Title: Placerita

Authors: Lisa Morton & John Palisano

Release date: June 14th, 2024

If you’ve been a fan of crazy creature stories, then you might’ve come across the story/idea that deep below the city of Los Angeles resides or used to reside a race of lizard people. While it sounds insane to some, to others it’s not rumor – it’s fact – and that fact was first presented back in 1934 in the LA Times of all places.

G. Warren Shufelt – a miner and engineer, said he’d developed a way to scan below ground and in doing so, had discovered a massive, sprawling city made up of tunnels and chambers below LA. Shufelt then claimed that after mapping this area, he’d met with a well-respected Hopi Indigenous man, who told him about the Lizard People who lived below the surface and that there was a city built of gold.

It’s with that back drop that Morton and Palisano deliver ‘Placerita’ a history-horror novella that deftly blends fact and fiction. That should come as no surprise, when considering the two authors involved. Morton is an internationally lauded writer of both non-fiction and fiction, and Palisano himself is no slouch, having won a Bram Stoker Award and been nominated several other times as well. Both know the area this is set in intimately, and it was with all that in hand that I jumped into this story.

What I liked: The novella follows a young woman in 1928. Alexis has been hired on as a Professor of Biology at a University, and is excited about making strides in her field. Then things take a turn. A dam bursts, her home is destroyed, and within all of that madness, she finds a scaled hand. One that shouldn’t exist.

It’s that discovery that sends her down the rabbit hole of learning about the oddities of the potential Lizard People below Los Angeles. She has run-ins with some nefarious characters and even Schufelt himself.

Morton and Palisano do a wonderful job of collaboration. It felt like a singular voice wrote this and the pacing is spot-on perfect, with each section building intrigue but also setting up for a big reveal.

Throughout, we get hints and clues regarding whether that population of lizard folks actually exist, and the ending was a rational, well executed ending that also showcased how Alexis processed her new-found information.

What I didn’t like: While I really enjoyed the story and the way it was told, a lot of the ‘big moments’ felt like Lite moments. We were always on the precipice of a big reveal, only for it to arrive and not happen, the direction of the story changing. It left a lot of ‘what if’s’ and ‘what was that’ spots. Additionally, while the ending was exactly how it should’ve played out for Alexis’ character, for the story itself, it just didn’t resolve anything for those reading this for a creature experience. It just sort of… ends.

Why you should buy this: This is a novella that really does two things perfectly. The first, is that it is very, very engaging and will have you racing through the story to see what happens. The second, is that is will also have you racing to your bookshelf (if you’re like me and have a bunch of books about mythical creatures and forgotten civilizations on your shelves) or Google (if you don’t have those other books!) to read all about the history of the Lizard People.

This novella was really well done and I think it’s one that historical-horror fans will really enjoy!

4/5

Title: Cold Storage

Author: David Koepp

Release Date: September 3rd, 2019

It’s crazy how the passage of time has taken place over the last five years or so.

Since the onset of Covid-19, I’ve personally found the last five years has flown by while also taking forever. Some things feel like they happened a lifetime ago, while others just the other day.

Such was the case with this book. When it was first released, I was super intrigued, but I’m also terrified of organism based horror. Books like Jason Parent’s ‘The Andromeda Strain,’ Michael Crichton’s work and Nicholas Kaufmann’s Dr. Laura Powell series that have seemingly sentient organism’s that can mutate and find ways of devouring and overtaking and controlling organic matter. When I went to the theatre – way back in the 1900’s as my son says – and watched ‘Outbreak,’ I was terrified. We truly live in a globally connected world and as such, everything can be spread faster than the blink of an eye. Even the timing of me writing this review – on a break at work – demonstrates that. The first patient I saw this morning landed last night in Edmonton, returning from a work trip to Hong Kong. Over the last few days, they travelled over 10,000 kms (6200 miles) and then came to their appointment.

So, even though I purchased this book for my Kindle on Christmas Day, 2020, I was stressed about reading it. I knew it’d be great. I knew Koepp would deliver – seriously, the guys screenplays have generated over SIX BILLION DOLLARS in theatres – but I didn’t know if I could handle it.

