Review: JUST SO YOU KNOW I'M NOT DEAD by Anonymous-9

JUST SO YOU KNOW I'M NOT DEAD is a short collection of three stories that is highly entertaining and also serves as a great introduction to Anonymous-9's writing.  Incredibly, this is the first time I've had the pleasure of reading this author's work but I can tell you now, very soon I shall be placing her other works near the top of the Reading List.

I came across this collection while searching for "weird" fiction to read for my "Year In Weird" feature.  I knew Anonymous-9 as an acclaimed writer of mystery and noir fiction but the closing story here, "Dreaming Deep", is an homage to the old master himself,  H.P. Lovecraft.

"Dreaming Deep" is a moody story that I feel nicely captures the atmosphere Lovecraftian fiction ought to have; a story where something dark and incomprehensible is happening off stage, yet still manages to permeate the action going on right before our eyes.  What really happened to the young boy lost at sea?  The local folk believe it to be the work of a serial killer but the boy's father knows the truth...and he is locked away in an asylum.  It would be awesome if 9 decided to continue this story elsewhere, or at least write more in this genre; she is as adept here as she is in her noir fiction.

And speaking of which, let's talk about "Triangulation".  I did predict the outcome of the story but still had a blast getting there.  For being such a short piece, 9 still manages to build tension as she goes, and before you know it, sadly for we the readers, the story is over.  I felt the way 9 has written here very cinematic and I could easily see this piece at home in a Tarantino movie.

"2,984,000 Pounds of Pressure" is the middle story in the collection and again, the suspense ratchets tighter and tighter as someone from the protagonist's past stumbles back into his life and he realizes whichever decision he is about to make will change his life forever.  To say more would spoil the story but I have to say, I loved the final choice that the character makes.

JUST SO YOU KNOW I'M NOT DEAD is a wonderful little gift that Anonymous-9 has given to us; as a thank you, as an introduction, as a reminder that she is someone to watch out for.  Preferably over your shoulder, of course.

Happy reading!

Short Fiction Month: Stories from EMPIRE STATE (Angry Robot Worldbuilder)

When the robotic publishing geniuses at Angry Robot released the mind bending book Empire State (see review here) by Adam Christopher, they also launched the collaborative project website WorldBuilder.  Here any and all fan creators who could write, paint, draw, sculpt or what have you, were invited to play in Christopher's noir alternate New York and create other, new works based on his novel, all with the blessing of Christopher and Angry Robot.

As I am such a fan of author AND book, I thought it would be fun and interesting to read and review the short fiction pieces that other artists have created in Empire State.  If you are wondering what it would be like to stretch your own creative muscles in the Empire State, you can find out how here and can also check out what other artists have done.

Now on to the stories!


First up is "The Biggest" by Hugo, Nebula and Locus award winning author James Patrick Kelly.  In his first ever superhero story, Kelly introduces us to Filbrick Van Loon, or "The Stilt", an earnest young man traveling to New York City to try to find his fortune in the big city after the loss of his mother.  What he finds is indeed the chance of a lifetime, but fame comes with a high price.  Kelly seems to be enjoying himself here and even ties in a well known event in NYC "history" with Van Loon's story.  "The Biggest" fits very nicely into the Empire State universe.

"This Here Empire State Ain't Mine" by Renee Parker is a short piece that works more as an introduction to her characters Emma Weston and Wilma Easton; I'd love to see more of their adventures together.  Again, it's a short piece but such is Parker's writing that her characters and their history are very intriguing.  They also seem to have living in the Empire State down pat, so you find yourself wanting to know how they manage and what happens next...more please, Renee!

"The Alienist and the Showgirl" by Keith Harvey is a darker entry into the Empire State universe.  It tells the story of Dr Josef Kleinthaler, chief psychiatrist at New York City's Bellevue Hospital and a strange young woman he becomes fascinated with, one Dorothea Stern, who claims to be from somewhere called...the Empire State?  With cameo appearances from Albert Einstein, a certain trio from L Frank Baum's classic Oz books and the War of the Worlds broadcast by Orson Welles, Harvey expertly plays up the paranoia of shadowy government agencies trying to cover up the existence of another world.  My favorite of the bunch!

