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Book Review: Invisible Chains by Michelle Renee Lane

Invisible Chains by Michelle Renee Lane

Haverhill House Publishing, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-949140-03-3

Available: Hardcover, paperback

 

Jacqueline, an enslaved Creole growing up on a Louisiana plantation in Michelle Renee Lane’s Invisible Chains, learns all too soon what it means to be black and female. She is beaten, raped, and terrorized but manages to survive by using the secrets of Vodun her mother taught her and by tapping the powers of the vampire and werewolf who assist her on the flight toward what she hopes will be a rescue.

Even though monsters help Jacqueline, she is still threatened by them and in constant danger, even from love. Lane uses these relationships, including a flirtation with the vampire, to highlight the suffering, marginalized groups depicted in this novel. This includes enslaved people and monsters but also mixed race people, Spanish Jews, Irish immigrants, circus performers, Gypsies, seers and couples in interracial relationships. People who are considered different by the larger white society are powerless and can survive only by appeasing and imitating their oppressors or using magical or supernatural powers against them.

Although the book often moves quickly from one terrifying event to the next, Lane effectively traces Jacqueline’s growing sense of her own talents and strengths. Jacqueline learns that each horrific experience enhances her abilities as a conjurer and intensifies her understanding of herself, thus making it possible for her to voice her demands and choose what she needs to live. She also learns that she must protect her mind and soul most of all and that she has a certain power in knowing the future in which her true freedom will never be a reality. However, she continues to be brave, heroic, and unstoppable. Recommended.

Contains: Graphic violence including rape and torture; sexual situations

 

Reviewed by Nova Hadley

Editor’s note: Invisible Chains was nominated to the final ballot of the 2019 Bram Stoker Award in the category of Superior Achievement in a Novel.

Posted on April 12, 2020 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: Dead Beats: A Musical Horror Anthology edited by Joe Corallo and Eric Palicki

Dead Beats: A Musical Horror Anthology edited by Joe Corallo and Eric Palicki
A Wave Blue World, 2019
ISBN-13: 9781949518030
Available: Paperback, Kindle, comiXology

Dead Beats contains 24 tales of music and horror introduced by a sort of horror host, The Shoppe Keeper. As she leads the reader through her record shop, new, horrifying, poignant, and well-illustrated stories emerge.

While I enjoyed all of the vignettes in this anthology, there are some that stand out. “Grotesque”, by Cameron Deordio with art by Brent Schoonover, focuses on a long-lived rock band with a new member to the lineup. It is crucial that he gets every note perfectly. It means their career, and lives.

In “Reversed Cards”, by Nadia Shammas with art by Sweeney Boo, two bandmates visit a tarot card reader who delivers an ominous message. When it comes time for them to go on tour, the tarot effects the decision of one of the members, who decides it would be best for her to skip the tour. What comes of her choice presents rather unexpected consequences.

Sometimes we all get that one song stuck in our heads. In “Earworm”, by Christof Bogacs and illustrated by Giles Crawford, anyone who listens to a certain track gets more than just a worm. This one was particularly unnerving.

One of my favourite comics teams is writer Ivy Noelle Weir and artist Christina “Steenz” Stewart. “Beyond Her Years” gives us the story of a young woman driven to complete her musical opus after breaking into a haunted music building on her campus.

“”Let’s Stay Together”, by another favourite writer of mine, Vita Ayala, and illustrated by Raymond Salvador, is heartbreaking. I don’t want to give the whole thing away, but I feel that it is a beautiful love letter to the elderly LGBTQ community. I had to put the book down momentarily to let this one sink in. That last panel is absolutely lovely.

I recommend this book for libraries specifically who are interested in increasing their independently published comics collection. This is a fantastic anthology, expertly curated by the editors and beautifully written and illustrated by everyone involved in its creation. Highly recommended.

Contains: blood, gore, murder, racism, sexual assault, sexual content, suicide

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on April 1, 2020 by , Reply

Book Review: Eldritch Tides by Jessica Burke and Anthony Burdge, story concept by Jason McKittrick, illustrated by Brandon Zimmerman and Jason McKittrick

Eldritch Tides by Jessica Burke and Anthony Burdge, story concept by Jason McKittrick, illustrated by Brandon Zimmmerman and Jason McKittrick

Myth Ink Books, 2020

ISBN-13: 978-1087860534

Available: Paperback

 

It’s 2005, and a massive snowstorm hitting Toms River, New Jersey has Jeremiah Allen and his friend MJ experiencing cabin fever, arguing over who is the better dungeon master, eating junk food, and discussing Jeremiah’s obsession with his lineage. Donna and Marvin, Jeremiah’s foster parents, are not all that they seem…

Fast forward to October 29th, 2012. Superstorm Sandy is threatening Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Jeremiah, now a fledgling cultist, finds an artifact that was unearthed the storm. He follows the path this mysterious Elder Tablet outlines for him, following the tentacled fish icons that will take him down the same path his ancestors followed. Dark magick awaits him, if he can only get it right. Jeremiah attempts to use the tablet to awaken… something. But it all goes wrong.

It is now the summer of 2019. Temperatures are unbearably hot and thunderstorms are in the forecast. Dr. Gilbert Halsey at the Toms River Psychiatric Unit has completed his evaluation of Jeremiah, who initially came in with no identification. The good doctor is met with the unexplainable; Jeremiah claims he is changing. After Jeremiah has what appears to be a series of seizures, Dr. Halsey is able to ascertain just to what degree Jeremiah’s body is… developing. Dr. Halsey contacts an old friend from Miskatonic University, and expert in strange happenings.  Dr. Nora Danforth, with her assistant, Jeremiah’s old friend MJ, agrees to travel to Toms River to investigate the Elder Tablet, assess damage caused by a Shoggoth sowing death behind it, and interview Jeremiah for more information. However, when she and MJ get to the asylum, she is met with disappointing news—her childhood friend has escaped the institution. Dr. Danforth and MJ are on their own. Will they be able to reverse the course that Jeremiah started?

I enjoyed the structure of the book. The story is told through news reports, first or third person perspective vignettes, weather advisory bulletins, and journal entries. They merged well, and moved the story forward in an interesting way. The sections involving the Scout Troop, especially those regarding one of the members named Charlie, culminate in a startling revelation. I also liked that none of the characters were perfect—each had a distinct personality and flaws. Also, as a librarian who works closely with my library’s Special Collections unit, I’m curious about the curator’s dedication to the job at Miskatonic University. The Elder Tablet came from Miskatonic University’s Special Collections, and had been stolen several times prior. I would think that there would be stronger stipulations on accessing it. That is, provided that the item itself isn’t manipulating time and space?

I think the only criticism I have is that the text could have gone through one more edit. There were a few typos and some inconsistent punctuation. Regardless, the story was solid. It is suitable for adult as well as YA readers. Those interested in Lovecraftian works should definitely pick up Eldritch Tides. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on March 28, 2020 by , Reply
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