THE DREAMT AND DEATHLESS OBSCENE (Vitriol) by Andrew Bonazelli

 The 1970s were marked by their violently stark contrast to the optimism and civil consciousness of the previous decade. Crime was on the rise, as was poverty. The war in Southeast Asia had already bubbled over into a full-scale disaster. Even the arts, especially film, were grittier and bleaker than the relatively tame 1960s. In The Dreamt and Deathless Obscene, Andrew Bonazelli capitalizes on the atmosphere of the period and increases the stakes, making 1975 the setting of a post-apocalyptic nightmare.

In 1973, an event occurred that changed the face of the earth. This event is not described in any great detail, but essentially separated the world into the three classes: regular folks, the afflicted, and the unsound. The unsound are the most obviously changed. Diseased and depraved slaves to their carnal and violent desires, they roam about attacking anyone and anything in their path. The afflicted apparently have some form of the disease that created the unsound. They live in the quarantined cities under an Orwellian program to ease their “unnatural” appetites and desires. In the meantime, other folks try to pick up the pieces of their lives outside the shattered urban zones and the violent anarchy of the countryside.

The novel follows the lives of Allan, Neil, Rosie, and Sophie, and occasionally Walter, as they try to make sense of their lives in a shattered Philadelphia. Allan and Neil are brothers, sons of Walter, who handle the situation in very different ways. Allan is emotionally stunted and self-absorbed while Neil is choosing the ill-advised path of starting a family with his pregnant fiancée, Rosie. Sophie was Allan’s girlfriend before the affliction began and now lives in the quarantine zone with the other afflicted, where she takes her turn manning the “touchline” phone service used by its citizens to achieve release. Walter generally just falls back to old memories of football from before the end times.

Bonazelli’s writing is crisp and lively and displays a unique voice—though occasionally dances on the line between style and affectation. Further, he truly captures the emotional and physical wasteland that his characters inhabit. Unfortunately, those characters are largely unsympathetic and are not moved in any meaningful way by the plot. Events happen, but the characters—and the plot—simply tread water. Nothing truly changes in their lives. The plot doesn’t really begin to move from exposition to conflict until the final third of the narrative, setting the reader up for an ending that doesn’t really happen. The story simply stops.

The true shame is that the final third of the book introduces some characters and ideas that would have been more interesting to explore than the central characters of the novel. Even gonzo wordsmithery cannot save a novel from a shallow plot. Unfortunately, this novel suffers for it, essentially showcasing a place where uninteresting characters wallow in the bleakness of their landscape.

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Reviewed by Shedrick Pittman-Hassett

Shedrick Pittman-Hassett is a full-time librarian and part-time writer trying to do that the other way around. He has written reviews for Library Journal and has also had two articles published in the award-winning Knights of the Dinner Table magazine. Shedrick currently resides in Denton, Texas ("The Home of Happiness") with his lovely wife and the obligatory demon-spawn cats. When not writing, gaming, or watching cheezy kung-fu flicks, he can be found in a pub enjoying a fine brew.

Blood War

by Dylan J. Morgan
Published by Pill Hill Press

For six centuries, armies of vampires (led by the coldly calculating Markus) and packs of werewolves (led by the brutally savage Isaac) have been locked in a bitter war, their struggles hidden in the shadows away from human eyes or waged from within the cover of mortal conflicts. Their conflict spans the years and the continents, each immortal faction seeking to gain dominance over the other with the ultimate fate of mankind at stake. But now a new enemy is rising to wrest control of the supernatural world from the old regimes: hybrids. These bizarre offspring of both lycanthrope and vampire, long outlawed amongst their sires, seek to control their own destinies and bring their persecution to an end.

Blood War is arranged in three “books”. The first, “The Freaks Come Out at 9 and Its 20 to 10,” describes the struggles between the vampires and werewolves leading up to the present day. The second part, “Monsters and Mortals,” introduces the only two mortal characters in the novel and the manner in which their lives are embroiled in the struggle. The final book, “Last Stand,” brings the various conflicts to their inevitable conclusion. Morgan’s writing is strong and descriptive, especially so during the novel’s many action sequences. The author also does a fine job of balancing about a dozen or so different characters and points of view while aptly describing the centuries-long, globetrotting conflict at the heart of the novel. He has a lot of pins in the air and never misses a catch. The “blood war” described is exciting and harrowing, with each vivid scene obviously crafted to drive the plot to its next destination.

