Hollow Folk by Andrew K. Clark — A trippy ride through a hotel trapped in time by the sins of the land’s past.

Cover Image courtesy of

Quill and Crow Publishing 

No, this is not some ripoff of The Shining by Stephen King, but it does share some common ideas. This is arguably the third book in Clark’s Dark Things series, although it’s billed as a standalone. The first two books are connected by family histories that overlap. You wouldn’t know there was a connection to the first two books here if you didn’t have the privilege of reading them, but there is, and that connection is the hotel’s location in the Hollow and a similar backstory involving a dreadful religious past.

Clark plays with a deeply flawed rural Christian history in these books, a history that intertwines with an evil backwoods folklore that creates some sexually charged creepy stuff relating to our fears, our inhibitions and our carnal desires. We are guilt ridden by what we are taught by the church, but it can fuel us into unconscionable acts that are worse than the sins we have been taught to feel bad about. …I’m speculating here, as I’m only halfway through the book at this point. But maybe I’ll leave this part in to prove this isn’t some stupid AI summarization and to prove I was right.

Anyway…yes. My speculation still feels spot on. The book has three Holloway employees trapped in time when the hotel’s grandfather clock—and every clock—stops ticking at 3 AM. The characters, Ethan (our narrator), Teresa and Kal, begin having weird experiences with ghosts and creatures who may or may not be real as they try to figure out what the hell is going on. The existing guests have essentially disappeared, and the hotel itself seems to be gradually overtaken by poisonous things and gothic creatures of menace.

Also, Ethan and Teresa are falling in love. It’s a weird and creepy developing relationship filled with bugs and body horror linked to a heartbreaking past buried deep underground. It’s an interesting read filled with creatively gross and erotic scenes that will evoke readers to say “what the hell..?”

The gothic nature of this book is more reminiscent of a Shirley Jackson piece, although there are plenty of nods to King’s Overlook Hotel.The hotel feeds the characters and makes them complacent in a way that is sometimes frustrating, because it doesn’t foster propelling the story forward at times. But there is a reason for this that makes sense. It’s not a book for everyone, but if you enjoy the weird and grotesque, and you’re not shy of explicit sexual scenes, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy it. 

Some of it was too much for me, because I was thinking, “guys, we get it. You’re mad hot for each other, and the weird stuff that’s happening during the sex doesn’t creep you out, but come on! Your buddy’s gone missing and this isn’t natural. Where’s the moment of freaking out?” But like I said, there is a definable reason…

It’s a solid piece of weird, dark romance/horror. But it is weird. It is dark. It is erotic. You have been warned.

Find Hollow Folk here, or at your favorite online book retailer.

A Sum of Destructions by J.J. Campanella --A book review recommendation for the procedural crowd

A strong new voice in the world of Psychological Crime Thrillers

Cover courtesy of Uvula Publishing

If you enjoy the likes of Lee Child or Michael Connelly, add J. J. Campanella to your list of new authors to read.

My go to read is not the psychological crime thriller, but I check the genre out once in a while, and this book came upon my radar because of a Christmas letter. An old college friend responded to my reading and writing news by mentioning this author and thought I might enjoy his work. I often have reservations when “not horror” readers give me recommendations, but I was curious enough, and I was not disappointed. A Sum of Destructions by J.J. Campanella is a solid entry in its genre.

Eddie Bratenahl is a psychological therapist for the Cleveland PD who is suffering through his own depression after the loss of his wife, when he is dragged into a murder case involving a professor from his old alma mater. The case dredges up open wounds involving the loss of his wife and reignites ties to his extended mafia family that he would prefer to have laid dormant. It’s a political, psychological, crime thriller all rolled into one, with a touch of science fiction that borders on the all too real. The characters are nicely depicted, although maybe a tad too reliant on certain stereotypes. But overall, it’s a good read with a strong plot and some nice twists.

Some minor drawbacks for me:

I don’t know, there were times when I felt like the detail I was being given slowed the pace of the story. BUT a lot of that detail felt like a bit of a love letter to the history of Cleveland. The detailed history that serves as a backdrop for much of the story often felt specifically tailored for residents of the Cleveland area. So if you are a Clevelander, definitely check out this book. Also, due to that detail, the book felt longer than I would have liked. I feel like the book could have been edited down by 50-100 pages without sacrifice to the characters or the story.

I was able to overlook the length of the book to some degree though, due to the strong development of the main character, and many of the supporting ones. The plot is engaging. This is a solid thriller, and I’m glad I took the time to check it out.

Find A Sum of Destructions here, or at your favorite book retailer. 

Two Book Reviews in One Sitting: A Terry Pratchett classic and a solid introduction to the work of Tessa Hastjarjanto

Book Review #1 — Eric by Terry Pratchett

Cover Image courtesy of
HarperCollins

Eric, by Terry Pratchett, is an interesting entry into the Discworld series because the title character is more of a catalyst than he is the protagonist of this story. The protagonist is the ever bumbling wizard Rincewind, who is never really sure where he is, why, or what he’s supposed to do about it. Which is admirable in the sense that his adventures are fueled by pure panic, and yet laced with a manner of knowing there’s nothing he can do except run and hope for the best. He’s not the wise Hermit in a deck of Tarot cards, he’s the Fool, always tempting DEATH who wracks his skull because Rincewind is in his periphery, and always okay because of his tenacious and menacing protector, a rabid piece of luggage with legs.

If you’ve never read a book out of the Discworld series, and that summary above leaves you puzzled, well…welcome to Terry Pratchett’s crazy imagination.

