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Book Review: The Next Time I Die by Jason Starr

The Next Time I Die by Jason Starr

The Next Time I Die by Jason Starr. ( Bookshop.org. |  Amazon.com )

Hard Case Crime, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1789099515

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

 

I received an unfinished ARC of this from Hard Case Crime.

 

Steven Blitz is the defense lawyer for serial killer Jeffrey Hammond, a high profile case. He is working on the case at home when out of seemingly nowhere his mentally Ill wife demands a divorce, says she’s in love with a woman, and locks him out in a snowstorm. He is driving through the snow when the car skids and he is nearly in an accident. He stops for gas and intervenes in a domestic dispute that ends with him getting stabbed and bleeding out.

 

Or is that really what happened? He wakes up in the hospital with a concussion to a loving wife, and a daughter and dog he never owned, wealthy, a survivor of brain cancer, and with a good life… but he is not a good person. The world has changed and nobody believes him.

 

Steven is a bizarrely unreliable narrator and I was glued to the pages trying to figure out what crazy turn the story would take next, and if it could be believed. The Next Time I Die has been optioned for a movie, and if it’s made, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on August 30, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: The Son of Abraham (Diabhal #3) by Kathleen Kaufman

cover art for The Son of Abraham by Kathleen Kaufman

The Son of Abraham (Diabhal #3) by Kathleen Kaufman

Turner Publishing, 2021(to be released Oct. 26)

ISBN: 9781684425389

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

 

Note:  The Son of Abraham is the third book in a trilogy.  I haven’t read the other two, but this book, for the most part, can be read as a stand-alone.

 

Cults are always good material for horror stories, since some of the ones seen over the past thirty years (Branch Davidians, Heaven’s Gate, etc.) have truly been stranger than fiction.  The Son of Abraham is a fresh take on the idea, if you like end-of-the-world tales, this book will make the grade for most readers.

 

The first 55 pages detail the hours leading up to a large-scale bombing of Los Angeles, by the Son of Abraham cult that kills 10,000 people, and this section is told from the perspectives of multiple people.  The rest of the story takes place ten years later, and is told primarily for the viewpoint of two characters.  One is Esther Robertson, the only surviving offspring of cult leader Alan Robertson; the other is Cooper Carlson, a news reporter who gets personally involved in the story.  Their adversary is the still-alive Alan Robertson, who is locked down at the Supermax prison in Colorado.  Cities start getting destroyed again, and signs point to Alan and his cult being involved, despite his being behind bars.  Esther and Cooper get pulled into a race to stop Alan Robertson from destroying the entire planet, and the big question becomes: are they really acting on their own to stop him, or are they simply puppets Alan pulls the strings on in his quest for domination?

 

The dynamic between Esther, Cooper, and Alan is a big part of the book, and is a lot of what makes the story fun.  Most people like to see the good guys win, but most readers of The Son of Abraham will be asking if Esther and Cooper even have a chance at all, as Alan is clearly no ordinary man.  Unnatural destruction and murder in his presence do a good job of driving the point home.  He’s a manipulative man, as the small character parts involving his followers, and the sacrifices they make for his ambition, demonstrate.

 

Esther and Cooper make excellent “heroes that don’t want to be heroes”, as they each have their own problems to deal with.  Cooper isn’t sure if his news coverage of Alan is helping or hurting the general population.  Esther is trying to save a world that has a lot of people that want her dead, only because she is Alan’s daughter.  She had nothing to do with the LA bombing and the general public knows that, but it doesn’t matter in the age of sensationalistic news and social media.  Their journey around the country chasing Alan’s web of destruction is fast-paced, striking a good balance between action and story development.  The author adds another level of intrigue by re-writing the whole concept of the afterlife with the “Night Forest”,  which ties into Alan Robertson’s desired goal of domination.  It’s a more creative scenario for a religious leader, and it lifts the originality of the story.

 

Short version: if you like fast-paced Armageddon stories, you will like Son of Abraham.  Recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on October 18, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: Synchronicity by Michaelbrent Collings

cover art for Synchronicity by Michaelbrent Collings

Synchronicity by Michaelbrent Collings

Written Insomnia Press, 2021

ISBN: 38744369R00197

Availability: paperback, Kindle edition ( Amazon.com )

 

Synchronicity, the newest thriller from Michaelbrent Collings, succeeds in most areas, while missing in a few.  His trademark skill of writing action sequences and maintaining a fast pace is on full display, but the story does skimp a little on fleshing out the plot for the reader.  It’s a decent read, just not quite to the level of excellence of his most recent novels.

 

“Book” Malcolm is a small-time pickpocket and thief who drifts through life, taking what he can.  One day, unknown people try to kill him on a subway platform.  With their light-speed method of fighting, abnormal healing powers, and the ability to shift consciousness from one body to another, they resemble the characters in The Matrix.  Then, Book is on the run, pursued by some and aided by others, as he struggles to answer the question: “why me?”  Later, Book becomes aware of his own powers, and tries to stop the villains from using the consciousness-shifting device to achieve world domination.

 

Collings has always been good at making a story move quickly and providing plenty of action along the way, and Synchronicity continues the trend.  As always, it starts off fast; the destruction on the subway platform happens in the first few pages, and the pace never lets up until the end of the story.  The numerous action sequences (and there are a LOT) are well detailed and thought out, and show the author’s usual flair for bone-crushing intensity, as well as violent gunfights.  In terms of a straight thrill ride of a story, Synchronicity hits the target dead-on.

 

However, it takes more than just breakneck speed to engross some readers start to finish, and that’s where Synchronicity falls a bit short.  It’s almost too fast, and doesn’t allow the plot enough time to breathe, in terms of explanation.  It’s written so the reader never knows more than Book himself throughout the story, and that’s good for character development, but frustrating for the reader.  There is little backstory or dialogue between other characters to give readers some explanation prior to the big reveal at the end.  This makes it harder to get interested in the characters, since you don’t know much about why they are acting like they are.  It’s a shame, because the reason behind the consciousness-jumping technology is quite clever, but it doesn’t get much page time.  More breaks from the hyper-speed of the narrative to detail the plot would have gone a long way.  It’s a good action book, just a little more one-dimensional than Collings’s usual writing.

 

Synchronicity will probably keep his legions of fans entertained, but first-timers might want to start with Scavenger Hunt or the Stranger series instead, to get a better perspective on his writing.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on September 20, 2021 by , Reply
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