Unfortunately Blood War misses some opportunities for depth by not creating an emotional attachment with its audience. Morgan creates very complex and interesting characters among the immortals, but for every spark of sympathy invoked for the players, we are reminded of their innate monstrosity. Frankly, the reader doesn’t know who to root for. Further, the ultimate stakes of this contest—the fate of humanity—is woefully underplayed, resulting in a distinct lack of emotional investment in the conflict.

But sometimes all you need is the adrenaline rush of a good fight. You don’t have to care who wins to enjoy vampires and werewolves and hybrids beating the crap out of each other. In the end, with its exotic locales, tight action scenes, and large cast of bad-ass immortals, Blood War is a well-written, highly entertaining action movie of a novel.

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Reviewed by Shedrick Pittman-Hassett

Shedrick Pittman-Hassett is a full-time librarian and part-time writer trying to do that the other way around. He has written reviews for Library Journal and has also had two articles published in the award-winning Knights of the Dinner Table magazine. Shedrick currently resides in Denton, Texas ("The Home of Happiness") with his lovely wife and the obligatory demon-spawn cats. When not writing, gaming, or watching cheezy kung-fu flicks, he can be found in a pub enjoying a fine brew.

Blood and Other Cravings

Edited by Ellen Datlow
Published by Tor

“Each of us needs something - food, liquor, pot, whatever - to help us survive. Dracula needs blood.” Frank Langella (Playboy Magazine, 1979)

Anytime you sample a collection edited by veteran anthologist Ellen Datlow (Snow White, Blood Red; Teeth; Supernatural Noir), you know that you are in for a treat. Blood and Other Cravings is no exception. This top-notch collection takes vampirism as its theme, but each story veers far and away from the now-worn tropes of the genre. The creatures (some human, some decidedly not) featured in these tales feed not only upon blood but hope, emotion, and life itself. They are beings of insatiable hunger and predation, stalking us from the shadows of 1970s New York, from behind the blinds of suburban homes, and from our parents’ bedrooms.

While there is not a bad story in the bunch, some are worthy of special mention. “Keeping Corky” by Melanie Tem is a sublimely disturbing piece involving a mentally-challenged young mother whose indomitable will affects those that would stand between her and her son. Fledgling talesmith Nicole J. LeBoeuf’s piece, “First Breath”, is a beautiful exploration of identity and point-of-view involving the lifecycle of a family of ethereal beings. The anthology closes with Laird Barron’s “The Siphon”, where an evil man encounters creatures of blood and nightmare that lie in the shadows thrown across time and myth.

Blood and Other Cravings reminds us of why we should fear those that stalk the night.

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Visit Ellen Datlow's site here.

Reviewed by Shedrick Pittman-Hassett

Shedrick Pittman-Hassett is a full-time librarian and part-time writer trying to do that the other way around. He has written reviews for Library Journal and has also had two articles published in the award-winning Knights of the Dinner Table magazine. Shedrick currently resides in Denton, Texas ("The Home of Happiness") with his lovely wife and the obligatory demon-spawn cats. When not writing, gaming, or watching cheezy kung-fu flicks, he can be found in a pub enjoying a fine brew.

The Worst Thing

by Aaron Elkins
Published by Berkley Hardcover

Everyone knows not to tempt fate. Since the time of the Greeks we have been warned and warned against uttering that magical incantation “what’s the worst that can happen?” Doing so practically guarantees that the poor fool will find out exactly what that “worst” would be. In his latest thriller, The Worst Thing, Edgar-award winner Aaron Elkins tests this theory against an interesting protagonist with decidedly mixed results.

Bryan Bennett is a research fellow and expert in hostage negotiation and corporate security. He has literally written the book on the subject. But memories of his childhood experiences as a kidnapping victim trigger unexpected and potentially debilitating panic attacks, forcing him to walk gingerly around his deepest fears, never testing the limits of his resolve. Drawn to a training seminar in Reykjavik, Iceland with the hope of finally confronting and overcoming his panic attacks, Bryan finds himself drawn into his own worst case scenario. Once again taken hostage and with his life on the line, Bryan is forced to face his terror without the crutch of medication or the comfort of his loving wife.

