Bad Cree by Jessica Johns—a haunting tale of loss and guilt

Cover Image courtesy of Doubleday Books

Bad Cree, by Jessica Johns, is a slow burn of a read about Mackenzie, a young Cree woman, who has left her family to live on her own after the death of her grandmother and her sister Sabrina. She’s grieving still, after two years have passed, and she’s been having bad dreams that are too vivid to be ignored. They are dreams about crows—and her sister, and those crows seem to be making an appearance in her waking life as well.

So Mackenzie heads home, knowing she needs to face her family after missing her sister’s funeral, but also to face that day at the lake when Sabrina got lost in the woods and emerged…different.

This is a story about grief and loss and family connection, and while it evokes strong feelings, it does take a long time to get to the heart of it all—that day at the lake. Mackenzie has regrets about how the day played out. She feels guilty for not having gone into the woods with her sisters and her cousin who were once inseparable as children. She feels guilty and responsible, although maybe unnecessarily so.

As the story plays out, and as the dreams become more real, Mackenzie, her sister, her cousin, the elder women of the extended family, all discover they have a shared gift—and secrets that have prevented them from coming together to heal as one. It’s an interesting treatise on grief, loss, while touching on themes of the sacrifices Indigenous communities have made for the sake of the white man's quest for riches and power. The story eventually delves into Native folklore involving the monstrous embodiment of these things which culminates in some tense and haunting final chapters. 

But it takes time to get there. It takes patience. You have to have a certain appreciation for ambiance while reading this book. The final confrontations might make up for the slow pace through the first two thirds of the book. 

Click on the book cover above, or here for a link to buy at Bookshop.org.

Where Dark Things Rise by Andrew K. Clark — A solid addition to the Dark Things series

Cover Image courtesy of
Quill and Crow Publishing

The second installment of the Dark Things series by Clark is as good as the first one, if not better. The first, Where Dark Things Grow, tells the story of Leo and Lilyfax as they grow into young adulthood in depression era Appalachia. Leo is the one who draws from a special darkness in the first book, as he tries to overcome the allure of its power in order to right things for the underprivileged, in his case, the poor.

In book two, we focus on Leo's grandson Gabe, and Gabe's potential love interest Mina. This installment is set in the 1980s, with Gabe being mentored by the ways of his grandparents, Leo and Lilyma, and with Mina being the one who struggles with a darkness as she learns to wield it.

If you are a fan of the first book, you will appreciate the relationship of the elder characters in their later years. You will appreciate how they've grown and the heartbreaks they face with the coming of age. And if you’re of a certain generation (X) you might appreciate the time setting of the book, because these new characters are teens in the 80s. Clark hits the ambiance of the iconic 80s without breaking a sweat—right there with the right vibes of Stranger Things.

But this second book weaves in a great deal of religious horror too—something I happen to be drawn to, whether reading it or writing it. It addresses the extremes of the religious right, and how it can hurt the very communities it pretends to be helping, because in this book—while the underprivileged are still targets for the villains of the story—so are teenage girls and members of the lgbtq community. These new characters are just trying to find themselves in a world where some people want to define what is righteous and what is wrong with rigidly drawn lines, and the anger and frustration that comes from this struggle is where dark things rise.

This book is a solid entry in a new era of dark, religious themed horror. Thanks to the author, the publisher and the HWA for giving ARC access to this book. Click on the cover image for adirect  purchase link. Or, here: Where Dark Things Rise Purchase Link

Legacy of the Hough Family: Ancestral Connections from St. Johnsville NY to Janesville WI, by Cora Lee Perry Palma

 I've been leaning heavy on the self promo this year, and while this is sort of that, it also isn't. Writing does seem to thread through the genes of my family, though, which is why my current WIP at the time of this blog entry is a cozy paranormal mystery that I'm adapting from an old script written long ago by my mom. It's a challenge to fill in the gaps of a story--written by Mom--that, while needing to fix a few plot holes still maintains the intent and ambience of the original work. We don't want to offend Mom by changing up her story, after all, but that writing group critic inside me can see spots that need improvement. It's coming along well--I think--but wish me well in reaching the goal: a published work that incudes my mom's name on it.

Cover Image courtesy of the author
link to Amazon Page

Speaking of writing running through the family genes, the book in the title, Legacy of the Hough Family, comes from a cousin of mine, Cora Lee Perry Palma. Her specialty is genealogy, mostly connected to her family--which extends into mine, and is rooted in the history of families throughout the Mohawk Valley of Central New York State. She has focused on the Hough family lineage, particularly in the village of St. Johnsville NY for this one, so it is a specialty read. Still, if your genealogy search has brought you here because of the right topic tags, I highly recommend that you check this book out. It's personal to the Hough family lineage, but if you're a Hough (or by extension, a Central NY Perry), it's worth a perusal. Cora Lee also has a more detailed book, From the Pear Tree: Historical Heritage of the Perry - Hanlon Family, that this new book compliments.

Am I in this book? No, thank goodness because my life is booorrring! But I do have a connecting lineage in this book that is pretty darned cool. Therefore, it's kinda (but not) self promotion. I've got some cool ancestors, though, and I don't care what anyone else says because that makes me cool. LOL... Do people say lol anymore? Doesn't matter. Still cool.

This Cold Night, a ghost story novella by Erica Schaef

 

Cover Image courtesy of
Brigids Gate Press 

A solid ghost tale reminiscent of Shirley Jackson.

A funeral. A family in mourning. One girl who may not be blood, but stands by her family, by her adopted home. This is one cold night with the family back together. But something is amiss in the old mansion full of fond memories, and one by one something plans to make it their home forever. 

This is a ghost story, pure and simple. A solid entry from author Schaef and Brigids Gate Press. 

Click on the cover image above for the Amazon link. 

Take a Ride into the Weird Wild West with KC Grifant and Her 2nd Installment of the Melinda West Series

Cover Image courtesy of
Brigids Gate Press, LLC

Once again, KC Grifant offers up an entertaining, genre bending read with Melinda West and the Gremlin Queen. I had the fortune of reading the first installment of the Melinda West series over a year ago, and this second installment is just as imaginative as the first with an obvious tease for a third installment at the end.

I do recommend picking up Melinda West, Monster Gunslinger and reading it first in order to get to know the main characters and the Weird West world that they live in. It also sets up some important elements about Melinda’s backstory and her struggle with PTSD that might be confusing if you go into book two blind. But if you’re a series reader, this mashup of Wild West, Horror and even SciFi promises to have some longevity.

As with the first, this installment is plot centric and pulpy, and I feel like it pulls its story from a wellspring of pop culture Scifi reimagined for a Wild West world, with the obvious hat tip to Gremlins. There are touches of Alien, and the Borg in Star Trek comes to mind, but the story is still its own story and not some rehash dressed in Western duds. Also, Grifant populates the piece with a diverse cast.

I want to thank Brigids Gate and Grifant for approving this ARC request via NetGalley. And one final shoutout for the striking cover! Click on the cover image above, or the link below for purchase options: 

https://brigidsgatepress.com/product/melinda-west-and-the-gremlin-queen