Book Reviews Category
12 Neo-Noir Authors Too Good Not to Be Crazy Famous
Posted on September 10, 2020 2 Comments
Wow, what a fantastic article by Greg Levin about neo-noir authors. HONORED to be on this list alongside so many talented writers that have influenced my work in so MANY ways, especially Craig Clevenger, Sara Gran, WCB, Lindsay Hunter, Laird Barron, Craig Davidson, Holly Goddard Jones, Benjamin Percy and Brian Evenson.
My review of Vampire Conditions by Brian Allen Carr is up at The Nervous Breakdown
Posted on December 31, 2012 Leave a Comment
My review is now live at The Nervous Breakdown. But don’t let the title fool you, Vampire Conditions by Brian Allen Carr is not about teeth, and bats and the homesteads of pale night fliers. These stories will drain you, emotionally, and leave you spent, but alive. In a good way.
My review of Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins is up at The Nervous Breakdown
Posted on December 31, 2012 Leave a Comment
My review of Battleborn (Riverhead Hardcover), a collection of Western gothic stories by Claire Vaye Watkins is up at The Nervous Breakdown. Out in the desert there is so much to lose, so much to gain—salvation, for instance. A collection that is sure to be on a lot of MUST READ lists in 2012. It’s […]
My review of Little Sinners and Other Stories by Karen Brown is live at The Nervous Breakdown
Posted on September 13, 2012 Leave a Comment
Winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction, Little Sinners and Other Stories by Karen Brown is fantastic collection of stories. I’m calling it “suburban noir” because Karen focuses on the dark events that happen in these otherwise idyllic settings. I first heard of Karen when she had a story, “Galatea” in the Best […]
My review of Swallowing a Donkey’s Eye by Paul Tremblay is live at The Nervous Breakdown
Posted on September 10, 2012 Leave a Comment
I’ve been a fan of Paul Tremblay for a couple years now. It started with a story here, a story there, and then I picked up some of his crime/mystery work. But I don’t think I really became a serious fan until I absorbed his powerful writing in the collection, In the Mean Time. It […]
My review of My Only Wife by Jac Jemc is now live at The Nervous Breakdown.
Posted on August 13, 2012 Leave a Comment
If you are looking for a unique voice, then you’ve found it. Jac Jemc has a poet’s heart, and she brings that POV to her longer fiction. My Only Wife (Dzanc Books) is a haunting, touching and ultimately unsettling novel. I loved it. For the full review, head over to The Nervous Breakdown. Also, Dzanc […]
My review of Cataclysm Baby by Matt Bell is now live at The Nervous Breakdown.
Posted on July 19, 2012 Leave a Comment
I can’t remember the last time I read such a compelling work of fiction. I’ve been a long time fan of Matt Bell, but Cataclysm Baby (Mudluscious Press) may be some of his best work to date. Maybe it’s the fact that these stories were scattered far and wide across the literary landscape, and now […]
My review of Wild by Cheryl Strayed is live at The Nervous Breakdown.
Posted on April 11, 2012 Leave a Comment
My review of Wild (Knopf) by Cheryl Strayed is now live at The Nervous Breakdown. This is a fantastic memoir, one that takes out into the wilderness, so that we can hear the song and pain that emanates from her broken heart. A mother that dies too soon, a life that is falling apart, and one […]
My review of THREATS by Amelia Gray is live at The Nervous Breakdown
Posted on March 22, 2012 Leave a Comment
My review of the debut novel THREATS by Amelia Gray is now live up at The Nervous Breakdown. This is a sly, subtle, unsettling and touching novel. I remember the first time I heard Amelia read, at Blake Butler’s Scorch Atlas release party here in Chicago. It was the first time I’d met her, or […]
My review of Ampersand, Mass by William Walsh is live at The Nervous Breakdown.
Posted on February 14, 2012 Leave a Comment
In this collection of stories, William Walsh has put together a unique collage of perspectives set in Ampersand, Mass (Keyhole Press). These tales run the gamut from fantastical and bizarre to sweet and touching to heartbreaking and morose. It’s a wild ride, so buckle up.
- Richard Thomas - 