Sally Mitts And The Land Of Imagination by Shain Stodt


Sally Mitts And The Land Of Imagination by Shain Stodt
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

It all begins when Sally spies shoes that are walking – without any feet! Led to a mysterious red door, she enters a fantastical world where the imagination holds sway – where what you can imagine, you can do! Paint the sky in bold new colors. Play on the ceiling. Fly an airplane through the stars! Anything is possible if you believe in yourself.

Come with Sally and her new friends, Clair the opera-singing hare and Jack the floating snail, as they explore wonders and challenges: A hungry fog monster who saps dreams away. A rainbow lake where the joyful Gollyphants live, their raucous dancing making the waves shimmer and shake. Meet a snobbish mole, the Big Word Lummox, who rouses Jack’s competitive energy – with hilarious results!

Nothing is too much for Sally to handle!

Without sharing spoilers, the characters faced a villain that was large and seemed hard to defeat. My favorite scene was when they figured out a possible way to defeat him. It was such a sweet way to introduce some conflict into this tale and remind little ones that there are many ways to cope with things that seem a little scary at first.

I would have loved to see more attention paid to explaining why Sally’s previous family never seemed to search for her very hard or what her new family was like. These are such important aspects of any pet’s life that it surprised me to see them glossed over. This is something I’m saying as a reader who loves this series and hopes it will continue to be published for a long time yet. Sally is a wonderful little cat, but there are important pieces of her story that I think should be filled in.

With that being said, I enjoyed the focus on developing a strong imagination. Thinking deeply about things, no matter whether they’re serious or maybe a little silly, is a fantastic way to pass the time. There is definitely something to be said for learning to amuse oneself quietly without relying on any outside distractions to make it fun. That is a skill that everyone should have.

This is the second picture book in a series that is best read in order.

Sally Mitts And The Land Of Imagination was cute.

The Dying of the Year by MS Morris


The Dying of the Year by MS Morris
Publisher: Landmark Media
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A hit and run. A suspicious death. A vendetta.

Sam Earnshaw’s recovery from a year-long coma should be an occasion for celebration. Instead, he reveals that the hit and run incident that left him close to death was no accident. Someone deliberately pushed him into the path of a speeding vehicle.

As DCI Tom Raven leads the investigation into the attempted murder, he soon uncovers a web of dark secrets and lies. The attempt on Sam’s life is not the first time a killer has struck.

And it won’t be the last.

As the bodies mount up, Raven is forced into a race against time, whilst facing serious questions about his own life and future.

After a full year of sitting by the bedside of her comatose boyfriend, Becca is thrilled when – against all the odds – Sam finally wakes up. She is horrified, however, when Sam tells her the hit and run which had led to his coma all this time was an accident. Sam quickly insists this was not an accident at all, but that he’d been solidly pushed in front of that oncoming van. Becca rushes to tell her boss, DCI Raven and the team quickly goes about reinvestigating the case from a year earlier. Can they uncover what really went on after all this time?

I have been thoroughly enjoying this series and was pleased that this third installment was just as well plotted and well written as the two previous books. While the authors have a somewhat bad habit of strongly teasing the following book in the final few pages of the present book – not quite a cliffhanger ending but more than just a foreshadowing or tease – I can find little else that is wrong with this series. I enjoy the small and well-rounded cast of characters. The four main members of the team are well drawn and unique enough I can easily enjoy their strengths and weaknesses. I was also very impressed that this book – as have the others – stood well alone. There is very little baggage left over from previous books and so I strongly feel readers can pick this book by itself and still thoroughly enjoy the mystery within.

I was pleased a blast from Raven’s past came back into this story. There is very little carry over from his previous life in London and I saw this small opening into Raven’s past both interesting and well plotted into the story. The ongoing renovation to Raven’s house – a small bit of normalcy and amusement to my mind – helps keep the story rooted in reality and the different layers to the main mystery plot were all well handled.