Throughout The Worst Thing, Elkins displays the skill of an experienced and award-winning author. Bryan’s first-person narrative provides insight into the psychological nature of panic and remembered trauma and Elkins adeptly makes his experience tangible for the reader. The writing is strong, the author maintaining a break-neck pace without sacrificing story or relying on those false cliffhangers that many lesser writers use to sustain interest. However, Elkins makes some critical missteps that ultimately undermine much of the suspense of the novel. Firstly, Bryan’s relatable-yet-acerbic wit ends up taking the sting out of several key scenes. Further, Elkins chooses to alternate the point of the view of the novel from first-person (with Bryan) to third-person (with everyone else), disrupting the flow of the story as well as the steady build-up of anxiety as the conflict progresses. Finally, the author indulges himself with a final twist that is largely unnecessary and ultimately renders all of Bryan’s previous struggles virtually meaningless. When the final page is turned, The Worst Thing can be termed an interesting book, but, unfortunately, not a particularly suspenseful one.

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Visit Aaron Elkins site here.

Reviewed by Shedrick Pittman-Hassett

Shedrick Pittman-Hassett is a full-time librarian and part-time writer trying to do that the other way around. He has written reviews for Library Journal and has also had two articles published in the award-winning Knights of the Dinner Table magazine. Shedrick currently resides in Denton, Texas ("The Home of Happiness") with his lovely wife and the obligatory demon-spawn cats. When not writing, gaming, or watching cheezy kung-fu flicks, he can be found in a pub enjoying a fine brew.

Willy

by Robert Dunbar.
Published by Uninvited Books.

Adolescence is often described as a journey of discovery, a journey in which we attempt to define ourselves. We collect the traits impressed upon us by others and then stretch and test those impressions in order to forge the adult we will become. In Willy, the latest novel by Robert Dunbar (The Pines, Martyrs & Monsters), we witness the coming of age of a troubled young man who must make this journey in relative isolation and under the tutelage of one who may not be the savior he appears to be.

Our unnamed narrator is sent to an obscure private school, the apparent end-of-the-line for both the disturbed boys that are deposited there and for the disaffected and cynical adults that maintain the crumbling facility. The narrator is a sensitive and introverted youth who has apparently had behavioral problems in other schools as well as thoughts of suicide. He is encouraged to keep a journal of his thoughts by his former psychologist—it is this journal that forms the narrative of the novel. Soon he meets his new roommate, Willy, a brilliant and charismatic young man who takes the narrator under his wing and forces him out of his self-imposed exile. Through the journal we witness the narrator’s blossoming as both a writer and as a person. Willy challenges him to reach beyond the “reality” of the isolated and warped school community. As Willy and the protagonist grow closer, the narrator begins to believe that Willy may be leading him toward a reality far darker than he is prepared to experience.

Dunbar’s characterization and prose brilliantly capture the internal world of the narrator. The world that we view through his eyes is stark, sinister, and secretive. Dunbar fully immerses the reader in the narrator’s point of view. There are no false notes, no instances in which the reader is taken out of the mind of the protagonist. However, this limited point of view makes portions of the book extremely cryptic. Many plot questions are left unanswered—or, if answers are available, they are hidden by a narrator who often lacks the capacity to report the full import of what he is witnessing. For some readers these questions will inspire multiple readings and spirited discussion. For others it may invoke frustration and confusion.

Nevertheless, Dunbar’s prose is lyrical, suspenseful, and immersive. Willy is a tour-de-force of style, character, and atmosphere and is definitely an example of an author attempting to stretch the boundaries of the genre.

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Reviewed by Shedrick Pittman-Hassett

Shedrick Pittman-Hassett is a full-time librarian and part-time writer trying to do that the other way around. He has written reviews for Library Journal and has also had two articles published in the award-winning Knights of the Dinner Table magazine. Shedrick currently resides in Denton, Texas ("The Home of Happiness") with his lovely wife and the obligatory demon-spawn cats. When not writing, gaming, or watching cheezy kung-fu flicks, he can be found in a pub enjoying a fine brew.

Zombie, Ohio: A Tale of the Undead

by Scott Kenemore
Published by Skyhorse

Peter Mellor wakes up on the side of the road, the wheels of his overturned car still spinning. He feels a bit numb, a bit dazed, and can’t seem to remember who he is or how he ended up in this state. Eventually, he discovers that the world is in the grip of the “zombie apocalypse” all the kids have been raving about…and that he apparently didn’t survive that car wreck after all. He’s a zombie (albeit an intelligent and self-aware one) and sets out to find his girlfriend and put his life (such as it was) back together. He also discovers that in the midst an undead uprising the most dangerous creatures (other than himself) are the people for whom the veneer of civilization that served as a leash and who now roam the countryside, are indulging in their heretofore hidden amoral desires.

