Review: Weatherman by Price Doom

 Genre: Science Fiction/Coming of Age/Novelette

Description:

This was published around March of 2021. It is a coming of age story about Heart and her father Sonny. They live off grid in a USA which has suffered a lot of environmental damage. They move on every time Sonny fears that God has discovered where they are. So, Sonny is nuts, you may say, early doors. And we learn early on that Heart is covered in scars of old cuts and burns which Sonny admits, with great sorrow, he inflicted on her. What on earth (an anagram of Heart) is going on? Read on …

Author:

This is Price Doom’s first published fiction. He lives in California with his children. When not writing, he teaches math and science to special education students.

Appraisal:

Sonny provides every possible care for his child – even trying to find her friends to play with. But every time they take a step into ‘the real world’, it ends in flight. As a result there is quite a bit of repetition in this short work. However, this reader found the repeated phrases and actions (eg the regular instruction to Heart to pack her three most important things) was a kind of threnody to their lives.

As Heart grows, she becomes disgruntled with Sonny’s explanations for why they live the way they do. It is a hard world for a teenager to live in. Her questions become more searching: his answers satisfy her less. The point of view is largely Heart’s from age 4 to age 15. It is through her eyes we see the rifle taped to the inside of whichever mobile home they’re currently living in, as well as Sonny’s ability to rub an alligator’s belly until it falls asleep and allows him to pick it up and return it to its park. We also catch glimpses of Sonny when Heart is absent, and these tend to provide more puzzles than they solve.

When Heart becomes a teenager she begins to need more than Sonny. And, odd as Sonny may appear, there are echoes of his oddness in the others that Heart corresponds with.

The end appears disastrous. The only saving grace being Sonny’s love for Heart. He puts his life in her hands. And that is where the story ends. You will have to decide for yourself who Sonny really is, and what (if anything) happens next.

Is this worth your time? “You know it, buddy.”

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: Judi Moore

Approximate word count: 18-19,000 words

Review: Hellbound Humans by Elizabeth Corrigan

 

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Novelette

Description:

“Carrie, Khet, Cassia, Cama, Cain. She’s had hundreds of names through the centuries. Now she’s Chloe, an ordinary college student---at least as ordinary as a mind-reader can be when she has an angel for a boyfriend and a best friend who often forgets he’s not still a demon.

When Chloe discovers a fellow student has been murdered, she’s determined to stay out of it. Much as she wants to help, interfering has gotten her nothing but trouble in the past, and she needs to stick it out at the university for at least four years if she wants her degree. But when she inadvertently gives away her power at the funeral, she finds she has no choice but to use her unique gifts to track down the killer.”

Author:

“Elizabeth Corrigan has degrees in English and psychology and has spent several years working as a data analyst in various branches of the healthcare industry. When she’s not hard at work on her next novel, Elizabeth enjoys singing, reading teen vampire novels, and making Sims of her characters. She drinks more Diet Coke than is probably optimal for the human body and is pathologically afraid of bees. She lives in Maryland with two cats and a purple Smart Car.”

To learn more about Ms. Corrigan check out her website or follow her on Facebook.

Appraisal:

Carrie feels she is in a good place right now. Gabriel and she are an item. She has started taking college classes to get a degree. So the next four years are planned out. You have to stay busy when you are immortal. However, Bedlam stays close at hand. He is living with Carrie, who is now Chloe the college student. Bedlam calls Carrie/Chloe, Khet. He always has and probably always will. I love Bedlam, he considers himself Khet’s protector and sometimes he forgets he’s not a demon any longer.

When a fellow student is found murdered and one is missing, Chloe has to look into it. Bedlam warns Chloe not to get involved because bad things happen to her when she does. But when Chloe comes across Adelaide, the missing college student, she has to do what she can to protect her.

The storyline is unsettling. There is a small group of medical students secretly conducting experiments in a surgical theater around midnight a couple nights a week. When the group suspects someone is spying on them they catch Chloe. That’s when things get really interesting. Now, I’ve read stories with the arch-demon Mephistopheles before, but I don’t recall him being physically described the way he is in this novelette. I liked the way he argued with the other lesser demons to stress the point he wanted Cama/Carrie/Chloe left alone and safe. He knows Lucifer has a vested interest in her, and Meph makes her comfortable while she is recovering in Hell. To know the whys and wherefores about Carrie you must read the Oracle of Philadelphia. That novel is Carrie’s story and the first book in the Earthbound Angels Series.

I love the twist at the end, which is orchestrated by Mephistopheles on behalf of Cama/Carrie/Chloe. He knew she would never condone his actions. I found Mephistopheles mesmerizing in this novelette. This is a captivating episode to add to the series.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Hellbound Humans is book 3.5 in Ms. Corrigan’s, Earthbound Angels Series. (That’s book 3 1/2 because it takes place between the full novels Archangel Errant - book 3 - and Angel in the Details – book 4.) It’s important to read the books in order.

Format/Typo Issues:

No issues with formatting or proofing.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 14-15,000 words