Short Attention Span Theater...A DOUBLE FEATURE!

So, I am rolling a double-bill today. Today you get my take on thirty minutes with James N. Cook's, No Easy Hope: Surviving The Dead (Book 1) and...The Booked.Anthology. I openly admit that I have a story, Faces on the Milk Carton in the Booked offering (where the proceeds go to literary charities,,,so grab one!). And My 30 minutes with that anthology will not be in the TOC order, so grab some popcorn and let's dive in together.

I will start off and just get this out of the way...No Easy Hope needs a little bit of editing. It is not terrible or too distracting, but it has some things that could use fixing.

Okay, with that out of the way, I am really enjoying this book. It wastes no time drawing you in with action in the opening scene. Eric gets some real quick character development so that you get to feel like you actually met the guy and are now getting more acquainted as things unfold. I will say that Gabe almost outshines him as a character and had become my favorite so far.

You get to hang with "normal" folks in the worst of situations. Cook does a good job at what I think is dropping some hints of what we can look forward to as the back story is revealed. It is early, but I would say this is a title you should pick up. If the series holds up, this will be fun. Sure, it's early, but Cook has a way with setting mood and sharing just enough description so that you can let your mind paint the picture.

Now, as for The Booked. Anthology...

 Anthologies are sometimes hard to review. You will always find stories you love and others that you don't. This review will be in installments as I pick through the tales included and write something about each one. The reviews will not be in the order of the TOC. I will not give away spoilers, just observations...so here it goes:

One Shot (Only God Knows) by Michael Paul Gonzalez: This is Soylent Green meets Twilight Zone. The tone is dark and puts you in a very "what if" state of mind. There is a lot to be said about the possible meanings the writer could be shooting for, but most people guess and only the author really knows. But here is a question...what if you knew the manner and date of your death? Can pre-destiny be defeated?

Two Dollar Beer Nights by Sean P Ferguson: Every guy who reads this will cringe, nod, and then wince. Perhaps in a different order, but still...very nasty.

The Removal Kind by Caleb J Ross: Cue the voice of the guy who does the heavy duty movie trailer intros... Every so often, you read a story and go, "Huh?" THIS is that story. Go ahead and read the end and then you tell me that was not straight out of Bizzaro-Land.