Horror World Book Reviews
April, 2007

DEADNECK HOOTENANNY by Mark Justice
Review by Patricia Snodgrass

Deadneck Hootenanny by Mark Justice has to be one of the funniest novellas I've read in quite a while. Set in the foothills of Kentucky, we meet Frank Sparks, laid off mill worker who is sitting in a bar minding his own business when someone comes into the bar and says the town is invaded by zombies.

Of course Frank doesn't believe such an outlandish tale. He leaves the bar to see for himself. Sure enough, the small town in chaos. Soon the entire town is overtaken by zombies. Frank himself becomes a member of their ranks after he's gets eaten by two of his best friends.

Frank finds out that being a member of the living dead isn't much different than being among the living. With the exception of rot and the flies, of course. But what is a community of sentient redneck zombies to do, other than drink beer, eat road kill chili and the occasional evangelist or tourist who happens to wander into town?

Mark Justice does a wonderful job in telling this story. It could have become a canned rendition of any other zombie story. Instead, he takes a sharp U turn from the familiar old tales and plants his story firmly into tongue and cheek.. The storytelling is great, the pacing excellent, and the deadpan comedy never goes over the top. Sure the rednecks are all stereotypes, but their zombihood is not. They can still talk, they can think and respond. And they all know that soon they're going to die for good because rotting flesh just doesn't regenerate. These are the zombies that you actually feel a bit sorry for. But not too much; they're having way too good a time.

And of course, you can't have a story about rednecks without one incidence of alien abduction. And according to Frank's best friend Tiny, they taste like chicken.

Deadneck Hootenanny is a hysterical summer read. You just can't leave it out of your to be read list. Highly recommended.

Novello Publishers

* * * * *

Ancestor By Scott Sigler
Review by Nate Kenyon

In an attempt to solve one of the biggest problems facing modern medicine—the shortage of organ donors and the related issue of transplant rejection—several competing biotech companies are racing to be the first to clone an animal with serviceable human organs. One of these companies, Genada, is working with a revolutionary technology that attempts to recreate one of the earliest human ancestors by mixing DNA from different species and implanting the viable embryos into cows.

While two very wealthy and dangerous brothers, Magnus and Dante Paglione, own the company, the Genada project is overseen by the brilliant scientist Claus Rhumkorrf and his very talented team, as well as a highly-trained security force headed by former CIA agent P.J. Colding. But after a near-crisis involving a deadly new animal-to-human virus at another facility, Colding’s former partner with the CIA is out to shut all these companies down for good. When they come after Genada, the team barely manages to escape with the cows in a huge C-5 military airplane, which they take to a secluded island stronghold hidden in the Great Lakes.

Black Manitou Island contains everything they need to finish the experiments, and after a stunning scientific breakthrough, it looks as though the team might actually pull the whole thing off. But the creatures that start growing inside the cows’ wombs are nothing like what they expect. Winter is swiftly closing in, and it isn’t long before the small community on Black Manitou is facing something far more dangerous than the record snowfall and howling winds. The scientists have tweaked the growth patterns in an attempt to raise more creatures more quickly, and they succeed beyond their worst nightmares. By the time the creatures rip themselves from the womb they are ravenous predators that must eat constantly to grow and survive, and it will take every bit of Colding’s training and will power to keep the team alive.

Sigler, author of Earthcore, has written a novel that has no business working and yet manages to entertain through the sheer power and headlong rush of its ending. The book’s plot spends too many pages trying to find its way, and character development is thin at best. Rhumkorrf is supposedly in charge of the project and yet he does very little except scream at the scientist who actually does all the work, and shows absolutely nothing else that would validate why he is so important. Magnus Paglione, a 6-8 behemoth of a man who cuts himself with knives to clear his head and has an insatiable bloodlust, gets sent in by his brother to clean up the project and does nothing but make things worse. The relationship that blossoms between Colding and the pilot of the C-5, the beautiful and hard-headed Sara Purinam, simply doesn’t work, and the two members of the crew who repeat everything the other one says grow annoying very quickly. And oddly, the creatures themselves are never well defined; it’s unclear whether the ancestors look like apes or reptiles or something in between, and this keeps the novel from gaining the sort of sharp focus that would leave a more lasting impression.

But when Ancestor finally ramps up, everything seems to click into place. Sigler is in his element with action sequences, and his writing gains energy and excitement with every snap of the creatures’ jaws. Descriptions of spurting blood and fiery explosions are taut and vivid, and the many chase sequences will have readers gripping their armrests until the final page is turned.

Sigler knows how to paint his characters into a corner and get them out again, and by doing so he turns up the pressure to the breaking point. There are no real surprises in the plot, but it doesn’t matter much; it’s still a fun trip. When all is said and done, fans of Jurassic Park might find Ancestor to be just what the doctor ordered.

Dragon Moon Press

* * * * *

BRIMSTONE TURNPIKE edited by Kealan Patrick Burke
Review by Joe Kroeger

After the well deserved success of Quietly Now: A Tribute To Charles L. Grant and Taverns Of The Dead, Kealan Patrick Burke dons the editorial hat once more to bring together five highly original stories for Brimstone Turnpike. Burke has chosen five of the top writers in the horror field, creates a premise that is sure to spark their imaginations and lets them loose to create an anthology like no other.

Take caution while traveling through life for when you least expect it you could find yourself lost on the Brimstone Turnpike only to find yourself at Joe’s Gas & Gulp. There you will come across Johnny Divine, a strange old man with a battered suitcase that contains whatever you need. However, beware when accepting your gift for it is unknown whether it is truly a curse or a blessing in disguise. These are the guidelines that Kealan Patrick Burke sets for the writers, and each one proudly stepped up to the challenge creating stories that surpass all expectations.

