Sunday, June 27, 2010

Book Reviews For Shroud Magazine

I am going to be writing book reviews for Shroud Magazine. I will also be posting the reviews here -- allowing for a little extra exposure for the talented authors.

My first post ....



Title: Hiram Grange: The Chosen One
Author: Kevin Lucia
Publisher: Shroud Publishing
Release Date: June 2001
ISBN: 978-0982727508
Price: $7.99
Pages: 165
Format : Trade Paperback

The sad thing about having read the novella, The Scandalous Misadventures of Hiram Grange: The Chosen One, is that I did not read the previous three books in the series. I love that it is a stand-alone story, however, now I am itching to read the rest!

In Kevin Lucia’s debut novella, we find ourselves immediately immersed in a world of black magic, demons and fairies. We learn it’s all about balance. Without it, nothing works. Unfortunately for Hiram, he is the man tasked with the unearthly job of ensuring balance ensues.

When treacherous beasts are summoned, the fate of six women is at stake. Hiram must find the talisman housing the monsters and destroy, or find the one doing the summoning—and destroy him. Worse case, he must kill the one woman destined to replace Queen Mab when the time is right, or – the alternative – she will destroy the world.

With non-stop, page-turning, giddy-up-and-go action, Lucia uses the taut confines of a novella to unfurl, with dead-accuracy, a story that can’t help but pull the reader in, shake him up, spin him around, and toss him here and there until the explosive – and unexpected ending.

Because of Lucia’s story telling skills, I am forced, no-no, compelled to go back and read the others in the series!

And as a side note, while I could not find any mention of an artist responsible for the cover, or the illustrations throughout, I cannot, in good conscience, let such wonderful talent go unrecognized. The book cover, and illustrations are simply spectacular.

I look forward to more Hiram Grange, and will most definitely be looking forward to more work by Kevin Lucia! His novella has allowed for an impressive way to crash onto the scene of horror writers!

--Thomas Phillips, author of The Molech Prophecy