Michael Patrick Hicks's Blog, page 27

Review: Sacculina by Philip Fracassi

Sacculina







By Philip Fracassi






My rating: 5 of 5 stars


...and just like that, Philip Fracassi has become an author to watch for me.

Sacculina is a ridiculously rich thematic horror novella, set in one of my favorite locales for horror dramatics - the ocean. Situated on a rented fishing boat, two brothers, their friend, one friend, and the boat's captain (Captain Ron, which threw me at first, frankly, because all I could imagine was Kurt Russell's goofy antics, and this book is decidedly non-comedic), and stranded in the middle of the sea, the group find their weekend getaway interrupted by some very strange, very bad developments.

Fracassi's story kept me utterly engrossed, and the character development was richly done for so slim a story. I could relate, perhaps a bit too easily and a bit too painfully, to Henry and Jim (father and son), who are still recovering, respectively, from the loss of their wife and mother. My mother died suddenly last year, and the grieving process this family is working their way through hit me pretty solidly in a way I wasn't quite prepared for. As far as the story is concerned, death is omnipresent, and this might be one of the best depictions of cancer, cancerous growths, and the solitude of death that I've seen in a horror story.

Thematically, this sucker is strong as all get-out. What really caught my attention early on, though, was Fracassi's ability to build a strong sense of creeping dread. He crafts a terrific atmosphere in short order, and you get a terrific tense of isolation right from the outset, even before this family finds their way off the dock and out of the marina. Once they find themselves out in the ocean, the claustrophobia is really well done, and the threats Sacculina promises are deeply baked in.

I'm always on the lookout for good aquatic horror, and Sacculina certainly fit the bill. It's short, punchy, and well-crafted. Highly recommended.

[Note: I received a copy of this title from the publisher.]



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Review: River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

River of Teeth



$9.97



By Sarah Gailey






My rating: 3 of 5 stars


River of Teeth marks the debut of Sarah Gailey's long-awaited alt-history feral hippo novella, and it's a good one. Gailey takes the real-life, actually abandoned plans of the United States Congress to launch hippo farming in response to America's meat shortage and runs wild with the premise, crafting an alternate late-1800s Louisiana bayou thick with hippos, hippo farmers, and cowboys riding on hippoback.

At it's core, this story is essentially a western, but instead of horses and run-away cattle, you've got yourself a bevy of hippos, some of them tame, some of them...not so tame, to put it lightly. Ex-hippo farmer Houndstooth has been commissioned by the US government to clear the Mississippi of its feral hippo infestation, and he puts together a motley crew to contend with these orders. Houndstooth, though, is out for revenge, aiming to set his gun-sights on the villain that burned down his hippo farm and destroyed his livelihood.

River of Teeth is a good, fun bit of wild-west action, only set in the muggy swamps and rivers of the south. Houndstooth gets some great moments, as do the supporting players, particularly Hero, the gender-neutral demolitions expert. In a story chock-full of small action set-pieces and betrayals, it's the hippos that are the most captivating for this reader. I do wish this story were longer, though, so that I could have gotten more feral hippo fun, but the second installment's September due date does help soften the blow.

[Note: I received a copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley.]



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Review: Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

Gwendy's Button Box



$16.48



By Stephen King, Richard Chizmar






My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Gwendy's Button Box is a solid reminder that I've been a rather unfaithful Constant Reader. Although King is among my favorite authors, one whose work I will order the instant it is announced, sometimes before plot details or even cover art are even made public, and oftentimes in multiple formats (take this book as a for instance - I bought the signed/limited Cemetery Dance hardcover, in addition to a Kindle copy, say thankee), it's been a handful of years since I've read an honest-to-God Stephen King book (the last being Doctor Sleep in 2013). It feels somewhat appropriate, then, to break this long intermission with this particular title, which sees King return to Castle Rock after quite a long time away, and he's brought along a co-writer in Richard Chizmar.

This novella is a breezy read, and I won't say much about the plot or the story itself. It begins with Richard Farris (ah, yes, we know you well, don't we, Mr. Farris, dressed all in black) introducing himself to a young Gwendy, and gifting her a small button box. What comes next...well, what follows is sheer potential, the promise of potential and the threat of it all.

King and Chizmar are very tight collaborators here, with their prose stylings matching up very well. They keep a conversational tone across the book's entirety, which helps makes this such a quick and enjoyable read. The story-telling here is top-notch, although I found myself wanting more and would not have minded a bit more meat to dig my teeth into. The horror is of the very quiet and understated variety, although there are a few scenes indeed that sent a shiver up my spine, and a few illustrations that helped sell that creeping dread and sense of disquiet all the more.

