Home » Archive by category "Uncategorized" (Page 136)

Book Review: Rare Birds by L.S. Johnson

cover art for Rare Birds by L.S. Johnson

Rare Birds by L. S. Johnson

Traversing Z Press, 2019

ISBN 978-0-9988936-4-8

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

I must confess that I was not familiar with L. S. Johnson and her previous work. Thus, when starting to read this collection  (featuring eight longish stories) I had no idea of what to expect. Certainly, I was not expecting such a strong, vivid narrative style, or her bold way of addressing thorny and tricky subjects with apparent ease, and of handling hot topics with a steady hand. Blending graphic horror and unrestrained sexual drive with an insightful view of human deepest feelings, Johnson produces strong fiction unsuitable both for the squeamish and the cursory reader. You may love or hate her stories, but they will never leave you indifferent.

Among the included tales my favorites are: “Rare Birds, 1959”, a gloomy story of rape with an unexpected, surreal outcome; “Marigolds”. a dark, disquieting tale of lesbian love set in 1775, and taking place in a Parisian brothel; and  “A Harvest Fit for Monsters”, a memorable dystopian story set in a grim future where an old woman takes revenge on a war criminal.

The highlight of the book is “The Queen of Lakes”, an outstanding tale masterfully depicting the life of a clever peasant girl, who is forced to leave school to allow her dumb brother to go to college, and finds a devoted friend in a dangerous creature dwelling by a lake.

I’m strongly recommending this collection, while I’m getting ready  to secure a copy of the author’s other books if still available.

 

Contains: rape, sex, explicit violence

 

Reviewed by Mario Guslandi

Posted on December 23, 2020 by , Reply

Book Review: A Solitude of Wolverines: A Novel of Suspense (Alex Carter, #1) by Alice Henderson

   ( Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com )

A Solitude Of Wolverines: A Novel of Suspense (Alex Carter, #1) by Alice Henderson

William Morrow, 2020

ISBN-13 : 978-0062982063

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook.

 

A new thriller series has arrived to bring a bit of light to the hell year that was 2020. Alice Henderson invites readers to join her on a new quest in the wilderness with more than a bit of  darkness surrounding her story. Those familiar with the author will recall the stunning horror novel Voracious, the thrilling Skyfire trilogy, and her Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels. One element that courses through her fiction is the dedication to wildlife and the environment.

A Solitude of Wolverines is the first entry in a new series that promises plenty and delivers both thrills and scares while imbuing a strong sense of the gorgeous setting with nary a wasted character. Biologist Alex Carter accepts a position in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana after she survives a strange attack in Boston: a deranged gunman opens fire at a ceremony, only to be killed by an unknown second shooter. She leaves behind a life not for her, including a high-maintenance lawyer boyfriend, and lands in an old ski resort where she’s tasked with tracking the elusive wolverines in the area.

Alex’s arrival does not sit well with the locals. A truck runs her off the road right away, while the sheriff and landowners want the wilderness area for their own plans. She finds a man in the Montana wilderness, injured and near death, stating “they can’t find me.” Scene by scene, Henderson amps up the tension with the stakes looming larger, and the sinister conspiracy unfolding at every turn, leaving Alex not knowing who to trust and worrying about who’s trying to kill her. The climax is a stunner, and announces Alex Carter as a major new character in the thriller universe. The open-ended thread of a possible serial killer with a connection to Alex threatens to grow into a stronger story in subsequent books.

Henderson’s deft hand weaves a strong narrative through the maze of characters brilliantly drawn. Nobody is who they seem to be, which drives Alex’s survival instincts, learned from her Air Force pilot mom, into high gear. Carter is a great lead character who appears destined to have a long, storied future. She is a woman who’s not afraid to show her flaws, yet has the heart and spine to stand with the toughest men in the genre. Readers might draw some parallels with Nevada Barr, C.J. Box, and William Kent Krueger, but Henderson has a style all her own. Her insight and expertise into the setting she knows so well, the stark, beautiful Montana wilderness, becomes a central character yet never overshadows the story.

A highly recommended first entry in a new thriller series.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Posted on December 19, 2020 by , Reply

Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles edited by Ellen Datlow

Final Cuts anthology cover art edited by Ellen Datlow ( Bookshop.org)

 Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles edited by Ellen Datlow

Blumhouse Books, 2020

ISBN: 9780525565758

Available: paperback, audiobook, Kindle

 

Final Cuts is a themed collection of horror short stories. In this case, the common thread is the relationship to cinema, and occasionally reality TV.  The stories have original ideas, professionally written, but with ambiguous endings that might not be appealing to readers who prefer closure in a story. The writing quality is strong enough to make it work with these types of stories, though.

These are horror stories, but they are the more cerebral type.  There’s very little hack and slash, the stories usually involve extremely weird things happening to the characters and how they perceive  reality.  Of course, there are exceptions to this, “Snuff in Six Scenes” being a good and very entertaining example.  One can tell that most of these stories were written by skilled veterans of the craft, as the prose flows perfectly, and there is rarely a wasted word.  It strikes a good balance between action and inner thoughts, tending towards the latter.

One potential pitfall to themed anthologies is they can limit the creativity, since a common theme must be followed.  That doesn’t happen here, due to the excellent story ideas.  Some examples of what the reader will encounter:

  1. A bunch of little tiny mouths that run around eating people.
  2. The filming of an occult ceremony where acting becomes reality for nefarious purposes.
  3. A hearing aid used to listen to a theatre movie broadcasts verbiage very different from the film, and it relates to a murder.
  4. A select screening of a rare film causes some people to want to get killed.

The stories that are somewhat standard ghostly tales have some new settings that add to the flavor.  For example, one features an online reality show, where an unexplained apparition sometimes appears.  The real fun is the reality show itself, which stars two drunk college girls talking about science, hence the story title, “Drunk Physics.”  Some of the writing formats are unusual as well.  “Cut Frame” is written in interview transcript format, complete with its own invented Wikipedia entries.   “Altered Beast, Altered Me” is written mainly in email form.

Final Cuts features excellent writing and is creatively very strong. While most readers will enjoy this, it might not work for readers who like all story threads to be resolved by the end.  Many stories are open ended, and a few have endings that don’t seem to relate that much to the main story thread. Overall, though, it scores high in the most important areas, originality and quality of writing.

Contains:  violence, profanity

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on December 16, 2020 by , Reply
First « 134135136137138 » Last