Steve Stred's Blog, page 54

3Q’s – Alan Baxter takes us ’round the BEND!

Today’s 3Q’s is a fun one friends!

Alan Baxter is a writer who I’ve always found to deliver high-octane releases, while keeping things dark and mysterious. He’s a fantastic short-story writer as well as an accomplished long-fiction releaser and on the heels of his next opus, Alan was kind enough to answer the 3Q’s!

Welcome, Alan!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try to write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

Alan: I have a mainly three-pronged life – writing, teaching kung fu, and parenting. Parenting is the most important, of course. My wife – who’s an artist – and I split that fairly evenly. Some days she’s in the studio and I write, other days I’m in “the cave” and she parents. Weekends are together time as much as possible. Otherwise, my only fixed commitment is when kung fu and qi gong classes are on. Those times aren’t negotiable, but everything else is. I mostly write during school hours throughout the week. I don’t believe in hitting arbitrary word counts. Sometimes on a first draft I might write 5,000 words a day, sometimes I might spend the day doing research, updating my website, working on a pitch, editing someone else’s work… it’s all being a writer to me. I also mentor people with autism, so that takes several hours a week.

Steve: If you could write a story for another author’s fictional world/series, which would it be and why?

Alan: I’m not entirely sure I would want to… I mean, I’d love to get a chance to write an official Batman story. It would be crazy fun to write in the Star Wars universe, or the Alien universe. But I don’t think I’d ever want to write in a particular author’s world. That’s what they’re best at – I want to write my stories.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Alan: The newest one is a novel called SALLOW BEND out now through Cemetery Dance Publications. It’s the story of a small town where two teenagers go missing. The entire town turns out to find them, which they do, but that’s only the start of the trouble. The girls don’t come back alone. It’s a small-town folk horror, and my first full-length novel since 2018’s DEVOURING DARK so I’m really excited about it. Weirdness, carnivals, strange deaths, something evil in the woods… Booklist just said about it: “the unceasingly intensifying dread quickly escalates from unsettling to terrifying” So that’s pretty exciting!

Cemetery Dance Direct Link:

https://www.cemeterydance.com/sallow-bend-alan-baxter.html

Steve: Bonus Question! Do you have a cherished book?

Alan: You mean one I wrote or one I own? I wrote a novel for my kid and only our family has read it. I’ve promised I won’t ever publish it, so that’s pretty special. Otherwise, probably my favourite novel is Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show. That’s close to a perfect book for me. And as for a book that’s an artefact, I have a first edition of “The History of Magic” by Eliphas Levi which is a bit of a treasure.

Very cool! Thank you so much for doing this Alan and best of luck with the launch!

For more information and to discover more of Alan’s work – check the links!

Website: https://www.alanbaxteronline.com/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Alan-Baxter/e/B002BOBQFQ/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlanBaxter

3Q’s – Erik Hanson spreads his Wicked Blood!

Another fun one today friends!

Erik Hanson has been churning out some really dark fiction as of late, so it made perfect sense to invite him over and have a quick chat!

Welcome, Erik!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

Erik: The fact that I have a young daughter makes it impossible to write the same time every day. As for word counts, I don’t have a specific number in mind. In the past, I would write until my back or head hurt and then marvel at the amount of words I produced. Nowadays, I just write in chunks. Sometimes it could be 300 words; other times, it might be 1,800.

Steve: You win the lottery and the only condition is that you need to fund another author’s book to be made into a movie. What book would you choose to be filmed?

Erik: While J.W. Ocker is gaining mega-traction in the genre, I would order someone to adapt his middle grade horror book called THE SMASHED MAN OF DREAD END. It would appeal to kids and adults. Furthermore, it would give a director lots of creative visuals to play with. I am shocked that it hasn’t been nabbed yet.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Erik: WICKED BLOOD from Demain Publishing is my latest novella. Everyone should read it if they like fast-paced horror with loads of family dysfunction. Also, it can be read in a single sitting. Most readers have said so.

Steve: Bonus Question! If you could be an extra on any TV show, which one would it have been and why?

Erik: My brother used to live and act in Hollywood, so the joy of being an extra has been drained out of me since I have stepped on a few sets. It’s depressing because a lot of the magic is removed once you see actors do tons of takes in fake spaces. That said, I would love to be on the set of STRANGER THINGS. Even though the latest season got off to a slow start, the last three episodes were incredible. I feel like a writer could learn a lot by being on a set with that much creative energy in the air. I’m a pretty straightforward writer, so it would amuse me to be around that blend of sci-fi horror.