"When Her Ship Came In" by Jeff Macfee deals with bootlegging and Prohibition in the Empire State; with nowhere to source its liquor from, the Empire State is dry as a bone and an desperate woman named  Pauline Tulley takes a bad situation and turns into her advantage, becoming a force to be reckoned with...but would her hard won position be enough to keep her safe from the reach of her criminal husband?  I enjoyed Macfee's story very much, and liked that Pauline was a woman who wasn't afraid to do what she had to survive in the strange new world of the Empire State; very entertaining!

This group of stories set in Empire State are all very different, yet very engaging takes on the world Adam Christopher has created.  Each author did their homework and stayed true to the tone and style of the original work and are worthy additions to Christopher's alternate New York.  I hope other, equally talented writers also take pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and continue to play in the Empire State.  After all, it's a big, wide world to play in...

Or is it?

Short Fiction Month: 8 POUNDS: Eight Tales of Crime, Horror & Suspense by Chris F Holm (Poisonville Press)

Chris Holm first came to my attention as the author of the acclaimed noir fantasy Dead Harvest, from Angry Robot Books.  And now having completed his short story collection 8 Pounds: Eight Tales of Crime, Horror & Suspense, I can see what all the hubbub is about!

First off, let me say that 8 Pounds is an outstanding collection of stories.  Yes, these are tales of crime, horror and suspense but Holm infuses each piece with such atmosphere that it flows effortlessly from one story into another without jarring the reader from their experience.  It is a collection that needs to be read and reread often.

As always, I like to try to talk about each story individually, so let's go:

Both "Seven Days of Rain" and "The World Behind" have the flavor of vintage Stephen King, each blending the past with the present as the protagonists recall childhood memories and things better left undisturbed come to light. Holm expertly layers the atmosphere in these tales, keeping the reader engaged until the climax comes and hits them between the eyes.  Well done.

In "A Better Life" what I first thought of as a predictable new-couple-moving-to-the-country story really threw me for a loop at the end.  The increasing sense of foreboding builds and builds and the ending is both gruesome and horrific.

"A Simple Life" is a prime example of Holm's mastery of writing a great pulp story.  It follows a very unsympathetic character getting himself deeper and deeper into a very sticky situation for the affections of the very pretty femme fatale.  Again, a great story.

"The Toll Collectors" takes a hit-man from a classic noir yarn and drops him into a ghost story that turns into a revenge tale where his past sins come back to haunt him he finally gets his just desserts.

My favorite piece in the collection is the title cut, "8 Pounds".  And I hesitate to say anything as I don't want to give too much away but this story here is worth the price of admission alone.  Holm slowly (agonizingly) ratchets the tension up, up and just when you think you can breath again-BAM!! he lets you have it!  LOVED IT!

"The Well" is the little sister to "8 Pounds".  I definitely place them both squarely in the horror set of these tales but "The Well" is a much shorter, moody piece but the ending is just as satisfying.

And finally "The Big Score" is a story of double and triple crosses that I read through at light speed, so engrossed was I in lobsterman Mike Mallory and the trouble he finds himself in when he is mistaken for another fisherman who has something that two very unscrupulous treasure hunters want.  Again, Holm stages this story nicely and it is the most action packed of the set.

I cannot recommend this collection highly enough.  Usually I seek out short story collections as an introduction to an author's work but with 8 Pounds Chris Holm has made me want to try an entire new genre on for size.  My crime/noir/pulp reading is very infrequent but if there are writers out there producing stuff like this, stuff like Chris Holm, then I may have to take a longer, keener look at what's out there.  Thank you Chris Holm, for not only entertaining me with 8 Pounds but for showing me that dark, well written fiction can come in many, many forms.


(Book 2/10 toward the Horror/Thriller Reading Challenge 2012 hosted by Sweeping Me ).