Carl Alves's Blog, page 14

The Last Rakosh by F. Paul Wilson

The Last Rakosh was a fun pulp novella featuring Repairman Jack. I’m not overly familiar with the Repairman Jack character, having only read one of the books, but I found him to be a compelling and fun character to be around. In this novel, Jack goes to a carnival and encounters a creature he thought to be extinct. The Rakosh is a combination of a gorilla and a shark, and is absolutely fearsome. Jack had a run in with them previously and this one in particular, and thought he had killed the last of them. Fortunately, he hadn’t or we wouldn’t have had this novella.



This was a quick read—longer than a short story but shorter than a novel—that tells of Jack’s run in with the rakosh. Oddly enough, the humans in the carnival came off as more villainous than the rakosh. Still, to protect the ones he loves, Jack must hunt down and try to kill the creature in the Pine Barrens in New Jersey, a great location for a horror novel. Given Jack’s battle with this creature, it made me wonder how could he have possibly killed them to begin with. Nonetheless, this was a fun tale, not overly deep, but satisfying in a pulp fiction kind of way.

Fear the Reaper edited by Joe Mynhardt

Like many anthologies that I read, Fear the Reaper, had some strong stories that I enjoyed, and some forgettable ones that I skipped through because they couldn’t hold my interest. This anthology had an interesting theme—one that focused on death. There were tales of the Grim Reaper, life after death, vampires, ghosts, spirits and a smorgasborg of ghastly delights.



It seems as if most of the better stories were in the first half of the anthology. The ones that stood out to me in particular were The Life of Death by Marc Sheldon, which opened the anthology. It was followed up by a darkly humorous tale by Jeff Strand—and you can never go wrong with anything by Jeff Strand. I also enjoyed Rena Mason’s story. The Death Catcher by Robert S. Wilson stood out. Cedo Looked Like People was an odd but captivating tale. Then there were some that missed the mark, which I won’t go over in this review, but clearly the good outweighed the bad, and overall I give this anthology a thumbs up. There’s a lot to like in here if you like to dip into the macabre.

10 Questions with Dan Padavona

1. Who has been your biggest influence as a writer?



That’s a difficult question to answer, as I respect and appreciate a great many authors. Certainly Stephen King, who’ve I read for over 40 years, is a huge influence. But so too are Richard Laymon, Jack Ketchum, Patrick Rothfuss, Brian Keene, and J.K. Rowling. I’m unsure I can pick one, but the Kingkiller books by Rothfuss inspired me to craft my first novel.



2. What made you want to write about vampires in your horror novel, Storberry?



I love drive-in movie horror, perhaps because I’m a child of the 70s and 80s and grew up watching Halloween and When a Stranger Calls and Friday the 13th. So many classic movies were made during that era, and yet they possess very basic story lines at their cores.



The Salem’s Lot TV miniseries scared the hell out of me. That’s vampire horror at its finest.

For some reason, vampire movies became passe’ a decade later, and eventually the genre was swallowed by teen romance masquerading as horror.



I believe many readers long for the days of Nosferatu, Salem’s Lot, and Dracula. But that’s not why I wrote Storberry. I wrote Storberry because I love classic vampire horror and wanted to capture that old drive-in movie vibe.



3. Do you outline prior to writing your story, or do you work out the plot as you write?



I never outline. Sometimes I make note of plot points I wish to visit later in the novel and refer to them during the writing process. Ultimately, I prefer the organic discovery of my story each day, but I concede my life would be much easier if I created a better road map ahead of time.



4. How do you balance working full time, raising a family, and being one of today’s up and coming horror writers?



I’m currently lobbying the U.S. Government to increase the day length from 24 hours to 32 hours. In the meantime, I try to spend my time efficiently. I need 90 minutes to write, but I also have a full-time job with NOAA and a family life.



My family means everything to me, and they take precedence no matter what. I’m fortunate for their support and love, and truly they inspire my creativity more than any writer could.



5. What current writing projects are you working on?



I’ve almost completed Camp Slasher, whose title should win an award for being most self-explanatory. Concurrently, I’m writing a coming-of-age horror novel, currently titled The Devil’s Circle.



I’m rather excited for both projects. My readers on Patreon are following the chapters as they are written.



6. How did Jack Ketchum influence your writing?

I consider Jack Ketchum the greatest horror writer of my lifetime, and he’s certainly among my favorite authors. I deeply regret never meeting Dallas, not because I’m a huge fan but because he was kind to many of my friends and colleagues.



I’ve been told my prose style is similar to early Ketchum. Influence is inevitable when you read an author regularly, and I am a voracious reader of Jack Ketchum. But it’s the observations he makes about characters, places, and life which most resonate with me and influence my writing.



