Early Adopter by Drew Harrison


Early Adopter by Drew Harrison
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

The Price of Tomorrow, Paid Today
“Early Adopter” is a collection of short stories from the edge of human progress. Eight stories hold dark mirrors to our own world… experience thought-provoking sci-fi, technologic tragedy, and pulse-pounding thrillers.

To Run Again: Dr. Laura Brandie is ready to change the world.
She’s the lead researcher behind the KSE, a revolutionary cure for paralysis and neurodegenerative conditions. And now, by good fortune, she’s found the perfect candidate for her first human trial: a man who suffers from locked-in syndrome.
Brett Harmon’s paralysis is total: he can’t move his arms, legs, torso, neck, or face. To the outside world, he’s little more than a statue that breathes… but Dr. Brandie’s KSE might be the miracle that allows Brett to run again.

Homonoia: The world faces an unprecedented alignment of catastrophes and failing systems, far too intricate and interconnected for any human to solve. Frank Burman joins with seven other volunteers for Project Homonoia–a radical, last-ditch effort to postpone the apocalypse. Separate minds link to form one multidisciplinary consciousness, the world’s first human superorganism… a hive mind. But with the world’s health rapidly failing, can Project Homonoia work out its kinks in time to make a difference?

Early Adopter: A loner enters into a relationship with a new type of partner: an AI agent, programmed to be the “perfect companion.”
Sure, it’s all self-deception and a game of pretend, as she’s not actually real… but where simulated consciousness is concerned, maybe the lines between real and real enough can get blurry.

And many more!

Science fiction is for everyone, the earnest and the unsure alike.

The character development in “Early Adopter” was realistic and well done. While the unnamed main character was intelligent and resourceful, he was also incredibly sexist. I was as irritated by how he objectified and dismissed women as I was intrigued by his budding relationship with Alison, the AI agent he created and then spent hours interacting with each day. Part of him seemed to understand that it was deeply wrong for him to treat women – and women-shaped artificial intelligence – the way that he did, and I had to keep reading to find out if this faint glimmer of self-awareness would be enough to encourage him to make some genuine and sorely needed changes to his life. This could have easily been expanded into a full-length novel, yet I was satisfied with the way it ended even while daydreaming about what might happen next.

While I enjoyed reading them all, there were a few stories in this collection that I thought would have benefited from some more development of which “Commercialopolis” was one such example. It was written from the perspective of a robot named Addybot V3 who was hired to increase sales by coming up with ads that humans would enjoy. While I liked the fact that the author took creative risks here by writing it in the form of a poem and not following conventional storytelling rules, I struggled with how little the plot progressed. There were plenty of descriptions but not much time spent showing what Addybot V3 did at work or how their choices affected the world around them. If only this had been easier to follow!

Reverends aren’t that common in modern science fiction, so I was curious to see how Reverend Jacob Waters would respond to a mysterious job offer from his old friend Alex in “The Emulated.” Alex had been hired to create a computer simulation that became far more complex and human-like than she would have ever assumed it could, and she needed Jacob’s advice to figure out how best to respond to this unexpected turn of events. There were some fantastic plot twists in this one that asked thought-provoking questions about forgiveness, why a benevolent god or programmer would allow evil to exist, how humans are naturally meant to behave, and how we should respond to suffering among many other topics. Any one of them would have sufficed to nudge the plot forward, so having all of them included only deepened my enthusiasm to see where things went next.

Early Adopter has piqued my interest and made me want more from Mr. Harrison.

Sally Mitts Finds A Home – The Story Of A Shy Shelter Kitten by Shain Stodt


Sally Mitts Finds A Home – The Story Of A Shy Shelter Kitten by Shain Stodt
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When little Sally’s family moves away, she is left alone in the world. Wandering unknown streets, our bodacious kitten has adventures both wonderful and scary. When a well-meaning Samaritan finds Sally asleep on their doorstep, they take her to an animal shelter, where she is surrounded by strangers. Lonely and feeling very small, she tries to curl into a ball and hide.
Then Sally felt a warm nudge. What was this?
One of the cats was rubbing against her!
Right through the cage, she felt his soft fur.
And he made the sweetest sound,
a loud rumbling purr.

Life is so much better with a friend! But when Charlie is adopted, Sally feels more alone than ever. Considered unfriendly and unadaptable because she is shy, it looks like Sally may languish in a cage. Until a patient man who won’t go away offers her the chance to trust again. A tender, heartwarming story about courage, love, and a brave kitten’s journey to her new forever home.

