2015 Reading Challenge Book 033 Old Flames by Jack Ketchum

TITLE-Old Flames
AUTHOR-Jack Ketchum
FORMAT-Paperback from Leisure Fiction
FIRST TIME READING-No
COST-$5

Pretty sure this was the 5th Ketchum novel I read. Again I found it at the shitty mall book store. Which is 60% Hallmark cards. And then the  books they do have are all cover price. So when I found this on the long discount table at the front I was damn excited. But after reading it my excitement had dimmed some.

What the novel actually is ,is two novellas. The first one is titled Old Flames. A late 30s woman keeps on thinking about an old boyfriend. Then she sees an advert for Flame Finders. A P.I. that specializes in finding old flames. She tracks down this ex. Finds out he is happily married. And proceeds to destroy his life.When I finished this novella I thought "Fuck this reads like a slight more violent than normal novelization of a Lifetime original movie." About a year later I was listening to a podcast with Mr Ketchum. Where he talked about how Old Flames started off as a script for a made for TV movie. When it didn't sell,which I figure is because first off it isn't that good.Plus it is way more violent than most Lifetime original movies are.He turned the screenplay into a novella.

So after being majorly disappointed in Old Flames I was hoping "Right to Life" would be better. And it was. Right to life is about a woman that is going to have an abortion. She gets kidnapped from in front of the abortion clinic. By a supporter of the Pro-life movement. Who then keeps her chained up in his basement. The plan is him and his wife can't have kids. So they are gonna keep her chained up until she has the kid. Then kill her and raise the kid themselves. Thinking that because she was gonna have an abortion that makes her evil. And they are not doing anything wrong,since their religion tells them that abortion is a horrible sin. Over the course of this fairly short novella,we get to see how mentally unstable the wife and husband are. And we get the normal Ketchum ultra violence. Right to life more than makes up for how bad Old Flames is.

I am tempted to give each novella a separate rating. But I won't. If it wasn't for Right to Life in this book I would have traded it in years ago.

Old Flames gets a 3.55 outta 5. And 3 of that 3.55 is because of Right to Life.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 032 She Wakes by Jack Ketchum

TITLE-She Wakes
AUTHOR-Jack Ketchum
FORMAT-Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
COST-$5.98

This was the third novel I read from Mr Ketchum.I was wanting to read more Ketchum and with this being his only novel with supernatural elements I grabbed it while in the shitty ass bookstore in the nearby mall.

Set in modern day Greece. This is the story of some Americans over there. And how one of the guys runs into a gorgeous woman. Who we learn over the course of the novel might be the reincarnated version of an ancient Greek Goddess.

Normally when I read a new to me Ketchum novel I am expecting good writing and lots of gore and graphic violence. Plus plenty of shocking moments. Well She Wakes has violence and gore, But nothing shocking at all. The first time I read the book I kept putting it down cause I was bored with it.Before reading this book and after every other Ketchum book I have read I usually read in 2 or 3 days. This one took me over a week to read. And back then I was working a job where I had at least 8 hours each shift where I would read. On my second reading of the novel it took me almost 3 weeks to read this. I would read a chapter,think "Fuck this book isn't that good." then put it down and not pick it back up for a few days, As normal I give each book 2 chances. After the second chance if I am still not enjoying the book I sell/give away/trade in the book. I am tempted to do that with She Wakes.

She Wakes by Jack Ketchum gets a 1.25 outta 5.

Library Booksale Haul Jan 2014

Overslept today,which was nice when I have been lucky to get more than 4 hours sleep since before X-mas. Got up grabbed a quick breakfast and had time to kill so went to see what the library booksale had.

Use to be the local library,which is the only one for THREE COUNTIES! Yeah think about that for a few minutes. This place is tiny and covers three entire counties.Anyways used to be they had a library booksale 2 or 3 times a year. And I have found some decent stuff at them. But starting sometime in 2014 they took a small section of the library and made it into a permanent booksale area. With a few bins of paperbacks,3 or so shelves full of hardbacks. Then boxes and bins full of unsorted books,vhs,cassettes,etc.

Was told the other day that they had just gotten in a big amount of new stock and it wasn't the normal stacks and stack of John Grisham,Fern Michaels or James Patterson stuff.

