I've been following Curran on and off for the last 5 or 6 years. It's true, there was a time where I wasn't reading any of his work because it all seemed the same: over-descriptive writing, gore in place of a a decent storyline, repeated plots and recycled violence. However, in more recent months, I've found myself returning to his works, and it seems that time off has been totally worth it. Curran has stepped up his game, writing quicker, more action-packed novellas in place of the plodding, sometimes boring novels of previous years. Now, in Grimweave, Curran once again returns to Vietnam, only, unlike Headhunter, this time, the creature he creates is far more scary and gruesome:
"The Creature was waiting for him. It was sitting there, clinging to the lip of the chasm like some great and impossible insect about the size of a pickup...or maybe two of them. It was some sort of thing Spiers had seen through the scope, only much, much larger. Its body was wide and low, cream-colored, roughly figure eight-shaped, like two plated discs joined together, each of which seemed to be formed of interlocking segments. Not smooth in the least, but chitinous and ridged, convoluted with bony furrows and narrow furrows like ribs, lots of knobs and hollows set between. And spines. A series of them rose from its dorsal plates and each of them looked long enough to skewer a man. Obscenely skeletal, the creature had at least ten legs, maybe as many as a dozen, each big around as a fence post and jointed like those of a crab. A sheer membrane of flesh webbed them together at the upper extremities. At each leg was a bulging pod that oozed nets of spreading, living webs. It looked like a living exoskeleton."
If there is any doubt that Curran is one of the most descriptive, highly visual authors in the field, that quote, directly from the book, should shut down any naysayers. That he has such a rich imagination doesn't surprise me, but the fact that he can translate that into words and sentences so rich in detail and vivid illustration is a skill that all authors want, but few can immolate. Even now, as I work on my own short stories and formulate ideas for others, it's Curran's strong talent that has been a huge inspiration for me. In a way, it's unfortunate that Curran still sneaks under the radar in literary circles, however, the fact that he seems to be grossly underrated isn't necessarily a bad thing. I can only imagine how much his work would suffer should he, somehow, sign a massive contract with Scribner or Harper.
Grimweave may not be quite as strong as Hive or Hive 2 (both of which really introduced me to the Cthulhu mythos and Lovecraft as a whole), but don't let that keep you from giving it a shot. It's actually a lot of fun and a quick, entertaining read.