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Book Review: Times of Trouble edited by Lane Adamson

Times of Trouble edited by Lane Adamson

Permuted Press, 2013

ASIN:  B00CKZRAH4

Available: Kindle edition

 

    Times of Trouble is a collection of 22 short stories that explore the ultimate “Do – Over,” time travel.  Each author was tasked with taking a second chance to “get it right”, but with a delicious twist;  the  attempt actually makes a bad situation worse.  Each story starts fresh, and the result is a splendid variety of topics.  Some of them expected others, not so much.  The time travel tales include: Dinosaur Hunting, Tourism, The Civil War, Overlords, Missing Persons, The Butterfly Effect, Raising Children, Paradox, Detectives, Cartoons, Archeology, Revenge, Robots, and Zombies.  How these stories mix together is a fun read that makes you wonder what would you do with just one more chance to “Get It Right?”

      I loved this collection.  While some of the stories weren’t the type of thing I would normally read they were all thought provoking and highly imaginative.  The tales were well written with each of the authors doing a great job twisting the second chance down a darker path.  The settings were established excellently and the characters had distinctive voices.  The descriptions were laid in nicely leaving me with an excellent sense of place and time.  My favorite stories were Matthew Baugh’s “Rabid Season”, a mixture of time travel and 1970’s cartoons, and  Jeff Drake’s “Little Girl Lost”, with its creepy Lovecraftian nod toward time travel and missing persons.  The only criticism I have is that a few typographical errors sneaked in.  Ironically, the most poorly edited was the tale “A Hatful of Yesterday”, written by the editor, Lane Adamson: a good argument to have someone else edit your work.  That being said, I enjoyed the concept and looked forward to reading each story.  It was a fun read!  If you like time travel then this is well worth reading.  I have not read any of these authors’ works before.  Highly recommended for adult readers.

Contains:  Swearing, Sexual Situations, Gore

Reviewed by Aaron Fletcher

Posted on January 24, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: Strange Weather: Four Short Novels by Joe Hill

Strange Weather: Four Short Novels by Joe Hill

William Morrow, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-0062663115

Available: Hardcover, paperback Kindle edition, Audible audiobook, audio CD

 

There’s something decidedly different about Joe Hill. His novels and short stories often defy categorization, eschewing the conventions of horror and tropes of speculative fiction in favor of something much more… interesting.

 

Strange Weather is comprised of four short novels. The worlds concocted by the author are far from perfect, but are intriguing; they are familiar, but ill-suited to reality. The protagonists are not sympathetic characters readers will want to root for, but they are fascinating.

 

“Snapshot,” the first story, introduces readers to an awkward teen who discovers his elderly neighbor has had her memories stolen by a man with a strange camera. When the boy attempts to foil the man’s plans, he discovers something demented within the device. Hill manages to twist this story into something heartwrenching.

 

The second story, “Loaded,” could be the author’s anti-Second Amendment tale. A mall cop goes on a ill-advised shooting spree while trying to stop a killer, until he can no longer be described as a “good guy with a gun”. The unraveling of the character as his sad world crumbles is intriguing.

 

“Aloft” is the oddest tale in Strange Weather, more reminiscent of 20th Century Ghosts than his horror material. A man afraid of heights decides to try skydiving but manages to fall straight into a cloud, and remains there. An unusual setting, to say the least. “Aloft” will challenge Hill’s fans.

 

Finally, “Rain” can be summarized as a classic Joe Hill tale, with plenty of weirdness and amazement in the setting and a strong, unique cast of characters. When the sky opens up over Boulder, Colorado, nails pound the town, skewering the citizens in a multitude of ways. The downpour is only the beginning, as the aftermath of the apocalyptic event brings out the worst in society.

 

Hill’s style resonates as always: rich and full of imagery that will stick to the psyche, yet never obtuse or indulgent. His depictions of the the everyday person, and lives, are outstanding, and he has an affinity for the weird that seems to be building with each release. That’s a wonderful thing. Strange Weather is reading that will breeze by but leave a scar. Highly recommended.

 

Editor’s note: Strange Weather is the winner of the 2017 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection.

 

 

Posted on March 14, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: Whispered Echoes by Paul F. Olson

Whispered Echoes by Paul F. Olson

Crystal Lake Publishing, 2017

ISBN: 9781640074743

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

Whispered Echoes was originally published in 2016 as a limited edition hardcover by Cemetery Dance Publications. The stories in this collection were previously published in various magazines and edited anthologies with the exception of the novella “Bloodybones”, which appears for the first time in this book. The stories appear in this volume in chronological order as they were published. There are a few stories that stand out in this anthology.

Kent Barclay is “The Visitor” to the small town of Patterson Falls once a year. That’s when the accidents began. They started out small: a non-lethal bike accident here, someone injured by a glass door there. Then eight year old Sarah McKennon met with a deadly accident in the presence of Barclay. Matthew is appointed to talk sense to Barclay, to get him to leave town voluntarily, but to no avail. Now, Matthew waits for Barclay’s return, and the accidents that await Patterson Falls this year.

In “From a Dreamless Sleep Awakened”, police chief Carl Holt calls for Father Jurgens to help him with the strange situation of nine-year old Tommy Gallagher, a child who went missing after he unearthed bones in a small cave a month previously. When the missing child is found, he’s changed. This wasn’t a particularly unique story, as the Indian burial ground, an office calling on a priest for exorcism, and possession of the weak are familiar tropes. Even so, it was well done.

The world is different in “The More Things Change.” The natural world is no longer obeying the laws of nature: the sky changes colour, the river starts to reverse its flow…and bears are riding motorcycles. A cadre of the town retirees starts talking about the new guy in town, Jock Bartholomew, wondering if he is responsible for the sudden changes. The subject of witchcraft comes up conversation and the men laugh it off. Elvin, one of the party, interprets it as just a laugh, that there was no malice behind it. Despite this, Elvin can’t help but wonder. He warns Jock about the potential danger he is in after analyzing the situation further. They both learn first hands what happens when a community falls to herd mentality and the danger it poses when the men and other people from the town show up at Jock’s house, yelling for the witch to come out and face his consequences.

The novella of the anthology, “Bloodybones”, is both beautiful and terrifying.  Six months after Amy’s disappearance on her way home, her boyfriend, David, decides to investigate the old lighthouse she lived in. Amy’s sister arrives to find her own answers as well. As they search for what could have happened to a woman they both cared about, they find information about Bloodybones. Who was this entity, and what did it want? More importantly, what did it do with Amy?

The tales mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many great stories in this volume. Olson truly has a way with storytelling. The reader can see his writing progression from the first story to the last. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on January 22, 2018 by , Reply
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