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Book Review: Seeing Evil (Cycle of Evil #1) by Jason Parent

cover art for Seeing Evil by Jason Parent

Seeing Evil (Cycle of Evil #1) by Jason Parent

Red Adept Publishing, 2015

ISBN-13 : 978-1940215495

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

 

Human monsters are the worst, so a father who has been abusing his daughter for years and is also a serial killer responsible for his wife’s death has to be one of the sickest incarnations of evil possible. The amount of sheer, utterly realistic terror in Seeing Evil by Jason Parent quickly builds up an intensity that begins in the first pages of the book and doesn’t end until the final scene.

 

The main character in this novel of pain, suffering, and derangement is Michaek, a boy who discovers that if he has even the briefest physical contact with a person who is about to encounter evil, he will actually be transported into that very future nightmare scenario and must watch it unfold. Michael’s first supernatural experience occurs as a result of a school bullying incident, but he is forced to continue having these revelations, up close and personal, when he learns the secrets of another student, the serial killer’s daughter, and becomes involved in a race against time to save her from a terrible fate.

 

The plot and characters are riveting. With just the right details and compelling psychological profiles, the anxiety-filled daily life of traumatized individuals is closely examined. The manner in which the threat of constant danger, the reality of physical and psychological abuse, and the ceaseless sense of impending doom plays out in the victims’ lives is insightfully articulated and seamlessly connected to the dramatic police investigation. That part of the story is also engrossing because it makes clear how evil can go unchecked for far too long when the diabolical power of a killer successfully paralyzes ordinary people with fear. It also calls attention to the role of the “intuitives” who work on real criminal cases and how much it might be possible for these people to “see” as well as how the nature of their work affects them.

 

Unfortunately, we live in a world in which children are bullied, abused, and murdered.  Seeing Evil is about more than observing that evil; it is about hearing it, feeling it, and, most of all, about getting close enough to touch it. Parent makes this possible with a gripping narrative that provides that most potent of page  turners, the dread of what might come next.  Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Nova Hadley

 

 

Posted on April 25, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: The Apocalypse Strain by Jason Parent

cover art for The Apocalypse Strain by Jason Parent

The Apocalypse Strain by Jason Parent

Flame Tree Press, 2020

ISBN-13: 978-1787583535

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

 

Back in 2014, French scientists made an ancient virus found in Siberian permafrost infectious again after 30,000 years. This real-life event raised the possibility that diseases we thought were long gone might reappear. Add to that a post-pandemic world in which it seems as though science fiction has become real life, yet again, and we have to wonder what the future will hold. Our collective literary imagination will now need to take us to a new level of horror fiction contagion. Who better to infect us than Jason Parent in The Apocalypse Strain?

 

In this exciting and shockingly plausible book, a group of international scientists are under attack at a remote site that will self-destruct in case of an accident. Their human bodies are invaded, consumed, and incorporated into living, moving blobs of squirmy flesh when their research process goes terribly wrong. Within the facility, a woman with MS mysteriously becomes mobile, infected plants grow with abandon, a man marked with a black cross on his forehead seems bent on terrorism, many people die violently, and it becomes very difficult to tell who or what can be trusted. Everyone is focused on containing and exterminating the hybrid monsters, but will some humans escape only to spread doom outside the lab?

 

The action is nonstop in The Apocalypse Strain. With relentless intensity, Parent’s fantastic descriptions of the ever-morphing threat and the horrible deaths suffered by the victims are disgustingly graphic and amazing in their variety. As for the characters, they are not just stereotypes of people in their profession. We get to know the personal histories of some who are lured to destruction by actual, whispering voices from their past. Others are revealed by their fleeting thoughts or visceral reactions to their coworkers, details that are startlingly normal in contrast to the terrible circumstances in which they are trapped.

 

As the apocalypse seems imminent, we realize that this tale is not really the end of anything. If you like speculating about where science can take us and how science can potentially end us, The Apocalypse Strain will give you plenty to ponder. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Nova Hadley

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on April 3, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: Eight Cylinders by Jason Parent

cover art for Eight Cylinders by Jason Parent

Eight Cylinders by Jason Parent

Crystal Lake Publishing, 2020

ISBN: 9781646693061

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

 

A motor with eight cylinders represents power, a strong machine that can outrun the competition with minimal difficulty.  That being said, Eight Cylinders is closer to a six, maybe seven cylinder story.  It’s a solid piece of machinery that will give readers a smooth ride to the destination, but it could have used a few more ponies under the hood to turn the story into a real road-burner.

 

This is one of those stories with little explanation for what happens: it’s a classic ‘here’s a crazy situation, how do we get out of it?’ story.  Seb McCallister is a lifetime crook who winds up on the wrong end of a shootout in a dope deal gone bad in Las Vegas.  Badly wounded, he powers out of Vegas behind the wheel of his V8 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, driving off into the desert.  He passes out from loss of blood, and wakes to find himself in a dilapidated camp in the middle of the desert, surrounded by mountains on all sides.   The camp itself is inhabited by a small group of vagabonds, some of whom have been there a long time.  When he tries to escape, Seb quickly learns that the mountains are riddled with caves occupied by a huge, tentacled monster that somewhat resembles a crazed land squid, and the squid makes mincemeat of anyone who tries to leave.  Within a day, Seb helps to convince the camp residents to make a run for it.  What follows is the inevitable Mad Max-style race across the desert, complete with tricked-out vehicles packing plenty of blasting power, both under the hood and in the form of armaments.  Seb and his new friends must outwit and outfight the monster if they want to escape the desert.

 

Everything in the story is a quick setup for the final chase, and thankfully, it’s worth it.  Jason Parent knows how to write an exciting, end of the book blast.   Complete with awesome vehicles, firepower, nitrous, and some nice creative touches with parachutes, the last forty pages are a full roar towards the finish, with all the excitement anyone could want.  This part of the story isn’t running on eight cylinders, it’s running on twelve.   It’s the part leading up to the end where the story could have used a little chrome and paint, in the form of more detail.  Little explanation is given for the backstories of the other characters, or the camp itself, or even where (or when) the camp and characters exist.  Another twenty pages or so to flesh out the beginning and middle sections of the story could have turned this one into a real monster.  Eight Cylinders is a perfectly good, exciting story, but it almost feels like a test run for what could be a much bigger version in the future.   The parts are all there in terms of character, mystery, and storyline, and the way the story ends, it could easily keep going.  The question is, will it?

 

This is certainly worth the read, and will likely leave readers clamoring for a novel-length sequel (this is only 100 pages)  There are a lot of unanswered questions in the story, and it would be nice to see where it goes next.  Recommended.

 

Contains: violence, mild gore, profanity

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on March 23, 2021 by , Reply
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