Awesome! Thank you so much, Erik!

Check the links below to discover more of his work!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/E-C-Hanson/e/B08TVW89Z8/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ECHanson21

3Q’s – Candace Nola makes us Uncomfortably Dark!

Is there a hardworking woman in dark fiction than Candace Nola? Between her website duties (which is insane), her writing, her editing and her social media work, Candace is go-go-go!

So, naturally, it made sense for me to bother her and take some of that time so she could answer the 3Q’s!!! Ha!

Welcome Candace!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try to write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

Candace: During the week, I write after my day job, so typically each evening from 7pm to about 1am. My writing time incorporates all associated writing activities so editing jobs, magazine tasks for the House of Stitched, Patreon posts, my website updates, and interviews, plus work on my own stories. Word count by day, not really, I typically hit about 1800-2200 words a day with more on the weekends. I can usually hit 12K-15K in a good weekend.

Steve: You win the lottery, and the only condition is that you need to fund another author’s book to be made into a movie. What book would you choose to be filmed?

Candace: There are so many that I would choose, but currently, Winterset Hollow by Jon Durham. I absolutely loved this book, and a movie would be incredible. The Eater of Gods by Dan Franklin would be a very close second for this requirement.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Candace: My newest release is Bishop. Erin Rogers and her daughter Casey have been missing in the Alaskan wilderness for five days. Troy Spencer is determined to find his sister and niece at any cost. Once there, a local tells Troy about a loner, Bishop, a man shrouded in secrets, who may be his only hope.

As Troy sets out to find the mysterious Bishop, Casey is lost in the woods, alone and frightened, seeking help for her gravely injured mother. But she is not alone, something ancient stalks these forested trails, something evil that hungers for fresh blood.

Steve: Bonus Question: If you could be an extra on any TV show, which one would it have been and why?

Candace: Supernatural, hands-down, my absolute favorite show of all time. Why? Because Sam and Dean….and it’s a great storyline. Demons, angels, and everything in-between.

Very cool! Thank you so much, Candace!

To find out more about Candace – check the links!

Website: https://www.uncomfortablydark.com/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Candace-Nola/e/B07YYW4T7N/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/candace_nola

3Q’s Special – Gwendolyn Kiste honors the Hammer!!

So, since I’ve been doing this awesome 3Q’s stuff, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing so many different authors – all at varying stages of their writing journey. One thing that became clear, was that most readers of this feature wanted me to stay doing one a day. I think that works best, but once in a while a special case needs to be made. Additionally, you may notice that fancy 3Q’s logo there. That’s courtesy of one, Bo Chappell. Bo sent me this and said to use it as I saw fit. My own 3Q’s logo’s may be rudimentary and ‘poorly’ made, but that is the entire point haha! The punk ethic of DIY. But – this logo is gorgeous and I decided it’ll be utilized for the 3Q’s Specials and today is the first one.

Gwendolyn Kiste is a 3-time Bram Stoker Award Winning Author who is just about to drop her newest novel ‘Reluctant Immortals.’ The synopsis is great (which we’ll share in a minute), but Gwendolyn has always been super kind and supportive of myself, so I wanted to make sure I shared some of that love back, especially as her newest drops.

So, please, do welcome Gwendolyn!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try to write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

GK: My writing time is basically a new adventure every day. I’m more likely to write in the evening, but especially if I’m on deadline, I could be working at literally any time, even three in the morning. I’m personally not a fan of hitting a specific word count; when I’ve tried to use that approach, I feel like I’m writing more in terms of a number than in terms of quality. Then I just have more editing to do on the other side. So I try to keep it open and see where each day leads me. Creativity can be such a mysterious process, and I really enjoy allowing my writing to develop in a way that feels organic to me.

Steve: If you could write a story for another author’s fictional world/series, which would it be and why?

GK: So my forthcoming novel, Reluctant Immortals, is actually a retelling/sequel of both Dracula and Jane Eyre. I’ve been a fan of classic gothic horror ever since I was a kid, so returning to these two beloved books and reworking them in a more modern way was such a great time. I love the characters from those books, and it was fun to spend time with them.

