Author of adventure/thriller and horror fiction

TROPIC OF KANSAS by Christopher Brown

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tropic of kansasChristopher Brown’s TROPIC OF KANSAS (Harper Voyager, 2017) is a fun dystopian read about an alternate United States broken down by income inequality, environmental depletion, and various factions warring against a police state.

In this alternate USA, the Iranians slaughtered the hostages in Tehran and Ronald Reagan was assassinated in the early ’80s, resulting in Alexander Haig becoming President and endless war in Iran and the Americas. After him, the next President tried to dismantle the resulting police state but was overthrown on false charges, resulting in a civil war. The American heartland is now a DMZ called the Tropic of Kansas, policed by right wing militias, and now a brooding ground for rebellion, desperadoes, and experiments in self government.

Two protagonists emerge in this world as agents of its change. Sig, an orphan of political dissidents, who roams the Tropic one step ahead of the authorities until connecting with the people who will help him fight back. And Tania, his foster sister, a government agent assigned to find him, and who accesses a government secret that may change everything. Revolution is coming, but can it be won?

With endorsements from the likes of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and Cory Doctorow, I thought I couldn’t do wrong with this one, and I did in fact enjoy it. It’s a fun read with a thriller pace. The world building is terrific, and I loved that aspect of it the most. Sig and Tania are likable enough protagonists, though Sig in particular often seems invincible while at the same time unreadable as to what he really wants and why. He just bounces around from group to group and immediately gets into trouble with each, providing a tour of the Tropic of Kansas that leads to a lawless New Orleans. Tania’s far more interesting with excellent tracking skills, clear motivation, and a coherent story line that holds together the entire book.

In my view, the novel never really achieves the promised gravitas nor a meta take on modern times like say the film CHILDREN OF MEN did. Thematically, it hits on the struggle of freedom against tyranny, but hits it so lightly it seems the story winds its way to revolution rather than the revolution being a cathartic and righteous resolution to the story. What TROPIC OF KANSAS does deliver is a really fun, somewhat madcap ride through dystopia and revolution in a fully realized, intriguing world. Brown really went to town on it, providing a terrifically detailed vision.

I love that post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction is making a comeback with Big 5 publishers and hope to see even more of it. TROPIC OF KANSAS stands out for me as one of the good ones.

REMEMORY (2017)

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rememory

REMEMORY (2017), which I was able to catch free at Google Play, tells the story of a man (Peter Dinklage) who steals a machine that can record and play back human memories. He uses the machine to investigate the death of the man (Martin Donovan) who invented it, while also prying open a horrifying event buried in his own past.

Peter Dinklage (best known for playing Tyrion in GAME OF THRONES) does a stellar job in the lead role, bringing his character’s haunted drive to life with real depth. The rest of the actors, particularly Julia Ormond, are excellent. The story movies along at a brisk pace in part thanks to good direction and a terrific script packed with solid dialogue.

While essentially a cozy mystery, the fantastic machine and its possibilities for psychology and crime solving further differentiates this story. In particular I enjoyed the difficult social ramifications of such a device, and the way this high technology is contrasted with a visual palette that is earthy and somber.

In the end, we find out this is far more a redemption story than a murder mystery. Though the conclusion is awkward, it provides some nice surprises.

I enjoyed it quite a bit. I wish THE DISCOVERY (Netflix, 2017) had been more like this, rather than a somewhat entertaining ripoff of ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND.

THIRST by Benjamin Warner

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thirstTHIRST by Benjamin Warner imagines life in a suburban community after a strange event destroys all water in nearby rivers and reservoirs. Uncleared traffic accidents and the power going out create an immediate sense of isolation and hardship. Eddie Gardner and his wife bunker down and negotiate how much they need to help themselves versus others in the community, believing help is on the way. Any day now, the power will return and they will have water again.

What follows is an interesting apocalyptic story whose idea meshes originally into the genre, though the story overall didn’t stand out for me. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t make a heavy emotional impression like the best apocalyptic books do. Warner captures the steadily mounting isolation, tension, and hardship of thirst well. In his book, he provides an interesting meditation on what people will do to survive. However, the characters often grate with their decisions until at times they seem to be actively working against their best self interest, and they don’t consider many sources of water such as car radiators. While a nice meditation on survival, nothing really struck me as poignant or original in a genre packed with such meditations (note I’ve read so much of this genre I’m a bit jaded). The narrative becomes increasingly unreliable due to Eddie steadily going mad with thirst, which effectively portrays his suffering, though at times it was confusing for this reader. The ending concludes well but may leave some readers unsatisfied, as the source of the water being eliminated isn’t explained (nor the power going out or all the accidents).

