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Book Review: A Man in Pieces: An American Nightmare by Henry Corrigan

Cover art for A Man in Pieces: An American Nightmare by Henry Corrigan

A Man In Pieces An American Nightmare by Henry Corrigan

Darkstroke Books, 2022

ISBN: 9798848967593

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

 

Renowned book reviewer and armchair philosopher Murray Samuelson was famously quoted as saying “that which is interesting in life resides in the domain of mundania.”  In other words, sometimes the basic, everyday stuff can make for a good book, if written well.  That’s exactly what you get with A Man In Pieces..  There is no big action, no big gore, no big excitement… instead, it is a subtle, well–written portrait of what happens when everyday stress finally pushes a person off the edge of sanity.

 

The precise stress on the characters in this story is the‘ big possibility of losing their jobs in a tight job market, when living paycheck to paycheck (one many people can probably relate to)  Mike and Tom are the two main characters, a couple of drones in an office cubicle farm.  They are diametrically opposite in character, competing for the same job, and dislike each other immensely.  The story encompasses just one five-day workweek.  They both find out on Monday about the coming layoffs, but of course WHO is going to get tossed won’t be decided till Friday.  How they deal with the specter of looming unemployment and possible bankruptcy over the week is what makes up the story.

 

Based on the above, the book probably doesn’t sound that interesting…but somehow, it is.  Just chalk it up to good writing.  This is more of a psychological story, focused on  the thoughts and feelings of the characters, rather than their outward actions, and their inner thoughts are of paramount importance in this story.  The pacing is measured and methodical as the deadline approaches for the characters, each of them struggling to keep going, knowing their lives might take a crashing turn for the worse.  One of them tries to hide it away and put on a happy face, while the other becomes rude and antagonistic, but cracks start showing in the frame of their sanity over the week.  That’s the fun part of the book: the slow build, it leaves you anticipating more to come…and it does.  Friday arrives, someone (or both someones) is about to have their life change for the worse, and then…why, you’ll have to read the book to find out, of course!

 

Unusual in its style and plot choice but satisfying nevertheless, A Man In Pieces is a stylish character study that will impress readers looking for something out of the ordinary.  Recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on December 5, 2022 by , Reply

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: The Forest by Michaelbrent Collings

cover art for The Forest by Michaelbrent Collings

( Amazon.com )

 

The Forest by Michaelbrent Collings

Written Insomnia Press, 2020

ISBN: 9798670345958

Availability: paperback, Kindle

 

The Forest is a bit different from the last few releases by Michaelbrent Collings.  His recent titles (Terminal, Scavenger Hunt, Stranger Still) were combination thriller/horror novels that relied on a fast pace and a lot of action.  The Forest relies less on action, and more on creating an atmosphere of helplessness and dread.  As usual with Michaelbrent’s writing, it’s a mystery also, and any reader will have a very difficult time unraveling the puzzle before the last few pages.  It’s a good plot and a decent read, and parts of it are excellent.   However, it does drag a bit at times and might have been better served by trimming some pages.

 

Tricia and Alex are the two main characters. They were students at the same school, and later got married.  The whole book revolves around their time interacting with the Forest, a place known to all the kids to be haunted, and of course it contains the proverbial “cabin in the middle of the woods”.

 

As kids, Tricia and Alex went into the forest to try to rescue their friend Sam from his crazy mother, and they came out having failed to rescue Sam, and with no memory of what happened.  All they know is the Forest is a bad place.  As adults, they drive by the Forest one day, and their only child vanishes into the Forest.  Later, at the advice of their therapist, they re-enter the Forest to face their fears and achieve some closure over what happened to Sam and their kid.  Needless to say, the Forest is NOT kind to visitors, and Tricia and Alex are treated to a kind of dimension-bending hell where time doesn’t exist, entities want to kill them (or save them) and nothing makes any sense.

 

Although Tricia and Alex are the primary protagonists, the true star of the book is the Forest itself.  Collings does a nice job of making it seem to be a living, breathing entity in its own right.  The use of  never-ending fog, various shapes that appear, and flashing lights do a good job of piling on the spooky atmosphere, and the secondary characters that drop in and out (some offering hints as to the nature of the Forest) only serve to enhance the effect.  Again, this book isn’t written in the usual 100 mph fashion of Collings’s past few novels, it’s more of a grim, spooky atmosphere that relies on vagueness and a fear of the unknown to make its point.  Think the 2016 Naomi Watts film The Forest (no relation to this book) and you’ll get the idea.  When it works, it’s done very well.  The sequence with Trish and Alex going crazy trying to unravel the mystery of the stream that keeps switching flow direction is the best part of the book, and may be one of the best sequences Collings has ever written.

 

As good as the writing is, there are times when it feels like Collings went just a bit too over the top with the descriptions, and it does slow the book down a bit.  There are times when the reader might find themselves skimming pages a bit, just to get to the next part.  A bit more dialogue and a bit less exposition could have pushed this book to the next level.  It’s still a good read, just a bit of a notch down from his usual work.  Also worth noting is the explanation for the mystery of the Forest may be a bit difficult for some readers to comprehend.  It’s best not to think about it too much, just take it at face value.

 

Overall, another decent one from one of the most consistent authors out there today.  Recommended.

 

Contains: violence, limited gore, profanity

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on January 30, 2021 by , Reply
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