Finally, after That Horror Bish told me I HAD to read it, I took the plunge, and wow. What a plunge it was.

What I liked: The story opens roughly twenty-five years ago, when Roberto and Trini are called into to investigate a strange event in a rural Australia village. Aided by a biochemist, they discover that a rocket that crashed upon returning to earth was harvesting some sort of bacteria that didn’t burn up upon re-entry. The organism is beyond anything they’ve ever encountered and to protect earth, the sample taken is stored deep under ground in the US in a cold storage facility.

Fast forward to present day and the government has sealed the storage facility and rented the ground level section to a normal storage company. Folks rent the units, store their crap and life goes on. Until one day, when a malfunction occurs and two workers decide to investigate what the beeping sound behind the wall is.

From there, Koepp delivers a fast-paced, engaging sci-fi-horror novel that is neither ridiculously over the top nor bogged down in so many details that you’d need a PHD to even understand what’s going on.

Our two main characters, Teacake – real name, Travis – and Naomi, work well together, even if they’re tentatively awkward at first and Koepp works their relationship weirdness of being coworkers then potentially an item perfectly.

As the stakes get higher and the reality of the organism getting out, Roberto returns with a plan in hand.

I’ll admit, this part of the story is very cinematically over the top. A bit Michael Bay cheese if you will, but it worked well for the story and it kept the tension high and the pages flipping all the way to the end.

What I didn’t like: For me, the one thing that I felt was a bit light throughout, was the actual organism. When it’s a factor it was a factor, rapidly mutating and exploding and overtaking and just creating brutal carnage. But it wasn’t as prevalent as I expected, and there was only so much of Teacake’s nervousness and Naomi’s calmness that could be used to continue the story forward.

Why you should buy this: This was a really fun, edge-of-your-seat thriller that had me completely invested. It was set in a great setting, the characters were charmingly annoying and I’m a huge sucker for this exact type of organism-based sci-fi/horror. Definitely one to read if you’ve had it sitting on your TBR forever, like I did.

4/5

Title: The Wind Began to Howl

Author: Laird Barron

Release date: May 16th, 2023

I’ve had this book on my TBR for far too long and with how wonderfully kind and supportive Laird’s always been, it’s a bit shameful I didn’t get to it sooner.

In my defense, my Kindle has like 5000 books on it and my TBR continues to grow taller and taller (well, digitally, but you know what I mean!) with no end in sight.

Not too long ago, I read (and loved) Barron’s ‘The Croning,’ but I’m more of a tried-and-true horror reader, and that fell within that category nicely. I’m not a huge fan of crime fiction, of noir type stuff and having never read any of Barron’s Isaiah Coleridge books, I wasn’t 100% sure how this one would hit, considering it’s listed as Coleridge 3.5.

But still, the synopsis sounded intriguing, and the cover art was phenomenal. Murano at Bad Hand Books keeps putting out fantastic work, and when you put Murano and Barron together, then surely it’s going to be a home run, yeah?

What I liked: The story follows our M/C, Isaiah Coleridge, former mob enforcer, who has now become a P.I., who gets hired to do what should be a simple job. A movie producer needs him to track down two ambient/black metal musicians and get them to sign the contract necessary so a snippet of their song can appear in a movie. The song is absolutely necessary for the movie and with that in mind, Coleridge sets off.

As I mentioned, normally, this wouldn’t be my bread-and-butter, but the writing really reminded me of Adam Nevill’s stunning ‘Lost Girl’ and Barron had me captivated in no time. It also helped that this focused on how these two brothers who made up the band, reminded me a lot of the crazy dudes who populated the PNW when I lived up in that area. Wolves in the Throne Room type folks, who live off the grid, make music that they believe will open portals, connect with Gods and help them see far into the future. The type of music that will literally let them walk through walls. (I should note, I met Wolves in the Throne Room once, and they were all really friendly, I’m just using them as an example of bands from that area who live in seclusion.)

As the story progresses, we find Coleridge partnering up with someone connected with the brothers and a few leads come through. Barron keeps the truth concealed really well and even a few times, when you are certain things are unravelling he laughs at the reader and takes it elsewhere.

