Prisms

Some Say In Fire #2

by Russell C. Connor

Twenty years after the Decay, Hank Dermitt and his chimpanzee sidekick Burroughs are professional scavengers for a collective called High Town, digging through the ruins of Chicago to find every last drop of moisture as they defend themselves from those mutated survivors known as the Addled.

But when Hank begins seeing beings made of multi-colored light, he quickly doubts his sanity. These ‘Prisms’ seems to be able to control the Addled, and are using them for some dark purpose.

When Hank and Burroughs investigate, they uncover a conspiracy that will have grave consequences not just for High Town, but all of humanity. And their only hope for survival might just lay with an old enemy who wants to kill them even more than the Prisms do…

Genres: Horror

132 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 18, 2022

About the author

Russell C. Connor has been writing horror since the age of five, and is the author of two short story collections, four eNovellas, and ten novels. His books have won two Independent Publisher Awards and a Readers’ Favorite Award. He has been a member of the DFW Writers’ Workshop since 2006, and served as president for two years. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas with his rabid dogs, demented film collection, mistress of the dark, and demonspawn daughter.

His next novel, Predator, will be available in the fall of 2018.

Reviews

[Jon Svenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author moves us twenty years into the future in book two. Hank, and Burroughs the monkey that he saved from the zoo are still kicking, but there is trouble in the colony.

Because this book is so short, I don't think I can say anymore without spoiling something. I will say that book two has the horror promised in book 1, which is a nice addition.

I'm digging the series, but the books need to be longer. Book two clocks in at 132 pages, which is novella length. The editing is fine.

4/5*

[Miss · Rating 2 out of 5]

20 years is too much of a time jump.

I honestly don't know how to rate or review this. The first book had some really great elements, but I didn't immediately dive into this because 20 years was an almost implausible gap after the first book where the survival of Hank, Burroughs and Mickey seemed doubtful to last 20 minutes. There's too much happening off page in that gap and this almost stands alone for how vaguely connected it is to the first book.

The author has an incredibly engaging, visual style of writing so I was pulled into this despite my reservations. He's aware of his plot threads and fills the gaps readers might have, so I applaud him for that even if it takes a very long time to get the pieces that seemed to be missing - like what happened to Mickey and addressing the fact that the prisms were mentioned in the first book.

Now I'm going to get to spoilers and why I really hated this. Burroughs' survival into this book was quite a surprise, especially when Mickey doesn't make it to the sequel. It's sadly clear that Burroughs will not survive the series, but I thought his death would happen as part of the final book. It happens right at the end of this installment, though, and I really have no interest in finishing the series now. We had such a climactic scene at the end, but just like the first book we don't get a direct continuation of the story. According to the blurb, Return takes place 10 years after these events. This really leads me to believe that the author can't or won't write the emotional fallout of something like what's happened in these installments. Just skip over the struggles to really survive, build a haven and try to heal and keep focusing on these contrived milestones which, apparently, are all just about Hank and Jason. Jason absolutely should have been killed at the end of the first book, but it was obvious that he'd be back in his same stereotypical dystopian villain role. Seeing that he'll return for the final book is enough to make me quit now.

Since this installment hints at possible alien intervention for what happened to cause all of this and I recently watched No One Will Save You, here's the ending I wish that we'd gotten. Burroughs listens to Hank and runs home to warn the others. Jason can still have his villainous return to the story, but Burroughs doesn't come to Hank's rescue. The Addled do. Because the Prisms/aliens weren't done questioning Hank when the Red Ring took him. So the Red Rings' base falls to the tide of Addled out to obey the Prism's commands, Jason dies and Hank is taken for the Prisms to learn whether he's a threat to them. This could have been so much better if the original ideas were focused on, but instead we get a formulaic storyline rooted in the drama between Hank and Jason and how society will always break down into the same two camps - survival of the fittest with a cruel leader or a community just trying to rebuild civilization after devastation.

I hate this wasted potential so much. Almost as much as I hate how Mickey and Burroughs' deaths were handled.

[Merawlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great follow up from the first novel, this one taking us almost twenty years since the Decay. The action is a bit more subdued in this one since we are now past the onset of the apocalypse and firmly into dystopia where what remains of humanity, at least those in Chicago strive to survive in a world where precious resources dwindle and a terrible threat looms on the horizon.

The story centres around High Town, Hank and Burrough, the ingenuity of humanity in finding ways to adapt, and the growing danger that the Addled present.

I did think it lacked in some follow up from the first novel, not knowing what happened to some characters until past the halfway mark but that is about the only negative aspect for me.

Where the first story showcased the monstrosity of some humans, this one went counter with the community of High Town, and because of this, the ending of the novel is heart wrenching.

This series continues to keep me on the edge of my seat, so to speak.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great second installment in the series.