#declan mcmanus

[rolloroberson]

“Now that I'm alone again

I can't stop breaking down again

The simplest things set me off again

And take me to that place

Where I can't find my brave face…”

McCartney and McManus

[qupritsuvwix]

Elvis Costello’s father

[unrealcorvus]

hurry down doomsday the bugs are taking over

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #333 - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Get Happy!!, 1980

Quando, in una sera del 1976, gli venne l’idea di presentarsi con un nome d’arte omaggio alla sua nonna, pensava forse che sebbene volenteroso, il suo vero, Declan Patrick Aloysious McManus, sarebbe stato preso per uno scherzo. Quella sera si presenta come D.P. Costello, che cambierà nel definito Elvis Costello, come omaggio al Re del Rock’n’Roll. Occhialoni alla Buddy Holly, look che esibiva orgogliosamente il suo essere fuori moda, a metà degli anni ’70 Costello è un giovane arrabbiato che ha le carte in regole per dire la sua, in modo interessante, oltre il nichilismo furbetto del punk. Quando Nick Lowe, suo amico e collaboratore, gli trova un ingaggio per la Stiff Records, lui non essendo in totale fiducia decise di non abbandonare il proprio posto da operaio nella ditta di cosmetici Elizabeth Arden (a cui dedicherà una stupenda canzone, I’m Not Angry). In effetti non erano tempi da cantautori, ma bastano i primi guizzi di My Aim Is True (1977) per sgombrare il campo: l’offensiva antifascista di Less Than Zero unite a doti melodiche di alto livello (la mitica Alison, suo pezzo culto) presentano al pubblico un nuovo modo di raccontare musicalmente i tempi. La seconda prova è ancora meglio: This Year’s Model (1978) lo vede insieme ai The Attractions, il gruppo di Stevie Nieve (alle tastiere) e Bruce Thomas (basso) e Pete Thomas (batteria, i due non erano parenti), e in un disco multiforme, dai testi lunghissimi, sciorina la sua bravura in canzoni stupende come I Dont’ Want To Go To Chelsea, Pump It Up (altro inno di quegli anni), Little Triggers e Night Rally. È richiestissimo e parte per Tour in Europa e Stati Uniti. Nelle pause delle date, scrive sull’onda dell’entusiasmo altre canzoni, che compongono il terzo disco in tre anni, Armed Forces (1979): segnato dallo stress e dai primi, evidenti eccessi di vita, è un disco ansiogeno e un po’ frettoloso, che alle belle e ormai garantite belle canzoni aggiunge riempitivi. Sarebbe tutto normale, ma le cose stanno prendendo una brutta piega: le dipendenze da alcool e droga lo rendono nervoso e aggressivo e durante il tour americano, a Columbus, in Ohio, si incontrò con Stephen Stills nel bar dell’Holyday Inn. Qui in preda a deliri alcolici sbiascica pesantissimi insulti razzisti a James Brown e Ray Charles, litiga fino alle mani con la cantante Bonnie Bramlett (che era diventata famosa nel duo con il marito Delaney & Bonnie) e vede in un attimo disintegrarsi la sua reputazione negli Stati Uniti. Ci furono ulteriori polemiche poiché la vicenda fu quasi semi oscurata dai giornali britannici. Le successive scuse in una goffa conferenza stampa non servirono a nulla. Torna in patria e nel 1979 produce il primo, storico, album degli Specials, fa l’attore in Americathon (semisconosciuto film di Neil Israel, dove Costello si esibisce cantando Crawling In the USA). Durante la produzione del disco degli Specials, scrive e suona da solo tutti gli strumenti per del nuovo materiale nei piccoli studi di registrazione Archipelago (scritto così) di Pimlico, nei sobborghi londinesi. Costello ha la necessità di dare un taglio al suono precedente e per il nuovo si ispira alla musica afroamericana degli anni ’60, allo ska, e ha tantissime cose da dire.

