"TEQUILA'S SUNRISE" by Brian Keene

At only fifty-eight pages, Brian Keene's Tequila's Sunrise is not a novella, and barely a novellette. It is exactly what Keene calls it in the book's afterword: Tequila's Sunrise is a fable. I'll get to all that, but first I'd like to talk about the physicality of the book itself.

Bloodletting Press proves once again that they're one of the Good Guys. The book screams quality all the way from the 'keen' numbering scheme to the cover-matching marker ribbon. Beyond that, Alex McVey's killer cover and mood-inducing interior illustrations put a definitive collector's item stamp on the piece.

As to the story, if you haven't read any of Brian's other works, I won't say that you won't 'get' Tequila's Sunrise, but possessing at least a cursory knowledge of Keene's overall mythos will make this book much, much more enjoyable. Telling the tale of an Aztec boy's journey up a mountain, the story turns on its ear about midway through and gives you a healthy gulp of knowledge pertaining to how all of Keene's works interact.

In a delightfully insightful afterword, Brian writes of how he was inspired by Jack Ketchum and a bottle of Tequila to tell this tale. He talks about falling in love with fables again, and deciding to tell one of his own.

Like I said, this is a collector's piece. I believe that it's sold out, so if you want one you'll be buying it on ebay. I'm lucky enough to own number 457, signed by both Keene and McVey, and I know I'll treasure it for some time to come.

Rated 4 out of 5

(Originally reviewed in "The Daily Cave" on November 20th, 2007)

"GHOUL" by Brian Keene

You don't have to be 34 (as I am) to enjoy Brian Keene's "Ghoul" but it certainly helps.

In the summer of 1984, best friends, Timmy, Doug, and Barry are looking forward to a fabulous vacation, reading comics and girlie mags, watching cartoons and late night horror flicks, riding their bikes, trading pranks with their arch enemies, and hanging out in their dugout fort, which just happens to flank their local cemetery... a cemetery in which a rather nasty resident has woken from an ancient slumber.

"Ghoul" is a nostalgic novel. It's a look back at a time when - if you were eleven in 1984, as I was - you felt invincible and the summer seemed like it would never end. It's a look back at the things that made being a child in the mid-eighties particularly fantastic. The mention of things like Thundarr the Barbarian, Trapper Keepers, G.I. Joe, "Mad" magazine, Skeletor, "Hill Street Blues", Greedo, Spy Hunter, and "The Defenders" - to name a few - gave me a front row seat on a blissfull ride down memory lane.

Oh, and there's a horror story here, too. A good one.

The monsters in Keene's books - both the human and inhuman - have a genuine bite. The monster in this one is particularly diabolical, and I love how Keene never shrinks away from giving us an insight into his antagonist's point of view - as in it's not just a mindless threat. Oh, and there's a morality tale as well. I won't give away too much, but the book really, really takes an unflinching look at how the actions of adults can have penetrating effects on the impressionable psyches of children.

In short, the book made me want to be a better parent.

A great book by a first rate writer, "Ghoul" is highly recommended, (especially if you're 34). You can check out Brian Keene's website HERE.

BY THE WAY, if you have read the book, or after you do, there's a passage on page 214 of the Leisure Paperback that is one of best passages in a book I've read in recent memory. It starts out, "He believed in Bigfoot. He believed in Ghosts." and goes on through the next page. Excellence, my friends. Excellence.

Rated 5 out of 5

(Originally reviewed in "The Daily Cave" on September 4th, 2007)

"THE CONQUEROR WORMS" by Brian Keene

"Brian Keene is the next big thing in horror."


How many times have I heard that?


How many times have you heard that?


The Conqueror Worms is the third Keene book I've read. I enjoyed The Rising and City of the Dead. I thought they were both fun books that did some new things with the zombie genre. I thought Keene was a good writer, who showed a lot of promise.


Then came The Conqueror Worms.

The book is told for the most part by a mountain man who's lived long enough to see what amounts to the end of the world. You see, some forty-odd days ago, it started to rain worldwide, and it hasn't stopped since. Not once. The rain hasn't stopped and it's brought some terrible things with it. You know how earthworms surface after a hard rain? Well, pump that fact through Keene's fantastic imagination and you'll get The Conqueror Worms.

The story takes on a whole new facet about halfway through, when the narration switches to a former video store employee who's trying to survive in Baltimore. I won't spoil it for you, but let's just say that worms aren't the only thing that are surfacing...

I'll be entirely honest with you, this book was right up my alley. The perfect mix of horror and adventure-based science fiction, The Conqueror Worms made me a Keene Fan. I highly recommend it.

For more on Brian, check out his website.


Rated 5 out of 5


(Originally reviewed in "The Daily Cave" on February 17th, 2007)