With the prices on books being super cheap I had just brought 10 bucks and maybe 4 bucks in assorted change. I had thought ahead and put a plastic bag in my back pocket. Thinking I would be grabbing lots of stuff.

After a quick glance at the new release shelf,where I saw nothing I wanted to read I walked over to the bins of paperbacks.The last time I was here to look not only was there 2 big wooden bins but at least 8 huge boxes of paperbacks under the bins. No boxes this time. But that just means I don't have to bend over and dig through dusty old boxes.

 

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Tried watching season 1 of the tv show and quickly got bored with it. Been avoiding the books since Martin hasn't finished the series yet. But I keep getting recommendations on the books from people who's opinions I trust. Gonna throw this one into the "Will read one day" pile.This copy looks brand new. No cracks on the spine. Really it looks like it was never read or even opened.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Angel Chronicles Vol 1 by Nancy Holder

8 years or ago Dollar Tree was overflowing with books from this series of Buffy novels. The ones I found and read were original stories. But this seems to be novelizations of 3 Angel-centric episodes.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Gold Bug by Edgar Allen Poe

I love Poe. And this collection of two of his better short stories is great. Dating from the 70s it has pictures from the film versions of the two stories. I know there is better collections of Poe's stories.I mainly grabbed this one cause of the pictures.

Captain Shark Vol 1 Jaws of Death by Richard Silver

I just recently discovered the world of 60s and 70s Men's adventure novels. Stuff like The Executioner,The Remo Williams series and many many others. Even found a few blogs that contain fun reviews of these semi forgotten pieces of fiction. Never heard of Captain Shark. The cover caught my attention and I plan on trying to read this fairly soon.

Red by Jack Ketchum

FUCK YEAH!!! A Ketchum novel I don't own. Really I would have bought any Ketchum novel I found. But to find one I hadn't read. And one where I love the movie,made the trip worth it.This is going never the top of my unread horror fiction pile.

I then started looking at the shelves full of hardbacks. Lots of really old self help books.Bios on people I have never heard of. And a whole bunch of the Left Behind novels.But I did find two things.

The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub

I thought I owned this. Thankfully I keep a halfway complete booklist on my laptop. So I checked it and saw I didn't own this book at all. I would have preferred a paperback. But at least the dust jacket is in good shape. I checked and it isn't a first print. No joke if it had been I would have flipped it quickly on Abebooks or Amazon. Already read this book 2 times. Many many years ago. Will re-read it one day.For now it will join my ever rotating hardback shelf.

Spook Country by William Gibson

The only ex-library book in my haul. And one that I got a connection too. This copy comes from my local library. I checked it out the day they got it in. And every visit to the library I would see it sitting on the shelf. I kind of doubt it got checked out that much. Which would be why they are selling it. It is in perfect shape. From what I remember it was one of the Gibson novels that is set "3 years in the future". I enjoyed it but not as much as the Sprawl series or his other earlier works.

So I ended up doing pretty decent. Total cost was $1. I never saw any vhs,dvds,cassettes. Really all they had was paperbacks,hardbacks and a huge stack of magazines. I looked at the mags quickly and it was all Nat Geos,gardening stuff and other mags of that ilk.

Between what I got today and all the books/comics I got for the holidays I am covered until July. So if you are reading this and want to get me a birthday gift,July 10th,grab me a book. Or not,I don't give a fuck.

31 Days of Horror 2014 Halloween Night Extra 02

I learned how to read when I was 4. And since then it is rare to see me when I don't have something to read with me. Yeah I am the guy you will see in Waffle House at 1am reading a book while I eat my hashbrowns.

And with my love of horror it should come as no surprise that I read lots of horror fiction. Now most people have heard of what I call the big four horror fiction writers. IE Stephen King,Clive Barker,Anne Rice and Dean Koontz. Of the four I enjoy King. Think Barker is amazing. Rice has a few decent books,but the rest don't appeal to me. And Koontz,well he feels like a watered down King.

About 8 years ago I discovered there was a kind of underground of horror authors. People like Edward Lee,Brian Keene,Tim Lebbon,Richard Laymon RIP,Wrath James White and Jack Ketchum.

So I thought what the hell how about I do a post on all the Jack Ketchum books I have read.

