Steve Stred's Blog, page 5

Book Review: The Modern Prometheus by Jayson Robert Ducharme

Title: The Modern Prometheus

Author: Jayson Robert Ducharme

Release date: April 24, 2022

I’ve had this book on my Kindle for far too long. Featuring a stunning cover by Francois Vaillancourt, it was released only a few months after my own novel ‘Mastodon’ was released, which also has a Francois cover. Because of that, I was excited to see all of the other books that Francois’ artwork was adorning – and I still am to this day – which meant, I snagged this one when it was released… and it languished on my TBR ever since. Over and over, other readers whom I chat with books about a bunch kept telling me to give this one a go, and when I saw it coming up on the top of my TBR I was excited to dive into this.

Going in, I decided to not re-read the synopsis, instead wanting to be surprised and fresh.

What I liked: The story follows a man, who awakens in a strange place. He’s hooked up to machines, body feeling odd and off, and as he comes to, he begins to remember that his name was Peter. His life and memories slowly return, but one of the hands is not his own, instead a woman’s hand. He’s scarred, stapled and stitched and when the person who brought him back to life arrives, he manages to escape.

It’s evident that this is influenced by Shelley’s genre-creating classic, but parts of this also reminded me of M. Shaw’s ‘One Hand to Hold, One Hand to Carve.’ This ‘who am I’ mentality with the ‘what of me still exists.’ It makes for some really intriguing and claustrophobic moral dilemma’s. Peter knows who he was, but he’s not that man anymore. He sees this at his gravesite. He sees it when he returns to his home and runs into his wife.

But all the while he continues to change, to transform and when the end arrives, he understands he’s no longer Peter and he questions what his life will be like going forward. It’s got shades of what Tim McGregor’s ‘Eynhallow’ presented within it’s pages as well.

Ducharme gives us a lot of questions, but also presents a variation of possible answers, which worked perfectly to give us both a very solid fictional story, but also one that walks that line of bringing the fictional world into every readers real lives.

What I didn’t like: I really wanted to love this book, but the reality was, it was good, not great. Compared to Shaw and McGregor’s books, this one got close to the elevated ideas and delivery, but didn’t completely deliver when all was said and done.

Why you should buy this: Purely for what I said at the end of a previous section of this review, this novel worked so well to make the reader uncomfortable while reading it, but also to really force the reader to ask themselves what would they do while in that position in their real lives.

The story gallops along, the emotions are high and the introduction of accessory characters really gives this an extra depth.

Overall, it was a really solid and engaging read, and fits that bit nicely for a reader looking for a novel that’ll make them squirm but also want to hold their loved ones close. And this was does that fantastically.

4/5

Book Review: And One Day We Will Die: Strange Stories Inspired by the Music of Neutral Milk Hotel

Title: And One Day We Will Die: Strange Stories Inspired by the Music of Neutral Milk Hotel

Edited by: Patrick Barb

Release date: January 14th, 2025

*Huge thanks to Patrick Barb for a digital ARC of this one!*

As long as I can remember, music has been an integral part of my life. I’m not ashamed to say that there’s been times music has literally saved my life and when I’ve been at my lowest of low moments, I’ve turned to music. When a song can take me somewhere, whether the lyrics relate specifically to that moment – and at times they’re not even in English – it forever sticks with me. When I was traveling to Lac La Biche, Alberta to say my goodbyes to my aunt, CCR ‘Have You Ever Seen the Rain’ played literally everywhere. I can still hear it playing in the Kelowna Airport, on the airplane when we landed in Calgary to transfer planes, in the van driving to my aunt and uncles house and again in the hospital when we were visiting my aunt. And wouldn’t you know it, the song was playing a million times on the trip home.

I had a similar experience a few years ago when I took our believed American Bulldog OJ to the vet for the final time. On the drive there, Rod Stewart’s ‘Forever Young’ was playing. It was on again at the vet’s. And when I left without him, I was trying to keep it together, so I changed the radio channel, not wanting to listen to anything else while driving. And sure enough, the scheduled show on the sports talk channel used ‘Forever Young’ as it’s intro music. SERIOUSLY!

