The Bug in the Suit available at Electric Spec

The latest issue of Electric Spec is now live and includes my dark sci-fi tale, The Bug in the Suit. Read it here or download the entire issue in PDF or PRC formats. Note: italics seem to be omitted from the online version so I'd recommend the PDF. Comments welcome.

New Short Fiction Coming Soon

Crawl your way over to Electric Spec at the end of June for my six-and-a-half-thousand word science fiction horror tale, The Bug in the Suit...

Book Review: Cujo, Stephen King

My hopes weren’t high going into Cujo. King claims he can barely remember writing his famous tale of a rabid Saint Bernard (he was an alcoholic and drug addict at the time), but I wondered if perhaps he merely wanted to forget… That's not the case. Cujo may have a slow build-up to its tense climax (one of the author’s better closings, it should be said), but it’s never dull thanks in part to the surprisingly measured structure. For me, though, the novel’s real strength is found in its realistic portrayal of two families, the Cambers (country-dwellers) and the Trentons (former city-dwellers). Both have serious problems and are on the brink of falling apart. Enter Cujo. There may be some significance to the juxtaposition of these families, some metaphors to be found in the rabid dog and the disease-like rot that seems to infect the husbands and wives of the respective families; then, there may not. I suspect, however, that Cujo is meant to be viewed as more than a horror novel. Indeed, the grisly scenes of murder that litter other horror novels are few in number here; instead, the focus is suspense and the ever-present fear of death rather than death itself. I expected this to be one of King’s lesser efforts… I was pleasantly surprised.

All Quiet...

Aside from a couple of book reviews I’ve been pretty quiet on the blogging front. So here’s a brief update:

I’ve been writing (on-and-off, the opening of a short story, notes for a mainstream and possibly highly commercial novel), reading (a lot, by my standards—The Great Escape, Homer Hickam’s latest, and a Raymond Chandler biography), as well as doing some general pondering (something I do in quiet moments, which don’t seem to come around as often as I would like) about possible future directions for both myself and my writing. Rejections have been trickling in, too. No acceptances, but I have stories sitting in the final stages of consideration at several good publications. Meanwhile, my wife’s grandma has been recuperating in hospital from a fractured shoulder and my flat has been flooded by a burst water pipe. The vagaries of life. Fingers crossed, the month of May should hold some good news. Then, I shouldn't tempt fate...

Hope you are well.

Book Review: Red Helmet, Homer Hickam

Romantic fiction and coalmining: two things I'm not naturally drawn to, but when they're delivered by Homer Hickam, one of my favourite storytellers, I'm willing to make the exception. This unabashedly romantic tale of Song Hawkins, successful New York City businesswoman, and Cable Jordan, superintendent of a modern West Virginian mine is told with such heart and passion it's hard not be moved. Sure, with some clunky dialogue and O-T-T religious moralising, it's like a child that continually misbehaves, but darn it if it doesn't have a good heart and the very best of intentions. In this cynical climate we should make room, now and then, for such tales of love and faith...

Book Review (part 2 of 2): Just After Sunset, Stephen King

N.

A strange standing-stones formation brings on OCD in an observer, who visits his psychiatrist for help. Only, his OCD is catching… There is a lot going on in this story (there should be, it’s over 50 pages long), making it easily one of the best in the collection. Story and character blend here in near-perfect harmony, and the writing, particularly toward the end of the tale, convincingly captures the protagonist’s condition. Indeed, the focus here is the mind, fear manifesting itself through OCD, how quickly and easily it spreads and destroys. The more I think about this tale, the more frightening it becomes... 4/5


The Cat from Hell

For Halston this is a new kind of hit: a cat. But this cat has the blood of three people on its paws, and it won’t go out without a fight… This is vintage King, literally. Written and first published some 30 years ago, the style and content are very different from the rest of the stories collected here. The short, sharp prose of pulp crime fiction meets King’s nasty streak of old in this deliciously dark tale. Good enough to make me want to dig out some of the old collections but out of place alongside the more literary, character-driven stories. Nonetheless, an excellent read. 4.5/5


The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates

Many of the stories in Just After Sunset touch upon the subject of death. Here, Annie Driscoll receives one final phone call from her late husband, who died three days earlier in a plane crash. Though the call is short, Annie will never forget it, and never quite let go of the man who made the call, regardless of the path her life takes. An understated and believable tale where story and character are well-balanced. Memorable. 3.5/5


Mute

In a church confessional, a travelling salesman recalls an encounter with a deaf-mute hitchhiker to whom he ranted about his cheating wife... Mute draws the reader in but the so-called twist can be seen coming for miles, making this one end on a slightly disappointing note. Indeed, the moral questions King asks here (which I won’t mention to avoid spoiling the story for those who haven’t read it), aren’t particularly new or interesting either, and certainly don’t justify the story’s 24-page length. An enjoyable but forgettable read. And Playboy published this... 3/5


Ayana

Here we have miracles and questions…why do some people live and some people die? King himself says in the afterword that this tale is about the questions rather than the answers. He says that often, and here he gets away with it. There’s no bells and whistles here, no horror per se but an understated and tender story. 3.5/5


A Very Tight Place

Curtis Johnson finds himself trapped in a Port-O-San (portable toilet) in this almost novella-length tale of revenge and rebirth. It’s probably the best example from Just After Sunset of vintage King meets new King, a delicious marriage of nastiness and richly detailed prose in the darkest, grossest tale of the bunch. The perfect choice for the final story, too. 4/5


In Just After Sunset, Stephen King often writes about questions without providing any answers. The less successful stories of this ilk feel disappointingly unfinished, but some do linger beyond a first reading. It isn’t the author’s strongest collection to date, but it is a thoughtful journey that is never less than interesting; a journey in which time and time again he forces the reader to confront the subjects of death and dying. At times unflinching and horrific, at others subtle and poignant, this uneven collection is nevertheless worth your attention, as even its lesser tales offer the discerning reader something beyond character and plot. And King’s prose has never been so rich, so layered, so compelling.