Zombies are the big rage right now.  Movies, protests in the form of Zombie Walks, games, and books... " Zombies: The Complete Guide to the World of the Living Dead " by Zachary Graves explores they history and evolution of zombies- from their Voodoo origins as undead slaves through to the hungry undead rising up due to a virus or other causes.  It covers the myths and superstitions surrounding zombies, as well as real cases of purported voodoo creates zombies.  This book also discuss how movies and books have helped the zombie to evolve into one of our favorite monsters- including a look at Frankentein's monster. This book isn't very long, but is full of interesting information and is a great starting point for zombie afficionados, who wish to learn more about this genre of monster mythology.  It's logically broken down into sections that are laid out in an easy to read and digest fashion.  While far from being a truly "complete" guide to zombies...

I have found over the years, that sometimes, reality can be more horrific than fiction.  This can truly be said of the Jack the Ripper killings... Using forensic techniques, Patricia Cornwell (author of the Scarpetta series), pieces together a case regarding the true identity of the infamous Jack the Ripper ... " Portrait of a Killer " is an interesting piece of non-fiction writing.  The style is fairly easy to follow, though some areas are a bit murky to understand due to use of technical jargon.  Cornwell's writing also flows nicely  too- with her being able to make even the drier parts interesting and engaging. I liked the fact that she goes to to out of the way places in search of evidence to support her case, and she does a credible job of it too.  Credible, but not altogether convincing.  While her presentation of the evidence is persuasive and skilled, there is still reasonable doubt as to whether or not her suspect was actually Jack the Rip...