Music is the lifeblood of our emotions, our memories and brings people together like nothing else.

Saying all of that, before I read this anthology, I’d heard of Neutral Milk Hotel, but had never really listened to them. After reading this, I popped onto Youtube and listened through a dozen songs, recognizing a bunch of them. I can’t say that I’m a huge fan, but I can absolutely see why they’ve created the cult following they have and why it was that Patrick Barb got together over a dozen authors for this anthology based on the band’s songs.

What I liked: The level of talent on display here is world class, but it was also refreshing to see a lot of newer names to me and up-and-coming names as well. It wasn’t the standard TOC that everybody always sees when a new anthology is announced and you can practically guess the first twelve authors announced every single time.

There were a lot of very solid stories, but there were a few that really stood out.

The opening story, ‘Untitled’ by Lilah Lawson was easily the perfect choice to open the anthology. It’s not only the most eerie story, but in this readers mind, the best story within. It follows a woman who decides that she’s going to become a ghost and goes about remembering her life, why she decides being a ghost is the best way forward. The ending to this story showcases what each story is going to deliver, but none of them do it as pristinely as Lawson did. Haunting and atmospheric, which is exactly what I want in a well crafted song.

‘The Clown King in Yellow’ by Joe Koch is another perfect example of why you should be reading Joe’s work. Joe’s work is always powerful and pushes the boundaries of where a story can go. It’s like the first time you see a comic book artist draw part of the image outside of the frame. The story follows a family that changes their memorial celebration into a Halloween party of sorts and as the night goes on, things grower tenser and tenser. It works so very well and if it wasn’t for Lawson’s phenomenal piece, this would’ve been my favorite.

‘The Garden Head’ by Brian Evenson. Good friggin’ lord. Is there nothing that Evenson can’t make creepy? This story had me tucking the blankets around my feet and making sure the closet doors remained closed. A person finds a path. They follow it. They find some gates and a transcendental event occurs. That’s about all I can say without really spoiling it, but holy wow was this unnerving.

Throughout, the stories weave and work there ways into the readers brain and I can really see fans of the band absolutely raving about this anthology for years to come.

What I didn’t like: If you know my reading tastes, you’ll know I struggle with epistolary storytelling, and there were a number of those stories within that I just couldn’t connect with.

As well, though I think you can really enjoy and experience this batch of stories without being familiar with the band, there are definitely Easter eggs and song lyrics within that fans of the band will embrace and enjoy that much more.

Why you should buy this: Fans of the band will definitely eat this up and hold these stories high within their reading lives. Those who’re not familiar with the music but are familiar with the authors will be very, very happy with what is delivered here. And those readers, who simply enjoy anthologies and anthologies around music will most likely find their new favorite short story within.

Solid, balanced and (as evidenced by the amazing foreword) respectful of the source material, Barb has done an amazing job with this anthology.

5/5

Book Review: The Bridge by John Skipp & Craig Spector

Title: The Bridge

Authors: John Skipp & Craig Spector

Release date: September 1st, 1991

In the Splatterpunk world of fiction, there are a number of authors and books who defined and launched the genre. Since it’s beginning, Splatterpunk has forged ahead on the tenement that any extreme violence or graphic events are specifically in the book to move the story forward. That is one of the major differences between Splatterpunk and Extreme horror, though that definition has seemingly become diluted and blended over the last few years.

I’ve had ‘The Bridge’ on my Kindle for a number of years, but it wasn’t until back in September of this year (2024), when I was discussing the books that seemed to have launched Splatterpunk with Nick Cutter, that he said I needed to bump this book up my TBR and read it. According to Nick, this is one of those books that launched a thousand books and influenced his own releases as Nick and Patrick Lestewka.

So, with that in mind, I dove in recently, excited to see where this one went.

