Book review: Beast, by Peter Benchley

Beast is the first book I have had the pleasure of reading by Peter Benchley. I worked in a discount bookstore one summer, and we received in a half dozen or so old hardcover copies of Beast from some library. We were selling them for about two bucks each. I figured, it looked like a decent book, and supposedly the guy knew his stuff, so why not? (This is the brain behind Jaws, after all!)

Turns out, it is a great book. Benchley really does know his stuff, and it shows. He goes into major detail on everything from the currents of the ocean to the anatomy of the giant squid. But he does it like a master storyteller -- enough detail to wow you and color in the picture that he's trying to paint, but not so much that you get bogged down in it or can't understand it.

One mark of a good author is that he cares about the characters he creates. If he doesn't care about them, how can he expect you (the reader) to? It's obvious that Benchley cares about his characters from the amount of effort that he puts into fleshing them out and making them real. And he doesn't use the "expendable character" archetype, which is great. (You know what I mean -- you can always tell which characters are going to get killed off in a story; they're the ones who don't have names, or who play minor roles.) In Beast, Benchley breathes life into almost all of his characters -- from the ones who last the whole story to the ones who get killed to the ones who pop in for a minute and then you never see them again.

The story is about a giant squid that, due to ocean currents, has drifted toward the coastline of Bermuda. Not able to find its normal food, it resorts to plucking people off of boats and snacking on scuba divers. Of course, once its presence is discovered, people want to hunt and kill it. (Benchley does a very colorful job of pointing out the dangers of hunting giant squid.) The book is about more than the squid, though -- that's just the main plot.

It is unquestionably a book worth reading. Especially if you are a fan of the sea or a student of it; you will appreciate Benchley's extensive knowledge and the detail that permeates the book. Aside from the scientific motives, the book is a strong work of fiction, and the author is an expert at weaving his tale so subtly that you don't even realize, until the hunger pangs or need to use the bathroom hit you, that he's woven you into it.

(Originally posted on Helium.com, April 2009)

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Book review: Bits of the Dead, edited by Keith Gouveia

From the dark minds of 38 horror writers comes a collection of short zombie fiction, appropriately enough titled Bits of the Dead.  The anthology includes a tiny tale from each writer (most are less than two pages) tackling the subject of zombies from every angle.

Many of the writers included in this book are well-known and highly-respected authors.  Some of the numerous recognizable names include (in no particular order) Tim Waggoner, Kurt Newton, Steve Vernon, Piers Anthony, Charles Gramlich, and Marcie Lynn Tentchoff.  All of the stories come illustrated by Sean Simmans.

Most of the stories chosen by editor Keith Gouveia deserve to be included.  There are a few misses (as there will always be), but for the most part, this is an anthology of good, strong zombie stories.

Lee Thomas starts the anthology off with a three-paragraph-long story, "Tuesday."  While besieged by hungry zombies, a small group of survivors discovers that the two species are not quite as different as they thought.

Nate Southard's story, "Another Lonesome Day," brings one man's loneliness to a whole new level.  In "The Courting," Piers Anthony shows that even in a world full of zombies, there's no escaping sexual harassment.

One of the best stories of the lot is Drew Brown's "Run."  A father's love for his family is tested, and Brown paces the story perfectly for maximum effect.

Another stand-out story is Charles Gramlich's "Once Upon a Time with the Dead."  The story is action-packed, and you can almost see it playing out in your head as a movie.

Ed Dempster's "Carson's End" had a lot of potential, and the tone of the story made it interesting, but in the end it just failed to deliver.

Another story that I wouldn't have missed is "It's a Shame It Had to End Like This," by Michael Laimo.  The plot is interesting, and the story is well-written -- especially the action -- but the climax is told to the reader, rather than shown, and it's a bit of a letdown.

Overall, Bits of the Dead is a worthwhile collection of zombie flash fiction.  Horror fans will enjoy this book, especially those that are constantly on the go or prefer very short stories.  If you've read Bits of the Dead and are in search of another dark flash fiction anthology, try Book of Shadows from Brimstone Press.

Bits of the Dead is a 171-page paperback published by Coscom Entertainment and edited by Keith Gouveia.  The book is available online from AbeBooks and Amazon.

(Originally posted on Helium.com, June 2009)

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Book review: Hallows Eve, by Al Sarrantonio

Hallows Eve is the second tale in Al Sarrantonio's Orangefield series. Though it follows the first book, aptly named Orangefield, you can read them out of order without fear of missing any important details.

