EYES WIDE OPEN by Ted Dekker

This was a scary book! But first things first. I grabbed this as a freebie off Amazon's kindle store. What I didn't realize is that if you do that, it is broken up into 3 more sections that you have to then pay for at 3 dollars a piece. So you can get the whole ebook for 8 bucks, or each section for a total of 9 dollars. Hmmm. Just saying, I think that's kind of weird. Why charge more for the serialized version?

But moving on. I did buy it and loved it. This is the story of two people who accidentally wander into the psych ward of a hospital by mistake. The girl has no ID on her (long story about how she gets in that I won't spoil) and has to trade her dirty clothes for the resident uniforms and of course it's only minutes before the staff think she's a patient trying to escape. Needless to say they won't let her leave and her ordeal becomes both maddening and horrific.

Her friend who comes to save her merely finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, witnessing some freaky treatment of the patients by the doctors, and is--of course--admitted as a patient by a sadistic doctor who keeps him drugged.

At first I kept thinking....there's no way this would happen in real life. And despite how well the book was written, I had a hard time getting past the obvious plot holes, saying stuff like, why don't they just call their friends or families or employers?  But, as readers of the free kindle section will soon discover, there is WAY more going on than just an incompetent staff mistaking civilians for patients. We soon learn there is some supernatural stuff going on that makes it pretty hard for our protagonists to leave, and that this book much scarier than it leads you to believe in the first few chapters.

Thanks to that added element, I was able to really let go and enjoy it for what it is, and it started to really scare me. Not the supernatural/psychotic experiment parts of it, but the notion that someone in authority can so easily take away your identity and you're right to freedom, that we rely so much on pieces of paper to prove who we are in today's society. Okay, also the supernatural part too. You'll have to read it for yourself to see how dark it gets and how it ends, but be warned, it can make your skin crawl.

This one left me wanting to read a lot more of Dekker's work. I can't recommend it enough if you're looking for a good scare. (But just buy the 8 dollar version, yeah?)

4 OUT OF 5 Worms

WALKING SHADOW by Clifford Royal Johns

One of my guilty pleasures is good science fiction detective story, and Walking Shadow is one of better ones I've read recently. In a well-realized future Chicago, our protagonist Benny Kahn, who's more of a low level criminal than a hero, wakes up one morning to find he's paid a memory removal company to surgically take out something significant from his recent past. So thorough is the removal job that he wouldn't even know he'd had the surgery were it not for the bills he keeps getting from the removal company. What's worse, they say if he doesn't pay, they will report the erased memory (which they kept records of) to the police. Needless to say Benny is curious as to what he did or didn't do that would interest the police.

Benny decides to dig around, asking a seedy friend named Chen if he knows anything. Chen manages to get Benny a transcript of the removal job, which reveals that Benny wanted to remove the memory of ....nope, not gonna spoil it for you, other than to say things get really interesting. But even this reveal gets turned on its head a little later. As the novel progresses, peeling back layer after layer of clues and reveals, Benny learns that nothing is as it seems and no one is to be trusted. Friends turn out to be enemies, dead people are revealed to be alive, and Benny's own mind might be playing tricks on him. Poor Benny doesn't even come out of this with his psyche unsctathed.

Walking Shadow is a robust whodunnit and whydunnit that I found brilliant fun. Aside from a well developed city scape complete with flying cars (called buzzcars), a wealth of sci fi gadgetry, and a lexicon that rivals the best future noirs around, there is a wondeerfully crafted mystery that plays with the notion of reality like the best Philip Dick novels, or books like like Altered Carbon and Demolished Man.

Johns has a great sense of style and reading his prose was pure joy. The dialogue sizzled and was realistic and engaging at once, the violence was disturbing (I've grown accustomed to so called shock scenes in books, and a bit of video footage at the end of the book didn't shock me, but the way it was written still had me feeling uncomfortable) and the descriptive tension was high throughout.

Bottom line, this is a great book if you like movies like Bladerunner or Total Recall (the good one). I enjoyed it immensely and I will definitely seek out more work by Clifford Royal Johns.

