Review of Dane Grannon’s “Lucky Streak”
Lucky isn’t so lucky…at least that is what I thought at the beginning of this first person narrative entitled Lucky Streak. He has been rescued, or perhaps captured would be a better word for it, by the military, after getting attacked by a zombie. He has already taken a drug to resist the effects of the zombie infection, and while the military monitors his progress in dealing with the viral battle going on inside his body, he is asked to tell his story, being told more than once that the information he shares could help save lives. That is when the real story begins.
Lucky, aka Barney Pinocle, is an eighteen year old kid who has a rap sheet, spending days of his misspent youth getting caught for various heists, some of which he was guilty of and others he was not. Lucky is a good kid though, and with a father and two aunts in law enforcement, they have watched out for him and also given him tips to avoid getting caught (unintentionally). Lucky’s tale in flashback begins with a heist he is pulling off, stealing a valuable antique from a local home. He describes with pride how he avoids getting caught, and works with his partner, Snake, to fence the goods once he has made his escape. After that, Snake is nervous about getting caught on another job, but Lucky needs the money after helping out his neighbor with her rent. You see, Lucky is a good guy despite his bad habit of stealing. Before and during the second heist, there are hints being dropped about the impending zombie apocalypse, but they are fairly subtle, and wouldn’t make someone who wasn’t completely paranoid too concerned. But when both Lucky and Snake get busted for the heist, and zombies start popping up all over the place, all subtlety is gone and hell breaks loose. Lucky manages to escape, holding out at a campsite that is pretty far removed from civilization. He outlasts the zombie invasion in hiding, returning to his hometown of Hutchinson, Kansas, to find many of the people he knew and cared for dead, but his parents, and the girl he had a crush on, still alive. But as Lucky finds out soon enough, the zombie menace is far from over for him and the rest of the world…
The author has created a story that moves along at a quick pace and gives us a chance to really get to know Lucky, who is just trying to make his way in the world both before and after the zombies come. He is a thief, but a good guy who helps those in need. He lives up to his nickname, Lucky, on more than one occasion, but it would seem given his overall circumstances, his luck isn’t all that it is cracked up to be. The story is entertaining and an easy read, and I was able to appreciate a story that comes from close to my neck of the woods, since I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, not too terribly far from Lucky’s stomping grounds. I’ve probably only passed through Hutchinson, where most of the story takes place, once or twice in my life, but I could tell that the author has a good grip on the layout of his hometown and uses that to his advantage in this story. Overall, this is a fun and entertaining tale of one person’s life and times during the zombie apocalypse, both during the first wave of undead as well as the second.
You can find Lucky Streak here: http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Streak-Dane-Grannon/dp/1936730073/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1317575237&sr=8-2
“Look What I Found” out on Createspace
I’m happy to announce the release of another anthology that that has one of my contributions. Look What I Found, from Norgus Press, is now available on Createspace. My short story, “VRZ”, can be found within its pages, along with a bevy of other wild tales of found devices and unique and magical items. My tale deals with virtual reality and the extremes one man will go through to experience the ultimate deadly rush.
Here is the description from the back cover of the book:
We spend our lives going through our paces surrounded by things of magic and mystery, but sometimes choose not to open our eyes to see them. The world around us still has places that are yet to be discovered. There are people that we pass on the street that are not what they seem to be. There are objects with untold powers that are only waiting to be found. We train ourselves to look at the norm.
The stories within this anthology examine those mysteries and the excitement of discovery that awaits those who dare to tread. The members of society that look a little deeper. Those who long to say, “Look What I Found!”
The book should be available on Amazon and at other websites within the next week or so, but please feel free to pick up your copy over at Createspace now!
Just click on the image from the front cover below to be sent on over to the website link.
