Title: William

Author: Mason Coile

Release date: September 12th, 2024

*Huge thank you to Andrew Pyper, Edelweiss and G.P Putnam’s Sons for the digital ARC of this one!*

Way back in May, of the year 2023, I trekked out to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, home of the Blue Jays, the Maple Leafs, the Hockey Hall of Fame and my favorite author, Andrew Pyper.

I went there to ‘host’ the 10th anniversary celebration of Andrew’s classic novel, ‘The Demonologist.’ I use the term host loosely, because all I really did was get Andrew to agree to show up and convince Little Ghosts bookstore to let us have it there. I stammered through a maybe two minute speech about how much I love Andrew’s books (it was actually much longer on my phone, but I decided to skip over a bunch of stuff because EVERYBODY was looking at me!!), and then Andrew read from the novel, answered a few questions and signed some books. And then we walked to a local pub and celebrated.

It was all an elaborate excuse to finally and officially meet Andrew in person. If you’re one of the five to ten people in the book world that doesn’t know that I’m a huge fan of Andrew’s, well hello! Otherwise, you’ll know – I’M A HUGE FAN OF ANDREW’S! (And not just because I’m a large individual!)

Now, while out there, I was actually able to hang out with Andrew several times outside of the event, which was AMAZING. And, as a huge Pyper fan, I took the opportunity while we rode the subway, to ask him about what his next novel would be.

And to my utter surprise, he told me. He shared that he was releasing a novel under a pseudonym, that it was with one of his dream publishers and that it focused around an Artificial Intelligence narrative. I was in shock and, other than telling my wife about six times on the phone when I called her while out there, and another three or four dozen times when I was back at home, I told nobody. My lips were sealed and I hadn’t even signed an NDA! I kept my yap shut until the day that Andrew finally, officially announced that his pseudonym was Mason Coile and ‘William’ would be releasing in 2024. Originally announced with a placeholder title, ‘Daemon,’ I couldn’t wait to read this. When the day finally came that the book was available for request through Netgalley and Edelweiss, I jumped on it, hoping to be approved. And, amazingly I was – over at Edelweiss. Netgalley is US only unfortunately. (Side note, I’ve only been approved for three books total over at Edelweiss (close to 100 on Netgalley now) and two of the three have been Andrew’s books – The Residence and now, William).

Having now read, ‘William,’ (twice actually) I’m left in awe at the magnificent novel Andrew’s created, that asks some heavy questions while doing its best to have its main character navigate the minefield of what the future looks like, while also driving an emotional dagger into the reader several times over.

Much like the 2014 movie, ‘Ex Machina,’ and even Spielberg’s 2001 movie, ‘A.I. Artificial Intelligence,’ Pyper, as Coile, crafts a novel that is written as though it is sci-fi, while firmly rooting the heart of the story within the horror genre.

As the initial teasers were released, Andrew frequently remarked, ‘to say more would give away some of the twists and turns,’ and frankly, I completely understand that, which will make writing this review that much harder.

What I liked: I’m going to go into this one pretty in depth for two reasons, one – I have a lot of observations. Two – I’m working on something else and this will be utilized for that in the future!

So, to start with, let’s look at this novel purely as a fiction novel. The story follows Henry, a brilliant robotics engineer who has developed a severe cause of agoraphobia, which prevents him from leaving the family home. This affliction is so bad, that every time he even thinks of stepping foot outside, he begins to sweat, panic and his pulse quicken. He’s built a lab on the third floor of their home, where he tinkers away each day, working on whatever it is he’s working on. His wife, Lily, herself a well respected business woman, has sold her most recent start up, which those funds are often used to advance Henry’s experiments. Lily is also pregnant, her first child on the way and as such, Henry is pushing himself to become a better person and to somehow overcome his affliction.

This is the basis and things, on the surface at least, seem to be solid. That is, until two of Lily’s former colleagues come for a visit. Paige and Davis. They meet Henry for the first time, and while over for lunch, Henry introduces them to his greatest creation, William, an AI ‘program’ within an unfinished body. As this is a thriller/sci-fi/horror novel, things go wrong quick and William becomes unhinged. Soon, it’s a fight for survival as they desperately try to flee from the home.

The tension throughout this story was top notch and the storytelling itself was incredibly cerebral. It’s an interesting thing to see Andrew channel another level of crafting a tale, and I often wondered if -releasing this under a pseudonym – allowed him to break free from some of the Pyper shackles and just go for it. Pyper himself is a brand, a thirty year brand of literary/horror thrillers, with smart storytelling and engaging prose. The prose here is immediately identifiable and if I’d not known Coile was Pyper, I still would’ve picked this out as an Andrew book. The voice is the voice is the voice. (And we get a few trademarks within – the appearance/use of the word ghoul being a major one.) But we’ve seen some pushing towards this novel throughout some of Andrew’s own work in the past. The Homecoming (mild-spoiler alert) has very hard sci-fi leanings in the last quarter. Oracle and Oracle 2 have technological themes running throughout them. And even if we go way back to The Trade Mission, we see the tech start up team who’ve developed Hypothesys a virtual reality device involved with morality. Andrew’s dipped his toes into the sci-fi world before, but not to this degree, which I think is partly the Coile development.

Now, we’ve also already been made away of a sequel to this one, ‘Exiles,’ which has a 2025 release date and is set further in the future, but also on Mars. That news does two things. The first, is that you already know there will be a ‘soft ending,’ an ending that does close this book, but obviously leaves the door wide open for the next. Saying that, the ending here is spot on, incredibly unnerving and knowing this tech that Andrew has developed within the book is now out in the wider world, you’ll end this one with an entire body shiver. The second is that it’ll have your brain frantically trying to figure out how we go from here to there. I know I’ve already been trying to determine this leap from earth to Mars and from the end of this novel to the start of that one, so I personally can’t wait to see where it goes.