The big reveal ending was fantastic and definitely left some questions unanswered, all for the betterment of the reader.

What I didn’t like: Now, obviously, this won’t be an issue with long time Barron/Coleridge readers, but for a new reader diving in here, I think it would absolutely help if I’d read the other books first, just so I was more familiar with the secondary characters that play a role in Coleridge’s life. Saying that, I was never lost nor confused and there didn’t appear to be any significant ‘inside’ info that I was missing out on.

Why you should buy this: I assume all Coleridge/Barron fans already have this on their shelves, but for those who don’t or for those looking for a great cosmic-horror/crime-fiction mash up, this one fits that bill perfectly. The inclusion of the band, their back story and the truth of what was going on will make every reader happy,. Count me as one who was very delighted with the reveal. And while I’m still on the fence over whether I want to make the plunge into the Coleridge series, this definitely pushes me closer to wanting to, than not.

5/5

Title: Where the Bones Lie

Author: Nick Kolakowski

Release date: March 11th, 2025

*Huge thanks to Nick for sending me a digital ARC of this!*

If you’ve followed my reviews for the last almost-decade, you’ll know I’m not really a true crime fiction reader. My reading desires typically include the necessity of supernatural/paranormal/horror elements and the straight up crime stuff sometimes causes me to drift away and not stay focused.

Saying that, there’s been some books that’ve been excellent in the crime world that’ve excited me, the most recent being the Bishop Rider series of books that Beau Johnson has been releasing.

When Nick reached out to see if I’d take a stab at this one, I agreed for one big reason. Nick can write his ass off. In every thing I’ve read of his, he’s night and day one of the best writer’s you’ll ever read. The quality of storytelling, the quality of character development and the careful crafting of the narrative is simply unparalleled.

What I liked: The novel follows Dash, former Hollywood clean-up man, now failing stand-up comic. He’s trying to put his former life in the rearview mirror and get on the straight and clean bus, but that’s simply impossible. The opening scene shows him faltering at a stand up set, when his old boss, Manny, arrives and offers him a job. It opens up old trauma, a job gone wrong, that pushed Dash away from the life, but cash is cash and once it’s done, he convinces himself that he’s done for good.

Here’s where things take a turn. He gets a phone call, from the daughter of Ken Ironwood. His body was found after having been missing for decades and she wants Dash’s help to figure out who took him out.

Kolakowski weaves a very strong cat-and-mouse game from that point on. Chalk full of humor, action and clues, the pace was frantic and it wasn’t long before I was fully immersed. Even when things were moving along and I thought for sure that I knew what was going on, a new wrinkle would arrive and I’d have to rethink everything I thought I knew.

The ending is a massive wrap up of a bajillion loose ends that worked to really put a nail in a number of coffin’s. It was a cinematic ending to a novel that had bulldozed its way to that crazy conclusion.

What I didn’t like: There were hints of paranormal stuff at the beginning, which faded away not long after, and I was a bit saddened, because it really made you question whether Dash was crazy or not. It worked out well, when all was revealed, but for this reader, I was saddened it wasn’t a bigger angle later on.

Why you should buy this: If you’re like me and not a typical crime reader, but are looking to dip your toes into something and see how you dig it, this would be the perfect book to take for a spin. A remote setting, two unlikely people working together, and a ton of crazy twists and turns, Kolakowski’s delivered a superb novel that’ll have people zipping through it.

5/5

Andrew Pyper & Black Void Publishing announce the 30th Anniversary Re-Release of Andrew’s debut collection ‘Kiss Me,’ coming March 13th, 2026!

Released to critical acclaim in 1996, ‘Kiss Me’ heralded the arrival of a new voice in fiction. Within the thirteen stories, Andrew’s mastery of prose was on display, as well as Alice Munro’s influence. Each story is a cross-section of mid-20’s life, and now, the collection will be returning with a new, lovingly crafted re-release.

Featuring new artwork by Don Noble of Rooster Republic Press, the book will feature the original thirteen stories as well as a foreword by long time Toronto Star reviewer James Grainger, an introduction by Steve Stred, an afterword by Randall Perry, three additional stories not originally featured in the collection but released around that time period, and an extensive in-depth interview with Andrew conducted by Luke Hathaway shortly after the 1996 release.”I’m thrilled to see this edition of ‘Kiss Me’ release for the 30th Anniversary!” says Andrew Pyper of the announcement.