This is a very good read, but for this lapsed reader it's also a reminder that I need to get my butt back in gear and catch-up on those handful of King titles sitting in my to-be-read stack (both digital and physical). I also need to find more of Chizmar's work, and will be trying to figure out a way to sneak in A Long December before year's end.



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Review: The Song of the orphans (Silvers, #2) by Daniel Price

The Song of the Orphans: The Silvers Book Two (The Silvers Series 2)



$25.30



By Daniel Price






My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It's been several years since Daniel Price's first novel in the Silvers series landed, but thankfully The Song of the Orphans remains pretty accessible, and the author catches readers up to speed in short order. If you need a refresher on what happened in 2014's The Flight of the Silvers, Price has you covered on his website, where he has published A Badly-Drawn Recap and a few other helpful guides to remind you of all the things you may have forgotten in the last three years.

The Song of the Orphans picks up a short time after the conclusion of Silvers #1, and with one hell of a hook. The titular Orphans (the sole survivors of our doomed planet, who were transplanted to an alternate Earth) arrive in a movie theater via portal...each of them dead, dead, dead. And yet, simultaneously, these very same Orphans are stomping around New York as wanted fugitives. So, what the heck is going on here?! Price lays out several tantalizing possibilities over the course of his multiverse superhero saga - time travel? clones? something else? - with all roads leading back to the enigmatic, nefarious (or are they?!), and vicious Pelletiers.

Clocking in at 750 pages, Price delivers a King-sized doorstopper epic of superhuman proportions. This sucker is jam-packed with X-Men by way of Fringe action scenes, each one carefully crafted and massive in scope. One of the neat things, and without spoiling anything, is how Price stages each of his large set pieces, and then makes them even larger, and the doubles that again. The dude has clearly plotted the heck out of this series, and I'd wager he's spent more than a few sleepless nights crafting power sets and character sheets for each of his super-powered heroes and villians, and how he can best use their abilities to generate conflict, defeat, reversals, and victories. And like a good Dungeon Master, Price doesn't let any of his players off easy. There's a constant escalation to each of the events that occur within these pages, and there's always a massive toll in the end, both physical and emotional. And when you've got some characters who can heal others and wind back the clock, this isn't always an easy thing to pull off.

In addition to the huge action scenes, Price devotes plenty of space to the characters and their developing dramas and emerging relationships. There's plenty of surprises to be had on the people front, too, particularly as dynamics shift and change, or continue to adapt, to the strange new world the Orphans find themselves in.

The wait-time may between books may have been a bit rough for us fans of the first Silvers novel, but having spent plenty of time as a Dark Tower junkie and reader of George R.R. Martin, the three year gap wasn't all that bad, all things considered. Hugely cinematic, and packed to the rafters with fight scenes and conflict galore, The Songs of the Orphans was well worth the wait. Fans will be pleased to take another trip to AltAmerica, but now begins the wait for book three. I shall wait patiently, or at least try to.

[Note: I received an advanced copy of this title from the author and publisher via NetGalley.]



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Review: The Sound of Broken Ribs by Edward Lorn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I haven’t read much of Edward Lorn’s work previously; just a few short stories and his recently-released DarkFuse novella, Fairy Lights. I knew of Bay’s End, but had never visited there previously. Still, when Lorn, who I follow and occasionally converse with on social media, offered up some ARCs for his latest, I jumped at the chance. I’ve liked what little I’ve read of his stuff well enough to want to check out more, and his publisher, Thunderstorm Books, approved me for an advanced copy of The Sound of Broken Ribs.

Right from the outset, I was gripped by this book. If life events didn’t so routinely rear their heads, I probably would have read this book in a single sitting. Having to spread it out over a few days, though, wasn’t a bad way to read it either, since it gave me time to savor the story and Lorn’s unique way with words.

Like myself, Lorn is a big fan of Stephen King and the horror master has certainly influenced both of our own authorial works. I don’t know if it’s meant to be a deliberate reflection on personal events that King himself dealt with, or if it’s simply where Lorn’s muse took him, but King’s hit and run accident seems to be a pretty clear, and pretty giant, influence on this book.