Orangefield is a small New England town, rustic and quaint, known for the large and robust crop of pumpkins it produces every year. Without the pumpkins, Orangefield would just be another Smalltown, USA.

Corrie Phaeder is an Orangefield native who escaped westward to become a photographer. However, the problems that drove him from his home town were a lot greater than the usual "I graduated high school and now I wanna get out of this place" variety. His life has been full of supernatural sights and sounds ever since he was seven, culminating in the violent death of his mother.

As the story begins, Corrie finds himself on a train back to Orangefield, just before Halloween. Once he steps foot off the train, he discovers that (cliche alert) the more things change, the more they stay the same. After a heart-to-heart with a pumpkin-headed scarecrow, Corrie realizes that everything that's been happening to him since he was seven was preparation for (yes, another cliche) an epic battle between good and evil.

Hallows Eve is the first Al Sarrantonio book I've read. I like his writing style as well as his vocabulary; both, combined with the story, make the book an enjoyable one. It's not excessively long, and I got the feeling it ended right where it should have.

Based on the cover art and the description of the book I read, I thought it would lean a lot more toward hardcore horror than it does. Except for a few scenes that border on slightly gory, the book reads like it could've been written for young adults. However, the story line is suspenseful and purposeful enough to keep adult readers well involved. The ending, certainly, could have been written for younger readers.

The only major downside (for me, at least) was the price. Hallows Eve is published by Cemetery Dance Productions (the same folks who put out Cemetery Dance Magazine), and it was originally available in only two editions, geared more toward collectors than toward the casual reader. Both editions of the book were signed by the author. The first was a limited hardcover edition, priced at $40, and the second was a fancier traycased edition (with full-cover artwork) that went for $175. However, since then the book has been released as a paperback, so you should be able to find a copy for six or seven bucks.

For horror fans, I would recommend reading Hallows Eve. It tells a fast-paced, involving story, without being over-the-top violent or gory. (Not that there's anything wrong with that, but sometimes it's nice to read a good horror story without it.)

Hallows Eve is out of print as a collectible hardcover from Cemetery Dance Productions, but is still available as a trade paperback or ebook from Barnes & Noble and other retailers.

(Originally posted on Helium.com, April 2009)

Book review: Breath Marks, by Gary Hotham

Breath Marks is a full-length collection of haiku from veteran poet Gary Hotham.  The book is tiny, small enough to fit in your pocket, and contains 81 haiku (82 including the title poem, printed on the back cover).

Hotham's introduction is titled "Why Poetry?" and focuses on the importance of words and poetry.  He illustrates an important facet of poetry (and more specifically, haiku) when he says, "...it's how the words are combined that's most important for the power and deep effect of the poem upon the reader."

It's obvious from Hotham's haiku that he takes great care in crafting his poems with regard to word choice and placement.  For example:

   outside the door

   daylight

   waits

This poem could have been worded many different ways, but Hotham chose those specific words and conveyed the haiku moment with a brevity that many experienced poets lack.  Hotham's control of language and format should not be surprising -- as well as a respected haiku poet, he is also assistant editor for the haiku journal Wisteria.

Breath Marks is nicely printed, with the haiku each given their own page.  There is even a table of contents, listing the poems by first line.  There are no sections or breaks -- just a hundred or so pages of good haiku.

   fog.

   sitting here

   without the mountains

The book ends with another short essay by the author, titled "Why Haiku?"  In these couple pages, Hotham discusses haiku in general, including the constricting form used by many beginners of three lines of five, seven, and five syllables each.  Hotham says that "in most cases three lines does it" for him -- indeed, almost all of the poems in this book are three lines, though there are a handful of one-, two-, and four-line haiku.

   my wife still asleep--

   snow piles up

   on the steps

Breath Marks was published by Canon Press in 1999, and it won first place in the Haiku Society of America's Merit Book Awards in 2000.  The book is available online from AbeBooks, Amazon, ThriftBooks, or directly from Canon Press (used to be $4; now $8).  Also on the publisher's website is a sampling of some of the poems from the collection.

For more information and analysis about Hotham and his haiku, read Vicki Ballentine's in-depth essay from 2004.  The article briefly discusses Breath Marks, and it also compares some of Hotham's haiku to those of other poets.

   soft rain

   a bubble

   on the water

   goes out

(Originally posted on Helium.com, June 2009)

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