The Blade This Time opens with our Narrator waking in the tunnels beneath New York's subways. After escaping back to the surface, he wanders the streeThe Blade This Time opens with our Narrator waking in the tunnels beneath New York's subways. After escaping back to the surface, he wanders the streets until he comes across a wig shop with notice of an apartment for rent. The apartment was previously rented by a painter, Max Leider, who has fled the scene and left behind his clothes and paintings of the tenement across the street. The Narrator quickly becomes fascinated with these paintings, and the woman, garbed in funeral clothes, across the way.
I enjoyed what Jon Bassoff did in his previous books, The Incurables and Factory Town, the latter especially with its incongruous puzzle-box nature of storytelling. Unfortunately, I just didn't find myself all that interested in his latest effort.
The Blade This Time is too straightforward and linear, especially in comparison to the surreal, dreamscape narrative of Factory Town, and it was disappointing to have Bassoff spill all his secrets so early in the narrative. The book opens with a definition of a particular psychological disorder, which sets up the narrative nicely, but there's not many shocks or surprises to follow. This is a slow, psychological work of dark fiction, but it never really picks up or leads to any particular revelations, or at least none that aren't clearly, and disappointingly, telegraphed within the book's first few chapters.
Bassoff does a particularly fine job of writing those darker psychological compulsions that plague his characters, though. The Narrator's descent into madness is well-drawn, and there's a few terrific parallels drawn between him and the various characters he crosses paths with. But, for me, it's a lesser work in Bassoff's growing body of novels, and I kept wishing the plot would get more wrinkly and complicated than it does.
[Note: As a member of the DarkFuse Reader's Group, I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.]...more
With A Kiss of Thorns author Tim Waggoner crafts a brilliant "throwback" horror novel inspired by those 1980s cabin in the woods films like Friday theWith A Kiss of Thorns author Tim Waggoner crafts a brilliant "throwback" horror novel inspired by those 1980s cabin in the woods films like Friday the 13th, but still manages to toss in a few good shocks between bouts of frenzied sex and violence.
Lonny is your typical horror movie slasher, living in a disused cabin off the hiking trails of an Ohio lakeside resort cabin. Waggoner pulls no punches in showcasing the lad's rotten childhood and various depravities, including an infatuation that gives motive to his many murders, and his latest target Julie. Julie and her husband, a young couple barely out of their teens and with their shotgun marriage already in a rut, hope to reignite their spark on a second honeymoon. At least until Julie, a horror movie fanatic, gets lost in the woods...
Waggoner crafts a vicious short story with this one, presenting a couple horrifying moments straight out of NBC's Hannibal in a highly satisfying one-sit read that's pure, bloody good fun.
[Note: I am a member of the DarkFuse Readers Group and received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher.]...more
Well now, this was a delightfully F'd up read, and one I'm hesitant to say too much about (there's a book description up at NetGalley, but not here onWell now, this was a delightfully F'd up read, and one I'm hesitant to say too much about (there's a book description up at NetGalley, but not here on Goodreads; the story's initial hook is all the more shocking if you don't bother with the official synopsis). Something Violent is a serial killer story of the 80s slasher horror movie mold, first and foremost, but it's also a wonderfully sick, twisted, pervy little love story to boot.
Our killers are a fun-loving couple, although their idea of fun and their practice of dating rituals are a little...um, outside the norm, let's say. The idea of blood lust has a couple layers of meaning with these two. The only problem is, their relationship has hit a bit of a slippery slope, and author Kristopher Rufty gives us a good look at the history of their relationship.
Relationships are a lot of work, you know? Couples need to be open with each other and have a good line of communication, and there's always this constant bit of upkeep to keep things running smoothly. It's a complicated series of give and take, and things get even more difficult when you're being hunted by the law, trying to dispose of dead bodies, and dealing with issues like rape, kidnap, murder, and psycho hillbillies. You know, relationship stuff.
Rufty's good at giving us two deplorable figures to root for, usually because most of the people Jody and Seth target are even more disgusting wretches. We're constantly reminded that neither are exactly humanity's cream of the crop, but there's a certain likability to this couple that proves necessary in order for the story to work. It's dark, but there are also odd moments of light, and Rufty taps into a certain Stockholm effect between readers and his depraved couple. Something Violent may not be good, clean fun, but it damn sure is entertaining and more than a little bit frisky.
