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Book Review: The Devil’s Work by Mark Edwards

The Devil’s Work by Mark Edwards

Thomas & Mercer, 2016

ISBN-13: 9781503938182

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

Sophie, a young mother, resumes her career as a literary publicist in London after raising her 4 year-old, daughter.  She is fulfilling a lifelong dream, to work for Jackdaw Press, a prestigious publisher of children’s books that captivated her in childhood.  However, her workplace is troubled: her predecessor mysteriously disappeared, a colleague is inexplicably dismissed for sexual harassment, another colleague is brutally mugged, and a beautiful subordinate seems to be plotting to replace Sophie.  The firm’s octogenarian founder is a grey, ominous presence in the Victorian Gothic office building.

Sophie’s return to work, her husband’s career, and their marriage begin to unravel.  Somehow, her troubles are connected with tragic events during her first year at university.  Sophie and a girlfriend are outsiders.  Unknown to Sophie, her friend’s grandfather is Jackdaw’s founder.

The author, Mark Edwards, skillfully interweaves episodes from the present and past that put Sophie’s career and life in danger  There are no monsters or supernatural forces: however, the darkness and malevolence in human souls suffice to create a chilling tale.  The story’s twists and turns qualify it as a good mystery that keeps the reader guessing.  Edwards has written many psychological thrillers, including The Magpies, What You Wish For, Because She Loves Me and Follow You Home. Recommended.

 

Contains: mild sex and mild gore

 

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee


Posted on October 1, 2016 by , Reply

Book Review: Last Train From Perdition by Robert McCammon

Last Train From Perdition by Robert McCammon

Subterranean Press, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-59606-738-7

Availability: Paperback, Kindle edition.

 

Whether it is straight-up horror, historical thriller, coming-of-age story, or tale of suspense, readers know what to expect from a Robert McCammon novel—a great story. McCammon hits the target here in Last Train From Perdition, the follow-up to the entertaining I Travel By Night.

 

The opening recaps the story of vampire Trevor Lawson and his human sidekick Ann Remington, bounty hunters seeking vengeance  LaRouge, the vampire who turned Lawson into a creature of the night, and took Ann’s father and sister, is still lurking in the shadows, awaiting her chance to kill her protegé if he refuses to join her clan.

 

Lawson is summoned from New Orleans to Omaha to retrieve a wealthy businessman’s rogue son. The son joined up with a gang hell-bent on wreaking havoc in the Wild West of 1886, but now he wants out—a wish that can’t be accomplished without serious help. Lawson and Remington, forever dealing with the Dark Society, the band of creatures who reign in the night, know no job is simple. When a shootout in the saloon goes awry, Lawson needs help to save a young woman’s life.  The pair of hunters jump the titular train, headed for Helena, Montana, along with those they’re responsible for, and ride off into a winter storm. What they find may end all of them.

 

This is a tight, slam-bang read that readers can knock out in a night or two. McCammon writes in a no-nonsense manner that still manages to leap off the pages with crackling dialogue, action, and description. Hopefully, Lawson and Remington will be back for another tale, as the author has a created a worthy hero to continue the series. Highly recommended

 

Reviewed by David Simms

Posted on September 29, 2016 by , Reply

Book Review: Stranded by Bracken MacLeod


Stranded by Bracken MacLeod
Tor Books, 2016
ISBN-10: 0765382431
ISBN-13: 978-0765382436
Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition.

Stranded is the kind of book that generates plenty of hype and high expectations, and it delivers on all that’s promised, and more. It’s a genre-hopping blockbuster that draws immediate, apt, comparisons to The Terror, The Thing, and even The Twilight Zone: a tour-de-force of claustrophobic thrills that places the book in the same field as Simmons, Koontz, and Golden.

 
The ship Arctic Promise contains a motley crew of characters, drawn in vivid strokes. Noah, the main character, is on what he hopes to be his last mission, before heading home to his daughter. The captain of the Promise is also Noah’s father-in-law, and blames Noah for the death of his own daughter, Noah’s wife. The captain has no reservations about his thoughts of his son-in-law departing this world as soon as possible.
 

En route to a rig, the ship runs into a dense fog, and is soon stuck in ice.  The ice quickly surrounds them, trapping them, and sentencing them to a frozen death if they cannot find a way out.  One by one, the ship’s crew falls ill with a mysterious illness. Problems are further compounded by the loss of all communications with the outside world.  Finally, Noah and a team leave the ship, and head to a strange structure barely visible in the distance. What they discover there might have them wishing the weather had already killed them.

 
To deliver further details would only ruin the many surprises and twists that hide within the pages. Each time the story seems to settle in, the author wrenches readers into a deeper, darker world that is nothing like what is expected, but results in a plot that is nearly impossible to steer away from.

 
Bracken MacLeod has written a novel that undoubtedly will garner him a wide base of readers. Part thriller, part horror, part sci-fi, and all great story, Stranded is destined to be on the year’s “best of” lists and will likely become a film (it ought to be). The writing is strong, and the characters rich in depth, especially once they reach their destination.  This tale will stick with those who are brave enough to fall into the chilled, claustrophobic, world MacLeod has transported them to, leaving a sense of never having left the strange frozen world, just like the best of Rod Serling’s tales.

 
Recommended as one of 2016’s most thrilling reads.
 
Reviewed by David Simms

Posted on September 28, 2016 by , Reply
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