Eric is a young teen who has decided to practice a little bit of demonology to get the things he wants: beautiful women, a kingly status and everlasting life. He says a few magic words after cobbling together a devil’s trap, and voila! Rincewind appears scratching his head. Because he’s not a demon, last time he checked. He does have a half assed ability to travel through time, though, and that will have to do. But with every wish comes consequences, and the folly of human nature throughout the ages is the general consequence that Rincewind and Eric have to run from every time.

The Discworld mirrors our own history in that it has an Aztec like society, and a Ulysses type hero, so be prepared to recognize some nods to ancient world history with new names. All in all, this is a light, fast read with maybe a moral about being careful what you wish for. Mostly, though, it’s just fun.

You can find the entire collection of Discworld books here at Terry Pratchett’s website. 

Book Review #2 — A Dress to Kill For by Tessa Hastjarjanto

Cover Image from
Author website

A Dress to Kill For, written by Tessa Hastjarjanto, may be short, but it's an extremely well told little horror story about the lengths the society folk will go through to keep their fingernails clutched around their status. A touch gothic, a touch eldritch or folk horror, this short piece is well paced and well worth the read. Find more of her work here at her personal website. https://tessa.narratess.com/

Exiles by Mason Coile -- A familiar blend of scifi horror

 Exiles by Mason Coile — Blends familiar scifi horror themes to visit some root causes of self isolation

 

Cover Image Courtesy of

G.P Putnam's Sons 

A three man team (two men, one woman) embark on a literal suicide mission to Mars for the sake of humanity and the purpose of colonization. They know they won’t be coming back, except under unusually special circumstances. And, of course, they come to suspect those circumstances exist. Or the bots that were sent ahead of the mission to construct habitable living spaces do, and the mystery unfolds after our human team’s rough landing.

The narrative is led by Gold, the woman of the team that comprises Captain Blake and Engineering Specialist Kang (yes, Kang. For all the hardcore scifi aficionados). Gold is the Medical Specialist of the trio, and she comes with her own personal baggage.

Author Coile is no stranger to scifi, of which I haven’t read, but this book is a tight read. It doesn’t get bogged down with the science aspect of the genre and instead gets right into the guts of the horror. It has shades of Alien, as the bots have shut their home base down for fear of some monster outside its walls. But it also plays with the common science fiction themes of the dangers of AI and android sentience. Captain Blake and crew have reservations about trusting the three bots, who have come to name themselves and to exhibit distinctly human personalities.

These all play well together as common tropes within the genre, but the deeper story is inferred by the title. Exiles. Gold has a past that she wants to forget, one that she believes is rooted in fear and has toughened her up. It boils down to mommy and daddy issues—the dad who raised her, not good at it and the mom leaving her with feelings of abandonment at a very young age. There’s a twist to this part of the story that I’m not going to reveal, but it’s the weakest link—for me. And the problem is that I get why the author chose it theme-wise. The choice makes real sense. Reality wise, it’s a move that is hard for me to believe a smart parent would make, and Gold’s mom seems to be a smart parent. And I know, my definition of smart parenting is personal and probably skewed, but I could not get past this one. A smart parent would NOT do this.

But I get the author’s choice. It serves a specific purpose that fits an emotional framework made of guilt and the suffocating feeling that self-exile induces.

I generally enjoyed this read though, and it’s a fast one. It adds to the vast number of science fiction classics that pose the serious pros and cons of a world that is heavily reliant on artificial intelligence. Find the book HERE or at your favorite book retailer. 

Reluctant Killer by Lisa R. Perron — A thriller with a touch of heart

Click Here for Goodreads Link

 

I bought this book at the Los Angeles Festival of Books a few years back, and thought it would be a good quick read to finish my month and to reduce the height of my TBR book tower. It’s a crime thriller, not necessarily my go to genre, but crime thrillers can be thrilling reads once in a while, hence the reason for the genre.

This might be Perron’s first stab at thriller writing. Her repertoire is small, and the story is standard, about a woman who is awakened by her husband in the middle of a home invasion, then learns that her husband is not the man she thought him to be. In fact, his past is shady, and the night ends with her shooting a stranger dead and with him disappearing on the run.

If this is an intriguing setup, this might be the story for you. Told in first person, present tense, we follow Katherine as she investigates who her husband Jacob once was while she manages how she could have been such a fool to fall in love with him. She also has a rough past of her own that she needs to come to terms with: a pastor father convicted of killing his wife—Kate’s mother—in cold blood. Kate never forgave her father for his sins at the beginning of the story and now, because she has to kill a man for her own safety due to her husband’s past, Kate struggles with the fact that she herself is capable of murder.

Perron’s writing style is essentially stripped down. No overly flowery prose, which makes for a good clean read. We feel Kate’s dilemma and sympathize with her. She’s not a superwoman. She deals with the trauma of the inciting event in a real, human way, and I like this about her character. She struggles with her feelings for a man who has always been kind and loving to her, and with the revelation of the heinous things he is proven to be capable of. It puts her in danger and forces her to have to fend for herself.

While the book is generally well written, there are just enough grammatical mistakes to betray an inexperienced editor—or maybe an over-reliance on basic editing software. There are passages where the narrative lapses from third person present tense to third person past tense, and it’s noticeable. I try to overlook these kinds of occasional errors because it happens, but if it happens enough to pull me out of the story, I feel the need to make note. 

Otherwise, though, Reluctant Killer is a good beach read for the general thriller fan.