JULY 2009 REVIEWS
(NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, all reviews are by Nick Cato. ALSO note that "smell ratings" at the end of some reviews rate the actual SMELL of the book and has nothing to do with the story. Smell Ratings: 5 = excellent, 1 = odorless, 2-4 = you figure it out. Book Key: hc = hardcover / tp = trade paperback / mmp - mass market paperback / rarer forms described).
ORPHAN'S TRIUMPH by Robert Buettner (2009 Orbit / 368 pp. / mmp)
Since 2004, I've been addicted to Buettner's Starship Troopers-ish series dealing with humans battling slug-like creatures for control of the universe (and beyond). Protagonist Jason Wander has been developed quite nicely since he was orphaned in the first installment during an all-out attack on Earth; from immature punk to legendary commander of an intergallactic allied fleet, this final installment (I'm assuming this is the grand finale) is exciting, satisfying, and has much to say.
A weakness has finally been discovered: the Slugs can be destroyed by a rare type of rock, which is discovered in abundance on a Socialist planet. Jason Wander and co. infiltrate a mysterious area of said planet that turns out to be the sight of a modern (and ongoing) holocaust. Buried beneath the snow is more than the precious rock . . . countless corpses belonging to those who dared to defy the Socialist society bring Hitler's death camps to mind. While Wander and co. are able to turn a few hundred potential prisoners into makeshift soldiers and overcome their captors, stronger reimbursments are on the way, causing more difficulties in gathering the Slug-slaying meteor-chunks.
There's some great scenes between Jason and his Godson Jude, and Jason's old robotic sidekick, Jeeb (a metallic cockroach he takes out of retirement) returns and plays a pivitol role in the breathtaking final confrontation between Jason and the Slugs (Jeeb becomes a translator, making dialogue between human and Slug possible for the first time . . . and at the brink of each one's destruction).
ORPHAN'S TRIUMPH, like it's predecessors, is full of action-packed battles (both in space and on various planets), interesting footnotes to historical wars and Generals, as well as the author's latent musings on current issues (the aforementioned ending causes one to wonder how the world would be if genuine dialogue could be had between Islam and the West--although I'm not sure if that was the authors' intention).
This may be considered "military science fiction," but there's plenty of horrific elements to satisfy fans of both genres. I hate to see this series end.
PREVIEW
URBAN GOTHIC by Brian Keene (to be released August, 2009 by Leisure Books / mmp)
The latest from Brian Keene is a rip-roaring gorefest horror movie in book form. There’s not much cause or explanation given, just a situation, cannibalistic mutant freaks, a bunch of characters thrown into the thick of it, and a gut-wrenching race to see which, if any, of them make it out alive. With lots of spectacular injuries, deformities, dismemberments and mutilations along the way.
We’re talking The Hills Have Eyes or The Descent kind of thing here. Gallons of blood and grisly sound effects. A B-movie, to be sure, the sort of thing best viewed at the drive-in with a carload of teenagers.
In fact, that’s how Urban Gothic starts … not at a drive-in, but with a carload of teenagers. A bunch of suburban white kids who think they’re tough and worldly, on their way back from a hip-hop concert and hoping to score some drugs. A couple of wrong turns and some engine trouble later, and wouldn’t you know it but they are stranded in the worst part of a bad neighborhood.
That would be trouble enough, but then one of them shoots off his mouth at some of the locals, and the three young couples – Tyler and Kerri, Steph and Brett, Heather and Javier – end up fleeing for what they think might be a safe hiding place inside an abandoned-looking old house.
Guess where the cannibalistic mutant freaks live? Yup. And they’ve turned the house, as well as the catacombs beneath it, into an obstacle course of tricks, traps, fortifications and abbatoirs. It’s their home and their hunting ground. Keene has what’s probably an illegal amount of fun describing this killer clan and their hideous ecology in extravagant and repulsive detail, while also managing to give them touches of personality that set them apart from your usual breed of cannibalistic mutant freaks.
