(pb; 2017: third book in The Curburides Chronicles)
From the back cover
"What if you woke up in hell?
Alex hadn't really thought of what would happen after she dragged Ariana through the portal to close the gate between worlds. She hadn't given sacrificing herself a thought, she'd just wanted to end the demonic summoning before it was too late.But when Alex wakes up on the other side, in the world of the Curburide, she has to think fast if she ever wants to see Joe Kieran, or Earth, again. Her only ally is an occult serial killer. Demons are searching for both of them, and there's nothing demons love more than human fear and pain. They feed on it. In the world of the Curburide, demons are everywhere.
And they're hungry..."
Review
Redemption is
an excellent, fun, b-movie of a horror novel, with well-written characters,
explicit and hellacious sex, gore and reader-hooking (and fast-moving) storytelling.
Like its prequels, Covenant and Sacrifice, it is worth owning, with a finish
that leaves this not-for-the-squeamish series open to continuation while
successfully closing its immediate tale.
(pb; 2012)
From the back cover:
"When Rae broached the idea of visiting an underground sex club, Mark didn't blink. He should have. Because NightWhere is not your usual swingers club. Where it's held on any given night. . . only those who receive invitations know. Soon Rae is indulging her lust for pain. And Mark is warned by a beautiful stranger to take his wife away before it's too late.
"But it's already too late. Because Rae hasn't come home. Now Mark is in a race against time - to find NightWhere again and save his wife from the mysterious Watchers who run the club. To stop her from taking that last step through the degradations of The Red into the ultimate BDSM promise of The Black. More than just their marriage and her life is at stake: Rae is in danger of losing her soul."
Review:
Everson seamlessly melds agony and pleasure in this ultra-vivid, sex- and horror-graphic work. I had one minor nit with NightWhere at Chapter 26 where one of the main characters abruptly goes from being smart to becoming Plot Convenient Stupid by reversing a wise decision - a declaration - he had made a few pages prior. This forced set-up is a minor nit, one Everson to his credit tries to explain as a foible of human nature.
Most readers (I'm an editor and writer) probably won't be bothered by my aforementioned nit and Everson's writing is, as always, worth reading - and, in this case, worth owning.
(pb; 2009)
From the back cover:
"Castle House Lodge. A century ago it was an exclusive resort hotel. But for years it's stood empty, a haunting shadow of its former glories. Now, after twenty-five years of rumors and ghost stories, the overgrown grounds are showing signs of being tended. The building itself has been repaired. Castle House has new occupants.
"What was once a haven for the elite is now a madhouse, a private asylum for pregnant women. But are all the patients really insane? And is it just a coincidence that people have begun to disappear from the nearby town? David Shale's girlfriend is one of the missing, and he's determined to find the truth behind the mysterious Dr. Rockford and his house of secrets. He will learn the meaning of the red X painted on the basement door. . and he will know the ultimate fear, the horror of the 13th."
Review:
13th is a gleefully gory, often wry B-movie horror read that brings together the elements of small town horror, Satanism, medical horror, sex, a spooky abode, slasher flickdom and excellent, entertaining writing. This may be one of my favorite books from Everson, whose work is often impressive - worth owning, this.
(pb; 2010)
From the back cover:
"Night after night, Evan walked along the desolate beach, grieving over the loss of his son, drowned in an accident more than a year before. Then one night he was drawn to the luminous sound of a beautiful, naked woman singing near the shore in the moonlight. He watched mesmerized as the mysterious woman disappeared into the sea. Driven by desire and temptation, Evan returned to the spot every night until he found her again. Now he has begun a bizarre, otherworldly affair. A deadly affair. For Evan will soon realize that his seductive lover is a being far more evil and more terrifying than he ever imagined. He will learn the danger of falling into the clutches of the Siren."
Review:
Siren is a fun B-flick horror novel that sports a big sense of humor. In order to fully enjoy it (as I didn't), one should be okay with the fact that its lead character's supernatural obsession with the Siren (Ligeia) strains credulity. If you can get past that, you'll probably enjoy this book a lot.
What kept me reading Siren - which would made an excellent novella - was its fast-paced plot, its sometimes-funny dialogue (I love Evan's verbal exchanges with his friend Bill) and Everson's overall solid (despite its extended length) writing. By most writer's standards this is a good book, and it is, up to a point. However, when compared to Everson's genre-transcendant novels Covenant, Sacrifice and Violet Eyes, Siren feels like a missed opportunity at B-horror greatness, an overlong trifle.