Get Happy!! (che esce nel 1980) prende il titolo dalla canzone omonima composta da Harold Arlen, con i testi scritti da Ted Koehler, negli anni ’30 del ‘900, che riprendeva un testo di tipo evangelico. Fu portata al successo da Judy Garland e negli anni è divenuto uno standard per centinaia di artisti. Registrato tra Londra e i Paesi Bassi, a Hilversum, prodotto da Nick Lowe e Roger Béchirian, è un disco-mondo dove Costello mette 20 brani, molti dei quali brevissimi, meno di 2 minuti. È una prova di amore per quella musica, e anche di liberazione in un certo senso (nonostante anche durante le sessioni perdureranno i problemi con alcool e droghe). Ci sono due cover: I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down di Sam & Dave e I Stand Accused dei Merseybeats come omaggio al mai abbandonato amore per il suono di Liverpool. Per il resto, l’enormità (per l’epoca dove esistevano solo i vinili) dei 18 pezzi rimanenti passano dagli omaggi fin troppo sfacciati (Temptation è in pratica la Time Is Tight di Booker T & The MG’s con un testo diverso),a canzoni stupende come Love Me Tender (che apriva il disco), Possession, King Horse fino ai capolavori come New Amsterdam elegia sulla selvaggia New York, High Fidelity, doloroso e drammatico affresco sulle delusioni dell’amore e Riot Act, canzone scritta sui fatti di Columbus. L’omaggio alla musica r’n’b è evidente nella copertina: dalla grafica e dai colori cari alla Stax di Memphis, vedeva tre foto identiche di Costello sfalsate in colori acidi, e aveva una particolarità: l’effetto vissuto del cerchio bianco proprio al centro, a imitare il consumo dell’uso eccessivo. Tra l’altro le prime edizioni avevano la scaletta scritta al contrario, con Riot Act primo brano e Love Me Tender ultima, e valgono di più nel mercato dei collezionisti.

Il disco all’epoca fu accolto con grande favore dalla critica e dal pubblico: numero 2 in Gran Bretagna e un sorprendente numero 11 negli Stati Uniti. Negli anni il disco ha guadagnato ancora più favori, sottolineando la scelta niente affatto facile di Costello di distaccarsi sempre con intelligenza dai generi imperanti per la ricerca di una via personale alla sua necessità di musica. Scriverà un altro disco capolavoro, Imperial Bedroom (1982) che è una grande prova di pop d’autore, che aprirà le porte ad una nuova trasformazione verso un colto, raffinato, ma un po’ meno eccitante, modello di voce-pianoforte che diventerà il modulo classico della maturità costelliana. Ne ha fatta di strada in decenni quel tipo con gli occhialoni che prese in prestito dalla nonna il suo nome d’arte per la celebrità.

[peternelthorpe]

Band Name Origins: Stories Behind Band Names

New Post has been published on https://wr1tepress.com/band-name-origins-stories-behind-band-names/

Band Name Origins: Stories Behind Band Names

Did you know that the Bee Gees were named after the initials of a DJ called Bill Gates? Did you know that the real story behind the origin of the name of the rock band 10cc is much more trivial and boring than the urban legend that surrounds it? Did you ever wonder why the hell would someone choose to name his band Chumbawamba? Here you can widen your knowledge by learning about the origins or rock bands names and pop artists pseudonyms.

10cc: an urban legend claims that the band who wrote the hit Im Not in Love has chosen her name as a gesture to the average male ejaculation, which is estimated as 9cc of sperm. but, the bands name really originated in a dream the band manager, Jonathan King, had in which he was managing a band by the name of 10cc

Alice in Chains: Lane Stanley and Jerry Cantrell had intended to form a heavy metal band that will perform covers of Slayer while wearing dresses. Although there plan did not come out, the name of the band remained. Alice in Chains is a take off on Alice in Wonderland with an S and M twist. Bee Gees: The Gibb brothers first had in mind the name The Rattlesnakes as a name of their band. Later they have come up with the idea of honoring the initials of both Brothers Gibb and their close friend and one of their first supports, DJ Bill Gates, who has nothing to do with the founder of Microsoft. Chumbawamba: apparently, one of the band members had a strange dream, in which he could not decide which public toilet door he should enter since the Men and Women signs were replaced with Chumba and Wamba signs. The Doors: formerly named Psychedelic Ranger, inspired by a William Blake quote: If the doors of perception were to be cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. Elvis Costello: was born as Declan Patrick McManus. When he had started his musical career, he adopted an alias created by a combination of Elvis Presley and Lou Costello, mainly because he represents the exact opposite of the other Elvis.