Jack Ketchum is the pen name of Dallas Mayer. Born back in the late 40s,Ketchum is finally getting the attention he deserves. I think it is mostly because in the past decade 5 films have been made based on his novels.

I first heard about him thanks to the AVmaniacs forum.This was around the time that Jack Ketchum's The Girl next door film adaptation was coming out. This film sounded great so I made a note to purchase it when it came out. About a week later I was at the used bookstore in town. And saw The Lost by Jack Ketchum on the shelf. I grabbed it. The next night while at work I started reading it and was hooked. Normally when I would get off work at 8am I would drive home and go right to sleep. Not this time, I got home and laid in bed reading for 3 hours.Since that time I have been buying any Ketchum book I find.

The Girl Next door-Based on the Slyvia Likens case,this is one of few books that got under my skin so much I had to put it down. Meg and her crippled sister are sent to live with their Aunt. At first everything seems to be great. The Aunt has a bunch of sons. And her house is where all the neighborhood kids hang out. But quickly we find out that the Aunt doesn't like Meg. She ends up tying Meg up in the basement. And gets her sons and then most of the neighborhoods kids to torture Meg.David is the next door neighbor's son. And the book is told from his point of view. There is one chapter that is only a paragraph. With David saying "There is no way I can begin to describe what I just saw. But it will haunt me for the rest of my life." So far this is the most shocking of Ketchum's novels. And the only one I haven't re-read. Not because it is a bad book. But because it gets to me so much.

The Lost-This was the first Ketchum novel I read. Set back in the late 60s,it is the story of Ray Pie. He is in his early 20s and a total sociopath. We start off with him and two friends way out in the woods drinking cheap beer and smoking pot. He wanders off to a bathroom,and comes upon a naked lady leaving the outhouse. He follows her back to her campsite. Sees her with a female friend,assumes they are lesbians. And shoots them both. One of them dies quickly,the other hangs on for over 2 years. When the second one dies it causes a detective to try his best to bring Ray down. I love how the novel gets into Ray's mind and tries to explain why he is the way he is. Like The Girl Next Door there is a film of this. And it is really well done. With the final 20 minutes being mega intense.

Off Season-The first of what is now a three novel series. Set on the coasts of Maine. It is about a "family" of cannibals.  If you are going to read this novel,make sure to pick up the edition published by Leisure fiction. It is the first time the book was published uncut. The original printing was severely cut.

Offspring-Set not that long after the first book.We are once again with our family of cannibals. But we introduced to an abusive husband that in my eyes is more evil than the cannibals. A few years ago this novel was made into a film. That is seems like most people didn't like it. I love it and watch it at least once a year.

The Woman-Set again not that long after the last novel,but this time the book was written by Jack Ketchum and Luck Mckee. The leader of the cannibals escaped and is found out in the woods by a hunter. He captures her,brings her home and ties her up in his root cellar. Where he plans on having his family civilize her. And again Ketchum seems to be asking the reader who is more evil,the cannibal woman or the father who is abusive to his family and is hiding some dark secrets.

She Wakes-So far this is the only novel from Jack that has supernatural elements. And is my least favorite book from him. Set in Greece and involving Greek gods. While it is a well written book,I found it lacking that Ketchum charm.

Old Flames-The version I have of this is two stories. First off is Old Flames. Which is the story of a woman tracking down an old boyfriend. When I was reading it I kept thinking how much it felt like a Lifetime Original Movie. I found out that it was originally a script for a movie that Ketchum adapted into a novel. It is decent but nothing special. After Old Flames we get the novella Right to Life. Where a woman is kidnapped from a abortion clinic and held captive in some nutjobs basement. Now this is full of the normal Ketchum brutality. And made up for how blah Old Flames was.

Weed Species-This very short story was first published as a very limited print run chapbook. I couldn't afford it. Then found out the Leisure Fiction printing of Joyride has Weed Species in it. It is based on the infamous  Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka murders. Like Girl Next Door this short story got to me so much I had to put it down and wait awhile before finishing it.

Peaceable Kingdom-Is a collection of short stories and novellas. And it includes three that won Bram Stoker awards. I really loved this collection. There isn't a bad story in it.

Sheep Meadow Story-This novella was included in the Triage collection. The idea behind Triage is three authors were given a short premise. A man walks into a place of business armed with a gun and starts shooting. Out of the three in Triage,Jack's the my least favorite. But it is still worth reading.

