Books Reviews

Description from back cover:

A torturous quest for survival and independence once again wash up on the shores of Romania. Over a thousand years ago a war was fought on the sands of the coast. Good did not win. But the winds of change are blowing and the Roma will have to go through hell all over again if they are to keep the right to live.

Jake Strom must decide whether to save himself or a people from a fate worse than death. Kismet once again makes the choice. Who's to say which is the better? The risks are great and the cost his soul. The battle will be on two fronts with Megacorp and limitless greed on one side and the malevolence of a madman on the other. As Jake says, 'it's like being between a rock and a rock.' And it would be nice if it were all that simple. But it is not and Jake will have to confront the evil within himself when it gets tight if they are to prevail. For Jake this is no small task. And the odds are overwhelming.

A halocline occurs when fresh water mixes with salt water. A perfect example exists in the Black Sea. The result is a blurry translucent miasma, which makes it difficult to see things in perspective. In our novel the halocline phenomena is a metaphor. All is not as it appears and is ever in flux. Past and present, good and evil, domination and independence, hatred and love, dreams and reality commingle creating a halocline of life that is nearly impossible to navigate or ever forget.

Review:

A few months back, I reviewed Anoxic Zone, the debut work of new author John G. Rees. I described it as a fresh and original take on the vampire genre. So I was looking forward to his followup novel, Halocline, and I'm happy to report it does not disappoint.

Description from back cover:

This is the tale of two men, who become service personnel for Megacorp, a multi-national corporation that operates under its own laws. The dark cadre is brought back to life to maintain the infrastructure of a narcissistic, self-involved culture at the end of the industrial age. Chosen for their skills, Jake, a commercial diver, and Johnny, a scientist, have been friends for over one hundred years. Human curiosity and human nature conspire to have our friends discover just what they are; the whys and hows of how they came to be.

In the course of this discovery they release evil that spawned their kind, which had been imprisoned and used by Megacorp in a most despicable manner.

Their adventure takes them from Hawaii to Romania and the Black Sea, as Jake and John struggle to accept what they have become while trying to keep the evil from the hands of Megacorp and return it to the darkness of its birth.

Review:

As a new reader to John G. Rees (in his writing debut), I didn't quite know what to expect. With vampires being such an overcrowded genre in this day and age (Twilight, "True Blood", Underworld, and so on), some stories can feel like they've been done many times before. Thankfully, Anoxic Zone is a fresh, original story that grabs you from the beginning and keeps your interest throughout.

Rees' novel is set in the not-so-distant future, where menial and dangerous jobs are left to "reusables," workers who can die and are repeatedly brought back again and again whenever needed by Megacorp.

Book Description:

Long after the fall of man, humanity lives sheltered behind a massive wall that encloses the United States' last survivors of civilization. Outside the wall, the undead rule the world. Generations have passed and mankind has returned to the technology and life of the Old West, surviving off the land and doing what they can to get by. Hyattsburg, a haven once thought safe behind the wall, has visitors: hungry zombies. When an entire family is murdered and partially eaten, Alan, the world's last remaining Weaponer, is called to duty to aid those struggling to remain safe, as well as find out what happened and if the dead are the only ones to blame for the grisly deaths of innocents. Terror and zombies rule an Old West Apocalypse in The Weaponer.

Review:

Generations after the world fell to zombies, Hyattsburg is a safe haven behind a wall that keeps the zombies at bay. What’s left of the United States has reverted back to the life and technology of the Old West and the zombies control everything else. One morning a family is found slaughtered and Alan, the last Weaponer, is called upon to help find out who or what attacked the family. What Alan and the rest of the posse discover is worse than they could have imagined.

Eric S. Brown has taken zombies and added something extra—cannibals. That’s right, it’s not just the zombies who are looking for food. THE WEAPONER is a romp through a future that is much like the Old West but it includes blood, guts and plenty of feasting on flesh. There are reminders of the old society, before the apocalypse in the form of weapons and some electricity as well as references to the military but the resources left to the few survivors once all hell breaks loose are no match for what’s to come. It is a quick read full of action that doesn’t let up. There are also a few surprises in store. Eric S.

For those with a Kindle!

RHYMES OF THE DEAD, DEMENTED AND VILE by Sheri Gambino [edited by Stephanie Kincaid] (2011 Kindle eBook / 110 KB / 45 pgs.)

Sheri Gambino has gathered together a collection of horror poetry chock full of vivid descriptions of monsters, cannibals, zombies and bed bugs. They are the stuff of nightmares covered in crimson and they’re all hungry.

Some of my favorites include “We Have Changed” which contemplates humankind’s potential manner of extinction; “Evil Embrace” about giving into the temptation to be bad; “Fresh Meat So Sweet” about a female serial killer who likes to enjoy her prey before she feeds; and “Martin’s Bed Bugs” about, well bed bugs and the poor soul who thinks he just has a rash.

There are also a few short stories in the mix including “Forgotten Cemetery” about a Civil War cemetery left to rot and what the souls buried there decide to do for revenge; “Z is for Baby” about a pregnant woman bitten by a zombie and the abomination she gives birth to; and “Messed Up Fairytale, Little Red” that is quite a twist on the old Little Red Riding Hood story.

Sheri Gambino’s poetry is dark, scary, erotic at times and funny at others. She can turn something as benign as a rainstorm into something apocalyptic and terrifying. If you have a Kindle you should definitely pick this up.