In terms of a fictional world that I haven’t yet written in, I very much want to do a retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray. There’s such a rich subtext in that story, and there haven’t been enough, if any, feminist reworkings of it, so I feel like that would be such an interesting direction to take it.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

GK: I feel like I’ve been screaming from the rooftops for weeks about it, but in case anyone hasn’t heard yet, my new novel, Reluctant Immortals, is due out with Saga Press on August 23rd! It follows Lucy Westenra from Dracula and Bertha Antoinetta Mason from Jane Eyre as they battle Dracula and Edward Rochester. It’s groovy, it’s gothic, and it’s all about female empowerment. It’s also an homage to Hammer horror films and that whole era of classic horror cinema, so it’s definitely a love letter to everything I—and so many other fans—love about the genre.

Steve: Bonus Question! Do you have a cherished book?

GK: Definitely. It would have to be We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. That book, more than any other, makes me feel less alone. Merricat Blackwood is such a fantastic character, and her voice is so vivid and unforgettable. I’m happy to exist in a world where that novel was written. For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of reading it yet, I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s such a perfect example of a slow-burn gothic horror novel. It’s as delightful as it is diabolical, and nobody does weird and whimsical quite like Shirley Jackson.

Great choice! I think this has been the most popular answer to this question by a long shot!

Thank you so much, Gwendolyn for doing this and best of luck with the launch!

To find more of her amazing work – as always – check the links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Gwendolyn-Kiste/e/B00QXGAIUC

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GwendolynKiste

Website: http://www.gwendolynkiste.com/

3Q’s – Double the trouble with Samantha Kolesnik and Bryan Smith!

Today’s 3Q’s edition is a double blast-o-rama from two fantastic writers! When I reached out to Samantha to see if she’d be up to do a 3Q’s, she suggested that her and Bryan (who’re currently collaborating on Beleth Station, two paired horror novellas set in the same deranged Pennsylvania town and set to be released first by Thunderstorm Books as a limited hardcover and then a wider release in ebook and paperback) take part in a dual one. I said – ABSOLUTELY!

So, please do welcome Samantha and Bryan!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try to write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
Samantha: My writing time varies from day to day. I don’t have a routine and I don’t care about a daily word count quota. My excitement and interest in what I’m writing dictates how much and when I do it. I guess the story calls the shots.
Bryan: I tend to write in the late hours, the wee hours of the early morning, when the outside world is still and quiet and distractions are at a minimum. I can write at other times and sometimes do, but I always default to those late hours. If I’m working full bore on a project that’s going well, I always hope to hit at least 1,000 words a day.

Steve: If you could write a story for another author’s fictional world/series, which would it be and why?
Samantha: This is an odd hypothetical for me to consider as I’m singularly focused on writing my own stories. If I had to pick something off the top of my head, it would probably be intriguing to write something in the world of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.
Bryan: I’m not too interested in working in the fictional universes of other prose writers. About the closest comparable thing is that I think it would be fun to do tie-in work related to certain media properties. For instance, I’d love to write an original Friday The 13th novel, only with the freedom to go absolutely wild with it in ways the franchise never approaches with the movies. I actually wrote a couple of Friday The 13th novels when I was very young, which I later destroyed. They were what I suppose would be described as fan fiction now, but it would be cool to do it for real.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Samantha: My latest release is Waif, a novella from Grindhouse Press, which came out in December 2021. Library catalogs list it as being about bisexual women, gangs, pornography, plastic surgery, and rich people. It’s not uncommon for people to say they read it in one sitting, and that they’ve never read anything quite like it. If you like fast reads, disturbing themes, complex characters, and enjoy a lot of frank sexual philosophizing—grab a copy and go for the ride.

Bryan: My latest release is Burning Down The Night, a novel from Grindhouse Press. It’s a Gen X comedic crime thriller set in 1994. I wanted to write about an era that’s kind of lost to time now, but once was a massive focus of media punditry. The days of grunge rock, the slacker ethos, heroin chic, when not giving a fuck about anything and lack of ambition was considered strangely cool. It’s a mindset that feels so alien in 2022, but I remember it so well and lived a lot of it. So this book is my fictional meditation on that. But it’s also fast-paced, entertaining, and hilarious, so everyone should definitely buy it right now.