[Note: I am a member of the DarkFuse Reader's Group and received an advanced copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley.]...more
Highwayman, the latest DarkFuse release from Craig Saunders, is a cool bit of folklore horror that draws on plenty of English history and interconnectHighwayman, the latest DarkFuse release from Craig Saunders, is a cool bit of folklore horror that draws on plenty of English history and interconnects with some mythological touchstones present in a few of Saunders' other titles (although this, as well as Saunders' other works, is a stand-alone title and functions perfectly well independently).
Here, we're introduced to Karl and Bethany Goodman, who lost their daughter to a savage killer some years earlier. Their marriage is in the dumps, and Karl has taken a posting in Malaysia. After a plane accident, he finds his physical body comatose and near death, while his spirit wanders through Fog-World - where his daughter's killer lurks.
Saunders fills up his story with plenty of spiritual fantasy, providing a landscape for second chances and the possibility of justice. We also get a number of fascinating characters and dynamics. I really appreciated the relationship between the Goodman's and the way each recognizes how they have moved on, and struggle to reconnect, even if only briefly, in the wake of Karl's accident. The killer, the titular Highwayman, is not as present as I would have liked, coming in fairly late in the story, but when he does show up, it's some really potent stuff.
Saunders has a knack for putting a lot of detail and development into a pretty brief page count. Highwayman feels like a much larger book than it really is, and I mean this in the best possible way! It's nicely dense and there's plenty of meat on the plot's bones. He's also a heck of a writer, painting several vivid scenes that will stick with me for a while (I found the finale to the Goodman's story is especially touching, and the way the scene was crafted and framed in my mind's eye is a lovely bit of Gothic horror).
Note: As a member of the DarkFuse Readers Group, I received an advanced copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley....more
I can always count on Michael McBride to deliver a heck of a story, and his newest novella, Unidentified, is certainly no exception. This is a pretty I can always count on Michael McBride to deliver a heck of a story, and his newest novella, Unidentified, is certainly no exception. This is a pretty slim book, and one that kept me riveted the whole way through - and, really, how could it not? There's cattle mutilation, abductions, and a forgotten past slowly revealing itself to the primary characters as they search for a missing girl. All good stuff, blended together quite wonderfully.
The story is told across two alternating timelines. There's our characters in present-day, and their actions forty years earlier as teens caught up in a series of disappearances. Each converge during an unexpected, imaginative, and bloody climax.
At around 85 pages, this is a quick read, made all the faster by McBride's smooth writing and rapid-fire pacing. There's a keen urgency to the story, as well as plenty of mystery and action, that makes this novella a cool one-sitting read....more
DarkFuse #5 is a collection of seven short stories and a solid entry in the small-press publisher's annual anthology series. I had read several of theDarkFuse #5 is a collection of seven short stories and a solid entry in the small-press publisher's annual anthology series. I had read several of these works online before, courtesy of the DarkFuse Magazine website, but returning to them again was welcomed.
Jennifer Loring's "Ritual" is a strong and effective short, and Mike Thorn's "Hair" is as gag-inducing as I recall from the first time I read it. You can always count on Tim Curran to deliver a good story, and his short cryptid work, "What Lives In The Trees," is no exception. Renee Miller's "Antibody" is a solid finish to the antho, providing a heck of a twist on a zombie story.
Overall, this a good compilation of short stories that span several genres of dark fiction, from murder to monsters, with a dash of the taboo. ...more
Isaac is a night auditor for the Goddamn Hotel, who, when not reading, watching porn or Netflix, or masturbating off the roof and onto the cars parkedIsaac is a night auditor for the Goddamn Hotel, who, when not reading, watching porn or Netflix, or masturbating off the roof and onto the cars parked in the lot below, is dealing with surly, ignorant guests, deadbeat travelers, grifters, and the occasional corpse. After stealing a guest's lost wallet, and shocked by the disturbing owl-related attack of a co-worker, Isaac is caught up in some dark situations well and truly over his head. He also has a crush on a homeless bulimic girl.
By turns funny and macabre, dark and sentimental, The Nightly Disease is a crime story with shades of horror, wrapped in the sensibility of retail hell. Originally published by DarkFuse Magazine as an online serial, the story has now been collected in a limited edition hardcover with a forthcoming ebook due out in 2017.
As somebody who spent too many years working in retail, and even longer working with the public (with no end in sight...), Isaac is a guy I could relate to a little too well. He gets inundated with idiotic requests, selfish demands, and entitled assholes who think the concept of the customer is always right actually means something. I definitely got where Isaac was coming from, even as he goes off the deep end, and Max Booth III's writing is clearly drawn from a deep pool of real-life experiences. Booth, himself a hotel night auditor, no doubt has many more such stories saved for other books. Isaac's relationships with Kia, the bulimic homeless girl, hits a particularly strong chord and their relationship is explored rather tenderly. This unlikely romance is a terrific mirror for Isaac as he weighs who he is versus who he wants to be.
