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brennanlafaro's reviews
249 reviews
Blood Standard by Laird Barron
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
I tend to be picky with books in this genre, but seeing Laird Barron sidestep from his unique brand of horror to write action/crime, was enough to grab my attention. Blood Standard and its sequels take us on a first-person journey with Isaiah Coleridge, a former mob enforcer who moves from the wild frontiers of Alaska to upstate New York. Out of necessity, sure, but working toward a simpler life.
Barron establishes early on, however, that Coleridge is not the kind of guy who’s going to easily allow himself to slip into the simple life. I mentioned the first person POV, and honestly, that’s one thing that really worked for me in this book. We take a man the size of a bear and throw him into situations where he’s expected to be a tough guy, it’d be too easy for this setup to fall into familiar, and boring, territory.
Laird avoids that with two key ingredients. First, a phenomenal supporting cast. Everyone at the farm has a unique personality, making for exciting and interesting interactions. Favorite among these is Lionel. We get a hint there is a lot more backstory to be told, just one additional reason I’ll be needing to check out Black Mountain. Second is the genuine sense of humor. Coleridge is an unabashed smartass. Combine the comedy with the action, and the nearly 400 page novel doesn’t have so much as a dull page.
Laird Barron paints the pages with some other unique additions, such as Coleridge’s half-Maori ancestry and his love of animals. Interesting details, certainly, but crucial to the plot as well, and the story behind the dog tags Coleridge carries, especially knowing Barron’s real-life parallels grounds the story in a human and relatable way.
Blood Standard is funny when it needs to be. It’s poignant when it needs to be. It’s brutal when it needs to be. What makes the gears turn is that the author knows exactly what buttons to press and when to press them. Also, we got to see some nazi asses kicked. Who doesn’t want to see that right now?
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
Did not finish - Strong start to this one and some interesting and unique historical inclusion (Tulsa Massacre, Sundown Counties) but the characters weren’t nearly as interesting as their circumstances and none of the stories after the first held my attention. I got a bit past the halfway point.
Red Station by Kenzie Jennings
dark
tense
4.0
I don’t know how long this horror western trend is going to stick around, but I’m going to take full advantage while it’s here.
Jennings’ addition to Death’s Heads Press’ line of splatter westerns is actually relatively light on splatter in the beginning of the book. When a group of travelers are taken in for the night, given a place to stay, we’re treated to pages and pages of character development, not resembling much of a horror novel. This might sound like a complaint, but the interaction is entertaining and the dialogue crackles, and the time spent with these characters, particularly Miss Clyde Northway, pays off in a big way later.
When the book takes its turn into horror territory, it cuts the wheel viciously and doesn’t bother to ease the brakes at all. Jennings’ visceral descriptions and stark action scenes paint vivid pictures of gore and mayhem rooted in humanity, or I suppose lack thereof. The action does not let up for a moment until the very last page, and though the book feels complete, there could be more story to tell, and I’d show up for it.
Red Station makes full use of the old west setting without leaning into familiar and overused tropes the genre is rife with. A fresh story that uses dialogue and setting to showcase what can be done in this extremely specific sub-genre. While I’ve only read short fiction by Kenzie Jennings to this point, I’ll need to rectify that now that I’ve seen what the author can do with a longer form.