Review of Stephen North’s “Beneath the Mask”
Sergeant Alex Cray is dealing with a viral outbreak in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. He is wearing his MOPP suit, which is the self-contained, sealed suit we always see in the movies when there is an airborne virus or infection going around. The suit is hot, uncomfortable, but he is not supposed to take it off for fear of contracting whatever virus is out there. He and his fellow soldiers are not sure what is really going on, and if this outbreak has expanded beyond the borders of Tampa, or if it even started there in the first place. Soon, he decides that if he is forced to stay in the suit, life beneath that mask wouldn’t be worth living. But when he slips off that mask, he soon is forced to strip away other masks…the masks that allow him to remain civilized and normal in the regular world, but masks that are harder (or even impossible) to maintain in this new world, where a virus is only the beginning of the troubles he will face. The virus reveals a great many things about the survivors, and what they’re willing to do to stay alive and thrive in a new, barbaric environment. Time slips by and Alex discovers that he wants to remain human, and remain someone who can still look in the mirror at himself, but he will be forced to do ugly things to somehow pull that off.
Again, the virus is only the beginning, and I don’t think it is much of a spoiler to indicate that there is something far more diabolical at work in this story, something alien and yet strangely human. New doors are opened for Alex, and as he slips from one effort at saving those around him to another he finds himself more and more tormented. Tormented by beliefs that the human race is done for and that despite his best efforts, he is slipping away as well, even as he continues to live.
This is a story told in first person, present tense. It is a style used infrequently, and is rather challenging for someone to pull off. Stephen North, in this, his first novel, pulls it off just as he does in his later efforts with relative ease. Not everyone enjoys this style, and I will admit that in some ways it leaves me wanting as a reader. Not because of the quality of the writing, but because of the lack of information granted me as a reader. There are a lot of mysteries not revealed in the pages of this book because we only see the world that Alex sees, and in a world that is as clouded and dim as this one, one man’s vision doesn’t extend too far. The action is in your face and it is very easy to climb into the skin of Alex, as it were, but the character spends a great deal of his time getting knocked out of action and fading to black, only to wake up with everything changed around him, with his efforts to figure out what is going on only partially successful. This is a grand adventure with a few mysterious gaps in the tale that left me curious. I don’t like spoiling things for other readers, so suffice to to say, if you read this book carefully, you will have questions that Alex has that will go unanswered before the end of the tale. The author has indicated that since this was his first work, he wants to revisit it, and may explain some of the parts that were never detailed in a rewrite. If that is the case, I will be one of the first in line to check it out. Despite these few “gaps”, this is a good adventure tale, with an interesting sci fi slant on the traditional apocalyptic thriller. Stephen North writes virtually everything in first person, and is one of those rare people who also uses the present tense with ease…while the rest of us find it an incredibly difficult challenge to pull off.
Beneath the Mask can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Mask-Stephen-North/dp/142592588X/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317092890&sr=1-6
Zombie Walk October 15th!!!
Last year I participated in a Zombie Walk in Fairborn Ohio, near Dayton, with my good friends, Benjamin Rogers and Beth LaFond, who are both authors in their own right. We signed books, hung out with all the great folks who run the event, and had a blast. This year, the event takes place on October 15th, and much like last year, it is being done to support the Fairborn Community Center. There is a Pre Party where my friends and I will be selling and signing our books, which is located at 1076 Kauffman Avenue, and that starts at 5:30pm. They will be doing zombie face painting for $3 for the zombie walk. The walk itself is at 7pm and there will be an Afterlife party at Central Park. Cost to participate is $5 or $4 and a canned food donation, which is all going to a great cause.
If you are interested in participating and want more details, give them a call at 937-878-6061.
Again, this is for a great cause. I would love to say hello to anyone who can make it, and shamble along the streets of Fairborn with you!
Artwork for the Cover of Collaboration of the Dead
Sometime in the deep murky past, I agreed to be a part of a collaboration of authors who would each take a swipe at a couple of chapters of a zombie book. All the authors would write one chapter for the first half of the book and then turn around and write a second chapter for the latter half of the book. Fast forward to today and the book is halfway done (a little bit past that, actually) and my guess is that my second chapter will be coming up in the next few months. I loved creating the first chapter I did, which was probably longer than what I was asked to produce (over 10k words when they wanted half that…ugh!), but I loved that crazy trip all the authors were taking, and I did my best to start pulling some of the characters together. The scary part of doing a chapter now is that so much has happened in the story since my last deep dive into this sucker, so keeping track of it all is going to be tricky. Naturally, as it is a zombie book, people die, so a lot of those characters I worked on before are long gone, and some of the plot twists have been pretty wild as well, so I will have my work cut out for me. But one day, hopefully not too far down the line, this puppy will be all sewn up and will be produced in ebook and paperback versions for everyone to check out. Some of the authors have dropped out for various reasons and others have joined the cause, so it has been an even larger collaboration than expected, and that makes it all the more exciting to be a part of.