A must-have release that has been highly sought after in recent years, this collection will make long-time Andrew Pyper fans very happy, as well as excite new fans alike!

Watch for order links in the near future!

Title: The King of Carcosa (Lost Carcosa #5)

Author: Joseph Sale

Release date: November 19th, 2024

And here we are.

THE END.

It’s a bittersweet moment whenever a series reaches its conclusion. I remember when I got to the end of The Dark Tower series (PS I loved the ending) and you realize you’ve reached the culmination of all of the characters journeys. These made up ideas that’ve formed and fully taken shape within your mind as living, breathing, solid people/creatures. They’ve arrived at the end and after that, no more. Of course, in the world of fiction (and movies) they can be revived and you can visit them again, but the truth is that depending on the reader, you may or may not want to return.

There’s a fine line between creators and consumers when it comes to THE END. Look at the tv series LOST. If you watched the show, you either loved the ending or hated it. But there’s no arguing about the one fact – it was THE END. Same with Game of Thrones. The TV series obviously. Who knows if we’ll ever see the end of the book series. And for the record – I loved the LOST finale but I haven’t seen the final season of GOT.

All of that is to say, that here, at the ending of Sale’s epic retelling/reimaging of The King in Yellow mythology, we arrive at a point where there’s both physical and philosophical storylines to wrap up and if it was any other writer than Sale, it’d be a daunting task. I went into this one immediately after it loaded on my Kindle. I couldn’t wait to see how LeBarron, Cali, Cass, Petruccio and Alan’s journeys concluded. And, as I expected, Sale wrapped this up magnificently.

Obviously, if you’ve not read books one through four there will be heavy spoilers for those within this review (even though it’ll be vague), but still, pause here and stop reading if you’ve not read those and return after you have!

What I liked: The story picks up directly after the horrific events of book four. Cali has killed Alan, and taken the throne, now acting as The Demon Queen. Looking to topple Carcosa, she unleashes a tidal wave of death, her army killing without mercy. LeBarron, Petruccio and Cassilda now band together, with hope dwindling and a positive outcome fading to stand tall and fight against Cali.

While book four seemingly suggested Alan Chambers storyline had ran its course, if you’ve followed his journey through the first four books, you’ll have seen that Alan is more than just a man who sought the entrance to Carcosa and survived the trials to be allowed within. The layers of who he really is was slowly revealed and book four really heightened that. Sometimes, to overcome, a character needs to die a mortal death to be reborn as something more, and this is exactly what Sale gives us. We get to see Chambers journey, meeting those exiled as well as having an in depth discussion with The King in Yellow, whom we previously believed had been killed.

It’s all to say that Sale marvelously wraps up Alan’s mortal journey and transitions him into the cosmic conclusion of his story arc. It was emotional, impactful and action packed, making for a conclusion between Alan and another character that I never saw coming, but bread crumbs had been laid out since that character was introduced.

The ending was exactly as I wanted it to be. Good versus Evil. Overcoming substantial odds. And, with a really well done Epilogue, shows the cyclical nature of storytelling in all of its pristine glory.

What I didn’t like: I, personally, am not 100% convinced that the way Alan’s story ended made complete sense. I really can’t discuss the why, but with his ascendency and the subplot of soul, I’m not sure he’s a character that could ever have a finite ‘ending.’ But I digress.

Why you should buy this: This book culminates the EPIC five book series and the beauty of this is, I don’t think any of the books were over two-hundred pages. Mind boggling. If this had been a fantasy author writing these stories, each book would’ve been one-thousand page door stoppers, but Sale has a way with prose, character and story development and this shines through across each book and across the series as a whole.

If you’ve not started this series, you absolutely have to. Each character become one you couldn’t wait to see what happened next with, and the settings across this landscape are second to none.

An outstanding conclusion by one of the most gifted writers creating today.