The collections starts out with Thomas F. Montelone’s tale, The Prime Time Of Spenser Golding, where the main character receives a pair of glasses that gives him a different view of the world around him. In Behold The Child, Harry Shannon follows a detective and his desperate hunt to uncover the truth in a group of child slayings and the destination that the Brimstone Turnpike will eventually lead him.

Scott Nicholson comes through with what I feel is the high point of the collection with a story of funerals, food and the secret behind what actually lies on the Brimstone Turnpike in his tale, Burial To Follow.

Michael Oliveri tells a richly suspenseful tale of betrayal and survival in Warning Signs. The anthology finishes up with Tim Waggoner’s well-written atmospheric tale that follows a surreal journey down the Brimstone Turnpike with A Strange And Savage Garden.

With the five differing voices of these expertly chosen authors, you are allowed to experience each individual’s originality as they each raft completely different tales from the same idea sprung forth from the wellspring of Kealan Patrick Burke’s imagination.

With an introduction by Peter Crowther and brief snapshots of a story by Burke that perfectly segues into each author’s contribution, this anthology packs a punch that is sure to satisfy any fan of the horror anthology.

I cannot recommend the collection enough and silently hope, like many of you, that this is not Kealan Patrick Burke’s final foray into the world of anthology editing.

Cemetery Dance Publications

* * * * *

THE BORDERKIND by Christopher Golden
Review by Joe Kroeger

Christopher Golden has always been an author who could move effortlessly from one genre to the next, borrowing the best elements from each to accent his imaginative fiction. His well-developed fantasies always contains a healthy sprinkling of chilling horror elements while his grand horror stories are enriched with magical elements of fantasy. The ease in which he writes seamlessly within a number of genres is never more evident than with his latest novel, The Borderkind.

Following right on the heels of the shocking cliffhanger conclusion of The Myth Hunters, the first book of Golden’s Veil series, The Borderkind finds Oliver Bascomb still following the Myths on their quest behind the Veil while desperately attempting find and rescue his Sister who is being held by one of the Veil’s most horrifying Myths. As Oliver travels deeper into this exciting new land, he discovers things about himself and begins to realize that maybe his accidental crossing of the Veil was not that much of an accident after all.

The first thing that I absolutely need to stress about The Borderkind is that it is the second book of a trilogy, The Myth Hunters being the first book of the series. For those of you that still have yet to dive into this magical series from Christopher Golden I must emphasis the point that you need to begin with The Myth Hunters or you will be missing some very important details that help to enhance the storyline of The Borderkind. Also, for anyone avoiding this series over fear of committing to the time consuming task of reading multiple books then I must say that you are making a terrible mistake. Everything about this series is well worth it.

That being said, I can safely say to you that Christopher Golden truly outdid himself with this latest addition to the Veil series. Fans of The Myth Hunters will find that The Borderkind is exceedingly richer in details and brimming with more magical atmosphere than the first outing. Golden leads you deeper into his beautifully imaginative world without holding back. You will witness more richly developed characters while you rush through his story with white-knuckled anticipation for a no-holds-barred ending to this chapter of his epic fantasy.

As the tale unfolds, answers to a number of the questions that plagued you at the end of the first book will be shockingly revealed while other elements elusively stay hidden beneath the surface perfectly setting this epic up for an amazing conclusion. With an electrifying cliffhanger ending that will leave you breathless while you wait for the final book, The Borderkind expertly succeeds in creating a flawless middle chapter to a one-of-a-kind epic fantasy that is sure to live on throughout the ages.

I give The Borderkind by Christopher Golden my highest recommend for anyone who wants to lose themselves in a grand sweeping epic fantasy that can unflinchingly stand up against the finest of the genre.

Spectra

* * * * *

THE CULLED: THE AFTERBLIGHT CHRONICLES by Simon Spurrier
Review by Joe Kroeger

With the vast number of authors out there taking a stab at the “end of the world” scenario, there gets to be a lot of similar ground being covered from many different angles. The Culled: The Afterblight Chronicles by Simon Spurrier is by no means a refreshing and imaginative take on the Apocalypse, but Spurrier does offer the reader more than your average novel with his rich writing and relentless action throughout the tightly gripped pages. His expert grasp of plotting keeps the pace of this novel rocketing so you will barely notice the pages flying by.

The Culled, the first novel of The Afterblight Chronicles, begins as “The Blight” sweeps across the world leaving only individuals of a certain blood type alive. As society breaks down, only madness and savagery are left in its wake creating a world where mere survival is something that has to be fought for. As an ex-military secret service agent moves throughout this dangerous landscape, he comes across a religious cult that seems to have a secret agenda that he needs to figure out to save the fate of what little bit of society remains on the planet.

Simon Spurrier does a phenomenal job at ratcheting up the action from page one and carrying it through until the final satisfying page. He takes his main character through the perils of this new world with a “James Bond” like quality as he keeps the novel moving like any of the best action-pack thrillers you have ever read. Spurrier even leaves just enough of the storyline in question by the end of the book that you will not be able to hesitate in buying the next novel in the series.

His writing is rich with imagery that triggers all the senses into perfectly visualizing the environment of this nightmarish Apocalyptic world. His descriptive prose bleeds seamlessly into his incredible well-developed characters bringing them to life in a way that many writers only attempt to accomplish. With all this taken into account, this novel is a memorable reading experience you will stick with you long after the book is back on the shelf.

Even though this novel offers up nothing revolutionary in the “end of the world” genre, The Culled: The Afterblight Chronicles by Simon Spurrier is a highly pleasurable read that is a more than enjoyable way to pass the time.

