The Twilight Pariah - By Jeffrey Ford

What goes together better than drinking and archaeology? Jeffrey Ford decided to take this concept and run with it. He tossed in a disturbing horned child in an abandoned outhouse for good measure.

The Twilight Pariah was a good little story. Ford captured my interest early on, had some intriguing characters and the story had some definite creep factor. For some reason, though, I found the story unmemorable. I really can’t put my finger on it, but once I was done, I was done. I’ll call it a timing issue, or perhaps I needed more story to get completely involved.

*3 Stars

Tipping - By Gregor Xane

The short story is a finicky little beast. The author has such a short amount of time to captivate me and make me invest myself. For me, a short story has to do at least one of two things: grab me with a shock at the start or pull the wool over my eyes with a surprise at the end. If the author does both, they’ve got my respect and admiration as a master of the short.

Xane has done it before with It Came From Hell and Smashed the Angels, however, Tipping falls short. It was a cute little story; while the writing was technically sound and the plot creative, the story failed to deliver what I look for in a short story.

*3 Stars

Fathoms - By Rich Hawkins

This isn’t my first stroll by the seashore with Rich Hawkins. He can captivate me and keep me glued to the pages of a voluminous book without any difficulty. He can connect me to the characters and make them a part of my life through the pages of his book.

Fathoms is not that book. It is something completely different. What Rich Hawkins has done in nine pages is give the reader a taste or sampler of the dark recesses of his mind. There is a masterful economy of words versus effect that Hawkins has achieved in Fathoms.

*4 Stars

Cowboys Vs Zombies – By Eric S. Brown

This one falls within the subgenre of a subgenre, the zombie western. There are more books in there than you might think. It’s not a bad addition to the subgenre. Eric Brown has done something a bit different from what I’ve seen before, and that’s always a good thing.

The protagonist, Dilouie, is an unlikable loner. He kept the story moving along at a good pace. Cowboys Vs Zombies gave me a good impression of Brown’s writing style. He mixed in a few surprises along the way. I’ll look to read more of his books in the future.

*3.5 Stars

Temple of the Jaguar – By J.R. Rain & Aiden James

Can the protagonist make the story? Temple of the Jaguar proves that, yes, it can! Nick Caine is one of the best characters I’ve come across in a long time. Imagine if Han Solo and Indiana Jones’ love child had another love child with Allan Quatermain and Axel Foley’s love child. That would be Nick Caine. He is snarky, sarcastic and trouble follows him wherever he goes.

The story itself wasn’t perfect: a few typos, a couple of sentences I had to read over to get what was being said. Nick Caine made up for all of this. Temple of the Jaguar was just a whole lot of fun.

*4.5 Stars