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Apocalypse Weird: Medium Talent
Three years after the great storm destroyed the planet, three years after the demonic undead rose up to hunt the survivors, Wendy Wicker scavenges and steals in the deadly ruins of Florida to keep her adopted family alive. In a post-apocalyptic Key West that is plagued by hunger and ruled by an amoral bureaucracy, a life of crime is the only way to live.
After Wendy betrays a couple of passengers she was to take north on board her fishing boat, her life takes an strange turn and she must confront some dark secrets as to what really happened the night the world ended, while surviving the monstrous creatures that infest the waters around her hometown and the never ending threat of an evil woman that cannot die...
An homage to Ernest Hemingway’s To Have or Have Not and George Romero’s Living Dead series of films, let Apocalypse Weird take you on a fast paced voyage through the dead Florida Keys and into an violent noir tale filled with time travel, black magic, suppressed memories and what life is really like after the end of the world.
After Wendy betrays a couple of passengers she was to take north on board her fishing boat, her life takes an strange turn and she must confront some dark secrets as to what really happened the night the world ended, while surviving the monstrous creatures that infest the waters around her hometown and the never ending threat of an evil woman that cannot die...
An homage to Ernest Hemingway’s To Have or Have Not and George Romero’s Living Dead series of films, let Apocalypse Weird take you on a fast paced voyage through the dead Florida Keys and into an violent noir tale filled with time travel, black magic, suppressed memories and what life is really like after the end of the world.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 3, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 4, 2015
[Note: I received an advanced reader’s copy of this title from the author for review.]
We join this apocalypse already in progress.
It’s been several years since a massive storm decimated the world. The undead are roaming Florida, and abominations inhabit the sea. The government has largely fallen, with refugee districts under the charge of the Supply Org, a welfare agency turned gangster. At the heart of it all is smuggler Wendy Wicker, captain of the Medium Talent, who finds herself on the wrong side of Hoxhaist revolutionaries.
Forbes West does a stand-up job of bringing the muggy, heated atmosphere of the Florida Keys to life in this ninth entry to the Apocalypse Weird continuum, and you can practically feel the briny sea on your skin while reading. There’s a certain freshness to West’s take on the AW tropes, and a few surprises, too, which makes this a great addition to the developing Weird mythos.
By jumping forward into a post-apocalyptic setting, West is able to give us some characters who have grown world-weary by the disasters plaguing the world. They’re crusty, battle-scarred survivors who’ve seen it all and then some. This spares us a retread on already well-covered familiar territory, like the Day of Blindness or the anticipatory build-up of a new world-ender. All that has come and gone, and we’re plunked down right into the thick of things.
There’s a wonderfully noir-ish feel to the story as well, and Wendy Wicker is a truly interesting character in her own right. She’s lost her husband, is detached from her current family, and half-mad from all she’s been through. She’s the type of gal who dances a jig after getting the draw on a thug who wants her dead, and then gets sloshed at the bar.
In addition to giving the Keys a dystopic, lived-in familiarity, populated by intriguing personalities, West also puts a terrific spin on another AW staple: the demonic 88 and their Black Hand. It’s a wonderfully nifty spin that’s a far cry from prior representations of these roguish villains.
It’s Forbes West’s ability to take the established conceits of the Apocalypse Weird series and twist them upside down and over around on itself again that was the most appreciated feature of Medium Talent. The story and situations are a cool breeze of fresh air after several introductory tales that overlapped a lot of familiar territory. In Medium Talent, the familiar is kept far off in the background, but still draws enough threads to connect with all that’s come before. It also helps expand on the building mythology that runs through the backbone of the AW books, while forging ahead with its own unique charter. West gives us an intriguing spin on what’s expected of an Apocalypse Weird book, while dragging in plenty of strange details to keep the pages turning.
We join this apocalypse already in progress.
It’s been several years since a massive storm decimated the world. The undead are roaming Florida, and abominations inhabit the sea. The government has largely fallen, with refugee districts under the charge of the Supply Org, a welfare agency turned gangster. At the heart of it all is smuggler Wendy Wicker, captain of the Medium Talent, who finds herself on the wrong side of Hoxhaist revolutionaries.
Forbes West does a stand-up job of bringing the muggy, heated atmosphere of the Florida Keys to life in this ninth entry to the Apocalypse Weird continuum, and you can practically feel the briny sea on your skin while reading. There’s a certain freshness to West’s take on the AW tropes, and a few surprises, too, which makes this a great addition to the developing Weird mythos.
