Title: North Border

Author: Benjamin Percy

Release date: June 14th, 2022

Many of you will know the name Benjamin Percy from his novels. Others from his work on comic books. Either way, you’ll know his love and penchant for the dark and chilling. ‘North Border’ is only my second Percy read, which I need to rectify asap (I have like four more of his books!) and I’m not sure if this one is considered a pseudo-prequel to the other or not, but it could work as one.

‘The Wereworld’ was released in September of last year (2021) and told the story of a rolling plague-like infliction that took over the world and began to turn folks into werewolves.

This novella, ‘North Border’ tells the story of a man, getting a job with the Border Patrol when the local mine gets shut down and something mysteriously killing people at night in the woods. This could very well work as the origin story for the other novella, or it could be completely unrelated, either way – this one was great.

What I liked: The strength of this story itself, is the main character. Daniel Bridgewater is a soon-to-be first time father. He is of mixed race – his father was white, his mother Indigenous. This creates inner turmoil and outer turmoil, especially when the mine closes and he tries out for the Border Patrol. Not only does he have to deal with the issues he faces with his mixed race from his job, but his cousin also creates a headache. He himself is a drug runner and human smuggler.

It’s this backdrop that sets us up to follow Daniel’s struggles and alone the way some key minor characters are introduced. We get his supervisor, a tough-as-rock man who is also a casual racist, as well as the local townsman who forms his own militia believing the Border Patrol can’t do the job properly.

Percy uses lean prose and nail-biting passages to move the story along and as more and more people and animals are discovered eviscerated, we know something has to give and give it does.

The ending of this was fantastically depraved and the way it came together worked so well for how the story had evolved up to that point.

What I didn’t like: I really loved how Percy set this one up, but I wish there would’ve been more of the creatures and we would’ve had them come out and see more of them.

Why you should buy this: Bottom line – if you love werewolf stuff, this is fantastic and an easy single sitting read. If you love Percy’s work – no-brainer here as well. The characters are great, the setting works perfectly and the story flows along like a warm knife through butter.

Really enjoyed this one and now, I really do need to dive into more of his work.

5/5

Title: The Grizzly King: A Romance of the Wild

Author: James Oliver Curwood

Release date: 1915/1916

Many of you know this, but for those who don’t, I grew up in a super small town on the Arrow Lakes, in the West Kootenay region in British Columbia, Canada. Burton was founded in the late 1890’s after gold was discovered near Caribou Creek. Reuben Burton was the first postmaster, hence the name of the settlement. Around that same time, the Marshall family arrived. The Marshall family have had stakes in Burton since at least 1900, and my grandpa was born in 1928.

Fast forward exactly 40 years later and the Revelstoke Dam was created, which caused the original townsite of Burton to flood. Many of the houses were moved to the new townsite, my grandpa and grandma’s house being the first. My childhood home was just four houses up from them. Side note – when the water levels go down, you can still go walk around the old townsite. Many foundations still remain as well as the dirt packed-roadways. We used to go down every year and collect old artifacts that had been left behind; bottles, utensils, old toy cars etc.

So, what does this even have to do with this book? I grew up with a grandpa who I’ve described as my last cowboy. Poppa was connected to the wilderness. He had a trapline that I used to go out with him on. He hunted, grew his own food and was a logger for many years. He lived in a time very, very different from ours today. Party lines, one TV channel, two radio channels etc. And, to survive, hunting filled the freezers for the long, cold, harsh winters.

I tend to try not to discuss my own books in my reviews, but if you’ve read my novel ‘Mastodon’ you’ll have read the afterword, in which I discuss Grizzly Basin. When my Poppa was a young man, one of the most pristine areas of land to go hunting in was at Grizzly Basin. Back then, it was said, that it had the largest population density of Grizzly Bears outside of the Rocky Mountains proper. I used to listen to him describe this area of land and I’d soak it all in. They’d ride the horses into this area and come to a sheer shelf-face cliff. A few kilometers wide and a thousand feet down, from on top they’d look out over the land, seeing the two small lakes. And, of course, they’d see Grizzlies roaming the area as well as numerous Elk, Moose, and Deer.

