I'm sorry but he is.

Those that are familiar with us know that our hatred for one another has been going on since around 2007. That's too many years to be to putting up with his shit, to be honest. Everyone seems to love him, which is the most frustrating part. No one appears to notice his shifty eyes and cold, dickish heart.

Here he is. You might see him with his arms crossed near a tree, peeping through your bathroom window while you use the toilet...which apparently he does.
Anyway, because Ben Eads is such a dick, he thought it would be funny to send me the arc of his latest novella to review. Jeez. I mean who would want to read something from this guy? But just because I owe him a kidney (one time, Eads!) he guilt trips the hell outta me.

Please read it, he put in an email that I found in my junk folder. You know what you're talking about. If only this novella held a grain of the magic you encapsulate in all of your works, I would be truly humbled.

Of course you would be, Ben. Of course you would be.

So, because I needed a laugh, I read it.


Hmm...intriguing...

Damn you, Eads! He is the receiver of the last laugh...as it was actually quite good.

Stephen Morrison is not having the best of times. Involved in a car wreck between himself and a man driving an ice cream truck, he finds himself and his wife Shelley recovering, minus an arm, and unfortunately, minus a daughter. The physical pain comes secondary to the emotional.

Despite the support of his therapist and brother, Stephen is drowning in an ocean of pain and psych medication. His marriage is on the brink and the worst of the lot...he believes his daughter is in torment somewhere and is desperately seeking his help.

I want to say the novella for me shines in the first half, but shine isn't really the write word, as this is bleak. The first act in particular is some of the bleakest writing I've had the pleasure to read. This poor guy's life is falling to pieces and there's nothing he can do about it. This character spends the first half of the book tiptoeing along the finest edge of suicide. I can remember reading such emotional surrender in a story in the Hellbound Hearts anthology. Readers of Lindqvist might feel familiar strains of The Harbour, especially as the vacant children here use similar methods to make contact, but that's no bad thing. Lindqvist is one of my faves.

Eads (the dick) gradually feeds the reader his bigger picture, that the accident was no simple...well, accident. Step in our bad guy, Darrell, who has a daughter of his own and now dwells beneath the cracked sky too. He drove the ice cream truck that day...

Hope is injected into the plot as Stephen seeks to save his daughter, or at least to put her at peace. Eads flexes his imagination muscle here (unlike his own muscles, which are imaginary) and while Darrell has bent and shaped his world to his own paradise, it is really Eads' dark flair for the grotesque that has coloured and sculpted this horrific landscape. Many authors have created their own Hellish versions of the afterlife, and it's always good to read something familiar yet still unique in the author's style.

My normal gripe with novellas is that the story is rushed, particularly in conclusion, but Eads has a hand for pacing. A complete story, perfect for this word length, is nestled within.



So damn your eyes, Ben Eads. I wouldn't be the steadfast, honest horror guru I am without recommending this novella. Cracked Sky is out in January 2015, and I'm sure that Eads will turn his devious mind to have a preorder in the very near future. I wouldn't mind more works from Eads to hit my email. Would make a change from all the dick pics he sends me.

EEEEEAAAAAADS!

I hope you enjoyed this review folks. It's been a while.

If you have another few minutes to kill (and let's face it, if you're here reading this you can't exactly have better things to do), please check out my previous post, and interview with Rebecca Besser.

And if you're really nice, you might want to buy one of my own books. I wouldn't be ashamed to make a few sales from this post. Eads owes me money.


http://www.amazon.com/Critique-Daniel-I-Russell-ebook/dp/B00MXLV2CE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1416746694&sr=8-4&keywords=daniel+i+russell