An artist that I know and love is the one who has created the cover concept, and I am thrilled with it. Matt Nord, who has been coordinating this project, shows excellent taste by selecting the inimitable Philip R Rogers, who did the artwork for my trilogy as well. So check this gruesome image out. More details, naturally, to come in time. But at this point, I am just getting prepared for when I am called to pick up the pen and write my second chapter for this sucker. All I can promise at this point is that there will be blood. Oh yes, there will. Until then, sink your teeth into this image to get you all riled up for when this puppy goes to print.
Monkey Faced Demon Blog reviews Beyond the Dark
For some odd reason, I thought Mr. Jonathan Moon had already reviewed Beyond The Dark and posted it. I think it’s because he did conduct a fun interview with me several months ago, and I guess I must have thought it was all rolled up into one particular segment. But as I get older, my head gets a bit mushy, so forgive me. So this review comes a bit later, but all the sweeter for it, since it is so very complimentary of the story. Like many reviewers, Jon digs the last installment in my trilogy, stating that it is the best of the three, which is always cool to hear for me, because I tend to agree. So without further ado, check out Mr. Moon’s review right here: http://mrmoonblogs.blogspot.com/2011/09/mr-moons-reviews-beyond-dark.html.
Review of Craig Saunders & Robert Essig’s “Scarecrow & The Madness”
Blood Bound Books has brought together two novella length stories and put them together in one nice package. Two stories about the twists and turns of the human mind, both of these tales are horror stories, but don’t expect any supernatural elements or creatures from beyond from these pages. No, the bogeymen that inhabit their pages are straight from the scariest place on earth: the human mind. In other words, both of these tales could take place in our world with no hint of assistance from other worldly forces…and that is what makes both of these stories so wonderfully diabolical.
Scarecrow, which is the shorter of the two stories, tells the account of a band of gypsies that come to town for a few days and set up camp in a farmer’s field in the British countryside. Margaret, a no nonsense farmer’s wife, has no quarrel with the rovers, despite her husband, Bernard, and everyone else’s belief that they are all thieves and scumbags. Unfortunately for the two of them, they find out just what this band of gypsies are capable of when they perceive that they’ve been insulted and abused. The results are a satisfyingly twisted tale of tragic revenge that left me squirming.
The Madness is a bit longer tale, telling the story of Tony, an assistant bank manager caught up in a huge snowstorm in Colorado, who is forced to take refuge with a family when the storm turns into a blizzard. It doesn’t take long for Tony to realize that he might have been better off freezing to death rather than to enter the home of Dan, Sue, and their boy Phillip. Sue and Phillip seem fine, but Dan isn’t too thrilled with Tony for being there, and there is something about him that seems a bit…off. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear that Dan isn’t the only one with problems. The Madness is, in its own way, just as twisty and as devious a tale as Scarecrow, though how it plays out is quite different.
Together, these two stories were a quite satisfying duo of psychological twisters. I am so used to stories that rely upon supernatural, or at the very least unnatural forces to elicit a terrified reaction, that it was refreshing to see something that reminded me of how wicked and demented the human animal can be when it thinks of ways to mess with other human minds.