I’ve never been to this place, but how I’ve longed to go. I’ve hiked in a few times, the closest time my dad and I having to turn back due to heavy fog.

Because of my own love of the mountains, one of my favorite movies as a child was ‘The Bear.’ Released in 1988, it was the film adaptation of ‘The Grizzly King.’ I don’t know how many times I’ve watched it, but it captivated me. Through my profession, I even had the chance opportunity to meet one of the animal handlers who worked on the movie and had him sign my DVD. He told me then, that I was the first person to ever ask him to sign a copy. How cool?! I’ll cherish that DVD forever. Sadly, I moved before I got a chance to take him up on his offer. At the time, he had the only trained Polar Bear in the world for movies and invited me to come meet the animal when the following spring rolled around. That would’ve been amazing.

Which finally brings us back to the book. I read this book probably thirty years ago. I remember my grandpa had it with all his western paperbacks and I thought it was good, but not as good as the movie.

But recently, something was calling to me, pushing me to read it, so I dove back in, all these years later, and what a sublime and moving experience this was.

James Oliver Curwood was born in 1878 and died in 1927. Interestingly, in Michigan, where he was from, he had a castle made that still stands to this day. In his early years, Curwood was a voracious hunter, but at some point, he had an experience with a Grizzly, that completely transformed him. He became a steadfast conservationist until his death, and that experience was one that he wrote down and became this novella, ‘The Grizzly King: A Romance of the Wild.’

What I liked: The book follows two different narratives. The first is of Thor, the biggest and mightiest Grizzly that ever roamed the Rocky Mountains. He goes about his days lumbering through his territory and finding food. Along the way, an orphaned Black Bear cub comes into his life. Muskwa, tags along, and instead of Thor turning away the cub away, he grows to tolerate it and even like it.

The second narrative is of Jim Langdon and his hunting companions. They’re making there way through this section of the Rocky Mountains, an area no man has travelled before, when they spot the behemoth that is Thor and begin to hunt him.

As I mentioned, Langdon is a fictional version of Curwood and along the way he comes face to face with Thor, who spares his life. This is the big massive moment of the story, but for me, it was almost an afterthought. I found the true beauty was in the way Curwood described the mountains, showcased the relationship between Thor and Muskwa and how he managed to capture that ‘puppy-ness’ that cubs display. I also found it completely fascinating reading the descriptions of the bears that appear and how Thor interacts with them. Having spent some time around bears in my life, it was so spot on and accurate that it filled with joy and also dread. If you’ve ever seen a Grizzly in the wild start to chuff and swing its head back and forth you’ll know what I mean. That moment before a great bear rushes in the most perfect and frightening thing you’ll ever see.

The environmental and conservationist story angle here still feels topical and comes off well. I can’t imagine some of Curwood’s friends back then would’ve been too happy with his change and shift in thinking, but as he says in the book, for far too long man has killed and killed and killed and given no thought about the day that comes when there’s nothing left to kill.

What I didn’t like: I can’t say if it was because this is a product of it’s time or if it was just the way Curwood wrote, but there are some very repetitive description moments, sometimes within the same paragraph. I chalked it up to this being released in 1915/1916 and with how much I loved this book, it ultimately didn’t bother me too much.

Why you should buy this: If you’re looking for a modern day equivalent (and some of you will say of course Steve says this! But I assure you it is true), Andrew Pyper’s ‘The Wildfire Season’ would be the closest novel I’ve ever read to capture not only the wilderness as being a character of great importance, but also the way the animal controls the wilderness.

Curwood really did craft a sublime and perfect story. One that shows the Grizzly reacting to his first encounter with man, as well as how it deduces things when it encounters him again. This was a moving piece of fiction, based on a real experience and it has reminded me so much of all the things I loved about my Poppa and how lucky I was to have him in my life.

‘The Grizzly King’ has taken a place in my all-time favorite books list and I’ll be sourcing out a hardcover here shortly to add to my shelves.