What I liked: At its core, the novel is an environmental story about man’s destructive ways. It follows the events in a small town after years of toxic waste has been dumped in the creek and on this particular day, a storm rages and conditions are perfect for the waste to transform into a sentient killing beast.

Within that overarching narrative, we get smaller stories of many of the people who live in the town, their roles in the toxic waste mayhem, as well as those who’re innocent and deal with the repercussions of what those have done behind closed doors.

It’s a fascinating examination of what happens when some do whatever they want for power, money, greed and control, while also investigating the trickle effect of those stomped on. That metaphor works well to be applied across any time period, which makes the main story line almost timeless.

The gore is plenty and brutal, the setting is great and well developed and many of the characters are vividly created, making the reader either love them or loathe them almost immediately.

The ending is solid, if not a bit suggestive of a sequel (though I don’t believe one was every made), and worked well to showcase the power that was unleashed.

What I didn’t like: I found the novel to be too scattered and often anti-climatic. Early on, we get somebody introduced with paranormal powers. That then is left behind for a lengthy time, when at first it seemed like it was going to be a driving force of the novel.

Throughout, we get new people introduced – and thoroughly introduced – to only be killed off. Time and time again, pages and pages of backstory are described for characters that really play no role in the story, other than something happening at that location. It made it so that the main characters of the novel are missing from the story for chapters and chapters and chapters and the minor characters who are there at the beginning are easily forgotten about, and when they return, you feel like you’ve missed something.

And because of that introduction of so many characters, we often get a cliff hanger at the end of chapters that doesn’t go anywhere. I’m not sure if this a case of the time period it was released – which might be how some things were done back then – or because of the two different authors, but it became a reoccurring ending to each chapter.

Why you should buy this: The main component of the novel was fantastic, and I wished it had stayed with just that – the story of the barrels being dumped, the news folks discovering it and them trying to get to the bottom of it, but too many other elements continued to get introduced, which ultimately slowed this one down for me.

Saying that, if you’re looking to read some of the books that formed the Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror Genres that so many read and love these days, then definitely give this a read. The town is great, the gore is solid and you can definitely see the influence all these years later.

3/5

Book Review: Placerita by Lisa Morton & John Palisano

Title: Placerita

Authors: Lisa Morton & John Palisano

Release date: June 14th, 2024

If you’ve been a fan of crazy creature stories, then you might’ve come across the story/idea that deep below the city of Los Angeles resides or used to reside a race of lizard people. While it sounds insane to some, to others it’s not rumor – it’s fact – and that fact was first presented back in 1934 in the LA Times of all places.

G. Warren Shufelt – a miner and engineer, said he’d developed a way to scan below ground and in doing so, had discovered a massive, sprawling city made up of tunnels and chambers below LA. Shufelt then claimed that after mapping this area, he’d met with a well-respected Hopi Indigenous man, who told him about the Lizard People who lived below the surface and that there was a city built of gold.

It’s with that back drop that Morton and Palisano deliver ‘Placerita’ a history-horror novella that deftly blends fact and fiction. That should come as no surprise, when considering the two authors involved. Morton is an internationally lauded writer of both non-fiction and fiction, and Palisano himself is no slouch, having won a Bram Stoker Award and been nominated several other times as well. Both know the area this is set in intimately, and it was with all that in hand that I jumped into this story.

What I liked: The novella follows a young woman in 1928. Alexis has been hired on as a Professor of Biology at a University, and is excited about making strides in her field. Then things take a turn. A dam bursts, her home is destroyed, and within all of that madness, she finds a scaled hand. One that shouldn’t exist.

It’s that discovery that sends her down the rabbit hole of learning about the oddities of the potential Lizard People below Los Angeles. She has run-ins with some nefarious characters and even Schufelt himself.

Morton and Palisano do a wonderful job of collaboration. It felt like a singular voice wrote this and the pacing is spot-on perfect, with each section building intrigue but also setting up for a big reveal.

Throughout, we get hints and clues regarding whether that population of lizard folks actually exist, and the ending was a rational, well executed ending that also showcased how Alexis processed her new-found information.

