Mike Kazmierczak

A more cerebral zombie story than you might expect

Reviewed: 05-14-23

I haven't read much by Mamatas but what I have read has been interesting. Stuff that has made me think and examine life. There were parts of the book where I felt that if I wanted the full effect, I would need to sit and analyze different elements. The kind of writing that just screams "dissect my symbolism!"

The story here focuses on Billy as he tries to survive a post-apocalyptic but still functioning world. Zombies have disrupted the United Stated but not destroyed it. City government is still functioning and hiring drillers to finish any zombies that appear, a job for which Billy is newly hired. We follow Billy as he performs and excels at his job but then at the same time suffers with the other aspects of life: relationships and his heart's desire of being a writer.

There are a lot of elements to Billy's life that readers get to consider: conspiracy theories, letting the world impact your life, the starving artist. I found the novel fit into a Venn Diagram of Enjoyment, Literature, and Cliche. The starving artist cliche became a bit much and was borderline annoying before I found myself back in Enjoyment which would morph into Literature. Some of the symbolic portions left me realizing there was more depth to the novel than expected; other portions had me knowing that something was there but that I was missing something. Overall I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more stuff by Mamatas. At the same time, I understand many of the more frustrated reviews.

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A despicable protagonist in a story that won't let

Reviewed: 05-14-23

Triana did a great job in this book of creating a protagonist that is a completely despicable monster. Someone that with every page of the book I hated a little bit more. But at the same time, the novel was gripping. Sharp. The violence and action kept me going. Maybe to see what was next. Or maybe to see who escaped, because there was a lot of characters hurt and killed in this book. In case you haven't realized it yet, this is one of Triana's intense, don't read if you have a sensitive stomach type of books.

Jackie has just gotten out of prison. While inside he was running drugs and prostitutes for the mob; now he's out and ready to do anything for the local crime boss. Killing people is one of Jackie's favorite things. Jackie is revealed to be detestable, morally reprehensible, and has not qualms about anything. When the crime boss wants revenge for his son being killed by a drunk driver, Jackie takes to it with zeal.

Now before you start thinking "cool, a hard-boiled crime novel", the book is that but it's done with Triana's brutality. There will be scenes that are hard to get through. Intense and graphic is normal for pretty much everything Jackie does. We the readers get presented with that in a non-flinching, blunt manner. The story is addicting though. I was not disappointed by Triana and I would carefully recommend the book; it won't be for everyone. Each Triana book has been different but all have been exciting!

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Awesome! Moody story that oozes emotions & turmoil

Reviewed: 01-09-22

Before I get started on this one, a couple shout-outs to Charles Kahlenberg. I listened to THE RUIN SEASON as an Audiobook narrated by Charles Kahlenberg. His voice fit the story perfectly. I am so pleased that I heard it this way because the style, the mood, the emotions all rolled from his voice perfectly! Now, onto the story itself. As I was listening to it, the story reminded me a lot of Joe R. Lansdale's stories. Or maybe a Lansdale world. I could very easily picture the events from this book as occurring in the same world as Hap & Leonard or countless other of his books. Something where I start reading for the story but realize quickly that the characters are so much more engrossing that the already good story. In this case, despite the protagonist's desire for a simple life, he has a lot happening.

Jake Leonard is close to forty. He's divorced due to his bipolar disorder. He's dating the sheriff's 19-year-old daughter. And drugs, alcohol, and death (all happening to others) are going to make Jake's life hard.

The story description will tell you more but I'm not. That was enough to get me engaged and as I mentioned, it took me nothing to become engrossed with the events happening. Unfortunately I could tell about halfway through that the ending was not going to be happy. The impending doom kept stalking forward and I hoped that somehow it wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. Suspense was only part of it; I knew that the emotional impact of this good guy hitting some sort of bottom was going to hurt. And that is when you know that you are reading a really good book!

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Fast moving, Freaky clown, Complex characters

Reviewed: 01-09-22

Wow. There was no lead up on this book as Smith jumps us straight into the action. Character introduction happens along with death and mayhem. Personally I liked it; a little more effort to figure out the story threads in my head but also nice because there's a higher likelihood that anyone could die. In other words, the main protagonist that most likely survives the book is not yet set.

The story focuses on The Flaherty Brothers Traveling Circus and Freakshow which goes around to small towns across the country. A strange, mysterious beckoning would bring almost the whole town to the festival. However, this circus and freakshow has a deadlier purpose than entertainment as people are consumed and stolen by the real freaks of the show.