Readers who enjoy a slightly slower paced British police procedural style of story should find this an enjoyable read and worth their time. I found the plot was woven quite well together and entirely believable.

Dead Man’s Lane by Kate Ellis


Dead Man’s Lane by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Some paths lead only to the grave . . .

Strangefields Farm is notorious for its sinister history ever since artist Jackson Temples lured young women there to model for disturbing works of art. Some of those girls never left the house alive.

Now, decades later, Strangefields is to be transformed into a holiday village, but the developer’s hopes of its dark history being forgotten are dashed when a skull is found on the site. And when a local florist is found murdered in an echo of Temples’ crimes, DI Wesley Peterson fears that a copy-cat killer is at large. Especially when another brutal murder in a nearby village appears to be linked.

As Wesley’s friend, archaeologist Dr Neil Watson, uncovers the secrets of Strangefields’ grisly past, it seems that an ancient tale of the dead returning to torment the living might not be as fantastical as it seems. And Wesley must work fast to discover who’s behind the recent murders . . . before someone close to him is put in danger.

Decades after Strangefield’s Farm became infamous as the place where Jackson Temples lured many women to be his disturbing works of art – and a number of the young women were never seen or heard from again – it’s dark history is once more coming into focus. A skull is found in the cellar floor as building works begin, only for two more skeletons to quickly be unearthed. DI Wesley Peterson is curious but not overly concerned until a local florist is found murdered in an eerily similar style to that of Temples’ victims. Is a copy cat killer among them, or is something far more sinister at play here?

This is a long running series I have been enjoying and while I don’t feel this is the strongest book in the series it is still a very well written and I found it to be a highly enjoyable British Police Procedural. A few of the main themes have been thoroughly explored in previous books so at times I felt a little like this book was a rehash of previous novels.

I think possibly if it had just been one theme I might have overlooked it, but Della, Wesley’s mother in law, was being a bit of a pain, and then Rachel and Wesley spent a night in a motel for work and came close – again – to crossing the professional line, and then add in a woman from Wesley’s long distant past caught up with him for lunch and his wife, Pam, misread the signals she saw all happening within the space of the one book really made me feel as if the author was somewhat padding out the story. I would have honestly much preferred to have had another link in the historical/archaeology excavations and Neil’s plotline rather than all three rehashed Wesley’s personal life storylines, had the word count been a little low and the author needed to add in a few extra chapters.

That said, I did honestly find the main murder mystery and the current day police investigation was quite well written and I thoroughly enjoyed the twists revolving around Grace – the very long distant friend/girlfriend of Wesley’s – and her re-meeting the dead ex-lover. I thought that aspect to the plot, along with the incarcerated Jackson Temples was very well paced, well written and deeply interesting. I also enjoyed how, as usual, the book itself can be fairly easily picked up with little or no previous knowledge of this cast of characters and this world and still highly enjoyed.

While not the strongest book in the series this is still an enjoyable British police procedural style of murder mystery, and I enjoyed it.

The Crossroads Hotel by Karen Avizur


The Crossroads Hotel by Karen Avizur
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

Welcome to the crossroads, where hospitality reigns supreme for the guests who are anything but human.

Marjorie has spent the last two years managing the Crossroads Hotel and Diner, a roadside stop in rural Missouri with a guest list that’s anything but ordinary. The locals are one thing, but it’s the visitors from other dimensions that keep her on her toes. Now, as she trains her new assistant, Josh, he’s quickly learning that dealing with shapeshifters and ageless little girls is just part of the job. But when an unexpected earthquake shakes more than the ground beneath them, Marjorie and Josh discover something far stranger is at play, and it’s no mere anomaly. At a hotel where the bizarre is business as usual, handling the changes might just be the toughest check-in yet.

The customer is always right in supernatural matters.