Kenemore (Z. E. O. and The Zen of Zombie) infuses his debut novel with the perfect mix of horror, gore, humor, and (yes, it must be said) brains that make it a tight and entertaining read. Peter, even during the darkest period of his strange existence, is an extremely sympathetic character—especially as we learn more and more about the type of man he was before he was transformed into a brain-addicted denizen of the undead. While portions of the book are extremely dark, and there is plenty of blood and viscera for the gore-hound, it is Peter’s flip sense of humor that infuses the novel with life. It is Kenemore’s insightful peek at human nature at the extremes that infuse it with intelligence.

While billed as “a tale of murder, mystery, and the walking dead”, the novel actually deals very little with the subplot of Peter’s apparent murder. Peter does discover that his fatal crash was not an accident, but he really only spends a small part of the story worrying about that. The truth comes to light the facts serve the story well, but to term the novel even part murder mystery is a stretch.

Despite the mystery misnomer, Zombie, Ohio is a great bit of zombie-infused fun for both devotees of the genre and for folks desperately seeking an antidote to sparkly vampires and angst lycanthropes.

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Reviewed by Shedrick Pittman-Hassett

Shedrick Pittman-Hassett is a full-time librarian and part-time writer trying to do that the other way around. He has written reviews for Library Journal and has also had two articles published in the award-winning Knights of the Dinner Table magazine. Shedrick currently resides in Denton, Texas ("The Home of Happiness") with his lovely wife and the obligatory demon-spawn cats. When not writing, gaming, or watching cheezy kung-fu flicks, he can be found in a pub enjoying a fine brew.

Three Seconds

by Anders Roslund & Börge Hellström
Published by SilverOak

The Swedish crime novel has become a very popular subset of the genre, the biggest example being the explosive “Millennium” series by Stieg Larson (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo). Perhaps it’s the perfect combination of grey winter skies and existential angst that work together to create effective dark psychological fiction, a Bergman-noir effect that calls to English-speaking audiences looking for something other than harried “too-old-for-this-shit” police officers or jaded private eyes. The award-winning duo of Roslund and Hellström has created a bleak, psychologically complex novel that explores the theme of “only a thief can catch a thief” while also being a well-plotted and suspenseful thriller.

Piet Hoffman is a former thief who has been working for the past ten years with the police to infiltrate and bring down the operations of the Polish mafia in Sweden. Only a handful of officials know of his existence and his true mission; in fact, his official record has been manufactured perfectly to substantiate his cover. But after a drug deal goes badly and another police informant is murdered, Piet takes on his most dangerous assignment: he is to be arrested and incarcerated in a maximum security facility in order to begin, and then crush, the mafia’s extensive prison drug operations.

At the same time, Detective Inspector Ewart Grens is assigned the case of a drug related murder in a Swedish apartment. His tenacity brings him to a security consultant with a long record of violent crimes named Piet Hoffman; a man who is now holding a warden and a fellow inmate hostage in a prison workshop. Grens continues to investigate and uncovers the string of high-level government secrets that put Hoffman in this situation, even as he must decide whether or not Hoffman must die to protect the lives of his hostages.

Roslund and Hellström have built two intriguing characters with Hoffman and Grens. Their contrasting personalities are the two pillars on which the plot is supported. Piet is an extremely sympathetic character, forced to display a cold demeanor even as he plans and executes dangerous and brutal actions in order to survive. Grens explodes in anger at ineptitude and deception, hiding the coldness of his soul after the death of his wife. The narrative also shines during the passages describing Piet’s time in prison, perfectly capturing the claustrophobic and deadly world behind the bars. Nevertheless, the novel suffers from too many other passages bogging down in repetition, from comma-heavy punctuation choices, and from too-frequent shifts of point of view. It’s difficult to determine if these problems are of translation, author intent, or editorial laxity, but all serve to confuse the reader needlessly. Despite these problems, Three Seconds is still an enjoyable read and a decent diversion from the usual suspense bill of fare.

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Reviewed by Shedrick Pittman-Hassett

Shedrick Pittman-Hassett is a full-time librarian and part-time writer trying to do that the other way around. He has written reviews for Library Journal and has also had two articles published in the award-winning Knights of the Dinner Table magazine. Shedrick currently resides in Denton, Texas ("The Home of Happiness") with his lovely wife and the obligatory demon-spawn cats. When not writing, gaming, or watching cheezy kung-fu flicks, he can be found in a pub enjoying a fine brew.

Shedrick's website can be found here.