Lily, Henry and William made for a great trio of characters. The interactions between the three as well as the way the house becomes part of the equation (another Pyper trait, but instead of the outside environment being a character, the house becomes one, much like The Homecoming again), and more unsettling, the technology becomes a central aspect to the unravelling we experience.

Now, let’s examine this novel from the viewpoint that it’s not just fiction, but one 240 page metaphor. Huh? That’s right. From the early pages to the very end, this one quickly became apparent that this was not just a novel. That this was Andrew masking a very real look at a very real time through the lens of fiction.

I may end up being off base with a few things here, and I’ve actually already asked Andrew about a couple pieces to confirm I was on the right track, but let’s break things down here and to begin with, let’s look at Henry and his agoraphobia and lab.

Over the last however many years, starting in May of 2020, Canada was gripped within the Covid pandemic and not too long after, the stay at home rules were put in place, as well with masking and vaccines etc. etc. From 1999 until then, Andrew had already been a fulltime author and as such, his ‘work place’ wasn’t effected the same way others would’ve been, by having to either be laid off or then switching to work from home. When the pandemic hit, in Andrew’s case, his world would’ve shrunk even more, much like Henry’s shrunk. Outside meant sick people, potential illness and even death. When we couple this with the lab/writing office, we see that connection even more. Andrew on the third floor of his house, puttering away at his latest WIP. Henry on the third floor of his house, puttering away at his latest experiment. And when then slot that into Andrew’s life even more – I assume what he does up there is relatively unknown to his wife. I’ll also assume he’ll have conversation with his wife about what he is working on, as many writers do with their significant others, but we see that same connection between Lily and Henry. Lily ordering parts or tracking down whatever it is that Henry needs plays that metaphorical role of Andrew coming to a roadblock and hashing it out with his wife to get her opinion.

I’ll even go one step further and posit that Paige and Davis are representations of Andrew’s own kids, in that as they grow older, the parent sees them less. Paige and Davis arrive to have lunch with them, but it has been a bit since they’ve even seen Lily. Much the same as when busy teenage kids are doing their activities, hanging with friends and then voila, suddenly the entire family is home at the same time and they all can enjoy a meal. And if I’m really connecting these dots like this, we even have the Pyper family dog appear, even though in this case, Mooney is a mechanical creation from Henry, one with whirling ears and a penchant to tag along with Henry.

Now, let’s examine some of Henry’s philosophical statements. Throughout, I got the distinct impression that William represented the wider writing world. This always morphing, always slightly depressing/evil entity that is publishing and writing. Henry has created William, much as Andrew has created his career. Often, Henry questions how he fits in the world, how can he be more connected, a better version of himself and even a better husband and father. Doesn’t that sound like Andrew philosophizing about how he can be a better writer, and father and dad? But also, it frequently poked at the question that I’ve often pushed on all my social media posts about Andrew’s work – why not Andrew? Why isn’t his work even bigger? Why don’t we have five or six movies from his work out already? There’s always variables, always starts and stops, and always a wiggling, worm like ebb and flow for every book release, but to me, this novel seems very introspective, very honest, open and at times, significantly heartbreaking when taken as a metaphor.

Throughout, Henry questions his place in the world and each time he did my heart broke for both Henry and for Andrew. Taken as just a novel, Henry is very Frankenstein’s monster-esque character. A character built of his own construct begging to know why he’s got this brilliant mind but how come the outside world doesn’t let him share it. Taken as a meta piece of fiction, we see Andrew, as Henry, pondering the question of what will it take for his novels to launch into the stratosphere, when time and time again, we see it happen elsewhere. When we see an individual take off and then fall into a pattern of releasing the same novel over and over to critical acclaim, awards and massive sales.

As Andrew’s potential biggest fan (definitely most frequent poster of Andrew’s work!), I’ve often wondered the same thing, and seeing this introspection is both powerful, but also tear-inducing.

I know I’ll be forgetting something to discuss here, but I’ll close this section with a look at the technological side of things. Throughout, AI is prevalent , as is the use of technology. The doors within the house open and close on command. The home itself is hardwired with different little bits of tech and we also see Lily wearing special glasses that have a digital screen within the lenses – much like the ridiculous new Apple Visor things – that Henry notes can make for some odd moments when he thinks she’s blinking at him, but she’s flipping through screens.

Pyper tackles the explosion of technology in two distinct parts. The first half of the novel showcases the excitement of technology. Look what Henry’s created! How wonderful! Look what this house can do! How cool! Look at these glasses! Amazing! And look at William! What a creation! Then, the second half tackles the downside and the over-reliance of technology. It is as though Andrew’s channeled the great Rogers cellphone outage incident we had here in Canada. Where it became apparent just how crippling such an outage can be, where every phone is out, the banks are down, the internet is inaccessible, emergency services are unavailable and Rogers replied with a statement that basically read, ‘Hey sorry about that! We’re not sure why it happened. We can’t promise it won’t happen again! But here’s 50 cents off your next bill for compensation over what happened.’ We see that as William takes hold and decides that in order to truly experience what it means to be alive, Lily, Henry, Paige and Davis are essentially at William’s whim and there really isn’t anything they can do about it. They’ve become technological hostages. At one point, Lily asks Henry if he’s made a kill switch for William, to which he replies, ‘No, I didn’t think I would need one.’ Such is the folly of mankind and believing we’re always in control and nothing bad will ever happen.

