The Spectral Press Chapbooks Volumes 1-3

Spectral Press started out this year as a new imprint dedicated to short works of horror fiction, inspired by the classic tales of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, while still looking forward for today's brightest writers with new ideas and new approaches to instilling terror in readers. But, with three issues now out, how close have they come to backing up their claims of providing high quality stories?

What They Hear in the Dark by Gary McMahon

I've got a brand new Gary McMahon novel sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read, but for some reason I haven't put it at the top of the heap. After reading this story, maybe I ought to reconsider. A married couple buy a big ol' house in the wake of their young son's death. It's a fixer-upper, it'll keep them busy, help them get some closure. But we all know closure is hard to come by, especially when the house you move into has a room that shouldn't exist. The Quiet Room.

I am a sucker for a haunted house story, and this was is one of the best I've read in the last year or more. Rob and Becky, the couple living in the house, offer two stark views of the room and what it means to each of them. Rob hears absolutely nothing, barely his own thoughts, but feels a sinister force somewhere inside the room whenever he is inside it. While Becky has convinced herself the spirit of their dead son is in there. Whether there is something in the room or whether Rob and Becky are projecting pieces of themselves into its void, that's one of the questions that lingers.

The Abolisher of Roses by Gary Fry

I'm unfamiliar with Gary Fry's work, this being my first chance to read his stuff, and it seems I will have to make it a point to find more. His story revolves around Peter, a stodgy businessman, who winds up being dragged by his wife Patricia to an outdoor art exhibit. He'd rather be off cavorting with his mistress, but entertaining his wife's interests from time to time seems to keep the marriage together. But, Peter strays from his wife and the lone path in the gardens out of frustration and discovers artwork that feels too macabre and too personal to belong with the rest of the exhibit.

This was easily the creepiest of the three volumes, as Fry's story gives a bit of the ol' down-the-rabbit-hole vibe, as Peter wanders further into the woods. The guy has such an alienated reaction to the mediocre art he is used to seeing, that when he sees the grotesque and uncomfortably intimate artwork he finds off the beaten path, poor old Peter's sanity has trouble maintaining a foothold. For the mere idea of liberal arts driving a stuffed-shirt conservative to the brink is enough to make me enjoy this one, but Fry goes a wee bit further in scope with this story.

Nowhere Hall by Cate Gardner

The men in pinstripe suits aren't the only strange things populating Cate Gardner's imagination. With Nowhere Hall she offers up a building as unsettling and unraveling as Stephen King's Overlook Hotel--The Vestibule.

Ron is having an off day. So off, in fact, he's contemplating a slow walk through busy traffic. But instead of stepping off the curb, he turns back towards the gleaming white hotel at his back, the Vestibule. Drawn to it, both by a want for shelter and the allure of a beautiful woman who steps inside, Ron goes inside after catching a mysterious umbrella that fell into his waiting hand. Inside, the surreal goes up another notch, with the hotel appearing abandoned and brand new at the same time, mannequins seem to come to life, and the hotel's concierge knows more than he's letting on.

Where Gary Fry's story had a bit of the Alice in Wonderland, Cate's story had it by the bowlful. Nowhere Hall felt like the kind of story Rod Serling would have written if he had a poet's heart--and a hit of LSD. It's a sad song sung slightly off-key, which manages to make it all the more haunting.

The Book of Elizabeth

The Book of Eilzabeth by Darby Harn (Fair Play Books, 2011) – The cover blurb of this new fantasy novel from debut novelist Darby Harn reads as follows: "The world as we know it has vanished in the blink of an eye. All of human history, washed away. In its place, a new story of humanity, a story without the complications and twists we all know; a story without the Cold War, or Shakespear. Without Christ." Alice, a contemporary teenager from the mid to late eighties, disappears from her current time, her current world, and wakes up here, in a very alien version of our own world. There are massive airships capable of travelling the world and even through space to other planets. Mars, for example, is colonized. The world-building throughout this novel is a display of unbridled imagination.