Abaddon Books

* * * * *

A KIND OF PEACE: DREAMS OF INAN by Andy Boot
Review by Joe Kroeger

Not being a very big fan of the all-encompassing Science Fiction epics, I picked up A Kind Of Peace: Dreams Of Inan by Andy Boot with a slight reluctance as I ventured into the first book of this new series. With an opening chapter that got my curiosity peaked, I remained interested in the storyline and finished this well-crafted novel with a great sense of satisfaction. With unrelenting action and well-developed characters, A Kind Of Peace is a grand Sci-Fi novel that does not disappoint.

A Kind Of Peace tells the story of the planet Inan that has been at war for the past 500 years until a reluctant peace is finally reached between the warring nations. On the planet of Inan, magic and technology are intertwined together and each nation has their own mage, “super wizard”. At the center of this novel is Simeon, a warrior assigned to be the bodyguard for the mage Ramus Bey. When Ramus Bey is abducted, Simeon must race against time to discover who is behind these events and to stop the mage from being used as a weapon to trigger a new and wholly unimaginable war.

Andy Boot does a wonderful job of pacing this novel to keep his readers interested while supplying enough information to keep the story moving. Starting out in the thick of the action from chapter one, he jumps between the past and present with expert skill as he reveals just enough of the mystery to keep the reader ensnared within the plot and turning the pages until the action-packed ending. Boot also leaves just enough of the plot open to carry the story on beyond the confines of his novel into the next book of the Dreams Of Inan series.

The main aspect of this novel that really kept me turning the pages was Boot’s image intensive and magically lyrical prose. His writing truly came alive for me, filling my head with rich images and flowing prose to perfectly capture the true beauty of his vision. You can actually see the richness and splendor of the world he created flowing expertly off the pages making this an overall stellar reading experience.

Even though this novel easily falls into the Sci-Fi “Space Opera” stereotype, there is enough substance within these pages to raise it above any run-of-the-mill science fiction book. I would recommend A Kind Of Peace: Dreams Of Inan by Andy Boot for a fun and action-packed read that will hold you interest well into the night.

Abaddon Books

* * * * *

DIABOLIC TALES I: AN ANTHOLOGY OF DARK MINDS edited by Robert Everett & Scarlet Duperre
Review by Joe Kroeger

Bringing together twelve writers new to the horror community, Robert Everett and Scarlet Duperre have created an anthology that is sure to bring a shockingly fresh view of the future of the horror genre. Diabolic Tales I: An Anthology Of Dark Minds showcases writers who are not afraid to push the envelope while spinning these unflinching tales found in the darkest corners of the horror genre. If you enjoy consuming your horror fiction blood-raw with no punches pulled, then you cannot go wrong with the visceral and horrific stories in Diabolic Tales I.

Hamidah Gul gets this anthology off the ground with a richly crafted story about witchcraft and modern-day justice in The Witching Hour. Written with fresh and brutal prose, The Witching Hour ventures into the darkness of the horror genre with a style and panache that is truly fitting this anthology. Rey A. Gonzalez keeps the momentum charging forward with his expertly developed meat-and-potatoes brand of horror in Junkyard Dogs. Gonzalez creates a story alive with atmosphere and a completely realized horror lurking in the shadows.

Clown Smile by Peter N. Dudar was one of the tales in this book that whole-heartedly bypassed every boundary of good taste leaving a story that is sure to have even the most die-hard horror fan shifting uneasily in their seats. That being said, I also believe that this story is a shining example of the future of the horror genre with its healthy dose of gore covering a well-crafted tale of lurking horror.

With Dollhouse, Hana K. Lee creates a tale rich with imaginative storytelling and a twist-ending worthy to stand up against the best that The Twilight Zone or Tales From The Crypt has to offer. High Stakes by Ken Brosky is an exciting tale that uses suspense and well-drawn characters to tell a splendid horror story that would be at home within any pulp magazine.

The major downfall to this anthology was that they included the novel excerpt of Intracations by John Dimes as a closer to the book which will surely leave any reader wanting more. I felt that this novel excerpt left the anthology feeling unresolved and open-ended which ruined the smooth flow of this collection as a whole.

Diabolic Tales I: An Anthology Of Dark Minds is a perfectly gathered anthology for any horror fan that is willing to dig through the blood and guts to discover the true gems hiding within. This book is a proud testament to the glowing future of the horror genre.

Diabolic Publications

* * * * *

WINGS OF THE BUTTERFLY by John Urbancik
Review by Joe Kroeger

While I was reading the short but powerful novella Wings Of The Butterfly by John Urbancik, I kept thinking back to the impact that Brian Keene had on the reemergence of the zombie motif within the horror genre. I strongly feel that this original and expertly written tale has the potential to work as a catalyst in the reawakening the werewolf story, a personal favorite of mine, within the horror community. Wings Of The Butterfly takes the universal werewolf, or shapeshifter, idea and creates a wholly original work of fiction that will stand as a crossroad for writers who dare to take up the challenge that Urbancik has so expertly succeeded with.

At its core, Wings Of The Butterfly tells the story of a pack of three shapeshifters, living and hunting, hidden within today’s community. As the novella begins, Erik, the self-imposed leader, discovers a stranger and fellow shapeshifter has come into the orbit of his pack and threatens to undermine everything he has set up. As Nicole begins to interact with the stranger, she discovers that there is more out in the world to experience than Erik has ever allowed her see. Rivalries enflame and blood is spilt as this richly develop character-driven story unfolds.