Steve: Bonus Question! Do you have a cherished book?
Samantha: Yes. There have been many books throughout my life which have had a tremendous impact on me. Usually, the level of impact is contextual—specific to the time and experience of my life at the point I discovered the book. I’ve kept these books over the years and as life goes on, it’s the memory of that first discovery—almost like a recollection of falling in love—that tends to spur me to revisit them. One that I’ve revisited lately is an old copy of The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe. The introspective, lonely (and often romantic) musings of the narrator deeply spoke to me. It was a kind of impenetrable melancholia that made me feel seen at the time. Upon rereading the text recently, I was able to see all of my old annotations in the margins… and in a way, reconnect with my younger self.

Bryan: The Stand by Stephen King and Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter Thompson. I’ve read both countless times, especially the latter, if only because it’s much shorter than the former. I prefer the originally published somewhat “shorter” version of The Stand to this day. It may not be King’s preferred version, but I feel the flow of it is just better than the unexpurgated edition.

Man, this was a ton of fun! Thank you Bryan and Samantha for both doing this and best of luck with the release!

To find more of Samantha’s work;

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Samantha-Kolesnik/e/B081S4ZNNC

Twitter: https://twitter.com/samkolesnik

Website: https://www.samanthakolesnik.com/

To discover more of Bryan’s work;

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bryan-Smith/e/B001JS7EQA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bryan_D_Smith

Website: https://www.bryansmithauthor.com/

Book Review: Roser Park by Wendy Dalrymple

Title: Roser Park

Author: Wendy Dalrymple

Release date: October 1st, 2022

Firstly, huge thanks to Wendy for reaching out regarding her novella ‘Roser Park,’ and sending me a digital ARC.

I’m a sucker for ‘somethings not right in this house’ stories and reading the synopsis had me intrigued. A housesitting gig that goes sideways always gives the author the means to go in crazy directions, but also sets the reader up for anything, really anything, to happen. From there, you get to go along for the ride.

What I liked: The story is fairly straight forward. A female college student needs some cash, applies for a position, and gets it. Dalrymple adds a few wrinkles into the plot: our character is a 37-year-old divorced female, the house she’s going to be watching is an old house from a well-to-do neighborhood and the old couple are creepy as hell when she meets them.

Of course, a number of things happen that have her second-guessing her decision to housesit, but the all too real fact of getting paid big cash keeps her pushing forward. Even as things go missing, things go bump in the night and the handsome landscaper next door seemingly is always there when she needs help.

I did race through this one, wanting to know where things were going to go, even after figuring most of it out around the time a vet visit is required and more odd things occur.

This one’s will be a read that I think will hook most folks in hard and keep them pinned to the page until its over.

What I didn’t like: I actually think I would’ve liked this one substantially more if there was no paranormal interference at all. If it had been a straight thriller/psychological thriller, I think it would’ve been more engaging for the storyline instead of the lack of character depth we get overall.

One big issue that really bugged me was the way the main character acted. She’s described as a 37-year-old woman, getting back on her feet and going back to school. Yet, whenever anything happens, she responds more like a 15 year old babysitter. Over and over and over again.

When things get really bad, at one point, she finally gets ahold of the home owners who say they’ll cover her costs and double her rate and hang up. And our character is just fine with that and doesn’t care about all of the horrible events that have occurred previously. It was infuriating for this reader.

Why you should buy this: At the end of the day, this is a solid, if not familiar, novella, with a storyline that raced along. Don’t go in expecting huge plotlines or in depth backstories. Instead, go in, knowing you’ll be able to read this in a single sitting and just enjoy the ride. Dalrymple will make you want to root for our main character, even if she frequently makes annoyingly jarring decisions.

3/5

3Q’s – James A. Moore brings along his buddy!

I honestly can’t believe it when super accomplished people not only give me the time of day but actually respond with answers! Today’s 3Q’s guest is a truly accomplished author. Just scroll through his Bibliography and writing credits and you’ll see what I mean.

Saying all of that – please welcome the distinguished James A. Moore!

Welcome, James!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try to write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

James: I usually have a full time day job, but for the last few weeks I’ve been laid off while the Starbucks I work at gets remodeled, so I’ve been writing like crazy and averaging around 4,000 words a day. I have written most of a novel in the last six weeks. It’s been lovely. I try to write around the same time every day, and for at least three hours at a time. On word count, not really, but I’m honestly not happy if I don’t do at least two thousand words a day. Honestly, that’s a couple of hours effort and that’s with an hour or so beforehand to clean up what I did the day before.