One of my favorite aspects of this tale involved the backstories of the human characters. It takes a special sort of person to work at The Crossroads Hotel, especially on days when paranormal activity is much higher than usual. Some visitors can do and say alarming things, for example, and not everyone who stays at this hotel is necessarily who or what they appear to be. It made sense, then, that so many of the human employees had good reasons for wanting to work at such an unpredictable place instead of a nice, quiet hotel in another city.

The ending was what convinced me to select a full five-star rating for this piece. Looking back, there were a few clues I hadn’t fully understood at the time that could nudge a reader in this direction, but they could have also been interpreted in wildly different ways, too. I adored the surprise waiting for me in the last few scenes and thought it was executed beautifully. It fit the storyline and character development nicely, and it was also just plain fun to read.

The world building was strong and intriguing. Ms. Avizur created a comfortable but unusual setting where humans coexisted with all sorts of other sentient creatures. The rhythms of hotel life were sometimes interrupted by otherworldly conflicts, but I was honestly just as interested in the ordinary aspects of keeping guests from such a wide variety of backgrounds happy. Customer service remains the same everywhere even if one’s customers happen to be furry or immortal.

The Crossroads Hotel made me yearn for more. The sequel can’t appear quickly enough for my tastes!

Doctor Chronos by Othello Gooden Jr.


Doctor Chronos by Othello Gooden Jr.
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Time is not in our side but is for one… Or is it?

Dr. Sigma Mellis is a young quantum physicist that lives on a Space Station in orbit of the Moon, commonly known as the Lunar Space Station. She believed she had a breakthrough on discovering something revolutionary. Everyone around her believed she could achieve this dream… Making Time Travel a reality-Everyone except her father. Furthermore, his constant negative attitude about her life choices continues to sap her energy.

Sigma is determined to make her old man believe that this dream of hers is attainable. The best revenge is one that proves all haters wrong-but how far is one willing to go in order to reach that goal?

The past doesn’t have to be set in stone.

There aren’t many science fiction stories these days that are written as a series of journal entries from what I’ve found. It’s always a treat to find one that uses this format as it makes me feel like I’m discovering new plot twists right alongside the main character. A single day can be quiet and calm, but it can also be filled with revelations about what is really happening with secondary characters that the protagonist might not know much about yet. May other speculative fiction authors take note of this and bring this sort of storytelling back into vogue.

It would have been helpful to have more details in this tale. I struggled to imagine what was happening in certain scenes because of how little information I had about what the people and setting looked like in them. As much as I would have liked to give this one a higher rating, I needed more from it in order to feel comfortable doing so.

I enjoyed reading about the extrapolations Mr. Gooden made about what could happen if time travel were real. They reached much further into the character’s present lives and backstories than I thought they would, and they made reading later scenes exciting as Sigma realized over and over again that her life had once again changed in ways she never would have predicted it might.

Doctor Chronos was filled with adventure.

The American Weekly Covers Of Edmund Dulac 1924-1951 by Albert Seligman


The American Weekly Covers Of Edmund Dulac 1924-1951 by Albert Seligman
Publisher: Dulace Books
Genre: Non-Fiction, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Inspirational, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Much has been written about Edmund Dulac’s mastery of art deco and design since his death in May of 1953. He was born in Toulouse, France in 1882 and was educated as a lawyer, although he rebelled and later studied art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He is best known as one of the giants of the ‘Golden Age of Illustration’ along with Arthur Rackham and Kay Nielsen. His beautiful watercolor book illustrations are still in print today, and the original first editions are scarce and highly valued.