I do want to make a note that Andrew’s novels were on the list of books stolen through the online AI debacle. Not only is that reprehensible and disgusting, but within this novel, he seemingly addresses that, when he discusses how William continues to develop and expand on its own volition and Henry has no idea how or why that is happening. It’s because we’ve fed the machine and now the machine continues to take and take and take.

What I didn’t like: Ok, if you’ve somehow gotten this far, you’ll be surprised to discover I hated this novel. HAAA! Just kidding, trying to test you, as you’ve probably fallen asleep. But, as for what I didn’t like, there were a few minor things I noted, but there’s always a reason for them.

First – the main twist. That’s all I can say. Andrew does a wonderful job of hiding it, but I saw it early on and if you do see it early on, it does dampen the reveal later. Saying that, if you do see it early on, it kind of makes what Henry goes through, throughout, all that much more heartbreaking.

Second – expansion. I know Andrew was wanting to keep this one short and sweet, but there’s a few things I wished we would’ve learned more about. There’s a scene where an old man comes walking by while Lily and Paige are outside, and Lily tells him to jog on. It made sense and I think it related to the Covid analogy I’ve theorized, where an old, white, talking head tries to give people advice they don’t want, but it would’ve been great to see more of that. As well, the neighborhood itself. We get some initial descriptions, and the ending expands on it more, but the neighborhood seems very specific, but we don’t really get the why of that. If I’m being metaphorical, I’d assume it relates to Andrew’s real neighborhood and how there were others so close, but so far away, during the pandemic, but I could be wrong. It could also be a discussion point on Toronto itself and the changing landscape of that housing market, but it’s hard to really clamp that down without knowing more.

Lastly, just for fun, if this was a big metaphorical discussion point about Andrew’s real life, I hope to God I wasn’t the William creation, where William continues to talk and suggest things to Henry, until Henry bashes the robot a bunch with a metal bar! Oh dear…

Why you should buy this: A juggernaut of dread, ‘William,’ is an easy, single sitting read where you’ll be rapt the entire time. As always, Andrew’s writing is propulsive, compulsive and can’t-put-down-able. I was hooked from page one and when I wasn’t reading this, I was thinking about it. Andrew’s released some truly remarkable books over his career, but if my deep dive into this is correct (and I know some of it is), Andrew’s taken his writing to yet another level. And once again, the use and adoption of ‘Mason Coile’ make complete sense, in that we can consider this a novel by Mason Coile, written about Andrew Pyper, playing the role of Henry. Got it? Good.

From start to finish, ‘William’ pushes the genre-boundaries while also cementing why Andrew has reshaped the Canadian Literature landscape. A masterpiece by one of the greatest to ever do it, ‘William’ not only fits nicely into the pantheon of Andrew’s bibliography, but, I think at least, shows a chameleon-like rebirth of an author, one that will excite and surprise a lot of new and frequent readers alike.

5/5

Title: The World He Once Knew

Author: Micah Castle

Release date: January 26th, 2024

I can’t recall how long ago, but at some point, Micah and I connected over on Twitter/X and I’ve been keen to see what he was going to release when he teased about a sci-fi/horror novella in the works. I learned more about his writing when he kindly appeared in my 3Q’s author interview series and when ‘The World He Once Knew’ was announced, I was all over it. Sci-fi/horror is such a phenomenal genre. There’s so much the writer can do and there’s always a heavy sense of dread throughout.

Once the cover was revealed and the synopsis shared, I was hooked. Look at this opening line of the synopsis – ‘Jay has been uploaded into a new body to investigate why the transporter ship Candlemass went dark fourteen days ago.’ WHAT!!! Hell yes!

What I liked: So, that line I just shared is EXACTLY what this story is about. In the future, the year 2700, humans are occupying the solar system and ships travel around, delivering everything. Jay had died, but now, new abilities, allow people to buy the souls of previously dead people to upload into robotic devices known as HUSKS, so that they can have them do things, such as what Jay has been hired to do – investigate a ship that mysteriously went dark.

Castle does a great job of setting the stage and giving us a lot of tech background of the ‘how’ without making it overwhelming. We don’t get pages and pages of engineering speech that details everything down to the smallest detail. No, we get a few summary paragraphs that had me completely understanding and away we went.

Once on the ship, Jay soon discovers an odd black sludge that seems to be creeping across the ship. Soon enough, Jay is fighting memories of his past life he shouldn’t have as well as dealing with the final words of the various crew members when he finds their memory cards.

Castle deftly amps up the chaos, confusion and we see Jay mentally spiral as he understands more and more about what is happening. But not everything, which Castle does a great job of keeping close to his chest.

Oh, and did I mention that the story is based around how much oxygen Jay has? Yup. That’s the common element we see often in ‘sci-fi exploration’ stories and that countdown completely ramps up the tension, especially when technical difficulties arise.

The ending was a great sleight-of-hand that did a wonderful job of making me gasp and say ‘son of a bitch’ out loud. That’s all I’ll say about that to ensure we stay spoiler free!

What I didn’t like: Now, I had a BLAST with this one, but I will say, even though Castle does a solid job of bringing us from A to B to C, if you’re looking for a sci-fi/horror story that rewrites the wheel about how the story is told, this might not be for you.

Why you should buy this: If I didn’t have a number of other books on the go, this would’ve been an easy, single sitting read. The writing, the story and the character of Jay specifically, were all compulsively engaging. I wanted to know, I wanted to see and I desperately wanted the reveal to come. Castle had me hooked and this one was great from start to finish.

