REVIEW: Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger Hunt by Michaelbrent Collings

ASIN: B07ZR8HBC3

Available: October 31, 2019

Not that any of Michaelbrent Collings’ novels are timid, but this journey reads the rawest and grittiest I have seen from him.  Even the grungy cover implies that the game refuses to play nice. The bloody smiley face reminds me of both Alan Moore’s Watchmen cover and the “Have a nice day” t-shirt with a bullet hole between the eyes. I think this story marks a change for MbC, a new level of maturity in his work. 

         

PLOT

          Scavenger Hunt tells us of five diverse and unique characters forced into a deadly game similar to Saw or perhaps a nightmarish version of The Amazing Race. Abducted—an event they only vaguely remember—the group wakes in a metal room with no indication of where or when it is.  A mysterious Mr. Do-Good invites them to play his game of terrifying choices or die.

Collings seamlessly weaves themes of action versus consequence. The story pits the lure of wealth against the desperation to escape poverty. Fate (and Do-Good) is an aggressive dealer of life choices within the definition of Home and Heritage. These are characters who seek danger to feel safe, and as they do, images of family take new and tenuous forms.    

And the clock is always against them.

The pace of this episodic novel tears through an urban landscape, but the characters also to come to life with their depth. I cared about each of these people and their fates. What unsettles me most about this is that some of the characters were murders, embezzlers, and human traffickers. 

THE AUTHOR

          Michaelbrent Collings seeks out what most publishing professionals advise against: He writes in just about every genre imaginable. I don’t see that this has hurt him any. While he is one of the most successful indie horror writers on the planet, MbC’s catalog also includes tales about a highly skilled “FixIt” in the far reaches of space (The Darklights), a pack of hyenas that makes the most vicious lion seem docile by comparison (Predators), and even a YA fantasy where fighters battle in gladiator-style arenas nestled among five mountain tops.

          When I saw Collings had been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award, I cheered.  It wasn’t long ago when being an indie author meant you were precluded for consideration of any award. MbC has been a finalist multiple times now. He is a trailblazer.   

ARE YOU THE AUDIENCE?

          I would recommend this book for MbC fans—especially so they might see what he is capable of when he pushes the envelope.  Thriller fans would equally be entertained by Scavenger Hunt where enemies race for a common goal to save their own lives among heists and guns and untouchable hackers.

Buy Scavenger Hunt on Amazon. (Not an affiliate link.)

Michaelbrent Collings' website WrittenInsomnia.com. 

Writing Quality

Writers should never settle for less than their best work. Is that mere perfectionism on my part?  Maybe.  But why put out as much effort and soul mining as writing requires for something that is only "good enough"? On the other hand, I believe the audience should be considered equally. If we write to please only ourselves, then we are just tossing our stories into the abyss.  For a story to be whole, it must have an audience. Anything else is probably narcissism.

And ultimately I believe these two goals are not mutually exclusive.

What is your opinion?

REVIEW: Wild Hunt

October 11, 2019

Cover design by Istavan Kadar.

Wild Hunt

by Nancy Kilpatrick

ASIN: B07YR8BBZ5

I have read several of Nancy Kilpatrick’s vampire novels and was grateful to receive and an advance copy of Wild Hunt. It is set in a more modern time than her recent THRONES OF BLOOD series. I loved experiencing this world through the female lead, Loralie. She is blind but also a fortune teller, which in many ways makes her stronger and better able to see more than her supernatural captor.

Vampires from Nancy Kilpatrick’s imagination become some of the most wickedly unique I have ever read. This could have grown only from decades of loving the genre as much as her fans. Her creations are neither Dracula nor dark angels, but they are steeped in the gothic traditions we love and are just as attractive as their literary ancestors. These creatures are quick to enrage and brutal once there, but also oddly sympathetic. Kilpatrick never shies from where her imagination draws her or what her fans desire.

Nancy Kilpatrick’s Website

Buy Wild Hunt

(Amazon link. Not an affiliate.)

REVIEW: Abduction of Two Rulers

June 26, 2018

Cover design by Istavan Kadar.

Abduction of Two Rulers

by Nancy Kilpatrick (Macabre Ink) ASIN: B07DRBCHK3

THRONES OF BLOOD Vol. 3

Award-winning Canadian author and editor with nearly two dozen novels and more than 200 short stories to her credit, Nancy Kilpatrick excels at writing dark fantasy, horror, mystery, erotic horror, and nonfiction. Abduction of Two Rulers--a dark, erotic fantasy--sizzles with her veteran skill and sense of adventure.

This third novel in the series involves the betrayal, imprisonment, and romance of the vampir King Thanatos. Meanwhile, King Moarte and the Sapiens are on the brink of war. Moarte and Wolfsbane are busy trying to head off the war, leaving them unable to help Thanatos or his true love search for him until long after he is surely dead.

I am a fan of dark fantasy but not a reader of erotica. When I pick up the first in this series, and then the next, and now this one, I always say, “I am not the right audience.”  Nevertheless, I can’t help but get caught up in the story.  Kilpatrick has been a vampire fan for decades and she knows them well. Her skill weaves stories that feed the cravings of the traditional lore fan as well as offering new treats.

Nancy Kilpatrick’s Website

Buy Abduction of Two Rulers. 

Review: Uncommon Type: Some Stories

Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks
September 5, 2017

A friend loaned me the ARC of Tom Hanks' book. (Yes, THAT Tom Hanks.) It is a collection of short stories that, for the most part, are quite good. They are mainstream/general fiction. A couple might tilt toward adventure.

Hanks writes very well. Fantastic descriptions. Interesting characters. Vividly speakable dialogue. (No wonder, considering his day job.) It is also a quick read at 403 pages (at least this ARC was) including one screenplay.

The only criticism I might have is that I expected more from the implied typewriter theme. Hanks weaves a typewriter into every story and a couple of them center on the machine, but in most, the stories offer a cameo of one at best. Often, a character is doing something unrelated and hears someone typing in the distance, for example. In cases like that, I felt attention was drawn to an insignificant event for the sake only of making sense of why these stories are bound in the same volume. It felt forced. After seeing the title, reading the blurb, and then seeing press-release photos of Hanks standing in front of antique typewriters, I wished for something more than largely token appearances

However, it was not enough to ruin any of the stories, and I am eagerly looking forward to his next book.