Everyone deserves the chance to live happily ever after, especially pets waiting for adoption in animal shelters.

Almost all of the pets my family had when I was a kid were rescues, and we often knew no more than a handful of things about their lives before they came to live with us. Some of my favorite scenes in this story were the ones that explored a few of the reasons why a pet might need to be rescued or adopted. These were such honest and sweet moments that later played out in how Sally and her companions behaved at the shelter and helped to explain why some animals behave certain ways due to their past experiences.

I loved how much space was left for interpretation and discussion. As this is the first instalment in a new series, it made perfect sense for the author to introduce characters without answering many of the audience’s questions about them or tying up every loose end. There were so many opportunities here for the sequels to explain what happened to Sally’s original family, whether she might someday see Charlie the Tailless again, and so much more.

The gentle and empathetic ending made me smile. It was perfect for the little ones who will read this or have it read to them, especially since some of the earlier scenes talked about how hard it can be to be a stray animal in ways that were appropriate, but still sad, for that age group. Ending on a reassuring note was exactly what was needed, and I look forward to seeing what sorts of adventures Sally might have next.

Sally Mitts Finds A Home – The Story Of A Shy Shelter Kitten was a heartwarming tale that made me yearn for more.

Dreams of Drowning by Patricia Averbach


Dreams of Drowning by Patricia Averbach
Publisher: Bedazzled Ink
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Dreams of Drowning is a work of magical realism that moves between real time where lives are buffeted by political conflict, tragedy and loss and another mysterious time where pain is healed, and love is eternal.

It’s 1973 and Amy, an American ex-pat, is living as an illegal immigrant in Toronto where she’s fled to escape the scandal surrounding her twin sister’s death by drowning. Joanie’s been gone two years, but Amy still hears her cries for help. Romance would jeopardize the secrets Amy has to keep, but when she meets Arcus, a graduate student working to restore democracy in Greece, she falls hard. Arcus doesn’t know about Amy’s past, and she doesn’t know Arcus has secrets of his own, including the shady history of an ancient relic he uses as a paperweight.

In 1993 Toronto, Jacob Kanter, a retired archaeologist, is mourning his dear wife and grappling with his son’s plans to move him to a nursing home. Despite double vision, tremors, and cognitive impairment, he remembers sailing as a youth and sets out toward the lake where he boards a ferry boat embarking on its maiden voyage. He expects a short harbor cruise, but the Aqua Meridian is larger than it looks, and time is slippery on the water. When he hears a drowning woman call for help his story merges with Amy’s, and they discover they have unexpected gifts for one another.

Secrets always find a way to reveal themselves in the end.

Recovering from trauma is rarely if ever a straightforward process. Some of the most memorable passages were the ones that explored the many different ways that ordinary moments in life triggered Amy’s terrible memories of her sister’s accidental death. Even a sight as innocuous as noticing store employees carrying a mannequin through a store could dredge up memories she desperately wanted to forget. I thought the author did an excellent job of showing how someone might deal with flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, panic attacks, and the pain of losing a loved one, especially during a period of history when it was much less common to seek treatment from a mental health professional after a traumatic event.

Ms. Averbach did an incredible job of writing a dual perspective novel. The vast majority of the time, I find that I have anywhere from a mild to a strong preference for one of the storylines when I read something like this. It was refreshing to be equally emotionally invested in both Amy and Jacob’s lives and to never be ready to stop reading about either of them. They were both well developed and sympathetic characters that I couldn’t wait to learn more about. This is an incredibly difficult thing to pull off in my experience, so kudos to the author for not only accomplishing it but for making the transitions between the two timelines so seamless and beautiful.

I also enjoyed this exploration of Canadian life in the past. Toronto was and still is a multicultural city filled with a wide variety of often colorful personalities, and the plot reflected that nicely. Readers do not need to have any special knowledge of this part of the world to enjoy the storyline, but those who are already familiar with it will find fabulous references to that culture tucked away here and there.

Dreams of Drowning was utterly delightful. I wouldn’t change a single thing about it!

A Cat’s Garden of Secrets by Jacqueline Diamond


A Cat’s Garden of Secrets by Jacqueline Diamond
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Review by: Astilbe

Awakening magical powers? Yes! Solving a murder, sure. But turning into a cat? Who, me?

