Night Sea Journey, A Tale of the Supernatural - by Paula Cappa - Beautifully written with an undertone of horror

3.5 of 5 Stars    Review Copy

Have you ever had a meal at a fine restaurant where the atmosphere was captivating and the meal itself was beautifully prepared, but the food actually left you unsatisfied. For me, Night Sea Journey by Paula Cappa was a bit like that.

The prologue takes us to Abasterson House, named for the angel who rules the fifth hour after sunset.  Kip is having a recurring dream where she battles a firehawk, a fierce creature, with a chest full of orange flames.  Then there's a giant black-blue serpent which manages to make the trip from her dream to reality.  Kip is prepared and manages to kill the serpent.  This is something she had had to do again and again.

In Chicago, Father Raymond Kera wakes from a dream, sweaty, his heart pounding, his legs shaking.  In the corner of his room he sees hooked shadows.  Whatever it is, it has twisted hair, claws and moldy breath.

Circumstance sends Father Kera to Horn Island, RI, to do carpentry work on a light house converted into a church.  It's there that his path crosses with Davida Kipling Livingston, dreamer and talented artist.

Left in Chicago is Father Kera's good friend, Father Garcia, who's street ministry is at odd's with the Church, not to mention how they might feel about his wife and child.

Night Sea Journey was a bit more cerebral than most of the horror I choose to read.  The story itself was beautifully told.  Cappa is a skilled writer producing beautiful prose with amazing imagery, but I had a difficult time figuring out what I was reading.  Is it religious drama, an urban thriller, a wild fantasy, horror or chick lit?  I know it's not right to pigeon-hole someone's writing and there is nothing wrong with any of those genres, but there were times it felt like I was being given too much sub plot and not enough meat.  Back to the restaurant analogy, to much atmosphere and not enough substance.

In the end there was so much left unsaid, I felt unsatisfied.  Also, there were a few errors that should have been caught in proofreading, but not enough to be more than a mild distraction.

Night Sea Journey is available now, as an e-book, from Amazon.com.  Not one I whole-heartedly recommend, but if you're willing to take a chance you might find you enjoy it.

The Hole - by William Meikle

4 of 5 Stars

The Hole starts off with a pretty good opening line.  "The hum started just after midnight."  OK, I'm hooked.  Right away, I want to know more.  Having just seen an episode of Syfy's new series, Joe Rogan Questions Everything, where Joe investigates a strange hum in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, that's been driving the locals batty, I immediately wanted to know what William Meikle's take would be on such an occurrence.

In Meikle's story, those who hear the hum, also suffer nose-bleeds, and at Hopman's Hollow, there's a growing hole in the ground that threaten's to swallow the owner's septic tank and eventually much more.

What we have with The Hole is one of the better character studies I've read in quite some time.  Diverse townspeople brought together by a catastrophe that puts every one of them in imminent danger and, thanks to the military and CDC, leaves them with no way to escape.  Tempers flair, leaders are tested and unlikely heroes are born.  In this respect, it reminds me a bit of Stephen King's "Under the Dome."  The cast of characters is quite a bit smaller, but well developed, with people you care about and one in particular you can't wait to see get knocked off.

The Hole is filled (see what I did there?) with surprises.  The cause is explained, to a degree, but there was a good deal left to the imagination.  All in all, I found The Hole to be a very enjoyable read which I am happy to recommend.

The Hole is available now in both print and kindle format through Amazon.com from Dark Fuse press. In addition, if you have Amazon Prime you can get the book for FREE through the Kindle Lending Library.

Appalachian Undead - Edited by Eugene Johnson & Jason Sizemore - Backwoods fun with zombies

4 of 5 Stars    Review Copy

The Appalachian mountains run from Georgia to Maine, covering a lot of ground from a geography standpoint.  In much the same way, editors Eugene Johnson and Jason Sizemore, have covered a good deal of ground with their twenty selections for this zombie anthology.

There are granny moonshiners, zombie gators, zombie gunfighters and many more.  I like how different writers come at the zombie story from different directions and have different names for the undead. There's The Spread, The Cold Ones, Shufflers and even friendly zombies (watch out for the friendly zombies - they're sneaky).

There's a good mix of familiar names in the horror genre and several stories from names that are new to me.  