What makes Ketchum stand out to me from all the other horror authors is most of his stuff is based on real life events. And it is really rare that any supernatural elements in his fiction.

I really wish Jack Ketchum was better known. But his style of horror isn't for everyone. I had a close friend 2 years ago keep talking about how scary Stephen King's books are. So I loaned her Peaceable Kingdom. She gave up after 3 stories. Saying the first story caused her to have nightmares for a few days. But if you are looking for a new horror author to read and don't have a weak stomach check out Jack Ketchum.

31 days of Horror 2012 day 31

The  Woman
2011
Vivendi Entertainment DVD

Now first off I am a huge fan of both Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee. So when I heard they were teaming up to write a novella that would be the third chapter in Ketchum's series of stories about cannibals living on the modern day coast of Maine I was very excited. Well the book was released as a trade paperback. And I could never find it at any book store. Then I hear it was also being made into a film. With Lucky directing. Well it premiered at the 2011Sundance film festival and caused some controversy. One member of the audience left the film and went on a rant about how "A film like this should never be made." Well sadly the theatrical release of the film was very limited. I checked and it didn't play any theaters in the state I live in. So I had to wait on the DVD release.

We pick up a few weeks after the end of the novel and film Offspring. The Woman is the only survivor of the tribe of cannibals. And she is living way out in the woods. Then a small town lawyer spots her early one morning while he is deer hunting. He decides to capture her and teach her how to be a proper human. He manages to catch her in a huge net,knocks her out. Then takes her to his home where he ties her up in his root cellar. And he convinces his family to help civilize this wild woman.

But we quickly learn that the father and the son are vile human beings. The father treats all women like shit,and the son seems to have a fascination with torture. We also learn that the oldest daughter is pregnant. One of her teachers comes to the house to talk to the parents about this and all hell breaks loose. Now before this happens there has been small hints that there is something up with the dogs the family keep in a pen inside a barn. And in the climax of the film we learn what this secret it. The Woman gets loose and gets her revenge on those who have tormented her. Then the film ends what with can only be called a semi happy ending.

Now about 4 months after seeing the film I finally managed to track down a copy of the book. And it goes into way more detail about the son and father's hatred of females. Plus it has a short story that happens after the end of the film. Which lets us know that the Woman is on her way to rebuilding her tribe.

The DVD is well done. We get a nice making of that shows how lots of the FX was done. Plus some deleted scenes. Not sure if this is out on Blu Ray but I would love to see it in true HD. The Woman gets an A.

Peaceable Kingdom written by Jack Ketchum

Peaceable Kingdom is a collection of short stories and novellas written by Jack Ketchum and published by Leisure books in 2003. It contains 3 stories that won Jack Ketchum the Bram Stoker award for best short stories. I am pretty sure this book is now out of print,but shouldn't be too hard to find.

I became a fan of Jack Ketchum back in 2008,and after reading a few of his novels I wanted to try out some of his short stories. I got lucky and found this book at the nearest bookstore. This book has 32 stories in it. The Box was nominated and won Jack his first Bram Stoker award. It is a short tale of a young boy who wants to know what is in the box a strange on the bus is holding and the effects this knowledge has on the boy and his entire family. The Rifle is a story about a mother that find out her son has a gruesome hobby and decides to punish him for it. Gone is the second story that won Ketchum a Bram Stoker award. It is a tale of a mother who child has disappear a few years before the story starts and the pain she suffers when on Halloween night she gets a small clue as to what happened to her daughter. Closing time won Jack his third Bram Stoker award. It is a story that Jack wrote to help him deal with his feelings after the 9/11 attacks. The rest of the stories in this collection range from brilliant to so so. But it is worth picking up if you are a fan of Jack Ketchum. Peaceable Kingdom gets a solid B+.