5/5

Title: The Revenant

Author: Michael Punke

Release date: June 20th, 2002

Way back in maybe 2004, I went to the Coles bookstore at Seven Oaks Mall in Abbotsford to look for something to read. It was an excursion we did every few weeks, as having moved to Abbotsford not long before, we didn’t really know too many people nor did we do much on the weekends. We’d head to the mall, check out HMV, grab some food court food and then check out Coles or the Ticketmaster Kiosk before going back home.

On this particular day, a book cover caught my attention before I’d even entered the store. It was of a man fighting a grizzly and if there was ever a book cover made to get Steve to buy a book, it was that cover. The book had been out for a few years by then, but on that day, a display had been set up and to this readers excitement, the books were all 20% off. I bought it and devoured it over that weekend, loving the story of Glass, Fitzgerald, Bridger and, as the tag line says, the revenge aspect.

Prior to reading this the first time, and again about five years later when I was reading it as thematic inspiration for my debut novel, which had been re-released recently, ‘The Invisible,’ I’d never heard of Hugh Glass, though I’d heard of folks having survived an encounter with a grizzly.

Now, as I work on another novel, I knew it was time to revisit this story and see if it still held me like it did the previous two times. Two last notes – if you’re also looking for something in a similar vein that will have you captivated from start to finish, definitely check out ‘The Grizzly King: A Romance of the Wild’ by James Oliver Curwood. It was released in 1915 and in 1988 the film ‘The Bear,’ based on the book was released. This is one of my all-time favorite books and movies. Second – I’ve still never seen the movie based on this book. I’ve heard it’s great and everything, but the tone and darkness of this book have always remained for me, so, I just can’t bring myself to watch the movie and potentially have that aspect ruined.

What I liked: Within the Historical Note aspect in the back, Punke states that this is a mix of historical accuracy and fictional moments. It works well to create a flow, and it was nice to see Punke detail what is historically known and what he fictionalized, but the crux of this story is uncontested. In the Rocky Mountains, in 1823, Hugh Glass, while scouting for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, was surprised by a mother grizzly and her two cubs. The grizzly attacked Glass, seemingly wounding him mortally.

From there, accounts differ. Most historians state that the other members of the company heard this and came to Glass’ rescue, killing the bear. Others say that Glass killed the bear himself, which is what Punke features within this book. Either way, Glass is mauled, grievously wounded and they are far from the nearest Fort. The head of the expedition,  General William Henry Ashley decides to have two men remain behind with Glass until he dies, while the rest continue on.

Within this book, the two men agree to watch him, and when Glass doesn’t die within a few days, they abandon him and forge on, wanting to meet back up with Ashley and crew. Glass somehow survives and decides to track down the two men and get his vengeance on them stealing his rifle and leaving him for dead.

Another historical fact that is undisputed, is that Glass then traversed – while seriously wounded – over 200 miles of hostile Indigenous territory, to make it to the Fort. From here, as before, facts fork off in a few ways, but within the book, Glass works to track down the two men and get what was his.

It’s a fascinating study in single-mindedness. Glass essentially becomes a pioneer-Terminator, bringing down wolves, bison and Indigenous, while crossing hundreds of miles of land. The time period is also fascinating, as it was right before the 1900’s arrived and more modernization with the Industrial revolution arrived. So, travel is slow going. Much of it is by canoe/boat or a variation of them. Either that or its by horseback and foot.

The terrain and weather play a role and we see the significant odds stacked against Glass continue to fall on him in a domino effect, yet he forges on.

Punke filled this book with so much dirt, grit and frost that it’s a wonder my Kindle didn’t short circuit and die. I felt filthy while reading it, as though dirt was getting under my nails and working its way into my skin.

The ending is just that, an ending. There’s no resolution, though in the afterword we do learn the fate of some of the historical figures that were featured within.

What I didn’t like: I found that, on this re-read at least, some portions feel like I’m reading a carefully crafted novel, while some parts felt documentarian and void of feeling. As though we went from descriptive prose to ‘this happened then this then this.’ It could be due to the non-fiction mixed with fiction angle, but hard to say.

