I am a big fan of the Australian Horror community and when I saw the submission call for stories for Subtropical Suspense, from Cameron Trost and Black Beacon Books, I thought this would be a project I would really enjoy. The truth of the matter is that fewer than half of the stories struck a chord with me.
One of those stories was right at the start of the book, "A Lasting Impression, " by FN Karmatz was very good, from the clever title to the well executed story of college roommates, one of them an accomplished thief.
"Penelope Potter," by Frank Ince, is a delightful tale of a con artist who gets conned herself, and I thoroughly enjoyed "Deluge," about an autistic young man who, through writing exercises, predicts the future or is it more than that?
After that there are several stories that are just OK. There are police procedurals, missing husbands, a private eye story, a mystery involving attacks at a school, and others.
There is one other story that I really enjoyed. "Blood On the Ice," by Helen Stubbs, had an element of horror and was a very well written story that takes place at an Ice Skating rink.
Subtropical Suspense is 16 tales of mystery and suspense set in the subtropical city of Brisbane, Australia. It did expose me to a number of new voices in speculative fiction, which is always nice.
Subtropical Suspense is scheduled for a launch date of July 19th, 2014, from Black Beacon Books.
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