Resident Alien: Your Ride's Here by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse

 

(pb; 2020, 2021: graphic novel, collecting issues 1-6 of the Dark Horse miniseries. Volume 6 of the six-volume Resident Alien graphic novel series, published by Dark Horse Comics.)

From the back cover

“Harry’s learned a lot about himself and the possibility that other aliens have been stranded on Earth, too. He needs to figure out what to do with Honey, the only resident in Patience, USA, who sees him in his true alien form, as well as deal with his feelings toward Asta, his best friend. Brad and Amanda’s wedding day draws near. Dan is concerned about Harry’s safety, and a sinister federal agent pretending to be a new Patience resident visits Harry’s clinic for a checkup!”

 

Review

Ride’s, the (possibly) final entry in the five-book Resident graphic novel series, is as gentle, intriguing, character-centric and vibe-true as its predecessor books. In this one, romance is on the rise as Amanda and Bradley prepare to get married, but not without a hitch involving Amanda’s daughter (Honey, the only human in Patience who can see Harry’s true form). There’s also a paint ball sniper loose in the small town, one that isn’t fond of cops, as well as a federal agent (Mr. Jones) getting closer to sussing out Harry’s alien identity. And Ethan, Harry’s vacation-replacement doctor, might be more than he and others originally thought.

Ride’s is excellent in its quiet way, like the books that came before it. The stories, characters, and hybrid genre elements are emotionally effective, well-edited and feel organic, making this a seamless, engaging and mildly twisty finish for the Resident series. Worth owning, this.

The Creature from Beyond Infinity by Henry Kuttner

 

(pb; 1940)

From the back cover

“Like a great, lethal snake, plague creeps through the galaxies. No conscious entity can halt its progress, and life is slowly draining from planet after planet.

“Only one super-intelligence is capable of preventing cataclysm. To do it, he must penetrate far beyond infinity─to the formless, deathless creature out to kill the universe.”

 

Review

Plot: Ardath, an alien (a Kyrian), early in Earth’s history, begins traveling through time to gather a group of super-intelligent humans from different periods, to create a race of “mental giants,” wise super-beings to counter an entropic, plague-bearing cloud making its way through the universe. Of course, as with anything involving humans, things go awry─beginning with crafty caveman Thordred,, and culminating with the super-smart Stephen Court, born in the early twentieth century.

Creature is a fun, fast-moving, pulpy, and Conan the Barbarian-esque/hurly-burlish read. It has an episodic feel, with comic book-y elements of what (these days) might be called sexism: Court’s potential girlfriend, Marion, is shown as ditzy, even though she’s a scientist; several of the barely sketched characters are little more than racial stereotypes, though they’re otherwise respectfully presented. For readers who can get past those last two elements─relatively light and briefly mentioned for its era─this could be a well-written, feels-like-it-was-dashed-out science fiction/action distraction to kill an hour or two.

Jaws 2 by Hank Searls

 

(pb; 1978: loosely linked movie tie-in novel. Sequel to Peter Benchley's Jaws.)

Review

Caveat: possible (mini-)spoilers in this review.

Story: a year after the shark attacks (called “The Trouble” by Amity citizens), a local female shark impregnated by the one in the first book, follows oceanic currents back to the tragedy-beleaguered town, and a new cycle of nautical terror begins.

Searl’s well-written, entertaining sequel expands on the themes, characters, and events of Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel rather than the stripped-down film version of Jaws. Like Jaws, the book and film versions of Jaws 2 are considerably different from each other─and separate entities, despite their common elements. This first book sequel to Benchley’s work is a good beach read, one worth owning.

Followed by Hank Searls’s Jaws:The Revenge.

Differences between Searl’s novel and the Jeannot Szwarc-helmed movie include:

The book is grittier, darker, and has more gore than its filmic counterpart, and the shark is more sympathetic in the book, as she’s pregnant and starving (something that’s not mentioned in the movie, which treats the shark as another random stroke of bad luck for Amity). The book’s backstories also make the second shark’s return more believable.

In the film, Martin Brody knows about the new shark early on. In the book, he suspects there might be one, but is not given proof of it until near the end.

Searls expands on Benchley’s mafia/corruption subplot, with a summer-tourist regular, Shuffles Moscotti─big-time gangster─quietly, through illegal channels, investing in an Amity casino that could save the town from economic ruin, a downward trend started by the first shark. Moscotti, through his actions, is a major character in the book. The film version of Jaws doesn’t mention Moscotti or the casino.

