Author of adventure/thriller and horror fiction

THE LONG PATROL by Chris Glatte

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long patrolChris Glatte’s THE LONG PATROL tells the story of a squad fighting during the Battle of Guadalcanal during WW2. When intelligence produces an opportunity to go behind enemy lines and make contact with native guerillas, the squad ends up on a dangerous and bloody mission that may change the course of the battle and the war.

The Battle of Guadalcanal was fought to prevent the Japanese from securing capability to launch aircraft against Australia and the USA’s lifeline to that country. It followed up on the Battle of Midway with the USA taking the initiative by penetrating the Japanese Empire’s outer defensive ring. For months, American and Japanese planes fought over the island while ships skirmished and fought at sea. On the island itself, Americans fought tooth and nail to hold Henderson Airfield against ongoing Japanese assaults. The entire time, the outcome of the war hung in the balance.

Glatte’s story is a solid war novel, gritty and bloody. The plot and pacing never flag, punctuated by violence and the occasional ridiculous twist that occurs in war, such as a devastating friendly fire incident. The soldiers are heroic but realistically so. Glatte does a good job making them stand out as strong characters we care about. He also seems to avoid the usual pro- or anti-war message by simply describing a patrol and its influence on the outcome of the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Recommended if you like WW2 novels.

ELEANOR by Johnny Worthen

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eleanorWhile attending Stokercon in Los Angeles, I picked up ELEANOR by Johnny Worthen at a dealer’s table. I picked it up for the cover but stayed for the premise. Writing a short synopsis is an art in itself, and I showed it to several author friends as an example of very strong back cover copy.

It was a gamble for Eleanor to rejoin humanity, but she was driven to it. She’d been too successful forgetting. The last vestiges of her family hung by a thread in her transformed brain and drove her to be reckless.

Ten years later, Eleanor hides in plain sight. She is an average girl getting average grades in a small Wyoming town: poor but happy, lonely but loved. Her mother, Tabitha, is there for her and that’s all she’s ever needed. But now her mother is sick and David has returned. The only friend she’d ever had, the only other person who knows her secret, is back. And Eleanor again becomes reckless.

Eleanor is a modest girl, unremarkable but extraordinary, young but old, malleable but fixed. She is scared and confused. She is a liar and a thief. Eleanor is not what she appears to be.

ELEANOR goes deep into the mind of an old creature living in a teenage girl’s body. It’s a slow, character-driven story–not my usual cup of tea, but I found myself pulled along by Eleanor’s challenges and Worthen’s very strong and crisp writing. The premise is terrific–the idea of a girl hiding in plain sight, gifted with amazing abilities but finding them more a curse than a gift, a source of isolation turning a time in life when people feel most isolated and uncertain.

MONGRELS by Stephen Graham Jones

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mongrelsWerewolves have never been my thing, but Stephen Graham Jones’s MONGRELS reinvents the werewolf tale with a smart, raw, fresh, fun tale I thoroughly enjoyed.

MONGRELS is a coming-of-age story, focusing on a boy growing up in a family of werewolves, primarily his Uncle Darren and Aunt Libby. They raise him with an understanding of how werewolves can survive in the modern world, but as he grows older, the werewolf world eludes him, and he wonders if he’ll ever make the change and become one of them.

Otherwise, there isn’t much a plot, as this is an episodic tale, bouncing around in time as the boy grows up. The family is constantly poor and on the move due to their werewolf adventures stirring things up. They scrape to get by in the human world and thrive in their nocturnal world. Darren can’t help but go out and joyfully seek out trouble. Trouble seems to find the wiser Libby. And the boy, a keen student of the life he wants to live, navigates these upsets with smarts learned on the road.

I loved this story. Jones reinvents the werewolf trope with feeling and wit. Every incident the werewolves plow into is entertaining, and the insights about what it’s like to be a werewolf and how to survive is interesting and engaging. There’s little fat on the story, it’s all bone and muscle. The cathartic and satisfying ending has a lot of heart.

Check it out if you’re into werewolves or looking to be surprised with a satisfying reinvention.

B&N Names SUFFER THE CHILDREN to Apocalyptic Top 10 List

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SUFFER THE CHILDREN by Craig DiLouieBarnes and Noble recently published a Top 10 list of zombie apocalypse stories. I was proud to see SUFFER THE CHILDREN on the list alongside works by great authors like Peter Clines, M.R. Carey, Max Brooks, Isaac Marion, Colson Whitehead and others.

Strange they picked SUFFER THE CHILDREN, which is basically a vampire undead story, over my zombie books, but hey, I’m not complaining. B&N.com writes:

Technically the children in DiLouie’s book are vampires, but stay with us here. After an epidemic sweeps the globe, killing all the children in the world, there’s a moment of dizzy joy when the kids all come back. Except, they’re still dead, just reanimated—and hungry for blood. Once they’ve fed, they become normal again, just like they were. But it wears off, leading parents all over the world to face the question: how far will you go to feed your children—your children—human blood in order to keep them (more or less) alive? Examining the battle between parental love and the horror of the scenario is pure genius.

Thanks, Barnes and Noble!

Check out the complete list here.

GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS (2016)

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I’ve read enough zombie fiction to move on to something new, but every once in a while a real gem comes along that sucks me back into my beloved apocalyptic fiction genre. Case in point was M.R. Carey’s novel GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS. I finally had the chance to check out the film adaptation, which I liked even better.

The story focuses on Melanie, a young girl living in a special school at a military base. She’s intelligent, inquisitive and loves her teacher Miss Justineau. Slowly, we come to learn that the base is under siege by zombies after a zombie pandemic causes the collapse of the world and her country, the UK. She and her fellow students are being studied because they have retained their ability to think, reason and communicate, calling into question what makes them human. Making them perfect fodder for experiments to determine how they resisted the fungus, which may lead to a vaccine.

I really liked the adaptation, which stayed true to the book while streamlining its sometimes chunky exposition. The cast, which included Glenn Close, delivered excellent performances. There’s plenty of tension, post-apocalyptic scenery and action to please hardcore zombie fans. The book and film transcends genre, however, by staying focused on interesting characters, the question of whether Melanie is human or monster, and the ultimate decision she must make in regards to the future of the human race. The film is beautifully atmospheric, with great cinematography and score.

Recommended for zombie fans and everybody else.