5/5

Title: Temporary Monsters

Author: Ian Rogers

Release date: January 1st, 2009

As you’ve probably come to learn if you’ve followed my reviews – I’m horribly slow at reading physical books, but burn through everything else when reading on my Kindle. It’s just the reality of the way my life flows and our collective family schedule, but there’s times when I do my best to read a physical release and such is the case with this one. Not too long ago, I acquired a signed copy of Ian’s stunning collection, ‘Every House is Haunted,’ from him and he kindly sent three chapbooks as well. The other day, while reorganizing some of my signed books, I saw these and decided I needed to get them read, and the only way to do so was to make the effort to pull them from the shelf and have them sit in front of me on the coffee table. Over the course of about a week, I snuck in five or ten minutes randomly to get this one read and boy was it fun!

What I Liked: Ian has created a wonderful world of interconnected novellas that I previously described in my review of ‘Go Fish’ as something like the BPRD meets The X-Files. And this one, featuring Felix Renn was a really great slab of detective/supernatural/noir storytelling.

The Black Lands is a world just beyond ours, where you access it through portals this side tries to keep closed. But that doesn’t always happen and in ‘Temporary Monsters’ we get a glimpse of what happens when that world over there mixes with the world of high-profile drug use.

This is only about 45 pages long and Rogers wastes no time throwing us into the fire. Renn is out for dinner with his wife/soon-to-be-ex-wife, when the ‘next-big-thing’ movie actor comes in. Within minutes, we realize somethings off and suddenly Renn is caught in the mix as they change into a vampire and he must act. But that’s not the end of things. No, we see one of their co-stars change too and it all seemingly leads down the same path, to the same person who supplied them with an illegal substance.

This felt like reading a black and white version of ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit.’ You could practically smell the cologne mixed with cigarette’s and hear the expensive liquor being poured into each glass. The atmosphere was phenomenal and that seems to be a Rogers trademark in his story telling.

The ending was great, giving us a supernatural blast of action and does leave that door open for me.

What I didn’t like: Even knowing this was a chapbook and that it would be over quickly, I still desperately wanted more. Rogers is such a deft and talented storyteller, that once he hooks you, you never want those hooks to come out.

Why you should buy this: So, this seems to be a limited chapbook that was released sometime ago. Currently it looks like you can get the Ebook through Rakuten, so that is the way you may need to go. But as for the book itself, the story within was such a fun ride, making me very excited to dive into the next chapbook, ‘The Ash Angels,’ and see what hijinks Felix gets up to again!

5/5

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/temporary-monsters

Title: Ambrosia

Author: Hamelin Bird

Release date: January 16th, 2024

Huge thanks to Hamelin for sending me a digital copy of this one. And huger thanks to our mutual IG friend who put us in touch. I’m not 100% sure if they want me to mention who it was, so for now, I’ll keep it at that!

When I was dm’d about the prospect of potentially reviewing this one, I jumped to GR and all I had to read was this line in the synopsis – ‘…draws the attention of the Bureau, a fringe government agency formed from the rubble of Projects Monarch and Stargate,’ to know I was 100% onboard. Seriously! Secret fringe agency? The Bureau? Sign me up!

What I liked: Ok, so, the first half of this novel is pretty saccharine, but in the best way possible. I actually loved the attention to detail Bird laid out and the story that got us to what I’ll call ‘the tipping point.

The story follows Travis, a former Navy member, who, much to his chagrin, returns to his mother’s home after she’s passed. They weren’t on the best of terms and from all accounts, she was a hard lady to be around. But, he knows that things need to be done and loose ends tied off. Soon, he finds that the familiar is nice. He reconnects with old friends, cleans up the house some and begins to believe this might be just where he needs to be.

Things begin to subtly shift when he remembers he had an old coin collection that just might be up in the attic. Sure enough, it is, but now it seems to have significantly grown. He doesn’t question it, just begins selling off singular coins and uses some to buy things. Which all leads to a huge moment – he buys a lotto ticket and wins big. Like big big.

It’s from here that Bird really swings for the fences with a massive shift. Throughout, we’ve been getting glimpses of a strange assassin, Drexl, who has a singular job and begrudgingly does it.

Bird sets things up well and when the Bureau arrives and makes itself known, we get a time-spanning story that all leads to Travis having to make a massive decision.

The writing is crisp, propulsive and the characters – no matter where they lay in the story – are all intriguing. Which works well to bring us up to the very end… and push us over the edge.

It was a great ‘cap’ to the story, whether this is a one-off is always up for debate when a plot point is involving a secret elite, but we’ll see.

What I didn’t like: Now, I don’t fully know how much I accepted the ‘tipping point.’ It is VERY hard to say anything about it without full spoiling anything, but I will say, it works, but for this reader, I don’t know how much I bought into the various mechanism of the ‘why.’

Why you should buy this: Is this cosmic horror? Not really, but kind of. Is this portal horror? Not really but kind of? The closest I can think of to compare this would be like The X-Files mixed with Agents of Dreamland but not? Haha! It is a wholly unique approach and storyline which had me captivated and I think will really intrigue and excite a lot of readers.

4/5

Title: Recreational Panic: Stories

Author: Sonora Taylor

Release date: March 5th, 2024

**Huge huge thank you to Cemetery Gates Media for sending me a digital ARC of this one!**

Ahhh! This collection was one of my most anticipated releases in 2024 and I’m so excited that CGM kindly sent me a digital ARC of this one! I’ve long been a huge fan of Sonora’s writing and we’ve developed a wonderful friendship over the years. And I can say that freely in this review, because I’m stilled banned from reviewing on Amazon so there’s no worry about my review being flagged lol! Ever since I first read her novel ‘Without Condition’ (and if you haven’t you really should!)

