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Book Review: THE FEVERISH STARS: New and Uncollected Stories by John Shirley

Cover art for THE FEVERISH STARS by John Shirley

THE FEVERISH STARS: New and Uncollected Stories by John Shirley

Independent Legions Publishing, 2021

ISBN 978-88-31959-87-2

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition  ( Amazon.com )

 

A prolific, successful novelist and short story writer in the fields of dark fantasy and science fiction, John Shirley is back with a hefty new collection, assembling twenty-one stories (two of which are  previously unpublished).

Most of the included tales are quite enjoyable and well worth reading, although I must admit that I’m partial to the dark fiction pieces rather than to the science fiction stories.

“A State of Imprisonment”is an excellent mix of science fiction and horror, set in a future time when Arizona is transformed into a huge prison. A journalist trying to investigate suffers imprisonment and abuse aimed to prevent her from revealing the real nature of the place.

“ Sebillia” is a superb story (despite a weak supernatural side),  in which dark family secrets are finally revealed ,leading to a tragic ending.

The very short “Nodding Angel” effectively portrays the unusual power of a peculiar angel appearing to a family’s female members, while the quite original “Exelda’s Voice” describes a GPS program – which is actually much more than that- taking an active part in the escape of a bank robber.

“Hum- Hurt You. Hum-Hurt You. Hum- Hurt You”, is partly science fiction, partly technological horror that revolves around a fake house, which is really a shell for dangerous transmitters.

“ The Claw Spur”, perhaps my favorite story in the volume, is an excellent Western about killing and vengeance,  with a creepy supernatural side, graced by spectacular storytelling.

The insightful “ The Camera and the Rollercoaster” provides a proper ending to the collection, describing how a man riding a rollercoaster relives the various moments of his life while reaching his final destination. Recommended.

Contains: occasional violence and sex.

 

Reviewed by Mario Guslandi

 

 

Posted on April 9, 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: Neptune’s Reckoning by Robert J. Stava

Cover art for Neptune's Reckoning by Robert J. Stava

( Amazon.com )

 

Neptune’s Reckoning: A Montauk Horror Story, by Robert J. Stava

Severed Press, 2020

ISBN: 9781922323644

Available: paperback, Kindle

 

Neptune’s Reckoning is an undersea thriller to be reckoned with.  It’s a sleek, well-designed craft that cuts through the competition, hitting all the right peaks.  File this book in the category of “Books that should have been nominated for a Stoker Award”.  Peter Benchley will always be the master of ocean-themed horror, but author Stava comes pretty close to matching him with this book.

 

Reclusive historian William Vanek spends his days at home on Long Island, researching shipwrecks and naval history of little significance.  An old friend of his from Navy intelligence recruits Vanek, along with extreme photographer Danielle “Dan” Cheung and shipwreck specialist Arnaud Navarre, to look into the recent discovery of a missing World War II destroyer, the USS Exeter.  The story rolls out at a pace as smooth as glass, as the three of them are drawn into a web of mysterious killings at sea and government cover-ups.  The mystery deepens, as it becomes clear the destroyer was involved in some dangerous, high level research before it sank.  It’s up to the three of them to discover the truth about the Exeter, and put a stop to who (or what) is responsible for killing boaters in the Montauk area.

 

Neptune’s Reckoning is as good as it gets for a horror/thriller novel.  The pacing is perfect; it hits the bull’s-eye between breakneck speed and slow burn.  There’s a secondary story thread involving toxic waste dumping near the Exeter that adds another factor to the story, and is just as interesting as the primary story.  All the secondary characters are critical to keeping the story flowing: they are drawn perfectly and enter and exit the narrative at just the right time.  The eco-warriors and small-time criminals make excellent foils to the main story, and are as intriguing as the main characters.  The book also does a nice job splitting the story settings between land and sea.  Each section gets enough time, preventing the book from being one-dimensional.

 

It’s worth noting that if you haven’t seen Stranger Things, doing a bit of spot research on Camp Hero, Montauk, NY, and the conspiracy theories around them helps to lend a greater understanding of the book’s background.  The stories behind Montauk are not critical to following the book, but it does help.  There’s also a nice touch of sci-fi involving the entity inhabiting the waters around Montauk.  It isn’t just a shark or oversized squid tearing its victims to shreds, it is much more mysterious-and deadly.  The reader won’t get a total explanation for everything that happens at the end of the book, and that may be a bit frustrating for readers who prefer every plot thread to be explained in full.   Everyone else will love the smooth sailing that is Neptune’s Reckoning. 

 

This is one you can’t miss, and it should find a wide audience for horror and adventure readers alike.  It’s also tailor-made for the silver screen; let’s see if Hollywood picks it up.  Highly recommended.

 

Contains: violence, limited gore, profanity

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on February 6, 2021 by , Reply
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