What I didn’t like: While I really enjoyed the story and the way it was told, a lot of the ‘big moments’ felt like Lite moments. We were always on the precipice of a big reveal, only for it to arrive and not happen, the direction of the story changing. It left a lot of ‘what if’s’ and ‘what was that’ spots. Additionally, while the ending was exactly how it should’ve played out for Alexis’ character, for the story itself, it just didn’t resolve anything for those reading this for a creature experience. It just sort of… ends.

Why you should buy this: This is a novella that really does two things perfectly. The first, is that it is very, very engaging and will have you racing through the story to see what happens. The second, is that is will also have you racing to your bookshelf (if you’re like me and have a bunch of books about mythical creatures and forgotten civilizations on your shelves) or Google (if you don’t have those other books!) to read all about the history of the Lizard People.

This novella was really well done and I think it’s one that historical-horror fans will really enjoy!

4/5

Book Review: Cold Storage by David Koepp

Title: Cold Storage

Author: David Koepp

Release Date: September 3rd, 2019

It’s crazy how the passage of time has taken place over the last five years or so.

Since the onset of Covid-19, I’ve personally found the last five years has flown by while also taking forever. Some things feel like they happened a lifetime ago, while others just the other day.

Such was the case with this book. When it was first released, I was super intrigued, but I’m also terrified of organism based horror. Books like Jason Parent’s ‘The Andromeda Strain,’ Michael Crichton’s work and Nicholas Kaufmann’s Dr. Laura Powell series that have seemingly sentient organism’s that can mutate and find ways of devouring and overtaking and controlling organic matter. When I went to the theatre – way back in the 1900’s as my son says – and watched ‘Outbreak,’ I was terrified. We truly live in a globally connected world and as such, everything can be spread faster than the blink of an eye. Even the timing of me writing this review – on a break at work – demonstrates that. The first patient I saw this morning landed last night in Edmonton, returning from a work trip to Hong Kong. Over the last few days, they travelled over 10,000 kms (6200 miles) and then came to their appointment.

So, even though I purchased this book for my Kindle on Christmas Day, 2020, I was stressed about reading it. I knew it’d be great. I knew Koepp would deliver – seriously, the guys screenplays have generated over SIX BILLION DOLLARS in theatres – but I didn’t know if I could handle it.

Finally, after That Horror Bish told me I HAD to read it, I took the plunge, and wow. What a plunge it was.

What I liked: The story opens roughly twenty-five years ago, when Roberto and Trini are called into to investigate a strange event in a rural Australia village. Aided by a biochemist, they discover that a rocket that crashed upon returning to earth was harvesting some sort of bacteria that didn’t burn up upon re-entry. The organism is beyond anything they’ve ever encountered and to protect earth, the sample taken is stored deep under ground in the US in a cold storage facility.

Fast forward to present day and the government has sealed the storage facility and rented the ground level section to a normal storage company. Folks rent the units, store their crap and life goes on. Until one day, when a malfunction occurs and two workers decide to investigate what the beeping sound behind the wall is.

From there, Koepp delivers a fast-paced, engaging sci-fi-horror novel that is neither ridiculously over the top nor bogged down in so many details that you’d need a PHD to even understand what’s going on.

Our two main characters, Teacake – real name, Travis – and Naomi, work well together, even if they’re tentatively awkward at first and Koepp works their relationship weirdness of being coworkers then potentially an item perfectly.

As the stakes get higher and the reality of the organism getting out, Roberto returns with a plan in hand.

I’ll admit, this part of the story is very cinematically over the top. A bit Michael Bay cheese if you will, but it worked well for the story and it kept the tension high and the pages flipping all the way to the end.

What I didn’t like: For me, the one thing that I felt was a bit light throughout, was the actual organism. When it’s a factor it was a factor, rapidly mutating and exploding and overtaking and just creating brutal carnage. But it wasn’t as prevalent as I expected, and there was only so much of Teacake’s nervousness and Naomi’s calmness that could be used to continue the story forward.

