Review: Commodore

Commodore by Philip Fracassi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sabbath is an idyllic town. The perfect place to raise a family. The perfect place for kids to grow up. Perfect. Perhaps too perfect. I recommend limiting your visits to the daytime .. and maybe avoid the local cuisine...

A group of boys heads out on an adventure to find a fabled black car rumored to be hidden somewhere within the town dump... a place that they know is off-limits. From the start you know this won't end well, but how bad could it get?

This short story by Philip Fracassi is a great way for readers new to Fracassi's work to get a taste of his story-telling talents, and a welcome addition for those who are already familiar with it.

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Review: Galaphile

Galaphile by Terry Brooks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fans of Terry Brooks' Shannara stories are in for a treat when Galaphile: The First Druids of Shannara gets released in 2025. This long awaited tale of the origins of the Druids, and of their fortress Paranor, provides readers with the details of the early life of Galaphile Joss and the events that led him to commit his life to establishing peace in the Four Lands and to create a place where the races could work together to preserve knowledge.

Longtime readers have often wondered how the Druid order came about, and how magic became such a potent force in the Four Lands. Galaphile provides a fantastic start to filling in the gaps between the end of the Great Wars and the time of the Druid Bremen and the first King of Shannara.

As usual for a Terry Brooks' tale, this book is well written and well paced. There is more than enough danger, excitement, quests and battles, not to mention references to familiar beings, creatures and places to satisfy the Shannara faithful,. The story is complete enough to draw new readers into the Shannara universe, although these readers would be better served by starting with the original Sword of Shannara and reading the entire backlog in publication order.

#Galaphile #NetGalley

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Review: A Child Alone With Strangers

A Child Alone With Strangers by Philip Fracassi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Child Alone With Strangers by Philip Fracassi is a fantastic read. A thrilling ride that tells the tale of Henry, a young boy, who is recovering from a horrific incident that claimed the life of his father. While recovering from his physical injuries he realizes he also has gained insight into the emotions and feelings of those around him, but he soon adapts to living with his aunt and uncle, and life returns to something approaching normal. Normal, until, Henry is abducted and taken to a secluded cabin in the woods by his kidnappers to wait while their ransom demands are met. But Henry, and his captors, soon learn that something powerful doesn't want them at the cabin and will do everything it can to get them to leave.

I really enjoyed this story. It could easily have been told as "Home Alone In the Woods with Scary Monster", but that would have been mediocre at best. Instead, Fracassi provides plenty of terror and unpredictable twists, and complex, multidimensional characters I both loved and loved to hate. A Child Alone With Strangers speaks to the power of both love and hate, the need for redemption after failure and the universal desire to protect one's own.

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Review: Rose Madder

Rose Madder by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

King doing what he does best... creating characters and placing them in situations where you care about what happens to them. Rose Madder is one of a number of King's stories where domestic violence features prominently in the horror of the book...

I read this when it originally came out years ago. This time through I listened to to a recorded version from Audible. I liked the production EXCEPT for the musical interludes between chapters, which only distracted from the tale.

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Review: Dark Doors

Dark Doors by John L. Davis IV
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dark Doors, by John L Davis IV, is a collection of short stories that provides tasty, bite-size horror snacks. Most of these are set in future dystopian worlds and I'd love to see some of these story lines expanded so we can learn more about what happens to the characters before and after the events described.

Zombies are featured in several of the stories - full disclosure: I don't care for zombie stories... I loved George Romero's Night of The Living Dead when I first saw it back in the '70s, but I think there's been such a glut of zombies in movies, television & books, that they've become somewhat boring for the most part (I reserve the right to change my opinion if I become the one being pursued by zombies). All that being said, I found that I actually enjoyed Davis' take on the zombie tales he shares in this collection. Although each are just a few short pages those stories sucked me in and made me care about what might happen to the characters.

The longest story of the bunch, Searching for Stephen King, is a tale of a man who goes to great lengths to find the missing books in his collection, and will resonate with King fans and collectors alike.

Mountain Nightmare: A Christmas Tale, is my favorite of the collection. It tells the story of a man trying to protect and provide for his two young children amid the harsh and dangerous conditions of a world gone mad. It goes beyond a typical dystopian story as it tells of the father's efforts to give his children something to look forward to in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The ending leaves it up to each reader to decide how the story continues.

Recommended.

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Review: Boys in the Valley

Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Philip Fracassi's Boys in the Valley may have you considering the difference between "evil" and "EVIL" as you enter the the world of Peter and his fellow orphans in a remote Pennsylvania orphanage in the early 1900s. The boys are expected to do chores as part of their daily activities under the watchful eyes of the priests and Brother Johnson, a lay person with a violent past. Fracassi doesn't pull any punches when describing the conditions, discipline and punishment that the boys live under, but he also warmly conveys the friendships and relationships developed among the boys.

Life at the orphanage is difficult, with never enough food for growing boys, but it is predictable... until the night a group of riders approach and evil is unleashed within the orphanage's walls. The boys' friendships break down as sides are chosen amid horrendous violent acts. Some within the orphanage recognize what is happening, while others seem to willfully reject the possibility that evil has taken root.

This story grabbed me at the beginning and didn't let go until after I turned the final page. It's been described elsewhere as a melding of The Exorcist and Lord of the Flies, and that certainly seems accurate. It's a well paced tale, full of twists and turns, that will break your heart and lift your soul, and leave you guessing until the end about what the outcome will be.

Highly recommended for horror fans.

Review: Duma Key

Duma Key by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Duma Key is one of King's best! I can't help but think that King drew from his own experience recovering from the horrific injuries he endured when hit by a van in 1999 as he was writing this.

It has a slow, but fascinating build to a great ending, with lots of chills & creepy moments along the way.

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