I liked the novel and recommend it to apocalyptic fiction fans looking for an original premise as well as newcomers to the genre. Warner writes well and I hope to read more of him in the future. While I enjoyed THIRST, however, it didn’t deliver the gut punches (nor the action) I like to see in apocalyptic fiction.

RESOLUTION (2012)

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resolution

Directed by Justin Benson (who also wrote it) and Aaron Scott Moorhead, RESOLUTION (2012) is a low-budget character-driven meta-horror flick that achieves a lot from its conceit and a surprising amount from its execution. It’s packed with weird tension, excellent chemistry between the two principal characters, and a completely satisfying conclusion.

Michael (Peter Cilella), a graphic designer living in the city, receives a strange video and map from his old high school friend Chris (Vinny Curran), who is a drug addict. Over the objections of his wife, Michael ventures out to convince Chris to go into rehab, going so far as to chain him to a pipe in the abandoned rundown house where he’s living.

It’s clear from the start this is a strange place. Drug dealers, local oddballs, and native tribesmen (the house is on tribal land) immediately threaten Michael’s plans to dry Chris out. The area apparently attracts weirdos–cults, UFO religions, and other oddballs. Things get weirder when somebody begins leaving strange storybooks, slides, film reels, and VHS cassettes for Michael to find. Each tells a gruesome story and adds up to a mystery for Michael as he struggles with his friend going through withdrawal.

The film rolls out a bit awkwardly but steadily finds its groove. I found myself as interested in the real and often-humorous chemistry between these old friends as the horror element. Will Michael accept Chris is a drug addict and let him go? Or will Chris embrace life and reject drugs? This story is told organically in the midst of steadily mounting weirdness and tension as Michael meets the odd locals and begins to sense somebody or something is manipulating events. I found the last act gripping, more panic than fear, with a surprising and satisfying conclusion.

If you enjoy finding rare gems in indie horror, check this one out.

THE LEFTOVERS Season 2

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leftoversI loved the first season of THE LEFTOVERS, the HBO series about life three years after 2% of the world’s population disappears in a mysterious Rapture-like event. In my view an example of where the adaptation is better than the book, it perfectly captures loss and the madness humans might experience when confronted with a universal miracle that cannot be explained.

I waited for Season 2 to come to Google Play, but it never did. I ended up scanning the Season 2 summaries online and instead watched Season 3 when it came out. I felt Season 3 was a great wrap to the series but relied too heavily on LOST-like elements. The show was supposed to reveal how people try to find meaning in the inexplicable (and ultimately meaningless), but the inexplicable stuff kept coming and suggested a larger plan or rationale that in turn is never revealed. In that, I thought the show was trying to have it both ways, which messed with my enjoyment.

Somebody said I really, really needed to watch Season 2, and I ended up getting the DVDs from Amazon. HOLY CRAP.

It was amazing.

In Season 2, Kevin Garvey and Nora Durst decide on a change of scenery by moving to Miracle, a national park in Texas, where the town of Jarden boasts it is the only town where nobody disappeared during the Sudden Departure. Kevin wants to go because he wants to escape his life. Nora wants to go because she’s afraid another Sudden Departure event might occur, and she’s looking for a place where she can feel safe. They luck out and buy a house in the town, access to which is kept carefully controlled. Tourists, pilgrims, and crazies flock to Jarden every year, and one man in town, a fireman named John, takes vigilante action to ensure no cults or craziness take root in the place where he lives. When John’s daughter and her two friends disappear, we’re left to wonder whether they “departed” and whether Kevin had something to do with it.

The result is flawless drama. I immediately found John and his family intriguing characters, and their interaction with the Garveys moves the story forward. The season revived the same big themes of season 1 while enriching them. John in particular is fascinating, alternately somebody you want to have a beer with and then somebody you’d want to move to another town to get away from–the way he smiles and stares right through you, and his willingness to do anything to prevent the world’s madness from infecting his home, though it already has. The finale is amazingly gripping, as powerful as the finale from the first season.

So yeah, I loved it. Great characters, perfect drama, powerful themes of an inexplicable event forcing humanity into a manic search for meaning, the world slowly losing its mind over it. I’ll have to rewatch Season 3 now and see if I engage with it differently. Anyway, great show, unlike anything else I’ve seen on TV. Highly recommended.