Lei is an author, and while out for her morning run, she gets struck by a car. The driver, Belinda, is a shattered woman – only moments before the accident, her husband deserted her, made off with all her money, and she’s just gotten an eviction notice. She’s eager to ruin somebody and spread the pain around, so when she sees a jogger on the side of the road, all she’s gotta do is nudge the wheel and…BAM! Lei barely survives, her body is mauled and mutilated, but her life is saved. She was at death’s door, though, right on the cusp, and she’s brought back a little something with her.

This story. Holy crap, this story. The medical aspects here, from Lei’s numerous and horrifying injuries to her painful recovery and hospital stay, are uncomfortably realistic. Lorn has a knack for making her pain vivid and intimate, and I caught myself squirming more than a few times. His attention to detail is on point in a number of instances, and there’s plenty of surprises throughout, which only served to further keep my eyeballs glued to my Kindle. Some of those surprises are as heartbreaking as they are shocking, and Lorn isn’t shy about dispatching cast members to further his story (something I really got an education on in his brutal Fairy Lights).

The Sound of Broken Ribs is both beautiful and bleak, oftentimes simultaneously. It’s also encouraged me to take another trip back to Bay’s End, and I’m planning on digging through Lorn’s earlier works at my earliest opportunity. I need to know what else I’ve been missing out on.

Preorder at: http://thunderstormbooks.com/thunders...

[Note: I received an advanced copy of this title from the author by approval from the publisher, Thunderstorm Books.]



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Review: The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi [audiobook]

The Collapsing Empire



$15.36



By John Scalzi






My rating: 5 of 5 stars


My original THE COLLAPSING EMPIRE audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.


I’m a newbie to the work of John Scalzi, and the only previous experience I have with his work was the fun audiobook edition of The Dispatcher. But, given how much those sad/rabid/pathetic puppies loathe him, while simultaneously attempting to ride on the coattails of his success (with one even going so far as to write a knock-off book of this particular title, with knock-off cover art that pretty well screamed copyright infringement, and a fake name that played off John Scalzi’s actual name in the hope of duping unaware readers to make a quick buck!), I figured he had to be worth a read, or in this case, a listen. Happily, I was not the least bit disappointed. So, thanks to all the doggie idjits bemoaning Scalzi’s work for prompting me to finally check out some more of his books!

Scalzi has a pretty large body of work behind him thanks to the Old Man’s War series and several other stand-alone titles. The Collapsing Empire is the first in a new series, and it’s the perfect starting point for new readers like myself.

Thousands of years in the future, humanity has formed the Commonwealth of the Interdependence and spread across the stars. Each of their various habitats are connected by the flow, a spatial anomaly akin to a river in space. The flow has allowed the Interdependence to grow and succeed, and without it humanity would wither and die as each star system becomes cut off from one another. Well, there wouldn’t be much room for drama if there wasn’t a massive problem, and so as it happens, the flow is beginning to collapse. Couple this with a bunch of political and trade guild drama, crosses and double-crosses, a newly crowned emperor, a fermenting rebellion, and random acts of terrorism, and you have The Collapsing Empire.

Scalzi keeps the pace rapid-fire and the tone light, despite a simmering undercurrent of darkness that could quickly turn the whole affair into pitch-black nihilism. Thankfully, there’s room for plenty of hope, and a whole lot of humor. The author also injects some wonderful heroines as the primary leads, and the foul-mouthed, sexed-up, aggressive Lady Kiva might just be one of my new favorites. She’s a total jerk, and I loved all of her expletive-laced rants as she chewed out anybody who attempted to cross her or get in her way.

Narrating all of this is Wil Wheaton, making The Collapsing Empire my first introduction to both the author and narrator. I found there to be a wonderful bit of synchronicity between the pairing of Scalzi and Wheaton, and the latter does an outstanding job narrating. Each character has a distinct voice, and there’s enough range and acting chops to give this audiobook a nice bit of oomph. The science fiction plot itself is easily digested and technobabble is kept to a minimum, while the listening experience itself is highly engaging and kept my attention the whole way through.

The bottom line is, The Collapsing Empire is just flat-out fun. The story is wonderfully conceived, it has some truly terrific character beats, and plenty of laughs. More importantly, it left me fully invested in this series going forward. As soon I reached the end of this audiobook, I immediately wanted to dive into the second installment. But since that’s not out yet, I’ll just have to content myself with some of Scalzi’s back catalog in the meantime.



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Are You Prepared To Enter The BLACK SITE?

99c New Release

FOR FANS OF H.P. LOVECRAFT AND ALIEN COMES A NEW WORK OF COSMIC TERROR!