You can find Scarecrow & The Madness here: http://www.amazon.com/Scarecrow-Madness-Craig-Saunders/dp/0984540873/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315272626&sr=1-1
Cover revealed for upcoming KnightWatch Press anthology “Soul Survivors-Hometown Tales, Volume 1”
Yep, another anthology coming out soon that I am thrilled to be a part of…and there were so many good stories, they filled two volumes with all of them! My little story, “Love Thy Neighbor” appears within the pages of Volume 1. While I am showing the cover for Volume 1, what is really cool about Soul Survivors-Hometown Tales is that the two covers fit nicely situated next to each other, each showing one half of a face…but they are each distinct from the other. I am really proud of my very sick and disturbing story that takes place right here in Cincinnati that I wrote for this one, and I guess the publishers did as well! The premise behind the stories we were asked to write was to tell a story of the end of the world based on our own hometowns, giving it sort of a personal touch. It could be with any sort of disaster…natural, man made, supernatural…so I am positive there are some really twisted tales in both of these tomes that take advantage of some really unique potential world shattering events. So check out the artwork for the cover of the book I appear in, and I will of course be promoting this book and its partner in crime once both are released later this year (or early in 2012).
Review of Alan Draven’s “Fractured Time”
Donovan Vicar is a man with a special gift. He is a feeler, which the author describes as someone who feels the vibrations of those around him. It becomes clear rather quickly that this is only scratching the surface of this gift…a gift he will soon need on a strange journey he must set out on across time.
Fractured Time begins in the present era, in the year 2007 in the city of Bitternest, Louisiana. Donovan is working to manage his power as a feeler, which tends to knock him for a loop every time he is around someone who has a negative or evil aura. So when someone walks by that has the most potently evil aura of anyone he has ever met, it compels him to follow them. Donovan fears the danger they represent. In the past, he has discovered too late that when he senses such evil, something horrible is about to occur. Not long after this discovery, Donovan finds himself traveling backwards in time in pursuit of this evil man. Fifty years in the past to be exact, to the Bitternest of 1957. It becomes clear rather quickly that the man he was tracking is responsible for this new puzzle, and it is up to Donovan to figure out how to stop whatever foul plan the man has for the world and to hopefully find a way back home, to the present.
Fractured Time is a good old fashion mystery spiked with magic, imbibed with ancient evil, and with just the right touch of nostalgia mixed in for good measure. Alan Draven has created a city shrouded in darkness and strange alien forces, and populated it with a cast of colorful characters that are quite entertaining. I enjoyed the almost retro feel of this story, and not just because the vast majority of it was set in a world fifty years in our past. This is a good old fashion tale of sorcery and evil men who crave absolute power who are willing use the blackest magic in their cause.
Naturally, no story is perfect, and this one suffers a bit from what I would say is the author’s enthusiasm to share with his audience as many details as possible about the world he has created. The thoughts and motivations of not only the main characters are revealed, but those of most of the secondary characters are as well. Mysteries are unraveled at a pace that is probably faster than I would have preferred for this type of tale, and leaving some questions left unanswered would have been just fine by me. The epilogue is an example of this. While probably necessary, to fill in all the blanks, some of the answers seem almost abrupt-loose ends that are sewn up in a hurry, so nothing is left to puzzle over.
Even so, I can understand the enthusiasm the author wants to share with us over his creation. Bitternest holds up a strange, fun-house type mirror to what would be its sister city of New Orleans, another Louisiana city filled with oddities, magic, and strange tales of the occult. Alan Draven has given us old magic and old gods that feel right at home in this strange city, and I can understand his passion for sharing every last bit of it with us.
Fractured Time can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Fractured-Time-Alan-Draven/dp/097699478X/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314631559&sr=1-7
Cover for Live and Let Undead revealed.
Well, I was going to wait until the official wrap around cover was released, but I decided I didn’t want to. There will be a few more tweaks to this one, but I love the artwork, and love my story that appears within its pages. The title of the book is Live and Let Undead, and as the back cover describes, it is a bit of a different take on the traditional zombie apocalypse story telling. More details to come on this anthology, and my short story “Legacy” as it gets closer to a release date.
The Zombie-pocalypse is real! Loved ones are returning from the grave in search of flesh and brains! Humans are running scared!
Aren’t they?
Here, rather than shooting them in the head, eighteen talented authors have figured out how to put the Undead to work. Zombies can now be contributing members to society once more.
Looking for some customer service help? “Operators” from AM Burns, has just the call center crew for you. Need road repairs? Check out the workers in Mike Baretta’s “Memorial Day.” How about a solution for all those bombs, drugs, and other nasty stuff crossing through our seaports? Matt Adams’ Sparky can take care of it in “Sparky Save The World.”
