While Red Station by Kenzie Jennings lacks something of the authentic tone of pulp westerns Christine Morgan’s The Night Silver River Run Red captured with such surprising grace, it never feels inauthentic in its period depiction. We join four travelers in a stagecoach, crossing countless miles of prairie as they arrive to find shelter and sustenance for the night in an isolated manor serving as a waystation. Unfortunately for the passengers, the family residing in this waystation is more sinister and unsettling than they seem, harboring awful, bloody secrets. They aren’t the only ones with a secret, however. As these various mysteries unfold within the story, we bear witness to increasingly violent confrontations and satisfying moments of surprising action. To call Red Station a thrilling read is a bit of an understatement. It’s suspenseful, action-packed, and populated with fascinating characters…a must-read for anyone looking for bloodshed and cruelty in the untamed American West, with a delightful dose of vengeance.
Nikki Noir’s Black Planet: Books 1-4 collects together in one volume a sequence of novellas and short stories introducing us to a handful of residents of a Northern Arizona town and the sinister events corrupting and controlling those people, brought about by a mysterious, otherworldly object and the black goo that seems to be spreading through the North Woods. Alternating between perverse sexual depravity, brooding cosmic horror, occult fanaticism, murder, and family drama, Noir manages to avoid missing a beat as she weaves a tale that keeps the reader begging for more…and then the final page arrives, and you can only hope for more to come. She paints a portrait with the delicacy of a scalpel while utilizing a pallet produced by a hammer blow to the head and the arterial flow of a severed penis as she draws you into this world she’s created. If that description doesn’t make you want to read this book, I really don’t know what else I can say. Spoiling this particular story would be virtually impossible without dragging you, kicking and screaming all the way through the narrative itself, it’s such a feverish and surreal experience. Keep in mind, as you read…the owls are not what they seem, a statement somehow more true in this novel than in Twin Peaks.
Lucas Mangum’s Extinction Peak borrows heavily from themes familiar to fans of Jurassic Park/World franchise, Dino Crisis, and Land Of The Lost while painting a dizzying portrait of an apocalypse no one could have seen coming (except for those who made it happen, but that’s a bit of a spoiler, so I’ll leave it at that). We’re first introduced to Deandra and her brother, Johnny, as they plan to leave the basement they’ve been sheltering in as the world outside descends into a carnage-filled nightmare Michael Crichton wouldn’t have dared explore, even in writing. Children of a deceased drug lord, neither Deandra nor Johnny are well adjusted or particularly sympathetic characters, particularly Johnny. I found myself wanting both of them to be devoured by dinosaurs almost immediately but knowing there wouldn’t be much of a story to tell if that were how it played out. As we follow those two (and other characters we encounter along the way, many of them equally flawed and broken), we see far more detail of just how terrible and dangerous the world has become as these beasts emerged, seemingly from Hell, through the sinkholes around the world. As with most monster-themed horror, we soon find that the worst monsters aren’t the obvious ones, that it’s other people we really need to worry about. Fueled by greed, contempt derived from old world biases, and sadistic impulses that shouldn’t surprise any of us (but somehow always do), the story continues its fast-paced and character-driven journey through an increasingly unreal end to the world as we know it. In all honesty, I would love to see Mangum explore this particular apocalypse in greater depth and detail, through the struggles of other people in other places, but this book is so detailed as to make it simple to close our eyes and imagine precisely what it might be like for others, even ourselves when the holes in the Earth begin opening up. This book is filled with graphic violence, gruesome deaths, and subject matter that absolutely nudges it into splatterpunk territory…be warned that this is not a book for your dinosaur-loving children…unless you parent the way I would…and did.
This installment is primarily focused on Richter deciding to be more actively involved in the day-to-day life of the mist village. This book is largely dedicated to self-improvement and the development of skills and abilities. There are some major events included, just the same, and the battle that concludes the story is intense and well-written. As with all of the other books in the series, I’ve listened to this on Audible. The narration is terrific and it flows perfectly with the story being shared. The first three books have been my favorites in the series, but this book and the fourth are still well-worth listening to or reading.
With a title of Catacombs, I suspected that we would be exploring deeper into the tunnels beyond the Great Seal. There are definitely tunnels and subterranean adventures, but not the ones I went into this anticipating. With the pace we’re addressing some of the things I expected to see explored further, it seems like we’ll never get there in four more volumes in the series. There’s nothing disappointing about the book or the narration for the audiobook, but I’m starting to worry that we’ll never see some of the adventures I’ve been waiting to witness. I’m currently listening to the fifth audiobook in the series and I will absolutely still be picking up the remaining three books of this series.