In this other world in this novel there is an ongoing war. The dominating power ruling the world is hunting down and killing individuals called “echoes.” These echoes are people transported to this new world from various timelines of our own reality. Alice is an echo. She is hunted by a young girl, Miranda, and her elder mentor, Joshua, in the opening scenes of the novel. As the novel progresses we learn that Joshua has begun to question authority and has lost his desire to perform his job which is killing these echoes. He sees them as people instead of as faceless threats to the status quo. This is lucky for Alice, of course.

But these people are ultimately secondary characters. There is another, far more important, echo that the authorities want destroyed. This echo is known as Elizabeth. In our world, she was Queen of England. In this other world, she is a potential spiritual savior. She transcribes the Bible in her early years in this other world to comfort herself in exile. These transcriptions were found and have started a spiritual revolution in a world that had existed without any form of faith, at least not in the religious sense. Her transcripts sow the seeds of an underground revolution.

This is ultimately what the novel is about, more than the characters, more than the settings. This is a novel exploring the concept of how Christianity might transform a world that has existed without it for most of known history. This idea is explored from several angles, it explores the good and the bad that such a powerful religious force might have within a world that is devoid of spirituality. There are no easy answers in the context of this novel.

Some proponents of the New Atheist movement often put forth the suggestion that religion is the driving force behind all wars. While there are many examples of religious disagreements leading to bloodshed, it seems naive and falsely optimistic to me to think that if we rid the world of religion that all wars and bloodshed would automatically cease. The human drive for power and domination would still exist, after all. I thought this notion was explored nicely within the context of this narrative. It's not the religions that are the problem, it's the people. Religions are just an extension of people and often stray from their most basic source truths, in my opinion, but I'm digressing. Yet this digression is intentional in the context of this review: This is exactly the kind of tough question the novel faces and is brave enough to leave behind with a measure of ambiguity in the answers. This is as it should be.

As one character states: "We can never know the truth. ... Only existence. We must accept our lives as they are, or else we will never know our suffering." So, what is the truth? "We can never know the truth." This seems to be the idea at the center of this novel. The only answer seems to be there may be no answer.

While a thought-provoking and mostly entertaining read, the novel does suffer from a few freshman foibles. The narrative thrust loses steam during transitions from one character to another in places. The epic battle scenes sometimes have a little too much going on and lose their focus. Also, another round of copy-editing may have benefited the story as I picked up numerous issues with verb tense and misused words. But these are minor quibbles, and I see these as common issues with first-time novelists. I know that Darby is working on a sequel. My friendly suggestion would be to focus more on the characters, on dialogue, on relationships, because that is where he shines. I understand Miranda will be the main focus of this sequel. I think this a wise choice. Her moral choices and evolving sense of self were the highlight of The Book of Elizabeth. I look forward to seeing what comes next. This is a world I would be happy to return to.

My six-pack review: 4 out of 6 Elizabethan Ales.

Disclaimer: The author of this review knows and has worked with the author of the novel in the past. Free electronic copy provided by the author for review.

"Serial" by Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch

Serial

by Jack Kilborn (aka J.A. Konrath) and Blake Crouch (aka Blake Crouch)

Norwood Press signed limited edition (2009)

64 pages

I had a free PDF copy of this novella from J.A. Konrath's website, but I never got around to reading it until I won a physical copy from The Man Eating Bookworm. As it stands, I really should have read it as soon as I had that PDF--but I hate reading books in that format.

The story is dead simple: what if two incredibly efficient, undeniably psychopathic serial killers crossed paths, and targeted each other without realizing they were cut from the same cloth?

The answer: mayhem.

Donaldson is a killer whose preferred prey is any hitchhiker on a lonely stretch of highway that catches his eye. He doesn't fuss with knives or guns, though. Nope, he's got a customized kill wagon with reinforced steel behind the plush dashboard that a lot of damage. If you've ever seen Deathproof, and the car Kurt Russell drives, just imagine a family friendly version of that. Then, there's Lucy, who is just the sweetest little thing you ever did see--and she knows it. She winds up being Donaldson next hitchhiker, since she's the kind of killer who gets off on luring men to pick her up from the side of the road, so she can take them somewhere secluded and torture the holy hell out of them.

