this series, we follow the life of 17-year-old Cameryn Mahoney. She is fascinated by forensics and persuades her father, the county coroner in sleepy Silverton, CO, to take her on as his assistant. After that it’s one crazy and suspenseful story after another, each more gruesome than the last.

I read this series in high school and they were a few of the best books I’ve ever read. These books got me interested in shows like ‘Bones’ and ‘Body of Proof.’

I must warn you though. These books are not for the faint of heart. Each book takes you into the inner working of an autopsy and they do not skimp on the details. Each killing and each dead body are more gruesome with each book.

When I first read these, it was the first time I’ve ever read about so much gore, and crime, and psychological horror. So much suspense, so much detail, so much inner workings of the human mind. I was hooked on the first page. If it weren’t for this series I wouldn’t have gone on to read other psychological horror, one of my favorite genres.

I find it very strange that I love these books because as a kid I was very squeamish. I blame my elementary school for making us read a short story about the first open heart surgery. There was a picture for goodness sakes! Who makes a class of fourth graders read that. I still can’t read anything about the heart or feel my own heart beat without getting the shivers. Now I’m sort of gone numb to gore and I’ve learn to ignore the stuff that’s too much for me. It’s for the best in my opinion. I still can’t watch horror films though. I just read about them on Wikipedia.

I recommend this series to anyone interested in forensics or just want to be grossed out.