Protracted but deliciously creepy explorations of the macabre.
In Mavrodi’s (Apocalypse, 2013) first installment of a series, the devil’s own son causes multiple grotesque events.
Fishing alongside his trusty Great Dane, Fedor is having a pleasant time until he witnesses a troubling scene: “He recognized the elusive, infernal posture—the icy, frozen restraint and the stillness of the ghoul who had just risen out of the grave.” Fedor flees his campsite only to return the next day and find that his friendly dog has changed (“the stillness of the dog was unnatural”). Fast-forward to Viktor, a computer programmer going through a rough patch with his wife, Masha. After their apartment is visited by a “grim-looking old man,” Viktor is launched into a state of paranoia, amplified by a Great Dane Masha brings home. He dreams his wife has sex with the dog; afterward, Masha and Viktor engage in lovemaking that leaves Viktor feeling “as if it was not him who made love to his own wife but someone else.” Soon, the previously barren Masha announces she is pregnant. Other characters find themselves in similarly fantastic and unfortunate situations; for example, Igor sells his soul on television and deals with the consequences, and Andrey struggles to survive an unforgiving forest. The stories—interspersed with conversations between Lucifer and his son—contain their share of terror and brutality. Fans of Tales from the Crypt-like fare will find a similar world of the hapless and the morbid, such as a man who sees a note, signed by his wife, which approves the use of his body for necrophilia. The dialogue needs trimming (one character explains, “There’s 10 grand in every pack. Here, hundred euro bills in every pack, 100 euros, 100 bills in a pack, 100 times 100—10,000”), but an overall sense of desperation will rivet readers.
Protracted but deliciously creepy explorations of the macabre.Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-942981-32-9
Page Count: 498
Publisher: W & B Publishers Inc.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A satisfyingly streamlined World War II thriller.
During the Nazi occupation of Paris, an architect devises ingenious hiding places for Jews.
In architect Belfoure’s fiction debut, the architectural and historical details are closely rendered, while the characters are mostly sketchy stereotypes. Depraved Gestapo colonel Schlegal and his torturer lackeys and thuggish henchmen see their main goal as tracking down every last Jew in Paris who has not already been deported to a concentration camp. Meanwhile, Lucien, an opportunistic architect whose opportunities have evaporated since 1940, when the Germans marched into Paris, is desperate for a job—so desperate that when industrialist Manet calls upon him to devise a hiding place for a wealthy Jewish friend, he accepts, since Manet can also offer him a commission to design a factory. While performing his factory assignment (the facility will turn out armaments for the Reich), Lucien meets kindred spirit Herzog, a Wehrmacht officer with a keen appreciation of architectural engineering, who views capturing Jews as an ill-advised distraction from winning the war for Germany. The friendship makes Lucien’s collaboration with the German war effort almost palatable—the money isn’t that good. Bigger payouts come as Manet persuades a reluctant Lucien to keep designing hideouts. His inventive cubbyholes—a seamless door in an ornamental column, a staircase section with an undetectable opening, even a kitchen floor drain—all help Jews evade the ever-tightening net of Schlegal and his crew. However, the pressure on Lucien is mounting. A seemingly foolproof fireplace contained a disastrous fatal flaw. His closest associates—apprentice Alain and mistress Adele—prove to have connections to the Gestapo, and, at Manet’s urging, Lucien has adopted a Jewish orphan, Pierre. The Resistance has taken him for short drives to warn him about the postwar consequences of collaboration, and his wife, Celeste, has left in disgust. Belfoure wastes no time prettying up his strictly workmanlike prose. As the tension increases, the most salient virtue of this effort—the expertly structured plot—emerges.
A satisfyingly streamlined World War II thriller.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-8431-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
Perfectly fine despite second-book syndrome.
Cerúlia must grow up and learn to fight for her destiny in Kozloff’s (A Queen in Hiding, 2020) second Nine Realms novel.
Her mother, the Queen of Weirandale, is dead, and Cerúlia isn’t a child any more. She’s left her adoptive peasant family in order to escape evil Lord Matwyck’s clutches and eventually escapes Weirandale altogether. Using her ability to talk to animals and several bird-related aliases, Cerúlia manages to trek her way over the mountains and into the nation of Oromondo. Cerúlia knows that the Oros killed her mother, and she wants to avenge her death. She’s heard of a group of raiders who work to disrupt the Oros as they invade and pillage neighboring nations. When Cerúlia finally manages to find them and convince them to let her join up, she discovers not only new friends, but a newfound sense of purpose. But is any of that enough to win back her throne or even save herself from the Oro army? Interspersed with Cerúlia’s plotline are various threads centering on the Oro army and people, Lord Matwyck’s kindhearted son, and the raiders themselves. This is the second of a four-part series, and, as such, it falls into the expected pitfalls. The self-contained plot works, but it inevitably feels more like a buildup to further books in the series than its own story. It rises above filler, though, and Kozloff is clearly laying the groundwork for something good, particularly with the very last chapter.
Perfectly fine despite second-book syndrome.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-16856-6
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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