Here’s the table of contents in no particular order…

“When Granny Comes Marchin’ Home Again” by Elizabeth Massie
“Calling Death” by Jonathan Maberry
“Hide and Seek” by Tim Waggoner
“Twilight of the Zombie Game Preserve…” by S. Clayton Rhodes
“Being in Shadow” by Maurice Broaddus
“Sitting up with the Dead- Bev Vincent
“The Girl and the Guardian” by Simon McCaffery
“Repent, Jessie Shimmer! -Lucy Snyder
“Almost Heaven -Michael Paul Gonzalez
“On Stagger” by G. Cameron Fuller
“We Take Care of Our Own” by John Everson
“Sleeper” by Tim Lebbon
“Reckless” by Eliot Parker
“Company’s Coming” by Ronald Kelly
“Black Friday” by Karin Fuller
“Spoiled” by Paul Moore
“Miranda Jo’s Girl” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“Times Is Tough in Musky Holler” by John Skipp & Dori Miller
“Long Days to Come” by K. Allen Wood
“Brother Hollis Gives His Final Sermon from a Rickety Make-Shift Pulpit in the Remains of a Smokehouse that now Serves as His Church” by Gary A. Braunbeck

The first short, “When Granny Comes Marchin’ Home Again” by Elizabeth Massie, was so well received she went and turned it into the novel, Desper Hollow, which is also available from Apex Publications.

Speaking of Elizabeth Massie, her husband, Courtney Skinner, is the artist responsible for the cover on this book.  Nice work, Courtney.

Not every one of these stories is great, but there is certainly enough here to make Appalachian Undead an enjoyable read for zombie fans, even if you're city folk like me.

Originally published in 2012, Appalachian Undead, was taken off the market due to some kind of dispute at that time.  Truthfully, none of that matters anymore, because now it's back and is available from Apex Publications in a variety of print and e-book formats.

If you still haven't made up your mind, the fine folks at Apex Publications have published a chapbook sampler of 4 stories that didn't get into the book called, Mountain Dead.  If, for no other reason, get it for "Let Me Come In,"  a zombified retelling of "The Three Little Pigs." 

For now Mountain Dead is available for FREE.  Just go to http://www.apexbookcompany.com/free-book/ and click on the Smashwords link to download in your preferred e-book format.

Recommended.

Edge of Dark Water - by Joe R. Lansdale - Reminiscent of Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn with more of an edge

5 of 5 Stars

I totally enjoyed getting lost in the world Joe R. Lansdale has created in Edge of Dark Water.  Set during the Great depression in East Texas, the story is about Sue Ellen Wilson and her friends Jinx Smith, a colored girl, and Terry Thomas who is considered a "sissy" by his friends, who set out on a jouney to take the ashes of their friend, May Lynn Baxter, to California.

May Lynn's body was found by Sue Ellen and her Daddy one day when they were fishing and I use the term fishing loosely since we learn in the novel's opening line, "That summer, Daddy went from telephoning and dynamiting fish to poisoning them with green walnuts."

Having read a number of excellent reviews for Edge of Dark Water I expected it to be good, I just didn't relize it would be this good.  Sorry I didn't get around to reading it sooner.

Lansdale is a wonderful story-teller and I found this particular tale reminiscent of Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.  If you found those American classics offensive, the same might be said of this work, but I thought the story was honestly told in the language of the times.  Kudos to Joe R. Lansdale for doing that.

And then there's the prose.  Lansdale can paint a picture with words with the best of writers.  Like, "To top things off nicely, it began to lightning in the east, stitching up the pit-black sky like a seamstress with bright yellow thread."

There were times I found myself squirming from the gruesomeness of a scene and other times laughing at what one of the characters had said or done.  Jinx was my favorite.  Oppressed and often put down by the white folks around her, she had a spunkiness which often made me smile.  Case in point, "'She's still a human being,' Mama said.  'God makes all human beings, no matter who they are.'  'Well, he needs to find him a better mold,' Jinx said, 'cause some of these he's making ain't worth the waste of material.'"

If you're like me and didn't get around to reading Edge of Dark Water when it first came out, I'd like to suggest you move it to the top of your To Be Read pile or purchase a copy today and read it right away.  Published by Mulholland books, it's available in a variety of formats just about everywhere.

Strongly recommended.

Steel Breeze - by Douglas Wynne - A fast-paced thriller from Journalstone Books

5 of 5 Stars    Review copy

First, I love the wrap-around cover, from artist Jeff Miller, which does a very nice job of capturing several key elements of Steel Breeze.