The Nightly Disease is a successful fusion of multiple genres told right from the ground-level of the eternal war between the public and the workers that serve them while struggling to maintain not only their integrity and individual identity, but their sanity, as well. Note that this last item is especially important and a more difficult struggle than most civilians realize. Booth captures that particular essence here especially well.
There's also a good deal of owls, which is clearly always a bonus. If Booth intended to drive his readers into seeing owls everywhere, it worked. This book got a little too into my head, but that's OK because at least now Owlbert and Chowls can keep me company.
[Note: I received an advanced copy of this title via NetGalley as part of the DarkFuse Readers Group.]...more
Covenant is my first experience with Allan Leverone's writing, and while I mostly enjoyed this book I found it to be a bit too generic. This is a haunCovenant is my first experience with Allan Leverone's writing, and while I mostly enjoyed this book I found it to be a bit too generic. This is a haunted house story and although the ghost of psychopathic Edward Collins is terrific, it does little to break new ground and I didn't find much in the way of surprises.
This is a shame because Collins is basically the ghost of a New England Jack the Ripper, and the opening chapters, told from the point of view of one of his victims circa 1800s, are very well executed. I could have easily read a book solely about Collins and likely have been very, very satisfied. Leverone then jumps forward to present day, where a young husband and wife have bought a fixer-upper house in Covenant, New Hampshire. In short order, Lindie Cooper is made a widow and brought under the scrutiny of Detective Nielson. From there, it's pretty standard, and mostly unexceptional, ghost fare until the final third when the action ramps up toward a predictable finale.
Leverone's writing, though, is smooth and the guy can certainly write a page-turner. Despite Covenant treading so much familiar ground, the prose kept me invested, alongside some great character work. I was fully invested in Lindie's plight and the growing stressors piled upon her. Here's a woman mourning the loss of her life's one true love, her life further upturned by a policeman who has drawn some very natural conclusions and just won't stop digging, compounded further by mysterious happenings inside her new home, which is fully stocked with her dead husband's belongings, and the site of his grisly, untimely death. I felt for Lindie, and she's truly a sympathetic character all the way through. There are a few other characters worth attention, as well, particularly Verna, a psychic medium well-versed on the history of Collins.
There's plenty of good stuff happening in Covenant, but most of it feels overly familiar and culled from a number of other haunted house stories. The arc of the characters, especially Det. Neilsen, are natural but mostly because they occur exactly as expected. There's plenty of built-in conflict and tension between the various roles within this story, but too few surprises. Despite some good character work and smooth writing, Covenant fails to break any new ground and is ultimately too formulaic to truly impress.
[Note: I received an advanced copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley and am a member of the DarkFuse Readers Group.]...more
I've only read a couple of Edward Lorn's short stories previously, but I'm a fan of the dude on a personal level. So, full disclosure time - I follow I've only read a couple of Edward Lorn's short stories previously, but I'm a fan of the dude on a personal level. So, full disclosure time - I follow and occasionally interact with Ed on a variety of social media platforms, including Goodreads (his honest and candid book reviews is how I happened upon him in the first place), and I was thrilled to hear he had signed with DarkFuse for this release. This, however, has not impacted my view of the work, and the following is my honest review of the material.
Fairy Lights is a simple wrong place/wrong time horror in the woods story. Something dangerous is lurking in the forest, and a mother, her son, and his friend inadvertently stumble into the thick of things while on what should have been a fun weekend camping getaway.
This novella is a fun read, and it kept me engaged and entertained during my brief moments of lucidity as I battled to the near-death with the stomach bug from hell. It's also yet one more reason to add to the pile for why I won't ever go camping.
Lorn creates some pretty chilling monsters here, in both human form and otherwise. The violence is visceral and left me squirming a few times (one scene involving an arm and a machete is unlikely to leave my mind anytime soon). And the characters, thankfully, and for the most part, are pretty entertaining. The central leads are two teenage boys, and their snarky camaraderie reminded me of some of the circles I ran in during my youth.