Why you should buy this: This was a really fun, edge-of-your-seat thriller that had me completely invested. It was set in a great setting, the characters were charmingly annoying and I’m a huge sucker for this exact type of organism-based sci-fi/horror. Definitely one to read if you’ve had it sitting on your TBR forever, like I did.

4/5

Book Review: The Wind Began to Howl by Laird Barron

Title: The Wind Began to Howl

Author: Laird Barron

Release date: May 16th, 2023

I’ve had this book on my TBR for far too long and with how wonderfully kind and supportive Laird’s always been, it’s a bit shameful I didn’t get to it sooner.

In my defense, my Kindle has like 5000 books on it and my TBR continues to grow taller and taller (well, digitally, but you know what I mean!) with no end in sight.

Not too long ago, I read (and loved) Barron’s ‘The Croning,’ but I’m more of a tried-and-true horror reader, and that fell within that category nicely. I’m not a huge fan of crime fiction, of noir type stuff and having never read any of Barron’s Isaiah Coleridge books, I wasn’t 100% sure how this one would hit, considering it’s listed as Coleridge 3.5.

But still, the synopsis sounded intriguing, and the cover art was phenomenal. Murano at Bad Hand Books keeps putting out fantastic work, and when you put Murano and Barron together, then surely it’s going to be a home run, yeah?

What I liked: The story follows our M/C, Isaiah Coleridge, former mob enforcer, who has now become a P.I., who gets hired to do what should be a simple job. A movie producer needs him to track down two ambient/black metal musicians and get them to sign the contract necessary so a snippet of their song can appear in a movie. The song is absolutely necessary for the movie and with that in mind, Coleridge sets off.

As I mentioned, normally, this wouldn’t be my bread-and-butter, but the writing really reminded me of Adam Nevill’s stunning ‘Lost Girl’ and Barron had me captivated in no time. It also helped that this focused on how these two brothers who made up the band, reminded me a lot of the crazy dudes who populated the PNW when I lived up in that area. Wolves in the Throne Room type folks, who live off the grid, make music that they believe will open portals, connect with Gods and help them see far into the future. The type of music that will literally let them walk through walls. (I should note, I met Wolves in the Throne Room once, and they were all really friendly, I’m just using them as an example of bands from that area who live in seclusion.)

As the story progresses, we find Coleridge partnering up with someone connected with the brothers and a few leads come through. Barron keeps the truth concealed really well and even a few times, when you are certain things are unravelling he laughs at the reader and takes it elsewhere.

The big reveal ending was fantastic and definitely left some questions unanswered, all for the betterment of the reader.

What I didn’t like: Now, obviously, this won’t be an issue with long time Barron/Coleridge readers, but for a new reader diving in here, I think it would absolutely help if I’d read the other books first, just so I was more familiar with the secondary characters that play a role in Coleridge’s life. Saying that, I was never lost nor confused and there didn’t appear to be any significant ‘inside’ info that I was missing out on.

Why you should buy this: I assume all Coleridge/Barron fans already have this on their shelves, but for those who don’t or for those looking for a great cosmic-horror/crime-fiction mash up, this one fits that bill perfectly. The inclusion of the band, their back story and the truth of what was going on will make every reader happy,. Count me as one who was very delighted with the reveal. And while I’m still on the fence over whether I want to make the plunge into the Coleridge series, this definitely pushes me closer to wanting to, than not.

5/5

Book Review: Where the Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski

Title: Where the Bones Lie

Author: Nick Kolakowski

Release date: March 11th, 2025

*Huge thanks to Nick for sending me a digital ARC of this!*

If you’ve followed my reviews for the last almost-decade, you’ll know I’m not really a true crime fiction reader. My reading desires typically include the necessity of supernatural/paranormal/horror elements and the straight up crime stuff sometimes causes me to drift away and not stay focused.