The simplicity of this plotline handle by an average author would have certainly resulted in an average werewolf tale, but in John Urbancik’s hands, this story takes on a richness and quality that raises it above many of the other stories of this nature. At the heart of this novella, it is a simple story about a pack of shapeshifters, but Urbancik crafts a tale so chock full of human nature, love and revenge that it enriches this story with enough human elements to create an exceptional reading experience. His characters are so perfectly crafted that they live and breathe, and bleed, with such realism and intensity they are barely contained with the pages of this book.

The perfect one-sitting horror novella, Wings Of The Butterfly bristles with enough passion and blood-enriched action to carry its readers through to the final pages without releasing their white-knuckled grip on the book. Without any wasted words or sentences to distract the reader, Urbancik’s tale is a compact and well-written story that flows smoothly from start to finish.

I highly recommend Wings Of The Butterfly by John Urbancik for any reader out there who is looking to experience a fresh retelling of an old staple of the horror genre.

Bad Moon Books

* * * * *

THE EVERLASTING by Tim Lebbon
Review by Kelli Jones

If Tim Lebbon's The Everlasting lasted a few hundred more pages, I'd have been just as happy to read it. In fact, I went back and read it again immediately.

Lebbon constructs a journey that balances a healthy dose of gore with poetic imagery that reflects the growth of the protagonist, Scott. Scott's dire situation is full of the kind of peril and mystery that make it tempting to tear through the novel rather quickly. Instead of revealing every supporting character's true motives early on, Lebbon dispenses the information at a pace that leaves no room for wasted words and keeps the reader enthralled. Most importantly, the reader can't help but worry about how much anguish Scott will have to endure because he's such a likable protagonist.

Scott "lifts the veil" to uncover great otherwordly forces that oppose him. In this way, The Everlasting seems like a rebuttal to Lovecraft's handling of man's relationship with supernatural forces. Scott does not get so overwhelmed by fear that he loses sight of the love that makes his life worth living. The narrative always draws us back into the little moments that make Scott's life worth living, even as it seems like a blip on the radar for the immortals he meets. I wanted the best for this guy.

Lebbon handles his protagonist's growth on two main levels. The first is through Scott's interactions with deceased characters and immortals, both of which are surrounded in intriguing, frightening mysteries. As Scott's journey unfolds, his development is reflected in the descriptions of objects and settings in the story's present and its flashbacks. The prose is a pleasure to read and revisit, as beauty is juxtaposed with decay in ways that reflect how the middle-aged protagonist wrestles with his sudden new understanding of the world.

The result is a beautiful, frightening journey worth taking over and over again.

Necessary Evil Press

* * * * *

LOVE HURTS by Barry Hoffman
Review by Kelli Jones

Hoffman's collection of short stories features many characters with whom you may never want to acquaint yourself in real life. For the most part, their stories are ripped from some very unfortunate headlines that may have made it into your local news, and the details included on each situation add to the realism, even as Hoffman introduces elements of speculative fiction.

"Love Hurts" has a well-constructed plot that piques the reader's curiosity and a plausible, satisfying resolution. Had things unfolded any other way or in any other order, the tale simply would not have been as successful. Hoffman made some great choices here, especially with the first paragraph, which reads like a bomb waiting to go off.   At times, the "rich brat" protagonist's dialogue sounds more like a psychology text than words from the mouth of an adolescent, but the interplay between the two main characters makes for an interesting read.

Rather than being a fleshed-out and memorable individual, the main character of "None of my Concern" seems more like a symbolic figure. The first image in the story sets the tone for the story's examination of a difficult dilemma facing the protagonist and everyone who is or has been in her situation: As eyewitnesses to crimes, should we intervene if our actions would bring harm to us? More importantly, would we intervene? I enjoyed how Hoffman posed questions in this rather than offering simple answers in a tidy package.

"Second Chance" plays out like a Twilight Zone episode or a Robert Bloch short story, examining the fate of a protagonist who will definitely challenge the reader's ability to sympathize with her.

"Law of the Jungle" is the most interesting and well-written of these stories. Readers who are prone to looking at the protagonist and wondering, "How bad is this going to get?" will be compelled to keep reading and likely satisfied with the resolution.

"Too Late" is less about horror than about the effect of disease on a stable, long-lasting marriage. The details of caring for an ill loved one will certainly resonate with anyone who has been through similar circumstances.

"King of the Hill" depicts on sick, curious little child who would make a great case study on perversion or the old "Nature vs. Nurture" debate, or both. She's a modern-day bad seed, and the circumstances that shaped her are recounted in great detail.

"Spare Parts" is a disturbing cry in the dark about being a soldier in the conflict in the Middle East in that it answers the question, how dehumanizing can combat be?" However, the protagonist is a soldier who is a stereotype rather than a fleshed-out individual. Here, the real horror is in the last page or so.

Since there are no easy ways out of the dilemmas Hoffman examines here, this collection would make an excellent conversation starter and serves as a nice entry to the discussion of all of these problems.

Gauntlet Press

* * * * *

THE FREAKSHOW by Bryan Smith
Review by Joe Kroeger

Bryan Smith is truly a glowing example of the type of horror author born straight from the ashes of the genre’s glorious heyday of the 80’s. He embodies the ideals that made the horror genre flourish by creating fiction that entertained and terrified with an unrelenting originality bathed within smoothly written descriptive prose. After hitting two out-of-the-park homeruns with House Of Blood and Deathbringer, Bryan Smith returns to the plate with his shocking new horror masterpiece, The Freakshow. Smith really shines with his latest example of no-hold-barred horror fiction that proves there are no limits holding him back when it comes to truly terrifying his readers.