My only real criticism is that the book feels a bit lopsided, and that's chalked up to the way plot is executed. There's a lot of sex and sexuality running through the book's first half, with hardly a chapter gone by without some reflection on penis size, pornography, or sex acts (consensual or otherwise). Some of this material felt a bit too extraneous in the grander scheme of things, particularly with its near-total absence in the second-half (granted, there is a reason, story-wise, for this, but I'm not going to spoil it). The second-half of the book, in general, is a lighter, almost breezier affair, as the characters deal with the fallout of the book's previous half and the nature of the threat becomes almost existential for a few of the survivors.
Despite a little bit of imbalance to the story as a whole, Fairy Lights is a fast-paced and entertaining horror romp. ...more
William Meikle wastes no time dooming the world with a fungal apocalypse in his latest DarkFuse title. Fungoid is basically a non-stop adventure read,William Meikle wastes no time dooming the world with a fungal apocalypse in his latest DarkFuse title. Fungoid is basically a non-stop adventure read, with a nice little dose of science tossed into the mix to help balance the action and occasional moments of horror.
The story itself shifts across a handful of characters. There's the university research scientist, Rohit, and emergency worker, Jim Noble, who give us equally interesting, and compellingly different, perspectives on the mushroom menace. Shaun is stuck away from his family and when things begin heading south treks out across Canada to reach the Atlantic shores and reunite with his wife and children.
Fungoid is a quick, breezy, expertly paced, and well-crafted story. Couple this with an intriguing doomsday premise and you've got yourself a brisk read. Although it has some shades of familiarity with Joe Hill's The Fireman or the PlayStation video game, The Last of Us, it still stands on its own and is a welcome interpretation on this particular apocalyptic theme. But with this infusion of fungal ends, I can't help but think there must be some kind of spore in the air...
This is a super-fun End of the World romp, but be sure to give yourself some room to breathe and get up to move around a bit in between chapters so you don't start growing moldy.
[As a member of the DarkFuse Book Group, I received an advanced copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley.]...more
Let me get this out of the way here at the outset - the first half of this novel is about as boring as can be. The second half, once the plot starts sLet me get this out of the way here at the outset - the first half of this novel is about as boring as can be. The second half, once the plot starts snapping into focus, makes up for the tedium and left me pretty well satisfied.
Siren of Depravity is a book about familial secrets, abuse, torture, and Lovecraftian creatures of sex and destruction. For the most part, this is pretty good stuff, and after a rather lengthy and laborious build-up, author Gary Fry manages to inject a pretty high creep factor and plenty of disquieting grotesqueness.
My main issue comes down to one of pacing and an odd fixation on describing modern technology as if it were something new and alien to most readers. In 2016, I'd think it's pretty safe to say that the majority of readers are familiar with things like e-mail and text messaging. Rather than let readers know that central character Harry Keyes has an e-mail, our first person narrator via Fry, must always let us know that he has to open up a connection to the Internet, log into his e-mail account, and discover by way of modern technology that, lo and behold, he has an e-mail! When he receives a text, rather than simply say, "I got a text," Keyes tells us he receives a text, not an e-mail, because he would have to be logged into his e-mail account on his phone to receive an e-mail there, and since he wasn't logged in, it could not have been e-mail, and thus it was a text. I can't help but wonder if this book was written a the turn of the century when text messages were less ubiquitous than now and given a soft update for the years and character's ages. Either that, or it was an issue of Fry hitting a specific word count. This type of stuff could have been left out and quickened the pace considerably.
As far as the book's first half goes, while dull, there's actually a lot of stuff in there that pays off tremendously in the second half. Fry must have outlined the heck out of this work, and, techie issues aside, there's a thoughtfulness to the story's execution that I respect and admire. While I trudged through a lot of those early details about Keyes and his family life demanding that Fry just get on with it already, the vast majority of it feeds into what comes later with a sort of inevitability, and it's really impressive to see all the various story threads come together in the climax. Details that initially felt small and somewhat meandering take on supreme significance and a much broader scope by book's end.
Siren of Depravity is a book that starts off tiny and meek, but builds up a wonderful sense of dread as it progresses toward a big finish. Still, I would have liked a bit more impetus in the first half, which read a little too dry for my tastes.
[Note: I am a member of the DarkFuse Readers Group and received an advanced copy of this title from the publisher for review via NetGalley.]...more
A few years ago, thanks to the Horror Aficionados group on Goodreads, I discovered a new-to-me author when it was suggested I check out Dead Sea by TiA few years ago, thanks to the Horror Aficionados group on Goodreads, I discovered a new-to-me author when it was suggested I check out Dead Sea by Tim Curran. I don’t remember which awesome reader suggested it, but I owe that person a huge, hearty thank you. I devoured that book and instantly bought a bunch more of Curran’s titles to add to my TBR, and have been a fan ever since.