Dulac emigrated to England from France in 1904 and he was in London at exactly the right time for the invention of color separation photographic reproduction. Prior to the color separation process printers relied on wood blocks or expensive and complicated chromo-lithography to include color illustrations in their books. Most illustrators (Arthur Rackham and W. Heath Robinson, for example) used line drawings to hold the difference in the color changes. Dulac was a watercolorist and this new technique allowed him to paint the colors just as he would normally, without bold lines defining his subjects. He received numerous commissions for the new ‘gift books’ with full color tipped-in plates mounted on heavy art paper. He began an arrangement with both Leicester Galleries and Hodder & Stoughton, the book publishers, to paint watercolors for their illustrated gift book editions which would be sold in the gallery exhibit once a year. He produced fifty oriental style drawings for The Arabian Nights in 1907, forty drawings for an edition of The Tempest in 1908, twenty watercolors, again in his now signature orientalism style, for The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in 1909. Subsequent editions were The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales in 1910, Stories from Hans Christian Andersen in 1911, and twenty-eight watercolors with dozens of line illustrations for The Bells and Other Poems byEdgar Allan Poe in 1912.

In 1923, “Edmund Dulac, the Distinguished English Artist,”as he was billed on the front covers, was contracted by the Hearst organization to paint watercolors for The American Weekly magazine, the Sunday supplement for the newspapers. The contract lasted nearly 30 years. Dulac painted 106 watercolors from 1924-1951 for thirteen different series for The American Weekly. Although these watercolors were highly praised at the time, their reproduction was only sporadic, with some appearing in The Illustrated London News over the years, and once in a 1936 picture book titled Gods and Mortals in Love.

The American Weekly illustrations in this book were photographed from the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art, which was owned and operated by Bill Blackbeard. After Bill’s passing in 2011, the entire collection was moved to The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University.

This 100th anniversary edition contains all the series with some of his other illustrations. They have been restored as well as possible, as many of the front covers had deteriorated over the years. I have also published these illustrations in more detail in a series of six books, with the original captions. They are available as eBooks and will also be released as print editions.

These pieces of art are worth much more than a thousand words.

It’s not very common for Long and Short Reviews to receive requests to review such image-heavy works, so I leapt at the chance to get to know an artist I hadn’t heard of before and see examples of his watercolours. Many of them told a story, whether it was from the Bible, Greek mythology, The Arabian Nights, or some other famous source that most readers will probably be at least somewhat familiar with. There is nothing like seeing these tales come to light thanks to the magic of art, and I would have happily kept reading and gazing for many pages to come.

I enjoyed seeing how Edmund’s personal style evolved over the years as certain painting and sketching techniques became more or less popular depending on the era. I have basic knowledge of the various art movements of the twentieth century and was able to pick out a few of the biggest ones while taking note of his work. Readers who have deeper understandings of this slice of history will no doubt notice some things I missed! The beauty of collections like this one is how nicely they can adapt to people who approach them from a wide variety of perspectives.

Mr. Seligman’s summary of Edmund’s life and work in the beginning was thorough and educational. I appreciated how much effort he put into sharing the most important details of this artist’s life while keeping this section succinct, too. That’s not always easy to do when writing about topics one is passionate about, so kudos to the author for knowing where to draw the line.

The American Weekly Covers Of Edmund Dulac 1924-1951 was a beautiful peek into the past.

The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters by edited by Anthony Francis and Liza Olmsted


The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters by edited by Anthony Francis and Liza Olmsted
Publisher: Thinking Ink Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBTQ, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Would neurodiversity be an advantage in an encounter with aliens? Let’s find out!

Heartbroken starships.

Human-sized hamster balls.

Superpowers unleashed by anxiety.

A planet covered in mathematical fidgets.

And we finally learn why aliens abduct cows.

A diverse, hopeful anthology of neurodiversity-themed science fiction short stories, poetry and art by and for neurodivergent people.

Featuring stories, poems and art from Tobias S. Buckell, M. D. Cooper, Ada Hoffmann, Jody Lynn Nye, Cat Rambo, and over forty other contributors, The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters was edited by Anthony Francis, author of the award-winning urban fantasy novel Frost Moon, and Liza Olmsted, editor of the writing inspiration book Your Writing Matters.

The Neurodiversiverse includes themes of autism, ADHD, PTSD, OCD, synesthesia, several kinds of anxiety, avoidant attachment disorder, dissociative disorder, and more.

Aliens are full of surprises.