The Fall: taken from the title of a novel authored by Albert Camus.

Grateful Dead: originally named The Warlocks. The origin of the cult band final name was inspired by an old English folk tale, which themed around a traveler who is saved by the spirit of a dead person who is grateful for the travelers generosity and his willingness to pay the deads man debts in order for him to be buried.

The Happy Mondays: Shaun Rider was inspired by the happy Mondays he and the other members of the band were having as unemployed who were spending the day that follows the weekend in sleeping while the other people were off to work.

Ice T: the controversial gangsta rapper has chosen to name himself after Iceberg Slim, a famous pimp who later became an author of books that describe gangsta living. Johnny Rotten: the Sex Pistols leader was born as John Lydon. He received a stage name that was found more suitable for an anarchist punk with a set of rotten teeth.

Kraftwerk: the pioneer electronic band adopted the German translation of the term Power Station.

L. LL Cool J: James Todd Smith pseudonym is an Acronym for Ladies Love Cool James.

Marilyn Manson: the bandleader pseudonym mixes two of Americas favorite celebrities: Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson. Other members of the band are using the pseudonyms Ginger Fish, Twiggy Ramirez and Madonna Wayne Gacy.

Nine Inch Nails: inspired by the nails that attached Jesus to the cross

The Orb: in Woody Allens Sleeper, there is a silver ball that causes people who touches it to react in strange ways. This device was called The Orb.

The Pogues: originally named Pogue Mahone, which is Kiss my Ass in Gaelic, the band shortened the name to avoid airplay censorship.

Queen: one word that catches both transvestite and royalty connotation was the perfect band name in the eyes of Freddie Mercury.

The Replacements: according to the myth, the punk rock band adapted the name after replacing a missing band in a gig, an incident that made them introduced themselves as The Replacements.

Sex Pistols: Malcolm Mclaren is responsible for the choice of the name, partly to help promote the clothes shop called Sex owned by Vivien Westwood who used to be his girlfriend at the time.

TLC: the initials of the band members nicknames T Boz, Left Eye and Chilli. It also suggests the acronym for Tender Loving Care.

UB40: the politically oriented band was named after a type of British unemployment form.

Velvet Underground: named after the title of an unknown sex book that one of the band members has found lying on the sidewalk Weezer: the band front man was nicknamed Weezer in high school since he was a geek who suffered from asthma that caused him to make wheezing sounds.

XTC: this punk band was formed in 1976 long before the usage of the drug was popular. The band had changed its original name Star Park after watching a Jimmy Durante clip in which he states: Im in ecstasy!

Yeah Yeah Yeah: according to Karen O, the inspiration to the hip band name came from the New Yorker phrase, which means something like whatever. ZZ Top: there are two versions related to the origin of the band name. According to the first one, the name of the band is a spoof on the name of the blues musician ZZ Hill. According to the second version, the name relates to a combination of two popular brands of cigarette rolling papers: Zig Zag and Tops Rolling papers.

