Behind Blue Eyes

Along the Razor's Edge by Rob J. Hayes My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine “Handshakes are a dangerous business in some parts of the world.” This quote from Along the Razor’s Edge stuck with me, though Hayes meant it in a different light than how it pertains to most of us in this Covidic world right now. Still, it was no less deadly, as it turns out. Our protagonist in this novel, Eskara Helsene, is quite the anti-heroine. She’s one of the world’s most powerful battle sorcerers, yet as our story gets underway, she’s as helpless as a baby mouse, and not much bigger. See, Eskara was on the losing side in a great war and through her defeat by treachery, she has lost access to her power Sources and has been cast into the Pit, where thousands of “scabs” toil alongside her in their unending task of digging. Digging deeper and farther, and to what end no one knows. Of course, it’s not that simple. There are politics and power ...

Dispel Illusion by Mark Lawrence My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review now Live at Grimdark Magazine . “Sometimes being wrong is the right answer.” That’s a great lead on the blurb for this book, and only makes sense after the experience has completed. Dispel Illusion is the third and final installation of the Impossible Times trilogy, and it truly brings everything full circle. I reviewed Book One, One Word Kill and Book Two, Limited Wish last year at Grimdark Magazine. I was blown away by how Lawrence pulled me into the story and kept surprising me throughout. Book Three is no different, and I simply had to read it and line it up on the site behind the others. Dispel Illusion takes us and our characters some six years forward from where we left off in Limited Wish . No, we haven’t shifted in time; that’s just how long it’s passed since the conclusion of Book Two. Our heroes have all “grown up” and started careers, though they still get together peri...

Wrath of Madness by Jesse Teller My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine . Wrath of Madness , book 2 of The Madness Wars begins where the first book left off, the conquest driven nation of Drine pushing through on their campaign of conquering the neighboring country of Tienne. The Madness is out of sorts. Rextur, the warlord general of the Drine forces, has suffered a surprising defeat at the hands of the boy king Peter Redfist. But Rextur hadn’t developed the reputation of being the world’s finest strategist for nothing. He is regrouping and taking another shot at the resisting forces led by Peter and the clans that he has under an unsteady truce. As with the previously reviewed Onslaught of Madness , this book takes the reader in for the long haul. We get a variety of point of view narratives from players on both sides of the conflict. Joining Rextur’s POV on the side of Drine are new characters. Strick is an elite soldier, on...

Of Mice and Minestrone: Hap and Leonard, The Early Years by Joe R. Lansdale My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine . Thank you to the fine folks at Tachyon Publications for providing a review copy of Joe Lansdale’s Of Mice and Minestrone . I have read several Joe R. Lansdale stories over the years, but it’s only recently that I’ve been making a conscious effort to seek out his work. I have reviewed his new documentary, All Hail the Popcorn King for Grimdark Magazine, and I’ve also reviewed an earlier collection, Driving to Geronimo's Grave and Other Stories at my personal blog for NetGalley. While Lansdale’s work is as varied as the regions of Texas, there is one common link through all of it: his brilliant storytelling. I had only dabbled in the world of Hap and Leonard before this, but it’s safe to say that after reading this collection, I’m hooked, and will be reading more of these stories sooner rather than later. Esta...

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks My rating: 5 of 5 stars I was provided an eARC of this title by the publisher, Del Rey, through NetGalley. This was freakin' brilliant! I've read Max before, so I did come in familiar with his style of fictional non-fiction. That is, the story is told through a series of journal entries and interviews. This style adds quite a bit of realism to a tale that's otherwise rather difficult to believe. Or is it? Brooks backs up his narrative with science and a study of human behavior. It's a cautionary tale, to be sure, but frightening in illustrating just how close our society is to total collapse. It doesn't take much to send an area of citizens into complete chaos, stripping them of their modern day comforts. Brooks shows how fast people will devolve, and actually adapt, to these severe changes... In today's world, this novel shows us another side of w...