Steve: If you could write a story for another author’s fictional world/series, which would it be and why?

James: I would gleefully write for almost anything Marvel or DC Comics has going, because I’m a lifelong comic book geek. I would also love to write for Star Wars or Star Trek, because I love them both dearly and there is such a long history of gold to mine and refine. All of that said, Mike Mignola has created gorgeous characters to play with and so has Dan Brereton with his Nocturnals comic books.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

James: My latest upcoming release is DEAR DIARY: RUN LIKE HELL! which is a combination of a long short story and a novella revolving around hitman Buddy Fisk, who first showed up in my novel DEEPER. Basically, Buddy has become a supernatural trouble magnet and he is ill-prepared for it, but I kind of love this character. In a lot of ways he’s my homage to Tom Piccirilli, a man I adored and whose writing continues to blow me out of the water.

Steve: Bonus Question! Do you have a cherished book?

James: SOOOO many, but if I have to pick only one I’ll go with THE TALISMAN by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Such a creative blend and two masters collaborating on an absolutely brilliant story that straddles several genres at once and with great success.

Phenomal! Thank you so much, James!

As always, check the link below to discover more of his work!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/James-A-Moore/e/B008MP0DT8

 

Book Review: Fool’s Fire by Pete Mesling

Title: Fool’s Fire

Author: Pete Mesling

Release date: October 1st, 2022

I’ve had the pleasure of reading a few things from Pete now; a collection and a novel, and I’ve become a fan of his storytelling and the way he paces his pieces.

When he reached out regarding this, his newest collection, I was excited for it and dove in immediately, believing it was releasing shortly. Turns out – it wasn’t coming out for about four months haha! Whoops! I guess better than the alternative and not realizing it came out four months prior!

What I liked: Much like the last collection of his I read, ‘Jagged Edges & Moving Parts,’ this one covers a lot of territory and makes it so that there will be something for each reader. It’s a nice feature, as sometimes a collection of a particular theme can result in a sense of repetition.

The highlights for me were;

Imposter Syndrome – this was a pulse-pounder. It picks up innocently enough with some people driving on a road. They see a man, he tells them about something horrible happening ahead and takes them to ‘safety’ at a nearby Military base. We learn about a military experiment gone awry and begin to learn the horrible truth. This made for a fantastic short story but would easily have worked as a novella or even a novel itself. Great stuff.The Thing in the Road – I mean, with a title like that you know you’re in for something crazy, right? Simple set up – husband and wife driving home. Both have had a few too many, husband more than wife, causing him to struggle to keep them between the lines. They argue and then BAM! hit something they didn’t see. Mesling does an excellent job of keeping things straight forward yet complex.The Dragon’s Tooth – this was incredibly unsettling. A feature film is being made several decades ago. An artifact is revealed and things begin to happen and odd things occur. Really well done.

Mesling keeps the quality top notch throughout, which made for easy and exciting reading.

What I didn’t like: I’ve been saying this for like two years, but I’m fairly burned out on collections and anthologies. This may play into why some stories didn’t connect as much with me, but that is also a common thing or the nature of collections/anthologies. As always – reader mileage will vary with stories, but there are a lot of goodies within!

Why you should buy this: Mesling is a profoundly moving writer. His stories ebb and flow and rocket and all while maintaining their humanity and emotional connection to the here and now. I think this would be a perfect addition to anyone’s TBR who is looking for a new collection to dive into.

4/5

3Q’s – Bracken MacLeod cruises down The Road!

I’ll admit, today’s guest is one I was really looking forward to seeing what his answers were. Bracken MacLeod has put out some truly phenomenal and fascinating books, so I was keen to discover what his process was!

Please give a hearty welcome to Bracken!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try to write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

Bracken: My writing time is basically the school day. I’m a stay at home dad, so if our kid is at school, I am trying to work on a book. I say, “trying” because, you know, life and all that. Also, during the summer, everything gets up-ended. Between day camps and weeks off and family vacation, it’s pretty piecemeal. Schedules are good, but the time I have to write is the time that presents itself. I wrote my first published novel during nap times when our son was an infant. Embrace the chaos!