Sonora has shown just how solid of a short story writer she is with numerous anthology appearances and her own collections before. Her 2021 release, ‘Someone to Share My Nightmares’ was phenomenal, but her 2019 release, ‘Little Paranoia’s: Stories’ was EVEN better. The second story in that collection, ‘Weary Bones’ lives rent free to this day in my head and I think it should be considered MUST read by every fan of dark fiction.

Which meant that when this was announced I was excited. And when the Floridian-motel style cover art was shared, I was even more excited. And now, I’ve read it and I have to share – YOU NEED TO READ THIS!!

What I liked: This is packed, PACKED!, I tell you, chock full of short stories, flash fiction and poems. Every single piece is a winner, so I’ll pick a few out that really stuck deeper in my brain than the others.

The opener is ‘Recreational Panic: A Guided Meditation.’ Perfect choice to open the collection with. Think of it like an melodic intro to an album. Short, sweet and though it starts off simple and kind, soon morphs into a grotesque mantra that’ll be something you shouldn’t listen to on repeat.

‘Harvey Carver’ was pristine. A layered story about a town with an urban legend. People say Harvey Carver was a serial killer many years ago, but over the years after he’s gone, his living relatives change their names and try to go on with their lives. But Marla is OBSESSED with Harvey, his story, and just who in the town was related to him. This one spirals quickly out of control and Sonora ended it just so, so perfectly.

‘The Clockmaker’ was a story I’d previously read in an anthology, but I’m so glad it was included here and I loved it just as much this time as I did before. In a small town, a man becomes known for his delicate pieces he makes. When a strange individual enters his shop and requests a specific time piece, a horrible partnership is formed, one that grows more and more horrible as time goes on. Just wow. What an amazing story.

‘Little Dirty Birdy Feet’ was hysterically brutal. An abusive brother forces his younger sister into the woods. He won’t say why exactly, just wants to shoot some wildlife and ‘have fun.’ But when he starts to sing an old children’s rhyme, he unwittingly calls forth an ancient evil and his sister has to decide what side she’s on. This was so much fun and a really great take on folklore.

‘Knee-Deep’ was another fun one. A short dose of sleight-of-hand, this one focuses on a woman who wants a man to get into the Christmas spirit. Taylor must’ve written this at 3am with a massive grin on her face, because this was just a fun time.

‘Keepers of the Light’ was a really creepy one. Perhaps the creepiest story in the entire collection actually. This one is set around an old lighthouse and how it seemingly calls for a specific person to come to it. The pacing on this one was spot on and from the very beginning the reader will feel unsettled.

Throughout, Sonora manages to quickly pull the reader into each story and have them engaged immediately, which is always key, especially when it comes to some of the flash fiction pieces.

What I didn’t like: As with every collection, readers will connect with each piece differently, and that’s fine. In this case, I either really liked or loved every one and the poems were textured and well done.

Why you should buy this: If Sonora’s not a ‘must-buy/must-read’ author for you yet, you need to fix that ASAP. Her writing is powerful, evocative and is always unflinching. No matter what the subject matter is, she’ll find a unique way to ‘Taylorize’ it and in doing so elevates the idea even more.

What started out as one of my ‘Most-Anticipated’ releases of 2024 now slots itself onto my list of ‘Best Of 2024’ and I’m excited to see this one launch into the world!

5/5

Title: The Adleparmeun

Authors: Kelvin V.A. Allison and Megan Stockton

Release date: January 31st, 2024

When Kelvin and Megan announced this co-authored project, I was very intrigued. The gist of the novella is that there’s an apartment building in remote Alaska where all of the monsters of the world reside. Away from mankind, they live in ‘peace’ and to make things even more intriguing for the reader, each ‘chapter’ is a short story, based on each of the individual apartments. I’ve previously read ‘The Trouble with Rabbits’ from Allison, which I enjoyed quite a lot, but I think I’ve only read a few short stories from Stockton, but possibly not? I looked through the various anthologies listed on Goodreads she’s appeared in, but it didn’t appear as though I’d read them. Saying that, I could swear I’ve read some of her stories! Oh well! I have read something from her now!

What I liked: Now, the word Adleparmeun had my ears pick up. I’d heard it somewhere before, and couldn’t remember where. Then it dinged somewhere in my massive head. While researching locations, stories and myths for my own novel, ‘Churn the Soil,’ I remembered reading something about it. I found the link (https://ethicsofsuicide.lib.utah.edu/tradition/indigenous-cultures/arctic-cultures/eskimo-of-baffin-island/) which had this description;

“My people think this way: Kood-le-par-mi-ung (heaven) is upward. Every body happy there. All the time light; no snow, no ice, no storms; always pleasant; no trouble; never tried; sing and play all the time—all this continue with out end.

“Ad-le-par-me-un (hell) is downward. Always dark there. No sun; trouble there continually; snow flying all the time; terrible storms; cold, very cold; and a great deal of ice there. All who go there must always remain.

“All Innuits who have been good go to Koodleparmiung; that is, who have been kind to the poor and hungry—all who have been happy while living on this earth. Any one who has been killed by accident, or who has committed suicide, certainly goes to the happy place.

“All Innuits who have been bad—that is, unkind one to another—all who have been unhappy while on this earth, will go to Adleparmeun. If an Innuit kill another because he is mad at him, he certainly will go to Adleparmeun.” This was taken from Captain Charles Francis Hall, ‘Life with the Eskimaux,’ (Expedition 1860-1862) (London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1865). I’d thought it intriguing, because at one point, I’d considered ‘Churn the Soil’ as an allegorical tale of good versus evil, but ultimately switched it to a story about the people versus the land and new versus old.