Bridget was the first human to meet a new alien species who was confused by the concept of giving names to individuals but who needed the help of humanity in order to survive in “Impact.” I was intrigued by the many physiological and cultural differences between Bridget and the eboir (which was the name of this species). This could have easily been expanded into something full length, and yet there were enough details to paint a vivid picture in my mind of what was going on as they became acquainted with each other.

This was a solid collection that I enjoyed reading, but there were a few pieces in it that I wished had been given more time to develop. “Cadre,” which described how Zak adapted to his first job after finishing grad school, was one of them. He was an intelligent character who struggled with certain social conventions. No sooner did he begin to settle in at his new job than this tale ended, and I only wish I could have seen more examples of why it was the perfect position for him. This is a minor criticism of a book I otherwise deeply enjoyed.

As someone who also struggles with making a good first impression in job interviews, I empathized with Ben in “The Interview.” He wanted the ambassador position so badly and yet none of his answers were as polished or convincing as he hoped they would be. His raw honesty made him instantly likeable to me, and I hoped his interviewer could see past the awkward phrasing of some of his responses to the kind, gentle, and refreshingly honest person that was sitting in front of them.

The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters was creative.

SCHROEDER by Neal Cassidy


SCHROEDER by Neal Cassidy
Publisher: M & S Publishing
Genre: Horror, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When an ordinary young man wakes up in his quiet neighborhood on a day seemingly like all the others, the city he’s lived in all his life has no idea what’s about to befall it once he sets out on a day-long bike ride carrying a purposefully packed backpack and a definitive plan.

Who is Schroeder, and what motivates his brutal killing spree? As he cycles from one victim’s home to the next, keeping pace with the rhythm of a city that burgeons to life under an increasingly dazzling sun exposing both its beauty and vivacity and its dark, dirty, underbelly, Schroeder lays bare his dreams, disappointments, delights, and dismays, establishing himself as a compelling contemporary antihero. The day rolls ominously towards its climax through hectic city streets, lush suburban gardens, stately mansions, and decrepit housing projects, punctuated by Schroeder’s reflections on a society in shambles and a deeply damaged, if not broken, humanity—but not without revealing life’s boundless wonder and infinite possibilities for joy and redemption through moments that are within—and yet tragically beyond—Schroeder’s grasp. A tell-all denouement brings Schroeder out of the shadows of his actions, the pathos of his questions about the kind of world we live in lingering long after.

A quiet neighborhood isn’t always a safe one.

Imagine a serial killer who worries about litterbugs, homelessness, and the loss of civility in modern civilization. I shook my head in amazement the first time this narrator went off on a tangent about all of the little things a person can do to show kindness to others while he was biking to his victim. The cognitive dissonance of a killer being offended by people who don’t recycle or respect their elders made me curious to learn more about him.

The slow and uneven pacing of this novella made it difficult for me to remain interested in it. When scenes with faster pacing did occasionally appear, they felt out of place to me even though I wanted more action in the storyline in general because of how jarring it was for me as a reader to switch between the two writing styles. It would have been more comfortable to read something that stuck to a steady pace.

This was definitely on the gorier side of the horror spectrum. The narrator had creative ways of describing how he killed his victims and what he thought as he surprised each one of them. He was so emotionally detached from those moments that I wondered if or when the realization of what he was actually doing would ever penetrate his racing thoughts.

I also struggled with the narrator’s stream-of-consciousness speaking style. He flipped between describing grisly murders he was committing and complaining about mundane matters that did not seem to be related to his killing spree at all. I started reading with the expectation that I would not like such a violent and unpredictable character, but I was hoping to understand his motivations for his actions better if nothing else. The answers that were given were interesting, but they never quite explained why this was the only option for him given how many other people in this world have had similar or even worse experiences without resorting to the same violent acts he did.