Why you should buy this: I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – there’s nothing more frightening in this world than what happens in the remote corners of the world. The mountains especially. Sure, the oceans are terrifying, at least what lies below the surface, but on the surface, if you’re in a vessel of some sort, lost at sea, you’ll either die of exposure or dehydration. In the mountains, there’s always something bigger, badder and more dangerous than you waiting to see you falter and leap in to rip you apart.

‘The Revenant’ is a case study in the lengths Glass was willing to go to somehow seek out vengeance and just how inhospitable large portions of North America still is. Even though this is set two-hundred years ago, within the Rocky Mountains, the terrain hasn’t changed, nor has the dangers.

If you’re looking for a brutal, uncomfortable and tension-filled book, this one is perfect. Now, it just might be time for me to watch the movie.

5/5

Title: Trog

Author: Zachary Ashford

Release date: March 11th, 2025

*Huge thanks to Zachary for sending me a digital ARC of this one!*

While completely unrelated to Eddie Generous’ ‘Terror at Back Woods Lodge,’ Ashford’s newest can be seen an a thematic companion to that novella, both through cover art styling, but also content. This could be an indication of things to come for ‘Unnerving,’ or, rather, if you know both of those authors, it could simply be that they both continue to release super fun, solid, and dark creature-feature releases, though on opposite sides of the world.

I was really intrigued to see what Ashford was going to deliver with this one. After his novellas ‘The Encampment by the Gorge & Blood Memory,’ ‘Sole Survivor’ (one and two!), ‘When the Cicadas Stop Singing,’ and ‘The Morass,’ he took a slight detour with ‘Polyphemus’ when it comes to releasing straight forward creature-features. Not taking anything away from the stunning Faustian novel that is ‘Polyphemus,’ but ‘Trog’ solidifies that when Ashford is describing crazy beasts causing carnage (say that fast three times!) he’s in his wheelhouse and ‘Trog’ certainly cements his place as the reigning Outback Creature-Feature leader (again, three times, say it, like super fast!).

What I liked: The story follows a mom, dad and teen daughter, Aisha, who’ve moved to the countryside to get away from the ‘dangers of the city,’ Classic set up. In this case, there was an incident where a man broke into their house and terrified the daughter. He then stalks her, traumatizing the family. Dad, decides to take them away from that and start anew.

But this is a horror story and as such, doesn’t realize what the history of the house is. A famed/mythical person, Shackleton, used to own the property many, many years ago. Deep in the bowels of a forgotten cave, he’s captured and trapped a Yowie, he’s named Trog. The plan had been to exhibit the beast and make millions.

The crux of the story takes place over one night, when Aisha’s parents go out for dinner, leaving her alone. Three masked robbers arrive, wanting to steal, torture and kill whoever is at home.

Ashford sets this up nicely and, as you can predict, along the way, Trog gets free. The story is really fun up until that moment, but as soon as Trog breaks free from his cage, the shit hits the fan, the heads start flying (even just look at the cover art!) and it becomes a matter of who’ll be standing when we see the words THE END.

I’ve always been a big fan of Ashford’s action-based terror. He seems to be writing at his best when the antagonist is eight feet tall (or taller/longer) and the humans within the book become their target. We also get a lot of layered emotions within this. A dad and mom feeling guilt over what’s happened to their daughter. A dad and mom feeling guilt over going out for dinner when the three scum bags arrive. And later on, we see how those who survive have to deal with life without those who don’t.

The ending and epilogue were great and it does leave the door open for a follow up, should Ashford decide to return us to a story involving Yowie’s.

What I didn’t like: The only thing that really stood out for me was that when the trio moved to the home, the mom and dad scoffed and ignored Aisha when she was telling them she was hearing something from below the house. After having just gone through an incident involving a horrible person and their daughter, and the fact that they moved to try and get away from everything involved, the idea that they wouldn’t listen to her was a bit suspect on my end.

Why you should buy this: As I mentioned earlier, Ashford is easily the current King of Aussie Outback Creature Features. Yes, Baxter and Chapman and Murray and Davis and etc. etc. etc. write creature features, but they also move fluidly through cult fiction and cosmic horror and grief horror and etc. etc. etc. None of them have put out release after release at such high regard as Ashford and having them focused around creature features. So, if you’re looking for a fun, insane big Yowie book, this is perfect. If you’re a bigfoot fan, cryptid fan, or simply love home invasion books gone wrong, look no further.

