Steve Stred's Blog, page 19

Book Review: Precious Cargo by Craig Davidson

Title: Precious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077

Author: Craig Davidson

Release date: May 17th, 2016

Connectivity.

It’s an interesting idea, isn’t it.

Lately, I’m discovering that the Canadian Literary World is almost its own game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. For those unaware of what that is, it is a suggestion that no matter what actor or actress you randomly choose, within six movies, they’ll somehow be connected back to Kevin Bacon.

Case in point for me with Craig Davidson is this – in 2015, I purchased two books at Walmart – Andrew Pyper’s ‘The Demonologist’ and Nick Cutter’s ‘The Troop.’ For those who don’t know, Nick Cutter is a pseudonym for Craig Davidson. As it turns out, Andrew and Craig are great friends, and, in May when I went to Toronto for The Demonologist celebration, Craig kindly attended and in a bit of surrealness, at the get together after, I was honored to be able and sit and talk to Craig and we had an honest-to-goodness heart to heart as though the two of us were life-long friends.

Now, oddly, I could’ve sworn I’d previously read Craig’s memoir, ‘Precious Cargo.’ The reason for that, was I felt a connectivity to the book because of two things – the first was that Craig wrote about the year he spent in Calgary driving a special needs bus for high schoolers. May seem a stretch to some, but when I first heard about this book, I was living in Calgary. The second reason, was that back in my Selkirk College days, I spent two school years ‘training’ a special needs student in weightlifting. I use the ” around training simply because we ended up spending far more time playing table tennis than lifting weights – though we did get in the weight room and he was a strong guy for being mid-50’s – and I spent a lot of time listening to him tell me that the muscle twitches he would get in his forearms were actually implanted alien chips that would signal to the mother ship whenever he was playing table tennis, as that was their intergalactic sport of choice.

When I met Craig, it struck me that I needed to go back and re-read this, but as it turned out, I don’t believe I ever did read the book, so I got to experience it for the first time instead of all over again.

What I liked: The memoir opens with Craig giving us an introspective look at where he was, at that point, in his life. He’d thought he’d made it. He was going to have a novel come out, had an agent, the bucks would roll in and hello world, Craig Davidson is being recognized on every street corner.

Insert sound of record scratching.

Things didn’t go according to that plan. Instead, he found himself with a failed novel at launch, minimal money in his bank account, a beat up car and nobody willing to hire him. So, he got himself hired. He saw an ad where the Calgary School District was looking for bus drivers – NO TRAINING NEEDED! – and bingo, bango, bongo Craig aced basic training.

It’s from there that we get a sugary-sweet look at the relationships Craig developed over that time with the kids who rode his bus. Each one was unique, had their own special needs, but, as Craig phenomenally illustrates, were just kids looking to connect, to make friends and have that ‘normal’ kid childhood.

The majority of the time, the story focuses on Craig’s budding relationship with Jake, a youngster with cerebral palsy, confined to a wheelchair, and living in the aftermath of his mother dying from an unfortunate accident where she was struck by a drunk driver while going for a walk. But the truth is, Craig could’ve focused on any of the kids and this memoir would’ve hit all the high notes. The reason he focused on Jake, was because he developed a relationship with him outside of the bus. They became pals. They played board games together, Craig visited his house often, they went to movies, and as the book progresses, you come to understand that Jake needed Craig’s friendship just as much as Craig needed Jake’s.

It’s a powerful ‘sub-plot,’ which feels odd to categorize it as that, considering it was real life.

And such happens in real life, Craig also focuses on the lows, as much as the highs. On the bus being vandalized. On the looks the bus gets and the way those who won’t take the time to understand these kids treat them.

It was a phenomenal reminder that we are all humans. We all want respect and we are all different in our own ways.

Craig also intersperses the biography aspect with parts of ‘The Seekers,’ an unpublished novel that he wrote during that year. A year where – at first – he believed his time as a writer was all wrapped up and done. But through the connection and new found outlook on life, through those hours driving the bus each day, Craig began to write again, and the kids and their quirks saved an author.

What I didn’t like: I’m not ashamed to admit I shed a number of tears reading this. The ending had me practically bawling, doing my best not to wake my son who was asleep beside me in bed. But the one thing I found, when this was over, was I wished we would’ve had a bit more closure on the Craig-Jake friendship. Of course, it was real life and when summer arrives, plans are made and families flee to all sides of the country or even around the globe. But I simply can’t believe that the last day of school was the last visit Craig and Jake had. I guess we’ll never know.

Why you should buy this: As writers, we go through very high highs and very low lows. Each and everyday we’ll have wins, losses and break evens. This memoir was a powerful (I know I’ve used that word a few times but it’s the only accurate word here) reminder that things can always be worse. That sometimes, in an isolatory endeavour like writing, we need connection to get past the darkness before the dawn, and Craig absolutely nailed how he was pulled forth from the clutches of ‘giving up,’ and was reborn and reinvigorated to return to writing. And us, as readers, are all the more lucky for that.

This is a heartfelt, emotion-layered memoir that showcases the best of us and how at the heart of it all, we’re all kids. We all want to smile, laugh, have friends and enjoy all that life can offer us.

5/5

Book Review: Her Teeth, Like Waves by Nikki R. Leigh

Title: Her Teeth, Like Waves

Author: Nikki R. Leigh

Release date: August 15th, 2023

Huge thanks to Robert P. Ottone and Spooky House Press for sending me a digital ARC of this one!

I was intrigued by this one right off the hop when I read the teaser synopsis in the email I was sent.

It’s funny, as I’ve typically not read a lot of ‘water/ocean’ based dark fiction, but over the last little bit I’ve enjoyed Ottone’s own ‘The Rise Trilogy,’ Daniel Kraus’ ‘Whalefall’ and Tim McGregor’s ‘Lure.’