Saying that, there’s been some books that’ve been excellent in the crime world that’ve excited me, the most recent being the Bishop Rider series of books that Beau Johnson has been releasing.

When Nick reached out to see if I’d take a stab at this one, I agreed for one big reason. Nick can write his ass off. In every thing I’ve read of his, he’s night and day one of the best writer’s you’ll ever read. The quality of storytelling, the quality of character development and the careful crafting of the narrative is simply unparalleled.

What I liked: The novel follows Dash, former Hollywood clean-up man, now failing stand-up comic. He’s trying to put his former life in the rearview mirror and get on the straight and clean bus, but that’s simply impossible. The opening scene shows him faltering at a stand up set, when his old boss, Manny, arrives and offers him a job. It opens up old trauma, a job gone wrong, that pushed Dash away from the life, but cash is cash and once it’s done, he convinces himself that he’s done for good.

Here’s where things take a turn. He gets a phone call, from the daughter of Ken Ironwood. His body was found after having been missing for decades and she wants Dash’s help to figure out who took him out.

Kolakowski weaves a very strong cat-and-mouse game from that point on. Chalk full of humor, action and clues, the pace was frantic and it wasn’t long before I was fully immersed. Even when things were moving along and I thought for sure that I knew what was going on, a new wrinkle would arrive and I’d have to rethink everything I thought I knew.

The ending is a massive wrap up of a bajillion loose ends that worked to really put a nail in a number of coffin’s. It was a cinematic ending to a novel that had bulldozed its way to that crazy conclusion.

What I didn’t like: There were hints of paranormal stuff at the beginning, which faded away not long after, and I was a bit saddened, because it really made you question whether Dash was crazy or not. It worked out well, when all was revealed, but for this reader, I was saddened it wasn’t a bigger angle later on.

Why you should buy this: If you’re like me and not a typical crime reader, but are looking to dip your toes into something and see how you dig it, this would be the perfect book to take for a spin. A remote setting, two unlikely people working together, and a ton of crazy twists and turns, Kolakowski’s delivered a superb novel that’ll have people zipping through it.

5/5

Announcing the 30th Anniversary Edition of Andrew Pyper’s ‘Kiss Me’!!

Andrew Pyper & Black Void Publishing announce the 30th Anniversary Re-Release of Andrew’s debut collection ‘Kiss Me,’ coming March 13th, 2026!

Released to critical acclaim in 1996, ‘Kiss Me’ heralded the arrival of a new voice in fiction. Within the thirteen stories, Andrew’s mastery of prose was on display, as well as Alice Munro’s influence. Each story is a cross-section of mid-20’s life, and now, the collection will be returning with a new, lovingly crafted re-release.

Featuring new artwork by Don Noble of Rooster Republic Press, the book will feature the original thirteen stories as well as a foreword by long time Toronto Star reviewer James Grainger, an introduction by Steve Stred, an afterword by Randall Perry, three additional stories not originally featured in the collection but released around that time period, and an extensive in-depth interview with Andrew conducted by Luke Hathaway shortly after the 1996 release.”I’m thrilled to see this edition of ‘Kiss Me’ release for the 30th Anniversary!” says Andrew Pyper of the announcement.

A must-have release that has been highly sought after in recent years, this collection will make long-time Andrew Pyper fans very happy, as well as excite new fans alike!

Watch for order links in the near future!

Book Review: The King of Carcosa by Joseph Sale

Title: The King of Carcosa (Lost Carcosa #5)

Author: Joseph Sale

Release date: November 19th, 2024

And here we are.

THE END.

It’s a bittersweet moment whenever a series reaches its conclusion. I remember when I got to the end of The Dark Tower series (PS I loved the ending) and you realize you’ve reached the culmination of all of the characters journeys. These made up ideas that’ve formed and fully taken shape within your mind as living, breathing, solid people/creatures. They’ve arrived at the end and after that, no more. Of course, in the world of fiction (and movies) they can be revived and you can visit them again, but the truth is that depending on the reader, you may or may not want to return.