By jumping forward into a post-apocalyptic setting, West is able to give us some characters who have grown world-weary by the disasters plaguing the world. They’re crusty, battle-scarred survivors who’ve seen it all and then some. This spares us a retread on already well-covered familiar territory, like the Day of Blindness or the anticipatory build-up of a new world-ender. All that has come and gone, and we’re plunked down right into the thick of things.
There’s a wonderfully noir-ish feel to the story as well, and Wendy Wicker is a truly interesting character in her own right. She’s lost her husband, is detached from her current family, and half-mad from all she’s been through. She’s the type of gal who dances a jig after getting the draw on a thug who wants her dead, and then gets sloshed at the bar.
In addition to giving the Keys a dystopic, lived-in familiarity, populated by intriguing personalities, West also puts a terrific spin on another AW staple: the demonic 88 and their Black Hand. It’s a wonderfully nifty spin that’s a far cry from prior representations of these roguish villains.
It’s Forbes West’s ability to take the established conceits of the Apocalypse Weird series and twist them upside down and over around on itself again that was the most appreciated feature of Medium Talent. The story and situations are a cool breeze of fresh air after several introductory tales that overlapped a lot of familiar territory. In Medium Talent, the familiar is kept far off in the background, but still draws enough threads to connect with all that’s come before. It also helps expand on the building mythology that runs through the backbone of the AW books, while forging ahead with its own unique charter. West gives us an intriguing spin on what’s expected of an Apocalypse Weird book, while dragging in plenty of strange details to keep the pages turning.
April 11, 2015
I cannot start a review for 'Medium Talent' without pointing out the obvious... This book is weird, MAD WEIRD. And possibly a little bit insane.
Witches, tongue lolling zombies, gargantuan sea monsters, time traveling fog, a talking head and... Ernest Hemingway? There is more than enough weird to go around in West's take on the apocalypse but it just works. I found myself glued to my Kindle as I read through the story of Wendy Wicker and the dismal Florida Keys, even feeling as if I needed a shower afterward. Just when you think you know what is going on, the story takes a bob, a weave, a dip, and a dive and you are thrown into a whole new situation. There is a whole lot of death and not much in the way of hope but isn't that what you expect in a dystopian novel?
I recommend this book to anyone who has read any of the previous AW books or to those who like their apocalypse with a little extra weirdness. I am fully looking forward to reading more from this author, even though it may be a few days until my brain is up to the task.
Witches, tongue lolling zombies, gargantuan sea monsters, time traveling fog, a talking head and... Ernest Hemingway? There is more than enough weird to go around in West's take on the apocalypse but it just works. I found myself glued to my Kindle as I read through the story of Wendy Wicker and the dismal Florida Keys, even feeling as if I needed a shower afterward. Just when you think you know what is going on, the story takes a bob, a weave, a dip, and a dive and you are thrown into a whole new situation. There is a whole lot of death and not much in the way of hope but isn't that what you expect in a dystopian novel?
I recommend this book to anyone who has read any of the previous AW books or to those who like their apocalypse with a little extra weirdness. I am fully looking forward to reading more from this author, even though it may be a few days until my brain is up to the task.
April 17, 2015
When I heard Forbes West was going to write for Wonderment's Apocalypse Weird series I was very interested in what he could come up with in this post-apocalyptic playground for indie authors. One of the most impressive aspects of this project so far has been not only the quality, but the diversity of the authors and West certainly fits the bill. His debut Nighthawks at the Mission was one of the most interesting and inventive pieces of sci-fi I've read in recent years.
Taking a distinctly noir-ish tone from the outset, Medium Talent takes place some years after huge storms have ravaged the planet and the undead have risen to partake in the survivors. Set in the Florida Keys (can't get more noir than the Keys!) Wendy Wicker does whatever it takes to stay ahead of the draconian militia, political terrorists and dangerous criminals as she uses her boat Medium Talent to make a quick buck.
When a run takes a turn for the worst, Wicker finds herself in the most unlikely of places and must decide whether to return to the world she knows or leave it all behind and start afresh, although dark forces are already in place that have other plans for Wendy.
An anti-hero of sorts, Wicker is a wonderfully complex character, a borderline sociopath haunted by her past and terrified of her future, desensitized by the death and destruction she has witnessed yet still struggling to hang on to friends and family in an attempt to create some balance in her life and hold on to her humanity.