[rockmusicassoc]

Happy Birthday to Declan McManus, aka Elvis Costello born 8/25/1954. #ElvisLives #RockHonorRoll #ElvisCostello

[gardenofbookworms]

july's monthly: from bee and rose

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen McManus

▪ murder mystery novel ▪

names can mean a lot. malcolm’s last labels him as “the brother.” sadie’s marks her as a legend. because of theirs, the corcoran twins can't get a moment of peace in echo ridge, their new home. but sometimes names don't mean much at all. you can change murderland to fright farm, but you’ll never be able to change what happened there.

being the younger brother of an unofficial murder suspect—because who are we kidding? it’s always the boyfriend—doesn’t make malcolm kelly look any better when he stumbles upon a spray-painted message on the cultural center sign. and what's worse, the sign is right outside the event dedicated to the girl everyone thinks his brother killed: lacey kilduff, homecoming queen, found strangled dead in murderland (the town’s amusement park) five years ago. since then, the name of the park has changed to fright farm. but the past? that can’t ever be changed.

the car crash that landed sadie corcoran, echo ridge’s very own movie star, in rehab also landed her twin children in their nana’s home in echo ridge. moving from big city california to quaint vermont makes everyone there think they’re superstars. truth is, ellery’s just a crime nerd who wants to figure out what happened to lacey. and while he might not be famous, ezra’s still got the ability to breeze right into any new situation. laying low gets even harder for the two when ellery is nominated for homecoming queen—because just like that, she’s a target for murder. do you remember murderland, princess? i do.

the vandalism isn't just on signs—it's in the school as well, right on ellery’s locker. someone’s obviously got their vicious eye on her, so why doesn't anyone seem to care? and why is everything happening right when declan kelly, malcolm’s brother, makes his return to echo ridge? with ezra and new friends malcolm and mia, ellery nearly deciphers the truth behind all the deception.

it only takes one more movie night to piece it together. now playing / murderland, part 2.

▪

from rose

i. love. murder mysteries. and this book is definitely one of the best ones out there. it does an amazing job of tying together all kinds of mistrust, various types of relationships, and, of course, murder. the author didn’t forget a single aspect of reality while writing this, and even though the storyline seems a little outlandish when you just look at each piece, the whole thing honestly comes together really well. 

it’s so much fun watching the characters slowly become friends (or in some cases, more than friends), especially because of all the little suspicious moments that make everything fantastically messy. there are so many unsaid accusations, so many parts where you can’t tell who’s wrong and who’s right, and in my opinion, that’s what makes the best kind of murder mystery. none of the characters can trust each other, but they need to. after all, how else are they going to figure out who echo ridge’s very own murderer is? 

from bee

if i could just throw this book at you and point really hard at it, i would. but i have to be coherent here, so i won’t. there are so, so many things i didn't expect from the characters, especially daisy and malcolm’s step-family (you’ll find out who they are soon enough). on the subject of malcolm, his and declan’s relationships really struck me. because really, what are you supposed to do if you think your brother committed murder? 

the guilt and unsaid accusations only make the plot messier, considering that part of it is told from malcolm’s perspective. that and the fact that he keeps getting caught in unfortunate situations—for example, being the last to see brooke bennett before she disappears. now, isn’t that suspicious? but in balance with the “oh my god who do i trust” stance, it’s sort of heartwarming that the newly-formed murder club relies on each other a decent amount already (unrealistic? maybe. but that's for you to judge).

▪

bonus: spotify playlist!

[jshatan]

It’s day 19 of the #nnghalloweenvinyl challenge by @nickynogood315: Drag Me To Hell: Comeback Album Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Blood & Chocolate (Columbia, 1986) After releasing eight albums (and numerous singles) in seven years that ranged from good to great to life-changing, Elvis Costello stumbled with 1984’s Goodbye Cruel World. While there were good songs on there, the stiff and slick production sank them like a stone. I was ready to give up on the former Declan McManus after Bing on board since Day One. But he regrouped and two years later put out this masterpiece. He was so BACK from the first notes of Uncomplicated that all was instantly forgiven. Also interesting to note that this was the last EC album I bought on vinyl…the times they were a-changing! #vinyl #vinylcollection #vinylgram #vinylgeek #vinylcollector #vinylcollection #records #vinylchallenge #vinylcommunity #octobervinylchallenge https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj6eSqSgjNK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[rastronomicals]

Elvis Costello

[jeffcbliss]

Stageside: Elvis Costello and The Imposters - Pechanga Resort Casino; Temecula, CA (8-3-19). @elviscostello

Photo: Jeff Bliss

[rolloroberson]

“When I said that I was lying,

I might have been lying...”