7. Do you listen to music when you write, and if so what do you like to listen to?



I’ve listened to instrumental horror soundtracks in the past while writing, but I vastly prefer white noise. Vocals and rock music distract me when I’m trying to concentrate.



8. What made you want to start writing horror?



I get a kick out of scaring people. I wish I could give you a more literary answer, but there isn’t one. Scaring the hell out of a reader makes my day.



9. Is there any subject that is off limits for you as a writer?



Not really, although I have soft spots for children and animals, especially dogs. But I don’t have hard and fast rules for what I will or won’t write about.



10. If you could create a Mount Rushmore of the greatest vampire novels, which four novels would you choose?

Salem’s Lot – Stephen King

The Light at the End – John Skipp and Craig Spector

I am Legend – Richard Matheson

They Thirst – Robert McCammon

Storberry by Dan Padavona

Dan Padavona is a relatively new writer, but I was wowed with the high level of his writing. This novel seems as if it was written by a novelist who had been doing this for a few decades. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly what makes the writing so good, but much of it was the description, putting phrases together, the right word choice. Perhaps it was a combination of all of these things and more. Regardless, the story flowed great and was a pleasure to read.



As for the story itself, vampires emerge in a Virginia town. Almost overnight, they take over the town of Storberry. A group of survivors emerge, who learn of the secret of the predators in the town. The survivors are a mixed bag, but generally represent the best of what the town has to offer. There are two teens—both intelligent and resilient in the face of serious adversity. Evan, who returns to the town after having moved on and has a history with the vampire presence in the town. Renee the librarian, a vet, a police officer, and the owner of a café. They learn what works against the vampire, but all the same, the odds of their survival once they get cut off from the outside world are pretty slim. All they have is each other and their resourcefulness to make it out alive and protect the rest of the town from the vampire invasion.



There were a couple of slow spots in the novel, and some sections that could have been trimmed, but otherwise this was a very enjoyable novel. Even before the vampire invasion starts, I was thoroughly engrossed by the characters’ backstories and the general characterization, which I found to be one of the real strong suits of this novel. The action and the logic the characters used was well thought out. This was a well-written novel that I would highly recommend.

Bizarre News by C Michael Forsyth

Full Disclosure: Once upon a time I was a closet fan of the Weekly World News. I was captivated by the over the top headlines and I got a kick reading through pages of strange, outlandish, and weird stories. I never thought for a second that there was any validity to any of them, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of reading those stories.



When I discovered that C. Michael Forsyth had written a compilation of stories that never made it onto the pages of that venerable tabloid, I had to read them. Bizarre did not disappoint. Although it has been over two decades since I last read the Weekly World News, the stories felt familiar and comfortable. Reading this book brought fond memories of musings about vampires, the devil, elves, and celestial spirits. This was a treasure trove of delightfully goolish stories. I had a smile on my face as I read the book, which turned out to be a quick read. Even when I was rolling my eyes, I still did it with a smile. Even if the Weekly World News is not your cup of tea, I would still suggest giving it a try. This was a fun trip back in time.

The Darwin Elevator by Jason Hough

The Darwin Elevator had an interesting premise, and more than delivered on that premise. Set a couple hundred years into the future, aliens have approached the planet on three different occasions. They provided an amazing space elevator on their second approach, and a disease that nearly wiped out the entirely population on their last approach. Most of the humans either died instantly or turned into these hyper zombie type creatures when exposed to the virus, and only those near the space elevator are safe. Neil Platz, a billionaire businessman, was the first human to know about the alien contact and built a series of space stations in preparation. He suspects the aliens are making a fourth approach and enlists scientist Tania Sharma and scavenger, Skyler, to enact a plan to prepare for the alien incursion.



This was a terrific novel in many ways. The concept and ideas presented were thought provoking. The writing was tight. The flow was great. The two main characters, Sharma and Skyler, were strong characters and had good chemistry together on the page. There was a good buildup through the novel. It felt as if there were several different shifts in the story, starting off as an action adventure, then turning into a sci-fi novel, and then becoming a political thriller. There were lots of twists and turns, good conflict not only with the impending alien arrival but also with the human factions vying for power. This is a must read for anyone who likes sci-fi or post apocalyptic fiction.