So, when this one arrived, even though I am super swamped with review books, I thought Hell yeah, I’m fitting this in!

Described as novelette length, this ended up being a single sitting read and one that had me captivated from the very beginning.

What I liked: The story follows Kat, sister to Mitch, who hasn’t been heard from in a few days. This is unusual, especially with their bond as twins and united after their parents died while they were in their teens. Mitch has spent his life in the ocean, while Kat has steered away from it. But now, with him missing, she – accompanied by her girlfriend, Jules – travel to where he was living in the hopes of finding him.

Leigh does a great job of adding in back story, especially considering the short word count of this one, and you root for Kat to find Mitch almost immediately, especially as more of her history is shared and her fears of the water are revealed.

With such a short page count, we get to the heart of the action fairly quickly and the ending arrives with a blistering volume of carnage and blood. Based on what we were led to believe and what was suggested would happen, it fits well and we get a blistering finale.

What I didn’t like: There really is no resolution at the end. We get to it, things happen, the end arrives and that’s it. I think some expansion would’ve really helped with this ending and made it more impactful. We are shown how it ends, but based on the ‘why’ of the the reason Kat went in the first place, there’s no pay off.

As well, we do get a quick bit of back lore with the arrival of an odd character, but it flashes by too fast, we don’t get enough to really ramp up the tension.

Why you should buy this: This one was a ton of fun for what happens and a lot does happen, even in such a short read. Leigh grabs the reader quickly and holds them, which is a fantastic thing to happen when we’re not completely sure where we will end up, but the reader will want to know and that’s always a powerful thing.

4/5

Book Review: The Troll Book by Michael Berenstain

Title: The Troll Book

Author: Michael Berenstain

Release date: January 1st, 1980

We found this at a local book sale for $1 and had no idea that Michael was the son of the Berenstain Bear creators and that he had taken over doing those books. We just got it because it looked cool, was a hardcover, and much like myself, my son, Auryn, loves all things mythical and strange. We’ve watched the Netflix movie ‘TROLL’ about two dozen times, each time loving the cinematography and the way the Troll is portrayed – CGI emotions working so well – and somehow I’ve become friends with Espen who wrote the screenplay, so I’ve been able to ask him a few questions regarding the inspiration for parts and so on.

Now, we got this book back in June or so, and it’s sat on our shelf for a bit as we’ve been reading The Dragon Master’s series and lately The Last Firehawk series, but recently, Auryn’s school friend went to Norway and got him a small Troll figure as a gift. I told Espen, and he let us know that we needed to name our Troll. So, in the quest to find a name, we pulled this book out and decided to read it.

What I liked: The book itself is exquisitely illustrated. Each and every page has an illustration – or multiple – that we found ourselves spending time on examining and enjoying. The text aspect goes through the history of Trolls and how they interact with humans and it has a bit on the Hidden Folk and how Trolls live together with them in the forests.

Historically, this had some really great spots and even alluded to The Troll Mountain and Dovregrubben, whom is the who the Troll in the movie Troll is based on. We Googled a few things while reading and loved how vivid Berenstain brought this world to life.

The last portion of the book is dedicated to life in the Troll King’s Kingdom, and what it looks like within the Kingdom itself. The setting is on the cover of the book and we get to investigate each compartment and what the day to day life of the Troll looks like.

What I didn’t like: If this was a book released to be a kid’s book, it does get pretty dark in some places. If this was supposed to be more for young adults or adults, it is a bit short and doesn’t go as dark as it maybe should’ve? It’s kind of a catch-22 in this case.

Why you should buy this: If you can find a copy of this – and it won’t break the bank – definitely grab it. The illustrations are wonderful, bringing about a sense of Kittelsen through Berenstain’s eyes and brought me back to the books I used to love flipping through over and over as a kid.

It covers a good amount of ground in only 60-ish pages and does do a really solid job of sharing the mythology of the Troll.

5/5

Book Review: The Grimmer by Naben Ruthnum

Title: The Grimmer

Author: Naben Ruthnum

Release date: September 26th, 2023

First, huge thanks to Naben and ECW Press for sending me a digital ARC!

Life’s funny isn’t it?

A few years back, I connected with Brennan Storr, author and podcast host. After we got chatting, we discovered that we grew up only ninety minutes apart from each other. He in Revelstoke, BC, myself in Burton, BC.

Fast forward to early last year, and I connected with Naben via Twitter and soon after read and reviewed his phenomenal novella, ‘Helpmeet.’ Recently, Naben had posted about looking for YA reviewers for his upcoming release and I reached out. YA isn’t my go-to category, and by no means am I an expert or authority on YA works, but what I do know is that YA should make me feel emotions. It should make me feel attachments and nostalgia and move me in ways some dark fiction may not.

It wasn’t until after reading this novel that I did some brief Googling, and discovered that, oddly, Naben grew up (I’m honestly not sure for how long) in Kelowna and lived in Vancouver where he started an Indie Rock band. Here we were, another random connection, where he’d grown up on the other end of the Monashee from me, and, with this book being set in 1996, the main character, Vish, is fifteen, the same age I was in 1996. It all connected then. Much like my recently released memoir was a cathartic experience, I could feel how much of this novel was based on Naben’s youth, and those days cavorting around Pandosy during the Halcyon days at the end of the 90’s. The only annoying part of the ARC was there was no afterword, so I’ll be curious to see if Naben adds anything about the writing of this novel.

What I liked: As mentioned, the story follows fifteen-year-old, Vish, who has returned to Kelowna, BC. For the last two years, he’d been cast away to a private school on Vancouver Island, as his father grappled with addiction and his mom wanted him far away from how his father was. To make matters more awkward (or worse), Vish is a visible minority, one of the few darker skinned people in the town. He’s isolated himself from his two best friends (Danny and Matt) and just wants to focus on reading and listening to metal music.