So, you better believe it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire for the six teenagers. The lucky ones are dead almost before they realize what’s happening. The others, scattered in a panic and fighting for their lives, aren’t so lucky. Neither is a hapless scrounger searching for scrap metal, or the brave locals who decide to go in and try to save the kids they scared.
And yet, if you dig through the slaughterhouse offal, there’s also tantalizing hints of history to be found. Suggestions that tie Urban Gothic into the greater Keene universe and imply that there’s still much more to this story than might first appear. He’s up to something, that guy. I, for one, can’t wait to find out what!
-Christine Morgan
SPARE KEY by R. Frederick Hamilton (2009 LegumeMan Books / 226 pp. / tp)
Credited as "a young up and comer," R. Frederick Hamilton's novella (along with two short stories) will appeal to fans of the extreme thing, although the endings of two tales here are apparent from the outset.
In the title story, Ben (a psycho on experimental medication) is prematurely released by his doctor. He finds a flat (the stories take place in Australia) and quickly begins to get his "old urges" back as he spies on his cute neighbor, Rachel, across the way. Before long he discovers a key that just happens to unlock her flat, and when he finds a most personal box under her bed, he knows there's no stopping a relapse of his psycho sexual habits; but Rachel has been on to his creepy stares and has devious plans of her own.
The less said about the second story, THE FILMMAKERS, the better; If you're interested in graphic detail about what happens when a group of young boys begin to make their own rape/snuff films (with girls as young as six years old), perhaps you belong in the same institution Ben (from the title story) was released from. It's simply an unpleasant story from every conceivable angle.
Hamilton wraps things up with WRITER'S BLOCK, a decent ode to Stephen King's MISERY; this time a slightly off-balance mother keeps her son locked in a room and forces him to write a "masterpiece." It's short and to the point and helps to get the bad taste left by THE FILMMAKERS out of your mouth.
Despite subject matter that I find tasteless, SPARE KEY is a decent first effort (from a writer's standpoint), but I'd like to see the author employ his skills without constant references to masturbation and young children being partially raped and killed; there's a difference between Horror and Exploitation, and also a way to walk that line without become too exploitative. Here's hoping the author finds it.
DEAD SCIENCE edited by A.P. Fuchs (2009 Coscom Entertainment / 164 pp. / tp)
As weird as it feels to review something written by a friend, or an anthology that includes a story of my own, it’s even weirder to be reviewing this one, because one of the stories in it is by my own kid. Makes it a tad hard to be objective. But I won’t let that stop me!
Dead Science is an anthology of 13 zombie stories joined by the common theme of scientific origin. No supernatural causes here, no voodoo, no curses. All science all the time. Though the technology’s far more modernistic and advanced, the book has a feel that hearkens back to the monster movies of the 1950’s, when tinkering invariably led to disaster, and social commentary abounds.
Lorne Dixon’s "Sashimi a la Morte" manages to combine elements of Iron Chef, Jurassic Park, and zombies into one succulent platter that any sane person wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot chopstick. "Arch Enemy," by Glen Held, veers toward the opposite end of the spectrum with fast food zombifying people even before the real plague commences.
Better Living Through Chemistry"is Becca Morgan’s debut, a teen-centric tale by a genuine zombie-obsessed teen. Don’t want to be too much the braggy proud parent here, so I’ll leave it at that, except for a final the precocious brat, and at her age?!?
The Decay of Unknown Particles by Mark Onspaugh hits a nerve that’s been exposed a lot lately by hubbub over the hadron collidor, though here, the experiment goes wrong in a way that not even the protestors expected. In Adam J. Whitlatch’s "Blood, Spit and Aspartame," the experiment isn’t on as grand a scale, just trying to invent a better artificial sweetener … as if causing cancer in rats wasn’t problem enough!
Anthony Giangregorio’s Walking With the Dead doesn’t focus much on the science; there’s a quick mention of an ‘experimental drug’ and the rest is mayhem, plus one of the most hilariously memorable birth scenes I’ve ever read.
Mr. Hanson Goes to the Lab by Michael Cieslak looks at some of the problems government and corporations might face in dealing with the living dead, while Vincent L. Scarsella’s "Homeless Zombies" touches on social problems much closer to home.
