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Book Review: Tome by Ross Jeffrey

cover art for Tome by Ross Jeffrey

Tome by Ross Jeffrey

Independently published, 2020

ISBN-13 : 979-8647504074

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition ( Amazon.com )

 

Ross Jeffrey has penned a thrilling, brutal Stoker finalist that pulls zero punches yet has the class of a Ketchum story.  Juniper Correctional facility, a blight on human’s blistered history, has long housed the worst of the worst, the people who operate below the level of human beings.

The story belongs to pair of characters who are both steered by Juniper, the machine that churns and spits out souls: Warden Fleming sits on one end of the spectrum, hoarding secrets that boil beneath the prison surface, and Frank Whitten, a guard who refuses to give up the last strand of light within him.

The story spirals inward up on itself, devouring everything in its path. Juniper is pure hell incarnate, infesting its inmates, guards, and others with a darkness that is more pitch than anything supernatural. It’s not for the squeamish: Jeffrey aims for the jugular, without much subtlety, yet somehow, still manages to build an effective, claustrophobic atmosphere to constrict our deepest insecurities. Juniper as a setting becomes the main character between the pages, an effective and frightening tool that likely scored this nomination.

For fans of brutal, effective horror, with echoes of Edward Lee, Richard Laymon, and Jack Ketchum, Tome will not disappoint. Recommended.

 

Contains: Extreme gore and violence, body horror, racism

 

Reviewed by David Simms

Editor’s note: Tome is a nominee on the final ballot of this year’s Bram Stoker Award in the category of Superior Achievement in a First Novel. 

Posted on May 16, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: A for Anonymous: How A Mysterious Hacker Collective Transformed the World by David Kushner, illustrated by Koren Shadmi

cover art for A for Anonymous by David Kushner, illustrated by Koren Shadmi  ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

A for Anonymous: How a Mysterious Hacker Collective Transformed the World by David Kushner, illustrated by Koren Shadmi

Bold Type Books, 2020

ISBN-13: 9781568588797

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle

 

While A for Anonymous doesn’t fall into the category of horror and dark fiction or horror-adjacent titles that Monster Librarian typically reviews,   there are a number of real-world horrors that are addressed by author David Kushner and illustrator Koren Shadmi in these pages. Anonymous is known for exposing some of these human monsters.

The A for Anonymous graphic novel presents an interview between Kushner, who wrote a number of articles on Anonymous, and Commander X, a faceless member of the hacktivist group who agrees to discuss the resistance group’s founding, history, and activities. It presents a decent introduction into Anonymous and some of their activities that garnered national attention. Some of their attacks were leveled at governments, corporations, and religious institutions, just to name a few. Kushner discusses how Anonymous went after the Church of Scientology; the case of Geohot and hacking Sony; the influence of the hacktivist movement involved in exposing the Steubenville, Ohio rape case; and more. The author acknowledges both the successes and the failures of Anonymous regarding their actions as well.

While it makes for a good overview of the movement, the book does not provide any real analysis or insight into Anonymous’ philosophy or lesser-known activities. Other reviewers have noted that information contained in the graphic novel can be found with a simple Google search, and chances are that a good portion of those search results are linked to articles that Kushner himself wrote for magazines such as the New Yorker and Rolling Stone. It would also have added value to the book for Kushner to include citations from his previous work for those interested in reading more about Anonymous.  Recommended.

Contains: discussion of racism and rape

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on January 11, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones

cover art for Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones

Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones (  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com )

Tor.com, 2020

ISBN-13 : 978-1250752079

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

Night of the Mannequins is a short book, a rocket-fuel ride from beginning to end. It is narrated by teenage Sawyer, one of an offbeat, close-knit group of friends who have known each other forever and are about to graduate high school and go their separate ways. Stephen Graham Jones does a genius job with Sawyer’s narrative voice: it really feels like he is talking right to you. After they’re thrown out of a movie theater where their friend Shanna works, the friends come up with the idea of sneaking a discarded mannequin in to prank Shanna and the manager. Instead, the prank fizzles, the mannequin disappears, and Sawyer is certain he saw it walk out of the theater. After one of the Shanna is killed, along with her family, when a truck plows into her house, Sawyer is convinced the mannequin is the culprit and that he and his friends and their families are all in danger of death by mannequin. He is certain he has seen the mannequin and that the mannequin is stealing and eating Miracle-Gro to turn into a gigantic monster. Sawyer decides he has to act before the monster mannequin can. Jones takes us far down the rabbit hole in this surreal and disturbing tale as Sawyer’s perceptions become more and more skewed,  especially once he starts covering his face with a mannequin mask.

We don’t get to know the other friends well, but Sawyer’s feelings for them seem genuine, so you feel for them and their families when gory tragedy strikes. And wow, does it strike. Sawyer describes it in detail, and Jones does not pull his punches.

This is not intended to be a YA book but it very easily could appeal to YA horror readers looking for a bite-sized read. It’s short, fast-paced, and, unusual in YA horror these days, has a teenage boy as protagonist. With Night of the Mannequins you could hook someone who loves slasher movies but hasn’t shown much interest in reading.  Recommended for ages 15+

 

Posted on October 2, 2020 by , Reply
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