In a normal fashion for Smith's books, there is a lot happening. There are multiple story threads following different groups of people as they survive the chaos they've fallen into. One of the fun things is while the events in one thread will appear and affect other threads, the characters won't necessarily meet. Kind of like real life where someone's actions might affect you despite you never meeting that person. The only other thing I wanted to point out was that I liked how some of the characters were hard to figure out. Were they "good" people? Did they want to help the different people or out for themselves? It kept things slightly off-kilter. Not too much more to say. A good book that I would recommend if you like people trying to survive crazy freaks doing a bunch of weird stuff.

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Extreme, Exciting, Engrossing

Reviewed: 01-09-22

Within the space of two novels, Triana has become one of my new favorite authors. I am very much enjoying his books. However, TOXIC LOVE is probably not the place to start with him. Go for THE RUIN SEASON instead. The reason is that this book is extremely and incredibly graphic. Seriously. Most people will hate and be disgusted by this book within the first chapter. There is a lot of sex and blood and dead bodies and more. This is not the book for most people. The cover blurb "Jesus! And I thought I was sick." by Edward Lee really does sum it up. If you don't know Edward Lee (Splatterpunk J.F. Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement Award recipient), look him up and then consider his blurb. Let me give a short summary of the start of the book to illustrate.

Mike Ashbrook works for a cleaning agency that cleans and sanitizes crime scenes after the bodies are removed. He gets a new partner Sage who is a gorgeous blonde and who, we quickly find out, gets turned on by blood. Sage's sexual kink of blood started with her first boyfriend who was a cutter. Before we know it, Mike and Sage are moving from one extreme depravity to another.

My short description might sum up the basics but it doesn't truly do the story justice. There really is a story within the book; it's not torture-porn or just a gross-out. Mike is going through a divorce and life changes and the attraction of younger woman helps him to rediscover himself. The degree and amount of change is not what he expects but how many of us in real life expect the changes that fate throws us. The unexpected layoff or car accident or death. Or even in today's world, global pandemic. Adjusting and dealing with changes and coming out of it with a better sense of identity or stability is what we all try to do. And fiction takes those changes to the extreme. And in this case, the very extreme. I'm not sure what type of book Triana will provide me next but I am looking forward to it.

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Haunting, spooky, great ending

Reviewed: 01-09-22

While I really liked SEED, I wasn't quite pulled into it as much as I would have liked. I'm not sure why because all the elements of a good horror book are there. And I was left with a creepy, spooky feeling through the whole book. However, for some reason, it felt like something was missing.

Jack is driving home with his family late one night when something runs across the road and Jack ends up flipping the car. From that point forward, Jack's youngest daughter Charlotte starts to act differently. Things start happening around the house, things which awakens Jack's past. A past that Jack ran away from as a teenager and that now threatens to destroy his family.

As I mentioned above, all the elements are there for a good horror story. An evil, unknown past. A menacing something that plays tricks on the family. A family being pulled slowly apart. Additionally, I really liked the ending; it was a perfect hopeful, sad, and tragic ending that followed the rules of the book. Looking back, it was also the ending that I should have predicted. Still looking back, I would have liked to feel a bit more. The events were tragic but at times they seemed disconnected from the characters. Aimee (Jack's wife) seemed like she was a strong character but she lost it pretty quick. In the end, I would still recommend SEED because it will haunt you. I do look forward to the next book I read by Ahlborn.

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Modern crime noir with eccentric characters

Reviewed: 09-14-18

I loved how this book weaved in so many different elements and themes. At its heart, it is modern crime noir, but it also contains a deep understanding of the Native American culture, historical and modern New York City, criminal history, and Crime Scene Unit methods. All the angles come together into one wonderful and exciting story.

During another crime, Detective John Tallow stumbles upon an apartment filled with guns. A collection of gun that spans twenty years. And each gun is tied to an unsolved homicide. With hundreds of unclosed cases brought back into the spotlight, Tallow gets assigned the task of figuring out the what, the why, and most importantly the who. The characters in the book are quirky, fun, and realistic as they behave in a manner that is consistent with real people. The CSU team is eccentric and extra fun. And even though she gets only a little "screen time", I loved First Deputy Commissioner; she's totally hard but fits the role perfectly.

While I loved the book and I look forward to reading more from Ellis, I did have a small issue. When Tallow met the wife of one of his suspects. It was a coincidental meeting and not planned by the characters, but it was also something that was a tad convenient. Coincidence happens and it was handled with subtlety, lines converging from multiple angles to make a big picture, but it was still a tad convenient. As I mentioned though, I look forward to reading more novels by Ellis.