No Man’s Land, by Jason V. Shayer, stands out because it’s the only story in the book that fits the theme while also being set not in the present day or future, but during the first World War.
Spark of Life by Gina Ranalli, and "Thanks for the Memories" by Gustavo Bondoni both focus on efforts to recover images and information from the minds of the recently deceased, though coming at it from entirely different directions. Ryan C. Thomas’ "The Valace Standard" and Eric S. Brown’s "In the Blood" both deal with nanotech run amok, again, with unique approaches.
Dead Science makes for a fun read, if a little repetitive taken all in one sitting, but it’s the styles, voices, and fun details that gives the stories their flair. Definitely entertaining and enjoyable.
-Christine Morgan
A RHAPSODY FOR THE ETERNAL by Darren Speegle (2009 Raw Dog Screaming Press / 174 pp. / tp)
It took me a bit to get through this 12-story collection, and not because it's bad; quite the contrary. Speegle's deep, artistic prose may take a bit to "hit" you, but when it does, you'll find these tales quite unique from every angle. These stories are difficult to categorize, and while a few clearly lean on the sci/fi side (such as THE MAN IN WINDOW THREE, one of my faves here) they're all bizarro and beyond
THE HORN ON WHICH THE FRUIT BLOSSOMS is a dazzling "mini-epic" fantasy / science experiment / head-trip, while DISAPPARENCY--about a man who can't find a co-worker--provides a wicked twist on the "missing person"-story.
While I found a couple of tales to be a bit too confusing, Speegle manages to keep them interesting, even when I was a bit lost.
RHAPSODY will be enjoyed by anyone with a thirst for truly different dark fantasy (at least that's what the publisher has labeled this), or those with a desire to to see some fantastic writing employed in the strangest of settings. (12 stories, 5 presented here for the first time).
PREVIEW
SHADOW SEASON by Tom Piccirilli (to be released 10/27/09 by Bantam / mmp)
Piccirilli strikes with yet another crime/noir caper, this time pitting a former cop (now a teacher at an isolated private school) against a corrupt ex-partner as well as the mob.
The twist this time is our protagonist, Finn, has been blind since leaving the force. At his new job, he teaches literature and has a relationship with the school nurse; pretty young students continually flirt with him and he spends much time meditating on his former wife, Dani. A nasty blizzard greets the few staff and students who stay at the school for the holiday vacation. But just when Finn thinks he'll have a drink or two at a small student party, a student--and his girlfriend--go missing.
As he begins to wonder if his ex-partner, Ray, or the heavy-drinking school janitor are responsible, a couple of inbred-type goons show up demanding to be paid an old debt.
SHADOW SEASON reveals Finn's past with perfectly-sized flashbacks, hence unraveling everything that's going down in the present with a tension-filled pace. Piccirilli even manages to keep the suspense full-throttle until the FINAL sentence, something I haven't experienced too many times before.
This is Pic's 6th highly-addictive crime/noir for Bantam, and he shows not a single sign of slowing down.
PREVIEW
ROT by Michele Lee (2009 Skullvines Press / 50 pp. / tp)
Dean, a worker at a wayward home for zombies, develops a friendship with one of the undead while he slowly starts to fall in love with another one named Amy When she goes missing, Dean begins an investigation (along with his zombie buddy, Patrick) to find her, only to discover corruption that makes him wonder who the real monsters are.
ROT is a wonderfully different zombie story, combining elements from several genres, yet never skimping on the flesh-eating mayhem. The zombies here are intelligent, and I like how there is a nod to voodoo (something seldom seen in modern zombie tales) at the conclusion.
Lee has done a fine job creating a believable world and scenario in which zombies exist. Fans of the undead don't want to miss this.
COMING NEXT MONTH:
MAGICK & MISERY by Lincoln Crisler / BLANKET OF WHITE by Amy Grech / PECKINPAH: AN ULTRAVIOLENT ROMANCE by D. Harlan Wilson / and much more...