5/5

If you want to read it, the ebook is available for free here;

https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/10977

Otherwise you can find it here on Amazon;

Whenever I post one of these 3Q’s, I get excited and get filled with hope. I want anyone reading these to see these awesome authors, discover them and devour their work.

Case in point – Simon Paul Wilson. Simon is such a nice guy, and he is a top notch writer. I’ve loved everything I’ve read from him and here’s hoping you all discover his work as well!

Welcome, Simon!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

Simon: My writing time is completely random! I usually grab what ever time I have when the muse hits. Usually, this happens far too late at night! If I sit down with a plan to write and a word count to hit, it usually goes wrong and I end up without a single word written. If I can get some time each week and add some new words to the current WIP, then I’m happy.

Steve: Out of all your releases, do you have a character you could write about forever?

Simon: Probably Naomi from See You When The World Ends. She was a lot of fun to write, what with her sarcasm and swearing! She also broke my heart. If you’ve read it, then you’ll know.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Simon: My current release is Mephisto Disco, my first collection of horrors and magical realism.
Why should folk buy it? I think each story is very different from the last, and I hope I keep readers guessing as to where the stories may take them, as well as giving a few scares here and there!
I’m very proud of it, and I hope folk enjoy.

Steve: Bonus Question! Did you have a favorite wrestler as a kid?

Simon: Favourite wrestler will always be The Undertaker. That guy is just phenomenal.

Cheers, Simon! Thank you so much!

As always – check out the links and if see a book you love – snag it!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Simon-Paul-Wilson/e/B00HQXQ1ZC/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/spwzen

Heyyyyyyyyyyyooooooooo!

Welcome back friends! Today’s is an exciting one for me! Many of you will know Wayne Fenlon from his phenomenal support of soooo many writers!

Some may know him from his book cover animations or even his book covers! And now, some of you may know him from his own writing! Welcome, Wayne!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

Wayne: I am lucky enough to be able to write during working hours. It’s the perks of being a security guard in an office building. But I don’t just use the time to write, I’ll read, design book covers, and play around with animations. Whatever mood I’m in. Just happy creating.
As for word counts or hours I put into writing, it can be anything from an hour a day to six or seven hours. Word counts can be literally anything. I might just spend a day rewriting something and throwing words away. It’s really only recently that I’ve caught the writing bug again, and I’ve got a lot of friends to thank for that. With the Scares That Care Authorcon 2 coming next March, I plan on having a few things out: a collection and a novella at least. Good people are pushing me to get things done. Really excited about that. Having a lot of fun with it at the moment, too.

Steve: Out of all your releases, do you have a character you could write about forever?

Wayne: I don’t have a character I could write about forever, and to be honest, I don’t know if I’d want to. I don’t mind trilogies, but when it gets to fifteen or more books in a series, it puts me off.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Wayne: As for the moment, I have two pieces coming up in SOMETHING BAD HAPPENED: AN ANTHOLOGY OF HORROR released on June 10th: a drabble called LOOPS , and a short piece around 2.5k words called WHISPERS IN THE DUST.

I can’t really say anything about LOOPS because it’s only 100 words, but WHISPERS is about coping: an alcoholic father, a mother hoping for change, and a son lying in bed at night going through his thoughts. Can’t really say much more than that, but I’m super proud of how it turned out. It’s my longest piece of work in print.

(Side note – I do have a story in this anthology as well. I’ve been trying to prevent any sort of self promotional aspects of these 3Q’s, but I decided to share the link to this here as I still want folks to discover Wayne’s work!)

Steve: Bonus Question! Did you have a favorite wrestler as a kid?

Wayne: I’ve never been into wrestling to be honest. It was nothing like it is today. Growing up in the UK we had Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, and it was televised on a Saturday afternoon. You could hardly call them athletes. Have a look online. It’s so bad.

Second UK writer to mention these two giants!

Awesome, thank you so much, Wayne!

Follow the links for more Wayne-awesomeness!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/waynefenlon

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Fenlon/e/B08H2HXV25/

Hello and good day! In today’s edition of 3Q’s we have a fantastic writer. Mark Allan Gunnells is an author who continues to put out quality story after quality story, no matter if it’s in short form, novella length or novel length!

