25
Feb
Yasmin Stoker is a tour guide in one of the most haunted fictional cities ever. She’s also a wraith, an undead creature who feeds off the life of revenants — that is mindless, murderous newly-risen vampires. Nicomedes, a blind, mad Lich Lord and undead ruler of the city, orders Yasmin to derail a PI’s investigation into a series of murders of young girls. Yasmin has no choice but to obey, but the strange appearance of one of victims, prowling the streets on hunts of her own, takes Yasmin on an adventure to find the killer, which might just unbalance the current power system and let loose a horde of demons on the city….
Full Review at DarkScribeMagazine.com
Campaign Trilogy book 2
ISBN: 978-1409241256
I was given this book to review.
Jobe, his possibly angelic, possibly demonic reflection, Wendy and her ghostly twin brother are all back, hot on the trail of the people who kidnapped Wendy’s father, who are hopefully the same people behind a virus that creates serial killers. Both are odd characters. Jobe is a full on anti-hero, the servant of god-style serial killer who punishes the evil doers around him. Wendy is a thirteen year old girl, smart beyond her years and yet vulnerable to the horrors she’s caught up in. And yet they are the heroes, the only ones with the ability (both supernatural and non) to hunt down and stop some pretty insidious bad guys.
One of the stand out elements in this book is its antihero lead, as readers will find themselves conflicted about and uncomfortable with Jobe’s methods, but it’s absolutely clear that he is in fact the hero of the story. Also Wendy is a precocious young girl, who knows and understands far more than she should. But rather than being unbelievable her grown up mentality is explained by the role she’s played as parent in her messed up family for so long, and tempered by some emotional strife in reaction to the first book, The Lesser of Two Evils, and events in this book, which serve to remind readers that despite her capabilities she is still a teenaged girl.
The only flaw Trail of Madness suffers from is lack of tightness. Not yet flabby, it remains that some shaving could have been done to firm up this 400 page tale.
One of the most interesting serial killer tales I’ve read in a while with the most vivid characters, I recommend this one to readers who like the serial killer concept, but want to see something new done with it.
ISBN: 978-1-60168-141-6
I was given this book to review.
An alien species has landed on our planet, but do to a bloody miss understanding instead of trying to befriend us, they’ve built a city under Philadelphia and now they prey on us, their killings surfacing on our streets as a serial killer working in one small area.
Now that the matriarch of a local family has died her secrets are coming to light, the least of which is that one of her children is a half breed (and telekinetic), her father being one of the people eating aliens.
The aliens look like humans, except for having pointed teeth and red eyes. Furthermore, they’re targeting one small area (and have been since 1960) because they’re trying to punish the people who accidentally killed one of their own, and they routinely kidnap people and keep them in a slaughterhouse of sorts, taking a piece of them at a time for food. And yet in almost 50 years no one has found their underground city, and the police haven’t solved the “serial killer” cases in the tiny area (even though a person at the local university later mentions they have samples of the killer’s blood).
If you can embrace this flawed logic, you’ll find Dark Side of the Moon to be readable and nicely paced. However you’ll also find a cast of characters who are strangely stupid (one keeps close track of her periods, but doesn’t realize she’s pregnant until the reanimated corpse of her mother tells her so despite being 3 months late), absolutely trusting (when the blood doesn’t match any know humans the people immediately assume that means it’s alien), and apparently all involved in a who-can-be-the-biggest-asshole contest. Almost everyone in this book is mean to each other, showing no restraint.
The writing is not bad, but the storytelling leaves the reader with no characters to connect with, many moments of confusion because of logic leaps (like the humans and aliens cross breeding with no apparent problems, and the humans assuming “alien” in the first place) and a lack of any conflict other than; blood thirsty aliens kill and eat the humans, humans fear the unknown and kill the aliens (also, the aliens are much more advanced than us and though they can clone organs, they eat humans out of vengeance).
In the end the family is called to work together instead of continuing to fight each other, and after some tragic events there’s a moral-infused ending encouraging others to always give second (or third, or whatever) chances and everything can end for the better. Except this is a horror novel. So tacked onto the happy ending is a horror ending that mirrors the opening of the book, bringing Custer’s world full circle.
If you love B-style monster or alien stories you’ll probably like Dark Side of the Moon. If wishy-washy science and almost universally mean characters both you, best to skip this one.