Naben infuses – what I can only assume – are a lot of the real moments and feelings he had from back in those days. Growing up, Kelowna was the ‘big city’ for us, a place three hours away that had everything – malls, concerts, celebrities – all the trappings of a big city that had this small-town boy’s eyes wide during every visit. But, it was also an overwhelming place to visit. There was A LOT of buildings, A LOT of people and I could only imagine what it would’ve been like to return to a place where you’re different because of your skin color, but also different because your dad had an addiction that everyone knew about.

From here, Vish seemingly at random, becomes a key player in a battle of good-versus-evil (even if we learn there’s no such thing as random in these battles) and meets Gisela and Agastya. Agastya owns the book store that Vish loves and soon finds out he is also grieving for the loss of his significant other.

But that’s minor in comparison to the reality that an ancient evil is attempting to bring forth horrible people through a portal, into Kelowna, where the town – and then the world – will be devoured. Vish’s participation is vital to this, but it’s offset by the family aspects he’s struggling with. As well as his reluctance to start up his friendship with his best friends again, even if he misses playing music with them. The theme of isolation and feeling lost are predominant throughout, and again, it feels that much ‘more’ because it seems clear that Naben has infused so much of his own life into this story.

Now, while a lot of this novel is focused on Vish, we also get some really amazing character building with Gisela – her past, her struggles and how she survives now, in a time far removed from her origins, with Agastya, his battles, hints at who he is and ultimately how his hurt controls so much of his heart.

We get an ‘ultimate battle’ where we see how Gisela’s magical abilities are put to the test, some sacrifice all and how good comes together to fight against the growing evil. We even get a hint towards the Ogopogo-lore and a subtle nod to a follow up in the future.

Throughout, this novel spoke to me as a reader, in a way few novels do. It connected with that small-town, BC kid, that one that lived near that place during that time and it made me think of some of the memories I have of visiting Kelowna over the years of my youth. It felt like I was there beside Vish and fighting with him, to save his family, his friends and his future.

What I didn’t like: Honestly, I wish there had been more time spent on the socioeconomic aspects of Vish and his family, as well as the reduced multicultural aspects of that time period. It is clear Vish’s family is well off – his father is a therapist, his mom is now a major realtor in the area and he was sent to a private school hundreds of kilometers away. On top of that, he is a minority. So, I would’ve been interested in seeing how some other kids might’ve treated him and if that did effect his relationships with Matt and Danny at all. It might not’ve in the least, which is why Naben minimized it to a degree, but I think it could’ve heightened Vish’s internal struggle regarding where he fit and how he was received.

Why you should buy this: Outside of the magic aspect and the battle versus good and evil, this reads closer to a contemporary drama, with a very heartfelt look at growing up different, trying to fit in and how a kid struggles to fit in after some time away. All small towns are cliquey and having left for a few years, that could make it even harder for Vish to return and find his place. Naben does a wonderful job of highlighting those aspects while also giving us hope. Hope that we can do anything we want, especially when we team up with those we love and when we want to save those we love the most.

This was really well done, a gem of a novel that ticked every box off that I was looking for when I dove into this and shows the scope and talent Naben has as a writer. Very few could pull off such a vastly different 1-2 release of ‘Helpmeet’ and ‘The Grimmer’ and pull it off so masterfully.

5/5

Book Review: The Night Will Find Us by Matthew Lyons

Title: The Night Will Find Us

Author: Matthew Lyons

Release date: October 20, 2020

Ah, the one that got away. Back in 2020, I want to say June(?), this book came through Kendall Reviews for review consideration and I jumped all over it. Back then, unfortunately, my Kindle could be a huge jerk and, while I accepted it, the PDF that was sent to me was completely unreadable. It happens. Not as much lately, but it didn’t matter what I did – straight PDF emailed, file converted to a MOBI, file converted to an EPUB, my Kindle wouldn’t display it in any way that allowed me to read it.

So, I had it purchased, but as review requests were stacked up, I put it aside onto my ‘normal’ TBR and it slowly made its way to the top of the heap.

And then it arrived.

And I wanted to just straight kick myself in the face for having had it wait there.

THIS BOOK IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT TO READ.

THIS BOOK IS EXACTLY WHAT I WOULD WRITE.

Look, if you took Nevill’s ‘The Ritual’ and then threw it into a blender with A.M. Shine’s ‘The Creeper,’ and even a bit of David Sodergren’s ‘Maggie’s Grave,’ you’ll have an idea of what you’re in for.

What I liked: The story follows Parker, his cousin, Chloe, and their friends, Nate, Adam, Nicky and Josh (those two a couple), as they head into the woods of New Jersey to celebrate high school graduation.

Parker is struggling. His father has disappeared and his mom has turned to alcohol. With his downward spiral now evident with his friends, it makes for an occasion that should be an exciting time, but instead is awkward, tension-filled and making for short-fuses.

Look, this alone would’ve made for a solid ‘things are creepy here in the woods’ novel, but Lyons decides to completely throw us to the figurative wolves by having them go to an area that the soil itself is embedded with an ancient evil.

ANCIENT EVVVVVVIIILLLLL!

YEEEEESSSS!

God, yes. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

You know how much I love that.

So, Lyons gives us an explosive, emotional, completely unexpected scene, very early on that sets things in motion. We get a phenomenal obstacle, with great barriers and throughout, Lyons continues to push us ever forward, towards the darkness that awaits in an abandoned setting within.

Every something new was introduced, I wanted to pump my fist with glee, as this goes everywhere I wanted and more.

On top of that, we get resolutions for every single character, which is very rare indeed.

The ending was magical and even the epilogue dropped the ‘horror’ volume a few degrees to give us some closure and an update on how things went on after all was said and done.

