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Book Review: Daphne by Josh Malerman

Daphne by Josh Malerman

Del Rey, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593157015

Available:  Hardcover ( Bookshop.org )

 

Will Daphne continue the massive success for horror’s superstar author/musician/nice guy? 

 

Without spoilers, that would be a resounding “yes.”

 

Josh Malerman hasn’t written the same novel twice. That’s an amazing thing– he keeps on spinning his muse into fascinating circles, from the blockbuster Bird Box, to the utter weirdness of Unbury Carol, to the stunning Inspection. I won’t even attempt to describe Pearl. The bottom line is that he doesn’t seem capable of churning out a bad story.

 

Enter Daphne. At first, the story might seem to be your basic slasher novel. Yet in Malerman’s hands, nothing is rote, cliche, or a retread. There’s always something twisted that elicits something beautiful from what could easily be a miss in lesser hands.

 

Kit Lamb is in her senior year and a star on the basketball team. She’s fresh off the win in her latest game and contemplating her future. She has a quirk that adds something both unique and relatable to the teenage mindset. She shoots the free throw and asks the question she’s thinking.

 

She asks the rim about Daphne, a legendary killer that might be a figure from the supernatural or simply a regretful death caused by the previous generation, in a similar vein as Freddy Krueger. Of course, she makes the basket, and the story takes off from there.

 

Stories of the brutal killer begin to circulate and confuse the town. Who or what is Daphne? What does she want? Why does she only appear when thought about? As Kit struggles with her own destiny, one by one the basketball team begins to fall. Malerman allows us to contemplate the reasoning while ratcheting up the tension. The novel separates itself from the typical slasher by developing the characters of Kit and her friends.

 

Kit suffers from anxiety. Not the typical teen stress– true generalized anxiety disorder, which so many of us know well (raises hand high). It’s handled well here: Malerman obviously knows more than a little about the condition himself. 

 

Daphne is another must-read novel by Josh Malerman, written with the relatable prose of that King guy, but with a voice all Malerman’s own. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Posted on February 3, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: The Bone Worms: The Expanded and Revised Edition by Keith Minnion

Cover art for The Bone Worms by Keith Minnion

The Bone Worms: The Expanded and Revised Edition by Keith Minnion

Cemetery Dance Press, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1587678547

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition ( Cemetery Dance | Amazon..com )

 

The Bone Worms is one of the best horror novels of the past decade. That’s high praise, but well-earned. Keith Minnion has long been a force in the horror genre, both as an author and artist. He made his name as an illustrator for several magazines and publishers, most notably and recently for the Stephen King/Richard Chizmar novels Gwendy’s Button Box and Gwendy’s Magic Feather. His short stories have been making the rounds since 1979, and his two collections have garnered high praise.

 

This expanded and updated edition of Minnion’s earlier book The Bone Worms is immensely readable and well-written. It tears into ground that feels untrodden and fresh. These days, finding something that is both new and successful in execution is tough. This novel nails it on both counts. It is easily one of the strongest entries in the genre in the past ten years, a very strong time for dark novels. Just dive into the story with as little advance knowledge as possible

 

The sky holds secrets that man has yet to figure out: the boneyard exists somewhere above the clouds. To explain the bone worms and their lair would be akin to spilling the secrets of a macabre Santa. 

 

Back in 1921,  a six-year old is taken for a biplane ride for his birthday party. Something terrible happens up in the sky, in the boneyard, that will scar the boy and his friend for life. Many years later, in 1983, the boys, now senior citizens, hole up in an apartment together, one trying to keep the other safe from what’s been seeking them for decades.

 

Detective Frank Lomax searches Philadelphia for the killer who’s been flaying victims open all over town. Left behind are gruesome crime scenes– yet no bones. Fresh off a breakdown, he knows this case could make him, or shatter his psyche for good. The deeper he plunges into the world of the bone worms, the stranger the case becomes, and the edges of reality fray with each clue uncovered.

 

Part horror novel, part police procedural, part thriller, The Bone Worms will rattle readers’ bones, at least while they’re still inside the body. Easily one of the best reads of this year.

 

This gorgeous edition includes extras and artwork. Minnion also created the dazzling cover.

 

Recommended reading for fans of great storytelling.

 

Posted on December 12, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: Olivia: The Sequel to Doll House by John Hunt

Olivia: The Sequel to Doll House by John Hunt

Black Rose Writing, 2022 (to be released October 27)

ISBN: 9781685130473

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

 

If the first book in the series, Doll House, was a sleek sports car purring down the highway at an acceptable rate over the speed limit, then Olivia is a smoke belching, fire breathing locomotive roaring down the tracks that flattens anything in the way.  This book will run you over.  When you read it, block off enough time to read 200 pages in a sitting.  Once you start, you won’t want to stop.  

 

As in Doll House, the book features an extremely patient and methodical killer, but this one preys on the hikers of remote trails, abducting and then killing them.  A young lady named Bibi is the first to escape him, but five years later she is still an emotional mess.  Detective Davis, who worked on the Doll House investigation, introduces Bibi to Olivia, the heroine of the first book, in hopes they might be able to bond and bandage each other’s mental scars.  However, it also causes them to be drawn into the investigation of the ‘hiker killer’  It then becomes a question of stopping the killer, and whether Bibi and Olivia can ever live what passes for normal lives.

 

Doll House was good, but this is that rare time when the sequel betters the original, in every possible way. The story structure is one example. Doll House was narrative heavy, and more dialogue would have improved it.  With Olivia, the author does exactly that. The book is a perfectly balanced blend, and it makes the characters much more real, real enough you will react to them.  You’ll scream in anger at some parts, and possibly shed a tear or two at times, especially if you love animals.  That’s a mark of outstanding writing when you react as the characters do.

 

The author also did a better job on the police investigative material this time: he clearly did a lot of research.  It’s more detailed, but not overwhelming, and shows how the legal system can be exploited by the wrong people.  Olivia also nicely builds the elements of chance and randomness into the investigation.  In the book, as in real life, it can be the smallest things that trip a killer up.  You simply can’t account in your murder plans for nosy neighbors, or where someone decides to take a leak in the woods.

 

Finally, the scare factor is higher in this book, for two reasons.  One, it’s written better than the original.  Two, the plot is all too plausible, and it has happened. Australia’s ‘Backpack Killer,’ Ivan Milat, springs to mind. That’s why books like this can horrify: they remind us that the worst monsters do not merely exist in our imagination, they often live right next door to us.  Hunt understands that, and writes some truly chilling scenes.  The killer in the book knows how to prey on people’s worst fears, and it will prey on the reader as well.  

 

Bottom line: this is horror writing of the highest caliber. Read Doll House first, then be sure to get this one when it is published.  This is mandatory reading for horror fans: you won’t be disappointed.  It’s enough to keep hikers who read it out of the woods for a good, long time. Highly recommended, and then some.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on September 28, 2022 by , Reply
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