Either check this out from the library or pick it up for a few bucks.
(oversized pb; 2013)
From the back cover:
"The small town near the Everglades was supposed to offer Rachel and her son a fresh start. Instead it offered the start of a nightmare, when an unknown breed of flies migrated through the area, leaving painful bites in their wake. The media warned people to stay inside until the swarm passed. But the flies didn't leave. And then the radios and TVs went silent.
"That's when the spiders came. Spiders that could spin a deadly web large enough to engulf an entire house overnight. Spiders that left stripped bones behind as they multiplied. Spiders that, like the flies, sought hungrily for tender flesh through Violet Eyes."
Review
Violet is a good, old school-style horror novel - it's got bugs, an abusive spouse, a legitimate corporate conspiracy and it's set in Passanattee (fictional, I'm guessing), Florida, where there's plenty of the aforementioned bugs. Everson's characters' actions and attitudes, if sometimes reader-frustrating, ring true - not only that, the author imbues these characters with surprising but believable character-balance impulses; the kill-scenes are creative and impressively cinematically icky; the straightforward writing kept me intrigued. . . in short, Everson's solid and spirited writing made feel like I was reading some of the experimental-nature-gone-bloodily-awry novels of my not-long-ago youth.
I didn't care for the ending, but it wasn't out of squeamishness regarding certain characters, it was a preference on my part. That said, it rang true - like the characters' behavior.
Worth owning, this.
(pb; 2007: second book in The Curburide Chronicles)
From the back cover:
"They are coming. They are a race of sadistic spirits known as the Curburide, and they are about to arrive in our world, bringing with them horrors beyond imagination. The secret to summoning - and controlling - them has fallen into the hands of a beautiful, sexy and dangerously insane woman.
"Ariana has dedicated her life to unleashing the demons in our realm through a series of human sacrifices, erotic rituals of seduction and slaughter. As she crosses the country, getting ever closer to completing her blood-drenched mission, only three figures stand in her way: an unwilling hero who has seen the horrors of the Curburide before, a burgeoning witch. . . and a spiteful demon with plans of his own."
Review:
I love reading sequels like this - follow-up tales that not only show the further adventures of characters I've grown fond of (or am fascinated by), but up the ante of the plot proceedings, while reworking the structure of the previous tale(s) into new storyline configurations.
Sacrifice accomplishes this, with seeming ease. Like Covenant, it's a burn-through-that-sucker read, one with an ending that deftly avoids leave-room-for-a-sequel horror clichés (though he could easily continue this series if he wanted to).
Great, genre-veracious read. Worth owning, this.
Followed by Redemption.
(pb; 2004, 2008: first book in The Curburide Chronicles)
From the back cover:
"To the residents of the sleepy coastal town of Terrel, the cliffs of Terrel's Peak are a deadly place, an evil place where terrible things happen. Like a series of mysterious teen suicides over the years, all on the same date. Or other deaths, usually reported as accidents. Could it be a coincidence? Or is there more to it? Reporter Joe Kieran is determined to find the truth.
"Kieran's search will lead him deep into the town's hidden past, a past filled with secrets and horror, and to the ruins of the old lighthouse atop the tragic cliffs. He will uncover rumors and whispered legends - including the legend of the evil entity that lives and waits in the caves below Terrel's Peak."
Review:
This novel - winner of the Bram Stoker Award - has a familiar set-up (small coastal town horror, sacrifices disguised as suicides and accidents, outsider digging through town's dark past, etc.), but Everson's taut tale-telling, emotionally complex characters and the natural panache of his writing render any criticism of the set-up's familiarity moot.
Everson clearly knows that he's using ideas that have provided the skeletons of many other horror novels, but like most above-average writers, he's toying with these (possible) clichés in a masterful, all-thrills way.
There are no wasted words in this burn-through read of a horror tale, a tale that has an ending that could either be a chilling finish or a natural set-up for a sequel.
Worth owning, this.
Followed by Sacrifice.
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Additional note: Covenant could also provide the basis for an excellent cult b-movie, if the right talent made it, e.g. the film version of Jack Ketchum's Offspring (sequel to Ketchum's Off Season).