Ashford is a writer who always brings his best to the table and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a surge in Yowie books after this one arrives.

5/5

Title: The Paleontologist

Author: Luke Dumas

Release date: October 31st, 2023

If you follow any of my social media pages, you’ll know that I’m the father of a son who is dinosaur obsessed. While many parents deal with a dinosaur ‘phase,’ my wife and I know we have a dino-lifer on our hands.

Since our son started to crawl and then walk, he’s been attracted to all things dino (as well as monsters, Kaiju’s and things that go bump in the night) and seeing as how we live in Alberta, Canada’s dinosaur province, we have an ample supply of dinosaur related excursions and displays. Our museum in Edmonton has a massive fossil collection, as does the University of Alberta. Our airport has displays in it and we’re a three hour drive from Drumheller and the Royal Tyrell Museum, a place we’ve visited annually for the last four or five years now. We’ve even made the five hour drive north west to visit Grande Prairie and see the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum there. Yes, he’s obsessed. But guess what? So am I.

I’ve always loved dinosaurs and have been a huge fan of The Land Before Time (my first movie I ever saw in theatres), as well as the Jurassic Park books and movies. It’s made for a wonderful thing to connect with my son about, and as he plots how to become a paleontologist and questions when he can start working at the Royal Tyrell, we sit back and just enjoy the fact that he is loving science this much and learning as much as he can. He’s one of those rare eight year old’s that’ll go on and on about different clades and evolutionary markers of species. It’s fascinating.

What all of that means, is that I’ve had Luke Dumas’ book, ‘The Paleontologist,’ on my Kindle since October 31st, 2023. I had it preordered and was super excited to get to reading it, but then my reading life got super hectic. But I knew a trip to Drumheller would be coming in 2024 – one always does – so, I decided to wait to read it in conjunction with our trip.

I’m a huge fan of the various dino-horror fiction. Be it the rip and shred variety Tim Meyers delivers, or the slow, tactical, chess game style that Michael Crichton perfected. And no, I haven’t read ‘Dragon Teeth’ yet, but it’s coming up on my TBR soon!

Luke’s debut novel, ‘A History of Fear,’ had readers raving (and it’s on my Kindle as well!), but between the two, the dinosaur element won out over both and with the Drumheller trip coming, and fellow paleo-dino fiction fans telling me I needed to read this, I dove into this, excited to see what secrets the Hawthorne Museum held.

What I liked: A multi-layered story, with an epistolary aspect, ‘The Paleontologist’ made this dino-reader very happy. The novel follows Simon, a young-in-the-field paleontologist, who gets hired to be the head curator at his hometown museum. This is also where his younger sister disappeared before his aunt took him and raised him, Simon’s mother a drug-addict deemed unfit to parent.

Simon’s recently broken up with his long-time boyfriend, Kai, and with that recent heartbreak looming large and the numerous unanswered questions about his sisters disappearance, Simon is hoping to focus on bringing the museum back to relevance, while also finding out what happened to her.

Within that narrative, we learn about the former paleontologist, Mueller, who current staff claim went mad, and as Simon finds a hidden storage area, has strange encounters and hears odd noises, the museum begins to reveal itself to Simon and to us readers.

The novel, in its entirety, feels dirty. As though its always raining, the sun can’t break free behind the clouds and that at any moment, something is going to dart from the shadows and clamp its jaws on whatever unsuspecting character is nearby.

The highlight of the story is Simon’s journey. It is paralleled with Mueller’s, in that we read about his decent into madness with a fossil discovery and Simon reading his journey, all the while we see Simon become obsessed, become focused specifically on finding his sister, the truth and confronting what is going on at the museum head on.

While the first three-quarters was a build, a setting up of dominos, the final quarter is a full sprint. Dumas masterfully handles the revelations, the reactions and the repercussions.

What I didn’t like: So, I really loved this novel, but the average reader may find this one a bit dino heavy. While in many fantasy books we get paragraphs of descriptions surrounding what the characters eat, we experience similar moments where dinosaurs are described in significant detail. For some readers, this may slow the progress and be off putting. As well, the build of the first seventy-five percent is solid, but some may find it slower than they typically like. It worked well for this reader, so decide for yourself.