DeClan McManus “The Imposter”

[kenstewdivorce]

Rewatching beard after hours and noticed that he calls himself Declan Patrick Aloysius McManus when introducing himself to the Cambridge lads. I thought that name sounded familiar....

[galaxydefenders03]

My reviews of Karen McManus books part 3

⚠️ spoilers ⚠️

Two can keep a secret

I thought this book was a little predictable at times, for example, I thought Brooke was going to go missing and/or die, I thought Peter was suspicious, I knew Declan was innocent because I thought it'd be too obvious if he was the killer. However there were a few moments that I didn't expect and I thought the part with Sadie's theory about the population never changing was really well written.

I thought Ellery and Malcolm were good main characters, because I liked that Ellery had all these crazy theories ( like i did while i was reading this ) which I found entertaining, however I would've liked to see Ezra and Mia's POVs because I found them really interesting and I wanted to see more of their friendship.

Overall I thought this was a good book with an interesting plot

4 out 5 stars

[pollylynn]

Just About, Chapter 7—Just About Glad: Linked Season 1 Caskett Drabbles (Complete)

Title: Just about, Chapter 7—Just About Glad WC: 1700

A/N: Another random number of words, but I think this is done now. This is more or less where, lo those many years ago, I saw this as winding up. 

He’s surprised when she says yes to poker night—and without even too much hounding from him. He’d really worked on ratcheting back the hounding, because she’d come entirely of her own volition the last time. And because the last time had ended on a kind of weird note, courtesy of his mother, Mistress of the Unwelcome Weird Note. 

He’s surprised again when she actually shows up, promptly and bearing a bottle of wine, though he’d told  her not to bring anything. He’s surprised at the easy way she lets him take her coat and greets his mother.  

He had, in fact, had the distinct impression that his mother had made her downright skittish by shining a light on the fact that Kate Beckett, Chez Castle, had become a not entirely irregular thing. He’d found himself on the receiving end of some sharper than strictly necessary barbs and a few more exasperated than warranted answers to perfectly reasonable questions, as though she’d been trying to reset the annoyance clock all the way back to Day 1. 

But she’s here now, of her own free will. Unless the Captain ordered her here or something. That’s . . . an awkward possibility, and not solely because he’s suddenly paranoid when it comes to interfering parental figures. It’s possible—it’s just possible—that he overdid it with the hard sell when he’d invited the four of them over for a game. 

He’d made a point of asking them as group, rather than singling her out. He’d leaned hard into the amenities of a friendly game at his place could offer, and in a desperate, covering-all-the-bases moment, he’d noted that it would be a good research opportunity to see them all with their ties loosened and their sleeves rolled up. It’s possible—it’s just possible—that the Captain might have taken that as a request from a friend of the mayor, not just a request from a friend, if that’s what they are.

That’s what he thinks they are. Him and her. Him and all of them, up to and including the Captain. They’re friends, or at least well on their way to being that. He thinks so, but now he’s totally muffing a round of betting, because he’s too busy studying her for signs that they’re not friends at all—that she’s here under duress—to pay attention to his cards. 

They’re lousy, it turns out. They’re just awful, and he ends up having to bluff his way through to the end, all the while wondering if means anything that she’s the only one without a drink at her elbow, if she’s been counting the hands or surreptitiously looking at her watch, trying to find a time when she can reasonably leave. 

But for all his divided-attention theater, he pulls it off. He takes Esposito for most of what he has left. They all crow over the good detective’s pouty face, and she crows right along. She’s relaxed and into the evening, he decides. She came because she wanted to come, and she’s stayed because she’s having a good time, and he’s glad about that. 

