Review: Darkness Weaves

Darkness Weaves by Karl Edward Wagner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Fans of Conan need to check this book out, as Wagner writes some brutal fight sequences and has a good imagination for multiple-person battle scenarios. There are also several decent subplots working in this book at all, which is surprising given its short length.

All in all, this is a tightly-written book that I really enjoyed.




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Review: Zeus, Inc.

Zeus, Inc. by Robin Burks

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Robin Burks's Zeus, Inc. is primarily an urban fantasy tale with some science fiction and mystery elements. Set in the near future, private investigator Alex Grosjean is hired by her friend Aliesha to find her missing father, the CEO of the titular Zeus, Inc. This turns out unlike any missing persons case Alex has ever worked before when she finds out there are some literal elements to the company's name and its missing leader.

Based on the author page, it appears the first draft of this novel was written during a National Novel Writing Month, meaning Burks pounded a near-200-page novel in thirty days or less. Unless some major rewrites occurred on subsequent drafts, Burks did an excellent job of setting up the plot. While it's not full of twists and turns, there are enough ebbs and climaxes to make for an enjoyable, light read.

A reader not expecting it may get taken aback when the story shifts from a sci-fi mystery to a fantasy drama, but this kept Burks from having to go too deep into all the scientific advances over the years. What I would have like a bit more of is why Alex preferred older technology to the latest and greatest gadgets. Part of me wonders if Burks did this simply to keep from having to speculate on future technology and keep the focus on the story.

As I said before, this was an enjoyable, light read. The language, adult situations, and violence are kept to a bare minimum, so this could be suitable for teen audiences, as it contains nothing you wouldn't see on prime-time television.



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Review: Death Metal

Death Metal by Armand Rosamilia

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Daniel is a divorced man, fighting to see his daughter Missy as often as he can. His ex-wife, Karen, and he don't get along at all, and the fact that she is practically extorting money from him doesn't help. Daniel is secretly the driving force behind a dark heavy metal band, his career when he was heavily abusing drugs. Now, he is a respected children's book author, and he wants to keep those worlds separate.

However, some of his band's fans see hidden messages behind his music and books, and want him to continue preaching to them. When they kidnap his daughter to force him to produce new material, Daniel's world comes crashing down.

Rosamilla's novella tells a fast-paced tale jumping between the past and present, giving us a full history of Daniel's evolution from college burn-out to successful musician and writer. The dialog is snappy, and the plot directly to the point.

However, this directness is also this book's biggest negative. Due to the length, some of the various characters' motivations feel forced and/or rushed in places, making some of the plot twists appear to come out of nowhere. I feel if this book had been another 20-40 "pages" (I read this in eBook format), the sharp transitions would have felt more natural.

This book was a fun read, though, and I'd recommend it to fans of thrillers, especially if you're looking for a quick read between meatier material.




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Review: Shut Up and Give Me the Mic

Shut Up and Give Me the Mic by Dee Snider

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



"Shut Up and Give Me the Mic" is the autobiography of one of the most outspoken personalities in rock and heavy metal and the frontman of Twisted Sister, Dee Snider. Unlike a lot of his other rocker peers, Dee didn't get into alcohol and drug abuse nor was he unfaithful to his wife during his time in the spotlight. With a laser focus on musical success, he and the rest of the band clawed, scraped, and dragged themselves to the height of popularity, only to have it all come crumbling down a few short years later.

Snider spends the majority of the book detailing Twisted Sister's rise to the top, mostly in the 1980-1985 years. Along the way, he details his relationship with his wife Suzette, who went above and beyond what most women would go through to see their husband succeed. Later, when Dee and Twisted Sister fell from grace *hard*, Snider realized that as long as his family was happy and healthy, that was all that really mattered.

While Dee is the first one to sing his own praises (he's an admitted megalomaniac), he also takes the vast majority of the blame for his fall from grace.

Despite being 400+ pages, this book reads surprisingly quickly. Dee's always had a way with words (just seek out the video where he speaks at the Senate PMRC hearings), and it shows here.

If you're a child of the '80s like me, this is a nice trip back Nostalgia Lane. It also has some insight into the music business which could be of some use for any up-and-coming musicians. Overall, this was a fun and educational read, and I recommend it for anyone who remembers that era or has an interest in music history.




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Review: The Gods of Mars

The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Another fun romp, like the first one. For being written around the turn of the 20th Century, Burroughs has a pretty imaginative mind for sci-fi concepts and what were later to become tropes of the genre.



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