28
Dec
ISBN: 978-1933293875
I was given this book for consideration for review by the author.
Some books are easy reads, some are emotionally harrowing, and some make you work to take the experience imbued by the author away when you close it at the end. Cursed by Jeremy C. Shipp falls very definitely into this last category.
Nick is an odd, but easy to relate to man who has reason to believe he’s been cursed as strange things start to happen in his life. By chance (or maybe not) he meets Cicely and Abby, who also seem to be cursed, and it all started on the same day. Are they cursed by the same man? And how do they stop it and get their loved ones back when they might just be the playthings of a god?
But that barely touches the surface of the story in this book. Shipp is an excellent writer, there’s no doubt, but this is neither and easy book nor one for everyone. As the story progresses a disturbing sense of complete imbalance surfaces, as the reader realizes they know almost everything about the secondary characters and nothing about Nick himself, coupled with the suspicious that these people are just completely nuts.
The difficulty of the read is in Shipp’s absolute close-mouthed approach, telling the reader what is happening in precise, list like detail, but also never allowing character nor reader a moment to guess why this is all happening, or if, indeed the character are sharing some psychosis or privy to some deeper truth. There is a divide between how the three main characters experience things and how the rest of the story world experiences them, but Shipp seems unwilling to lend “right” to one or the other or both. He chooses instead to push the story on, maintaining a sense of “what the hell” from the reader. We know, as we experience the story (because despite it’s simplistic writing approach it is experiencing it more than reading it) that both sides cannot be correct. Yet Shipp maintains proof that they are, forcing the reader to let go of their preconceived notions of storytelling and trust in him.
I was left with a feeling that in their skewed, possibly psychotic mental workings the three leads were free to somehow confront life itself, in a bodily form, particularly when they finally meet their curser and he has this to say: “I’m interested in your mind, your emotions, the whole enchilada. Your suffering is a valuable asset to me, and I don’t relish the thought of you finding a sort of nihilistic peace in oblivion.”
Shipp has, in my opinion, formed a story of life’s battering of the living, of being a brutal lover who gives and takes away with the same hand. Of kissing and smacking at the simultaneously, and for the same reason.
Cursed is not an easy read on any level (save for that it is written almost entirely as a series of lists, meta lists and listed occurrences, so technically two hundred plus pages of one to two line “paragraphs” might be considered an easy read, word count wise) but the right readers will find it worth the work.
22
Oct
Hosts by Dylan J. Morgan
ISBN: 1934069
One snowy night Lauren Kemper, the only doctor in a small ski town, is called out to a building leased by a team of scientists doing research in the frozen hills. What she finds there is one of the scientists, sick, collapsed with her stomach bulging and squirming as if she was pregnant. But not ten minutes ago Marianne was in good health, with a stomach as flat as a board. It’s what Lauren finds inside, what Marianne’s corpse gives birth to in Lauren’s clinic and what escapes to terrorize a small ski town, that sets off this horror story.
Hosts reminds me a lot of Dean Koontz’s Phantoms, boiled down to all the action. It lands more on the mainstream side of horror, that with wide reader appeal, than with the more esoteric books available. The characters are developed enough, but remain typical, ordinary people. The danger is threatening enough to maintain suspense without losing readers with fuzzy logic, or horrendously bad science. It’s also not a completely insurmountable danger, so as not to drown readers in hopelessness and fear.
Hosts is a solid, if not short, and enjoyable read that’s probably best for readers who enjoy books by King and Koontz rather than Edward Lee. It’s a great time killer with few overt problems. A stronger touch from an editor could have helped some to strengthen the story itself, but rather than making a dismal book good it would have only made a good book better.
17
Sep
Full Disclosure: I read this book as a judge for the 2008 EPPIE Awards. As such this won’t be a traditional review. However, even a year later I haven’t been able to get this book out of my mind. It’s because of a recent flare up of the GLBTQ inclusion debate that I feel the need to “go public”, as it were, and recommend this book.
Body Parts by Adrianna Dane is an erotic, gender-fluid re-telling of Frankenstein. It is paranormal horror and it features explicit sex between male and female and male and male.
Body Parts is about Athan, a creature created from a marriage of science and magic. After the tragic death of his creators Athan has to live alone with his secrets, taking lovers for the energy they bring to him that keeps him alive.