As for word counts, Covid has kicked the hell out of that! In the Before Times a really good day for me was around 2,000 to 2,500 words. These days, I want to crack some bubbly when I get 1,000. It’s hard to be creative (especially as a horror/thriller writer) during the constant stress and anxiety of these times. But, like schedules, you get the work done however it needs to. Get up at four a.m. and pound out 500 words before work? Good enough! Try to write a few lines during a kid’s nap or after your spouse has gone to bed, and eventually you’ll have something. Perseverance is the watchword.

Steve: If you could write a story for another author’s fictional world/series, which would it be and why?

Bracken: I don’t read a lot of series, so in terms of established worlds it’s a hard call. I’d love to write a sequel to a novella Jack Ketchum did called The Passenger. At the end of that, he introduced a horrific members’ only club called “The Hole in the Wall.” I have a character I’d love to introduce to that place and maybe see what’s happened to the main character, the lawyer, Janet, in the intervening years. It’s probably something I could’ve pitched to Dallas (Ketchum’s real first name) over a glass (or three) of scotch, but I never had the guts. Too late now.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Bracken: My latest book is called, CLOSING COSTS. It’s a home invasion novel set outside of Boston. A young couple who suddenly come into some money are taken hostage in their house. Things spiral out of control even more when their own past comes back to haunt them in the middle of it. I can’t say much more without spoilers, but the thrust of the book was me wanting to write a thriller in the spirit of The Siege of Trencher’s Farm (a.k.a. Straw Dogs) or In Cold Blood. Something real intimate and harrowing that takes place in only one or two rooms for most of the story.

FUN FACT: I set the book in my own home and based the main characters on me and my wife. That seemed like a good idea at the time! Until you spent all day every day in a thought experiment role playing the worst possible thing you can imagine happening. Write what you know is NOT always the best advice.

Steve: Bonus Question! Do you have a cherished book?

Bracken: Absolutely. It’s no secret that Cormac McCarthy’s The Road is my favorite novel. A lot of folks find it unrelentingly bleak, but I feel like it’s filled with a powerful optimism. The man and the boy (the character’s only given names) are working hard to preserve “the fire” of goodness in a world that has no place for it anymore. I think it’s an amazing study of revolt against complacency in the face of death and evil. A perfect metaphor for the Trump era (though, like the Handmaid’s Tale, it precedes the world it imagines). A lot of people hate on McCarthy because he doesn’t like commas. But whatever.

Thank you so much, Bracken for doing this!

Definitely check the links for more work from Bracken!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrackenMacLeod

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bracken-MacLeod/e/B0095ZKR5Y/

Book Review: Lost Girl by Adam Nevill

Title: Lost Girl

Author: Adam Nevill

Release date: October 22, 2015

There’s been a few books over the last number of years that have fallen into the category of “this book is the best book I’ve ever read but the worst reading experience I’ve ever had.” What I mean is that the book is phenomenal, lights out in every way possible, but also such a horrifying, gripping, emotional rollercoaster that tugs at certain core areas of your soul that you wish you’d never read it. Books such as Red X by David Demchuk, Odd Man Out by James Newman and Crossroads by Laurel Hightower. Now, enter, Lost Girl by Adam Nevill.

Over the last three or so years, I’ve been devouring all of Adam’s work and he’s become a sought after, must-read author for me. With an impending new arrival coming in October, fans of his work are getting excited. There’s still a few of his books I’ve not got to yet, but Lost Girl was one that I’ve been eyeballing with great excitement watching it climb up my TBR list.

Now that it’s not only arrived at the top but I’ve finished reading it, maybe I would’ve picked a different emotion than ‘excitement’ over what this book has done to.

Quick aside – my wife and I have been together for many, many years. In fact, September of this year (2022) will mark 25 years together and eight years married. We met in high school and other than a couple one or two day spats where we ‘broke up’ (ah those were the old days eh? well before cell phones and Facebook etc), we’ve been together through thick and thin. When we were significantly younger, we were told that most likely we’d never have kids. At least not unless we considered invitro. We were fine with that and we always lived with the understanding that if it happened, it happened, if not, it didn’t. As of writing this review, we’re two weeks away from our son turning six, which is truly crazy.