The Lost by Jack Ketchum

The Lost by Jack Ketchum


My rating: 5 of 5 stars





SPOILERS AHEAD BEWARE






This was the first novel I read from Mr Ketchum. I had heard about Jack Ketchum for a few years. And got lucky and found a copy of this novel at the local used bookstore. Ray Pie and a two friends are out in the woods drinking beer and getting high. But Ray is a disturbed young man,he is a total sociopath. He sees two girls that he assumes are lesbians. So He takes his rifle and shoots and kills them.We fast forward a few years. And Ray is still up to his criminal ways. He works and lives at the motel his mother owns. And he seems to get every girl he wants. But the new maid at the motel wants nothing to do with him and this drives Ray crazy. He gets over this,or so we assume,and starts dating a new girl in town. And one night in he tells the new girl about him killing the two girls in the woods. This causes her to want nothing to do with Ray. That pushes Ray over the edge and he goes on a rampage.
This is a great novel that really shows why Ketchum gets so much praise. He gets us into the mind of Ray Pie. And the ending is a orgy of violence that tops most other well known horror authors.

I love cheap DVDs part 1

The last 6 weeks I have managed to acquire a nice stack of cheap ,$5 and under,dvds. First off I found at a local Movie Gallerys closing sale.

Cemetery Man-Anchor Bay-OOP and one that I missed. Had the cashier check and this had been rented only 7 times since they got it. Cost $5

Let the right one in-Magnet-Been wanting to see this. And had many many people recommend it to me. Cost $5

The King of Kong:A fistful of quarters-New Line-Been wanting to get this one. And it has 2 commentaries and a reversible cover. Cost $5

4-film pack featuring,My best friend is a vampire,Repossessed,Slaughter High Uncut edition,Silent Night Deadly Night 3.Already own SNDN 3 on the recently released 3 pack of the final 3 SNDN sequels. But I figured at 1.25 a movie it was worth getting again. Mainly bought this to replace my "Slaughter High" and "Repossessed" pre-records. Cost $5

Then on a trip to Biloxi,I went to the local Big Lots. Got the following for $3 each.

976-evil-Columbia Tristar-I remembering watching this on Showtime years ago. And for 3 bucks,thought it was worth picking up.

Innocent Blood-Warner brothers-Another I remember seeing on Showtime. Haven't seen it in about 15 years,but do remember liking it last time I saw it.

Career Opportunities-Universal-One of the more under-rated John Hughs movies. It seems like back in the mid 90's this was on cable every other day.

Bloody Murder-Artisan-Never saw this ,but saw Bloody Murder 2. Always here about how bad this is,and seems to be OOP.

April Fools Day 2008-Sony-I enjoyed the original. Haven't seen this one either,but it cost me the price of a rental to buy it.


Then finally,ran by a Movie Gallery in Biloxi. Only got one thing and it was still sealed.

Ghost House Underground Double Feature,Jack Ketchum's Offspring and Seventh Moon-Lionsgate-Been wanting to get Offspring for over a year. And the cheapest I have found it was around 14 bucks. But Movie Gallery had this brand new for $9.50. Haven't seen Seventh Moon,but was more than happy to pay 9 and change for Offspring.

31 days of horror Day 30

Jack Ketchum's The lost

Source- Anchor bay DVD

Ray Pye is a disturbed young man. To make up for being short he puts crushed beer cans in his boots. Him and a couple of friends are out in the woods getting drunk when Ray runs into what he thinks is a couple of lesbians. Ray takes a rifle and kills both girls. Fast forward a couple of years later. Ray live in a room at the motel his mom manages. He is always having wild parties and seems to manage to get any girl he wants. But the new maid his mom has just hired turns him down,and this pisses Ray off. He ends up dating a new girl in town,and everything is going great then one night trying to impress the girl he tells her about shooting and killing the 2 girls many years ago. She of course now wants nothing to do with Ray. This starts his flash trip to insanity. Ray ends up kidnapping the two aforementioned girls,plus another he has been seeing off and on for years. He takes them to a house he thinks is abandoned. Discovering a couple there who are packing up stuff,Ray freaks out and starts to slaughter everyone there. Based partially on true stories this film based on a great Jack Ketchum novels while not 100 percent horror has a level of intensity that very few current films can match. The final 10 minutes will rattle most people's nerves. Over the acting was good or in some cases almost perfect. While not a feel good movie,it is one that will make you think. Jack Ketchum's The Lost gets an A.