Why you should buy this: Dumas had notched a novel firmly in an area sorely lacking since Crichton passed on. This science based, supernatural thriller had a wonderfully related able main character, an excellent location and a lot of moving pieces that ultimately worked to create an unwavering tension. This book works on a lot of different levels and as such, is one of those novels that’ll continue to find new and unique readers for many, many years to come.

5/5

Title: Sycamore

Author: Ian Rogers

Release date: October 29th, 2024

*Huge thanks to Ian for the digital copy of this one!*

Firstly, before we dive into this, I owe Ian an apology. He’d posted a bit ago about looking for reviewers on Facebook and I DM’d him. He kindly sent me a digital copy and I slotted it into my TBR ready to get it done in time for him. Then, when he posted about the release date approaching, I realized that I’d completely messed up on when this was coming out. So, I’m super sorry, Ian. I do my best to try and read and review prior to release date, but that mix up was completely my fault.

Ok, so, the review!

If you’ve read any of Ian’s short fiction (and if not go grab ‘Every House is Haunted’ ASAP), you’ll have come across Felix Renn and The Black Lands. I’ve read a bunch of Rogers’ short fiction (and still have the two chapbooks to get through – ‘Black-Eyed Kids’ and ‘The Ash Angels,’ both referenced within ‘Sycamore’) and the world and the character are very, very engaging. Renn is a private detective, working with his ex wife, a former horror movie actress, based in Toronto. The Black Lands refers to the world on the other side of these portals that have started sprouting up around the world, home to every sort of monster possible.

I was very interested to see ‘the start,’ as Ian has already written an entire mythology and characters. The backwards approach to this character and getting these things out into the world was a very ballsy move by Ian, but one I knew an author of his caliber would have no issue tackling.

What I liked: After getting a frantic phone call from a woman in the town of Sycamore, Felix Renn heads there about a job. He’s excited to take this one on, as it doesn’t appear to be Black Lands related. He’s had his hands full with monsters and events and just wants a straight forward case.

But this is Felix Renn we’re talking about. The most sarcastic and lucky PI out there. Of course The Black Lands are involved.

Rogers does a wonderful job of setting the stage, giving us an intriguing ‘twist,’ one where Renn is hired to find the body of the woman’s husband. Everyone believes he’s been murdered, judging by the amount of blood found in his truck. Everyone except the police, who believe he’s actually the serial killer in town.

Renn partners with an unexpected character, one that works as a similarly acting person, but also one who grounds Renn. Felix can’t get a read on them and this makes for some witty banter, some great team-building and when the portal stuff hits the fan, someone Renn can and should depend on.

Throughout, Rogers utilizes the remote, small town aspect to perfection, giving us readers just enough to deflect things, before rerouting us to the truth. When the house of cards finally collapses, it does so with gusto and we get to learn a ton about the government agency investigating the portals and even more about Renn and his potential future partner.

What I didn’t like: I do think this is a book where you get more oomph if you’ve previously read some of Ian’s Black Lands short fiction. There is a lot of Easter eggs and throw away comments, and if you’ve not read that particular story, it may be a case of leaving you wondering what’s going on. If you have read the short stories, then you’ll be in for a much more fulfilling experience, though I wouldn’t say it’s necessary, based on the strength of the story and the writing.

Why you should buy this: Having shown how phenomenal he is at writing short fiction, Ian has now released two novels, both releasing around the same time, this year. It’s wonderful to see just how seamless he was able to make that leap (though behind the scenes he may say otherwise!). The book doesn’t feel padded or filled with unnecessary verbiage to push this longer. Instead, this feels like a celebration. Of an author fulfilling everything fans of Ian’s and The Black Lands have been looking forward for, after this novel was released. This is a tension-filled mystery, wrapped in a supernatural, detective narrative, that delivers some phenomenal set pieces and action sequences. This is everything and more for fans of what Ian’s created leading up to this and now we all have to collective hold our breath, waiting for when we’ll get another Renn full length offering.

Just phenomenal.

5/5