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Book Review: Ratio of Brookes to Ashleys by Wol-vriey

Ratio of Brookes to Ashleys by [Wol-vriey]

Ratio of Brookes to Ashleys by Wol-vriey

Burning Bulb Publishing, 2021

ISBN: 9781948278454

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition ( Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com  )

 

Where his last novel, Women, was the equivalent of ten cans of energy drink, Ratio of Brookes to Ashleys is equal to a pitcher of sugar-free iced tea.  The gore factor (for Wol-vriey, at any rate) is remarkably tuned down and the sex is minimal.  Instead, this is a dialogue-oriented story, with more focus on the characters than an action-packed narrative.  It’s a decent read, just a change of pace from his usual smashmouth, in your face style.

 

While playing the dating game in his late 20’s, Mike Broadman dates Ashley Brooke Cummins, a vindictive woman with serious mood swings.  He has the good fortune to stop dating her after a couple of months, followed by the misfortune of being cursed by her before her suicide.  The curse?  He can only date Brookes or Ashleys for the rest of his life.  The curse seems to work… too well.  Not only do people Mike knows start getting murdered, people he dates with the correct names start getting killed also.  While Mike is convinced the curse is real, the police suspect an actual human killer.  Or, possibly, a combination? That’s the mystery at the heart of the story, as Mike tries to prevent further deaths and find out the true cause.

 

It’s an original idea, and the story moves at a slower, more measured pace than Wol-vriey’s previous novels.  Character interactions and dialogue account for the majority of the book.   The characters are fairly one-dimensional people in their late 20s, but they are able to carry the story well enough despite the lack of character depth.  The character of Ashley Cummins’ ghost does provide some entertaining contrast, and it would have been nice to have seen her developed into a bigger role.  The Siamese twins (Brooke and Ashley, of course) also provide a bit of extra color.  The violence is at a much lower level that Wol-vriey’s usual work.  There are a couple of messy knifings, but most of the rest of the violence comes from people getting hit by cars; nothing too unorthodox.  It’s minimal enough that readers who dislike splat stories may be fine with this one.  Occasionally, the story does get a bit hokey (finding online hexes that actually work, for instance), and there seems to be an abundance of females named Brooke or Ashley in the book, but hey, it’s fiction.  The story does wind up nicely with a climax that has a twist, and a hilariously amusing curse that causes a real predickament for the person involved.

 

Overall, it’s a fun read, just a different style from the author’s usual work.  This is one the average horror reader can enjoy, but fans of the hardcore stuff may want to stick to his other works.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on December 6, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: Anoka: A Collection of Indigenous Horror by Shane Hawk

Cover art for Anoka by Shane Hawk

Anoka: A Collection of Indigenous Horror by Shane Hawk

Black Hills Press, 2020

ISBN-13: 9798674225195

Available: Paperback, Kindle, Audible ( Amazon.com )

The titular Anoka, Minnesota is a small town outside of the Twin Cities with the title of “The Halloween Capital of the World”, a title held since 1937. Cheyenne and Arapaho author Shane Hawk presents his debut horror collection of six short stories exploring themes of family, grief, loneliness, and identity in indigenous life.

In “Soilborne”, a couple’s fussy child Roland is not what the tiny thing seems.

“Wounded” addresses missing and murdered indigenous women. Philip Wounded’s sister 12-year old sister, Pippa, was kidnapped and murdered after he shirked his responsibility in picking her up from school. After that, he took up the bottle, pills, and anything else that could bury his guilt. When he finds an old book in his grandfather’s shed, his problems get worse.

“Orange”, a powerful piece of flash fiction, tells the story of a man who is haunted by the death of his wife and unborn child after a drunk driving accident.

In “Imitate”, a father believes his young son is not who he claims to be. I love creepy kid stories, so this one was right up my alley. Hawk’s descriptions of the son, Tate, are spooky, and a scene where the father comes face to face with…something… in a small enclosed space, was intense.

It would be hard to follow “Imitate” with more scares, but Hawk manages to do just that with “Dead America”. An award-winning author struggling with severe writers block begins to have nightmares about a giant spider and her babies, who accuses him of stealing tales from his people and claiming them as his own. This one has a good dose of body horror for those of us who appreciate it.

In “Transfigured”, Hawk weaves a tale of a werewolf who just wants to belong, to be a part of something that they never could as a child: Halloween.

At the end of each story, Hawk provides story notes that gives the reader some history or inspiration behind these tales of horror. It is a nice touch, especially for people unfamiliar with the legends Hawk refers to. I recommend this collection to horror readers who are interested in genre literature by indigenous authors. The first story I read from Hawk was in Howls From Hell, which I also reviewed for Monster Librarian. I will be keeping this author on my radar. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on December 5, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

cover art for My Heart Is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

Gallery/Saga Press, 2021

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1982137632

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook (  Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com  )

 

 

Jade Daniels is part Blackfeet, but she’s 100% a fan of slasher movies. Living with her divorced, alcoholic father and barely scraping through high school while working as a janitor, where her drug-dealing boss is sexually harassing her, she spends most of her time watching slasher flicks, from the obscure to the popular. Without anyone to talk to about her love of these movies, she puts her energy and knowledge about them, and especially about final girls, in her extra-credit history papers. She is certain there’s a slasher ready to start on her own community, Proofrock, located in rural Idaho, if only she can identify the final girl and educate her. There are plenty of places that would make perfect locations and reasons for revenge, like Camp Blood, an abandoned summer camp on the lake that was closed after mysterious deaths, and Terra Nova, the new, exclusive development that’s being built on the opposite side of the lake on land that until recently was part of a national forest.  There are even spooky urban legends.

 

 

Then Jade meets Letha Mondragon, daughter of the developer of Terra Nova. She thinks she’s met her final girl, and that finally the bloodshed is about to start.  Jade just has to figure out where and why, and educate Letha on the ins and outs of surviving to be the final girl. Jade is about to discover, though, that life doesn’t always fit a pre-defined narrative.

 

My Heart is a Chainsaw is a love letter to the slasher genre and a validation for those who grew up loving it. If you aren’t a fan of slasher films, the references to even obscure slasher films will go over your head. The structure of the book means the narrative is frequently interrupted by Jade’s extra-credit papers on slasher films, which will help fill in the blanks for those who aren’t familiar with the genre, but while these build background knowledge, they do slow the narrative down. The characters aren’t especially likable and it’s sometimes even confusing to tell them apart. Jones doesn’t even name some of them, although when he does choose to develop a character he does it thoroughly.

 

As the reader gets further into the book the pace picks up and the body count rises. There are absolutely gruesome moments as well as plenty of gore. I do not have a strong stomach for these, so it’s a testament to Jones’ writing that I read this from beginning to end almost nonstop. Readers who love slasher films and have a high tolerance for violence and gore will find a lot to like in this bloody valentine.

 

Contains: violence, blood, gore, mass murder, sexual harassment, implied child sexual abuse, attempted suicide

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

 

Posted on November 25, 2021 by , Reply
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