4.5 OUT OF 5 Worms

HELL COMES TO HOLLYWOOD edited by Eric Miller

I had two worries going into this anthology. 1: that, like most anthologies, we'd get a heaping dose of first-time writers still honing their craft, and ultimately falling short of anything really good. 2: That every story would in some way involve the movies. Obviously it would to some degree, based on the cover image, but an anthology that is too narrow can get old fast. Also, as someone who doesn't live far from Hollywood, and knows first hand what a dirty place a large portion of it is (that might seem harsh, and yes there are plenty of nice homes behind gates, but to anyone who only knows Hollywood from what they see in TV shows and movies, unfortunately Tinsel Town is mostly just bars, drugs, run down apartments, and graffiti), I wanted some of these stories to really delve into the Hollywood I know today.

Well, suffice to say this anthology not only proved me wrong on all those counts, but did so brilliantly. We've got everything here from the obligatory story about actors and directors, but also mail room clerks, livery cab drivers, lawyers, party girls, and more. We've even got a Mythos tale.

What really struck me about this book was the caliber of writer it contained. Kudos to Eric Miller for pulling in real talent. And why shouldn't he have? Miller is the scripter of the syfy classic Ice Spiders, which I have seen and enjoyed immensely (I'll pretty much watch anything about giant bugs). Hell Comes To Hollywood is anything but a collection of green writers, but rather seasoned professionals entrenched in the entertainment business--successful screenwriters and producers and even film directors are involved here, even if they're not household names (even the guy who created the Ghoulies has a story in here, how cool is that!)

Without going through every story, I will say that every contribution is expertly written. This is the kind of book aspiring writers should read to learn about proper sentence structure, wordage, pacing, and character development.  Even though one or two of the stories might not have been my cup of tea, all of them were just so damn well written it blew my mind.

Of my favorites were Muse by Andrew Helm, a somewhat obvious tale of a strange woman who gives inspiration in exchange for...well, you get it; The Cutting Room by Jeff Seeman, an amazingly well done bit of novelty that unfolds like a matryoshka doll; Town Car by Joseph Dougherty, wherein a livery cab driver goes toe-to-mental-toe with the latest Paris Hilton wannabe; I'd Like to Thank by Jeff Strahm and Ray G. Ing, about an aging actress who will do anything to get her lifetime acheivement award, and Not Elves, by Brian Dominic Muer, that aforementioned Mythos tale that ends both Hollywood and the anthology.

These are all, however, very good stories and this anthology is a blast. I encourage everyone to read it, especially if you love those Tales From the Crypt reruns or if you're just looking to see how good short stories are done. I'll put this up there as one of the best anthologies I've read in years!

4 OUT OF 5 worms.

THE EPITAPH OF JONAS BARLOFF by Calvin Dean

YA novels are a funny thing these days. So much of them should not be read by kids. The Hunger Games still baffles me as something marketed toward youngsters--such a  gratuitous amount of violence and strong Political rhetoric. Both of which are fine, even appreciated, in an adult novel, but I kind of shudder to think what nightmares a 10-year-old has reading that kid of book. But I don't have kids, so I can't really speak from experience.

The Epitaph of Jonas Barloff on the other hand is a YA horror novel that reads a lot like an old R.L Stine book, which scored points for me, having grown up on those old Goosebumps titles. Yes, there is plenty of darkness here that straddles certain adult tones, and it's impactful, but it is tame. This was more like an after school special mixed  with a good Arthur Conan Doyle story.

The death of a teenage boy, Daniel Townsend, in the opening chapters begins our story. Daniel is the star athlete in high school, but his father is dying from cancer, and he is determined to help his father survive. Rather than go play ball with is friends, Daniel takes a drive out to an old abandoned mansion on the edge of town in hopes of finding answers about a cure for his father. Sadly, Daniel is killed by another driver near the dilapidated estate soon after. Though Daniel's car (and body) are found, the other car leaves no trace of itself or why they wanted Daniel dead. Thus begins our mystery.

Daniel's former girlfriend, Angela, and friend, Marc, begin to uncover clues leading to a possible supernatural explanation of Daniel's death. Why was he at that strange house? Who's the old guy that lives there? And what does that person have to do with Daniel? Meanwhile, a local detective is also trying to solve a second series of strange crimes: a sudden spurt of grave robberies. Bodies are being exhumed at the graveyard near the house where Daniel was killed. Their skulls are taken in the middle of the night by a strange figure in a carriage. Marc and Angela soon stumble upon this act of grave robbing while snooping on the man in the house, and it's clear there is a connection. But what?

I'll hold off on revealing the rest for fear of spoiling the mystery, but suffice to say we get a heaping dose of things that go bump in the night as the mystery begins to unravel.