Body Parts is a love story, but with the exact same strength it is a story of corruption and human failure as well as being a re-telling of Frankenstein. On the romance side it deals with attraction and raw sexuality that doesn’t have a clear target. Athan is bisexual, seeking out the best providers of energy, and furthermore he truly enjoys the act of sex no matter which gender he is with. He has the same passion for men as he does for women.
I think it’s important to note here that out of all the GLBTQ books I read for the EPPIES (which was not many, so please do not assume this is an accurate representation of the available fiction out there) Body Parts is the ONLY one that did not involve 1) A borderline or completely abusive m/m relationship or 2) a straight man falling for a gay/bisexual man (which almost always feels stodgy and forced to me as a reader). Dane’s handling of Athan’s sexuality and sex itself is masterful, never forced, and completely organic.
Likewise the horror aspects are just as well handled, making the erotic portions no more important than the themes of human jealous and self-sabotage.
As Athan develops feelings for Korrie, the scientist studying the research materials and journals of the scientists who created Athan, and Korrie becomes enamored of him as well, Korrie’s selfish, jealous coworker plots to tear everything of value from both of them with no idea what exactly that entails.
Subtle and manipulating, the story comes together beautifully at the end, making an even bigger point than the themes of sex, sexuality, sexual identity, human nature and science threaded before it. I can’t say too much without ruining a very good execution, but I strongly feel that this book has great value as part of GLBTQ fiction and horror fiction.
Dane can write the pants off quite a few horror writers I’ve read, despite that Body Parts and Dane likely aren’t even known by the horror community. Body Parts is in my top three GLBTQ works that I feel interested readers should read and is available in ebook form from Loose ID.
The Queer Wolf collection kicks off with “Wolf Strap” by Naomi Clark. Ayla gave up a lot to be a lesbian, like her entire family, who raised her to believe her role was to get married and pop out a lot more werewolves for the good of the species. But when a child, a member of her family pack, is killed she and her partner Shannon head back to her childhood home. Its clear that things have changed since she left, but how much have they changed in this city where the human and wolves used to live in peace? The only flaw in “Wolf Strap” is that it’s too short. The plot and setting could have held a full novel and while the pacing doesn’t feel rushed it’s hard not to want more of everything Clark has to offer.
“Moon Sing” by Laramie Dean is a beautiful love story between a wolf and a witch. Acting as a metaphor for being queer in a straight world, even Drew’s pack can’t accept him falling for someone not of the Breed. It doesn’t have much plot outside the romance, but that alone is taken to a haunting, yearning level that’s purely magnificent.
“Wolf Lover” by Michael Itig is a cruder, more raw, sex-centered tale of fetishism and, of course, werewolves. Nige is an impatient, sex-charged gay man with a passion, shall we say, for werewolves. So much so that he lures them to his home and tricks them into shape shifting during sex. But the man he meets at a club for those trolling for werewolf hook ups turns out to be something else altogether. “Wolf Lover”gives readers a more raw look at the psyche of a gay man, but doesn’t feel cliché, preachy or stereotypical in the end.
“Shy Hunter” by Ginn Hale centers on David, scent dog and queer man, and not sure how to balance the two. Until he falls for a man who is being stalked by the monster who attacked David and turned him into a werewolf. This is another excellent tale, with equal parts action, emotion and mystery.
Anel Viz’s “The Stray” is the lightest tale of the book so far, making nearly every canine joke and pun, without being completely cheesy as it tells the story of a couple making a major commitment to each other.
“New Beginnings” by Cari Z focuses on the only pack that accepts gay wolves in this paranormal world and a bitter curmudgeon of a wolf, Michael, who finds himself attracted to and depended on by their newest rescue. But exile wasn’t enough for Tori’s family. They want him dead and Michael must keep him safe in this action-adventure-romance.
Jerome Stueart’s “Where the Sled Dogs Run” is another lighter tale, focusing less on the romance angle and more on creating a sweet sense of wonder. In this story the werewolves are a group of shamans, immortal, reluctant and shy, who want to reconnect with the world around them rather than hide from it, but they don’t know how. It fits the anthology, but it could have been found in a number of other fantasy-themed magazines just as easily.