Inside an abandoned mining station, in the depths of space, a team of scientists are seeking to unravel the secrets of humanity’s origin. Using cutting-edge genetic cloning experiments, their discoveries take them down an unimaginable and frightening path as their latest creation proves to be far more than they had bargained for.

Black Site is a short story of approximately 10,000 words.

Black Site is available for purchase at the following retailers, but scroll down for a chance to win one (1) of three (3) free copies via Amazon!

Buy Direct  or purchase from the following:Amazon | Nook | Kobo | iBooksGoogle Play | Smashwordsa Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Last Good Man by Linda Nagata

The Last Good Man







By Linda Nagata






My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Linda Nagata's latest sees heroine True Brighton, a private military contractor, searching for answers regarding the death of her serviceman son, Diego. Although the matter of Diego's death is considered long-since closed, True learns of important new information following the rescue of several prisoners abducted by terrorists, information that will put her at odds with both her employer and her husband.

The Last Good Man is an excellent near-future military thriller loaded with plenty of cutting edge sci-fi goodness. As expected, following her wonderful military SF trilogy of The Red titles, Nagata skimps on neither the action, nor the high-tech wonders that exist a few meager generations beyond our current military capabilities. The men and women of Requisite Operations have a slew of neat toys at their disposal, including animal-based biomimetic hardware -- surveillance drones that mimic worms, beetle-like cameras, and "roaches" equipped with ordinance -- and cybernetic prosthetic devices.

The issue of robotics in military applications is certainly an interesting one, and Nagata raises plenty of questions over the role of human soldiers in the coming decades as technology grows more advanced and proliferates even further. Also at stake is how much trust we want to place in private military contractors, and if such technological capabilities will perhaps erase any boundaries between PMCs and sovereign states.

This is all heady stuff, to be sure, but the primary focus of the story is on the human component. The core of the book is True herself, and her need for answers about her son's death, regardless of the personal cost to her. She's emotionally wounded, but she's also a trained professional, which makes her a walking bit of conflict all its own, and Nagata uses this too excellent effect. There were a few times where I doubted True's actions and worried about her safety and imminent betrayals, even as I rooted for her to succeed.

The Last Good Man delivers all the right action throughout, offering plenty of adrenaline fueled military theatrics and a few surprising twists, in addition to a thought-provoking narrative that makes this an awesome read in all respects.

[Note: I received an advanced copy of this title from the author.]



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Buy REVOLVER, Support the ACLU

Cara Stone is female, homeless, a chronic sufferer of depression, and a rape survivor.

In Trump's America this is already four strikes against her. After yesterday's passage of the ACHA through the House of Representatives, a bunch of rich white men decided these conditions are enough to deny people like Cara any chance at affordable health care.

I'm fucking sick and tired of this shit. 

I wrote Revolver in 2014 because I was sick at the state of American politics then, and it's only gotten worse in the years since. Back then, we had our wonderful, white, Christian, male Representatives and Senators telling us how rape was a gift from God, or that women rape so easy. They told us about legitimate rape versus enjoyable rape. All in an effort to defund Planned Parenthood and assert their Invisible Friend With Magic Powers granted dominion over the existence of all things female.

I was fed up. Revolver was the expression of the contempt I had for our politicians and the Americans who voted them into office. 

Yesterday, our representatives voted to destroy, if not outright murder, 24 million Americans. They then celebrated with a beer bash like it was a fucking frat house kegger, the kind Paul Ryan used to have in his college days, where he daydreamed of destroying Medicare.

Later that day, Trump then signed the perversely titled "religious freedom" executive order, which is big step forward toward weakening the Johnson Amendment and tearing down the wall separating church and state. As someone who does want to live in a theocracy like Saudi Arabia or Iran, I'm a big fan of the wall between church and state. In my opinion, the wall separating church and state is the only fucking wall this country needs, and it should be safeguarded, if not made taller and wider.

Ever since Trump took office, riding into Washington, D.C. on a tide of white nationalism, xenophobia, racism, sexism, and all around general fuckery and gross incompetence, we've seen this country grow ever more disgraceful, inch by inch, day by day. We've seen intolerance rise, antisemitism grow, and racists becoming far too comfortable publicly espousing their hate. We've even reached a point where we are now questioning, as a nation, whether or not it's OK to punch motherfucking Nazi's. In Steve Bannon, we have an actual fucking Nazi in the fucking White House, consulting a president who has colluded with Russia and is a treasonous traitor to this nation and currently under investigation by the FBI. In the House of Representatives, we have a bunch of fat cats overjoyed at their own pathetic callousness that after committing what is, arguably, the largest terror attack perpetrated against Americans they sat back and chugged some fucking Budweiser in celebration.