The night proceeds and he’s glad. He feels like they’ve recalibrated, like things had gone a little off the rails after the first time she’d come here—after she’d told him about her mother and he’d spent some quality time under a bare, swinging bulb discovering in grisly crime scene photos that she looks like her mother to a heart-stopping degree. And then he’d lured her here and her presence had thrown into sharp relief the glaring fact that falling into old habits with Meredith was a mistake he no longer wanted to keep making. 

And then his mother . . . 

Well, the less said about that, the better. She’s here and they’re friends, or they’re at least on their way to being friends, and Oh shit, he seems to have just thrown what turns out to be the last hand of the night. 

And that’s not exactly something he does for his friends. 

*************************

His mother outs him. He wonders if it’s some kind of bid for assisted suicide. He also wonders where the volcano nearest Manhattan might be and if its resident gods accept definitely non-virgin sacrifices. But mostly he wonders if he is going to survive an elevator ride with a Kate Beckett who is riled up enough to get right up in his personal space, because there are several different ways that might kill him. 

He does survive though. He does more than survive. He gets her to accept to yet another invitation to his home. They lock horns in full view of all the string-pullers and power-brokers orbiting around the two of them, and what’s happening with them—between them—has nothing to do with that. 

He doesn’t know what’s happening between them—and then she throws the last hand of the night and he super extra doesn’t know what’s happening—but it doesn’t have anything to do with whose friend he is or who she works for. It doesn’t have anything to do with his mother’s meddling or even his own casting about blindly, figuring out what he definitely does not want out of life at this juncture. 

It’s strange, whatever it is. It’s sharp edged and awkward. It’s challenging and humbling and damned uncomfortable a whole lot of the time. But it’s also exhilarating and it makes him laugh and want to work harder than he ever has in his life. It’s fun a lot of the time. And it’s between them. It’s just between them. 

That’s the conclusion, such as it is, that he comes to during the last of the poker games they play for the time being. It’s not at his place this time. It’s at hers, he supposes, but also at theirs, and that pleases him. She slaps down the jumbo-sized bag of Gummi Bears, and he slaps down the rubber-banded deck on the corner of her desk that they share, and it pleases him 

The late-night atmosphere of the bullpen hums along in the background. Phones ring and voices float out from the break room as the two of them battle back and forth and the elevator occasionally dings. It’s not long before things get ridiculous. Anything so pedestrian as Texas Hold ‘Em or Five-Card Draw falls by the wayside. They’re eating their banks and one-upping each other with the ridiculous Dealer’s Choice rules they each call in turn. 

“It’s late,” she says at last. It’s at once too soon and far later than he thought it would be. He’s also pretty sure that it has more to do with the fact that they’ve eaten the last of the green Gummi Bears than her actually having any burning desire to break up the evening. “Should probably call it a night.” 

“Probably,” he agrees, even though he doesn’t agree at all. He has various, wild, sugar-addled, sleep-deprived points of disagreement, but he rises when she does. He stands by with his hands firmly shoved in his pockets, waiting, as she wrestles her clumsy, tired way into her coat and heaves her bag on to her shoulder. He doesn’t do anything so ridiculous—so very nearly suicidal—as try to hold her coat for her, much as he’d like to. He doesn’t offer her his arm.

He simply waits, happy that she seems to take it as a given that they’ll ride the elevator down together, they’ll head out on to the street together, they’ll spend a few more pleasant moments of a thoroughly pleasant evening—together. 

He feels close to her. It’s such a simple statement of fact, and yet he finds himself sincerely, strangely moved by the phrase as the elevator car glides downward and the reality hits him—he feels genuinely close to her and that’s . . . for him, it’s a rare thing. 

He studies her. She’s tired to the point of nodding off a little bit in the corner where she’s propped herself. He remembers not knowing what to make of her at first—not knowing what to make of everything he was feeling about her. He still doesn’t know. He has no idea what will become of them, and that seems suddenly wonderful. 

He turns to tell her so, to say something ridiculous that will be as much a surprise to him as it will be to her. He turns, but the doors ding open just then. He follows her through the lobby and the revolving door. He faces her for what’s poised to be a perfectly cordial, if somewhat perfunctory goodnight between friends—between people who are on their way to being friends, at least. 

That’s fine. It should be completely fine, but he can’t let the moment go. He’s compelled not to let it go. 

“You know, I’m glad you turned me down after that first case,” he says quickly enough that her mouth is still opening to say Night, Castle. It’s still opening, then it’s closing with a snap as he rushes on. “I’m glad there was no . . . debriefing.” 

Her eyes narrow and he knows—he just knows—she’s going to tell him there was never any possibility of that. He knows that’s what she’s going to say, just as surely as he knows it’s not true. There was a possibility. There is a possibility. There will be a possibility until the moment that it’s more than that, so he goes on, confident now. 

“It would’ve—“ he has an ill-timed pang of longing that he has to power through. “It would have been great. But then maybe we wouldn’t have had this.” He gestures between them, tasting Gummi Bears on his tongue. “And this is really great. So I’m glad.” 

“Glad,” she echoes. She sounds utterly baffled. “Great. Okay?” She shakes her head as if to clear it and comes up looking utterly baffled. “Night, Castle.” 

She turns to go, casting one puzzled look over her shoulder. 

“Until tomorrow, Detective,” he calls after her. He stands a minute, watching her recede. He is glad, he tells himself. He’s just about glad.  A/N:  Just about glad we didn’t have that fling, or so says Declan McManus, International Art Thief

[bookishreviewsblog]

Karen McManus: Two Can Keep a Secret | Lara

Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.

I’ve been in a real thriller mood lately (I think I still am tho) and I think that is one of the two reasons I liked Two Can Keep a Secret this much. The second reason is that I’ve actually expected to dislike this book pretty much, due to many disappointed readers and people saying it isn’t on a level One of Us Is Lying was. Despite those, I decided to give this book a shot since I really loved McManus’s writing, and I can tell you it was a damn good decision. I’ve always liked and been fascinated by intrigue and gossip of a small town, where literally everyone is connected in some way, and it kind of creates perfect circumstances for a crime on a level that is solvable by an amateur detective. McManus writes YA mystery thrillers and she certainly knows her audience, as well as how to write the genre. She starts with a set of seemingly unrelated clues that are personally tied to the main characters, and from that point builds up the tension both in characters’ lives and relationships between them. Her mysteries tend to feel easygoing and simple, all the way until the unexpected plot twists and mindfucking revelations work their way through MC’s minds. Her thrilling endings and characters’ fights against the accusations of society make it clear why is she one of the most talented YA mystery writers. Ellery and Ezra are twin siblings moving to a small town called Echo Ridge after their mother got sent into rehab after causing a car accident. Echo Ridge is a place with a lot of bad memories for Ellery’s mother, especially after the disappearance of her twin sister Sarah. Ellery is in the town for the first time, surrounded by the ghosts of the past haunting her family, just in the time of a suspicious hit-and-run and another disappearance. Malcolm is another seventeen-year-old in Echo Ridge with murky family past. His brother, Declan, was dating Lacey (the girl who disappeared five years ago and found dead under the wheel in a theme park) and is largely suspected of being the one who killed her. Malcolm is fighting day and night to escape small-town prejudice about his family, but that becomes almost impossible when Brooke disappears and he is the last one who saw her that night. I was really pulled into this little small-town intrigue McManus created and this book was really interesting to read. From the beginning to the end, I was like a little mystery sponge, soaking every detail and making theories of my own, but I didn’t get anywhere near what actually happened. The combination of gossip, actual clues, and an amateur detective perspective are a good way to an I-swallowed-it-in-two-days read. McManus’s books aren’t character centered, but I almost always fall in love with her ships. They just always seem kind of sided until I find myself rushing through the last chapter, waiting for my otp to happen.

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In The Rock 5/27/1977: Declan McManus dons his horn rimmed glasses and makes his live debut as Elvis Costello at the Nashville in London. #ElvisCostello #Punk77 #RockHonorRoll