Medium Talent is also a love letter to Key West and Hemingway with some definite nods to To Have And Have Not and even in its post-apocalyptic setting West does a wonderful job of portraying the area almost as it's own character, even in different time periods as part of the story moves to the 1930's.
West does his best to make this pocket of Apocalypse Weird his own, introducing new aspects to the existing world and bringing his own sense of chaos, fear and madness to proceedings while avoiding overused tropes and keeping the narrative snappy and effective, keeping the reader simultaneously entertained and unnerved. A worthy addition to what has so far been a showcase for some of the best indie talent out there.
Taking a distinctly noir-ish tone from the outset, Medium Talent takes place some years after huge storms have ravaged the planet and the undead have risen to partake in the survivors. Set in the Florida Keys (can't get more noir than the Keys!) Wendy Wicker does whatever it takes to stay ahead of the draconian militia, political terrorists and dangerous criminals as she uses her boat Medium Talent to make a quick buck.
When a run takes a turn for the worst, Wicker finds herself in the most unlikely of places and must decide whether to return to the world she knows or leave it all behind and start afresh, although dark forces are already in place that have other plans for Wendy.
An anti-hero of sorts, Wicker is a wonderfully complex character, a borderline sociopath haunted by her past and terrified of her future, desensitized by the death and destruction she has witnessed yet still struggling to hang on to friends and family in an attempt to create some balance in her life and hold on to her humanity.
Medium Talent is also a love letter to Key West and Hemingway with some definite nods to To Have And Have Not and even in its post-apocalyptic setting West does a wonderful job of portraying the area almost as it's own character, even in different time periods as part of the story moves to the 1930's.
West does his best to make this pocket of Apocalypse Weird his own, introducing new aspects to the existing world and bringing his own sense of chaos, fear and madness to proceedings while avoiding overused tropes and keeping the narrative snappy and effective, keeping the reader simultaneously entertained and unnerved. A worthy addition to what has so far been a showcase for some of the best indie talent out there.
June 11, 2015
Another fantastic AW title. Medium Talent went places I never expected. The twists had their own twists and it was riveting from beginning to end. Great characters, great writing, great Scott you should read this!
November 7, 2016
Keep reading.
When struggling to compose a review, that was the first thing to come to mind: keep reading.
This is a teasing, frustrating book, and the first read-through is like being pitched head-first into a tornado. Bits of odds and ends are flying around you, they keep smacking you on the head, and you’re trying to piece together the layout of the house this tornado has just ripped apart, while the funnel is still wiping out the whole city.
There are details that pop up and keep popping up. Imagery that’s emphasized, but you can’t puzzle out their significance. There’s clearly a consistent set of facts and an underlying logic and narrative here, you can sense it, but you’re always on the cusp of understanding, but keep reading.
Characters pop up, seemingly out of nowhere, and refer to goings on in the past that have contributed to the scary state of the world in the narrative, then do inexplicable things that are only explained later. Keep reading.
Short description: It’s a worldwide epidemic of undead, flesh-eating monstrosities. Most of this story is set in Key West, from the point of view of a woman named Wendy Wicker, and follows her struggles to support and defend the people she’s come to call her family.
The strongest elements are the main character herelf and the sense of place and atmosphere. Wendy Wicker is a real and vibrant person, not perfect by any means, but one who goes above and beyond with strength, skill and courage.
The atmosphere is itself a character with the post apocalyptic life in Key West described in such rich texture that the reader can feel it.
There is also a chance to explore the life of Hemmingway in some unique and surprising ways, but I can’t say more about that without giving away the plot.
And by the end, everything is explained and the reader is given the final pieces necessary to understand what is going on, and then I had to go back and re-read to fully understand everything.
If I’m being vague, it’s only because it’s literally impossible to say more without spoilers.
This is one of those rare book series that manages to be short and tightly focused, and simultaneously epic. A quality that comes when a character is called upon to play a brief but pivotal role in a vast battle just glimpsed at.
Read it through, then read again. It’s worth it.
When struggling to compose a review, that was the first thing to come to mind: keep reading.
This is a teasing, frustrating book, and the first read-through is like being pitched head-first into a tornado. Bits of odds and ends are flying around you, they keep smacking you on the head, and you’re trying to piece together the layout of the house this tornado has just ripped apart, while the funnel is still wiping out the whole city.
There are details that pop up and keep popping up. Imagery that’s emphasized, but you can’t puzzle out their significance. There’s clearly a consistent set of facts and an underlying logic and narrative here, you can sense it, but you’re always on the cusp of understanding, but keep reading.
