May | 2018 | My Haunted Library

May 27, 2018
by Jennifer Leave a comment

Review: A Hell Within

A Hell Within – James A. Moore and Charles R. Rutledge, 2018. Rating 3/5

Just finish War and Peace? Not quite ready to pick up Bleak House? Need a palate cleanser for your intellect? Look no further. A Hell Within provides brain relief in the form of a straightforward monster shoot-‘em-up.

Carl Price is the long-suffering Sheriff of a small Georgia town that has seen more than its fair share of unearthly foul play. Together with Wade Griffin, his old high school buddy now turned PI, the two men have previously faced off against a vampire preacher and his undead flock as well as an old race of inbred – and interdimensional – folk who live down in the hollers.

In A Hell Within, Carl and Wade confront an ambitious demon summoner who is busily wreaking havoc on their town. Both men are more than adept at fighting their way out of trouble, but they welcome the assist from Wade’s girlfriend (who runs an occult bookstore) and her mentor, a mysterious master of arcane knowledge. To complicate matters further, a new organized crime boss has also arrived on the scene.

Yup. A Hell Within is an odd blend of both cop drama and horror genres. It works, actually. There’s plenty of very imaginative, swiftly-paced supernatural action; lots of violence and tightly-choreographed fight scenes; and uniquely memorable characters, all balanced with a dry sense of humor. A Hell Within is a quick read that will satisfy your itch for a little otherworldy mayhem.

This isn’t Camus or Dostoevsky or Austen, here. It is good fun.

May 20, 2018
by Jennifer Leave a comment

Simple & Savory: Mom’s Salmon Bake

Mom’s Salmon Bake

It is a rainy spring afternoon (breaking news: spring finally arrived!) and a perfect day to make a big, comforting casserole. What better than my mom’s Salmon Bake?

Now, before you say eeew, hold on. This is loaded with rice and veggies and, yes, salmon. It works. It’s good. It is immanently customizable. Add other veggies. Use different cheeses. Spice it up. (I do!) Try adding some herbs. Change your veggie ratios – I like more mushrooms, for example.

Give it a try: I think you’ll be surprised and pleased at the result.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped mushrooms

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

½ green pepper, chopped (optional)

1 Tablespoon butter

1 ½ cups wild rice, cooked

1 14-ounce can skinless, boneless salmon, flaked and drained (I use three 5-ounce pouches)

¾ cup mayonnaise

1 egg, beaten

½ cup Parmesan cheese

1 10-ounce package of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained.

1 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Salt and Pepper

Tabasco (optional)

How to Make It:

Heat the oven to 350F.

Make your rice according to the package directions – that’ll take a little time.

Sauté the onion, pepper, garlic, and mushrooms in butter until softened, seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.

In a big bowl, combine the mayonnaise and the egg. Add in the rice (make sure it is cooled a little, first), the sautéed veggies, and the salmon. I also add a few dashes of Tabasco at this point. Mix lightly.

In a 1-quart casserole dish, layer half of the salmon mixture, then half of the Parmesan cheese. Cheese fiend? Sure, toss a little of the cheddar in with the Parm for this layer. Next, layer on half of the broccoli. Cover this with 1 cup of the cheddar cheese. Repeat the layers: salmon mixture, Parmesan, broccoli. Stop there. End with the broccoli.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining cheddar cheese and continue to bake just until the cheese melts. The casserole should look bubbly and melty.

Serve with some crusty bread or a side salad. This reheats marvelously. Enjoy!

May 13, 2018
by Jennifer Leave a comment

Review: The Twilight Pariah

The Twilight Pariah – Jeffrey Ford, 2017.

Violence erupts when a trio of college students unwittingly unleashes an age-old monster in The Twilight Pariah.

Home for summer break, Henry and Russell agree to help Maggie with her new – clandestine – archaeology project: excavating the outhouse pit of the nearby abandoned mansion.

Harmless, right? And who knows how much more time the friends have together before their separate schools and careers cause them to drift apart? This may be their last adventure together. In more ways than one.

To their shock, they uncover the misshapen skeleton of an infant. A not-quite-human infant. The three quickly discover that they’ve disturbed something else: a monster that has plagued the small town in the past. Now, they are its targets. Henry, Russell and Maggie must learn the creature’s secrets and end its rampage once and for all, before more people die.

The Twilight Pariah is a fun, quick, novella-length read that stands out because of its characters. Russell, the gentle giant. Henry, mild and unsure. Maggie a driving force. Ford excels in bringing their personalities to life, giving them vivacity and a sweetness and surprising depth in a very short space. The character of Professor Medley, a creaky cryptozoologist, made me laugh out loud. That’s the other part of this book that elevates it above typical: its wry and gentle sense of humor.

The story itself is enjoyable: it is successfully atmospheric, has a uniquely-imagined monster, and tension builds to a satisfying climax. Characterization, however, carries the day.

May 6, 2018
by Jennifer Leave a comment

Review: Stranded

Stranded – Bracken MacLeod, 2016.

One sailor must confront the unimaginable in this rugged, unsettling thriller.

Aboard the supply ship Arctic Promise, Nick Cabot is about as popular as Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner.

Following the lead of the ship’s master, Noah’s bitter-father in-law, most of the small crew treats Noah with scorn and outright physical hostility.

Then the ship becomes trapped in the ice, surrounded by an impenetrable fog. Navigation and communication instruments go dead. The crew becomes strangely sick and shadow-haunted.

Noah alone remains healthy. He and a small group set out toward what they hope is the oil platform they were scheduled to resupply. What they find is mind-blowing.

With Stranded, MacLeod delivers a slam-bang story from start to finish.

Noah is besieged with battles on all fronts. The increasingly unstable crew. The relentless and deadly subzero temperatures that affect every aspect of shipboard existence. His own insecurities and self-doubt. And of course, the mysterious supernatural threat of the shadow figures. As we learn Noah’s personal story through tantalizingly brief flashbacks, we come to empathize with him and root for his survival.

Stranded is flat-out gripping. I think I actually said “oh no” out loud a few times as I read, startling my poor husband. MacLeod portrays the harsh life aboard ship as well as the ever-present cold, cold, cold with compelling detail.

My only, miniscule quibble is with the ending. Although, really, the story ends in the best way it can. Leaving us with a piece of wisdom that we should all take to heart. Tiny cavil aside, as soon as I finished Stranded I immediately sent a copy to my dad, another die-hard thriller fan. Grab a comforter – or a parka – and a thermos of something hot and prepare to be lost in an icy sea for a few hours until you finish Stranded.