These stories, and others, from authors-
Rebecca Snow
Keith Gouveia
Barry Rosenberg
Suzanne Robb
Patrick D’Orazio
Janet Tait
JW Schnarr
Brian Johnson
Steve Ruthenbeck
Daniel Robichaud
Brook Fabian
Jeff Chitty
HE Roulo
Peter Giglio
and
Eric Juneau
-will have you wishing for a zombie of your own.
Maybe…
Review of Bill Bibo Jr.’s “Dr. Zombie Lives Next Door”
Every once in a while, I like to reminisce about the stories I used to read as a kid that had a taste of spookiness to them but that didn’t give me nightmares. In many ways, despite the creepiness of the story elements, they were fun adventures that helped sate my passion for reading and left me wanting more of the same. Dr. Zombie Lives Next Door reminds me of those scary tales that I used to check out as a kid. My path to darker, more adult horror soon followed, but there will always be a desire for me to reach back to read something fun that I can share with my kids, who are at the right age for a story like this one.
The premise is simple. When new neighbors move in next door, young Jenny is fearful that the father is a mad scientist, with his crazy fly away hair and strange equipment he is moving to the basement. Against her better judgment, she is introduced to Victor, the strange man’s son, who is a scientific genius and helps this athletic Tomboy with her science fair project, while at the same time, the man she has dubbed Dr. Zombie toils away in his mysterious lab down in the basement…creating something she fears will take over the world!
My kids, who are 11 and 12, enjoyed this story. Given the fact that their dad loves to write and read adult horror, they don’t get to check out much of what I enjoy at their age, so sharing something like this with them, that combines a few good scares, some mystery, and quite a few laughs put a smile on my face. Dr. Zombie Lives Next Door is a fun story with a good heart that is great for preteens and anyone who enjoys a good spooky story.
Dr. Zombie Lives Next Door can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Lives-Next-Door-ebook/dp/B0059Y4I0A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313634036&sr=8-1
A double whammy of anthology covers!
While I would typically try to promote two different books I am going to be in with separate posts, I believe that will come later, when the two of these books are released at different times. For now, I was made aware of the covers of each book within the last couple of days, and as such, it is time for me to promote them both, side by side. So, without further ado and in no specific order, here are two anthologies that short stories of mine will be appearing in. As to the projected release dates, that remains to be seen, but as always, once they are released, you will receive notice here on them from me, and I will share links on where to buy them as well.
The first book is being released by Norgus press, and is entitled: Look What I Found!
My short story, VRZ, will appear in this book. Here is the description from the back cover:
We spend our lives going through places surrounded by things of magic and mystery, but sometimes choose not to open our eyes to see them. The world around us still has places that are yet to be discovered. There are people that we pass on the street that are not what they seem to be. There are objects with untold powers that are only waiting to be found. We train ourselves to look at the norm. The stories within this anthology examine those mysteries and the excitement of discovery that awaits those who dare to tread. The members of society that look a little deeper. Those who long to say, “Look What I Found!”
The other anthology is from Wicked East Press and I am actually in the process of writing up my short story for this one, so I don’t even have an official title as of yet, but fear not, there shall be one soon enough. This one is entitled Read The End First. 24 Apocalyptic Tales. 24 Time Zones.
Here is a description:
Ever wonder how the world would end if you could decide?
This anthology takes the concept of the Apocalypse a step further.
24 authors pick their own time zone to destroy, and leave you wondering if the prophecies they speak of are true.
The premise here is simple: each of the authors were given a time zone and they are expected to have a story that starts at midnight that speaks of a unique ending to the world. Combined, there will be twenty four time zones of annihilation and doom when all is said and done. I am pretty excited to be a part of this project. My own little bit of destruction will hopefully be quite interesting. But no hints as to what time zone I have or what demise I have chosen for you all. I will just say that no zombies will be harmed in the making this short story, heh. More details to come later.
