I really need to stop waiting so long between Gifune books! His work scratches a horror itch for me that most writers fail to hit. The books dive to eI really need to stop waiting so long between Gifune books! His work scratches a horror itch for me that most writers fail to hit. The books dive to emotional depths that others never dare to, while still providing the terror and thrills.
This novella feels like an eerie dream from the very first paragraph and it never once lets up on the atmosphere, especially as our main character Lenny gets to the small town where his ex-girlfriend has died and mysteriously left him her house. As he struggles to understand what happened to Sheena, we the reader discover a tragic story of love squandered and two people filled with pain and regret. I almost always leave a Gifune book satisfied and impressed and this is another great one.
Merged review:
I really need to stop waiting so long between Gifune books! His work scratches a horror itch for me that most writers fail to hit. The books dive to emotional depths that others never dare to, while still providing the terror and thrills.
This novella feels like an eerie dream from the very first paragraph and it never once lets up on the atmosphere, especially as our main character Lenny gets to the small town where his ex-girlfriend has died and mysteriously left him her house. As he struggles to understand what happened to Sheena, we the reader discover a tragic story of love squandered and two people filled with pain and regret. I almost always leave a Gifune book satisfied and impressed and this is another great one....more
This short story set in the world of Bull Mountain is another great showcase of Panowich’s knack for brutal and engaging storytelling. Throughout the This short story set in the world of Bull Mountain is another great showcase of Panowich’s knack for brutal and engaging storytelling. Throughout the author’s first two novels, we get hints as to the circumstances surrounding clan patriarch Gareth Burroughs’s death, but this time we witness exactly what happened. And it’s savage. Panowich’s way with language is used to uncomfortable effect here as the description of the death is graphically horrible and stuck with me for a couple of days. This detailing of the last days of a king definitely makes the wait for a new novel even harder!
Merged review:
This short story set in the world of Bull Mountain is another great showcase of Panowich’s knack for brutal and engaging storytelling. Throughout the author’s first two novels, we get hints as to the circumstances surrounding clan patriarch Gareth Burroughs’s death, but this time we witness exactly what happened. And it’s savage. Panowich’s way with language is used to uncomfortable effect here as the description of the death is graphically horrible and stuck with me for a couple of days. This detailing of the last days of a king definitely makes the wait for a new novel even harder!...more
What was my batting average so far for staying out of trouble when it was baited with that much tramp? It was an even zero, and I didn't see a
What was my batting average so far for staying out of trouble when it was baited with that much tramp? It was an even zero, and I didn't see anything in the situation here that promised I'd improve very much.
All I can do is chuckle whenever I read about people being in such an uproar recently about the ending of the book and movie Gone Girl. I keep thinking that obviously they've never really read true classic noir fiction. Because if they had, then they'd know that an ending like that is true to form with the genre and had been done many times back in the genre's heyday! That's how I like my noir: depraved and nihilistic! And this nifty, archetypal, little dark thriller fits right there in that category, with it's tale of a horny, low-life car salesman who's aching to not only bed down a couple of the local ladies, but also to rip off the local bank, which is just begging to get robbed. He quickly finds out that these two goals don't fit very well together.
The smart thing was to get out of here and let her happen to somebody else.
Author Charles Williams was one of the star pulp writers back in the 50's and this is considered one of his best works. It was originally published as a Gold Medal original, titled Hell Hath No Fury, but is now more commonly known as The Hot Spot after the movie adaptation. But The Hot Spot is terribly boring and I definitely prefer the original name. This book is a great example of the classic pulp and Gold Medal tradition, with its tight plotting, suspense, witty, hard-boiled dialogue ("She was as crazy as frozen dynamite"), its lusty femme fatale, and questionable morality. This is an essential one for fans of the genre.
Maybe some day I'll make it and become the only bank director in the world who started at the bottom by robbing the bank and worked his way up by becoming indispensable to a bitch, and the only one anywhere who has twelve thousand three hundred dollars of his bank's assets buried under six inches of slowly rotting manure in a collapsing barn on a sandhill and who intends to let it stay there until the barn rots or the money rots or he rots himself. It's an ambition, and everybody should have one...
I've had my eye on Stephen Graham Jones' work for a while and have read nothing but awesome things about his writing talent. Rave reviews for his lateI've had my eye on Stephen Graham Jones' work for a while and have read nothing but awesome things about his writing talent. Rave reviews for his latest short story/novelette, "The Night Cyclist," led me to make it my first jump into his work. It follows a restaurant cook and avid cyclist who bikes from work to home everyday, and the unexpected encounter he has one night on a dark stretch of road.
As promised, the story is wonderfully well-written and detailed, especially when describing the joys and experiences of bike riding as well as the eerie nights that the rider encounters while on the road. And like all of the great horror writers, Jones uses the fantastic as a vehicle to touch on the themes that are at the heart of the story, mid-life crises and second chances. I enjoyed the ending as well and now I have to decide which Stephen Graham Jones book to read next!
He'd picked my scent out of all the smells of the city. Out of all the thousands of other bodies out after dark. He'd known me through the rain.
