Nikolas P. Robinson's Blog, page 15

1855 by Jacob Steven Mohr

This is the third of the releases in D&T Publishing’s emerging authors series in partnership with Godless. There hasn’t been a lackluster piece of writing in the bunch. 1855 is no exception.
Victorian-era photography is rife with eerie elements that were commonly in practice. Jacob Steven Mohr, in a flash of brilliance, decided to place “hidden mother photography” at the core of his story, 1855. When the quiet, strange Italian boy winds up in the orphanage, the language barrier makes it all but impossible to determine what’s happened to his family and how he found himself in the care of the sisters and director Timothy Ford.
The arrival of a priest who can translate the child’s story leads the characters down a path punctuated with sinister disappearances and evidence that a mother’s love and protection of her child never fades.
It’s the story of a father whose grief wouldn’t allow him to bear the sight of his deceased wife, and the consequences that follow. While this is a horror story, it’s also a heartbreaking glimpse of a child lost in the world and unable to recall his own mother’s face. This is a period tale of tragedy and sadness as much as anything else, and it’s brought to life with expert quality with Mohr’s writing.

You can pick up 1855 and the previous Emerge series of stories by going to http://www.godless.com or by downloading the Godless app to your mobile device. The link is below:

1855 by Jacob Steven Mohr (Emerge #3)

Mumma by Ash Ericmore

Mumma confirms for readers that the Smalls brothers came by their nature honestly; whether nature or nurture was the primary factor in their development, Mumma was sure to be a massive influence. It would be a challenge not to become a hard man with a matriarch like this at the head of the family.
We’re introduced to Mumma as she’s performing to the best of her ability–with a less-than-optimum partner–for a pornographic movie. It seems like it might be a boring day for her until it turns out that a friend of Peter’s has gotten her son involved in a predicament with one of Mumma’s peers in the criminal underworld.
Unfortunately, sorting everything out with the pimp in question isn’t going to be a smooth and painless process. One should expect nothing less when the Smalls family is involved.
Ericmore never fails to satisfy, and that’s especially true where the Smalls are concerned. From weaponized sex toys to feats of athleticism one wouldn’t expect from an older lady, the excitement doesn’t falter.

You can pick this up for yourself by going to http://www.godless.com or by downloading the Godless app to your mobile device. The link is below:

Mumma (The Smalls Family Stories II) by Ash Ericmore

Kherson by Regina Watts

Kherson is as poignant as it is painful to read, and it is a distressingly raw narrative. Regina Watts pulls no punches and provides the reader with no reprieve. The depths of human cruelty and depravity are on grim display without any consideration for the reader because that’s the point.
One Ukrainian woman’s search for food in a devastated city becomes a nightmare as a group of Russian soldiers decide that only Nazis would oppose them–and where Nazis are concerned, all bets are off.
Much like with her previous story, Cleared Away, Watts is showcasing the horrors of war that often get overlooked as body counts and large-scale atrocities steal our attention from the individual cruelties. Cultures around the world already victimize women under normal circumstances, but in war, anything goes.
The horrors in this story are all too common wherever there is war. If you think it’s something distant and perpetrated only by monsters from foreign lands, you’re missing a whole lot of what American forces did during World War II and Vietnam. Monstrous acts happen when people convince themselves that they’re the “good guys” no matter what they do. Of course, it doesn’t help that there are people who will eagerly place themselves in positions to be the “good guys” in situations like these.
What’s happening in this story isn’t unique to Ukraine, but it’s happening now, and that immediacy means we can do something about it. Regina Watts has graciously provided us with an opportunity to help, and buying a copy of Kherson–even if you don’t read it–will guarantee that money gets to outreach for the victims of the conflict.

The link to purchase Kherson is below:

https://hrhdegenetrix.com/kherson/?fbclid=IwAR0FcrglitYknfB94aPmHXAXIdCZMhWM0lcHp8FySLIE4yumOBZW45U-Ddc