Until recently, I hadn’t picked up a Clive Barker book. Oh sure, I’ve seen Hellraiser like most other horror fans. I enjoy Pinhead and his Cenobites; they’re both deliciously evil and aesthetically unnerving. But the books weren’t something I had paid much attention to. Every time I hit the book store, I just don’t think of Clive Barker. However, after a recommendation from AMKR, I figured the time had come to finally read this horror master’s work. I picked up a few of his works, and started by reading The Hellbound Heart. This is the novella that is the basis for Hellraiser. While the storyline itself mirrors the movie almost to the letter, it’s the development of certain ideas and characters that really make this a good read. The length (a whopping 164 pages) doesn’t hurt either.

Dexter by Design marks Jeff Lindsay’s fourth novel based around the devilishly dear Dexter Morgan, blood spatter pattern analyst and serial killer extraordinaire. We find our hero starting the novel in Paris on his honeymoon with the (insufferable, dithering, blubbering, insert adjective of your choice here) Rita. Dexter’s Dark Defender lies hidden within, as Dexter and Rita flit all over the fair French capital seeing the sights. Rita decides the two will take in some performance art; it is this off-the-beaten path art show, which involves self-mutilation and limb severance, which sets the tone for the entire novel.

The art theme carries through the novel, as Dexter returns to work only to be faced with corpses used as decorations. The Miami homicide division is called in on a scene, where two corpses, a male and a female, have been hollowed out and filled with items for a day at the beach and a fruit basket, respectively. The bodies-as-shells-for-other-art scenes fill the book, and come across as humorous and macabre all at the same time. It is this paradox that keeps the reader engaged and sane, as some of the scenes are graphic and visceral enough to make this writer cringe just a tad.

Deborah is assigned to this artsy case, and it becomes clear to the reader right away that a serious tension exists between Dexter and Deb. Deb’s normal negative Nancy disposition is aimed straight at our lovable narrator, and he receives more than his fair share of foul-mouthed insults and thinly-veiled threats. A serious, almost deadly turn of events that I did not see coming begins to change the relationship between Dexter and Deb permanently, and will bring an interesting perspective to later Dexter novels. Remember dear reader, the relationship between Dex and Debs is WAY different in the novels due to one little detail. Just in case you live under a rock and haven’t read the books, I will keep this “minor” detail a secret.

Is there any one part of a person that makes that person who he or she is? Would removing that part change the person completely? This very human question is something our inhuman protagonist faces in Dexter in the Dark, Lindsay’s third novel in the wildly popular series. This question, along with several other new elements, creates a storyline that is very different from anything presented in the Dexter series so far.

The third installment in the Dexter series starts with one of these new elements. The book begins with narration from an entity only known as IT. I know what you’re thinking: oh great, another spider incident. This isn’t your Stephan King movie adaptation mind-f**k. Far from it, this being not only brings a new narration style (from first to third person), but also brings a supernatural element into the novel that we haven’t seen from Lindsay. The switch in narration gives the reader more information than our Dear Dexter, creating a new role for the reader as the novel continues. An entity that has existed since the beginning of time, IT plays a crucial role in the primary plotline of the novel.

When we first see Dexter in the book, he’s dealing with daytime Dexter duties: Rita, the children, his impending honeymoon in Paris, and learning about a new, potential playmate. It is during a meeting with this new friend that we hear from our third narrator in this installment, the Watcher. The Watcher appears to be human, as this individual wanders the night searching for information about Dexter. At this point, the reader can only wonder what kind of sinister play is in store for our delightfully devilish Dexter.

*WARNING: There is a spoiler or two in this review. If you don’t want to know these details, skip the sections marked *SPOILER ALERT*. I hate to even put the details in the review in the first place, but they really are necessary to review the book.

Government corruption? Covert operations? Revenge missions? These are elements one is used to seeing in old episodes of 24 or on the front pages of newspapers. They are not your average Dexter Morgan plotline elements. However, these elements set the scene for the new horrors laid out in Dearly Devoted Dexter, Jeff Lindsay’s second book in the Dexter series. Lindsay uses these otherwise out-of-place elements to carry a fast-paced, harrowing novel centered around our favorite dastardly death-deliverer.

Dearly Devoted Dexter sees Dexter Morgan, protagonist and serial killer supreme, enjoying a somewhat subdued existence. He is trying to settle comfortably into his role as Dexter Morgan, boyfriend and average All-American guy. This doesn’t mean that Dexter’s Dark Defender lies dormant; Dexter and his Dark Passenger revel in a play date with a child rapist and murderer, which leads Dexter to a new potential playmate.
Before Dexter can find and determine the guilt of his new prospect, our favorite angry token cop Sergeant Doakes derails dear Dex. Just as we see in the show, Doakes makes it his personal mission to catch Dexter doing the horrible things he suspects Dexter of. Satisfyingly for the reader or viewer, this is where the similarities between the show and the novel end.

I’m a book nerd of the worst sort. Being a book nerd, I’m also a movie/television adaptation snob. Anything taken from page to screen is something I’m skeptical of. It’s hard for people with limited means and imagination to transform my interpretations to screen, so normally I’m left disappointed. In the case of the Dexter series, I took a path less traveled to discover this character and his dastardly deeds. I watched the show first, and was skeptical of the books after a friend and fan of the series (and fellow book lover) said the books weren’t up to par with the show. A book not on the same par as a television show modeled after it? This couldn’t be. I decided to venture into Jeff Lindsay’s territory and explore the books for myself. What I discovered was a deliciously different Dexter, a story that, in book one, followed season one of the series with some VERY important plot differences that create an entirely new dimension to Dexter’s world.