Merged review:
I've had my eye on Stephen Graham Jones' work for a while and have read nothing but awesome things about his writing talent. Rave reviews for his latest short story/novelette, "The Night Cyclist," led me to make it my first jump into his work. It follows a restaurant cook and avid cyclist who bikes from work to home everyday, and the unexpected encounter he has one night on a dark stretch of road.
As promised, the story is wonderfully well-written and detailed, especially when describing the joys and experiences of bike riding as well as the eerie nights that the rider encounters while on the road. And like all of the great horror writers, Jones uses the fantastic as a vehicle to touch on the themes that are at the heart of the story, mid-life crises and second chances. I enjoyed the ending as well and now I have to decide which Stephen Graham Jones book to read next!
He'd picked my scent out of all the smells of the city. Out of all the thousands of other bodies out after dark. He'd known me through the rain.
The Livewire solo series! And it was a great time to give her a series, because it spins out of her shocking actions in Harbinger Wars 2: Deluxe EditiThe Livewire solo series! And it was a great time to give her a series, because it spins out of her shocking actions in Harbinger Wars 2: Deluxe Edition. To protect her band of psiots from government hit squads, she plunged the entire country into a blackout, disabling satellites and crippling the nation. As a result, hundreds of people died and she is now on the run as public enemy #1!
Vita Ayala's series shows Amanda coming to grips with what she's done and the shaky moral line she's been crossing for the greater good. This is something I've loved about Valiant and the psiot-focused lines specifically, the fallibility of heroes and dealing with true consequences of your actions, no matter how noble.
I was very excited about this series but I didn't think it was as accomplished as I'd hoped. Although there is a commendable effort to focus on character and a villain with lots of potential, it was also a bit repetitive when it came to the action and terribly wordy. So much of the book felt like one long fight monologue!
It's great to see one of the coolest characters in Valiant get her own series, but it doesn’t really land. ...more
The High Republic publishing initiative spills into comics as well with this series. Think of this volume as an expansion pack to the first Phase, as The High Republic publishing initiative spills into comics as well with this series. Think of this volume as an expansion pack to the first Phase, as it features characters from the adult, young adult, and middle grade books, while introducing a new protagonist, Jedi padawan Keeve Trennis. This volume is pretty forgettable but it does provide a little exploration of Jedi PTSD with Sskeer’s plight while also showing potential of going deeper into the villainous Drengir. It’s also cool to see High Republic characters illustrated, so it’s also enjoyable on that level. Hopefully it gets more substantial in future volumes!...more
This is the best One Bad Day installment I've read so far, telling a story focused on the Gotham villain Basil Karlo, trying to make it as an actor inThis is the best One Bad Day installment I've read so far, telling a story focused on the Gotham villain Basil Karlo, trying to make it as an actor in Los Angeles, disguising himself as a hot young talent. But when he loses a part he really believes in, his new law-abiding life starts to unravel. It's a pretty fast-paced read, with really clever homages to other Batman stories, and a great final page. Good stuff here....more
I’m constantly impressed by how Jeff Lemire can pretty much single-handedly (along with his changing artists) create this constantly expanding superheI’m constantly impressed by how Jeff Lemire can pretty much single-handedly (along with his changing artists) create this constantly expanding superhero universe and make it this consistent. It should read like a derivative cornball mess but somehow it manages to feel original and read better than much of the superhero work that it pays homage to, and is still going strong as it chugs along.
In this lovely new library edition compiling the entire Reborn series, the story picks up 20 years after the events of the farm and the noble sacrifice of those heroes in Black Hammer: Age of Doom. Lucy Weber had taken over the Black Hammer mantle and became Spiral City’s only hero for sometime, until giving up her hammer and living the middle class life working in insurance. But things take a turn when another universal threat becomes imminent.
This is a riveting story that focuses on Lucy struggling with the fateful decisions of her past and what it means to be a hero again. It brings together a lot of the mythos introduced through the wide range of books so it’s a damn rewarding must-read for any Black Hammer fan....more
This is a pretty average Catwoman story, and not the stand-out examination of the character that I would expect from an entry in this limited series oThis is a pretty average Catwoman story, and not the stand-out examination of the character that I would expect from an entry in this limited series of one-shots. There's nothing all that bad about the book, it just doesn't say very much....more
This one is an uncharacteristically positive Batman story featuring Batman and Robin in their early days of crime fighting attempting to redeem Mr. FrThis one is an uncharacteristically positive Batman story featuring Batman and Robin in their early days of crime fighting attempting to redeem Mr. Freeze. It’s a nice holiday read as Bruce and Dick get the Christmas spirit and try to do something nice for the sad, tortured villain!...more
Conceptually, Harvey Dent aka Two-Face is one of my favorite Batman villains. But to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever read a truly good story focuseConceptually, Harvey Dent aka Two-Face is one of my favorite Batman villains. But to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever read a truly good story focused on him. For some reason it seems like most writers can’t figure out the right story to tell. And this follows that trend. There’s a great idea here about examining whether or not the good part of Harvey Dent could ever prevail or if he was even there in the first place, but this one just misses the mark....more
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