With that being said, the setting was a little uncommon for this genre. I was intrigued by the idea of uncovering the dark underbelly of suburban living. Yes, there was exaggeration, but there were also some truths about the difficulties that can arise in a homogenous neighborhood where no one has as much privacy as they need and differences are not always accepted. There’s no such thing as a perfect place to live, of course, but I do think there’s value in critically examining what doesn’t work in a community in order to hopefully improve those weak spots in the future.

SCHROEDER made me shudder.

The Recesses of Darkness Anthology by R L Schumacher


The Recesses of Darkness Anthology by R L Schumacher
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Horror is an intense emotional response characterized by an overwhelming and painful feeling. It arises when one encounters something that is frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting. This profound emotion can lead to a visceral reaction, often causing a person to shudder with fear. It grips the mind and body, paralyzing them with a deep sense of dread and repulsion.

Horror comes in all shapes and sizes.

Two old, broke prospectors named Regan and Barlow decided to pan for gold in a new spot at the recommendation of a friend in “Teamwork.” There were some fun plot twists in this tale involving their search for treasure that made me wonder what might happen next but that I don’t want to spoil for others by going into detail about. I also appreciated the way the author played around with the audience’s expectations and made me wonder if he really was going to go in the direction I thought he might.

Some of the tales in this collection had abrupt endings that I wish had been given more time to develop. “Cellar Door” was one example of it. Ron’s troubled relationship with Cheryl was hinted at briefly before the story switched to describing why he decided to sign up as a medical test subject to make some extra money. It was never quite clear to me why he was so eager to do this or what was going on with him and Cheryl. This was a pattern that repeated itself in other instalments and was an impediment to a higher rating in my opinion.

Artie woke up from a mysterious surgery in “The Prototypical Soldier” and needed to piece together his past. As he recovered and began regaining both physical and mental strength, more clues about his mysterious past and the reasons why he had surgery began to emerge. I was pleasantly surprised by several of the plot twists and thought he was a well-written protagonist. This would have made a great full-length novel, although I was content with how things ended in the final scene.

The Recesses of Darkness Anthology put a shiver down my spine.

Crustaceans by William Meikle


Crustaceans by William Meikle
Publisher: Severed Press
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Horror
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Killer Crabs Take Manhattan!

A welcome return to those tomes of pure enjoyment that we read with guilt in our early teens, in the tradition of James Herbert’s THE RATS and Guy N. Smith’s NIGHT OF THE CRABS.

It begins with a dead whale on a Boston shoreline–not in itself an unusual occurrence. But the things that claw their way out of the blubber are very unusual indeed.

Giant crabs descend on a small coastal town and, having feasted, make their way to Manhattan, hunted and harried by a SWAT team tasked with ridding the city of the menace…before the menace gets big enough to rid itself of the city.

When flesh eating crabs chew their way out of a dead, beached whale, it’s enough to draw some very serious attention. A number of unusual events revolving around a new found species of crabs soon has the Armed forces sitting up and taking notice, especially when some of their own are taken. It soon becomes clear the crabs are growing – and converging on Manhattan. A small team race to answer why – and how large will these things grow to?

I have been a huge fan of William Meikle’s for a number of years now and this story did not disappoint. A republishing of a previous novel of his I found this was everything about his writing that I love. Giant, monstrous beasties eating everyone in sight. A small and dedicated team hunting them down. Plenty of action, monsters and a rollicking good pace.

Readers who enjoy B grade horror movies and books along the same lines – ones that are here for a good time with plenty of fun – should find this a thoroughly enjoyable tale. I love this author’s S-Squad series and while this isn’t one of that series he admits it was where some of his earlier ideas for that did germinate. Sit back with a large cold drink, switch off your brain and be prepared for a fun, fast paced and excellently written tall tale. With just enough reality to make you think this is a wonderful monster story and one I will happily reread again soon.

With some memorable and enjoyable characters, giant monster crabs that are determined to take over everything and some exceptional fire power, this is a fun and rambunctious story and a brilliant addition to my Meikle library. Recommended.