I am pretty proud of the twisted tale, “VRZ” in Look What I Found!, which involves a trip into virtual reality…but it almost seems too real for the character taking the trip. And I am working hard to make the story for Read the End First one I am just as proud of. I will definitely be letting everyone know more about them around their release times, for certain!
Review of Katherine Hanna’s “Breakdown”
Breakdown is the story of Chris, a man who has lost everything in his life, as the world around him spins out of control. A worldwide pandemic has killed many and set civilization back several centuries as all we take for granted goes away seemingly overnight. After his wife and young daughter die from the plague, Chris sets out on a slow, arduous journey to return home to England, across the ocean from where he lived in New York. The story is not necessarily of that journey, but of the journey that takes place after he returns home to the remnants of his family-a brother who had no idea if he was alive or dead, an old mate who his relationship with was damaged long before the plague came about, and other new faces, including new people who attempt to help Chris heal. He has seen what the world has turned into during his travels-barbaric and wretched, and there are experiences he had that have shattered him emotionally. It will take a great deal of kindness and patience to allow Chris to come to grips with who he is and what he has become, and a dedicated and persistent person willing to take that journey with him.
This is a post apocalyptic novel, true enough, but not the type that I would typically pick up. I did so at the recommendation of a friend, and while this is different than what I am used to, I can’t say that I have any regrets reading it. The author is a solid storyteller, developing her characters in slow bits and pieces with reveals that are satisfying and plausible. The broken down world, as well as the broken down man that inhabits it, provide ample opportunity for her to give us just cause for Chris’s brooding state. He is troubled, but I didn’t get the urge to tell him to get over it-his losses, and sense of regret for what he believes he didn’t do are real, tangible, and identifiable. Chris is no different than any of us would be, or at least any of us would try to be, if we wanted to maintain some sense of humanity despite living in a inhuman, monstrous world.
I liked the setting where the things we take for granted-speaking to someone over the phone, being able to drive to see someone 70 miles away from where we live in about an hour or two becomes impossible, and everyone is closed off from those more than a mile or two away from them. Life is rough, and difficult, but in many ways much simpler for the folks that live in it. They do their chores, the grow food, they milk the cows, and on occasion they remember how easy they had it, and hope that the technology will return, and that the world will come together again. But they fear the world around them, still worried that the plague may revisit them, and trust very few outside of their own circle of close family and friends.
While I guess this book could be defined as a post apocalyptic romance novel, I would venture to say that it is more of a character study, with the relationship coming about naturally, slowly evolving as Chris learns more about himself and accepts who he is and what he has been forced to do ever since the world turned brutal and went dark in the early days of the plague, while he opens up and discovers things about those around him-how they too have suffered, and that he is not alone, no matter how much it feels that way.
For anyone who has looked at any of my reviews, they will know this is perhaps not my normal type of book that I review, but I have to say that this is a story definitely worth checking out for anyone who likes PA fiction with strongly drawn, compelling characters.
Breakdown can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Breakdown-Katherine-Amt-Hanna/dp/1461093791/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312750908&sr=1-1
Review of Meghan Ciana Doidge’s “After The Virus”
Quite a few post apocalyptic novels have attempted to inject love and romance into their pages. Some do it by cramming it into a high action, gore splattered story, while others let it flow more gradually into the mix, letting it germinate based on circumstances surrounding the characters-people pushed together and sharing the horrors that surround one another, so they come together to push back the nightmares. Meghan Ciana Doidge is one of the few storytellers who pushes the love story up front and center with After The Virus. There are a couple of other books I have read that have the relationship between two main characters stand as the key element, but this is the first that I would categorize as a true romance tale.