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Fun, exciting read with a snarky protagonist

Reviewed: 09-14-18

This story was a great burst of fun and excitement in a short, condensed book. Dirk Bradley is traveling for Christmas. He's bringing his boyfriend back to the home that he was kicked out of when he was younger. He's wants to reconnect with his family. However, fate is working against him because while he is waiting at the airport for his plane, aliens attack and start slaughtering people. It might sound like the start of a bad SyFy movie but it's no worse than visiting your father's grave when you are suddenly attacked by zombies. (Night of the Living Dead if you missed that.) The story then follows Dirk as he tries to survive and possibly even fight back.

I loved how the main character was constantly snarky and coming up with caustic sarcastic comments against himself. Even as he found himself becoming a leader, he was amazed because he didn't know what he was doing. If that zombie or alien apocalypse ever did come around, that's exactly how I hope I would act. I was a bit dissatisfied about halfway through the book when Dirk got separated from the group he was helping. They weren't mentioned in the rest of the book and seemed kind of forgotten: out of sight, out of mind. But at the same time, the story was following Dirk and since Dirk was separated from the group, then it makes sense that the story no longer follows the group. Still I would have hoped that Dirk had had a passing though of "I hope they are OK." A minor criticism. If Fallon wanted to expand on the story and create a series of books on what happened, I would buy and read every one.

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Suspenseful, tension-filled and thought provoking!

Reviewed: 09-14-18

This book seems to be polarizing a lot of readers. Or at least the Amazon reviews which seem to mostly love the book or hate it. I don't know why. Personally, I would rank it as awesome! A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS was just a tad better in my opinion but they are photo-finish close in that ranking.

The story: seven-year-old Wen and her parents, Eric and Andrew, are vacationing at a remote cabin. One afternoon four strangers arrive carrying menacing weapons and needing their help to save the world. The story the strangers tell is crazy; their actions are even crazier. Or are they sane behavior from people who have no choice. Suddenly Eric, Andrew, and Wen must make some difficult choices in order to survive.

I found the story amazing. It was scary and terrifying but in part because it was so thought provoking. What would I have done if I was in their place? Would I have made the hard choice earlier? And if so, when? Because Tremblay made the characters so real, it made everything have more impact. The hardships and pain yanked hard on my heart. I felt for both the family and the strangers. One of the other things that Tremblay does with his novels (or at least the three I've read so far) is end them all with a touch of mystery. Was there really something supernatural that occurred or not? In this case, strangers claim the family needs to help save the world. So by the story's end, the world either has to be saved or be destroyed. But if the strangers are crazy, was the world really saved? Or were the claims deluded ravings from a madman? Unless the book ended with "The world then blew up.", you can never be sure. And that's what makes the story even better, that element of faith. Eric, Andrew, and Wen must have faith that the story is real, even if the messengers are crazy or demented. And as readers, we must decide who we want to believe. Taking Tremblay's story at face value is easy; seeing possibly demented motives makes it scarier. These are the type of books that will leave me pondering for days afterwards. And that is why I loved it.

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Minimum humor, Maximum horror

Reviewed: 09-14-18

Jeff Strand is pretty diverse with his books. He writes young adult books, not-quite-rom-com books, fun suspense, fun horror, and of course straight horror. SICK HOUSE is one of his straight horror books. Sure, it has some of his trademark comedy and fun quips in the first half of the book but only enough to help establish the characters. (More on that later.) The bulk of the book is horror, scares, and gore.

The story: the Gardners are a happy family of four. The father Boyd recently got promoted so they had to move to a new house, a larger house where the two daughters can each have their own room. Not everything is happy though. The house starts to have an affect on the Gardner family. A food rotting, hot baths freezing, eye gouging type of affect. And then the ghosts appear.

I liked the story and thought that it was a clever spin on the haunted house story: part poltergeist, part ghost, part more. And Strand really made this story gruesome and gory. The torture that all the characters went through had me cringing and wincing in sympathy pain. However, I found that the Gardner family kind of blended together; it was difficult for me to hear each character's voice and imagine them. I think the problem for me was that each family member used that trademark humor and that made it hard to see if it was the wife saying it or the teenage daughter. They were too similar. The ghosts though all stood out to me and were different. As always I look forward to more straight horror from Strand. I also look forward to more fun suspense books and fun horror books. Let's just say that I look forward to more from Strand.

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