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A review by tracyreads
The Seven Deadliest by Patrick Beltran, D. Alexander Ward
4.0
The Seven Deadliest is an anthology of 7 powerhouse authors, each tasked with spinning a tale about the sin they have been "assigned". I have always been drawn to literature that encompasses the seven sins. I've read Dante and others, hell, I even studied it in undergrad. When it comes to film and book adaptations beyond the classics, I am picky. Yes, I loved Seven. Unashamedly. But there have been few others that really focused on ALL of the sins. This anthology does that and I truly enjoyed my time with this book. As always, I have favorites. They are as follows (in the order they appear in the book):
AVARICE: "Gilda" by John C Foster. This is a well-crafted story within a story and I appreciated Foster's interpretation of the sin of greed. I love these ladies and their sisterhood, however twisted it may be. Story time has been re-invented.
ANGER: "A Short Madness" by Bracken MacLeod. After reading STRANDED last winter and now this tale, I'm going to go ahead and call myself a fan of his writing. Wow. This story fully encompasses rage from a source I didn't expect and it worked perfectly. The prose is tight and the words punch through at all the right moments. Impeccable timing and a hell of an ending.
SLOTH: "Clevengers of the Carrion Sea" by Rena Mason. This one is WEIRD and I'm still not quite sure I understood exactly what was happening, but I am fine with that. A bit of cosmic horror, dual worlds, and a twisty plot kept me engaged. I still am not too sure how exactly this fits with "sloth", but I dug the story.
LUST: "Ring of Fire" by Richard Thomas. This is another one that kept me guessing, and like Mason's I think I might have missed some bits; however, like MacLeod's tale for "anger", this story nails "lust" and looks for alternative, future solutions for what I think is the most dangerous of the seven sins.
GLUTTONY: "All You Care to Eat" by John F.D. Taff. Well. Bizarre and just damn weird, Taff's story is a great last story for this anthology. A bit surreal and plenty of WTF moments, I loved trying to figure out what would happen next and being completely wrong.
Overall, this was a fun read. I think it will appeal to a variety of horror and spec fic fans simply because each one brings something different to the table. Now I'm off to read the other reviews of this book - I can't wait to see which ones other readers have selected as favorites.
AVARICE: "Gilda" by John C Foster. This is a well-crafted story within a story and I appreciated Foster's interpretation of the sin of greed. I love these ladies and their sisterhood, however twisted it may be. Story time has been re-invented.
ANGER: "A Short Madness" by Bracken MacLeod. After reading STRANDED last winter and now this tale, I'm going to go ahead and call myself a fan of his writing. Wow. This story fully encompasses rage from a source I didn't expect and it worked perfectly. The prose is tight and the words punch through at all the right moments. Impeccable timing and a hell of an ending.
SLOTH: "Clevengers of the Carrion Sea" by Rena Mason. This one is WEIRD and I'm still not quite sure I understood exactly what was happening, but I am fine with that. A bit of cosmic horror, dual worlds, and a twisty plot kept me engaged. I still am not too sure how exactly this fits with "sloth", but I dug the story.
LUST: "Ring of Fire" by Richard Thomas. This is another one that kept me guessing, and like Mason's I think I might have missed some bits; however, like MacLeod's tale for "anger", this story nails "lust" and looks for alternative, future solutions for what I think is the most dangerous of the seven sins.
GLUTTONY: "All You Care to Eat" by John F.D. Taff. Well. Bizarre and just damn weird, Taff's story is a great last story for this anthology. A bit surreal and plenty of WTF moments, I loved trying to figure out what would happen next and being completely wrong.
Overall, this was a fun read. I think it will appeal to a variety of horror and spec fic fans simply because each one brings something different to the table. Now I'm off to read the other reviews of this book - I can't wait to see which ones other readers have selected as favorites.