Enough is enough.

I voted against this type of horseshit, and I am deeply, deeply ashamed of what this country currently is, and what it is on the fast-track to becoming. I want to do more. I want to help fix this nation. One of the ways I can do more is to contribute to an organization like the ACLU. So, why not do a little bit of fundraising to help combat government tyranny?

I wrote Revolver in 2014. You can read more about why I wrote it over at The Grim Reader. Basically, sadly, it feels all the more prescient this year. Here's what it's all about:

Cara Stone is a broken woman: penniless, homeless, and hopeless. When given the chance to appear on television, she jumps at the opportunity to win a minimum of $5,000 for her family.

The state-run, crowdfunded series, Revolver, has been established by the nation’s moneyed elite to combat the increasing plight of class warfare.

There’s never been a Revolver contestant quite like Cara before. The corporate states of America are hungry for blood, and she promises to deliver.

You can buy it right now for 99c, and if you're a Kindle user, you can add on the audio upgrade for $1.99. I'll be using the income generated from this month's sales to help support the ACLU, and I'm hoping this book makes it way into a lot of hands. The more sales it generates, the bigger donation I can make.

You can find out more about Revolver here, or jump over to any of these fine retailers to secure a copy for yourself right now.

Buy Direct or purchase at the following:

eBook edition available at:

Amazon | Nook | Kobo | iBooks 

Google Play | Smashwords

Audiobook edition available at:

Audible | iTunes

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Review: Alien: River of Pain by Christopher Golden and Dirk Maggs [audiobook]

Alien: River of Pain: An Audible Original Drama



$14.95 $14.95



By Christopher Golden, Dirk Maggs






My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My original ALIEN: RIVER OF PAIN audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Alien: River of Pain, the latest Audible Original Drama to commemorate Alien Day (4/26, as in the planetary vacation hot-spot LV-426), picks up right on the heels of the film, Alien, and last year’s audiodrama, Alien: Out of the Shadows. Here, a group of colonists have begun settling and terraforming the inhospitable rock cataloged as LV-426, now renamed Acheron. Fans of the movie Aliens know exactly where things are headed, though, and this story serves as a direct prequel and side-story to that film, as author Christopher Golden takes us through the xenomorphic siege of the lost colony.

Much of this production’s first half is a slow burn, as listeners are introduced to the various factions and individuals within the colony. There’s the colony administrator, the various teams of surveyors, including Russ and Anne Jorden and their children (one of whom is the first human born on Acheron and goes by the nickname Newt), scientists from the Weyland-Yutani mega-corporation, and a team of marines, led by their new commander Damien Brackett. Interspersed between the story of Acheron’s development are snippets of Ellen Ripley’s recovery, much of which is lifted straight out of Aliens and provides a timeline of continuity between the two stories. Fans of Laurel Lefkow will be pleased to know the actress returns from Out of the Shadows to once again voice Ripley, delivering a pitch-perfect performance that eerily and uncannily resembles Sigourney Weaver’s original performance.

It’s not until the mid-way point of the production that things kick into high gear after the Jorden’s receive orders from Weyland-Yutani to survey a set of very specific coordinates, which lead them to a very familiar derelict ship, and a very familiar discovery. From that point on, the production gets it Alien freakshow going good.

While River of Pain is an entertaining listen, due largely to Dirk Maggs’ intense production values and fully immersive soundscape, and solid performances across the board from the drama’s large cast, this does come with a caveat. This is an enjoyable listen, but nothing about the story is particularly surprising. Anybody who has seen Aliens knows exactly what this story is about and how it will unravel right from the very start (although the very last moments do provide an interesting twist and potential for future exploration). The cast and crew are certainly game for it all, though, and I’m certainly happy to listen to an Audible Original, particularly when it involves one of my favorite sci-fi horror franchises. From a production standpoint, this book is certainly a success and is chock-full of atmosphere, gunfire, screams, and alien threats lurking right behind you.

With this latest release, Audible has now produced two dramas based on novels originally published as part of Titan Books’ 2014 trilogy. Alien: Sea of Sorrows, written by James A. Moore, has yet to be adapted, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an Alien Day 2018 release.



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