Another character, Charlie Jepps─baby seal-shooting tourist cop from Flushing, New York─is only in the book. (Seems he didn’t know about the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which dictates a yearlong imprisonment and a “twenty grand” penalty fine.)

In the film, the water-skiing tourist (a woman) and the boat driver (a woman) are killed by the shark attack and resulting boat explosion. In the book, it’s the boat driver is a man, the skier his wife.

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The streamlined sequel film, which eschews at least half of the book’s story (to its cinematic detriment), was released stateside on June 16, 1978. Jeannot Szwarc directed it, from a screenplay by Carl Gottlieb and Howard Sackler.

Roy Scheider reprised his role of Martin Brody (from Jaws, 1975). Lorraine Gary reprised her role of Ellen Brody. Mark Gruner played Mike Brody, the Brodys’ adolescent son. Marc Gilpin played Sean Brody, their younger son.

Jeffrey Kramer reprised his role of Len Hendricks. Murray Hamilton reprised his role of Mayor Larry Vaughn. Joseph Mascolo played Peterson.

Keith Gordon played Doug, the book-nerdy friend of the popular teens. Donna Wilkes played the often-screaming Jackie, the bad-influence girl who’s caught Mike Brody’s attention.

Coffin Shadows by Glenn Krisch and Mark Steensland

 

(pb; 2020: novella)

From the back cover

“12 YEARS AGO.

“Janet Martlee’s infant son died under mysterious circumstances. Consumed with grief and anger, she ran away to start again. . .

“YESTERDAY

“A 12-year old body with dead eyes appeared in her classroom, begging for help. But Janet doesn’t’ believe in ghosts.

“TODAY

“Her psychiatrist tells her she must return home to confront her past and uncover the mystery of what happened.

“Only some questions don’t want to be answered.

“And some answers hide in the shadows. . .”

 

Review

Coffin is an entertaining, fast-moving, and tightly written mainstream thriller whose 117-page storyline and characters ring true within their B-movie set-up─a young woman returns to her long-abandoned hometown and discovers that tragedies and fortunes that seem like random luck are anything but. To say anymore might spoil the genre-familiar-but-immersive-and-tidily-presented elements that make up Coffin. Worth owning, this.

Testament by David Morrell

 

(pb; 1975, 1991)

From the back cover

“Reporter Reuben Bourne has broken a promise─to cast a paramilitary white supremacy group in a favorable light. Now, one basically peaceful man, one with a paradoxical attraction for violence, must confront a force of unrelenting hate. Somehow, he must survive─as he leads his family on a desperate flight into a wilderness as unforgiving as the fanatical humans who pursue him.”

Review

Testament is a near-impossible-to-set-down, grim survival thriller. Morrell’s writing balances nuanced understanding about his characters’ emotional states and blunt nature-survival and action writing, as Bourne and his family (wife Claire and eight-year-old daughter Sarah) flee into the wilderness to escape the patient, relentless killers who’ve come to get their revenge on the writer with a secret sin. There are some truly disturbing events in this entertaining, intense novel, and the ending─which could go nasty or otherwise─is character true. Testament is not recommended for those who cannot stand to see children or women menaced, possibly harmed and killed.

Dune: The Lady of Caladan by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

 

(hb; 2021: second novel in the Caladan Trilogy. Twenty-first novel in the Dune series.)

From the inside flap

“Lady Jessica, mother of Paul and consort to Duke Leto Atreides. The choices she made shaped an empire, but first the Lady of Caladan must reckon with her own betrayal of the Bene Gesserit. She has already betrayed her ancient order, but now she must decide if her loyalty to the Sisterhood is more important than her love of her own family.

“Meanwhile, events in the greater empire are accelerating beyond the control of even the Reverend Mother, and Lady Jessica’s family is on a collision course with destiny.”

 

Review

Lady picks up immediately after the cliffhanger-ish, events of Dune: The Duke of Caladan. Like many of the second books in Herbert and Anderson’s Dune trilogies, it warmed me toward many of the characters introduced in their preceding, first-in-the-trilogies books. Also typical─in the best way possible─of other Dune books, Herbert and Anderson masterfully weave complex, galaxy-altering storylines and character relationships while penning well-written space soap-operatic action and scheming, all of which deepens characters and cleverly fills in the time gaps existing within the Dune timeline. Streamlined (by Dune-series standards) and smartly riveting, this is an excellent mainstream science fiction novel that made me wish that the third entry in the Caladan Trilogy, Dune:The Heir of Caladan, was already published so I could immediately read it.