Book Review: Murderland Part 1 - H8 by Garrett Cook

Imagine a future where killing is legal and fashion is dictated by famous serial killers like Jack the Ripper, Gacy, Bundy, etc. and serial killers are celebrities, obsessed over by fans. “Reap Chic” dominates, and Reap kids dress to emulate their favorite serial killers, from Victorian garb for Jack the Ripper to clown suits for Gacy. Serial killers are called “psychopomps” and their kills are celebrated. Cafes and bars serve food like “The Sharon Tate” and the “Mary Kelly” and are decorated with serial killer letters, artwork and blood, much to the delight of most of the population.

This is the sickening future envisioned by Garrett Cook in his slim-yet-no-less-satisfying novella, Murderland Part 1 – H8. In Murderland, serial killers are rock stars, complete with groupies and their own merchandise. Yet, one moves amongst them undetected…and his name is Jeremy Jenkins. Jeremy is sickened by the behavior of most “psychopomps”, especially since he too is a killer…but one that kills with purpose. He is convinced that beings from another dimension are turning women into breeding machines…so he has to kill as many women as he can before they are impregnated by the “Dark Ones”. Jeremy just might be the most successful “psychopomp” out there, but he doesn’t seek celebrity…he just wants to save the world from the “Dark Ones”. Yet, as Jeremy finds himself running into more and more psychopomps, he is driven to kill these worthless “entertainers” as well.

Murderland is a very inventive and dark novella from Garrett Cook. From chapter to chapter it moves from first person to third person…and we also learn there is something else inside Jeremy controlling or guiding his actions. Cook has truly created a memorable world in Murderland. The Reap subculture is intriguing and seems entirely plausible, especially today when people already revere some serial killers (like the huge following behind Charles Manson). I loved Cook’s descriptions of all the crazy Reap kids and their different costumes, from the “Whitechapel whores” (Victorian) to the “Bundy girls” (prim college co-eds) and everyone in-between.

I also loved the progression of the character of Jeremy. Whether viewing him from his own perspective or an outside perspective I could never truly tell if he was just batshit insane or if there really was “Dark Ones” invading the world as he believed. This ambiguity just made the novel even more exciting and kept me on my toes. Also, while he acted like a monster when he killed the “impregnated” women, I actually enjoyed it when he went after the (in)famous serial killers who pissed him off. I also thought he was a very clever killer – killing his victims in different ways, leaving different signatures, etc. I had mixed feelings for Jeremy at the beginning of the novel, but he quickly grew on me and by the book’s end I couldn’t wait to read more about him!

Cook has written a very fast-paced, engaging novella with Murderland Part 1- H8. It ends with a real cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to read the next installment to see what happens next!

Order it on Amazon!

Book Review: Anoxic Zone by John G Rees

The term “anoxic zone” refers to “an oxygen-depleted region in a marine environment,” according to Answers.com. In this novel, the anoxic zone in question is in the Black Sea. According to author John R Rees, the anoxic zone “occurs naturally at depths greater than 200 meteres [and] has no oxygen to support life or accelerate decay. This creates a unique environment for the preservation of ancient shipwrecks, as well as modern day detritus.” 

When I first picked up Anoxic Zone I had no idea what the term meant or how it would be used within the context of the novel, but I have to admit I was definitely intrigued. I hadn’t heard about anything like it before so I was eager to dive right in (pardon the pun). Plus, the synopsis offered some supernatural hints as to who, or what, the main characters were. Take a looksie at the description from the back cover and see if you get an inkling as to what they are:

This is the tale of two men, who become service personnel for Megacorp, a multi-national corporation that operates under its own laws. The dark cadre is brought back to life to maintain the infrastructure of a narcissistic, self-involved culture at the end of the industrial age. Chosen for their skills, Jake, a commercial diver, and Johnny, a scientist, have been friends for over one hundred years. Human curiosity and human nature conspire to have our friends discover just what they are; the whys and hows of how they came to be.

In the course of this discovery they release evil that spawned their kind, which had been imprisoned and used by Megacorp in a most despicable manner.

Their adventure takes them from Hawaii to Romania and the Black Sea, as Jake and John struggle to accept what they have become while trying to keep the evil from the hands of Megacorp and return it to the darkness of its birth.