Last year, I had the privilege of reading Douglas Wynne's excellent rock 'n' roll horror novel The Devil of Echo Lake (get it and read it, if you haven't already).  So when I saw his new book available as an ARC through LibraryThing.com, I immediately signed up and was fortunate enough to snag a copy.  Steel Breeze takes the reader in an entirely new direction and is every bit as good.

Desmond Carmichael writes Fantasy novels, the kind with swords and sorcerers.  That's why, when his wife was murdered by a Japanese sword, kept over his desk, Des was a person of interest.  However, police later found the murder weapon in the possession of a local vagrant who confessed to the crime and is currently in prison.

Desmond starts having doubts about the man's guilt when a series of incidents leads him to be concerned for the safety of his three year old son, Lucas.  Now he believes the people responsible for his wife's death are after his son.

What follows is a non-stop, high intensity, thrill ride.  It's a masterfully crafted story that is fast-paced and rich with wonderful prose, a tale that gets under your skin, gets your adrenaline flowing, and just barely lets you come up for air before repeating the process again and again.  And just when you think the worst is over...it's NOT!

Steel Breeze is another wonderful book from the people at Journalstone Publishing who have a keen eye for talent and are skilled at producing a very readable product.  The official release date for Steel Breeze is Friday, July 19th, and it will be available in both paperback and a variety of electronic formats.

Highly recommended.

Midnight Echo 9 - Myths & Monsters - Horror magazine from the AHWA (Australian Horror Writers Association)

4 of 5 Stars

I've been a fan of the magazine of the AHWA (Astralian Horror Writers Association) since issue 5 and here we are at issue 9 of this great quarterly.

Over the last year or so, I've discovered a number of new writers either directly or indirectly through the pages of Midnight Echo and issue 9 is no exception.

Between the covers of the Myths & Ledgends issue from May of 2013 I found "Black Peter." a haunting story of racism and monsters set in Bari Italy from Martin Livings,  "Ltttle Boy, Little Girl, Lost in the Woods," sort of an old school fairy tale of a couple unable to have children from Mark Patrick Lynch, and "The Fathomed Wreck To See," a fanciful story of a lost man and an enchanting siren.  All great tales from writers I may have never read had it not been for Midnight Echo.

In addition to many new voices for me there were several stories from other writers I already admire.  For example, James A. Moore has a story here about a ghost train called, "Black Train Blues."  How can you go wrong with a ghost train?  There's a fun story about "The Wee Folk" from JG Faherty, and a terrific Joe Ledger short from Jonathan Maberry entitled, "Changeling."  That one has a killer opening line, "The world keeps trying to kill me."

In addition to the stories, Midnight Echo also includes author interviews, poetry and topnotch artwork.  Just look at that cover.

Midnight Echo 9 is available for the Kindle for under 3 bucks or the print format is available from www.midnightechomagazine.com.

Strongly recommended.

Special Dead - by Patrick Freivald - Exceptional follow-up to Twice Shy

5 of 5 Stars    Review Copy

Special Dead is a sequel to Patrick Freivald's debut novel, Twice Shy, the story of a High School student with the Zombie Virus. Twice Shy was not a book I was planning to read.  When it was published in 2012 I had no idea what it was about, but then I was given an advance copy of Special Dead and thought it would be a good idea to read book one.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Great story, great read, and one of the best books I've read this year.

Following the Prompocalypse at the end of Twice Shy, Ani Romero is no longer the only non-living student at Ohneka Falls High School.  It's a little more than a year since all hell broke loose at the prom and the courts are forcing the school to provide a classroom education to the Special Dead.  They are essentially cut off from the rest of the school, forced to wear special helmets, leg-irons, guarded by men with flame-throwers and instructions to use them if needed. Yet, despite their situation, these kids struggle with the same desires, goals as issues as living high schoolers.

Freivald does an excellent job of using the Special Dead to expound upon current real world prejudices.  "'I miss church,' Lydia whispered.  She fiddled with the silver cross at her neck and looked at the clock.  Ani followed her gaze.  11:00 am Sunday.  It's hard to be a Baptist zombie.  Especially when your preacher organized marches encouraging the government to send you to hell where you belong."

In the search for a permanent cure for the ZV, progress is being made, and then BANG.  The writer provides more than a few, "Oh, WOW," moments and an ending I promise you won't see coming.

Special Dead is every bit as good as Twice Shy.  The novel can stand on it's own, but I strongly recommend reading Twice Shy first.  Both are available, right now, in multiple formats.

Highly recommended.