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Book Review: Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias

Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias

Broken River Books, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-1940885490

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

Some books are difficult to review. Others are very difficult, even impossible to truly convey.  Coyote Songs is a brutal beauty of a novel, a blistering read that is fascinating, and incredibly raw. Gabino Iglesias takes on one of the most controversial topics in America today– the border and immigration– viewed through the eyes of individual Latinos.

Pedrito, The Mother, The Coyote, Jamie, Alma and La Bruja– these are the voices of Coyote Songs. Each has a story to tell about the terrors of life today as a Latinx who seeks peace, safety, and acceptance here in the United States. Each speaks of his or her horrors in a manner that chills the reader. Many of the stories within are short, so I won’t summarize them in this review. However, here are a few tidbits, to intrigue the reader to pick up this book.

Pedrito is a young boy fishing with his father before tragedy strikes in the form of brutal violence and racism. The event will shape his being in a manner that readers view on the news daily. The Coyote ferries young souls across the border in the hope for a better life–  but the manner in which this is accomplished will leave a scar on the reader’s soul. The other characters express emotions varying from despair to hope to terror as they maneuver through the current environment of ICE, Border Patrol, and the current American administration, forcing a lens to focus on the ordeals of the innocent souls who are attempting to simply live in America.

Gabino Iglesias tackles important issues here, that are crucial to the fabric of our nation, and reveals the gritty underbelly that many people prefer to ignore. His writing is pure. His prose is sharper than a rusted strand of barbed wire, unadorned by the language that would obscure the raw poetry underneath. These tales need to be read. This is fiction that reveals an ugly reality that we all should be aware of.  Highly recommended reading, but have a drink ready for afterwards.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

 

Editor’s note: Coyote Songs is a nominee on the final ballot of the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards in the category of  Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection. 

 

 

Posted on May 1, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: The Moore House by Tony Tremblay

The Moore House by Tony Tremblay

Twisted Publishing, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-1949140996

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

 

The haunted house tale is a tough one to take on as a writer. Not much can measure up to Shirley Jackson and Richard Matheson, although Mark C. Danielewski’s House of Leaves  had an original spin. In The Moore House, Tony Tremblay accomplishes the task of breathing new life into the trope, by doing what so many others fail to do: create memorable characters that rise above the expected to become something special.

Tremblay’s characters include three nuns and a priest, all of whom have taints on their persons that color them in multiple dimensions. The nuns have all been excommunicated and the priest battles his own demons. The four have been tasked with working in a paranormal investigative group that’s part of the Catholic Church as they hope to reconcile their sins.

The four have been assigned to check out The Moore House, a structure with a murderous past. The town of Goffstown, New Hampshire has been plagued by strange occurrences around this dwelling. They are instructed not to go inside, as their empath skills can be easily employed outside the walls, but the house has other plans.

What ensues is different than most haunted house novels. Like Hill House, the Moore House becomes a central character. To explain how would spoil the fun but the comparisons to The Exorcist are not far off here. The stories are not similar, but the ingredients will resonate with those fans of the great novels that preceded this one.

The bottom line is that The Moore House actually does terrify. Tremblay’s writing is unobtrusive and lean, allowing the characters and plot to breathe, move, and lull the reader into a sense of comfort, before crushing it. Recommended reading and well-deserving of its place on the final ballot for this year’s Stoker Awards.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

Editor’s note: The Moore House is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2018 Bram Stoker Award in the category Superior Achievement in a First Novel. 

Posted on May 1, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: That Which Grows Wild by Eric J. Guignard

That Which Grows Wild: 16 Tales of Dark Fiction by Eric J. Guignard

Harper Day Books, 2018

978-1949491005

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

That Which Grows Wild is a debut collection from Eric Guignard, which has been nominated for a Stoker award for Fiction Collections. This is a wondrous collection which considers the horrors of the world children are growing up in.

The really great stories include “A Case Study in Natural Selection and How It Applies to Love,” wherein a young man considers his place in the world as an ever-warming world brings about more and more cases of spontaneous combustion, with creatures and people exploding for seemingly no good reason. “The Inveterate Establishment of Daddano & Co.” permits an elderly undertaker to tell us what actually happened during the legendary Valentine Day’s Massacre, and how it affected the dirt and grime of Chicago. Finally, “In the Last Days of Gunslinger John Amos” a gunslinger protects the children of a devastated village from large and vicious animals in the wilderness, until a flood comes rumbling through.

Throughout all 16 tales, Guignard is highlighting nature. Nature is both the most beautiful and the most scary of terrifying monsters. As our world warms, we may yet experience the terrors which Guignard tells us about in this brilliant collection.

If ever there was a collection of stories that deserved to be read by every high schooler, it is this one. That Which Grows Wild is highly recommended for all readers 14 and up.

 

Reviewed by Benjamin Franz

Editor’s note: That Which Grows Wild is on the final ballot for the 2018 Bram Stoker Award in the category of Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection.

Posted on April 30, 2019 by , Reply
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