His latest, Corpse Rider, is a hearty ghost story that exemplifies the notion that no good deed goes unpunished. While visiting her mother’s grave, Christina picks away the weeds from an older, long-untended headstone. This minor act upends her life, connecting her with the spirit of something hideous. While it’s certainly bad news for Christina, it’s a lot of good for readers.
Curran has remarkable skill at crafting disturbing scenes of grotesqueness and violence, and a few of the visuals he stuck in my head here will be with me for a while. Christina makes for a nicely flawed heroine, and the story surrounding her is rooted in an appropriately creepy historical context. Mostly, though, this is just a cool, gory, little ghost story (it comes in at around a smidge over 100 pages), and if you’re looking for a breezy read to help kick off some October scares leading up to Halloween, this is a great place to start....more
Tim Waggoner's upcoming DarkFuse release, EAT THE NIGHT, is a cool bit of cosmic horror. Mostly, it worked for me - I enjoyed the premise of entropy aTim Waggoner's upcoming DarkFuse release, EAT THE NIGHT, is a cool bit of cosmic horror. Mostly, it worked for me - I enjoyed the premise of entropy and the occult, as well as the history surrounding the central villain, retired rock-star Maegarr, and his occult clan seeking to bring about the end of the universe. Pretty lofty ambition, that!
There's plenty of nifty ideas in these pages, and I would definitely read more books about Maintenance, a shadowy organization seeking only to prolong our cosmic destruction by entropy rather than stop it outright. They're a neat bunch, with some pretty wicked gizmos and a heck of an agenda.
What disappointed me was the rushed ending and a fairly unsatisfying resolution. The climax was reached a little too easily for my liking and could have used some extra words to flesh things out. However, if Waggoner is planning on developing another title or two in this realm, I think I could forgive that.
Overall, this was a pretty strong read with nicely dark moments and well-executed concepts. I wouldn't have minded an extra chapter or two, though. Final judgement: 3 1/2 stars, rounded to 4 on the Goodreads metric. ...more
Devils In Dark Houses by B.E. Scully is a collection of four interrelated crime novellas, linked together by the appearances of Detectives Shirdon andDevils In Dark Houses by B.E. Scully is a collection of four interrelated crime novellas, linked together by the appearances of Detectives Shirdon and Martinez.
The first of these novellas, The Eye That Blinds, was released as a stand-alone title by DarkFuse last year. Although I gave that one three stars at the time, I'd be hard-pressed to tell you much about it more than a year later. Having already read it, and despite not recalling anything about it, I opted to not reread it but do believe that this collection suffers from the same problems I'm presently having in drumming up any recollections of The Eye That Blinds. The stories here may be good, but none of them strike me as being particularly memorable.
Even just days after starting in on this book, I'm already forgetting what the second book was supposed to be about. Maybe this is just because of life stuff getting in the way and making my reading experience choppy and piecemeal, so take this review as you will. Thankfully, the book's description tells me this story is named Each Castle Its King, and I do remember the couple at the story's heart bought a disheveled home they dubbed The Blood House. I think it was kind of a haunted house but not really sort of story.
The third story, Nostri, was centered around a brilliant premise but tried a little to hard to create a Fight Club mystique that ultimately did not work for me at all. I did greatly appreciate the concept of holding big-mouthed politicians accountable and forcing them to put their money where there mouth is. The story kicks off with a right-to-life politicians being surprised to find an abandoned baby on her doorstep and forced into either providing the child with a chance at life, or proving herself a hypocrite and abandoning the kid into a state home. It's good stuff, and the plot slowly escalated to build on this premise.
The final story revolves around a homeless schizophrenic and the investigation into a missing cop in Devils In Dark Houses. By the time I reached the three-quarter mark of this one, though, I was already deeply bored with the collection as a whole and ready to move onto new reading material. I mustered through what I could, but eventually found myself skimming through to the finale to find out the answers behind the story's whodunnit.
And I can almost hear the screeching and gnashing of teeth at my admission that I skimmed. I know, I know. But let me explain here. Again, I was bored. And much of this boredom stemmed from Scully's insistence to shoehorn in pages upon pages of infodumping atop flashbacks galore. This really began to grate on my nerves with Nostri, where I read about a tertiary character's entire upbringing by her old-school parents and life under their thumb in the 1960s almost up through the present, and her years at college, and her meeting of her husband, and on and on and on. By the time the third flashback rolled around in the the final story, I'd completely had it.