The Flaherty Brothers Traveling Canivale and Freakshow travels from town to town casting its supernatural shadow while consuming the townsfolk into their gallery of freaks, and now their sights are set on Pleasant Hills, Tennessee. As the show draws the townspeople uncontrollably into their own personal torturous hell and the death count rises, the chances of saving their town as well as their very lives from this horrific evil diminish throughout the dark night. THE Freakshow is classic horror told on a grand scale by an author with a true passion for the best the genre has to offer.

Bryan Smith expertly takes his readers through this horrific tale using the viewpoint of two richly developed characters that offers an unflinching view of the disturbing atrocities. With his trademark exceptional writing, Smith creates an atmosphere so thick that it almost takes center-stage above the other elements of this novel. He brings this all to his readers without holding back in the least on the brutal imagery that even the most particular horror fan will walk away from this novel more than satisfied.

The Freakshow does cover a lot of the same ground as other haunted carnival stories like Something Wicked This Way Comes or Escardy Gap, but Smith does it with such powerful in-your-face storytelling that it feels fresh and alive with a unique viewpoint that makes it stand out from the classics. This is a richly written original novel that bristles with the intensity and brutality of any Bryan Smith book is known for.

Having already made an incredible name for himself within the horror community, The Freakshow is a sure bet to cement Bryan Smith’s position in the forefront of the bold and shocking writers producing exceptional books within the horror genre. I highly recommend the freakshow to anyone who loves an intense ride through a truly dark and terrifying novel.

Leisure Books

* * * * *

EDGEWISE by Graham Masterton
Review by Joe Kroeger

Getting you hands on a Graham Masterton novel has always been a guarantee that you are destined to enjoy an edge-of-your-seat thriller rich with imaginative writing and horrific elements that are sure carry you well into the night. Edgewise, Masterton’s latest supernatural thrill-ride, certainly proves that he has not lost his edge when it come to terrifying horror fiction. Throwing his readers knee-deep into the action right from the start of the first page, Edgewise is Graham Masterton at his absolute finest and most horrific.

Edgewise begins with the heart wrenching kidnapping of Lily Blake’s children from the safety of their home in Minneapolis. After gaining no ground with the FBI, a private investigator sends Lily to a Sioux Shaman who offers to summon a Wendigo, an evil Indian spirit, to save her children in exchange for the return of some sacred Indian land. After the safe return of her children, Lily realizes that she will be unable to fulfill her end of the bargain, and thus begins the fight of her life as the Wendigo sets its sights on her.

Fans of his Manitou series will thoroughly enjoy diving back into the rich mysticism and mythology of Indian folklore that Masterton expertly translates into his flawless horror fiction. His rich descriptions and extensively drawn characters perfectly enhance his obviously deep understanding of the Wendigo mythology to create a rich and effective reading experience.

Aside from this being a suspenseful thriller that you will have great difficulty in setting down, Masterton flexes his horror muscle with all its visceral glory to create an unflinching horror novel that is heaped with healthy portions of violence and gore. From beginning to end, EDGEWISE is an intense reading experience that will leave you breathless until the final page is pried from your white-knuckled fingers.

Masterton once again proves that he is a writer at the top of his game that can successfully keep his work fresh and alive with each new book he puts his name on. I highly recommend picking up a copy of Edgewise by Graham Masterton to experience a truly exciting read from one of the top authors within the horror genre.

Leisure Books

* * * * *

NIGHT LIFE by Ray Garton’s
Review by William A. Veselik

A Stephen King-esque horror author hires two private investigators to answer a simple question for him: Do vampires really exist?

That’s the basic setup of Ray Garton’s new novel, Night Life, a long-awaited sequel to his ‘80s Stoker-nominated vampire novel Live Girls. The result, sadly enough, is a slow-paced read that breaks about as much new ground as a housing developer in a federally-protected Civil War national battlefield park.

Anthony Burgess is the horror author behind the investigation. He’s already done a little legwork, having collected various newspaper articles related to vampires and particularly the events related to a vampire-owned peep-show in New York’s Times Square called “Live Girls.” Enter Karen Moffett and Gavin Keoph, private investigators from different firms, hired by Burgess to track down a retired newspaper reporter who wrote under a pseudonym about “Live Girls” 18 years earlier.

Despite the reporter having disappeared, armed only with the name of a town in upstate New York, Moffett manages to track down the elusive reporter in less than a day and within 36 hours, she and her new partner are interviewing Davey and Casey Owens, a vampire couple that lives in Los Angeles and writes for film when they aren’t drinking blood.

The Owens are “good” vampires, who just want to live their unlives in peace while the “bad” vampires, called “brutals” are running around killing humans indiscriminately. The Owens explain that the brutals are still miffed about the unwanted publicity surrounding the defunct “Live Girls” establishment and they certainly aren’t happy that two nosy investigators are now trying to pull skeletons out of any nearby closets in order to prove that vampires really exist.

Garton attempts to construct the Moffett and Keoph characters as hard-boiled private dicks who find the whole investigation laughable—but profitable—based on the huge checks Burgess writes them. They think that Burgess is crazy, but money is money. However, when the two first meet vampires Davey and Casey, despite their ingrained skepticism they are easily convinced that vampires exist simply by looking at their fangs up close and watching one of the vampires cut herself and regenerate the wound. While that evidence certainly is convincing, this reviewer just didn’t buy the investigators becoming true believers so quickly.

When word comes that the retired reporter was murdered by brutals shortly after being interviewed by Moffett, the Owens announce that the brutals followed Moffett and finally exacted their revenge on the old reporter. Now, say the “good” vampires, the brutals will be coming after them and the two investigators.

