Tribulations

by J. Michael Straczynski

ibooks is proud to present a little-seen thriller that shows once again why master storyteller J. Michael Straczynski is so revered... A vicious killer stalks the streets of Los Angeles, and crime reporter Susan Randall is hot on his trail. When she meets Raymond Weil, she thinks she's found an ally-except his knowledge of the killer seems too complete....

Genres: Horror, Mystery

250 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2000

About the author

Joseph Michael Straczynski is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 (1993–1998) and its spinoff Crusade (1999), as well as the series Jeremiah (2002–2004) and Sense8 (2015–2018). He is the executor of the estate of Harlan Ellison.
Straczynski wrote the psychological drama film Changeling (2008) and was co-writer on the martial arts thriller Ninja Assassin (2009), was one of the key writers for (and had a cameo in) Marvel's Thor (2011), as well as the horror film Underworld: Awakening (2012), and the apocalyptic horror film World War Z (2013). From 2001 to 2007, Straczynski wrote Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man, followed by runs on Thor and Fantastic Four. He is the author of the Superman: Earth One trilogy of graphic novels, and he has written Superman, Wonder Woman, and Before Watchmen for DC Comics. Straczynski is the creator and writer of several original comic book series such as Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, Dream Police, and Ten Grand through Joe's Comics.
A prolific writer across a variety of media and former journalist, Straczynski is the author of the autobiography Becoming Superman (2019) for HarperVoyager, the novel Together We Will Go (2021) for Simon & Schuster, and Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer (2021) for Benbella Books. In 2020 he was named Head of the Creative Council for the comics publishing company Artists, Writers and Artisans.
Straczynski is a long-time participant in Usenet and other early computer networks, interacting with fans through various online forums (including GEnie, CompuServe, and America Online) since 1984. He is credited as being the first TV producer to directly engage with fans on the Internet and to allow viewer viewpoints to influence the look and feel of his show. Two prominent areas where he had a presence were GEnie and the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tribulations is a very good updating of the Job story, and much of the suspense is built through the question as to whether it's a straight thriller story of a deluded man or a supernatural Exorcist-like tale. The book never got wide-spread distribution or attention, which is a shame because it's a very enjoyable and thought-provoking novel. The opening scene features a python wearing a pink party hat, so you know it's going to be a winner.

[I.G. Frederick · Rating 1 out of 5]

From the very beginning of this book, I kept thinking it would have been so much better if the story had been written by Neil Gaiman.

I mean, seriously Joe, if you're going to write a novel with a female journalist as a protagonist, maybe visit the inside of a newsroom and see how one actually works (as opposed to what's shown in the movies). Also, you might want to talk to an actual female journalist.

The entire crisis of the book is manufactured by turning the level-headed, ambitious protagonist into an hysterical ninnie to fabricate tension because Straczynski only allows the big bad half a page of actual presence and can't maintain the tension just by constantly describing other people's reaction to it.

Straczynski isn't much better when it comes to male characters. If you're going to portray a POV character as someone who's been a mercenary, maybe you should learn something about guns so he doesn't sound like an idiot (e.g. not knowing the difference between a clip and a magazine)?

This book badly needed a decent editor who could have caught the very many inaccurate details, continuity errors, factual mistakes, and typos.

In short, the dialogue is flat, the characters inconsistent and unrealistic, the tension artificial, and after pages and pages of build up, the monster shows up as a wimp with some guns and a bomb.

---spoilers---



Please explain to me, why -- except in a male's fantasy -- a woman who's already given up on a guy because he's emotionally unavailable and told her he was giving himself permission to cheat on her would a) waste an entire page talking to him when she's supposedly on deadline and b) faint when she learns that he's dead the next day? Turns out this was just an extremely lame (and unsuccessful) attempt to add drama at the climax.

Then, not only does the antagonist never actually materialize, the book ends with the protagonist walking away from everything she spent her life working toward to go on the lam with someone who jumps bail (paid by someone else) rather than hire a lawyer to resolve something that could be easily straightened out with a few phone calls to the right people.

[Dale Mccoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was difficult to put down. I initially read it because I am a JMS loyalist, and I ended up having enjoyed the ride. any fan of urban fantasy and especially fans of the Dresden Files should *definitely* read this book.

[Greg Allan Holcomb · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was a page turner.

It could've been a lot better if the primary editor wasn't some grammar program for Windows98. Mispells and typos that were words, just not even close to what makes sense.
Plot was a little thin too. Can't get specific without ruining the mystery.

But I did want to keep reading. So that was good.

[Kilgallen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book was billed as a horror novel I certainly felt it was more of a thriller. It was a fast read that really picked up in the last third of the book. I was a bit dissapointed that some of the most intresting story lines were left to fizzle out.