But, getting back to this release, once that clicked together I was very intrigued and when taken as a shallow read, each story is just that – a fun little slab of horror. But when you dive into it deeper, each story is a revelatory discussion on where each of these monsters fit.

The story itself is held together by an over-arching premise of a few guards kind of keeping the creatures within, though as expected things don’t always go to plan.

Stockton and Allison write sublimely together. I honestly couldn’t tell you if they each wrote X number of stories or if they wrote them together as there’s no jarring shift between room stories and nothing stood out saying ‘AH HA! THAT WAS CLEARLY STOCKTON!’ which was wonderful to find. There isn’t an afterword or author’s note at the end either, so they kept the workload close to their hearts.

Throughout, we get a variety of characters who are all instantly characters you gravitate towards. I’m actually not going to single any of them out, purely because if you’re reading this, I want you to discover the joy of each as well as the layered complexities these two have so proficiently created here.

There is an ‘ending’ but honestly, with the way this one is structured and the narrative that started on page one and ended on page 125ish, there is ample room to expand, continue on or move to a different site.

What I didn’t like: As with any ‘collection’ (and I’m using this term VERY loosely simply for my observation here) some of the stories within each rooms, readers may or may not enjoy. I personally really dug each one and there seems to be a number of subtle Easter eggs throughout, which you’d expect based on a singular release revolving around a singular building.

Additionally, I did wish we got a tiny bit more info on the ‘why’ of this building etc. etc. But maybe we will in the future?

Why you should buy this: The complete package and completion of this work together is top notch. These two authors worked so cohesively together on a truly compulsive story idea that I raced through this. The characters within all could be pulled out and expanded upon, as could the location and the lore of the why and how.

Allison and Stockton hit this one out of the park and I truly hope they decide to return to this world again, no matter what ‘this world’ means to that new story.

5/5

Title: The Mountain King

Author: Anders de la Motte

Release date: Originally released September 28, 2022. English release January 30, 2024

Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for a digital ARC of this one!

And a huge, huge thanks to my friend Char Cocrane for putting this on my radar!

I was immediately intrigued after reading Char’s review and was so happy to get approved for this one. I love reading about urban exploration and I find there’s very few books out there – whether in the thriller or horror genre’s – that focus on it at all.

This novel is translated from the original Swedish release and with that in mind, you know you’re in for a story with desolate landscapes, dreary atmosphere and a constant feeling of being on edge. That seems to be the trait for almost all of the bigger Swedish novels released over here.

The story follows Detective Inspector Leo Asker. She’s worked hard to put her background behind her – living under a father who became more and more distrusting of society and earned the nickname Prepper Per – and now heads up the Major Crimes Unit in Malmo. The novel really kicks off when a young woman – Smilla, a daughter in a well-connected family – and her boyfriend, MM, seemingly disappear and are presumed kidnapped.

What I liked: It’s from that point where de la Motte really takes off. We learn Leo has a strained relationship with her mother and sister, as well, when a few phone calls are made, Smilla’s family and Leo’s mom (who is a powerful lawyer) conspire to bring in a Detective from higher up – a man whom Smilla previously had a brief fling with, before it ended and he harassed her.

All of this makes for a cat-and-mouse game with Smilla’s disappearance, but also with Leo trying to find the truth, after being jettisoned to a ‘forgotten department,’ and the Major Crimes Unit follows a lead that has nothing to do with the true disappearance.

de la Motte kept the tension high throughout and this was wholly down to the short snappy chapters. It was a great way to create an atmosphere that constantly crackled with energy and makes it tough for readers to catch their breath. The middle half of this book is filled with numerous hints, sleight-of-hands and ‘maybe it’s this guy’ moments, as de la Motte keeps the true identity veiled until the final quarter.

I will add, I loved the quick time jumps back to Leo’s youth, to learn the truth of what happened between her and her father and how he continued to travel down a road that grew ever darker and more distrustful. It also worked to showcase the ‘why’ of her decisions when we arrive at the very end.

Lastly, I will add this as well – there’s a character – Hill – who is imperative as a secondary character. He was friends with Leo as a kid before moving away and now, as an adult, teaches at a University and has written a bestselling book on urban exploration. He was so fully formed, he would’ve even made for a great lead character, but I’m glad it was Leo, as she’s a formidable and strong lead who kicked so much ass, it was awesome.

The ending and discovery of the identity was great and seeing how a lot of minor things were connected was really well done.

What I didn’t like: Two things really. Much like I’ve found with every Thomas Olde Heuvelt novel’s I’ve read – well, I’ve read ‘Hex’ and dnf’d ‘Echo’ – it felt like throughout, and most likely due to it being translated, a lot of areas were bereft of emotions. As though each sentence was written by a robot. I was very worried in chapters one and two that this would be the case of the entire novel, as those first two chapters came across as completely emotionless, but thankfully that changed and it took off. Saying that, there were parts scattered throughout that just felt hollow, and I think that’s due to the nature of translated work.

Secondly, the very ending of this one, after everything is all said and done, sets up the next book. This is book one in the Leo Asker series after all, but I found it incredibly cheesy and almost completely unbelievable. Leo is given a permanent job/post and within two seconds of her sitting at her ‘new’ desk, the phone rings and someone is asking specifically for her? I know we needed a hook for book two, but it felt very forced and comical.