Mark is extremely versatile, which made me super excited to see what his answers would be!

Welcome, Mark!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

Mark: I do try to write first thing in the morning every day. And that means as soon as I roll out of bed, before I’ve had breakfast or anything. I like to get right to it, and it gives me a great motivation to get up and get moving because I am usually pretty excited to find out what happens next. I do not really aim for any particular word count or page count. I feel like adding pressure to myself is not conducive to my creativity. Some days I might write a few pages, others a few paragraphs, others a few sentences. My motto is any progress is good progress.

Steve: Out of all your releases, do you have a favorite character you’ve written?

Mark: I love all my characters, even the ones I don’t like, but certain ones do tend to stick in my mind. Often side characters with big personalities that are fun to write. And usually these characters end up with more prominent roles than I intended because they are so much fun to write. Two that come to mind are Lelani in my novel SEQUEL, and Harold (who performs drag under the name Titty-Titty Gangbang) in 324 ABERCORN. Both those characters were delightful to spend time with.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Mark: Three months ago I released the novella WHEN IT RAINS with Crystal Lake Publishing, and I think it is a book that will resonate with people because of certain current events but ultimately it’s also an exciting and surprising story with some great characters I think. Next month I release my collection TWILIGHT AT THE GATES with Cemetery Gates, and it is an eclectic collection of stories, vignettes, and poems that speak of my love for the classic Twilight Zone.

Steve: Bonus Question! What is your favorite album?

Mark: I have recently been listening to Yes I Am by Melissa Etheridge again, and I think that is a near perfect album. Every single song speaks to me.

Thank you so much, Mark!

More links for you all to check out!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Allan-Gunnells/e/B005C18L7Q

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkAGunnells

Title: Horror House of Perversion 2: The Slaughtered Lambs

Author: Carl John Lee

Release date: August 5, 2022

I know the horror landscape is vast and filled with peaks and valleys. With each passing day more and more releases arrive and they run the gamut from deep explorations of grief to straight up torture porn. It’s up to each reader to find what they love and what their limits are.

It might surprise the three or four of you who read my reviews that I’m not an overly large fan of ‘extreme’ extreme horror. There are some classic extreme books out there that people rave about and I stumbled through them, barely getting through without DNFing. Then there are others that I’ve read and was blown away with the layers and the messaging and the depth of writing.

So far, what I’ve read from Carl John Lee puts him in the middle. ‘Uncle Carl’ to his fans writes both novellas that ask pointed questions and are topical (see: The Blood Beast Mutations) as well as straight up extreme slasher/survival exploitation (see: Cannibal Vengeance). It’s a neat line to walk and thankfully, for the readers, it doesn’t come across as formulaic or speed written.

What I liked: This one follows two fans of the heavy metal band The Slaughtered Lambs. Led by lead singer, Bobby, (a sexed up maniac who makes the women swoon and the men bang their heads), the two female fans go to the concert. They end up getting an invite back to the bands headquarters aka The Slaughterhouse and they can’t wait. But, things take a turn and blood begins to be spilled.

Lee writes stories that are always fast-paced. He is mysterious himself, his bio suggesting he cut his chops writing screenplays, but his writing is so similar in style to a few other authors, I’m curious to wonder if he isn’t a pseudonym. Most likely not, but it’s always fun to speculate!

One thing I really loved was the strong female leads who continue to persevere, even as it seems all hope is lost. There’s a ton of gore, violence and sadistic moments, which Lee deftly describes, but seeing how Kacey and her new love, Beth, continue to fight was great. Swallow (yes that was her name) is also a solid character and seeing her complete story arc was great.

For those asking or wondering – yes this is a sequel to the first, but you could get away with diving into this one without reading the first. It gets tied together in the final quarter (at one point I was wondering if this was a sequel in name only), but you won’t be lost at all if you didn’t read book one.

What I didn’t like: There was an all-too convenient plot point regarding an ex-significant other that played a role in the ending but the reader will see coming from a mile away. It was still a fun moment, but if Uncle Carl was attempting to have it surprise us, it definitely didn’t.

