![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot_20230801-215924_Chrome.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHell’s Gulf <\/span><\/i>by Nick Carlson<\/span><\/p>\n Temple Dark Publications, 2022<\/span><\/p>\n ISBN: 9781739749200<\/span><\/p>\n Available: Paperback, Kindle edition<\/span><\/p>\n Buy:\u00a0 Bookshop.org<\/a>\u00a0| Amazon.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you’re going to vacation on the Florida Coast at a place called Hell’s Gulf, you probably should expect weirdness, and that’s exactly what the reader gets.\u00a0 Latrine lizards that bite people’s bottoms, deranged murder dolphins, intelligent sand crabs\u2026 the gang’s all here.\u00a0 Throw in a couple demons\/gods from Caribbean and Irish folklore, plus a pool that functions as a sort of portal, and you have the ultimate inspirational place for young aspiring writer Rowan Vane.\u00a0 As he soon finds, inspiration can be deadly.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The story hums along as Rowan’s family settles on the Gulf for a week-long vacation, because it is all they can afford.\u00a0 Naturally, the locals are eclectic, and distrustful of outsiders, hiding the secrets of the town’s sordid past, secrets that continue to plague them in the present day.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This isn’t a new plotline by any stretch, but it still works, as Carlson has written in an entertaining fashion. The combination of strange creatures and\u00a0 colorful locals is enough of an infusion into a familiar plot to keep the reader’s interest, even if the story can be predictable at times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The part of the book that really shines the brightest is the supporting cast.\u00a0 Rowan, as a protagonist,\u00a0 isn’t particularly inspiring or interesting, but the other characters lend more than enough support to make up for him.\u00a0 The Clermont family, consisting of an old Caribbean hoodoo woman and her two obnoxious twentysomething sons, are the best part of the book and are the most believable: they truly convey the feeling of a small, backwards, swampy town.\u00a0 Other locals, such as Large Marge, also lend a hand. This is one of those books where the true stars are the setting and the people that dwell there: the stage itself is the true star of the play.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bottom line: this is a fun read, nothinlg breathtaking, but still enjoyable.\u00a0 It will be interesting to see if the author revisits Hell’s Gulf and writes a story focusing strictly on the town and its denizens.\u00a0 Based on this book, they would have plenty to support a story all of their own.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reviewed by Murray Samuelson.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hell’s Gulf by Nick Carlson Temple Dark Publications, 2022 ISBN: 9781739749200 Available: Paperback, Kindle edition Buy:\u00a0 Bookshop.org\u00a0| Amazon.com\u00a0 If you’re going to vacation on the Florida Coast at a place called Hell’s Gulf, you probably should expect weirdness, and that’s exactly what the reader gets.\u00a0 Latrine lizards that bite people’s bottoms, deranged murder<\/p>\n