This novel definitely has a lot going on, from Jake and John’s initial discovery of what they are to their escape from Megacorp to encountering their “maker” to plotting how to destroy him. Don’t let the slim tome, coming in at just under 300 pages, fool you -  author Rees has packed a lot of action into this novel! That’s not to say it is convoluted, by any means. The pacing of the story is quick and just keeps drawing you in as you get further and further into the story. I ravenously drank it up!

I also love that author Rees has set the book in a not-too-distant future where people have become lazy and prefer that menial and/or dangerous labor be done by a part of the population called “reusables”…kinda sounds like the current state of things, no? Rees also borrows from several different genres to complete Anoxic Zone, too. There is futuristic sci-fi, a bit of noir, a lot of historical facts, a touch of romance, gore, action and horror…pretty much a little bit of everything!

The locations vary as much as the tone of novel. We start off in Hawaii, then move to the unearthly underwater world, then to the bustling ports of Romania and eventually to the Carpathian mountains…with many other stops in-between! Rees effortlessly captures the atmosphere of each location in the novel and brings them to life. I especially loved the descriptions of the crumbling, centuries-old castle in the most remote region of the Carpathian mountains.

I loved the characterizations of our two lead characters, Jake and John, and their transformations over the years as they embrace what they really are. If you haven’t guessed already by their old age, they are vampires, though I don’t think the word “vampire” is ever mentioned in the book! Megacorp has made them and many others like this, calling them “reusables” and using them for dangerous or life-threatening work. Jake can dive to depths far further than any human ever could and also go without air for longer. John can test out disease, viruses, etc. on himself to see their effects but won’t die from these experiments. Yet, when they both discover their true nature and the true extent of their abilities they attract the attention of a notorious (and historical) Count who spawned their race…and wants revenge on those that have used him. John and Jake go from lowly “reusables” to realizing their power and becoming the pupils of their “master,” until he takes things too far and John and Jake turn against him.

And the “master” himself is quite a force to be reckoned with. Rees draws from a well-known historical figure (the very ruler who inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula) to create a menacing and scary villain that still elicits awe from the two main characters as well as the reader.

Anoxic Zone is a very unique, nontraditional vampire tale that I couldn’t put down! It is a thrilling, exciting read that tries something new with the tired vampire genre…and succeeds! If you get a chance, I highly recommend picking up John G Rees Anoxic Zone!

Order it from Amazon!

Book Review: Eternal Vigilance 2 - The Death of Illusions by Gabrielle Faust

In Gabrielle Faust’s second installment of her cybergoth vampire series Eternal Vigilance, she builds upon main vampire-savior Tynan’s story and the plight of the world as the evil Tyst organization prepares to usher a horrifying vampire god named the Vicinus into the world. Tynan must battle against and defeat the Tyst’s advanced technology as well as facing the Vicinus in its own realm before it is birthed by the Tyst’s Queen and unleashed upon the world to wreak chaos and destruction.

Tynan must also deal with the weight that being the savior of the world places on his shoulders and taking orders from his Immortal Elders as well as the rebel leaders of the Phuree. He also wonders at the relationship between himself and the Tyst Queen Moria, whom he rescued from the Tyst fortress when he was just supposed to end her life and that of the Vicinus inside her.

As the time quickly approaches for the Vicinus to tear into this world, can Tynan defeat the vampire god that was responsible for creating his kind before the world is lost to chaos?

As with her first Eternal Vigilance novel, Faust has woven a gorgeously gothic tapestry that glimmers with pieces of cyberpunk placed into the fabric of the story. This mix of old and new, crumbling and glittering, creates a very exciting backdrop to the story. It really does feel like a whole new world, from the underground tunnels where hackers live to evade the Tyst’s advanced tracking systems to an old cave that used to be a tourist destination where Tynan hides Moria to the castle the Immortals reside in to the Tyst fortress.