On the weirdest day of my life, my cat starts talking, my car kidnaps me to a charming hidden village, and I inherit a mystical library. Plus, I discover I have superpowers!

As an orphan who grew up in foster care, I had no idea I came from an enchanted land full of furry shapeshifters, including—surprise!—me. Or that I had a gifted grandmother, who’s been murdered. Now it’s up to me, with the help of a handsome, otherworldly detective and my know-it-all cat, to uncover the truth… if someone doesn’t kill me first.

Identity matters…even for folks who don’t know much about where they come from yet.

The mystery elements of the storyline were handled nicely. This was one of those books that wove multiple genres together seamlessly. While it did feel like slightly more of a mystery to me than anything else, the fantasy themes were strong as well. There’s something to be said for authors who pull this off. It’s not an easy thing to do by any means, and I tip my cap to Ms. Diamond for following the rules of all of the genres she included here while still leaving space for a few surprises.

I struggled to keep track of the large cast of characters in this novella. There simply wasn’t enough time or space to develop dozens of different people and animals, and the ones that were given more attention were still only able to reveal limited parts of their personalities due to how many of them there were. As interested as I was in the world building and storyline, this prevented me from choosing a higher rating.

With that being said, the world building was handled nicely. Sometimes I found myself wishing I really could travel to Loobly and explore all of the magical things to be found there. I’d recommend taking notes about how the characters know each other and what the mysterious terms they use mean unless you have a photographic memory as recalling all of these details will be extremely important later on. There were a lot of moving pieces in this tale, but the complexity of it truly pays off later on.

A Cat’s Garden of Secrets kept me guessing.

The Perfectly Fine Neighborhood


The Perfectly Fine Neighborhood edited by Kayleigh Dobbs, Stephen Kozeniewski, and Wile E. Young
Publisher: French Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, LGBTQ, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary, Horror
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

For all of human history ghosts were real and they were everywhere. Then, one day, after a horrible cataclysm, they all disappeared.

That was the story of THE PERFECTLY FINE HOUSE.

But there are more tales to be told from that world. And a thrilling lineup, ranging from horror legends to relative newcomers, have joined forces to bring you:

– a roadside attraction featuring a real, dead serial killer

– a pair of twisted sisters whose sibling rivalry only begins with suicide

– a hitman hired to facilitate a ghostly sexual liaison

And more!

The first unhaunted house was just the beginning. Come, stake your claim in…

THE PERFECTLY FINE NEIGHBORHOOD

If you love paranormal horror, I have quite the treat for you!

One of the biggest strengths of this anthology had to do with the wide variety of approaches the contributors took to the theme. A few of them were a little too gory for my tastes, but I still found their stories to be well written and memorable. Horror fans who love the bloody side of the genre may have completely different responses to them, of course, and I thought it was wonderful that so many different writing styles and horror subgenres were included to suit all sorts of readers. I wish I had space in this review to cover every tale, but I will have to limit myself to only speaking about three of them for the sake of brevity.

In “Jurisdiction,” Eddie and his fellow officers tried to figure out who or what had been killing ghosts. I thought the premise of this tale was a clever one, and I couldn’t stop reading until I reached the conclusion. Eddie’s interest in this case overshadowed everything else in his life, including his relationship with his partner. This was an interesting way to realistically showcase some of the protagonist’s flaws while also keeping the pacing strong and steady until the final scene. I was left yearning for more and would love to read a sequel if Mr. Vincent ever decides to write one.

Thomas decided to kill his wife in “The Perfectly Fine Family” so that she could join him in his peaceful afterlife. Honestly, that was not a decision I would expect a ghost to make, so I was immediately sucked into his story as he planned out the ideal way to ensure he and Marie would be together forever. There was a surprising streak of humor in the storyline as well that suited the characters perfectly. Horror and humor should be mixed together more often in my opinion!

While I generally shy away from stories about serial killers, “Addict to Slaughter” had such a creative spin to the topic that I soon became insatiably curious to find out more about John Miller and his terrible compulsion to kill others. The twist showed up early and will probably be something most horror fans figure out early on. Knowing there is more to his life that meets the eye was all I needed to remain interested.

The Perfectly Fine Neighborhood was deliciously scary.

Kiki’s Dream by Susan Coryell


Kiki’s Dream by Susan Coryell
Publisher: Two Sisters Press
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Snow – nature’s exotic creation, magical, beautiful, exciting – is only a dream for Kiki who lives in Hawaii. Growing up in Hawaii, five-year-old Kiki romps on the beach all year round. Still, her dream is to experience snow, which will never happen in Hawaii. With excited expectation, Kiki hopes a surprise family trip to Michigan will make her dream come true.