“Pavlov’s Dog” by Andi Lee shifts straight back to hardcore erotica, and is nothing but. This tale is all set up, Josh and Caleb have just been approved to start their own pack and decide to celebrate. It’s not bad, there just isn’t much story to it.
Charlie Cochrane’s “Wolves of the West” is the most civilized story of the book, a tale of a pack that meets in an English museum for what is far from a mess of drooling, carnivorous monsters. Here Rory and George, who put the pack together and have run it for quite some time, work to create a haven for both their fellow queers and werewolves and must work to keep certain indiscretions from public light. It’s an amusing, but meaningful addition to the collection’s theme.
“Family Matters” by Moondancer Drake is another example of a solid piece, featuring a lynx and wolf lesbian family and pack, that feels less like a short story and more like an opening to a book. This piece could easily be stretched and expanded, in fact there are fight scenes that are glanced over and while werebadgers, lynxes, Fae and witches are all mentioned they aren’t very fleshed out. Drake is a good writer though, so one can only hope more than this story comes from her world.
In “Wrong Turn” by Stephen Osborne a young gay man finds more than he bargained for when he stops at a bar for directions and a drink and ends up smack in the middle of a werewolf tift. This falling in love story is simple and sweet, with a wrap up that seems to come too soon.
“Leader of the Pack” by Robert Saldarini is a historical werewolf tale, told by flashback, about a pair of men who survived World War II. Being steeped in the time period adds a weight of interest and credibility, but again, the tale’s flaw is its brevity.
“War of the Wolves” by Charles Long is the first to include (by a brief mention) an intersexual character. This tale also takes a more fantasy-angled approach, embedding a strong sense of the surreal into a story of people coming together, not just trying to find their place in the world, but willing to fight for it.
Lucas Johnson’s “Flip City”is a more traditional horror take on werewolves, a cliched take, unfortunately. The first real hiccup in the book the lead is not gay, so much as a borderline rapist and killer. Luckily the speed of this one is stuck on fast forward, burning through the story with little depth.
In “Night Swimming” by RJ Bradshaw, Joseph is indulging in a secret night swim when a wild-living werewolf finds him. They catch scents and Todd, the wild-wolf insists that he can smell that they are meant to be lifemates, and also proposes that they begin their life together by spending half the year in the city and winter helping Todd’s pack in the woods. After some thought Joseph agrees, they hash out the details, and unfortunately that’s all there is to this tale.
“In the Seeonee Hills” by Erica Hildebrand leads with a lesbian who contracted lycanthopy from a lover who got a bit too rough in bed. Claire is new to the paranormal world and caught between two packs who want to use her for ill means. It’s part Romeo & Juliet and part something all it’s own. Like some of the other tales there is room for more expansion, but it doesn’t feel unfinished or sped up for the sake of the short story form.
“A Wolf’s Moon” by Quinn Smythwood is certainly different. But three pages in I had no real clue what was going on or what the characters were hinting at, which left me feeling completely disconnected from the story and the characters. A depressingly weak end to this collection of tales.
Overall, there is a lot of good in Queer Wolf. It manages to represent the scope of urban fantasy, from a queer angle, though it leans heavily toward m/m paranormal romance. I really would have liked to see more f/f or even a transgender or bisexual story or two. From a genre point of view I’d have liked to see more mystery, traditional fantasy and even horror-based tales. But that’s what second volumes are for.
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com’s Werewolf Month 2009
Damnation Books, September 2009
Trade Paper Back: 978-1-61572-032-3 $8.29
Ebook: 978-1-61572-033-0 $4.50
While Symptoms of a Broken Heart is a solid fit into the shape shifter category, the “change” in this book is a metaphor for many of the characters’ innermost desires, rather than a power or curse. It’s an interesting application that is almost a throwback to older werewolf tales where the monster represented the fear of giving into such desires.
Lisa and her soon-to-be-married sister attend a Full Moon party, meant to be one last hurrah before they settle down, but they get more than they expect when it turns out to be an actual full moon party thrown by actual shape shifters. Tragedy strikes, and one sister is left alive and seeking the power of the attendees in order to save her own rear and cover up the other sister’s death.
This is a fast, hard read with two strong female leads, neither of which are flat stereotypical female characters or stereotypical horror-fiction lesbians. Erotic, dark and spiked with a creepy aftertaste that will stick with readers, this is a novelette worth snatching up.
Contains: graphic sex