I also enjoyed how Faust could now put more action and battles into this book. As the previous book established all the characters, the second book is all about fighting the Tyst and the Vicinus instead of just planning for these battles. Though more time is committed to these exciting battles, Faust still manages to keep her characterizations strong. Of course we get to see reoccurring characters from the first novel, but we are also introduced to a few new characters, including Queen Moria. Faust continues to make things interesting by complicating the relationship between Tynan and Moria and throwing some twists and turns to other relationships within the novel. There are quite a few surprises in Eternal Vigilance 2: The Death of Illusions!

Faust continues to use an elegant, almost elevated, way of speaking that we saw in the first book. There are times when this penchant for the dramatic becomes overly pretentious, but this captures the formal way of speaking that Tynan is used to and really helps to show us his character.

My only real complaint was with a few misspelled words, especially the incorrect use of the word “until.” In the novel it is spelled “till,” instead of the correct way of ” ’til.” This misspelling is a big pet peeve of mine (almost as bad as spelling “grisly” like “grizzly” – god, that annoys me!), so it stuck out a lot and detracted from my overall enjoyment of the novel.

Nonetheless, Eternal Vigilance 2: The Death of Illusions is a wonderful addition to the Eternal Vigilance series. The characters are so likable and intriguing that I just can’t wait until the next in the series to see what happens to them all!

Screw Twilight! Eternal Vigilance is the vampire series everyone should be reading!

Buy it on Amazon!

Book Review: The Good Humor Man by Andrew Fox

In 2041, the government, or what’s left of it, has banned all fatty foods, making a pound of real chocolate worth more than a kilo of cocaine on the black market. Groups of Good Humor Men, government-sanctioned vigilantes, patrol the country and destroy any illegal contraband foodstuffs they find. Meanwhile, shady nutraceutical company MannaSantos controls the market with genetically engineered foods, but people and animals are still wasting away from a mysterious, quick-spreading disease that is a result of a MannaSantos experiment gone horribly wrong.

Only Dr. Louis Shmalzberg, a fallen Good Humor Man and plastic surgeon, begins to uncover the evil behind MannasSantos and holds the key to humanity’s salvation – in the form of Elvis’ liposuctioned belly fat from a surgery his famous plastic surgeon father performed. Yet, Dr. Shmalzberg must travel across the country, getting entangled with an assassin who wants the Elvis fat for a foreign dignitary, a cult evangelizing anorexia, clones from MannasSantos, a voodoo queen, hit-men dressed as Elvi and a woman addicted to liposuction, to hunt down the preserved Elvis fat.

Will Dr. Shmalzberg track down the Elvis before he is captured, killed or before it becomes too late for humanity?

The Good Humor Man is an amazing novel that tackles serious issues like obesity, nutrition, genetically engineered food, the agricultural business, body image and many, many other important topics in a very entertaining, darkly humorous way. In the tradition of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, The Good Humor Man makes us question just where we are headed as a nation and what we can do to prevent author Andrew Fox’s vision.

We all know that America as a country is F-A-T. We are one of the most obese countries in the world and in September 2008, the World Health Organization named the United States as #9 in a list of the most obese countries, with 74.1% of adults, or 237 million Americans, being overweight. So, what if all fatty foods were outlawed in the U.S.? What if a huge agribusiness like MannasSantos took over and made genetically engineered foods like “Leanie Lean” meats for the masses? Sure, the nation’s overall health would probably improve and people would lose weight, but at what cost? What if some genetically engineered experiment went awry and millions of people and animals began to waste away? This is the kind of catastrophe Dr. Shmalzberg must deal with in The Good Humor Man, but the threat of this happening in real life is definitely a possibility. Which is why the book is so engrossing and entertaining. It may be fiction, but author Andrew Fox weaves enough facts and “what if’s” about the possibility of this really happening to the U.S. to completely capture the reader’s attention.

Fox also captures the reader’s attention by giving them a wild ride with The Good Humor Man. Though he puts Dr. Shmalzberg into impossible after impossible scenario, you can’t help but keep reading to see just how he’ll get out of his next scrape! Fox deftly writes the character of Shmalzberg, along with the multitude of other colorful characters, so that they are all believable.

The book is also extremely fast-paced, though it took me a few chapters to really get into it. As soon as Shmalzberg hits the road in search of the Elvis, though, I was hooked. Shmalzberg deals with so many different characters, settings and predicaments on his journey that at times I felt too much was crammed into the book, but Fox somehow makes it work and continues to entertain the whole way through.