Donaldson and Lucy were born to meet.

The collaboration worked really well between Konrath and Crouch, with Joe creating Donaldson and Blake creating Lucy, then pitting the two characters against each other. Kind of like a demented literary form of playing Mortal Kombat. It's a tautly woven novella with nothing extra to clutter up the carnage. Definitely a fun, fast read for horror and thriller fans alike.

Since it was originally published, there's been a sequel put out, as well as an "uncut" version of each, even put together in an omnibus e-book on the Kindle Store and other places. If the extended version is as good as this, I'll definitely have to look out for it.

"Die, Lover, Die!" by the authors of the Top Suspense Group

The twelve Top Suspense authors came together to write a novelette. When I first read about this I thought it sounded like one of those "two many cooks spoil the broth" scenarios. I mean, how the heck can twelve people effectively write what amounts to something just outside the classification of a short story?

In actuality, Die, Lover, Die! is a bit of an experiment by the writers to see if they could create a cohesive thriller with each author writing two hundred and fifty words at a time, like a relay with each author passing off the story to the next. The twelve contributing authors were: Max Alan Collins, Bill Crider, Stephen Gallagher, Lee Goldberg, Joel Goldman, Ed Gorman, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Vicki Hendricks, Naomi Hirahara, Paul Levine, Harry Shannon, Dave Zeltserman. As a result, they managed to create an action-packed tale, even though the story's twists feel a bit like speed bumps.

The story begins with a beautiful woman, Lauren Blaine, speeding down a lonesome road with a quiet mystery man riding shotgun--and a carload of gunmen in pursuit. From that point on, it becomes clear the authors play a bit of one-upmanship by swerving both Lauren and the reader with an onslaught of plot twists. If the story itself feels a bit blocky, it is made palatable by an enjoyable femme fatale in Lauren Blaine and the slew of over-the-top characters with whom she crosses paths. It's an exciting story, but the constant gear-shifting gives it a bit of an incongruous feel. And when you reach the end of the story, and you look back at the beginning, you can't help but wonder: how the hell did she wind up there?

"The Black God's War" by Moses Siregar: a novella introducing a new epic fantasy

This was a free novella I snagged through the Amazon Kindle Store. It's epic fantasy, which is not a genre I have found much enjoyment in over the years despite my efforts. Siregar's method of promotion intrigued me, though: promote the epic novel, which is due for release in August, by offering fifteen of the early chapters for free that provide their own storyline and give a clear sense of what to expect from the longer work.

While the novel is bound to include a multitude of characters, the novella concentrate's mainly on a brother and sister, Ciao and Lucia. The story begins as Lucia, then a child, witnesses the celebration of her infant brother's birth, hoisted by their father King Vieri before an adulating and exulting crowd. Ciao is heralded as the kingdom's savior-of-sorts, literally the son King Vieri has always wanted. Though, when the story jumps ahead to Ciao's adolescence, he's a healer rather than a warrior cast as the role of the King's lead general in a long-running war against a neighboring kingdom.

For what amounts to a snippet of a larger work, the story presented holds up and has a good pace to it. Siregar's strongest suit may be the character development on display, as the royal siblings and a few other characters exude their personalities and frailties in a believable fashion. Throw in some intriguing magical elements and this is a story I might actually invest a good amount of time in by reading the eight-five chapter novel.

@#$% me, eight-five chapters?

Osama by Lavie Tidhar

In the interest of full disclosure, I admit Lavie's someone I know and interact with online. I received an electronic review copy straight from the author himself. That said, Tidhar's new novel, Osama (PS Publishing, 2011), is a difficult novel to review without spoilers. I will do my best here. But let me just say upfront that I loved, loved this book! Sometimes when getting a book from a friend or acquaintance, there's a hesitance to review it because of the risk of hurting feelings. There was no need to hesitate reviewing this one.