Snow makes any day a little more magical.

This was the first time I have ever reviewed a picture book for Long and Short Reviews about a child who has never seen snow before so far as I can recall. Kudos to Ms. Coryell for coming up with such an uncommon idea for this age group. It certainly grabbed my attention immediately, and I was intrigued to see how Kiki would react to cold weather after spending her entire lifetime so far in such a warm and sunny place.

With that being said, I was disappointed by how little time was spent showing what Kiki did after she and her family arrived in Michigan. There was such a huge buildup to this moment in her life that I was expecting a large portion of the story to focus on how she felt when she saw snow for the first time in her life and what she might have been surprised by during that experience. If those scenes had been given more space to develop, I would have happily gone with a much higher rating as everything else about her adventures was adorable.

What a playful child Kiki was. I enjoyed her bubbly personality and her endless curiosity about the world. The narrator captured what it can feel like to be five years old and have a strong desire to try something new and exciting nicely. While I don’t know if the author was thinking of turning this into a series, there is certainly space here to do so if she wishes and this reader would be interested in more.

Kiki’s Dream was sweet.

The Thing Under Your Bed by Stephen Kozeniewski


The Thing Under Your Bed by Stephen Kozeniewski
Publisher: French Press Publishing
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

There’s something under your bed.

It hates you. It wants to devour you and everyone you love.

Dad’s at work. Mom’s dead drunk and no help whatsoever.

Maybe your stuffed rabbit can help, since he seems to be alive and talking now. Then again, maybe that just means you’ve finally gone around the bend.

Whatever plan you come up with to survive the night, though, you’d better not let so much as a fingertip stray off your mattress. If you do, you’ll be ripped to bloody chunks by…

THE THING UNDER YOUR BED.

Fairy tales might not be pure fiction after all.

Childhood can be frightening for all sorts of different reasons. Ordinary things that make perfect sense to adults can feel terribly random and nonsensical to a kid. The fact that this particular little girl was also growing up with an abusive, alcoholic mother only deepened her confusion about how adults are supposed to behave and what rules someone should follow to stay safe. Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that explored the many types of fears kids can have, from the mundane ones about odd noises in the middle of the night to far more terrifying and dangerous ones.

This novella sometimes felt like it was written for adults but at other times seemed like it was intended for a much younger audience. I found myself wishing that the author would more fully commit himself to one of these audiences as this was far too gory for kids but also had a fairytale-like quality to the conflict and plot development that many children would find appealing if they didn’t know what they were getting into. Part of this was due to how young the unnamed protagonist was, of course, but I would have gone with a full five-star rating if the age group this was written for was clearer.

The narrator spent a great deal of time playing around with the idea that what she was experiencing may or may not have been real. For example, think of the sensation of waking up from a nightmare and not being alert enough yet to tell where bad dreams end and real life begins. This was one of several ways Mr. Kozeniewski challenged the readers’ assumptions about what was really happening and who should or should not be trusted as new plot twists were revealed. I enjoyed the process of testing out various theories as I waited to discover what would happen next.

The Thing Under Your Bed was deliciously scary.

Lion Man: The First and Greatest Black Superhero by Demetrius Sherman


Lion Man: The First and Greatest Black Superhero by Demetrius Sherman
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Historical
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When no Black comic book heroes existed, he battled the most dangerous villains in the world.. He was Lion Man. Discover the fascinating history of African American journalists and cartoonists. Learn why Lion Man was the first and greatest Black superhero.

World War II changed the world in many ways…including when it came to what people expected from superheroes!

One of the many things I learned from this novella was just how much some adults fretted over comic strips in the 1940s. There were fears that children would prefer this style of entertainment over reading novels, so some parents tried to discourage their kids from picking up comic strips at all. I have seen some modern parents share similar concerns about what their children are reading and whether graphic novels should be counted as reading time at all. The solution to this dilemma that Evans came up with made a great deal of sense for his era as well as for our own.

It would have been helpful to have more examples of how the last few sections were intended to tie into Lion Man’s groundbreaking accomplishment. While I understood that they were giving other examples of how African-American artists and creators were producing all sorts of toys and content beginning in the early 1900s, it did feel a little disjointed to me to suddenly leap to this topic after spending so much time on Orrin C. Evan’s career specifically. As much as I wanted to give this a full five-star rating, I needed stronger connections between these sections in order to feel justified about doing so.

