Book Review: The River Has Roots, by Amal El-Mohtar
The novella is a retelling of a reasonably well-known fairytale murder ballad, so alert readers may anticipate some of the story beats. There are two sisters, and a suitor, and a warning from beyond via music. But even if a reader has an idea of where the story is going, there are bends in this river of a plot.
Book Review: Coyote Run, by Lilith Saintcrow
Coyote Run is a standalone work. However, Saintcrow’s website calls it “the first Amazing Tale of Antifascist Action,” so I am hopeful that more stories will follow in this setting, especially if this novella does well, which it certainly deserves!
Book Review: The Dead Cat Tail Assassins
In all, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is a lean and mean novella that goes down like liquid fire and leaps through the reader’s mind like dancing across rooftops in Tal Abisi.
Book Review: HOLLOW TONGUE by Eden Royce
… Known for her Southern Gothic horror writing, Royce writes with the same genre vibes in Hollow Tongue, but approaches the field in unexpected ways that emphasize the psychological horror of trauma and symbolism…
Book Review: THE TUSKS OF EXTINCTION by Ray Nayler
It touches on big issues, features biological speculation that is near and dear to me, but it does all this without skimping on character-driven aspects and precise language that evokes empathy and reflection.
Book Review: 12 HOURS by L. Marie Wood
The reader of L. Marie Wood’s short novella 12 Hours will realize what has happened to this cabbie long before he grasps the truth about himself. And that’s an integral part of the construction of the novella, of how Wood is directing the reader’s emotions and connection to her protagonist through his psychological horror.