On a superficial level, at least through roughly two-thirds of the novel, the story is pretty simple to explain. It is about a private investigator named Joe living in an alternative present where 9/11 and The War on Terrorism are the stuff of pulp novels. Osama bin Laden is a popular character in a series of cheap paperback thrillers detailing the lives of terrorists by an author named Mike Longshott. When removed from reality, the exploits of the terrorists make for entertaining reads in this alternative history. There are even conventions dedicated to Longshott and his Osama novels. People dress up like Osama and terrorists at these conventions and have roundtable discussions concerning the social relevance of these novels, much like at a Trekkie convention. The fictional acts of terrorism are all entertainment, nothing to fear.

Joe's story itself reads much like a paperback thriller. He's a hard-drinking, smoking private investigator searching through the seedy underworlds of Europe. Joe is hired to track down Longshott and travels around the world looking to uncover this author. In the process, he starts to learn a thing or two about himself.

The last third of the book is full of revelations. Our reality and Joe's alternate reality collide and the text grows increasingly slipstream and surreal. I won't say anymore about plot because I don't want to spoil the experience for anyone. The less one knows going into this novel, the more they will enjoy it, I believe.

Ultimately, this is a novel about identity, a novel which reflects a reality of the modern age in which we live. We choose our identities in many aspects of modern life – whether it be through a pen name as a writer, the personas we take on in differing social situations, or through online handles and avatars. As one character states in the novel:

"'You have to choose what to be. When you've been stripped of everything; a
name, a face, a love – you could be anything. You could even choose to be
yourself.'"

A wonderfully entertaining and thought-provoking book – My six pack rating: 6 out of 6 Trader Joe's Vienna Style Lager

The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson

John Milliken Thompson’s debut historical mystery novel, The Reservoir (Other Press, 2011), starts off very promising. We are introduced to a pair of workers at a reservoir who find the body of a young pregnant woman floating lifeless in the water. This is a great set-up for a moody, atmospheric story. We have one character – one of the workers who found the body – fall into infatuation with this young lifeless woman. He takes some items from her that come back as evidence later in the novel. Too bad we never really come back to this character. He was fascinating. This reservoir worker is one of many minor characters in the novel. Unfortunately for the novel, there are many secondary characters within the text that tend to be more interesting than the main protagonist.

Based on the synopsis and cover, I was expecting a tale of lust and mystery. I was expecting a moody historical piece of southern literature, perhaps something along the lines of Faulkner’s Sanctuary. Thompson, a historian, does a great job recreating Richmond, Virginia, circa 1885. He also did a great job researching his story – the book is based on an actual case – and filling in some blanks where the historical documents left off. What I did not expect from this novel was a courtroom drama. I tend to not like courtroom dramas as fiction, to be honest. I read many, many of them as a young man (everything from the Grisham books to To Kill A Mockingbird), became a little burned out on them, and a novel set in a courtroom is going to have to be extremely compelling and have some measure of novelty to keep me involved. In fact, I would rather read true-life transcripts such as those coming out of the current Casey Anthony Trial than another court case in novel form. In fact, the Anthony case, in a way I won’t go into because of possible spoilers, parallels this case nicely. Unfortunately, for me, the court case was the centerpiece of the novel, and I felt it dragged on. I just could not get into that section of the book, and it was a very long section.

Where this novel worked best was in the flashbacks, in the descriptions of minor characters, and in the recreation of a time now long gone. The author deftly handles matters of real-world theology. Once the narration moves past the courtroom drama, the novel became extremely interesting once again. This last act of the novel is a wonderful examination of truth, religion, and resignation. I finally kind of cared about the main protagonist.

The Reservoir is a good, but not great, debut novel. The beginning and ending were well done, the historical details are engrossing, but the middle section of the text was kind of a slog. I see promise for Thompson and would pick up another book by him. There’s ample evidence of a good writer here. I just hope in the future, he dwells on his strengths as a writer (characterization, descriptions) and learns how to make the more interesting characters the primary focus of his stories instead of relegating them to the background. I find myself wondering what this novel might have looked like if written from the perspective of the reservoir worker who was the focus of the first section of the novel, the one who falls in love with the corpse? I believe his would have been an interesting world view to filter this unfolding story through.

My six-pack rating: 3 out of 6 Legend Brown Ales

*Legal Notification: Free electronic copy received from publisher via NetGalley.com.