This story surrounds the two main characters, Rhiannon and Will, as they live their separate lives after the apocalypse…if you can call it living-especially for Rhiannon, who begins the story captured and put into what amounts to a baby mill. Over 99% of the world’s population has died, and the barbaric pockets of survivors are lead by men who need as many healthy women to breed as possible. But Rhiannon is special. She is an actress and a world class beauty that has caught the eye of the local boss, who wants her all to himself. She escapes, but throughout the rest of the story is pursued by the boss’s men, who are intent on bringing her back to him. Will, on the other hand, is a man who has chosen to live his life alone, in a small, remote town where he dutifully takes to the task of cleaning out the dead bodies and restocking the stores and and maintaining the hotel. But Will just wants to be left alone, which creates friction when other survivors come across his little Shangri La who are looking for a place to stay. He eludes danger with them, and on one of his trips to find more supplies, comes across a mute nine year old girl he dubs Snickers (that was what she was eating when he finds her) and though she is skittish, brings her back to his place to live with him. Rhiannon, who manages to escape her captors, stumbles across Will’s town and finds herself reluctantly feeling that this new place could be home. Of course, due to the character’s actions and the other desperate survivors that surround them, things do not go at all well for them. Will and Rhiannon are thrust into the wider world, with other survivors, desperate for heroes, latching on to Will. Rhiannon gets captured again, and Will realizes that he has a greater responsibility in the world than he had hoped or wanted, but will accept, if it will allow him to save the woman he is falling in love with.
The story flows very well and I liked the characters the author developed. Snickers and the dog B.B. allow Will and Rhiannon to focus their efforts on something more than their awkward, fumbling steps toward the realization that they belong together, and draw them closer throughout the story. Some would call this a zombie story, but more to the point, it is an apocalyptic love tale with a smattering of infected creatures that perhaps resemble zombies, though they are a side point altogether. As the author states clearly, this is a story that pays homage to other author’s tales, including one of my favorite books of all time, The Stand. It is about people living, loving, and struggling after the world has crumbled; trying to put the pieces back together and start again, which requires reluctant heroes and leaders, and symbols of hope that can stand against the devastation that not only a virus can do, but what men can do to one another.
The areas of concern I had with this story were a couple of main distractions that I think took away slightly from the tale. First and foremost, the use of pronouns when it came to stating who was speaking and thinking were confusing. One character would be speaking or would be in action one paragraph, and the next would start out with “he” or “she” and would be referring to an entirely different character. This was consistent throughout the story, and while it is something I got used to and started to expect, it disrupted the story when I had to figure things out more than once. The other issue I had was with the nicknames given to various characters. I totally understand and appreciate them for characters that pass by in a story and become nothing more than minor details, but when they become key characters, and when their real names are learned, those nicknames need to evaporate, or at least used less liberally-it caused confusion, and in some cases didn’t make much sense. Especially when it is really only one person who creates the nickname and doesn’t necessarily speak it out loud, but just as a device to remember them, but in no time, everyone else is using it as well. This works when a few characters call Will “Tex”, but not so much when a character is dubbed “Stupid” early on in the tale, but even when his real name is provided that dismissive moniker is used up until the very end of the story.
Rest assured, these issues were not deterrence for me in reading or completing this book. It is a solid tale, with well fleshed out characters and a story that has a place in the PA pantheon as unique because it is a true love story. I know this is the author’s first book, and my gripes are minor issues that are a sideline to her ability to tell a tale. I look forward to checking out more of her work as it is released.
After The Virus can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/After-the-Virus-ebook/dp/B0053HT0FG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312059772&sr=8-1
Rebecca Besser reviews Comes The Dark
Rebecca Besser, who has taken the time to interview me for her blog, has posted her review of Comes The Dark. For those of you not in the know, Rebecca is a very talented author in her own right, with a growing collection of tales to her name. On top of that, she is a damn fine editor to boot! I have the privilege of appearing with her in Collabthology and also in the Collaboration of the Dead, which is a single story told through the eyes of about twenty or so different authors, which is an ongoing project.
So I wanted to thank Rebecca for taking the time to check out my book, and can’t wait to see what she thinks of the second and third books in the trilogy as well. Check out the review here: http://www.rebeccabesser.com/rb_reviews_017.htm
Zombie Custodian…aka Matt Nord reviews Beyond the Dark
The Zombie Custodian was the first official reviewer of Comes The Dark and the first review I posted here on my blog. So it is fitting that I post his review of Beyond The Dark here as well. Matt really loved my first book, and I think Beyond The Dark crushed his hopes for a truly happy ending, but he seemed to appreciate the harsh realities that the book proposed. So check out his thorough and detailed review here: http://zombiecustodian.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-patrick-dorazios-beyond-dark.html. Thanks again to Matt for taking the time to check out the whole trilogy, and for being one of its most ardent supporters!