There’s a fine line between creators and consumers when it comes to THE END. Look at the tv series LOST. If you watched the show, you either loved the ending or hated it. But there’s no arguing about the one fact – it was THE END. Same with Game of Thrones. The TV series obviously. Who knows if we’ll ever see the end of the book series. And for the record – I loved the LOST finale but I haven’t seen the final season of GOT.

All of that is to say, that here, at the ending of Sale’s epic retelling/reimaging of The King in Yellow mythology, we arrive at a point where there’s both physical and philosophical storylines to wrap up and if it was any other writer than Sale, it’d be a daunting task. I went into this one immediately after it loaded on my Kindle. I couldn’t wait to see how LeBarron, Cali, Cass, Petruccio and Alan’s journeys concluded. And, as I expected, Sale wrapped this up magnificently.

Obviously, if you’ve not read books one through four there will be heavy spoilers for those within this review (even though it’ll be vague), but still, pause here and stop reading if you’ve not read those and return after you have!

What I liked: The story picks up directly after the horrific events of book four. Cali has killed Alan, and taken the throne, now acting as The Demon Queen. Looking to topple Carcosa, she unleashes a tidal wave of death, her army killing without mercy. LeBarron, Petruccio and Cassilda now band together, with hope dwindling and a positive outcome fading to stand tall and fight against Cali.

While book four seemingly suggested Alan Chambers storyline had ran its course, if you’ve followed his journey through the first four books, you’ll have seen that Alan is more than just a man who sought the entrance to Carcosa and survived the trials to be allowed within. The layers of who he really is was slowly revealed and book four really heightened that. Sometimes, to overcome, a character needs to die a mortal death to be reborn as something more, and this is exactly what Sale gives us. We get to see Chambers journey, meeting those exiled as well as having an in depth discussion with The King in Yellow, whom we previously believed had been killed.

It’s all to say that Sale marvelously wraps up Alan’s mortal journey and transitions him into the cosmic conclusion of his story arc. It was emotional, impactful and action packed, making for a conclusion between Alan and another character that I never saw coming, but bread crumbs had been laid out since that character was introduced.

The ending was exactly as I wanted it to be. Good versus Evil. Overcoming substantial odds. And, with a really well done Epilogue, shows the cyclical nature of storytelling in all of its pristine glory.

What I didn’t like: I, personally, am not 100% convinced that the way Alan’s story ended made complete sense. I really can’t discuss the why, but with his ascendency and the subplot of soul, I’m not sure he’s a character that could ever have a finite ‘ending.’ But I digress.

Why you should buy this: This book culminates the EPIC five book series and the beauty of this is, I don’t think any of the books were over two-hundred pages. Mind boggling. If this had been a fantasy author writing these stories, each book would’ve been one-thousand page door stoppers, but Sale has a way with prose, character and story development and this shines through across each book and across the series as a whole.

If you’ve not started this series, you absolutely have to. Each character become one you couldn’t wait to see what happened next with, and the settings across this landscape are second to none.

An outstanding conclusion by one of the most gifted writers creating today.

5/5

Book Review: The Revenant by Michael Punke

Title: The Revenant

Author: Michael Punke

Release date: June 20th, 2002

Way back in maybe 2004, I went to the Coles bookstore at Seven Oaks Mall in Abbotsford to look for something to read. It was an excursion we did every few weeks, as having moved to Abbotsford not long before, we didn’t really know too many people nor did we do much on the weekends. We’d head to the mall, check out HMV, grab some food court food and then check out Coles or the Ticketmaster Kiosk before going back home.

On this particular day, a book cover caught my attention before I’d even entered the store. It was of a man fighting a grizzly and if there was ever a book cover made to get Steve to buy a book, it was that cover. The book had been out for a few years by then, but on that day, a display had been set up and to this readers excitement, the books were all 20% off. I bought it and devoured it over that weekend, loving the story of Glass, Fitzgerald, Bridger and, as the tag line says, the revenge aspect.

