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Book Review: The Final Cut by Craig DiLouie

Cover art for The Final Cut by Craig DiLouie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Final Cut by Craig DiLouie

ZING Communications, 2021

ISBN: 9798782486884

Available: paperback, Kindle edition (Amazon.com )

 

This is the final of a three book series, I have not read the other two, titled Infection and The Killing Floor.  While this book can be enjoyed as a stand-alone, it is recommended that you read the others first for full understanding and enjoyment of the story.  

 

We all know that zombie stories are like the undead themselves: just when you think the trend might finally be over, along comes another one.  Thankfully, The Final Cut bucks the usual zombie storylines and clichés, carves a path of its own… and does it well, breathing new life into what has become a stale genre.

 

In The Final Cut, the culprit for zombification is an organism from space, known as Infection, that has managed to infect most of the population. Here’s what makes the story fun: not everyone reacts the same way, or goes through the same Infection.  Some people have it for days or months before they go nuts and become killers…and some have learned to live and adapt to Infection, becoming almost superhuman but NOT becoming crazy.  That’s one of the best points of the book, the “zombies” are a mishmash of types.  Some are mindless, some can talk and reason, some are evil, some are more or less good– the variety helps keep the story interesting.  

 

As for the uninfected humans, besides survival they are focused on two things: finding a cure for Infection, or finding a way to wipe out all those Infected, and ending the plague.   There is still a semblance of a US government working on a solution in the book.  The author throws some interesting moral dilemmas to the characters: which makes more sense?  Go the easier route and blast everything to pieces to save the few left and take the collateral damage, or try the harder but preferable route of finding a cure?  The “ends justify the means” idea poses tough decisions for some of the characters, such as the need to test a possible cure on human subjects… but no volunteers.  Is capturing unwilling people to use ae guinea pigs justifiable, when your goal is saving people?  The author does a great job using these situations, without sounding preachy.

 

In any zombie novel, there will be violence and gunfights somewhere, and in that area, The Final Cut delivers the goods.  Tanks wrecking things, .50 caliber machine guns shredding zombies and creating carnage, plenty of pitched firefights– there’s enough to keep the entertainment level high.  Overall, this is a thinking person’s action/excitement novel and worth the read, even if zombie stories usually aren’t your thing.  Recommended (after reading the first two, that is)

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on May 27, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: Maggie’s Grave: A Horror Novel by David Sodergren

cover art for Maggie's Grave: A Horror Novel by David Sodergren

Maggie’s Grave: A Horror Novel by David Sodergren

Paperbacks and Pugs, 2020

ISBN: 9798680192276

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition ( Amazon.com )

 

Things not to do when visiting Scotland: Don’t visit a dead witch’s mountaintop grave; don’t light the grave’s cross on fire; and DON’T have sex on the grave with one of the local teenagers.  Why?  Because when Maggie the witch wakes up she is going to be extremely pissed off and want revenge on the tiny town below, since they cut her baby out of her and killed it and her a few hundred years prior.  Author David Sodergren is quickly carving out a niche as one of the better writers in the horror genre.

 

The plot is actually a bit more elaborate than that, but there is no sense spoiling the fun for the reader.  There’s just enough time spent developing the setting and characters to get you interested in them, and then it’s off to the races.  In this case, the main characters are the four (and only) teen-agers in the dying town of Auchenmullan, with a whopping total population of forty-seven.  Almost no one is ever born there, and people only move away, not to the town.  The teens have nothing to do but work an occasional menial job, have sex, get drunk, and hang out at the local bowling alley.  Heck, their theme song, to the Joan Jett melody, is “I love…t’get drunk n’ bowl!”  A dumb, wandering, American tourist provides some diversion, and on the trip to Maggie’s grave, all hell breaks loose.

 

As he did in his first two books, Sodergren keeps his foot on the gas throughout the book; there’s no slowdown.  He fills in the backstory of Maggie throughout the book, and the other members of the town are involved in the plot.  Thankfully, the mystery isn’t revealed in one long, drawn-out monologue at the end, but in pieces where appropriate, so the novel’s pacing doesn’t slow down.  Maggie is responsible for almost all of the bloodletting in the book, and she makes enough of a mess to keep gorehound readers happy: she has a habit of inventing new ways to mangle people when they are unclothed and in compromising positions.  She also isn’t constrained by the boundaries of the town, which allows the story to move outside of Auchenmullan at times for some variety.  There’s dark humor throughout, and, once again, the author comes up with a perfect twist for the ending that the reader won’t see coming.  The story also does a good job throughout playing on the classic Vulcan axiom: do the needs of the many truly outweigh the needs of the few…or the one?

 

It’s now a string of three winning horror novels in a row for the author. Horror fans won’t be disappointed by this one.  Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson.

Posted on May 3, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: Night Shoot by David Sodergren

cover art for Night Shoot by David Sodergren

Night Shoot, by David Sodergren

Paperbacks and Pugs, 2019

ISBN: 9781718170278

Available: paperback, Kindle  ( Amazon.com )

 

For readers who want excitement, action, blood and organs splashed around the pages (where appropriate, of course), and some occasional humor to keep the story from total darkness, Sodergren is a must read: both this book, and his outstanding debut, 2018’s The Forgotten Island.

 

The story centers around a group of mediocre film students who gather in an old, Gothic-style mansion on the cliffs of Scotland to make a horror film.  The mansion belongs to the director’s uncle, who always leaves and locks it at 8PM, not returning till morning. Filming is a disaster, so the foolish students, forced to leave at the 8PM deadline, break back in to attempt to complete the filming in a lengthy overnight shoot.  

Of course, there is a reason they were not supposed to be in the house, and they soon find out why, in a suitably bloody fashion.  

 

Although the basic plot (last person standing) is common enough, it still works when the author knows how to write in an exciting, fast-paced fashion, and that’s something Sodergren does extremely well.  His writing style is what’s been referred to as “tight but loose”, with well-written prose, and doesn’t take itself too seriously.  There is always room for pop culture asides and dark humor in the writing, but it doesn’t detract from the story, or turn it into a comedy.  Think early Stephen King, and you get the idea.  In this case, the humor is in how the author portrays the film crew.  They regard themselves as true artists, but he portrays them as buffoons.  Considering that a lot of people do regard Hollywood and actors in general as foolish,  that’s a narrative a lot of people will relate to and enjoy.  The dialogue works perfectly: just what is needed for the story, with no wasted time on lengthy pontifications.  

 

Of course, this IS a horror novel, and it throws in plenty of creative, gore-drenched events, but it never goes over the top.  The blood and guts is just part of the story, not the overall focus of the story. This isn’t quite hardcore splat, although it’s getting into the neighborhood.  One selling point of his books is the endings: very satisfying, but NOT what you expect.  Final note: bonus points to the author for using Coldplay as the butt of one of the jokes in the book.  No band deserves it more.  Recommended. (the book, not Coldplay!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Reviewed by Murray Samuelson
Posted on May 1, 2022 by , Reply
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