What I didn’t like: Honestly, there was only one thing within the entire book that I scoffed at. I suspend my belief throughout 99% of reading anything, but this was the rare case where Lyons continued to beat people up and have them beat up. That was why, when one character ends up at the bottom of a cliff and seemingly ‘walks it off’ I was put off by that moment. That doesn’t happen. They were beat to hell and already on death’s doorstep, so even a two foot fall would’ve hurt them. Yet, they seemingly fall a solid ten-to-twenty feet and had almost no reaction to it. That was a hard one to push aside.

Why you should buy this: Man, just look at the title. And consider this. Ancient evil in a forest. Teens trying to survive. Both each other and the thing that dwells there. If that doesn’t have your hackles up and your credit card out, I don’t know what will.

This hummed along, and has easily cemented itself alongside so many great books on my ‘best creepy book in the woods’ list. Lyons nailed every single aspect of this.

Outstanding.

5/5

Website Exclusive – An Omitted Chapter From My Memoir The Color of Melancholy

 

Hello, friends and fans!

It’s been a few weeks since my memoir, ‘The Color of Melancholy’ was released and I’m so very touched with the response. Somehow, it’s maintained a Bestseller Banner on the good ship Amazon for almost the entirety of its release – both in the US and Canada – and I’d like to think that’s more to the response than the niche categories that it has been placed in, but either way, I’ll take it! It has also been great receiving messages from people who’ve had similar experiences and upbringings and those who’ve snagged some of Andrew Pyper’s work through reading this as well.

As I mentioned in the afterword of the novel, developing and releasing this memoir was a cathartic experience for myself, but it was also a way for me to bypass journaling, something I detest with a passion. It was easier for me to write these moments in my life as I would a story, so instead of me writing say, ‘August 6th, 2005. Dear Diary, today I was sad,’ instead I would write about the moment with adjectives and flourish and the way my brain processes things. Now, there’s nothing wrong with journaling or having a diary, do what works for you, but as for me, I approached it my way.

In the afterword, I also mentioned that somethings were omitted. In the editing phase, I realized some moments just didn’t fit or were either inconsequential to the narrative I was creating or slowed sections. In preparation for writing this, I read blog posts and watched a few podcasts on writing an effective memoir, and one thing that was unanimous across the board was to treat your life like a fiction novel, if you want to create a good reading experience for the readers.

Which I hope I’ve achieved.

As a thanks to everyone, I’ve decided it might be fun over the next little while to share a few of the omitted chapters. The sections that I feel were solid but just didn’t fit in the book itself.

So, without further ado, please enjoy this chapter that didn’t make the final cut about my first car crash!

(One note – the memoir features a photo section in the back of the book. With this being posted on my website, I have included photos within this omitted chapter. This is not indicative of how the book is, as getting the permissions to use the photos within the chapters, such as I have below, would’ve been a nightmare!)

*

In the Spring of 2003, I believe it was, I was in my first car accident. Or the first that I know of. I don’t believe my parents had a car accident when I was a child. If so, they never discussed it.

I was involved in an odd event, in 1997 or 1998. I was driving back to Burton from Nakusp, in my parent’s white minivan. Amanda and her friend at the time, Nicole, were with me. It was later in the day, dark out, and we’d just left Nakusp, going through the 50kph to 70kph section just as you leave the village. A vehicle with bright lights was driving into Nakusp at a high rate of speed, and as it went by, we heard a massive KAPOW! We weren’t sure what had happened, until we all kind of noticed it. Something had been thrown from the vehicle – either by a person or launched out from the back of their vehicle – and had smashed the front windshield. There was a significant ‘contact’ point with dense breakage and spiderwebbed cracks running over the rest of it. My parent’s WERE NOT happy when we arrived in Burton, but we weren’t sure what we were supposed to do. The vehicle was long gone by the time we understood what had happened and this was pre-cell phone days, so there was no point in pulling over and waiting for someone to drive by.

So, I drove us home and that was that.

As for my first ‘real’ car accident, that was a few years later.

It’s odd how the years begin to blur together, and it becomes difficult to remember exactly when it was. What I do know for sure, was that it was during the Spring and I’m 99% sure it was after my facial reconstruction. I know it was in the Spring because I was driving back to Castlegar so that I could get ready to write a Final Exam at Selkirk College.

I’d gone through a few vehicles in my young driving life. My first vehicle was after I’d graduated high school. A 1981 Chevy truck. I believe it had a v10 engine? Sure, let’s go with that.

(My truck was even this color!)

All I remember was I could drive super fast in it and that it went through gas even faster. This one didn’t last long, the cost of gas to drive between Nakusp and Castlegar quickly becoming prohibitive, so I traded it in at a dealership in Castlegar for a 1988 Chrysler LeBaron.

(The LeBaron I had even had a sick turbo injected engine! Vrrroooom-Vrrroooom!)

It had a sweet digital dash and a stereo system that popped. We had our ups and downs over the time I had this car. At one point, the fuel pump went, which meant it would randomly turn off while driving – no care for where I was driving at that moment – and it would come to a sudden halt. This happened once, as Amanda and I and a Nakusp friend, were driving back from Castlegar to Nakusp. We had just arrived at Crescent Valley when we had to stop for construction. They were repaving the highway, and as I came around the corner near where the gas station was, I gulped deeply as the flagger turned their sign to stop.

The car immediately died.

I hopped out, reached under with the handy wrench I now always had with me in the car, and tapped three times on the fuel pump while Amanda turned the key in the ignition and the car started. All I hoped for was for us to make it through the construction as having a line of cars behind you wouldn’t be ideal to suddenly stop and have to restart it. Sure enough, that’s what happened. The flagger turned her flag, we started, I begged and pleaded for the car to make it and at the half-way point of construction, it died and stopped. Horns honked, I hopped out and clanked the bottom and the construction workers laughed and yelled obscenities at me and my situation.