Why you should buy this: Carl John Lee is always a fun time, writing bloody B-Movie splatter. One thing I always love about his books is that they never feel like they take themselves too seriously, instead making for a fun reading experience and something that you could read in a single sitting if you wanted.

This was another great blast of brutality by an author who continues to slyly release solid novellas. I’d think this would become a big hit if it was released over on Godless, who knows, maybe Uncle Carl will read this and take my advice.

4.5/5

Hello all! Wow, we’ve sure had a great mix of authors so far haven’t we?!

Today’s guest is a real treat. Laurel Hightower has been a supporter of mine since day one and her writing is simply phenomenal. You can always expect chills, emotions and dark, dark moments. Hailing from Kentucky, let’s all welcome Laurel!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

Laurel: Depends on the day! I’m lucky enough to work part time now, so my mornings are generally set aside for writing, at least a bit of them. After I drop my son off at daycare, I’ll settle in and write for 30 to 90 minutes, depending on what else is going on. I try to set modest goals for myself – 200 words on short days, 500 on long. I usually exceed them but it keeps me from feeling overwhelmed. As for the rest, my house is now, and forever shall be an unholy wreck, so I’m not too picky on my surroundings—I just need quiet, so white noise is definitely my friend. And when I’m working on a longer project, like a novella or novel, I try to make sure I write a little everyday, to keep the story fresh.

Steve: Out of all your releases, do you have a character you could write about forever?

Laurel: I’m going to cheat on this answer a bit since it’s not actually a release (yet! I remain eternally hopeful!) but I have a couple of characters in a series I’ve written I could endlessly tell stories about. Cam and Morgan, a lovely duo who can’t seem to stop stumbling into supernatural messes. In a perfect world they’d become my primary series and I’d put out a book a year. A girl can dream…
For actual releases though, it’d be fun to revisit Luke Harris from WHISPERS IN THE DARK. He’s a good dude and it’d be cool to give him his own stories.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Laurel: My latest solo release is BELOW, my take on the Mothman legend. It follows a woman named Addy on an ill-advised trip through the mountains of West Virginia. People should read it if they’re a fan of Mothman, or female central characters, weird creepy critters, or really quick reads!

Steve: Bonus Question! Did you have a favorite wrestler as a kid?

Laurel: Hulk Hogan, actually, but only because he had facial hair. My dad always had a full beard and mustache so I was strangely mistrustful of clean shaven dudes. The mustache saved you, Hogan.

Amazing! Thank you so much, Laurel!

As always – find more links to connect with Laurel below!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Laurel-Hightower/e/B07NPLMV1G/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HightowerLaurel

Website: laurelhightower.com

Title: Call to the Void: Definitive Edition

Author: Robert Royal Poff

Release date: October 11th, 2021

It’s probably been close to month now since I tweeted that if people were looking for reviews etc, to reach out and I’d do my best to get some books read. I’m coming to the end of that batch of books that were sent my way (believe I have two left now that I’ve finished this one) and I’ve come across some really great gems that for one reason or another were either missed by folks or have slipped through the cracks.

Case in point – ‘Call to the Void.’ At the time of posting this review, it has no ratings/reviews on Goodreads and seven ratings/reviews on Amazon. For as solid of a collection as this is, that always makes my readers heart hurt.

To begin with – look at this fantastic cover! It’s not a case of poor cover poor desire. No, this cover harkens back to the old illustrated style that always captivated me. The Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta days. A cover like this makes you want to pick up the book, flip it over, read the backmatter and then bring it to the check out.

What I liked: This collection is filled to the brim with novelette length stories. You won’t find any flash fiction pieces in here, instead Poff lets the stories play out and are not beholden to word count limits or how much of the book they take up. I’m not sure of the background behind the writing and publication of this collection, but I’d guess that each of these stories were written individually with out an initial plan to release them as a collection, but that it came together somewhere down the line. I say this because no stories feel atmospherically similar and the scope of the subject matter is wide enough that it doesn’t feel like any were forced to fill pages or word count totals.