Prior to reading this the first time, and again about five years later when I was reading it as thematic inspiration for my debut novel, which had been re-released recently, ‘The Invisible,’ I’d never heard of Hugh Glass, though I’d heard of folks having survived an encounter with a grizzly.

Now, as I work on another novel, I knew it was time to revisit this story and see if it still held me like it did the previous two times. Two last notes – if you’re also looking for something in a similar vein that will have you captivated from start to finish, definitely check out ‘The Grizzly King: A Romance of the Wild’ by James Oliver Curwood. It was released in 1915 and in 1988 the film ‘The Bear,’ based on the book was released. This is one of my all-time favorite books and movies. Second – I’ve still never seen the movie based on this book. I’ve heard it’s great and everything, but the tone and darkness of this book have always remained for me, so, I just can’t bring myself to watch the movie and potentially have that aspect ruined.

What I liked: Within the Historical Note aspect in the back, Punke states that this is a mix of historical accuracy and fictional moments. It works well to create a flow, and it was nice to see Punke detail what is historically known and what he fictionalized, but the crux of this story is uncontested. In the Rocky Mountains, in 1823, Hugh Glass, while scouting for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, was surprised by a mother grizzly and her two cubs. The grizzly attacked Glass, seemingly wounding him mortally.

From there, accounts differ. Most historians state that the other members of the company heard this and came to Glass’ rescue, killing the bear. Others say that Glass killed the bear himself, which is what Punke features within this book. Either way, Glass is mauled, grievously wounded and they are far from the nearest Fort. The head of the expedition,  General William Henry Ashley decides to have two men remain behind with Glass until he dies, while the rest continue on.

Within this book, the two men agree to watch him, and when Glass doesn’t die within a few days, they abandon him and forge on, wanting to meet back up with Ashley and crew. Glass somehow survives and decides to track down the two men and get his vengeance on them stealing his rifle and leaving him for dead.

Another historical fact that is undisputed, is that Glass then traversed – while seriously wounded – over 200 miles of hostile Indigenous territory, to make it to the Fort. From here, as before, facts fork off in a few ways, but within the book, Glass works to track down the two men and get what was his.

It’s a fascinating study in single-mindedness. Glass essentially becomes a pioneer-Terminator, bringing down wolves, bison and Indigenous, while crossing hundreds of miles of land. The time period is also fascinating, as it was right before the 1900’s arrived and more modernization with the Industrial revolution arrived. So, travel is slow going. Much of it is by canoe/boat or a variation of them. Either that or its by horseback and foot.

The terrain and weather play a role and we see the significant odds stacked against Glass continue to fall on him in a domino effect, yet he forges on.

Punke filled this book with so much dirt, grit and frost that it’s a wonder my Kindle didn’t short circuit and die. I felt filthy while reading it, as though dirt was getting under my nails and working its way into my skin.

The ending is just that, an ending. There’s no resolution, though in the afterword we do learn the fate of some of the historical figures that were featured within.

What I didn’t like: I found that, on this re-read at least, some portions feel like I’m reading a carefully crafted novel, while some parts felt documentarian and void of feeling. As though we went from descriptive prose to ‘this happened then this then this.’ It could be due to the non-fiction mixed with fiction angle, but hard to say.

Why you should buy this: I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – there’s nothing more frightening in this world than what happens in the remote corners of the world. The mountains especially. Sure, the oceans are terrifying, at least what lies below the surface, but on the surface, if you’re in a vessel of some sort, lost at sea, you’ll either die of exposure or dehydration. In the mountains, there’s always something bigger, badder and more dangerous than you waiting to see you falter and leap in to rip you apart.

‘The Revenant’ is a case study in the lengths Glass was willing to go to somehow seek out vengeance and just how inhospitable large portions of North America still is. Even though this is set two-hundred years ago, within the Rocky Mountains, the terrain hasn’t changed, nor has the dangers.

If you’re looking for a brutal, uncomfortable and tension-filled book, this one is perfect. Now, it just might be time for me to watch the movie.

5/5