The fuel pump was repaired that weekend and the car, and I resumed a loving relationship for another year or so after that.

When that one died, along came a 1994 Pontiac Sunbird. I really loved that car, even if it was only in my life for a brief time.

(This was legitimately THE nicest picture I could find of a Sunbird online that was the same color as the one I had!) 

It drove smoother than the LeBaron and the speakers were significantly better as well. Though, I will say, Eiffel 65’s Europop album sounded better in the LeBaron than the Sunbird.

On the day of the accident, I had left early, wanting to get back to our basement suite in Castlegar midday so that I could get a solid afternoon of studying in, in preparation for the final the next morning.

I hated the pomp of the morning final at Selkirk College. They were held in the gymnasium of the school. So, every student who’d be writing an exam would have to wait in line down the narrow hallway that led past the weight room and outside.

At exactly 8:55am, the doors would be opened and as you entered, your instructor would direct you to your specific, assigned seat. At exactly 9:00am, a bagpipe player would arrive and play the national anthem or some other song – they all sounded the same on the bloody bagpipes at nine in the morning – and once done, a school administrator would go over the rules and then you could begin. I was always a fast exam writer, never spending much time rethinking my answers (which is why I was probably always a solid B student in College and University), but this also led to the awkwardness of usually being the first person to be finished. We’d have three hours to write the exam. I’d be done in forty-five minutes. I’d then sit for another fifteen minutes working up the courage to get up and leave, knowing the ccccrrrrkkkkk of my chair legs on the gym floor, followed by the screeqqq, screeqq, screeqq, of my shoes on the floor would have every other student in the gym looking at me.

The only time I remember not being the first one done was in my first year at Selkirk. The process of getting the exam had just begun, the bagpipe guy long gone, the administrator saying, ‘And you may all flip your exams over and begin,’ and we all flipped our exams.

And I kid you not, thirty seconds later, a guy who was in our Intro to Anatomy Course shouted out, ‘Oh, fuck this,’ got up, brought his exam to our instructor, and stormed out. Never did see the guy again.

Anyways, so, I was cruising down Highway 6, on my way back to Castlegar. As always, I was dismayed to not have seen a Bigfoot near Lemon Creek, and as I neared the straight stretch along an area known as Perrys, I swapped out the CD I was listening to, and slid Rammstein’s Mutter album into the player. This was back in the time of having a CD player in the car where you’d remove the face plate and take it with you whenever you left the car.

Simpler days, really.

I’ll readily admit that as I crested the hill and the two or three kilometer straight stretch lay before me, I pressed the gas a bit harder, buoyed by the industrial stomp of ‘Mein Herz brennt,’ and, as ‘Links 2 3 4’ began, I pretended to sing along as I drove.

And then the car appeared.

Off to my right, Harasemov Rd connected to Highway 6 and as I got almost directly to where its gravel turned into the highways cement, the car – couldn’t tell you what kind – drove directly onto the highway. I remember thinking, ‘Huh, that lady isn’t even looking left,’ before it was directly on the highway in front of me.

(Taken from Google maps, this is the exact spot I would’ve been in when the car pulled out directly in front of me, just off to the right.)

At this point, I was travelling around 75 mph/ 120kph, and she was going roughly 18mph/ 30kph. I nailed the horn, cranked the wheel left to miss her, and immediately saw a vehicle hurtling towards me. The speed limit there (back then at least) was 62 mph/ 100kph, which meant they were coming at me fast. I slammed the wheel to the right, narrowly avoiding the oncoming traffic, but realized I was now sliding sideways across the road, heading towards the ditch. I don’t know if I froze at the understanding that I was about to crash, or what, but suddenly I was weightless and the car went into a roll – sideways – which it continued doing, until it ended up upside down against some trees.

I coughed a few times, dangling from the seat, my seatbelt having stretched but still holding me in place. There was dust and dirt and glass and branches and all kids of debris everywhere and all the while ‘Links 2 3 4’ continued playing, until the engine sputtered and shut off.

I couldn’t reach the button to unclip the seatbelt. Mentally I started running through scenarios on how I’d be able to get out of the car, when I heard someone screaming and footsteps rapidly approaching.

“Oh my God, he’s dead! He’s dead!”

Whoever was yelling this, continued to yell it over and over, until an older man popped his head into the car, and we looked at each other.

“You, ok?” he asked.

“I’m not dead,” I replied.

“He’s not dead,” he yelled back to the woman still screaming that I was dead.

“Can you feel your legs?”

“Yeah, I just can’t get my seatbelt undone,” I said.

“Hold tight,” he replied. He tentatively crawled in, trying the button, but nothing happened.

“Let me grab a knife,” he said, after clicking the button a half-dozen more times. He left, returning momentarily with a Swiss Army knife, and sliced through the belt, which allowed me to drop with a hard clunk to the roof below. I crawled out through the shattered passenger door window and stood, things already stiff and sore.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” the lady who’d pulled out in front of me was saying while she was blubbering and bawling her eyes out.

“You should’ve fucking looked,” I said, being completely un-Canadian in that moment and not apologizing back.

“I know, I’m so sorry,” she kept going on and on.

I walked away from her, not wanting to deal with her continued blabbering, because I was the one who no longer had a fucking car.

Of course, there was one other thing that really dates this incident and the location. We were in the middle of nowhere and cellphones were not a thing. Even now, I don’t believe they have cell service in that area.

So, while I’d been spinning through the air, someone had driven like a mad person to Winlaw, the closest town, and called the ambulance service. The ambulance was dispatched and, having no car to drive anywhere, I sat on the tailgate of the truck owned by the man who’d rushed to see if I was dead.