Highlights for me were;

‘Under Silent Sight’ – this was perhaps the most unsettling story within the collection. Set in a dystopian world where people try to survive while these giant eyes hunt them. Completely unsettling and worth the price of admission alone.

‘The Colours of Death’ – the story revolves around a new treatment for PTSD where people are put into a simulation to try and confront their issues. Of course, things go horrifically wrong and Poff does a great job of creating an anxiety inducing read.

‘The Other Side of Grandeur’ – we get a solid story about a patient who continues to have visions and hallucinations. This goes to a number of areas that were both fantastic and unexpected.

I do want to highlight that throughout each story, Poff gives us some really solid characters, ones that you want to root for and others you detest.

What I didn’t like: As I mentioned, every story in this is of a longer length, which for me caused a few stories to drag on longer than I think the story called for and began to diminish the positive returns from the initial set up. Saying that, those ones might be the stories that connect with you the most. Collections are always such an individual experience.

Why you should buy this: Well, if the brief little description of ‘Under Silent Sight’ didn’t intrigue you, I think you’d be doing yourself a favor if you grabbed a collection that traverses from horror to sci-fi and back without hesitation. Poff does a really great job of sucking the reader in really quickly and holding you rapt until the very end.

Solid batch of stories for sure and I hope others take the leap and experience this one.

4/5

Yes! I am so pumped for today’s 3Q’s! Jeremy Hepler is (and I might muddle this up) an author I would consider a T-Ball stand for readers. What I mean, is that you know for 100% certainty that when he has a book or story come out, you will love it and it’ll be an easy home run. Did that work? Sure! Sure?

Anyways, please welcome, Jeremy!

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

Jeremy: My favorite time to write is in the mornings on weekdays, but sometimes it carries over into the afternoon. I usually don’t write on the weekends, using those days to decompress and spend time with my family. When writing a first draft, I write at a desktop computer in what we call our computer room. It’s a room with only one window, a few book shelves, and nothing on the walls. I light a candle (the scent based on season) which sits on one side of the keyboard next to my phone and whatever book I’m currently reading, On the other side, I put my notebook with notes for my WIP, a cup of coffee, and there’s a lava lamp on that side I turn on, too. I’m not one for word counts because some days I can churn out thousands and other days a paragraph. I just like to walk away from the computer thinking I improved the WIP that day.

Also, on a quirkier note, I have some cotton gloves I like to wear when I type my first drafts. When I put them on, it’s psychologically like a batter putting on his batting gloves before stepping into the batter’s box. It started around seven years ago when I lived in Amarillo and our heater went out for about a week in the winter when the temperatures were in the twenties. I started wearing the gloves when I wrote, and for whatever reason, after the heater was fixed, I felt naked trying to type without them on. Like something was missing. I’ve actually typed the fingertips out of them many times, and my wife sews them up when she can. They were both originally gray (my son’s grade school winter gloves I believe, so they fit me tight), but one became too damaged to repair, and I switched it out with one of my son’s black ones. I don’t wear them when I edit (which I do on my laptop for the most part), however. 🙂

Steve: Out of all your releases, do you have a character you could write about forever?

Jeremy: Alice in my latest novel SUNRAY ALICE is my favorite character to date, and I’d love to revisit her on some level, but since I already spanned her entire life in that book it might be hard.
So…one of my other favorite characters I’d love to revisit is a character I named Luke Steele who appeared in one of my short stories. He was a “Master of Horror,” famous writer type, who had inherited a family of beasts that he was responsible for taking care of. His books (The Beast in the Cellar, The Beast in the Toilet, The Beast in Me, etc.) were based on those beasts, but of course no one in the public knew that. I wrote all 4500 words in one day, and my wife likes to read with her middle school students every Halloween. In the future, I’d really like to write more about his life because the short story (LUKE’S LOST MANUSCRIPT) was such a fun story to write. As a writer, I think there’s a lot more fun to be had with Luke.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

Jeremy: My latest novel, SUNRAY ALICE, came out in April from Crossroad Press. It’s a speculative/historical/coming-of-age story with a female protagonist (Alice, of course). The story is about…well…here’s the back of the book teaser instead:

Approaching the end of her life, Alice Mayes, notorious caretaker of the anomaly known as the Garden of Sunray, is eager to tie up one last loose end before moving on. The last loose end. For decades she’s been dreaming of finding someone to share her secret with, someone worthy of her truth, and in twenty-year-old Emily Newell, she thinks she finally has.