The Filthy Marauders by Bob Freville

The Filthy Marauders are heading down to Delacroix for fun and debauchery. They’re looking for the sort of antics the filthiest and most depraved motorcycle club in existence would be seeking out because that’s precisely what The Filthy Marauders are.
As Spunk leads the rest of his crew down the highway, he’s excited about the annual Hilljack Games in Durr City, but when they arrive, the city is unnervingly empty and silent. Something is off, but nothing could prepare them for their run-in with The Cunty Scoundrels or the discovery that they’d attended the Hilljack Games the year before. Not only had they been too wasted to remember it, but they hadn’t made any friends in the process.
The Hilljack Games aren’t in the cards for Spunk and the other Filthy Marauders this year. On this trip to Delacroix, they’ll need to survive The Dirty Rooster Fuck-Off!
Easy Rider meets Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas as Bob Freville takes his readers on a ride they’ll never forget. Prepare for absurdity, violence that approaches the cartoonishly pornographic, and the most thrillingly horrific set of challenges ever met by man or beast.
Delacroix County is Freville’s answer to Burroughs’ Interzone, a place where anything can happen, and one never knows who to trust…or what they might be ingesting.
The two additional stories Freville includes are no less perverse than our main course, though unrelated to the trials and tribulations of The Filthy Marauders.
Stuffing tells us the story of the most dysfunctional Thanksgiving dinner. As Cooter and Nana find that revenge is a dish best served hot and sloppy, the orphanage will never be the same again.
Of course, The Pink Sock probably needs little introduction. Savannah lives in a world where everyone aspires to be the biggest slut, but she can’t bring herself to tolerate a certain fluid. All seems hopeless until Savannah discovers a hidden talent.

This title will be released March 17th, 2022.

Scissors by Simon McHardy and Sean Hawker

When the National Health Service rejects a trans femme her request to have a vaginoplasty performed, Daphne’s state of mind takes one hell of a hit. Already prone to self-harm and taking her frustrations out on herself, this blow might be the last straw.
But what happens if the offending penis doesn’t want to go without a fight?
What follows is both heartbreaking and ridiculously gruesome, as one might expect from the pairing of Simon McHardy and Sean Hawker. In true McHardy and Hawker fashion, these two provide a graphic and absurdly over-the-top argument in favor of gender reassignment surgeries being more readily available to those suffering from gender dysphoria. Of course, this is not for the squeamish.
As strange as it might seem, I almost think this should be recommended to anyone with transgender friends or family, or those hoping to understand why it’s important to treat transgender health concerns (both mental and physiological) as seriously as any others.

You can pick this up for yourself by going to http://www.godless.com or by downloading the Godless app to your mobile device of choice. The link is below:

Scissors by Simon McHardy and Sean Hawker

Dead Silence by S. A. Barnes, Narrated by Lauren Ezzo

Dead Silence proves to be a perfect combination of psychological, supernatural, and science-fiction horror. In cinematic terms, this novel could be best described as equal parts Event Horizon and Ghost Ship, with just a touch of Session 9 thrown in for flavor. Barnes leaves the reader guessing at what’s going on until the final quarter of the story, and when the revelation comes, it’s both shocking and cynically easy to swallow.
Claire Kovalik has experienced things no human being should endure, but she’s managed to come out the other side relatively sane and healthy, albeit damaged and permanently psychologically scarred. When she and her crew discover a decades-lost space-liner floating near the edge of the solar system, the obsolescence of her career is the least of her concerns as the potential salvage value is quickly offset by the horrors they discover aboard.
What is real?
What happened to the crew and passengers of this luxury space vessel?
Will the same thing happen to Kovalik and her crew?
If she can manage to get help out to the distant location of the ship, will there be anyone left to save?
Barnes spins a captivating, high-stakes narrative that’s as intimate and claustrophobic as it is a tale of far-reaching consequences and an examination of the nature of reality and the afterlife.
Lauren Ezzo’s narration is spectacular in the expert way she captures the nervous tension, high-strung nature, and abject terror Kovalik experiences throughout the story. The emotional states of the protagonist are writ large in the quality of the narration Ezzo provides, forcing the listener to engage to an extent few audiobooks do.

Dead End Job by Christopher Ridge

Beggars can’t be choosers. But there are more than a few red flags when the homeless man accompanies the ridiculously wealthy man to his palatial home for a million-dollar payday. When one bears a sign indicating they will work for food, there’s typically an implicit limitation to what sort of work they’re signing up for, and the room filled with tools and evidence of horrific undertakings is almost enough to terminate the agreement…almost.
The wealthy man offers his repeated assurances that everything will be fine, despite all appearances to the contrary, and the homeless man agrees to perform the tasks required of him.
Everything is most certainly not fine, not by the loosest definition of the word, but a million buck is a million bucks, and I don’t know that I’d turn down that offer for the gruesome and peculiar requests of the employer.
Christopher Ridge provides readers with a surprisingly strange and entertaining tale with Dead End Job, subverting our expectations every step of the way and leaving us wondering what the hell we just experienced as we reach the conclusion.

