Dial M for Mutants! by Mat Thorne

 Welcome to 1994. Bill Clinton is the president, Twitter doesn’t exist, and The Midnight Extra is staring at you from every checkout lane and ratty newsstand along the East Coast. Hollywood scandals, wild gossip, and the occasional UFO. You just can’t miss it. You might want to, but you can’t.

The Midnight Extra isn’t much of a tabloid, but that’s never really bothered Buck Vincent. He isn’t much of a reporter. And in a paper notorious for Elvis sightings and celebrity sex gossip, Buck’s Can You Believe It?! section feels right at home. For twenty-nine years, he’s dreamt up stories about Bigfoot, aliens, ghouls, and monsters of every stripe, usually after a whiskey. Or four.

Problem is, Buck didn’t dream up his latest story. He’s seen the blood. And he’s met the strange, smiling woman haunted by something beastly in the night. Hell, he’s seen the damn thing himself.

Good thing he’s teamed up with rookie photographer Betty Roy. She may be a loose cannon, but she’s got more spine than Buck ever had. Gumption too. And together they’ll chase a story that might just be chasing them back. Something with teeth. Let’s just hope the story is worth all the trouble. Things are getting a little spooky.

Down and out tabloid reporter Buck is close to losing his job. He's been faking his sensationalist stories for years with photos using rubber masks and big foot costumes. His latest story, hell hounds from outer space is a huge flop, but he stumbles on to a real story with his reluctant new partner Betty at The Midnight Extra. 

When a woman calls the tabloid to report that she has seen Buck's hell hound and that it has eaten her husband, Buck and Betty are off to check it out. The unlikely duo discover more than they bargained for and may have uncovered the story of a lifetime, provided they live to see it published.

This was a fast paced wild romp. Sometimes funny, often creepy, always fun, and never a dull moment. Even though it was set firmly in the 90s I could picture Buck and Betty teaming up anywhere from an old film noir to a recent X files reboot. They make a great team.

4 out of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy for review.

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About the author
Mat Thorne is a writer, designer, and photographer from West Virginia. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, daughter, and two strange cats. He enjoys monster movies, fantasy miniatures, baseball, and dumplings. "Dial M for Mutants!" is his first novel.

The Amulet by Michael McDowell

 

When a rifle range accident leaves Dean Howell disfigured and in a vegetative state, his wife Sarah finds her dreary life in Pine Cone, Alabama made even worse. After long and tedious days on the assembly line, she returns home to care for her corpselike husband while enduring her loathsome and hateful mother-in-law, Jo. Jo blames the entire town for her son’s mishap, and when she gives a strange piece of jewelry to the man she believes most responsible, a series of gruesome deaths is set in motion. Sarah believes the amulet has something to do with the rising body count, but no one will believe her. As the inexplicable murders continue, Sarah and her friend Becca Blair have no choice but to track down the amulet themselves, before it’s too late.

Shortly after I read Cold Moon Over Babylon by this author I made it a point to seek out his other works. Somehow I missed out on reading Michael McDowell back in the 80s. I am now armed with a small collection of his books and this is the second one I have read. I'm pleased to say I enjoyed it just as much as my first venture.

This story takes place in Pine Cone Alabama where there is not much opportunity for work other than the munitions factory. Jo Howell, who is as mean as the Alabama sun is hot, blames the munitions factory and just about everyone in town for the horrific accident that put her son in a vegetative state. She is consumed with thoughts of revenge, and she will have it, in the form of a cursed amulet that causes whoever possesses it to murder whoever happens to be handy at the time, before they themselves also die in freakishly bizarre accidents the likes of which I would not expect to see anywhere outside of one of those Final Destination movies. I do wish there had been some explanation of where the Amulet derived this power from but that did not really detract from the gory good time I had reading this book.

4 out of 5 stars

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About the author

Michael McDowell was a prolific horror writer who has distinguished himself with a varied body of work within the genre. He was born in Enterprise, Alabama, in 1950 and passed away in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1999. Among McDowell's other writings is the six-part serial novel Blackwater, a chronicle of a southern family drawn to the supernatural. In addition, McDowell has also supplied the screenplays for various films, including director Tim Burton's horror comedy Beetlejuice and his animated production The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Q&A WITH ERIC LELAND: AUTHOR OF Inhuman MILITARY THRILLER DEBUT

 

A Gripping Military Horror with Shocking Supernatural Twists

Q&A WITH ERIC LELAND:

AUTHOR OF Inhuman MILITARY THRILLER DEBUT

 

Question: What inspired you to write Inhuman?