On a momentous stroll through her massive garden with her young friend, Alice delves back into the past, back to those five horrific, mind-bending days in the summer of 1944 when she was sixteen, and for the first time in over seventy-five years, gives voice to her role in the Nazi prisoner internment camp tragedy that befell the small town of Sunray, Texas. In revealing all she witnessed, confessing all she did, she hopes to pass on a wondrous legacy as well as validate and honor the mysterious man she knew as Karl Wagner.

I think people should read SUNRAY ALICE because it touches on a lot of relatable aspects. There are struggles and triumphs in friendship, romance, and family relations. Struggles and triumphs in dealing with the loss of a loved one, gender expectations and roles, discovering reality isn’t all you thought, war, discrimination, religion, and on and on. The two main characters, Alice and Karl, are two people I know I’d journey with any time.

Steve: Bonus Question! Did you have a favorite wrestler as a kid?

Jeremy: As a kid in the early 80s, I loved wrestling. My first favorite wasn’t a wrestler but a tag team: The Road Warriors. Hawk and Animal. They marched to the ring to Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” wearing football shoulder pads topped with spikes and wearing black leather pants and motorcycle boots. One had a mohawk, the other a reverse mohawk (I guess you’d call it), and they painted their faces with different designs, my favorite being a spider web. I had a toy wrestling ring, Animal and Hawk toys, and all the other NWA plastic figures (and later WWF rubber ones). Later, I went through phases when I loved Sting (when he was starting out in the NWA), Tito Santana, and another tag team, The Rock-N-Roll Express more than any others. I did also enjoy the WWF in the mid-80s once it became popular, too, wrestlers like Ricky The Dragon Steamboat, Brutus The Barber Beefcake, and Rowdy Roddy Piper being some of my favorites.

Awesome! Thank you so much, Jeremy!

Find more from Jeremy at these links!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jeremy-Hepler/e/B00VSI7KRE/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeremyHepler

Title: The Homecoming

Author: Andrew Pyper

Release date: February 26, 2019

I’ve been meaning to do a re-read of ‘The Homecoming’ for about six months or so, but I kept putting it off. The reason being – I typically don’t do much rereading because A) there’s so much out there I haven’t read and B) much like with movies, if I’ve already read/watched it then I know what will happen and it’ll lose some shock and awe. But, saying all of that; A) as you may know, I have a love of Pyper’s work, B) it has been three years since I’ve read it, so I knew I would be forgetting some aspects and C) recently, I was listening to an interview he did to promote ‘The Only Child’ while I was preparing to interview Andrew about that book, and at the end, the interviewer asks him what he’s working on. Normally, Andrew is pretty evasive about that in interviews. I consider myself fortunate that he actually answered this exact question when I interviewed him (and now I sit and wait!), but as I said, he answered it and said he wanted to write a thriller novel with a huge twist at the end – and that was this novel, ‘The Homecoming.’

You can watch that ‘The Only Child’ interview here if you so desire;

Now, as I said, this was a re-read, so if you want to see my original thoughts, you can here;

https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/2019/05/10/the-homecoming-review-pypermaynia/

Funny enough, before I dive into the review, when I read this the first time, Andrew and I had already developed a friendship, but it wasn’t to the level as it is these days. So, when this came out, I missed the possibility of getting an ARC and this became an edition of his that was incredibly difficult for me to track down! The copy I do have I cherish, but crazily, the ARC for ‘The Only Child’ was even tougher to track down!

What I liked: The backmatter of the book uses this tag line: What if everything you knew about the people you loved was a lie? Intriguing right? And the front of the UK cover uses this lead in: One Family, One Month. All they have to do is survive. Got your attention yet?

