35. The Cossacks

The Cossacks - Leo Tolstoy

Bah. It bored me. Too much soap opera drama garbage to keep me interested. Good writing, but not interesting. Maybe I was looking for something else.

34. Dracula

Dracula - Bram Stoker

Outstanding!

Although, after loving the buildup...and the chase...and the total suspense of the final showdown... what a bummer that it ended so fast and so easily.

I loved this story, except that poor Lucy got screwed. Other than that it was great. I can't believe I spent 49.5 years having not read this book. Silly me.

33. The Glow

The Glow - Brooks Stanwood

A suspense novel written in the mid seventies. Supposedly along the lines of Rosemary's Baby. I hate to say it, but this is definitely not Rosemary's Baby, nor is it even close.

There is this group of mid-fifties folks who are health nuts and spend a lot of time jogging and working out. They welcome a young couple into a very exclusive upper east side apartment (Manhattan, of course). The couple joins them in the ultra-healthy lifestyle. Weird stuff happens. People disappear.

Come to find out...and I will spoil this one because I doubt anyone will go find it or read it if they did...the old folks stumbled upon a secret tribe of cannibals in the Amazon and discovered a secret to staying youthful forever. The problem is that it requires the blood of super healthy young people mixed with the roots of very special trees.

So, to stay alive the oldies (which are actually around 90 years old) must occasionally drink the blood-root juice mixture in order to stay young. They devised this entire lifestyle and plan to maintain the illusion and the trap into which they lure young couples over and over again.

It was alright. No big thrill and definitely not worth searching for.