Why you should buy this: If you’re like me and love reading about people going missing in odd places and the frantic search that takes place to find them, ‘The Mountain King’ will be right up your alley. This one was compulsive, entertaining and I can’t even count the number of times I was convinced it was one person who was the mountain king, only to be completely wrong. And while I said the last closing part was comical, I’m completely invested in Leo Asker and want to read all about her adventures and watch her kick ass!

4/5

Title: Her Heart Beats for Ancient Beasts

Author: Calvin Demmer

Release date: March 16th, 2024

Huge thanks to Calvin for sending me a digital ARC for review! I’ve long been a massive fan of his work, since his phenomenal collection, ‘The Sea Was a Fair Master,’ (which should be a must read for all fans of horror!), so I’m always excited when we get a new release from the master of short-story writing.

This one is made up of some new work and some previously published work, but one thing I noticed throughout, was the settings/locations and themes all were very in tune with the title, but also from where Calvin is from – Africa. Well, he’s specifically from South Africa, but a lot of the stories had Egyptian themes, God themes and savannah locations.

What I liked: Compiled of ten stories, this one rips along and for some may even be a single-sitting read. I took my time with them, as every story Calvin writes is layered and will have a level of complexity that may not be apparent until some quiet contemplation occurs once done.

The collection opened with my three favorite short stories in the batch in a row.

First up was the wonderfully bleak, ‘Highway Hunger.’ This one is based around a highway worker who is tasked with cleaning up roadkill. The job is straight forward until one such case where something odd is found and it soon reveals itself to be a creature from local lore.

Next was ‘Never Sleep Again,’ which was the singular highlight of the entire collection for this reader. A retired detective is called back to help with a new case. This case has the exact same similarities to the case that drove him into retirement in the first place. It is creepy, unsettling, magnificent, and makes me never want to find any dirt on the floor around the bed or couch.

The third story was ‘Another Warrior in Paradise.’ This was such a cinematic story about a young member of a tribe who wants to ascend to Warrior status within his people. He has three trials to complete, and once he is successful, he learns that paradise has different meanings to different people.

From there we get some more fantastic stories and there wasn’t a single let down in the group. The title story is a creep-fest about something lurking. ‘The River Ran Red’ was a fast-paced story where the jungle is stifling and when the creature reveals itself, everything goes splat. ‘Karma’ was a really engaging cosmic story about a strange patient arriving in a hospital and the visions some see when they come into contact with her.

‘Shapes in the Water’ was classic Demmer. Two brothers leap into a wormhole in the hopes of finding their lost brother in whatever strange world he ended up in. We get some great creatures, a potential truth about a well known Loch animal and just a really fun story.

‘The Throne of Space and Time’ will make sci-fi and time travel lovers very happy. Told within a few letters left behind, we learn of what happens when you make a discovery and meet up with the guide to the underworld.

‘Forbidden Fruit’ is a story I’d read previously, but it was great revisiting it again. It follows two big game hunters who’ve hired a guide with a mythical nature about him. The guide warns them about not always trusting the land and soon they learn why.

And the collection finishes with the bleak ‘The Destroyer,’ another story showcasing why meeting a God, this time a trickster and a master of storms, is never a good idea.

Overall, from start to finish, Demmer showcases his ability to grab the reader quickly, pull us in deep and hold us under the surface until we stop kicking.

What I didn’t like: As with every collection, readers will connect with each story different and blah, blah, blah. You’ve heard we say this a bajillion times, but truth be told, Demmer’s writing is just so pure and crisp, you’ll swear you’ve been transported to wherever the story is based and you’ll feel the sweat on your skin and the smell the fear all around you.

Why you should buy this: Did you just read what I wrote? If not, Calvin Demmer is a ‘MUST READ’ short story writer. His work is masterful, dark and comes at you from every direction. Nothing is safe, nothing can be trusted and even when you think the story is based in a firm reality, he’ll open the cosmic portals and rain creatures of acid upon your face.

A blistering batch of stories that never lets up and showcases why I can’t rave about Demmer enough.

5/5

Title: The Galleria

Author: Alexander Michael

Release date: January 2nd, 2024

Thanks so much to Alexander for sending me a digital review copy of this one!

I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into with this one, as I saw a brief synopsis, but I’m fairly open to going into everything blind either way.

The story does feature a foreword that illustrates there are three interconnected novellas that can be read in any order or the reader doesn’t need to read the other two novellas at all, as all things lead towards a full length release coming up. I can safely say that I never felt lost or that I was missing something by having not read the other two, which was great, but I could imagine other readers who’ve read the other two as well, will have enjoyed whatever little Easter eggs that have been dotted throughout.

What I liked: The story follows a cab driver, who has a love/hate relationship with his job. It pays the bills and he gets to meet eclectic people, but he also dislikes a large percentage of the crazy folks who hop in late at night.

On one seemingly normal evening, a young woman jumps in, and has a strange hypnotic effect on him. Within their short interaction, she opens his eyes to some potentials that lay just beyond what we can normally see and from there, he becomes almost obsessed with her, hoping she gets back in nightly.

Michael does a great job with this scene and then having her burrow under our taxi drivers skin. It’s an element that can either work or not, but in this case, we get to walk that line between ‘enough already’ and ‘he needs to find her!’

As the story unfolds, she disappears and he takes it upon himself to find her and its at this point that we go from a fairly mundane story to a seedy underbelly world where drugs, sex and violence lead the way.

Describing things like Clive Barker or Barker-esque can sometimes be overused, but in this case its spot on. Reading this I felt like I was reading something that Stanley Kubrick adapted from Barker. An ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ through Clive’s imagination, if you will.