One thing I always mentally thought about when we didn’t have kids was that this world is a messed up place and I often had that discussion with friends and family about the “imagine bringing a kid into this world” trope. Funny enough, over the last few years, since Covid hit, everything that I used to bring up has essentially happened. Global pandemic, world leaders having temper tantrums and having to lay their man hoods on the table to show just how big their military penis’ are, the rich getting richer while the poor continue to get beat down and pay higher taxes and of course, let’s not forget, no body who has any say or power regarding Global Warming and Climate Crisis issues seems to truly give a damn and are willing to do anything. The summer’s are hotter, the winters are colder, the crops are suffering, food cost is skyrocketing and all the while we keep trucking along.

So, what’s the point of my aside?

Well, that in a nut shell is the road Nevill goes down. Only, like a maniacal jerk who wanted to punish the reader with the worst torture possible, he decided to open this up with a heart breaking chapter and focus the book on a father trying to find his kidnapped daughter.

This book’s not for the weak of heart.

What I liked: The book begins with the character of the father, one whose name we never learn, getting ready to send a flirtatious email, while his four year old daughter plays outside. His wife comes into the house, they chat and she asks him to watch her. He’s preoccupied with this email and before he knows it, his daughter is grabbed. From there, Nevill never lets up and completely crushes every single ounce of humanity the reader has.

Set in the near future, food production has all but stopped, the rich funneling supplies to their personal pantries. The sea levels have risen drastically, people having to move and flee entire sections of the continents now that they’re underwater and through this governments have fallen and crime has increased 1000 fold. Add in International tensions, new and mutating viruses and pandemics and the reality that the world has become infinitely hotter, Nevill has crammed so much emotional damage within even the first 100 pages, that it’s hard to pull yourself out of the downward spiral of depression that leaks off each page.

But that’s not the worst aspect. The worst aspect is that kidnapping, child trafficking and sex trafficking has run amok, the police forces too overwhelmed to prioritize a few missing kids each day when so much more is happening in their jurisdictions. So, what does Nevill do? He has the father go after his daughter. A sort of John Wick meets Liam Neeson’s Taken character. A guy willing to do whatever it takes to find her and bring her back. It’s brutal, violent, unhinged and has an impact on him as he goes from a seeker to an active blood participant on viciousness, all the while justifying it knowing he’s looking when no one else is.

I loved seeing the downfall this singular act of his daughter being taken had on him, his wife and their family unit. It was heartbreaking and excruciating to read, but so solidly grounded in reality and how I imagine most families would fall apart and struggle to carry on after such an act.

The ending is truly powerful and it speaks to the masterful storytelling that Nevill possesses that it isn’t a Disney ending, it isn’t wrapped up in a neat bow and they sail off into the sunset to live happily ever after.

What I didn’t like: It worked so well for the storyline but I wasn’t a fan of the dark almost supernatural leanings that come along with a specific character and related to the gang that the father has to face down throughout. It almost felt as though some of Nevill’s novel Last Days was seeping into this story and honestly, while that would be great and would’ve been a solid thing to see on the written page again, I wanted this to remain grounded in the reality of the ‘real world’ and have no otherworldly interference.

Why you should buy this: If you like blindfolding yourself, spreading your legs and having the closest person to your heart continuously kick you as hard as they can in your privates, then this book is for you. Over and over and over and over and over again Nevill crushes you and then increased the soul-brutalizing even within the next sentence. God, how I bawled throughout this. Look, we all know Nevill can write dark and scary and frightening stories. Look at The Ritual, Last Days, Apartment 16, The Reddening, Cunning Folk, Banquet for the Damned and No One Gets Out Alive as novels that people rave about time and time again. I myself still have to read the last two I listed up there, but I have no reason to believe they won’t rip me apart like the other books listed.

But this one. This one’s different. This was released in 2015, but now this novel will forever seem timeless. Pandemics and Climate Crises and just the downward trajectory we seem to be on create a stench that seeps off of these pages and permeates the air around you as you read it. This is a book with a stench, but one so horrifically powerful you’ll push it aside to see what happens.

I’m on the fence if this is my favorite Nevill book, but I do know this is a book I’ll never forget and one I think everyone who’s yet to read it to take a weekend, turn off the cellphone and clear your schedule and curl up in a ball and dive in. You’ll be cursing his name the entire time, but you won’t be able to put it down. Just amazing.

Well done, Adam. You’re a jerk of the worst kind.

5/5