You can read this story for yourself by going to http://www.godless.com or by downloading the Godless app to your mobile device of choice. The link is below:

Dead End Job by Christopher Ridge

Roadkill King by Dan B. Fierce

Tatum Johnson was never an animal lover, but it wasn’t until his ex-girlfriend left him after he’d accidentally killed a dog by hitting it with his car that he came to hate animals with a cruel, driving passion. Emphasis on driving.
After investing thousands of dollars into customizing a vehicle into a killing machine reminiscent of something one might see in The Road Warrior, Tatum is on a mission when he ventures out at night. He prowls the backroads like a steel-encased predator, seeking out any creature unwary enough to cross his path.
When the giant buck steps onto the gravel road, Tatum thinks he might have hit the jackpot, but he’s on the road to judgment and pain that he could never comprehend.
If Roadkill King is representative of the rest of what Dan B. Fierce has in store for readers with the Cabin 187 collection, people should be chomping at the bit in anticipation. Satisfying, cathartic, and captivating, I must insist that readers give Roadkill King a chance. There is some cruelty to animals in the story. But it’s the unforgiving cruelty of animals that makes everything feel better in the end, as the irredeemably reprehensible Tatum gets what he deserves. Except for the dog, of course, because as every dog lover knows, that species is nothing if not willing to forgive and defend even the most indefensible.

You can obtain this story by going to http://www.godless.com or by downloading the Godless app to your mobile device of choice. The link is below:

Roadkill King (A Cabin 187 Satellite Story) by Dan B. Fierce

Fucked-Up Bedtime Stories #1: Pussy Galore by Peter Caffrey

Peter Caffrey has delivered a bedtime story that I might have read to my children as they’d gotten older. Keep in mind that the first book I purchased for my eldest daughter when she was a toddler was a chapbook of The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey. It’s also worth noting that I received a text message when said daughter was in middle school, asking me what necrophilia was. As you might expect, I provided an accurate and uncensored definition. I provide these anecdotes to suggest that I might not be the best judge of what makes for a good bedtime story.
Arnold seems like a sweet child, sheltered by a loving mother and berated by a less-than-stellar father. The important relationship in Arnold’s life isn’t with either of his parents. It’s the one he has with Jimmy the Chimp, a stuffed toy who is far more than appearances might indicate. This ape is no harmless imaginary friend.
A neighborhood experiencing a plague of missing kittens, a fateful can of tuna, and an oedipal connection between mother and son make for one hell of a twisted story…and this is only the beginning.

You can obtain Caffrey’s bedtime stories by going to http://www.godless.com or by downloading the Godless app to your mobile device of choice. The link is below:

Pussy Galore (Fucked Up Bedtime Stories #1) by Peter Caffrey

Bluebeard by The Professor

The folktale of Bluebeard is a particularly awful and gruesome one–as many such tales happen to be–but in The Professor’s capable hands, the story gets molded into something of exceptional and sublime perversity. Gone is the greed and duplicity of the new wife, replaced with lust and a single-minded desire for the titular husband.
Knowing that this is a retelling by The Professor should be sufficient to warn you that this does not arrive at the expected conclusion for those familiar with earlier iterations of the Bluebeard story. There are no antiquated morals associated with woman’s obedience to men in this adaptation. At the same time, there’s none of the Pandoran punishment for a woman’s curiosity at the root of this story. Instead, The Professor deftly casts aside that old world, parochial mentality and empowers the woman by allowing her to embrace the cruel sensuality of her discovery and subsequent abuse.
Naturally, you would benefit from listening to the narration of this title as provided by your purchase on Godless. The soothing, hypnotic cadence of The Professor’s relation of Bluebeard perhaps provides us some insight into why the new wife experienced such a sudden change of heart in her abrupt dedication to Bluebeard as a courter and husband.
Was she caught in some spell?
Are we tangled up in a similar sort of magic when listening to The Professor’s voice?
Do we care?

This title is available through http://www.godless.com or by downloading the Godless app to your mobile device. The link is below:

Bluebeard by The Professor