What I didn’t like: Truthfully, this book was really, really solid, but it never completely grabbed by the throat and held me down, forcing me to turn its pages. I think this is just more of a case of the ‘noir’ aspect to it, that this readers brain typically stays away from, as it never fully connects. So, this one will definitely grab others WAY more than it grabbed me.

Why you should buy this: Michael has done a wonderful job of taking a ‘basic’ character and thrusting him into a world he clearly doesn’t belong in. It makes for some uneasy and awkward moments, which are only heightened by our Taxi drivers desire to find the girl, but also to see everything that he has been missing out in his boring life. A very unique take on the classic ‘fish out of water’ trope.

4/5

Title: Among the Living

Author: Tim Lebbon

Release date: February 13th, 2024

Huge thanks to Tim, Titan Books, Netgalley and Edelweiss for the advance copy of this one. I’d requested this on Edelweiss as soon as it was on there. A month later, it popped up on Netgalley, so I requested it and was approved the same day. Then two days later – approved on Edelweiss haha! So, there we go!

It’s occurred to me that I’ve pretty much only read Tim’s ‘eco-horror’ releases while reading this one. Novels such as ‘The Last Storm,’ ‘Coldbrook,’ ‘The Silence,’ and the phenomenal ‘Eden,’ have all been set in worlds where the characters are predominantly outside fighting to survive. ‘Coldbrook’ might be the outlier there, as it’s not so much an ‘eco-horror’ like the others, but even then, it involves surviving and the great outdoors. Throw in his humourous ‘Run, Walk, Crawl,’ non-fiction release and it’s safe to say writing about the outdoors is Tim’s bread and butter. Everything seems to be more vibrant and the emotions raised that much more. Hell, even throw in his recent novella, ‘The Last Day and the First,’ and it all comes to show you, Tim is a writer who thrives when everything is outside.

Now, I prefaced this by saying I’ve read mainly his ‘eco-horror,’ which means I’ve not read really any of his sci-fi works nor any of his IP works such as his Aliens stuff or his novelizations such as Kong: Skull Island (which is essentially an ‘eco-horror’ novelization!), so others may feel the opposite where they prefer his sci-fi stuff, but for this reader, his wilderness work is pristine.

Which leads us to ‘Among the Living’ his newest novel, launching sky high from the mighty Titan Books. Everything about this one had me excited and when Tim posted a few times that this one might be one of his most straight-ahead horror novels, I knew we were in for a treat.

What I liked: The novel is set in the near-future and focuses on a subject that honestly and truly petrifies the shit out of me. The world has warmed and the permafrost is melting. Which means things that are hundreds of thousands of years old are unthawing and making their way back into the real world.

A side piece here from me. Everything about that little paragraph I’ve written is terrifying and is something that freaks me out. Much like the movie ‘Outbreak’ scared the hell out of me when it was released, the reality that this is actually happening currently is enough to keep me awake at night. Another concerning thing, for me at least, is the turning-of-the-cheek to science and vaccines and vaccination education. Working in a healthcare adjacent position, we see – daily – what the results of being vaccinated and unvaccinated are and with the world’s collective increase in turning their backs on these things, I stress over what will happen when one of these dormant diseases unthaws and spores into the air.

Anyways, I’ll get off my soapbox and get back to the meat and potatoes of this novel. Safe to say, I was scared to my core from page one. The story follows Bethan, Alile and Goyo, who travel far north after being tipped off that a group is illegally searching for rare minerals. The trio do their best to prevent climate destruction. The person who tipped off Bethan is her former best friend, Dean. He is one of the folks mining for these rare materials. While Dean and his group are deep in an unexplored cave complex, they discover old cave paintings and seemingly mummified bodies, dead for centuries. That is, until one of them moves.

It’s from here that Lebbon has created a white-knuckle thrill ride where Dean and Bethan try to overcome their differences – from an event in their past – and work together to prevent the spread of what has waken.

Each and every chapter after is a cinematic masterpiece. Tim does such a job of painting the picture of what this near-future landscape looks like, with polar bears having returned from near extinction and now rampaging across their territory, to the ever-present threat of sink holes and methane geysers erupting at a moments notice.

The Goyo character is phenomenal and becomes an almost supernatural entity within, leading Bethan and Dean across the terrain as they race to prevent the downfall of all mankind.

I loved the folklore element that Tim infuses in here and I’ll need to search out and see if the Long-Gone story shared within was based on a real story or purely from his imagination, but either way, it worked so well to share the ‘why’ of those below and leads us to the violent, chaotic ending.

The ending – for me at least – worked amazingly to cap everything off and when we look at the totality of the ‘why’ and what they are trying to prevent, made total sense. Saying that, it can also be looked at as partially open-ended and who knows, we may see more of this world in the future.

What I didn’t like: This is 100% me nitpicking here, but I had hoped much, much more of this novel was going to be happening in a subterranean setting. Only the first few chapters has anything to do with the cave discovery, so I was a bit bummed when that became obvious, but for me at least, it didn’t dampen the story in the least. I just like cave horror!

Why you should buy this: Tim writes his novels with the ever growing dread that an A-bomb is about to go off. Much like many of the high-fantasy writers (Martin etc) no character in Tim’s novels are ever safe and that makes for an edgy, uncertain read, which I’m all for.

‘Among the Living’ is cold-weather, frozen-tundra horror done so very well. Another example of why Tim’s best work is when he’s writing in the ‘eco-horror’ world and honestly, I don’t think there’s another author out there who has released books at this level, to this degree, focusing so much on the ever-growing crisis of climate change and the terror that these changes can bring.

Outstanding work.

5/5