A Quiet Apocalypse – Dave Jeffery
This novella has an extraordinary premise: what if a pandemic killed a large chunk of the population and left the majority of those that remained deaf, and those that retained their hearing hunted?
We enter this world several years later. I like that we don’t see the virus, the downfall, but are instead placed into the aftermath where society has taken on a new structure. The action takes place in the rural area surrounding Cathedral, which is occupied by the deaf. A group called the Samaritans spend their days seeking out survivors outside the city to bring in those victims of the virus. For those that retained their hearing, they are hunted and enslaved. It’s only worse for those that were death before the pandemic, seen as harbingers of this doom.
The story tells of Chris who retained his hearing. However, he has been captured by a brute named Crowley who keeps him captive to make use of his hearing so that he too can stay out of the Samaritan’s grasp.
When Chris finds a radio, though, he hears a transmission from a place called The Refuge, and he begins to dream of a better life. When he meets another who retains their hearing he thinks he might finally have a chance of a better life.
That begins a journey which grows ever bleaker for Chris as he discovers other survivors and encounters the enemy, before we reach a shocking conclusion.
Jeffery has done a great job bringing this world to life, including enough backstory to understand the plot without ever getting bogged down in it. When we visit the past, it is to understand the characters better. The plot moves at a fast pace and is full of surprises, but as each character is so well developed and has their own motivations, they are always logical. When the pace picks up, Jeffery really ramps up the tension, and even though there are some bleak scenes, Chris’s hope of something better carries us through to the conclusion.
If you’re into post-apocalyptic stories, but what something that takes it in a different direction, check this out. It’s highly recommended.
Trench Mouth – Christine Morgan
I was a big fan of White Death by Christine Morgan when I read it a couple of years back, so I jumped at the chance to read Trench Mouth where Morgan takes us miles beneath the waves to encounter so truly gargantuan sea monsters.
Coupled with that, we have a group of volunteers taking part in a programme to alter their DNA to enable then to function better beneath the waves.
This is the creature feature, turned up to eleven, however, some of its greatest strengths are also its greatest weaknesses. Morgan develops her characters well, she offers multiple threats, and multiple threads. Normally the typical creature feature tends to be rather short, but this is really developed. Sometimes, there was too much going on, and some elements of the story had to go on the back burner. It wasn’t until the second half of the novel, for example, that we really got to the bit with the mutant humans, and that was the bit I enjoyed the most.
If you like your creature features with more meat on their bones, you’ll enjoy this.
Slattery Falls – Brennan LaFaro
Slattery Falls is a ghost story, featuring a trio of young ghost hunters: Josh, Travis and Elsie.
It starts when Travis is at college. He meets Josh, and late one night they break into a museum with a reputation for being haunted. Later, they’re joined by Josh’s cousin, Elsie. Together they explore another haunted house and barely escape with their lives. The word Weeks is crved on the wall, but that remains a mystery for a decade.
Now, Travis and Elsie are married. They’re still in touch with Josh, but when he calls one night, he tells them he’s finally figured out what Weeks refers to, the Weeks House in Slattery Falls, and if they’re ever to put the horror of that night behind them, they’ll have to confront whatever hides in Weeks House.
I thought this was a really solid debut novella. The characters are well-written and genuine and serve more than just the plot. The scenes within the haunted houses are tense and well described. The pace is quick, and the plot engaging. I finished it over the course of one day, never leaving it long before picking it back up and delving in once more.
The house in Slattery Falls is given sufficient build up as we hear of the horrors that befell the town, and when we get inside it only gets more mysterious.
There’s a great deal to like here. There’s the odd occasion where I felt the tension could have been ramped up a little further, and I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending (though it is logical), but it’s definitely worth a couple of hours of your time, and Brennan LaFaro could be a name to look out for in the future.
Semen – C.C. Adams
I mean, a title like that is going to grab the attention, isn’t it? You might not be surprised to find that it’s a story that starts with a one-night stand, and from there, things get messy…
Wait, no, not like that. Well, a little bit like that…
So Vicki and Luke spend the night together, and Vicki gets more than she bargained for in this psychological horror in which the fallout from that night threatens Vicki’s friendships, and her sanity. The character are all well developed and Adams’ version of London feels authentic. I can see why people say he’s got a knack for creating urban horror landscapes.
I perhaps would have liked to see a little more from the ending to really hammer that scene home, but it’s a small gripe about an enjoyable novella.
The Constant Rabbit – Jasper Fforde
Satire at full volume with a self-aware streak. An event has anthropomorphised a chunk of the rabbit population, making them human sized, and with the ability to speak human and do human jobs, but do they have the rights of humans?
If I tell you that the Prime Minister in this word is called Nigel, I think you might get an idea about just how well things are going between the humans and the rabbits. We see small-minded village logic at play when rabbits move into the community. We have fears of terrorist activity. We have plans to send all of the rabbits away, rehomed in their own colony. But we also have a world in which rabbits do all of the low paid jobs, when rabbits are more understanding and tolerant.
It’s a fun story, even if it is a little blatant at times. When it’s ridiculous it made me smile, but every now and then there were moments of pure horror which were really shocking.
Surprisingly, this novel features one of the greatest court scenes I’ve ever read. That said, I don’t read much stuff featuring courts of law.
Cathedral – Dave Jeffery
At the end of the month I returned to the world of A Quiet Apocalypse to read its sequel/companion novella. I was expecting it to pick up where AQA left off, but it doesn’t. Instead, we are taken to the city of Cathedral where we see the story of Sarah unfold. Sarah is an obedient citizen of Cathedral, so it was fascinating to see how it was perceived from the inside. Jeffrey showed us its structure and its laws which, while difficult, had their own logic. I could understand why some would be indoctrinated into this life.
Sarah’s life changes, however, when a survivor named Paul is brought in from the outside. Cathedral has elements of a love story about it, and a forbidden love story at that. Jeffery handles the emotional moments well and quickly makes you invested in their romance. The way the story unfolds leaves you wondering if Sarah will be drawn to rebel against the community she is a part of. As such, I struggled to put it down until I reached the end, when once more Jeffery left me flabbergasted. It won’t be long before I’m pulled back into this world once more to read the third in the series, Samaritan.
You don’t have to have read A Quiet Apocalypse to enjoy this, though you’ll get more out of it when you see the links between the two.