Protracted but deliciously creepy explorations of the macabre.
In Mavrodi’s (Apocalypse, 2013) first installment of a series, the devil’s own son causes multiple grotesque events.
Fishing alongside his trusty Great Dane, Fedor is having a pleasant time until he witnesses a troubling scene: “He recognized the elusive, infernal posture—the icy, frozen restraint and the stillness of the ghoul who had just risen out of the grave.” Fedor flees his campsite only to return the next day and find that his friendly dog has changed (“the stillness of the dog was unnatural”). Fast-forward to Viktor, a computer programmer going through a rough patch with his wife, Masha. After their apartment is visited by a “grim-looking old man,” Viktor is launched into a state of paranoia, amplified by a Great Dane Masha brings home. He dreams his wife has sex with the dog; afterward, Masha and Viktor engage in lovemaking that leaves Viktor feeling “as if it was not him who made love to his own wife but someone else.” Soon, the previously barren Masha announces she is pregnant. Other characters find themselves in similarly fantastic and unfortunate situations; for example, Igor sells his soul on television and deals with the consequences, and Andrey struggles to survive an unforgiving forest. The stories—interspersed with conversations between Lucifer and his son—contain their share of terror and brutality. Fans of Tales from the Crypt-like fare will find a similar world of the hapless and the morbid, such as a man who sees a note, signed by his wife, which approves the use of his body for necrophilia. The dialogue needs trimming (one character explains, “There’s 10 grand in every pack. Here, hundred euro bills in every pack, 100 euros, 100 bills in a pack, 100 times 100—10,000”), but an overall sense of desperation will rivet readers.
Protracted but deliciously creepy explorations of the macabre.Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-942981-32-9
Page Count: 498
Publisher: W & B Publishers Inc.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.
A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.
Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
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