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Book Review: Things Slip Through by Kevin Lucia

Things Slip Through by Kevin Lucia

2013, Crystal Lake Publishing

ISBN 978-0992170707

Availability: paperback

 

In the small Adirondack town of Clifton Heights, four friends have gathered for their weekly poker night. Chris, the town sheriff, has decided he’d rather have answers than play cards. There have been strange disappearances since Chris came to Clifton Heights a year ago, disappearances that he has been unable to solve. Gavin, a teacher and former writer, is the one who will give Chris the answers he seeks. Gavin hands over a journal with short stories he has written about the strange happenings, from the original shooting that brought the four friends together, to Gavin’s story of alcoholism and redemption, as well as what happened to those who seemingly disappeared into thin air. As Chris reads through the stories, he ends up with even more questions.

Things Slip Through is a short story collection brilliantly disguised as a novel. Kevin Lucia spins an entertaining tale that allows the individual stories to seamlessly coalesce into one story of a very weird and creepy little town and some of its odd residents. The characters are well-developed, and I really empathized with Chris and his unique situation. Lucia’s prose is dark, sharp, and inventive and kept me hooked– I read the book in two sittings. I, for one, hope to see some of these characters again, especially the villainous Dr. Jeffers and his disturbing hospital. I highly recommend Things Slip Through. Highly recommended.

Contains: some blood and gore, adult language

Reviewed by Colleen Wanglund

Posted on April 16, 2015 by , Reply

National Library Week: Check It Out!

Actually, this has nothing to do with horror, it’s just a fun way to share some library love, with this video from the Topeka-Shawnee Library District.

I went to my library yesterday for the first time in a while, and if you haven’t gone recently, it is a hugely different experience than browsing online. Here’s what I brought home:

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande (I thought you folks might like this, but it turns out to be nonfiction on aging and dying. Really good nonfiction, though!)

Redshirts by John Scalzi (very excited about this one– I love Scalzi!)

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami (I just discovered him recently)

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord (because the title is a reference to Voltaire’s novel Candide)

Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit by Mercedes Lackey (been reading her books since I started college)

Inventing Imaginary Worlds by Michele Root-Bernstein (looks very cool!)

The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (I’ve read fantastic reviews of this book)

Alice in the Country of Hearts: Love Labyrinth of Thorns by QuinRose, art by Aoi Kurihara

 

Those titles are mainly from browsing the new nonfiction and the science fiction shelves, with a little time spent walking through the general stacks. Horror gets shelved with general fiction there. On the minus side, that means you have to search to find it. On the plus side, you get to browse through general fiction and find possibly interesting books and authors you might not find if they all were together. Honestly, there is nothing like browsing in a library. The person I went with is really not an enthusiastic reader, but she was happy to go. If you want to spend time around people but not have to talk to them, the library is a great place to be.

So do what the people at the Topeka-Shawnee Library District suggest: Check it out!

 

Posted on April 15, 2015 by , Reply

Book Review: Those Poor, Poor, Bastards (Dead West, Book 1) by Tim Marquitz, J.M. Martin, and Kenny Soward

Those Poor, Poor Bastards (Dead West, Book 1) by Tim Marquitz, J.M. Martin, and Kenny Soward

Ragnarok Publications, 2014

ISBN: 978-0991360529

Availability: paperback

 

In Those Poor, Poor Bastards, all Hell breaks loose when Nina and her father go to a small frontier town for supplies, and discover the town is overrun with zombies. Escaping along with a small group of survivors, Nina and her father escape. While they search for a safe refuge, they rescue a family in the woods, and come upon the long-abandoned Ft. Bluff, where they can fortify their defenses. There, Nina and the others meet a Jesuit priest, Father Mathias, who possesses strange powers that can kill the zombies.

Father Mathias tells our survivors about the mysterious Liao Xu, a man who sold his soul to the devil. The priest reveals that he has taken an artifact of great power from Liao Xu. Liao Xu attacks the fort to retrieve the artifact, and those who survive the attack end up as reluctant participants in an effort to stop the mysterious man from destroying the rest of humanity.

The first in a series, Those Poor, Poor Bastards is a fantastic book in the Western horror sub-genre. Marquitz, Martin, and Soward, combine their storytelling talents into a seamless narrative that takes a different look at the sometimes overused zombie trope. It is a fast-paced tale, but the character development doesn’t suffer because of it. There is more than one villain here, making Those Poor, Poor Bastards quite entertaining. I especially enjoyed the heroine, Nina, who is a well-rounded, complex character.

If you like zombies, or Western horror in general, then I recommend picking this one up, and I look forward to reading subsequent installments in the Dead West series. Recommended.

Contains: blood, gore, adult language and situations

Reviewed by: Colleen Wanglund

Posted on April 11, 2015 by , Reply
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