Characters pop up, seemingly out of nowhere, and refer to goings on in the past that have contributed to the scary state of the world in the narrative, then do inexplicable things that are only explained later. Keep reading.
Short description: It’s a worldwide epidemic of undead, flesh-eating monstrosities. Most of this story is set in Key West, from the point of view of a woman named Wendy Wicker, and follows her struggles to support and defend the people she’s come to call her family.
The strongest elements are the main character herelf and the sense of place and atmosphere. Wendy Wicker is a real and vibrant person, not perfect by any means, but one who goes above and beyond with strength, skill and courage.
The atmosphere is itself a character with the post apocalyptic life in Key West described in such rich texture that the reader can feel it.
There is also a chance to explore the life of Hemmingway in some unique and surprising ways, but I can’t say more about that without giving away the plot.
And by the end, everything is explained and the reader is given the final pieces necessary to understand what is going on, and then I had to go back and re-read to fully understand everything.
If I’m being vague, it’s only because it’s literally impossible to say more without spoilers.
This is one of those rare book series that manages to be short and tightly focused, and simultaneously epic. A quality that comes when a character is called upon to play a brief but pivotal role in a vast battle just glimpsed at.
Read it through, then read again. It’s worth it.
April 14, 2015
Confession time: I just finished Forbes West’s addition to the AW universe, Medium Talent, and oh, does my head hurt. West has a Hemmingway thing going on, and it’s grizzly, ugly, and stressful to read. Forget the facts, the iceberg theory of writing, the Kilimanjaro stuff, or the Spanish civil war. Hell, forget about the old guy alone in the cabin with the shotgun on his lap. Forget all that, because if you don’t, you head will hurt, too.
Medium Talent is the tale of Key West survivors of a world-spanning hurricane three years earlier; the Supply Org (the AW version of FEMA) is the last bit of government around, which gives aid and comfort to the fortress fleet of the rich and powerful, while the denizens of the Florida Keys and most other places scratch what they can out of crappy local economies. Danger is ever present: if it’s not the Supply Org shaking you down, it’s the playboys on their armored yachts, or the sea monsters, or the zombies, or local thugs, or even the infected who are warehoused in the Depository.
Into this sub-tropical hell hole we meet Wendy Wicker, captain of the Medium Talent, who presents herself as a smuggler, artist, wife, adopted mother, and incredibly violent borderline sociopath. Somehow she is all these things, and yet, truly none of them. Trying to give you a linear picture of this distinctly non-linear world and story would be a hopeless gesture, but I can tell you the Wendy is far more complicated than she seems, she does meet Hemmingway back in 1934 Key West, and deep down she really does want to save the world. Or at least her little corner of it.
Anyway, the Hemmingway thing has its advantages; it creates a fascinating thread through a rollicking world that alternately confuses and makes perfect sense. It gets weird, but that’s sort of the name of the game, isn’t it?
Medium Talent is the tale of Key West survivors of a world-spanning hurricane three years earlier; the Supply Org (the AW version of FEMA) is the last bit of government around, which gives aid and comfort to the fortress fleet of the rich and powerful, while the denizens of the Florida Keys and most other places scratch what they can out of crappy local economies. Danger is ever present: if it’s not the Supply Org shaking you down, it’s the playboys on their armored yachts, or the sea monsters, or the zombies, or local thugs, or even the infected who are warehoused in the Depository.
Into this sub-tropical hell hole we meet Wendy Wicker, captain of the Medium Talent, who presents herself as a smuggler, artist, wife, adopted mother, and incredibly violent borderline sociopath. Somehow she is all these things, and yet, truly none of them. Trying to give you a linear picture of this distinctly non-linear world and story would be a hopeless gesture, but I can tell you the Wendy is far more complicated than she seems, she does meet Hemmingway back in 1934 Key West, and deep down she really does want to save the world. Or at least her little corner of it.
Anyway, the Hemmingway thing has its advantages; it creates a fascinating thread through a rollicking world that alternately confuses and makes perfect sense. It gets weird, but that’s sort of the name of the game, isn’t it?
May 27, 2015
The main action in Medium Talent by Forbes West is set about three years after the onset of the Apocalypse Weird, though there are flashbacks to the early days of the Apocalypse as well as time travel to the days of Ernest Hemingway. Life overall seems somewhat more functional than in Texocalypse, another post-apocalypse book in the Weird universe. There is some governmental effort to maintain basic aid and order, and currency is in use. Members of various religious groups including Mormans, Catholics, and other Christians are trying to practice their faith and help others. There are hints that maybe life can get better – but then, we see another side of life in the post-apocalypse Florida Keys.