I appreciated all of the time Mr. Sherman invested in explaining the historical context for Lion Man and the other African-American comic book characters that Orrin C. Evans invented. There were some scenes from these strips that could be read in very different ways today due to how much American culture has changed over the last eighty years, so knowing the original intentions behind them was as educational as it was interesting.

Lion Man: The First and Greatest Black Superhero made me smile.

The End by Kayleigh Dobbs


The End by Kayleigh Dobbs
Publisher: Black Shuck Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary, Horror
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A series of micro-collections featuring a selection of peculiar tales from the best in horror and speculative fiction.

Why choose between horror and humor if you can have both at once?

Four witches who used directions as pseudonyms were interrupted by East’s younger sister while trying to summon a demon in “Just Like Baking.” I loved the playful tone of this story and how the sibling relationship affected such a serious and dangerous spell. The horror elements were a nice touch, too, given the powerful forces these characters were dealing with and how cautious they needed to be in order to get what they wanted from their demon.

As much as I enjoyed reading this, there was one thing holding me back from giving it a higher rating. It involved the way mental illness was discussed in this book and how characters who struggled with it were written about. For example, there were times when I was uncomfortable with how Jen’s mood swings were described in “Catch Fire” or how Billy’s paranoia in “The Claim They Stake” was used to drive him and other characters to do all sorts of awful things they never would have otherwise done. I know so many people who have either previously dealt with mental illness or are currently struggling with it that I’d be hesitant to mention this book to them without including caveats about the way this topic was handled and how negative stereotypes about people who have mental illnesses were sometimes reinforced. With that being said, I still thought Ms. Dobbs was a great storyteller and would like to read more from her in the future if she’s willing to accept this feedback in the warm and friendly tone in which I hope she will receive it.

“Dead” showed what happened when a stubborn woman named Emily decided to remodel her basement but kept running into frustrating and confusing obstacles as she pulled up more and more of the floor. I adored the plot twists in this tale, especially once the main character suffered a life-threatening wound while working. Emily wasn’t always an easy character to like due to her refusal to listen to others, but she sure was an entertaining one as the consequences of her choices began to change her life forever. I know this is a little vague, but the details of her terrible injury and what happened afterwards are best left up to other readers to explore for themselves.

The End was a memorable mixture of horror and humor.

Rogue Vampire by Pamela Turner


Rogue Vampire by Pamela Turner
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

I work with the dead. Now, I work with the undead.

My name is Amber McAllister, and I’m a deputy coroner. Until recently, I didn’t believe in the supernatural. Then what I thought was an insect stung me. The next day, I see that a medical examiner is an angel with black wings, and a co-worker is a skeleton woman.

It turns out the insect was a vampire. I won’t be looking at blood the same way.

But bodies are showing up, drained of the life force. It’s my job, along with the detectives in the Louisville Paranormal Investigation Agency, to find and stop the killer. Only problem? The murderer might be the vampire who attacked me. If he or she dies, so do I.

A label is never a destiny.

The friendships in this book were strong and meaningful. Some of the most memorable scenes were the ones that explored how the characters built, maintained, and benefited from the platonic relationships in their lives. I smiled as I read their banter and took note of all of the small ways they supported one another through difficult moments in their cases. Kudos to Ms. Turner for devoting so much time to this topic. It’s not explored often enough in many modern fantasy novels for my tastes, so it was refreshing to find it here.

I was surprised and confused by how quickly Amber adjusted to the idea that supernatural creatures are real and that some of them were her coworkers. The claims were so extraordinary that I really would have thought she’d struggle with them more. It would have been helpful to have more information about why she was so trusting there when many other folks would have at least temporarily been suspicious of such claims. She didn’t strike me as a gullible person in other areas of life, so this never quite sat right with me. I would have happily gone with a full five-star rating if this had been explained better as everything else about it was well done.

With that being said, I did enjoy the world building once Amber dug more deeply into her new life. It was interesting to see how many monsters from folklore and fairy tales popped up here and what the differences were between their real selves and what stories said about them. No sooner did I assume that I’d met all of them than someone would mention yet another mythical being who was running around in this universe. The author did a nice job of reinventing these characters and linking them all together in her universe.

Rogue Vampire piqued my curiosity.