Thirty minutes later, the ambulance arrived, lights and sirens on. They came over to ask how I was doing and let me know that because they were called, they’d need to take me to the hospital. I asked if I could go to Castlegar, as Nelson wouldn’t work for me, as I figured once I was discharged, I’d need to walk home, what with my car crumpled in the ditch. Then, because of the ‘seriousness’ of the accident, I was strapped to a back board and had a neck collar put on me. Unfortunately, we didn’t think things through, so they had to cut my jacket off to put a blood pressure cuff on my arm. I was sad about that, as it’d been my all-time favorite jacket up to that point.

It was a Selkirk College Kinesiology Program jacket that I’d help organize and order. There was a ridiculous mess up with the jackets, a story for another day, but I loved how the jacket fit, felt, and looked and now it was gone.

Before the ambulance started to drive, I asked if they could call my mom and let her know. I didn’t remember the number to the coffee shop Amanda was working at, so I knew my mom would let her know. They said sure, arranged for that to happen by radioing back to the station and then the ambulance drove me to the Castlegar hospital.

Once there, I was examined thoroughly, nothing of note discovered, but wasn’t allowed to leave until someone could pick me up. Not long after, my mom and Amanda arrived, both looking devastated. Turns out, my mom had been called, and the person had simply said that I had been in a serious car accident and was being rushed to the Castlegar hospital via ambulance and for her to get there ASAP. So, for the entirety of their almost two-hour drive to Castlegar, Amanda and my mom assumed I was on death’s doorstep.

I found it hilarious.

They did not.

Overall, I recovered well. We drove back to Nakusp, and I spent the night at Amanda’s, waking up the next day in ridiculous agony as every muscle in my body was locked tight.

A few days after went back to Nelson, to meet with a police officer to give an official statement. They estimated that the car rolled five to seven times, based on where I left the road and where I ended up. From there, we went to the junk yard where the car had been towed. I made sure to grab my CD binder out (we all had one back then), the random crap I had in the car – backpack with school binders and books, etc., and then quickly removed the CD player – face and deck – from the dash as that bad boy was coming with me.

I had been given a police file and ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia – the one and only place in BC that you register your car through and get insurance from) and contacted the school, getting a re-write date for the exam due to the circumstances.

Two last things before wrapping this up and moving on.

The first was that, from this accident, ICBC gave me a check for $5000 for the value of the Sunbird to go towards a new(er) vehicle. My dad and I went to Kelowna on a weekend to look for cars. After going to four or five places, I saw the one I wanted. A 1991 Volkswagen Jetta. White, with some sleek body trim that most of them didn’t have. On top of that, it had a subwoofer installed in the trunk, so that when you dropped the middle panel of the back seat, you could see the cage covering it and the system PUMPED. That was a big selling point for me, loud music. Only problem – it was a standard and I didn’t know how to drive a standard.

(The version I purchased didn’t have as nice of rims as this, but it did have a mini black spoiler-thing on the trunk, which this one is lacking.)

“No, problem,” my dad casually said, “you’ll learn quick.”

My dad took it for a test drive, did a cursory examination of the engine and the underbody and a deal was struck. Then, my dad hopped in our minivan and took off back to Burton, a three-hour drive away.

With all the confidence I could muster, I gave a wave to the car salesman, got in, started the car, slowly let the clutch out while giving it some gas and whhhhaaa-thunk. Stalled. Started the car, slowly let the clutch out, gave it some gas and WHAAAAAAATTTTT got it going. I pulled onto Harvey Ave, aka the busiest road in all of Kelowna, managed to keep it running until I was near Orchard Park Mall, when the light ahead turned red and whhhhaaaa-thunk, stalled. I was panicking by this point. If you’ve never been to Kelowna, the main strip there is notorious for the start-stop traffic. If you hit one red light, you’ll hit them all and people will often complain of it taking them forty-five minutes to drive from one end of the road to the other, which is only about five kilometers wide.

I stalled the car two more times, before I threw on my hazard lights and the guy behind me exited his car and came to the driver’s side door. Thankfully, it wasn’t to shout and rage, but to ask if I needed help. I did, I said. He helped me guide the car into the parking lot of Orchard Park Mall, where I thanked him profusely, and then proceeded to go find a pay phone, call my mom, and let her know that I was parked at the mall and had no way of driving the car home.

I’m honestly not sure why my dad didn’t drive the car home, while I drove the minivan? It would’ve made WAY more sense, but sometimes that’s the way things go, yeah?

My mom called the Fauquier ferry – love how small the place is that she called the ferry – and when my dad arrived, roughly two-and-a-half-hours-later, they let him know that he needed to turn around and drive back to Kelowna to save his dumbass son who couldn’t drive his new car.

Meanwhile, I went into the mall, grabbed a bite to eat at the food court, bought a new CD from HMV and a couple music magazines and proceeded to lounge in my new – but undrivable – car, until he arrived.

Once back in Burton, it would take me the entirety of the following day to really get comfortable with driving a standard and for many years after, I made sure all my cars that I had were stick shifts as I loved driving them so much.

And, as you’ll come to find out, this car, the white Jetta, would later be dubbed Steamin’ Sally by a friend.

Lastly, ICBC contacted me about the accident and said that because I’d been taken by ambulance to the hospital, and the accident had been deemed 100% at fault to the lady who pulled out in front of me, ICBC would be paying for the ambulance, and they wanted to settle my case with them. I had no idea what that meant, so the kind lady (who clearly understood she was dealing with a novice and totally gullible young person) said that she had a check for $2000 for me, if I’d sign the forms closing my case and confirming that ICBC wouldn’t be liable to pay for any future medical treatments that I may need because of the accident.

$2000! Sign me up!

Amanda and I drove straight to the ICBC centre in Nelson, signed the forms, deposited the cheque and once it cleared, I probably spent at least a quarter of that money on CD’s alone!

Ah, the innocence of youth. And having zero idea on financial issues.

*

Hope you enjoyed this omitted chapter!