Main character Wendy Wicker and others around her go through life in a cloud of foul language, drugs, alcohol, and violence. Wendy actually seems to enjoy shooting and killing people. It was difficult to experience the story through her eyes, and at times I was tempted to give up. I am glad I made it through the distasteful parts of the story, to see what lead Wendy to be the way she was. Just as the reader thinks there may be some degree of redemption, changes come again and the story ends on a cliffhanger. At times I wasn't sure whether I would bother finishing Medium Talent, but now I am hooked enough to keep an eye out for the next volume!
I received an advance reading copy in exchange for a fair review.
Main character Wendy Wicker and others around her go through life in a cloud of foul language, drugs, alcohol, and violence. Wendy actually seems to enjoy shooting and killing people. It was difficult to experience the story through her eyes, and at times I was tempted to give up. I am glad I made it through the distasteful parts of the story, to see what lead Wendy to be the way she was. Just as the reader thinks there may be some degree of redemption, changes come again and the story ends on a cliffhanger. At times I wasn't sure whether I would bother finishing Medium Talent, but now I am hooked enough to keep an eye out for the next volume!
I received an advance reading copy in exchange for a fair review.
June 26, 2016
Just a really fantastically put-together book. I must admit I originally picked this up solely based on the sweet-looking cover and because it was a free download at the time but once I gave it a go I was really blown away by the setting and thrilled once I realised it was part of a larger series. The world-building is fantastic, you've got this bizarre apocalyptic setting with its own strange twists and turns and yet all these very real people and places inhabiting it. The book doesn't hammer you over the head with it though, it's just woven beautifully through the story. The main character is brilliant as a woman at once capable of anything and as vulnerable as any person who's been through as much trauma as the setting hammers its characters with, and very much at war with herself. Highly recommended for lovers of post-apocalyptic fiction and New Weird.
April 12, 2015
I received a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As with the other Apocalypse Weird books, I definitely would have purchased this book if I had not received a free copy. Although this book was a little darker, in my opinion, than the others, I have crawled through the mangroves swamps in the keys as the sun goes down, and this story fit.
I did not want to put this book down, but was forced to read it in several sittings. I continue to be delighted with how each of the books fits into the "common world of Apocalypse Weird" and yet each author creates a unique and interesting story. This one was no exception. Thanks Forbes.
Now I'm anxiously waiting for the next book.
I did not want to put this book down, but was forced to read it in several sittings. I continue to be delighted with how each of the books fits into the "common world of Apocalypse Weird" and yet each author creates a unique and interesting story. This one was no exception. Thanks Forbes.
Now I'm anxiously waiting for the next book.
July 16, 2015
I received a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As with the other Apocalypse Weird books, I definitely would have purchased this book if I had not received a free copy. Although this book was a little darker, in my opinion, than the others, I have crawled through the mangroves swamps in the keys as the sun goes down, and this story fit.
I did not want to put this book down, but was forced to read it in several sittings. I continue to be delighted with how each of the books fits into the "common world of Apocalypse Weird" and yet each author creates a unique and interesting story. This one was no exception. Thanks Forbes.
Now I'm anxiously waiting for the next book.
I did not want to put this book down, but was forced to read it in several sittings. I continue to be delighted with how each of the books fits into the "common world of Apocalypse Weird" and yet each author creates a unique and interesting story. This one was no exception. Thanks Forbes.
Now I'm anxiously waiting for the next book.
April 15, 2015
I love the Apocalypse Weird Universe... I love how each author's story arc is so different but still tied to a universal event that happens in all the books. You may have to read several books to see what I mean... But, as in this book, you want zombies, no problem, how about time travel, no problem, want to meet a famous author, nooo problem!... There are times in this book when I loved our protagonist and other times not so much... You see Wendy Wicker is having some issues... This is a dark story, I don't really know if it is darker than some of the others so I guess you're going to have to read a few to see what you think..
April 8, 2015
I loved the first novel by Forbes West, Nighthawk at the Mission, so I had great expectations for this work in the Apocalypse Weird franchise, well I can say it surpassed them. The plot is eclectic as usual and the writing is good. I am looking forward to reading other novels in this world by him.
December 29, 2015
Strange, freaky, somewhat confusing, but wonderfully weird!
June 19, 2015
Just can't get into this story.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews