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Help a Reader Out: Petrified Heads, Metal Crosses, and a Phantom Horserider

Our reader says:

When I was a teen or a kid (I forgot how old I was), I remember my mom getting me a book with a cover of these metal cross-like things being on the cover and there were several petrified faces on them. I think the cover was kind of a dark purple or something.

Anyways, I remember vaguely two stories from the book. One was about a phantom horserider that rode by a school everyday repeating the events of her death. And, the other was about a father recalling his memories about a childhood friend that he couldn’t save from drowning or something.

I’ve been looking for this book for the past two days and I have came up with no luck.

I thought this might be Robert San Souci’s Short and Shivery, which is a children’s anthology with a purplish cover and an iron fence topped with crosses, but there are no petrified heads, and I’m not familiar enough with the stories to be able to know for sure. I’ll make you all the same offer I did last time– if you can identify the book, I’ll send you candy.

Posted on September 20, 2014 by , Reply

Book Review: Incarnate by Lawrence Weill

 Incarnate by Lawrence Weill

BlackWyrm Publishing, March 2013

ISBN: 978-1-61318-142-3

Available: Paperback

Lara Joyner is a wife and mother of three children. She is very religious. She sees signs all around her that lead her to believe that her son, Dale, is the second coming of Christ. He just doesn’t know it yet. In the midst of a storm, she leaves her her home, taking her two sons with her, in the hope that she can reveal Dale’s hidden potential to become the saviour of mankind by pressing him to perform miracles. As she discovers unlocking Dale’s ability to create miracles is not easy, Lara spirals out of control. Her beliefs and faith are put to the test repeatedly. Her money runs out and desperation sets in. She turns to writing bad checks, theft, and, ultimately, selling herself, to keep the dream alive. Meanwhile, her husband, Frank, frantic to reunite their family, pursues the trio cross country: a reunion that will take a miracle.

Incarnate was an okay read. It is a psychological journey into delusion vs. reason. These are also the main themes throughout and were revealed nicely. The characters had distinctive voices and were consistent. Weill’s depiction of Lara, the religious, sign-seeing mother, is powerful. The descriptions were good without being overly graphic. The religious aspects of this book were a bit heavy-handed for me. That being said, it made sense for the story and characters. I also found the pacing to be a bit slow at times. As a result, it took me longer to read this relatively short book (it is only 224 pages). The story wasn’t compelling for me, and as a result, finishing it was not a strong priority. The concept was really interesting, but the delivery just didn’t work well. I have not read any of this author’s work in the past.

Contains: Sexual Situations, Rape, Adult Language

Reviewed by Aaron Fletcher

Posted on September 15, 2014 by , Reply

Help A Reader Out: Tunnels Under A Slaughterhouse

Gentle readers–

Can anyone identify this book?

Shane wrote:

I’ve been SEARCHING to no avail  for this book I read and I know nothing about it other than it probably came out in 2000-2002. It was a “scary” book. And the only details I have was it was about a boy and his friend who go to or maybe investigate a slaughterhouse and they end up getting lost in the tunnels underneath it? And they hear the cows, something or other, and in the end the boy makes it out and his friend he claimed to have lost in the tunnels never existed (when he told family and police). If you know ANYTHING could you please please help me?

 
I’ll make you a deal. Identify the book correctly and I’ll send you candy. It’s getting to be that trick-or-treating time of year, anyway. 🙂
 

Posted on September 9, 2014 by , 3 comments
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