This reviewer found himself wondering why, if the brutals had been searching for the reporter for 18 years, they never found him, while Moffett did it in a single day, knowing only the name of the town where he was living? Garton himself explains that there are plenty of brutals that work for the police department, but he never implies that these bloodsuckers are too stupid to make use of police and other resources to find the reporter on their own.

Davey and Casey Owens decide to resort to a PR campaign using an elderly vampire named Mrs. Dupassie, who has contacts in both the good/evil vampire camps. Their strategy is to use Dupassie to let the evil vampires on the street know that Moffett and Keoph’s investigation is over and they have nothing further to fear. More importantly, the brutals have no reason to attack the Davey, Casey, Moffett or Keoph.

A street-level PR campaign? Lord, Garton’s “good” vampires are certainly conservative creatures.

But before Mrs. Dupassie can work her publicity magic, Moffett and Casey Owens are kidnapped by brutals in a lightning attack that seems to take place in less than a short paragraph of Night Life’s projected 352 pages. In fact, the first half of the novel contains only two action scenes—the first one short (the murder of the reporter) and the second one nearly instantaneous (the two kidnappings).

The latter portion of Night Life details Moffett and Casey’s ordeal at the hands of their captors, including the former’s use as an unwilling porno movie actress, and Keoph and Davey’s lethargic rescue efforts. Indeed, some graphic sex scenes late in the novel seem to have been thrown in as part of a last-ditch effort to get the novel’s (and the reader’s) blood flowing. Unfortunately, much of the novel is so flat that the sex scenes seem merely gratuitous and out of place. The final battle involves a semi-satisfying search-and-destroy mission into the evil vampire’s hotel stronghold in which the good guys carry a lot of weaponry, blast a lot of bad vampires, and spend a lot of time saying “let’s get out of here.”

Garton does his best to show the horrid side of the “evil” vampires and their minions, but they sometimes come off as no more threatening than a member of the vampire/familiar rabble in one of the Wesley Snipes’ Blade films. At least the bad vampires make an effort at being bad, because the good vampires (except for the oddly foul-mouthed Mrs. Dupassie) aren’t particularly interesting. Better to let the brutals have a bite at our jugulars than to spend five minutes talking to a good vampire, I say. Being drained of all your blood must be at least marginally more desirable than death by sheer boredom.

I will be the first to admit that I have not read Garton’s Live Girls, which has been recommended to me by fans of the genre. Perhaps it is just as well, for if I had then Night Life would have been that much more of a disappointment. As it stands, Night Life strikes me as the sequel that should never have been written.

Leisure Books

* * * * *

ROSES OF BLOOD ON BARBWIRE VINES by D.L. Snell
Review by Joe Kroeger

It is always a great pleasure to discover a horror author who can take the tired and often used staples of horror fiction and infuse them with such originality and passion that their fiction becomes an unconventional vision reflecting future of the genre. D.L. Snell’s whole-hearted attempt magically succeeds to recharge the old stereotypes where far too many have failed in the past. Roses Of Blood On Barbwire Vines is a visionary work of fiction that is gruesome and visceral and yet at times it is poetically beautiful. Snell has created a richly developed novel alive with heart-stopping tension and graphically written gore that is a must-have for any lover of grand horror fiction.

A new breed of zombie is descending on a barricaded apartment complex while inside a group of vampires fight to defend the humans they are holding captive to be used as livestock. As the fighting rages on, and the zombie slowly transform into an a new horrific breed of monster, the hierarchy of the vampires is threatened as Shade, the vampire monarch, wants only to hold on to her late father's kingdom while Frost, Shade's general, tries convinces the others to relocate to an island where humans could be bred and hunted.

With Roses Of Blood On Barbwire Vines, D.L. Snell masterfully takes on not one but two of the worn-out clichés of the horror genre and successfully tells a story that reverberates with an originality and energy that is sure to break through to the forefront of the horror genre. With writing that borders on poetry and characters that could very well walk among us, Snell has more than earned his entry into the horror community. It is a sure bet that this novel is destined to build a fan base who will impatiently await the arrival of the next novel that D.L. Snell creates.

His pacing is perfect as he doles out the gripping action and paralyzing terror with an intensity that will hold you captive until you reach the end of the story. With richly descriptive writing that brings the story to life for the reader, Roses Of Blood On Barbwire Vines is an unbelievably energetic reading experience that you will not soon forget.

It has been a long time since I have had as much fun reading a horror novel as I did with Roses Of Blood On Barbwire Vines by D.L. Snell, and I highly recommend that any blood-thirsty fan of the genre needs to get their hands on this book as soon as humanly possible. Roses Of Blood On Barbwire Vines has everything you are looking for in an expertly written horror novel, and then some. D.L. Snell truly has a bright future ahead of himself within the literary community.

Permuted Press

* * * * *

THE IMMACULATE by Mark Morris
Review by Patricia Snodgrass

The Immaculate, by Mark Morris begins wonderfully well. Set in a small gloomy town in England, Terry and Alice Stone await the birth of their first child. During a series of mishaps that prevent the doctor from arriving on time, Alice dies in childbirth. Distraught beyond reason Terry swears he wants nothing to do with his newborn son and leaves.

The opening scenes of the Immaculate are brilliant. Gloomy, disquieting and gothy, the book shows great promise. Unfortunately, the book doesn't live up to that promise. The book flash forwards fifteen years later, to introduce the reader to Jack Stone, author and the son of Terry Stone. Plagued with memories of an abusive childhood, he must return home to confront his past.