Movie Review: Venom

Venom takes place outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so if you were anticipating members of The Avengers in this movie, then you will be disappointed. The movie itself was hardly a disappointment. The last time Venom was on the big screen, he was butting heads with Spidey in Spiderman 3. That incarnation of Venom left a bit to be desired, and this smart-alec, wise-cracking symbiote merged with a human played by Tom Hardy hit the mark. This time, Venom is the hero of the story, even though he is a bit rough around the edges and would like nothing more than to eat the brains of any human that stands in his path. Fortunately, the human part of him, journalist Eddie Brock, usually prevents the alien symbiote inhabiting his body from engaging in such unsavory acts.



Although this movie doesn’t rank near the top of the Marvel movies, it was an enjoyable film, far better than the critics gave it credit for. The plot was credible. Tom Hardy did a good job in the lead role, and for the most part, the characterization was good. Carleton Drake, the film’s villain was awfully reminiscent of the real life Elon Musk, whether this was intentional or not. For me, the real downside of the movie was the evil corporation, which could have been a combination of any number of real life companies. This has become such a cliché, whether it’s in the form of movies, novels, or television shows. It’s so unimaginative and such lazy writing. Enough with the evil corporations already. Beyond that, the movie was fun and enjoyable and worth watching.

Dusk or Dawn or Dark or Day by Seanan McGuire

In Dusk or Dawn or Dark or Day, the novel with a long but interesting title, Jenna is a ghost living in New York. She works as a suicide counselor and a barista. Originally from Kentucky, she spends her time helping others in order to take away their time and reduce the amount of time to her dying day, the amount of time before she was meant to die. It’s all a bit confusing, to be honest. When ghosts in New York City begin to disappear, she gets in the middle of a plot involving witches entrapping ghosts, which leads her back to her old home when she had been living.



The story is interesting and well-written. I found Jenna to be a well-developed character. My biggest issue was that there were way too many rules, and I found it hard to follow. Somehow, ghosts have substance and can be among the living and hold jobs (I’m not exactly sure how that makes them ghosts). They have to take time from the living, which means giving them additional time to live? I still don’t fully understand all of the rules, and the bottom line is that it detracted from the story. I think this story would have been better served to not get bogged down with all of this complex system of rules, and tell the story, which often times got lost in the shuffle. The other thing was I thought the climax could have used a bit more punch. It came and went and lacked a big bang that I was hoping for. I don’t want to get too down on the story. There was a lot to like within it, and ultimately I would recommend reading it.

Red Moon by Benjamin Percy

This novel starts off with the beginnings of a war about to brew between humans and lykans. To this point, the lykans had been a somewhat repressed minority, but factions among them are looking to lash back. In this story, lycanthropy is similar to a virus, which can be blocked by medication. About halfway through, the war between human and lykan is on in full force after a massive 9/11 style attack.



About the only thing that I can say that I remotely liked about this novel was the audiobook narration. The narrator had a cool, deep voice which I thought worked well. And that’s about the only thing good about it. The rest of the novel is a mess. First off, it was way too long. This novel dragged, and about halfway through I just wanted it to end, and eventually gave up on it about 85% of the way through, when my interest had waned so far that I just didn’t care what happened by the end. There wasn’t a single character that I found interesting or compelling. Claire and Patrick, the two main characters, were whiny and annoying. But the worse character by far was the president of the United States, who was hell bent on eradicating lycans even though he was one of them. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, now does it? The plot was deadly dull. And even though this was a werewolf novel, none of the characters ever appear in werewolf form. The werewolves are always on screen in their human form. What’s the point of having a werewolf novel when you don’t see any actual werewolves? This is a novel that you will want to skip.

Demon Squad: Resurrection by Tim Marquitz

In the second entry in the Demon Squad series, Frank Triggaltheron is back at it again doing what he does best. In his usual stylish and snarky self, Frank is the middle of a major grab for power with the fate of humanity at stake. Maximus Longinus, the anti-Christ, is at the center of this power grab. A necromancer and the demon he is working with are trying to resurrect him from his long slumber after having been put to pasture by Lucifer. The devil’s wife and a super powerful white knight have their own designs for Longinus.



What Frank seems to do best is take one ridiculous beating after another against far more powerful foes. Although that might deter some with a little less heart and fortitude, it never seems to stop Frank from getting in the middle of the fray. The writing style perfectly matches Frank’s character. It’s fast paced, witty, and sarcastic. I enjoyed Frank’s jokes and sense of humor, although on occasion, it was a bit over the top. I also enjoyed the fight scenes, which this novel is chocked full of. There was a good intrigue. Things weren’t always as they seem, and the plot unfolded to the reader in the same way that it unfolded to Frank. The ending was fiery, and the conclusion left for multiple sequels in the series as there was still much that needed to be resolved. I look forward to reading more and I most certainly recommend this novel for your reading pleasure. Here is the link for the novel on Amazon.