Clik here to view.
FreeBooks #5: The Flesh Remembers & Dark Terrains by Richard Wright
In late 2005, Richard Wright released The Flesh Remembers as a free pdf on his website. (A paperback is also available through Lulu or Amazon.) The Flesh Remembers is a terrific, genuinely creepy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Freebooks #6: How and Why Lisa's Dad Got To Be Famous by Michael Allen
How and Why Lisa's Dad Got To Be Famous by Michael Allen (aka the Grumpy Old Bookman) is a quiet little book with a salacious-sounding plot: a reality show producer stages a show wherein Harry, the...
View ArticleAn Abashed Return
So I've been gone for two months. But I'm back now. For good, I think.Basically, I had a minor existential crisis. Really very minor, in the scheme of things: I’m perfectly happy with family, friends,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Noah, Penny by David Skinner
PLOTThirteen year old Penny knows that she is not beautiful. But she also knows that she loves Noah, and only wants him to love her back.Unfortunately, Noah is awkward and unreadable. Does he feel the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FreeBooks #7: A Dancing Bear by Mark Osher
Poor Fenton Bland. His life at college is rapidly spiraling out of control. It's bad enough that he's stuck in the class of Professor Ivan Lego, whose theory of socioliterology -- the concept that any...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Perchance to Feast by Ellen Belitsky
PLOTSixty years ago, the cosmic imp Chance, in his eternal quest for entertainment, set a scheme in motion. He contrived to inspire Sadie and Lillian, best friends at Hometown Junior High, to write the...
View ArticleFreeBooks #8: Deadolescence by Robert Devereaux
Robert Devereaux'sDeadolescence (A Tale of Love and Sacrifice) is a slippery customer. The story is set in the Demented States of America, where violence is a way of life and decent people live in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Voltage by Justin Conwell
PLOTAfter attempting suicide, Eric had his self-destructive thoughts blasted out of his head through Electro-Convulsive Therapy. Unfortunately, the therapy also stole his memory of what drove him to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FreeBooks #9: Playing for Keeps by Mur Lafferty
Laura "Keepsie" Branson is in the Third Wave of people born with superpowers: anyone who tries to steal from her gets frozen in place. A few years ago, her power was judged inadequate, and her...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Eerily Familiar by Darren Lamere
PLOTTom Morrow awakes to a message on his bedside pad. It says that Raquel, who was murdered three years ago, is still alive. And it appears to be in Tom's own handwriting.When Tom goes to visit...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FreeBooks #10: The Adventures of Portly Boy by Ray Weeks
Howard McKay isn't really a superhero. He doesn't have any superpowers. In fact, he's a fat alcoholic, who only dresses up in a fluorescent yellow body suit (complete with pink running shorts and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEWS: Strange Sleuths: Three Novels about Peculiar P.I.s
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. Robert Parker's Spenser. Hard-boiled detective thrillers are a venerable and beloved staple of American literature. To be honest, I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Imperfection
I recently changed the text of a posted review. Not much -- basically only a single word. But it did somewhat alter the meaning of what I originally said.I did this because the author (very politely)...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Timely Persuasion by Jacob LaCivita
PLOTI don't usually do this, but today I am simply going to quote Timely Persuasion's official blurb (see here or here) as my plot description (trust me, I have my reasons):What did Kurt Cobain, Jimi...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Imaginary Friends by Darren Pillsbury
PLOTJeff Tanner is trying his best to be a good father to his two young sons after the death of his wife. But it's not easy. His youngest son, Davey, is a mischievous smart-aleck. Older son Brian has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
MiniReview: Cannibals by Rex Bowman
Note: I don't know whether Strider Nolan Media is in any way a POD or self-publishing operation, but, if not, it is certainly an extremely small micropress, with only three active titles in its current...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Summerworld by Serdar Yegulalp
PLOTIt all starts when psychoanalyst Dr. Hirofumi receives an odd note from Masuda, a former patient, inviting Hirofumi to join Mausuda at a country spa. Odd because Masuda committed suicide three...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Vegetation by Mark LaFlamme
PLOTDiana Luce loved plants. And they loved her.Diana's husband, Bertram, didn't particularly love plants. Or her. So Bertram murdered Diana. And the plants are not pleased.Not at all.MY TAKEThere is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Aftermath by Brian Fischer-Giffin
PLOTA plague has descended in the wake of a passing comet. Most people are dead. Biker Talon Willis is one survivor. Teenaged Tahnee Goss is another. But living through the plague is one thing. Living...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Stray Not Beyond by Michael B. Pinkey
WARNING: mild spoiler ahead, for those who like to know no more about a novel's plot than what the back cover reveals.PLOTAll Irving Carlisle wanted was to find some more Suttlespyce (Number 17), the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Do the Math by Philip B. Persinger
PLOTWilliam Teale, long ago a math prodigy, now spends his time teaching at a small university in the Hudson River valley. He is deeply in love. But not with his wife.Virginia "Faye" Warner, William's...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: The Fence Mender by Anghus Houvouras
The Fence Mender is an enjoyable if not revolutionary addition to the zombie genre. Decades ago, mankind faced an apocalyptic infestation of parasites that transformed people into murderous,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: Eat Me by Ray Weeks
In a prior review, I discussed how much I enjoyed Ray Weeks' superhero parody/homage The Adventures of Portly Boy. I now turn to Weeks' altogether more serious, but equally enjoyable, Eat Me: A Zombie...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FreeBooks #11: Snapdragon Alley by Tom Lichtenberg
Tom Lichtenberg writes curiously engaging novellas. His stories are not driven by action but by mood and metaphysics. His premises often begin with fairly standard, often vaguely science-fiction...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review Posted Elsewhere: Modern Man by E.J. Lonergan
Just a quick note that I've posted a review of Modern Man by E.J. Lonergan over at The Strangelands, so check it out over there. (The Strangelands is the website of author Ray Weeks, whose books The...
View Article