The story becomes almost cliché after that. We see a novel that reverts to something akin to a Charles Dickens abused waif novel Cool stuff for the 19 th Century, but for the 21 st Century not so much. The tales of a traumatic childhood, the death of the mother, the cold and abusive father are over done.

Further, the story bogs down in minutiae. Instead of action we get a laundry list of odd and end things the character does, such as clean his apartment, brood over about a past failed relationship that seems to have no real relevance to the story. Another shows example shows Stone going to a restaurant where he spends the bulk of his time describing what he has for dinner. To make things even worse, there's a glaring plot error on page 46. On page 42 Gail approaches Jack Stone while he is eating lunch. She asks him if he's Jack Stone the writer and he acknowledges that he is. He invites her to sit down and join him for lunch, which she does. On page 46, Gail asks him what he does for a living. This is something the editor should have caught right away. I am shocked that Leisure didn't pick it up.

Morris is a very talented and intelligent writer. But the Immaculate is a disappointment in that it just didn't deliver the same wonderfully written spooky atmosphere found in the first pages of the book. I hope that this book goes back into rewrite, gets a good clean edit and is resubmitted.

Leisure Books

* * * * *

THE BOOK OF THE DEAD By Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Review by William Gagliani

I finally put my finger on it. I'd read Brimstone and Dance of Death. Somewhere in there I also read The Cabinet of Curiosities. Relic. Reliquary. I'm no Preston and Child expert, but I finally figured out who Aloysius Pendergast's ancestors might be. Yes, I know conventional wisdom says it must be Sherlock Holmes, especially after the ending of The Book of the Dead, the third installment in a loose trilogy that has kept me turning pages for weeks. There's a Holmesian flavor to Pendergast's ratiocination, to be sure, and he does have the Mycroft/Moriarity brother-thing going with the evil genius Diogenes.

But no, to me Pendergast's antecedents are none other than Derek Flint and another Fed, Agent Dale Cooper (of Twin Peaks fame). With a dash of Holmes. And a pinch of every other know-it-all cop you've ever read about, except Pendergast also boasts an infinite family fortune to squander on million-dollar psychological profiles, multiple fancy living quarters, and an innumerable number of behind the scenes shenanigans only the fabulously wealthy could afford. Remember Derek Flint, as played by the wonderful James Coburn in a couple 70s Bond spoofs? The first time we see him he's at his ritzy penthouse poolside, communicating with dolphins, having bridged the language gap – he's speaking their language. Tasting a speck of bouillabaisse , he can identify the restaurant where it was prepared thanks to the spice proportions. Flint can slow his metabolic rate to mimic death. Pendergast stacks up rather well against this kindof thing, adding FBI agent Cooper's sense of fair play and unflagging enthusiasm for the hunt.

Let's back up a little, if you haven't met Pendergast. He's an FBI agent like no other. He's smooth and well-versed in pretty much everything, devious, intense, and nearly super-human. Often considered a rogue agent for following his own agenda, he's driven around in a vintage Rolls by his manservant-butler-hatchet man, Proctor. He keeps an apartment in the Dakota and a bizarre mansion (once owned by a river brigand) in a not so great neighborhood near the Park. In the operatic Brimstone, the first of this somewhat loose trilogy, it appears that a demon is turning victims into ash. Pendergast is on the case, and the solution is, well, weirder than that. Along with good buddy police lieutenant Vinnie D'Agosta, Pendergast solves the case but comes to a not so pleasant end (or does he?). In Dance of Death, a resurrected Pendergast and D'Agosta run afoul of the law when evil Diogenes Pendergast pulls off a stunning diamond robbery from the New York Museum of Natural History, one of those setting that's become a literary character in its own right. Old friends like reporter Bill Smithback, paleontologist Nora Kelly, journal editor Margo Greene, and others from previous books all show up in the highly entertaining mixture of mystery, thriller, horror, and caper tale that ends with some wins and some defeats for both sides.

In The Book of the Dead, Preston and Child once again reach for opera to orchestrate the various plots and subplots. The Museum decides to negate its negative image from the previous book by reopening the long-sealed Egyptian tomb of Senef that had been carted over from the Valley of the Kings and buried in a sub-basement. The first opening had gone awry, ostensibly because of the tomb's obligatory curse, but this time it will be a shining example of science and technological multimedia show. Then the murders begin. In the meantime, Pendergast is in prison, accused of criminal deeds actually committed by his brother Diogenes. Vinnie D'Agosta, on the outs with his lover, police Captain Laura Hayward, plans a spectacular breakout from a maximum security facility in which Pendergast is kept in solitary thanks to a vengeful FBI colleague. And Diogenes – unmasked to the reader -- continues his streak of villainy from behind his secret identity, where he's free to manipulate people and events at will. There's more, of course: The mysterious, ageless Constance; The museum's amusing internal politics; The secret of the evil Pendergast's hatred of the good Pendergast, and on. Is it any wonder the whole thing could play out to the strains of Aida? The horror aspect is often comedic, here playing with the possibility of an old-fashioned mummy's curse even while nudging you with an elbow and reminding you it cannot be.

It's all a bit farfetched, reaches amazing levels of implausibility every few chapters, and stretches its scientific basis occasionally to the breaking point. But... it's also entertaining as hell, completely absorbing, page-turning heaven for anyone who enjoys caper-oriented potboilers written for maximum story. Flint and Cooper could learn a few things from Aloysius Pendergast. In the final pages of this volume, Preston and Child sink the hook in deeply for their next installment, which promises to continue their penchant for unexpected plot twists and Grand Guignol antics of both protagonists and antagonists. One can only hope the usual suspects will once again show up to propel and thicken the plot, just the way we like it. Preston and Child novels are thriller candy, and readers hip to the taste can't help but gorge themselves.