31 days of horror Day 18

Jack Ketchum's The Girl next door

Source-Anchor Bay DVD

Inspired by true events,this film is based on the Jack Ketchum novel of the same name. Set in 1958,this is the story of David Moran and the girl next door Meg Loughlin. Meg has moved in next door along with her little sister. They now live with their Aunt Ruth and her 3 sons. Ruth is the mom that all the kids in the neighborhood love. She talks about all kinds of stuff that most adults won't mention in front of kids,plus she lets her boys,plus the other boys from the neighborhood drink beer with her. She is jealous of Meg for some reason. And starts taking this out on her. At first she does stuff like not allowing Meg to eat for 2 or 3 days in a row,but soon it progresses to harsher punishment. After not too long Ruth has her boys tying Meg up in the basement. This slowly starts to involve more of the neighborhood kids,and it starts to get more and more cruel. David is a witness to all of this but does nothing to stop or prevent it,finally he has seen enough and tries to save Meg and her little sister. The last 15 minutes of the movie are some of the most heartbreaking,gruesome scenes I had seen in any film in many years. The acting is very good,when you consider that most of the cast is preteen and early teens. This is one of those films that well most people couldn't make it through. But if you want to see what I thought was the best horror film of 2007,at least give it a rent. Jack Ketchum's The Girl next door gets an A.

31 Days of horror Day 12

Jack Ketchum's Offspring

Source-Ghosthouse Underground DVD

First off I am a huge Jack Ketchum fan,and also have been very impressed with the 3 previous films based on his novels. So when I first heard about a film adaptation of Offspring,which is my second favorite novel from him,I was very excited. I had a feeling that no R rated movie could accurately recreate the novel.

A recently divorced mother and her son travel up to the Maine coast to visit some friends. The first day there the mom gets a call from her ex-husband. He is driving up to come see them. This upsets her cause he was abusive and she has a restraining order against him. Later that night before he arrives a local "family" of cannibals attacks the house. The husband of the couple dies first in a pretty gruesome way. 3 of the cannibal kids surround the wife of the couple,but the divorced mom manages to run up stairs,get the couple's baby,and makes it to the room her son is sleeping in. The oldest male of the cannibals follows her and tries to get in the room. The cannibals want the baby to replace one that died earlier. The mom gets her son to jump out the window and she follows while holding the baby. All three of them run off into the woods. The male cannibal manages to break thru the door and sees them running off into the woods. He goes and tells the head of the "family", a very alpha female. And she tells all the kids to run after them. They run out and this is the moment that the ex-husband happens to drive up. The cannibal kids assault his car,and he manages to drive off. As he is driving very fast down the dirt roads leading away from the house,he runs into 3 cops that are looking for the cannibals. They start to question him,and he runs off into the woods. Meanwhile Mom,son,and baby are hiding in a tree house the son had found earlier. For some unknown reason the Mom decides they need to keep moving. So they all climb down . They run for a short while when they run into the eldest male cannibal. The mom hands the baby off to her son and tells him to run. Mom is taken hostage by the male,but the son manages to make it back to the tree house. He leaves the baby up there and climbs down and starts trailing the cannibal that is dragging his mom to the cave where they live. The ex-husband comes out of the woods onto a beach,where he is accosted by some of the cannibals . They cut him on his left calf and leave him on the beach. Not much later the 3 cops are a little ways away from the ex-husband on the beach. They think they hear something and 3 of the cannibal kids attack them. One cop gets a very long nail shoved into his left eye. another is stabbed in the gut.The cop with the nail in his eye ,pulls out his gun and shots the kid that is still hanging on him directly in the head. The third cop,who is actually a retired cop that has dealt with some of this "family before,is knocked to the ground. He hits his head on a rock and passes out. The Alpha female cannibal comes along sees the three presumed dead cops,plus the dead kid,and tells one of the surviving kids to take the dead body up to the cave. Alpha female keeps walking along the beach and finds ex-husband,and she finds a connection in him.So she helps him to his feet and they head towards the cave. The son sees all of this and also heads towards the cave. The ex-cop comes too and heads down the beach,where he meets up with the son. This leads up to a very violent and gruesome showdown that would ruin the movie if i talked about it. The acting was uniformly good. The story follows the book very closely. And the special effects amazed me,since I knew this was a very low budget film. I found this to be a stunningly brutal movie,that really didn't pull any punches,and it is the best American made cannibal movie I have seen. Not only that but it is also the best horror film I have seen this year. A+