So yeah, unfortunately Devils In Dark Houses just was not my cup of tea at all. The stories had promise, but fell flat in their execution, and just when things began to heat up and draw me in, Scully would insist on disrupting the narrative to tell me all about this whole other thing that happened to somebody way back when before jumping back to the present. It frustrated the hell out of me, frankly.
[Note: As a member of the DarkFuse Book Club, I received this title for review from the publisher via NetGalley.]...more
I suspect that anyone who has been married for some length or in a long-term relationship will find plenty to relate to, perhaps uncomfortably so, in I suspect that anyone who has been married for some length or in a long-term relationship will find plenty to relate to, perhaps uncomfortably so, in Tim Waggoner’s latest novella, The Winter Box.
Waggoner does a beautiful job of taking a twenty-plus year long marriage and casting it at the center of a ghost story. After so long together, Todd and Heather’s union has hit a snag. Neither will speak the dreaded D-word, even if both think it, and Todd oftentimes finds himself deliberately putting distance, both physically and emotionally, between he and his wife. Stuck in a cabin during a blizzard, the two are forced to admit the emotions they’ve kept buried and examine the deep wounds running beneath the scars they’ve bandaged over in all their years together.
I have to admit, I’m a bit of a sucker for horror stories that put weather extremes, particularly the blustery snow-driven cold, smack dab in the middle of the narrative. There’s just something about the winter freeze and thick, icy haze that lends itself particularly well to horror, and I’m a big fan of these types of stories. Even more so when, as Waggoner capably demonstrates, these freaky storms help to thematically echo the human plight.
Todd wants to escape, but can’t. The marriage, on the eve of their anniversary, is as cold and barren as the wintry landscape confining them to their cabin. These are people who want but can’t have, even if neither quite knows what it is that they want or how to obtain it.
And then the ghosts. Oh yeah, the ghosts. There’s an extra bit of fun right there, and Waggoner does just as well making that element as inhospitable and challenging for the couple as he does the elemental conditions they’re stuck in. For such a short read at only 50 pages or so, Waggoner packs in a lot of story, and this is a read that just sails by nicely. Or, you know, not so nicely as it were. Marriage is a hard enough job to maintain and survive, and to do so in the worst of conditions…good luck!
I haven’t read much of Waggoner’s work, but every time I finish one of his stories I’m always left wanting to buy more of his work. The Winter Box is a great reminder of why that is.
[Note: I received a copy of this novella from the DarkFuse Book Club.]...more
Overall, I liked Woman in White a fair deal, even if I could have gone for some deeper character explorations (I'm not sure what really makes Lee tickOverall, I liked Woman in White a fair deal, even if I could have gone for some deeper character explorations (I'm not sure what really makes Lee tick other than her affair with a married policeman, for instance) and I could have used way more of the supernatural aspect. What Dearborn explores though is sufficiently creepy, but darn it, I wanted a bunch more mayhem. I won't complain too loudly though because this is a pretty good tale and held my attention throughout.
There's probably more I could write, but at the moment I'm typing this on my iPhone because my AT&T internet connection has crapped out and I can't get a service technician out until next week. So AT&T can suck my shit.
[Note: I received a copy of this book courtesy of the DarkFuse book club.]...more
When UNIT 731 was first announced, I was excited to read it. In WWII, Unit 731 was a Japanese atrocity, a secret group that conducted a number of brutWhen UNIT 731 was first announced, I was excited to read it. In WWII, Unit 731 was a Japanese atrocity, a secret group that conducted a number of brutal and lethal experiments on human subjects. The real-life horror surrounding this group would have been perfect fodder for a horror novel. So, I have to admit I was initially disappointed when I started reading this book, as I discovered that Craig Saunders' latest really has nothing at all to do with Unit 731.
Thankfully, that disappointment was pretty short-lived, as Saunders delivers a dark,crackling novella filled to the brim with psychopathy, murder, and a rather extended sequence of torture. What this story is really about is family, and the way men can fail one another or try to save each other in a way that only family can. Still, it's definitely a horror story through and through, and the squeamish may find themselves a bit upset with the imagery presented.
Even if it wasn't what I had initially wanted, Saunders still hooked me with his story and his characters here. To me, that's a mark of a pretty solid work.
[Note: I received a complimentary copy of this novel as a member of the DarkFuse Book Club/Reviewer community.]...more
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