My only complaint was towards the end when the book did begin to drag, weighted down by too many old characters that decided to pop up for one last showdown with Shmalzberg. I felt that the ending was drawn out and could have been pared down for a smoother ending.

Other than that minor issue, The Good Humor Man is a very satisfying read that gives you plenty of food for thought!

Available from Amazon!

Storm (2008)

Storm is a seemingly complex and multilayered film mixing elements like the down-the-rabbit-hole vibe of The Matrix, the futuristic feel of Blade Runner, the good vs. evil grand scale of the Night Watch trilogy, as well as incorporating comic books into the inventive plot.

Donny Davidson, known to his friends as DD (played by Eric Ericson), seems like an ordinary guy – he’s scared of commitment, into the club scene, dabbling in drugs and a bit of a loner. One night, he has a strange run-in with a redhead named Lova who is being chased by a group of black-clothed men. DD eventually comes into the possession of a small white box; a box that Lova tells him needs protecting and is a key to something only he can open.

As DD is blamed for a murder he didn’t commit and pursued by the cops, Lova shows him his past, where DD did things he isn’t proud of. In this surreal nightmare, DD watches his younger self rape his then 14-year-old girlfriend and lock his little brother in a crypt for days. All these memories, he’s told, are preparing him to open the mysterious box.

While in this dreamland, DD is approached by another figure, a man who is the leader of the black-clothed thugs that have been pursuing Lova. While Lova urges him to protect and eventually open the box, this man tells DD to not open the box and instead go back to his happy-go-lucky, ignorant existence.

With DD not knowing who to trust, will he open the box to reveal what’s inside or will he give up the surreal quest and go back to his old life?

Storm was recently released by TLA Releasing and After Dark Films for the first time stateside, even though it was released in its home country of Sweden in 2005. Its engaging story and well-developed characters, as well as its intriguing atmosphere, makes it well worth the wait!

The mysterious box has really been misconstrued and misinterpreted by other reviewers and even the DVD description is a bit misleading…In my interpretation it does not hold the fate of the entire world or the secrets to the universe. The box represents DD’s own repressed existence and when he is told not to lose it because it would spell certain doom, it means that it would be catastrophic for him, not the world’s population. The struggle between the two sides of good and evil is left purposefully ambiguous by the filmmakers. We’re not sure which side to trust and we are given the impression that there is no clear-cut, black and white distinction between the two sides. Of course, many can find deep meaning in these two figures, as well as the character of DD himself and others throughout the film, should they choose to.

Aside from the philosophical merits of the film, it also looks amazing! Directors Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein with cinematographer Linus Sandgren did a fine job lensing the film. The streets of Stockholm are dark, foreboding and gritty with a touch of sleaze, while DD’s trip into his own past is equally dark. His hometown, devoid of all people, is shrouded in fog and the streets are filled with dead leaves and debris while the surrounding buildings are in various states of decay (think Silent Hill). The cinematography is stunning; especially a scene involving a young boy crushing someone’s glasses into the pavement that packs quite the emotional wallop.

The acting is also stupendous, with each of the characters giving multi-layered performances. Throughout the film, you’re not sure who exactly to root for…at first you’re gunning for DD, but when his terrible past is revealed you can’t help but revile him. Lova seems to have DD’s best interests at heart, but does she really? The man in black certainly doesn’t seem to think so. This constant fluctuating loyalty between characters only makes you more intrigued and the storyline that much more mysterious, with each of the actors successfully contributing to those feelings.

My only warning is that Storm is not the kind of film for a mainstream audience, especially one that expects heaps of blood and guts. The gore in Storm is nearly nonexistent, with just a few instances where blood is shed. Instead of horror, this is more of a surreal thriller or smart action film. There are several very cool fights between Lova and the men in black, but when it boils down to it Storm is more character driven than anything else. Writer Måns Mårlind (who also co-directed) made sure to pay careful attention to his characters and developed them accordingly. He draws us into his story with his character development, but keeps us hooked with the increasingly interesting plot.

With beautifully slick cinematography and an exciting storyline that blends action with philosophical questions, Storm is definitely one movie you’ll want to weather.

Available from Amazon!