Author Calvin Dean writes like the best of them, with a superb sense of syntax and a choice for words that proves he's worked at his craft. Add to that some extensive research on Cancer treatments and Police procedure that shows he put some thought into this work and he deserves some pats on the back for his skill.

One issue I had trouble with in this book, however, was the dialogue. It's pretty whitewashed. I know this is a YA novel but we're dealing with high schoolers who can drive and have cellphones which puts them into the 2000s. Too much of their voice seemed pulled from old Leave it to Beaver episodes. I just can't see seventeen-year-olds saying Sir and Ma'am so much these days, or baking muffins for their neighbors. Not that they should have spoken like the teens on that show Skins, but you know, a bit more realism would have been better. Likewise, their parents speak like people from the Stepford Wives. Thankfully the majority of the dialogue drives the novel forward, so even if it's somewhat bland, it's easy enough to gloss over those moments and remain entrenched in the story.

The loose ends were all wrapped up nicely (I was a little confused as to why a couple items had to be so convoluted, but ultimately it doesn't deter from the overall climax, so take that as you will) and the reveal totally surprised me--I did not see it coming! Also, kudos for the epilogue, which ended on a nice dark note that will leave an impression in readers.

All in all The Epitaph of Jonas Barloff is a fun read for youngsters, with some mild violence that is certainly tamer than anything in the Hunger Games. If you can get past some stilted dialogue, this is a very good book. I recommend it.

3.5 OUT OF 5 Worms

MIDNIGHT RIOT by Ben Aaronovitch

I picked this one up at a Borders Liquidation sale and sat on it for a while. I wish I hadn't! This book is superb fun.

The plot reads like a grown up Harry Potter or a toned down Sandman Slim. You've got ghosts and demons and sorcerers and River Gods and a macabre Punch & Judy show and plenty of laughs and gore and detective work thrown in. Basically, in London there is a supernatural force about making people kill other people. It's up to two police officers (Grant and Nightingale) to figure out what's going on.

Grant is new to the biz, a rookie on the force, whereas Nightingale is the senior officer (who may as well be Dr. Who) that has to train him in the ways of London Magic.This being book one in the series (I believe) we get to see how Grant comes into the unique position of working for the paranormal police.

Grant spends half of the novel learning his moves, and the next half solving the murders. It makes for a nicely paced book that I was able to get through very fast. The cast of supernatural characters, such as the ghost that witnesses the first murder, and the North London and South London river gods (who have a Hetfield and McCoy relationship with each other) were a blast to read.

I really can find nothing that I didn't enjoy about this novel, other than maybe it seemed a little drawn out in places for the sake of word count. But it didn't hurt my enjoyment. I will definitely be reading the other titles in this series.

4 OUT OF 5 Worms!

ALIBI by Joseph Kanon

A post World War II novel set in Italy, ALIBI has a lot going for it, and a little that misses. As usual, Kanon is a master of dialogue, and every utterance hold weight and moves the plot forward, but sometimes I felt the speech was almost too real  (a lot of ellipses, laconic statements, and interruptions) and slowed things down. But it's minor quibble considering how good it can get at times. I could really hear the accents of our main characters, the American GI and the Italian femme fatale.

At the heart of ALIBI is a murder mystery, which is the genre Kanon excels at. Like his other books, The Good German and Los Alamos, the murders have something to do with American occupation during the war. And as usual it's up to our GI to solve the crime (which is pretty much revealed up front--it's the "why" we're searching for here). Naturally, I'm going to avoid any real plot issues here to keep the mystery fresh for you, but I will commend Kanon for being able to not just formulate an interesting crime, but set it to a backdrop which is pretty much unexplored in fiction. Again this is POST WWII, meaning the time after the war ended when these countries were rebuilding, which is a fascinating time filled with new governmental regimes, extreme poverty, black market crime, etc. Kanon really put work into researching this period. If nothing else, you'll feel like you're bopping around with some elite members of fictional society, going to parties, hiding in shadows, trying to figure out who's lying and who's just delusional.

While the end of the book left me satisfied, I felt the crime, once solved, was not as realized as in Good German or Los Alamos. But don't let that deter you. Those prior books were amazing, where as this one is darn good, and I encourage you all to give it a go.

A solid mystery, a great backdrop, and mostly exceptional dialogue.

3 OUT OF 5 Worms

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