The Dead Don’t Speak is an entertaining read, especially for a late-night goosebump. At 75 pages, it makes for a fun-creepy bedtime story, something to cuddle down into the blankets with to scare the heebiejeebies out of you as you drift off — if you can afterwards!
The story focuses on a young man who has committed a serious and fatal crime, the victim of which begins to haunt him.
The novella unfolds as nearly all dialogue, which makes for a very quick read. That said, the depth of the characters remains somewhat shallow, and at times it is difficult to distinguish who said what, as the protagonist and their tormenter often share a similar voice. Olson’s prose is fairly well done, but the novella as a whole lacks a depth I expect from horror of this gothic-style, reflective genre.
The Hidden Secrets of NOLA: Stories by Laura Daleo, Fern Miller, Savanna Loy, Rhonda Bobbitt, & Preston Allen
This was the perfect Halloween read and one that I’d been looking forward to for several weeks! I saw the book in one of the FB groups I’m in and I put in a pre-order for the ebook (something I rarely do). It did not disappoint! This anthology of five tales set in New Orleans conjures the mystique and history of that city’s famous French quarter; the stories force the reader to reconsider their notions of the supernatural, to wonder if darkness is really the evil we assume it is. Laura Daleo’s short story about what happens when Death meets an innocent is one of these tales which gets the reader wondering about the nature of evil and compassion, how they are two sides of the same coin. Rhonda Bobbit’s tale delivers the shivers; two sisters, Rose and Lydia are haunted by a family heirloom and an inheritance they did not expect. Fern Miller, a romance writer, takes us in another direction, trading on the lust and romance of New Orleans. It is a place where lovers escape to — or attempt to escape each other –but fate always has its plans for us. Preston Allen’s story, Crossed at the Cafe, was my favorite of the five; a story revolving the hoodoo that NOLA is famous for. Powerful curses and malevolent witches deliver the shivers in this tale. Savanna Loy’s Borrowed Bayou was my second favorite story here. This was a dark tale as well. The Laguerre family hides a terrible secret; they’ve made a pact that must be kept, or thousands might lose their lives.
This is a diverse collection of tales. Readers are sure to find at least one which appeals to them. They are, on the whole, well-written and conceived. Each one evokes a different characteristic of the city: its dark history, its romance, its mystery, its portals into the underbelly of humanity. These tales record the bargains we must make; here, these are the bargains New Orleans extracts from all who visit it. Some of pacts deliver unexpected happy endings. Certainly all of the stories here make the reader wonder what they might do in the same situation.
The Blackout of Markus Moore: A Novel by Dan Grylles
As I expand my literary horizons out to self-published and independently published novels, I find myself also drawn to genres I wouldn’t normally choose for myself, in this case, thrillers. I’ve only ever occasionally read mysteries and thrillers, though in retrospect, after reading them I find I’ve deeply enjoyed the suspense.
Suspense is one of the appeals of The Blackout of Markus Moore and it has it in abundance. Indeed its mystery is spun out to the very end. For readers who enjoy domestic thrillers, reflective and tortured unreliable narrators, and edge-of-your-seat urgency, this is the novel for you.
The novel opens — and reads — like a blockbuster film, with a bang (literally) and the blackout of the its eponymous protagonist. Markus is blind to his past, to his present, and finds himself chasing who he is just as much as he finds himself being chased relentlessly by others. This is a man born under an unlucky sign, but there is the possibility that he has designed this complicated constellation himself — and is now the victim of his own making. Readers may find themselves both rooting for and against Markus; even he himself isn’t entirely sure of his role in all this mess. I will leave it to the reader to discover the outcomes themselves.
But they should know there is little time to catch their breath; the novel accelerates, rather than slows down. There is no lull in this thriller. Moreoever, it culminates in an unpredictable, surprise ending. At 256 pages, the novel delivers its payload quickly, which, for some readers who dread heart palpitations, this will be a relief. Though, I imagine, most readers who favor thrillers will love the breath-catching factor of this novel.
Grylles’ prose sets the quick pace of the novel; it is straightforward and succinct, even while it permits the reader — and the novel’s characters — time to ruminate and reflect on events. This is a plot driven novel which proceeds much as a film of its genre would, with one thing leading catastrophically to another. That said, its characters — Markus, Maria, Clark, and even Jackie — are fully fleshed out individuals, visible to the reader both in terms of their physical representations and as players in the fatal cat and mouse game that runs Markus into a frenzy.
Overall, The Blackout of Markus Moore is well-crafted, both in its delivery and conceptualization, a true seat-gripper of a thriller. Readers who would like to purchase it may find it on Amazon here in paperback for $11.99 or read it as an ebook via Kindle Unlimited (subscription required).
House on Fire utterly gutted me; I very nearly cried — and I am not easily moved. As a historian I am immersed in our collective debris, the ugliness of humanity constantly. But this novel’s humanity, the harsh, honest, and all too familiar trauma of the human experience it brings to the fore struck me hard, so much so the reader in me dreaded and welcomed its final pages. Several times I had to set down this novel, take in a breath, take a break.
House on Fire belongs to that category of novel which epitomizes literature’s ideal. Like Ian McEwan’s moral-bending work or Nadifa Mohamed’s The Fortune Men, House on Fire forces the reader to reflect deeply, demands the reader challenge their own existence, choices, life. Its tagline is apt: How far would you go to keep a promise? This novel forced me to consider my own ethics, my own values, the relationships of my own life.
I will not forget this book.
The opening line alone will arrest you. It delivers the novel’s premise, one which confronts the reader and its protagonist immediately: Bernadette, an ICU nurse is asked to euthanize a man by his wife, but this is beyond a professional request: the man is her father, the wife her mother. The reader becomes witness to a far more complicated situation that one of abstract ethics, should she or shouldn’t she? It becomes personal in much deeper ways. The reader is immersed in the life of a family, chapters retreating back in time provide a full view of Bernadette; her sister Colleen and brother Adam; her mother and father. Bernadette’s life is, like our own, far more entangled than it would seem; there is also her “ex”, Shayne and her son, Jax, her best friend and colleague, Kara, Kara’s husband, Eliot, Colleen’s husband, Liam and their nine children. Their relationships and struggles, as portrayed in House on Fire identify and challenge the obligations and bonds between parents and children, children to their parents, between siblings, between spouses. What do we owe? What are we owed in return? Is “owe” even the right word here? Maybe, maybe not.
The novel unfolds over the course of a few weeks, but transports us to other times and places as well; in that short and interminable length of the time, a number of events occur, both traumatic and mundane, devastating and reconciliatory. A House on Fire is a portrait of real life.
The beginning conundrum is one which threads through the entire book: Will Bernadette help euthanize her father? Will fate force her decision? Is her decision even hers to make? The ending will leave the reader — as it did this one — in tears or close to it. This reader found these to be tears of relief and sadness, tears of grief for the loss of the past and tears of gratitude for what has been gained in return.
House of Fire was published March, 2023 and can be purchased from Amazon here for $12.99 for the paperback, $2.99 for the Kindle, or free with Kindle Unlimited. The novel is 274 pages.
Dr JoAnn LoSavio 