Home » Posts tagged "occult horror" (Page 7)

Book Review: The Condemned by Jesse Rosenbaum

cover art for The Condemned by Jesse Rosenbaum

The Condemned by Jesse Rosenbaum

Fulton Books, 2021

ISBN: 9781649523228

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition  ( Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com  )

 

The Condemned is an entertaining, although occasionally predictable debut novel from Jesse Rosenbaum.  It’s a decent story and worth reading, although it could have used one more edit to correct the grammatical mistakes that pop up from time to time.

 

The story itself is fun, and puts a few new ideas into the “ordinary guy dealing with angels and demons” plotline.  Michael is your everyday college student who has the misfortune to be visited by Orrix, one of Lucifer’s former high level demon flunkies.  Orrix was banished to Purgatory for insubordination, and he wants to return to Hell to give Lucifer a beating and take over his job.  Orrix gives Michael a choice: help him find an ancient book that will allow him to return to Hell, or Orrix will make Michael’s life miserable.  Not really having a choice, Michael and his friend Tom search for the book so they can get Orrix out of their lives and return to normal.

 

The plotline is solid, and it’s a nice change from the usual good vs. evil.  Instead, it’s “good mixed up with evil” vs. evil, as Lucifer does play a role in the book, and neither he nor Orrix are shining paragons of virtue.   It’s quite fun, with both Lucifer and Orrix making their case for why each should win, since both of them are pathological liars.  The author shows good creativity with the descriptions of the afterlife, and there’s some good imagery.  The upside-down trees growing from the bottom of precipices (complete with bodies hanged from them) are a good example.  The dialogue between the characters fits in nicely and fills in the plot, keeping the story moving at a brisk pace.  For generating reader interest, Orrix and Lucifer steal the show.  Poor Michael seems a bit hapless and somewhat puppet-like, since he really isn’t given much choice in… anything, really.  He’s a likable character, but he should have been given a little more free will: his lack of control over his destiny makes him somewhat one-dimensional.

 

All the good points make for a perfectly good story, but the way the dialogue is written could have used a bit more spit and polish.  It is written in more of a script form, as opposed to a story form.   It’s just dialogue, with no indication of who the speaker is.  It never gets confusing as to who said what, but the style detracts from the emotion of what the characters say.  Of course, it could be a stylistic choice by the author, although it’s one not seen very often in fiction.

 

Overall, it’s a likable first effort from a new author.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on December 15, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: Ratio of Brookes to Ashleys by Wol-vriey

Ratio of Brookes to Ashleys by [Wol-vriey]

Ratio of Brookes to Ashleys by Wol-vriey

Burning Bulb Publishing, 2021

ISBN: 9781948278454

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition ( Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com  )

 

Where his last novel, Women, was the equivalent of ten cans of energy drink, Ratio of Brookes to Ashleys is equal to a pitcher of sugar-free iced tea.  The gore factor (for Wol-vriey, at any rate) is remarkably tuned down and the sex is minimal.  Instead, this is a dialogue-oriented story, with more focus on the characters than an action-packed narrative.  It’s a decent read, just a change of pace from his usual smashmouth, in your face style.

 

While playing the dating game in his late 20’s, Mike Broadman dates Ashley Brooke Cummins, a vindictive woman with serious mood swings.  He has the good fortune to stop dating her after a couple of months, followed by the misfortune of being cursed by her before her suicide.  The curse?  He can only date Brookes or Ashleys for the rest of his life.  The curse seems to work… too well.  Not only do people Mike knows start getting murdered, people he dates with the correct names start getting killed also.  While Mike is convinced the curse is real, the police suspect an actual human killer.  Or, possibly, a combination? That’s the mystery at the heart of the story, as Mike tries to prevent further deaths and find out the true cause.

 

It’s an original idea, and the story moves at a slower, more measured pace than Wol-vriey’s previous novels.  Character interactions and dialogue account for the majority of the book.   The characters are fairly one-dimensional people in their late 20s, but they are able to carry the story well enough despite the lack of character depth.  The character of Ashley Cummins’ ghost does provide some entertaining contrast, and it would have been nice to have seen her developed into a bigger role.  The Siamese twins (Brooke and Ashley, of course) also provide a bit of extra color.  The violence is at a much lower level that Wol-vriey’s usual work.  There are a couple of messy knifings, but most of the rest of the violence comes from people getting hit by cars; nothing too unorthodox.  It’s minimal enough that readers who dislike splat stories may be fine with this one.  Occasionally, the story does get a bit hokey (finding online hexes that actually work, for instance), and there seems to be an abundance of females named Brooke or Ashley in the book, but hey, it’s fiction.  The story does wind up nicely with a climax that has a twist, and a hilariously amusing curse that causes a real predickament for the person involved.

 

Overall, it’s a fun read, just a different style from the author’s usual work.  This is one the average horror reader can enjoy, but fans of the hardcore stuff may want to stick to his other works.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on December 6, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: The Things in Heaven and Earth by Michael Scott Hopkins

cover art for The Things in Heaven and Earth by Michael Scott Hopkins

The Things in Heaven and Earth by Michael Scott Hopkins

Black Rose Writing, 2021

ISBN: 9781684337118

Available: paperback, Kindle ( Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com )

 

The Things in Heaven and Earth is a good read the first time around, but it may take another read in order to understand all the details; some of the early chapters make a lot more sense the second time through.  That said, it’s still a good, imaginative take on the conflict between God and Satan (although those names aren’t really used) being played out through intermediaries on Earth.

 

Nash Baxter is a character with a convoluted life.  He shot and killed his family as a child, became a personal injury lawyer, then quit to become a paranormal hoax-buster and best-selling author, and somehow he is the repository of some of Satan’s life force.  If that isn’t enough, Nash can see real ghosts, and the demons that bind the ghosts to this plane of existence.  Sound complicated?  It is, both to the reader and to Nash.  When explanations are provided, Nash has an engaging habit of telling characters to give it to him in plain English, instead of using metaphysical jargon.  Some parts may still not make complete sense to the reader, but there’s enough to get the gist of it and follow the story.

 

As twisting as the plot is, it keeps you engaged through the uncertainty, to keep turning the pages to see where the story goes next.  Nash is a good leading man, and you’ll find it easy to relate to his down to earth manner.  He meets an assortment of odd companions along the way: his supposedly dead brother, a doctor who is granted mystical healing powers, real people with phantom personalities… quite the eclectic collection.   Somehow, the story holds all of them, and threads together nicely, keeping the interest level high.  The adversity faced by Nash and Co. is also unpredictable; a lightning bolt alone can provide three instant demon enemies for Nash and his friends.  The reader won’t be sure who the antagonists are in the story until close to the end; the author does a good job painting both sides in mystery.  Eventually, all becomes (mostly) clear, and the story wraps up nicely with a final confrontation between Nash and his enemies.

 

It’s a strange, convoluted tale, but it’s an entertaining one, although it might be a bit much for readers who like their fiction straightforward and easy to comprehend.  If you want a story that veers all over the basepaths yet somehow still crosses home plate in style, The Things in Heaven and Earth is for you.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on November 3, 2021 by , Reply
First « 56789 » Last