The title seems a bit misleading, knowing that we were expecting Richter to develop an alliance with the dwarves (as had been discussed in the previous volume in this series)…beyond that, it’s an excellent addition to Richter’s adventure in The Land. As with the previous book, this one begins with another hint of a deeper tale and huge things looming on the horizon before it picks up where we left off. As with the other books, I’m listening to these as audiobooks. The writing and narration are such a perfect complement to one another and I find myself listening with greater frequency the further I get into the series.
If you are unfamiliar with the author, Aleron Kong, and his fantastic ongoing American LitRPG series (now two series) of novels, you are missing out. Not only are the stories entertaining and endlessly fascinating, but the community built up around love of these books is similarly amazing. I recommend checking these books out, the audiobook versions are my personal preference.
The second book in the series picks up right where the first left off, with a brief introduction that clearly sets the stage for something huge on the horizon. These books are the first audiobooks I’ve bothered listening to, initially just when I was at the gym three days a week for an hour or so at a stretch…and now I find myself listening to this series while I’m sitting in my office, working on things that don’t interfere with my ability to concentrate on the story. The writing (the characters and the adventures themselves) and the narration are superb and captivating. There is plenty of conflict, high-stakes action, and exploration…precisely as you’d hope to find.
Before reading this book, I made the mistake of reading some of the reviews. Admittedly, that made me apprehensive about what I was going to be reading. I really didn’t need to be concerned and, based on the interpretations of this book on display in many of those reviews, I’m fairly certain many of those people either did not read this or didn’t read more than what was available as a sample. I’ll say it right away that this is not a book for everyone. It’s heavy in tone and in style…heavy like a brick at times, and equally hard to swallow. At its core, this is a book about a juvenile delinquent, his delinquent friends, and their desperate, fumbling attempts to find a place for themselves in the Eastern European world around them. Tudor, the initial focus of the story, is arrogant and self-assured in the way only the least self-aware and incompetent can be. He is a bitter, resentful young man who feels like he is too good for the life he’s subjected to by the inferior parents who are raising him. He finds solace in the interests shared with his small group of friends; heavy metal, occultism, anarchism bordering on nihilism, and ultimately he finds himself influenced by the neo-Nazi philosophy adopted and promoted by the one friend he actually admires and respects, Alex. All of this changes after a series of poor choices and impulsive actions leads to a dramatic, violent mistake. Tudor, being the maladjusted boy he is, spends his time retroactively justifying and rationalizing what he’s done, to the extent that he begins fixating on further violence and killing. This drives the whole final third of the story. Tudor finally goes over the edge, experiencing the first seeming spark of self-reflection, as Alex seeks to go the other direction and displays nothing but contempt and disdain for Tudor. We finally arrive at a climax that feels both feverish and well thought out. It’s as much a conflict of opposing philosophies as Tudor and his remaining friends against Alex. While the story may feel slow at times and it’s difficult to want to continue, with protagonists/antagonists who are far from sympathetic. Think of it as a supernatural horror story mixing in elements of A Clockwork Orange, Stand By Me, and Gone Girl, and you’ll probably have a decent idea of what you’re getting into. The further into the story you get, the further the lines become blurred between fantasy and reality, waking life and dreams. There are flashes of brilliant prose that draw your attention but you should be prepared, as I said above, it’s a thick and heavy book to read.
Mania [Revised Edition] by Lucas Mangum feels altogether too short by the time you reach the end. The story of a cursed screenplay and the absolute nightmare that accompanies that curse is told in a way that can only be described as cinematic. It’s smutty, gory, and depraved…and not in turns, but all at once. I really don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s a scene before the halfway point where a character witnesses a dead and disemboweled woman masturbating with a length of her own intestine. Keep in mind, that isn’t even halfway into the story. I recommend this one for my more depraved and horror-obsessed friends…but I have to admit that some aspects of this particular book might go too far for different people. Read it at your own risk, of course…but read it either way.
I was torn between giving this one 4 or 5 stars and I had to lean into 5 stars because of the sheer creative audacity of the author. Standalone by Paul Michael Anderson is not what I expected. I don’t think anyone will be able to read this book and feel differently than that by the time they reach the end. There’s no way to anticipate what this book really is based on a synopsis without that synopsis being half the length of the story itself. I’m certainly not going to try and explain it. It’s better if you experience it for yourself anyhow. It’s a book that, at its core, manages to weave together a bizarre and surreal science fiction tale with an old school slasher narrative and a nice dose of body horror. It’s difficult to adequately describe, is really what I’m trying to say. It’s fun, fast-paced, and intense…and I absolutely recommend that you read it for yourself. Plus, you get the bonus of an additional short story at the end that has a sort of touching “Monkey’s Paw” or “Tales From the Crypt” feel to it.
Domus Necrophagous 