Warner Books

* * * * *

BLACK PROMETHEUS: A CRITICAL STUDY OF KARL EDWARD WAGNER Edited by Benjamin Szumskyj
Review by Steven E. Wedel

Like too many authors, Karl Edward Wagner lived a sad double life that ended in tragedy. Alcohol, drugs, an untimely death. Unfortunately, we’ve seen it before. And, no doubt, some would argue it is the very act of burning out that elevates some authors to a position of, well … earning a collection of critical essays about their work.

Whether or not that’s the case with Black Prometheus is something you’ll have to decide for yourself.

The essays are engaging, well written and very thought provoking. While not the most prolific author we have seen, there can be little doubt that Wagner was a master of his craft and a big influence on the genre. These essays, written by people who know the man, explore nearly every aspect of Wagner’s work.

My favorite piece from the collection is a rare article Wagner himself wrote, called “Harvesting Horror.” In it, Wagner talks about writing horror and how he selected the works that went into The Year’s Best Horror Stories anthologies.

For fans of Wagner, this is a must-have collection. I promise you will learn things about the man and his work that you do not currently know. You will gain a deeper understanding about Wagner, what motivated him, and the writing process. Sometimes, yes, you’ll see a Ph.D. peek from the shadows, but overall the academic writing here is very accessible.

If I have one complaint, it is about the chapbook format. It’s one thing to buy an inexpensive saddle-stapled chapbook of fiction from a new author you want to try out. But the chapbook format felt wrong for this collection of scholarly essays. It’s think enough to be unwieldy to hold, and the cover price of $15 seems a bit high for any chapbook of this format.

Still, the book is informative and the knowledge gained is worth the price.

Gothic Press

* * * * *

THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy
Review by Dennis Duncan

In a post-apocalyptic landscape where ashen clouds block out the sun, and almost all plant and animal life are extinct a man and his son walk. They walk down a road. A road they hope will lead them to a better life. Their goal is to follow the road to the ocean. The man believes that there might still be civilized life there. It is the only hope they still cling too in the world gone mad. They are almost out of food and fresh water and along the way they will have to fight the bitter cold, Storms of ash and dust, and roaming bands of cannibals that show no mercy to those they capture. The man is determined to protect his son from the savages of this doomed world, and he will stop at nothing to make sure him and his son reach their destination. They are on The Road. The road that will either lead to their salvation, or destruction.

Ever so often a story comes around that redefines a genre. A story that is destined to become a Literary Classic, and The Road in my opinion is one of those stories. I have seen all the rave reviews this story is getting so I knew that I was in for a treat, but I had no idea that I would enjoy this book as much as I did. I was completely consumed in the grim, bleak world Mr. McCarthy created. I had never read any of Mr. McCarthy's work before so I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this story. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that The Road is one of the darkest, yet beautiful stories I have ever read. I could not put this book down. I finished it in two nights and when I was done I found myself wanting to start it all over again. This story stayed with me weeks after I finished it. There have only been a few books I've read that literally made me cry, and The Road is one of them. It is hard to put into words how good this book really is. I can say that reading The Road was an experience that I will never forget for as I long as I live. I am a McCarthy fan now and I will make sure to read the rest of his work. I have a feeling that I will enjoy them too. Mr. McCarthy is one heck of a storyteller.

The road is destined to go down as one of the greatest stories of fiction written in this decade. It is head and shoulders above just about anything else on the fiction market today. Go and get a copy and see for yourself. I can promise that you won’t be sorry.

Knopf

* * * * *

DOWN THE ROAD: ON THE LAST DAY by Bowie Ibarra
Review by Dennis Duncan

A plague is sweeping the country. The Dead are rising and they are attacking and devouring the living. The Government is trying to contain it but with no success. Civilians are taking up arms and banding together in hopes of surviving the Zombie Apocalypse.

The people of a small south Texas town has banded together and fought off the Zombie Hordes. They have successfully quarantined their town from the chaos that has consumed the outside world. Everything seems to be going good and they believe that they will be able to survive the zombie plague. Two strangers from San Antonio soon arrive with news that will threaten the towns very existence. They learn that it isn't only the undead they have to fear. A global peacekeeping force lead by a brutal and ruthless commander is heading towards their town. He mission is to round up all civilians and send them to refugee camps. Anyone who will not give up their arms and comply with his orders are mercilessly executed.

A showdown to about to happen in this small Texas town. The residents will have to not only fight the endless hordes of the bloodthirsty dead, but a madman and his army of thugs that wants to destroy all remnants of American life. The town will have to unite and fight for not only their way of life, but their very existence. It is time to go back Down the Road.

I loved Mr. Ibarra's first story so when got my copy of On The Last Day I was expecting nothing but great things, but I must say that my expectations were actually exceeded. I enjoyed On The Last Day more than I did his first installment. I was completely consumed in the world Mr. Ibarra created. Zombie fans will be completely satisfied with this story. It has loads and loads of blood and guts, and action from beginning to end. On The Last Day is also a very deep story with great pacing and deep characters. Mr. Ibarra is starting to perfect a writing style all his own. He is becoming one of the premiere names of Zombie fiction and he will be a force to be reckoned for a long time.

Permuted Press is producing some of the best Horror Fiction available today and On The Last Day has to be one of the best releases to date. I cant wait to see what they give us next.

I highly recommend On The Last Day to all Zombie Fiction fans. It is one of the best Zombie stories ever written in my opinion. Go grab a copy for yourself and see what I mean.

Permuted Press

 

# # #

Previous reviews now appear in the Archives