If you read this and liked it but haven’t grabbed a copy of my memoir yet;

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Book Review: Midnight Masquerade by Greg Chapman

Title: Midnight Masquerade

Author: Greg Chapman

Release date: October 31st, 2023

Full disclosure here – I not only consider Greg to be a great friend, but he’s also done three book covers for me (Churn the Soil, An Endless Darkness and the upcoming When I Look at the Sky, All I See Are Stars). Saying that, Greg’s a professional and he knows my thoughts will be my thoughts on his work. Saying ALL OF THAT – I should also state, Greg is one of my favorite writers. His work shimmers and seethes with creepiness and emotion. I think, of all of his work, the one that isn’t my personal favorite was his his debut novel – which was a great time – and it was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Debut Novel! So, it’s safe to say, I was excited when Greg asked if I’d like to take his next collection, ‘Midnight Masquerade’ for a spin.

What I liked: Featuring nine entries of varying lengths – from short story up to novella – Greg showcases his ability to create masterfully crafted, tension-filled pieces that focus around some truly memorable characters.

I’ve already read a few of these, so I’ll be brief on those, as you can find my longer thoughts in my other reviews, but ‘Vaudeville,’ ‘The Last Night of October’ ‘Left on October Lane’ and ‘Octoberville,’ are just phenomenal stories in their own rights and are worth the price of admission alone.

The new entries are all excellent. ‘The History of Halloween,’ follows a Halloween historian – coincidentally born on Halloween – who finds out that there is some truth to what some people thought might happen to those born on that day. ‘Midnight Masquerade,’ was so well done. This one follows a young woman, Emma, who attends a group meeting for victims. Once there, someone gives her an alternative to the meeting and she takes it. Normally, I wouldn’t pegged this one as my favorite of the new ones, but there was one more that topped it. First though, let’s talk ‘Thirty Years Later.’ While it does tread familiar ground – thirty years later, four former friends are ‘reunited’ over what happened back in high school, stories like these will always have me intrigued and Greg does a great job of keeping the reader on the edge of their seat.

The highlight within this collection for me was ‘Happy Daze.’ With shades of Michael Douglas’ 1993 film ‘Falling Down,’ we meet Harvey the Clown, a man who has dedicated his life to making sick kids smile. When he learns his wife is embarrassed by him and his clown group hates him, things unravel quickly. This was filled to the brim with emotion and showcases Greg’s trademarks perfectly.

What I didn’t like:  Having had read a number of these before, my biggest concern for this collection is that those who’ve already snagged the other releases previously may not grab this one, in which case they’ll be missing out on how phenomenal the new stories are. I get it, I really do, I’ve done it as well, but for someone who wants more people to read and love Greg’s work, I worry that this may be a limiting factor for some.

Why you should buy this: If you’ve not read any of Greg’s work before, this is the perfect place to start and even better – this one will be launched on Halloween, so will definitely be a timely release for those loving the Halloween season. Greg’s such a talented writer and I hope this one rockets out of the gate and finds so many more readers to discover and love his work as much as I do.

5/5

Book Review: Ashtrays and Kittens by P.A. Sheppard

Title: Ashtrays and Kittens

Author: P.A. Sheppard

Release date: May 31st, 2023

Thanks again to P.A. Sheppard for sending me some of his books to check out. After reading the fun ‘The Nightcrawler,’ his latest, ‘Ashtrays and Kittens’ was up. I had zero idea going in what it was even about, but Sheppard had said that it was one of his personal favorites, so that had me intrigued, knowing this one excited the author as much as it did.

What I liked: The story follows a former Army member who is now an investigative journalist. He’s been tasked with interviewing a notorious serial killer, a guy who believed strange objects were in each of his victims and he’d have to kill them and cut them out.

From there, Sheppard takes us on a crazy Urban Fantasy tale that rips back and forth between the history of the events that led us to this moment, as well as the current battle raging that brings about the potential demise of the human race.

We get plenty of great world building and historical context, which gave us the ‘why’ about is happening and as some betrayal’s stack up and the reader no longer can trust who we think we can trust, it heightens the tension.

The ending was great. A very cinematic finale that ‘wraps’ things up but with a cheeky grin suggesting more is to come.

What I didn’t like: Urban Fantasy can be hit or miss for me. It sometimes can come off as very silly. That wasn’t the case here, but what it did create for me was some odd moments when people were no longer called by their names and were sudden Bear or Cat etc and I had to try and recall who was who.

As well, for our MC being a former Army Ranger, he seemed very timid and meek and not someone who had experienced the front line of war or the rigors with getting to that rank.

Why you should buy this: Fans of fast-paced, mildly bonkers Urban Fantasy should be all over this. It starts out with a very intriguing opening and explodes from there. Definitely a fun read and one that goes in a number of very exciting directions.

4/5

Book Review: Death Freaks on Hell’s Highway by Carl John Lee

Title: Death Freaks on Hell’s Highway

Author: Carl John Lee

Release date: July 22nd, 2023 on Godless, August 18th, 2023 on Amazon

UNCLE CARL is back!

Carl John Lee is an enigma. A time traveler. Living his life off the internet grid, off the social media highway, just existing enough to share that a new book is out and kindly replying when someone tags him in a review.

I’ve been fortunate to have developed a bit of a relationship with Carl since his debut ‘The Blood Beast Mutations’ was released and I’ve been lucky enough to have him to a cover for one of my novels (Incarnate).

But that doesn’t mean Carl doesn’t have any tricks up his perverted sleeve.

No, he surprised everyone by stealth releasing this, his newest piece of filth, just last Saturday, the 22nd of July. We’d had a few emails back and forth, with him asking me my thoughts on the Godless website, he was curious, and I swore up and down that it was the perfect home for Uncle Carl’s brand of voyeuristic debauchery. When I got an email from him saying – ‘hey, here’s my newest, it’s on Godless today,’ I was over the moon and once I was back home from our mini-vacation dove right in.