Eric Leland: During a class for my MA I wrote a 25-page short story titled Recon Team: Mercury. That story was shortened to five pages and is now the prologue to Inhuman. For a NaNoWriMo idea I thought it would be interesting to see what happened when the rescuers came looking for the team that disappeared in my original short story. Inhuman is the result.

 

Q: What sets Inhuman apart from other military and horror books?

EL: The bravado one comes to expect when reading military fiction is quickly ripped away to expose and pick at the delicate flesh of fear and self-doubt we are ashamed to admit exists.

 

Q: What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

EL: It was never my intent for Inhuman to be didactic. Primarily I hope readers are entertained. I hope readers will remember the experience of Inhuman rather than any particular lesson.

 

Q: Inhuman features a diverse cast of characters. How did your military friendships, and experiences with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” inform this inclusivity?

EL: A diverse cast adds verisimilitude to military fiction simply because any U.S. military unit features a diverse roster. In my first combat experience I found myself fighting shoulder to shoulder with Mexican Americans, an African American, and a gay woman. Unfortunately, DADT was still a thing for most of my military career and I would only find out after DADT was repealed that some of my greatest friends were gay. I think truth in fiction is important, and if I did not write a diverse cast I would by lying. Readers can spot a lie from a mile out.

 

Q: How did you develop your characters? And which of them do you have the strongest connection to?

EL: The character Jaran is heavily based on my wife’s experiences who was born in Vietnam. At an early age, she and her family fled to a refugee camp after the war. The chaos of displacement during war time seemed terrifying. I can’t really say which character I have the strongest connection to—John’s sense of duty; Chris’s refusal to take anything seriously; and Brandon’s severe depression and self-doubt—they’re all variations of me.

 

ERIC LELAND grew up in Massena, NY and entered Army basic training upon high school graduation. He was an MP in the Army for six years and reclassified to a Special Agent with the Army Criminal Investigation Division. Eric deployed to Honduras in 2002, and Iraq in 2003 and 2009 where he was awarded an Army Commendation Medal with “V” device for valor. He completed his MA in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and has happily traded in his gun for a pen. Eric lives in Seattle with his wife. Connect with Eric Leland on Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads.

 

Inhuman is available on Amazon in both print and digital.

Audiobook forthcoming in Summer 2021.

 

REVIEW COPIES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Farallon Island by Russell James

 

Nate Thalmann wants to escape his life as a Prohibition Era bootlegger. He moves with his pregnant wife Alice to the Farallon Island lighthouse, situated on a rocky islet twenty-seven miles off the California coast. Joining three other keepers and their families, he hopes for peace and a deep reconnection with his wife. But one of the keeper’s children finds a secret cave, and releases a malicious entity imprisoned within. It possesses a former keeper and soon the islanders are being stalked and slaughtered. The demon within the keeper plans to only leave Alice alive, at least until she’s given birth to her child, who will become the demon’s permanent vessel. With no radio, no resupply, and no weapons, it is up to Nate to keep his wife and unborn child safe. But the body-hopping fiend seems to always be one step, and one corpse, ahead of him. Will anyone survive wrath of the demon of Farallon Island?

No phones no lights no motor cars as primitive as can be. Wait that's the wrong island There is no goofy humor here but Farallon does offer an ancient demon imprisoned in a cave, and now that it's been accidentally freed it's wasting no time in executing it's plan to get off the island and back to civilization where it can wreak havoc on the world.

This is high octane horror that moves along at top speed. Even though it is a short, quick read I don't feel like it skimped on character details. It gave me a good grasp of the relationship between Nate and Alice,  the state of their marriage and what brought them to pick up their lives and move to this remote island where there would not even be a doctor to deliver their soon to be first born. There are very few characters aside from the family that will be their new next door neighbors,  so there was no trouble getting to know them in the brief 158 pages. Even without a long list of characters the author manages to provide maximum carnage.

The scariest part for me was the simple fact of being cut off from outside help. To me, that is more terrifying than demons wanting to possess a baby. There's no phone and the radio works when it wants to. There is nowhere to run nowhere to hide, no way to get off the island or summon help.

This is my first time reading anything by Russell James. I'll be on the look out for more.

I would definitely recommend this one for all horror fans.

I received an advance copy for review.

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