Phillip Smith > Recent Status Updates

Haven't read such top-tier worldbuilding since Perdido Street Station a long long time ago. Enthralled and amazed.

I'm loving this so far. The sense of dread is truly awesome.

Just finished "Turning the Tide" and am in awe. So far, each story has been worth savoring. Adam Nevill has one scary f@%king imagination.

In love with this book. So creative and creepy.

Intense, but good. The type of story you nibble at to understand it best.

"Hippocampus" might be one of my favorite things Mr. Nevill has ever written and to have a collection chock full of these types of stories is truly awesome. Buckle up.

It's Braunbeck so I already know it's going to be high quality.

I'm new to this author but this collection is a banger! So good, so unique.

Just read "Guardian." My God, Brian Hodge is something else. Always defying the expectations, never going for the easy at-bat.

What an ending! 4 to 4.5 for this engrossing tale. Honestly, you've probably never read anything like it.

This is my first experience with Christopher Slatsky and it's already impressing me a great deal. I feel like each story is getting better and better. And the atmosphere and visual/sound effects that Slatsky utilizes are something other writers should take note of.

"Merge Now" by the always great Kurt Fawver is one of those short stories that will forever have rent in my brain. A lot of good stuff in here, but so far that story is the standout.

I am a little over halfway through this bat-shit crazy book and am truly loving every minute. If the book keeps up this level of insanity, then it might truly become one of my all-time favorites.

Yes, I am very late to the party, but I absolutely understand where the hype is coming from. I loved DIsappearance at Devil's Rock and I have a sneaking suspicion that I will also love this as well.

This is a type of Moby Dick type of books that I had always kept my eye out for in used bookstores, but, until recently, had never found. So far, I am impressed. This is methodically paced and threatening. But the best part is that I am so involved with the characters themselves and their slice of life that when a hint of the thunderstorm rolls in, I find myself shocked a bit because I forgot I was reading horror.

Three stories in and I have to say that I am really, really loving this. Very strong writing that effortlessly puts me in the distant past. In a way, it kind of reminds me a little of Michael Wehunt in that you get a total sense of history to each story without being boggy or chocked with exposition. Highly recommended so far.

I'm about halfway through this anthology and I think I'm going to set it down. I'm just not feeling it. The stories have basically become a similar experience of "people running from cave-dwelling creatures."

Maybe I am going into this anthology wrong. Some of the ideas are great, but they are often hampered by eye-rolling dialogue that takes away any tension. Honestly, it reads like 80s pulp.

Three stories in and I'm simply blown away. The range of stories, the styles, the philosophical undercurrent... Outstanding stuff. I feel ashamed that I haven't discovered this author sooner. To me, Brian Hodge is fast becoming a game changer.

So far this is very very good. Isolating and unsettling. Great writing.

This is excellent so far. Betty Rocksteady is a gifted writer who has me absolutely squirming with these stories.

So far, I'm liking this. Great world-building with a protagonist who isn't a hero. The whole set up feels very unique, especially when put into the context of how long ago it was written.

I am in love with this anthology. There are some truly excellent stories in here.

Sometimes life gets in the way and I set down a good book for months. But I am excited to get back into this. It feels like the type of book Peter Straub would've written if he was British.

I don't know what it is, but these stories are just not doing it for me. Besides Gregor Xane's "The Ugly Tree" (excellent), I just feel that a lot of these stories are too in your face with no real sense of dread. And a good deal of them feel rushed or half-baked. Again, it's just my opinion but I kind of had high hopes for this one.