Review of Steven Konkoly’s “The Jakarta Pandemic”
Alex Fletcher is a marine who left active duty eight years ago and is now a pharmaceutical rep with a bit of paranoia about the latest impending pandemic flu assault. The year is 2013, and he has vivid memories of the pandemic of ’08 and the less noteworthy panic that occurred in ’12 after a swine flu outbreak. Since he works for a pharma company that provides one of the leading flu treatments, it is essentially his job to pay attention to all the reports on how bad this new outbreak is likely to be. That plus the fact that he spends much of his time with doctors who deal with infectious diseases on a regular basis, he is hunkering down for what amounts to the viral equivalent of World War III.
Alex is paranoid, and under regular circumstances might be considered somewhat of a flake. He suffers from post traumatic stress after his time in Iraq, and his house is set up with all the fixin’s to prepare him for a long hold out against the flu with food, water, his own power supplies, and plenty of guns and ammo. His plan is simple: isolate himself and his family from everyone else and they will make it through the flu outbreak just fine, even as the world crumbles around them. Yep, Alex would be probably a bit wacky if it wasn’t for the fact that he is absolutely right about what is about to go down.
And despite Alex’s unheeded warnings to his neighbors to isolate themselves, stock up on food and water, things do go bad rather quickly for them, with food not getting delivered to grocery stores, hospitals getting filled up with flu patients, sickness running rampant and a danger of the power grid going out since less and less people are monitoring and maintaining it. Essentially, Alex has predicted a crash of catastrophic proportions, and that is exactly what happens. And with it, the natives get restless and turn their ire toward the most prepared member of their community. Alex has good intentions, but refuses to be sucked into communal expectations that he play ball and share all his food and every last flu treatment he held on to before quitting his pharmaceutical job. On top of that, scavengers have moved into Alex’s upscale suburban neighborhood in a desperate attempt to find food and shelter as riots and overall madness have driven them out of the bigger cities, and they are even more dangerous than the neighbors.
The Jakarta Pandemic is a well laid out story of one man’s quest to keep his family safe during a devastating assault on their existence. I read a lot of apocalyptic fiction, and while this doesn’t quite tip over into the realm of apocalyptic, it gives us a hefty dose of how the apocalypse could realistically occur in our world. It does share some similarities with some of the other stories I read in that genre in that it shows how desperate people can become, and how hard the choices are when your family is at stake and so is your survival. Alex reminds me of one of those guys on message boards who talks about how they’re prepared for the end of the world, whether it be by natural disaster, plague, or even zombies.
The action sequences are compelling in this book, though I wish there was more of them, and more drawn out tension between the main character and the people who confront him. A lot of the tale is spent with the build up to the pandemic and the slow, boring days Alex and his family spend cloistered inside their home. We are given only one perspective-Alex’s, and only find out what is happening to the outside world through his observations of the news on TV and via the internet. It does help provide a sort of closed off perspective, because we as readers know nothing more than Alex does from minute to minute about what is happening in the wider world or even outside his house as they get buried deeper and deeper into the Maine winter. Still, I did feel that parts of the story dragged and did wish for more of a psychological thriller showcasing more people like Todd, Alex’s on edge neighbor, and the man Alex dubs “Manson”. I felt like the scenes where Alex was dealing with them crackled with energy and craved more of that in this story.
The bottom line is that this was a well thought out, entertaining story, though I was left wanting more interaction between Alex and his key rivals. It is my understanding that this story was recently re-edited, so the typographical issues prior reviewers on Amazon brought up didn’t deflect from the story too much for me. The only real issue I had was when the author slips into present tense on occasion, which was a distraction when the rest of the time he sticks with the traditional past tense. Otherwise, the story kept my interest and was an enjoyable read about an intriguing subject that had a bitter and frightening dose of realism to it.
You can get The Jakarta Pandemic here: http://www.amazon.com/Jakarta-Pandemic-Steven-Konkoly/dp/1456309501/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309311567&sr=1-1
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