The story follows the Quinlan’s, a family whisked to a remote, fenced property in the Pacific Northwest after their absentee father has died. The reason? The reading of the will. It is here that our main character, Aaron, reunites with his older sister Franny, his mother and his younger sister, Bridge. They are brought to an enormous mansion and the scope of just how wealthy their father becomes a reality.

Pyper doesn’t stop there though – the will states, that if they all remain there for thirty days, with no contact with the outside world and that they don’t leave the property, they’ll each split their quarter of their fathers money.

It’s from here that we get Pyper utilizing two of his common story aspects; strong family dynamics and the location/environment becoming one of the main characters.

Belfountain, itself plays such a role in the ‘unknown’ and the ever changing aspects of what the readers believes they know that it may well be Andrew’s best utilizing of location yet (The Wildfire Season and The Trade Mission pushing hard from either direction). As I mentioned in my previous review, the location reminded me so much of a massive mansion near where I grew up, The Blaylock Mansion near Nelson, BC. So much so, (and with the cover image mirroring architectural aspects of it) that this was the place I pictured this occurring at.

But, Andrew doesn’t stop there. We get mysterious cabins, a strange discovery in the woods and an external threat – two characters that come to be referred to as The Tall Man and the Witch. You’d think that would end there, but no, we also get a constant description of “deja vu” and shared dreams, which all work together to create a hyperventilating chaos where the reader gets sucked in and will be struggling to keep themselves above the surface.

And then…

And then we arrive to the horrible reality of what has been happening, what the true nature of this place was and is and, I’ve said this before, I’m thankful to see that Andrew is willing to go there. When people ask why I love his work so much, it’s this exact reason. Andrew writes like a literary behemoth, the type of prose and book narrative that lends itself to be featured on bookshelves, in airport kiosks and on the bestseller lists. The type of book that a person picks up randomly and ends up reading it before their boarding is even called, dipping back over to pick up another book from him. But, Andrew is also one of the few ‘Instant Bestselling’ authors out there who also is willing to have visceral, extremely violent moments and not hold anything back. When he goes there, his writing is rated R, not rated PG13 like many of the other ‘dark-thriller’ authors who saddle up next to his books country wide.

I wish I could tell you exactly why I love the ending of this book as much as I do, but stupid spoilers make it so I can’t. What I will say is this – on my reread, I actually saw some of the subtle clues that Andrew sprinkled throughout, at one point even groaning that in my first go around, I had missed a key detail. But that’s the beauty of Andrew’s writing. He’s a top ten new release author with a ‘Where’s Waldo’ of extremity soaking through the pages. You know it’s coming, you just need to find it before it finds you.

What I didn’t like: I kind of hate rereading Andrew’s work because each time I do it throws my “favorite Pyper book” list into complete disarray. ‘The Homecoming’ is that pop-song that gets stuck in your head and won’t leave. It is rock solid and almost completely difficult to pick apart as to anything that might turn you away from it. So, in fairness to all the other books I read and offer up something here, I should do that for this book too. I wasn’t a huge fan of the mom character. It makes sense when the book is done, but throughout, some of her reactions really annoyed me. And there’s a character, Jerry, that’ll drive you bonkers, but again, this is all purposeful. A means to an end.

Why you should buy this: Out of Andrew’s last number of releases, I’d almost offer up that this book is an overlooked gem. Between ‘The Damned,’ ‘The Only Child’ and ‘The Resident,’ this book came out and while I saw it shared a little bit, not near as much as I did with ‘The Resident’ and ‘Oracle’ his audio-only release. ‘The Homecoming’ is a gripping, pedal-to-the-metal, thrill ride. This book is tailor made for you to take it camping, or to the beach or your Air BnB on your vacation and have you ignoring everything else around you. People often ask me where they should start with reading Andrew’s work, and I usually say ‘The Demonologist’ or ‘The Damned’ or ‘Lost Girls,’ but honestly, I think it should be this one, now having finished it again. ‘The Homecoming’ shows Pyper’s literary brilliance with his Indie-extreme badge that he wears when his big five publisher isn’t looking. This will captivate you from page one until the very end and once done, you’ll feel the weight of this story leave you and let you breathe again.

Well done, Andrew. Phenomenal work.

5/5