What I liked: ‘Death Freaks on Hell’s Highway’ is everything you would expect from a Carl release and more. We have horny men, horny women, dicks, pussy, tits, death, gore, sodomy, rape, cemetery filth, forced voyeurism, blood drinking, and slit throats. And that’s all in the first section of the book at the hotel.

We follow Roy and his wife Michelle, as Roy escorts her to a wellness retreat. Roy has severe PTSD from Vietnam. Michelle has some sort of complex mental condition where she blacks out, kills things and doesn’t remember it. After they pick up a hitchhiker, things go balls out as Michelle turns on her husband and joins forces with the hitchhiker, a man named Carter, who lives to kill and fuck. And kill. Leaving Roy for dead, they continue on to the aforementioned hotel, where blood is painted on every wall and semen almost follows after. Almost. But I won’t spoil the ‘why,’ and I don’t want to get ahead of myself. There’s a funny pun there, but you’ll have to read the book to understand it!

As the story goes on, we get a new female character with a mysterious backstory, who Roy uses to steal her car and continue on his way, trying to track down Carter and Michelle.

Look, the closet I can get to describing this is as though Rob Zombie released an NC17 version of The Devil’s Rejects, but before anyone was allowed to watch it, they had to do a bag of coke, wrap an elastic around their cock or have a vibrator shoved up their vagina turned on to full blast and then sit back and enjoy it.

It’s a lot to take in and a fucking great time while you’re entrenched in that world.

The ending is a two-parter, Roy’s storyline finishes as does the secondary female character. I’ll talk about that in a second, but with Roy’s part coming to an end, it was as fitting way for it to conclude and made for a gruesome adios.

What I didn’t like: Well, for other readers, this hits every single trigger warning well out of the park, so reader – enter at your own risk. Carl just may get himself cancelled with this one.

As for me – I had no care in the secondary character. She came, was there, and then her story returned at the end and was closed off. I don’t think she was necessary and other than adding in some grotesque kills, the story would’ve been just fine without her.

Why you should buy this: Carl John Lee writes the books that were the movies we all snuck back out to the living rooms after our parents went to sleep, to watch. They are the soundtrack to us kids born in the early eighties who loved Easy Rider just as much as Friday the 13th. We get fun characters, tons of T & A (and C for the ladies), and we get a story that is such a fun distraction from everything else, you just can’t help but smile.

I’m a huge fan of Carl John Lee and I’m hoping that with this one being his first entry into the Godless world, more extreme horror fans will find his work and discover a refreshing writer from a bygone period.

5/5

Available here on Godless as an ebook now;

Death Freaks on Hell's Highway by Carl John Lee

Amazon Kindle Preorder and Future Paperback link here;

Book Review: We Spread by Iain Reid

Title: We Spread

Author: Iain Reid

Release date: September 27th, 2022

After the one-two punch of ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ and ‘FOE’ I was very, very curious of what Reid would offer up for the trifecta of creepiness. I personally enjoyed ‘FOE’ more than ‘ITOET’ but I imagine each reader will have a different favorite based on the order of having read those.

When I was out in Toronto in May, my friend, Randall kindly gave me a copy of Reid’s newest. I was thankful, but also a bit worried – as I often never get a chance to read physical books. With my wife and son heading to my in-laws for the week here, I instantly knew now was the time to dive into ‘We Spread’ and boy what a trip. Over three snappy reading sessions, I worked my way through this and I’d have to think Reid is currently the leader in weird/creepy literary horror fiction.What I liked: The story follows Penny, an older woman who lives in the apartment she shared with her significant other for over five decades. They never married, both focused on their art and careers as artists. He’s now passed and she goes about her mundane existence, constantly dealing with  the mental battle of aging and what that means.After having a fall, the story really ramps up. Penny is admitted to an extended care home, a place she’s told her and her significant other had set up for her before he died. Here, she lives alongside three other seniors, as well as Shelley, the manager and Jack, the handyman/Jack of all trades.As the story progresses, Iain somehow manages to infuse each page with a growing sense of dread. Look, us readers are not stupid, we know something truly weird is going on, but Reid smartly hides the potential uncertainties behind the pretense of potential dementia. Maybe Penny is just getting old and can’t remember stuff. Maybe the others are just forgetting and Shelley has their best interests at heart. But we don’t buy it. Not for a second. And in the final third of the book, we get a partial look behind the veil, where Penny discovers things and us readers have a collective AH HA! moment.I really enjoyed the various characters that Penny interacted with. Hilbert and her share a special relationship and Ruby was a great comic-relief, even if her arrivals and departures were not meant comically. It had a way of lowering the tension-o-meter each time she was there, only for it to be re-ramped up with the turn of the page.The ending was spectacular and will offer readers two variations of theme to decide on what they think truly happens. Reid did a great job of pushing us in both directions equally throughout and evokes shades of Gran’s ‘Come Closer’ with its execution.What I didn’t like: Readers may find some familiarity with pacing and plotting with ‘FOE’ and ultimately that may turn them off from venturing far in this one. I would say this one doesn’t go to the same places that one did and to stick it out, the branches that spread in the last section are worth climbing up on.Why you should buy this: Fans of Reid’s will undoubtedly already have this and in many cases will have ripped through it. ‘We Spread’ is compulsive, propulsive and absolutely captivating. It kept me suitably creeped out from page one until the ending and the emotional aspects of the dementia subplot were spot on and really humanized the unsettling feeling you get throughout.Reid is a juggernaut with this style of fiction and not only do I love that he’s Canadian, but that he continues to forge ahead by doing things his way.Much to the benefit of us readers.5/5https://www.amazon.com/We-Spread-Iain-Reid-ebook/dp/B09RX2LW56/