Stinger by Robert R. McCammon

An alien spaceship crashes near a small Texas border town, its occupant a bounty hunter on the trail of another alien of a different species who has recently escaped from a prison planet.  That certainly sounds more like science fiction than horror but the way Robert McCammon unfolds this plot is pure horror.  Trust me.  The nature of the bounty-hunter alien (nicknamed “Stinger”) is a scorpion-like, mucus producing, monster with the ability to rapidly replicate allies using spare machine parts and captured human bodies.  In effect it can build its own army in its effort to capture its quarry.  Awesome!

Most of the novel is devoted to developing the many characters of the small town of Inferno.  It’s a town that is on its last legs due to the local copper mine being played out so all of the citizens are being forced to close up shop, finish their last few days of the school year, and prepare to move elsewhere.   There is a wide variety of characters in this town, from all walks of life.  The town also suffers from a racial divide due to its proximity to Mexico and a perception that illegals are taking local jobs.  But a common enemy can bring even the most viral enemies to work together and begin to understand one another a little better.  My only quibble with this novel is that there may have been too many characters.  That served to lengthen the novel a bit and slow down the build-up to the action sequences.

A UFO/alien/horror story can be pretty standard fare but in the hands of this author, it truly shines.  I first discovered Robert McCammon through his historical mystery novel, "Speaks the Nightbird", a novel that was so impressive that it made my all-time favorite list.  Subsequent novels in that series did not disappoint.  But I also knew his roots lay in the horror genre so I sampled his masterpiece, "Swan Song" and was, once again blown away by the quality of his writing.  So now he is on my list of must-read-everything-he-has-ever-written-including-his-grocery-list authors.

Monstrosity by Edward Lee

My first Edward Lee horror novel and based on this one, likely not my last.  Nice plot, good pacing and nicely done horror mixed with a lot of over-the-top craziness. Sort of like watching a car crash...repulsive in many ways but I can't look away. Reminds me a lot of Richard Laymon and since I've read most of his books, Lee might serve well as a replacement.

One problem with this novel, however, which struck me a lot more than it will most readers. The author's biography tells of some time served in the US Army. However, his characters in this book are almost all ex-Air Force security forces people. Unfortunately, the author made quite a few assumptions that the AF is the same as the Army. It's not. For example, his AF characters refer  to shopping at the PX ("Post Exchange" in Army terms) instead of the "BX ("Base Exchange for AF). He references security platoons (sorry, no platoons in the AF). I could list more examples but you get the idea. Minor points to be sure but it represents lazy writing. These are all easily researched items, even way back in 2003 when this was published.

I intend to sample more of Lee's work from time to time.

South of Sulu by George F. Worts

This collection of five short stories revolves around the character of Samuel Larkin Shay, otherwise known as “Singapore Sammy”.  Sammy is an American who has spent the last six years (1920’s) roaming around the Asiatic tropics, (the South Seas), trying to catch up to his no-good scoundrel of a father.  See, Sammy’s grandfather has left him a fortune in his will, but his father has absconded with the document, preventing the estate from passing on to Sammy.

Each of these five stories was a wonderful adventure yarn, packed full of exciting pulpy shenanigans.  An adventure in every port, you might say. Sammy isn’t afraid to let his fists do the talking when he spots an injustice.  Interestingly, each story is subtly different from one another.  For example, one is a heist story while one is a revenge story, and another is more of a mystery with supernatural elements.  But they all tie together in Sammy’s unending quest to catch his father and gain the upper hand.

George F. Worts was a prolific pulp writer, probably most famous for his character, Peter the Brazen. During the first World War, Worts was a wireless operator throughout the Pacific and later worked for Collier’s, visiting and writing articles on China, India, the Philippines, and Malaya.  The vivid landscapes he describes in these stories are evidence of his knowledge of the locations, the people and their culture.

These Singapore Sammy stories first appeared in "Short Stories" but the character eventually made his way into "Argosy" with another handful of stories, all of which were highly regarded at the time according to the Letters to the Editor.  I need to track those down now too, both for the sheer fun of reading them but also to find out if Sammy can ever wrestle away that only copy of the will from his father.

Deliver Us From Evil by Allen Lee Harris

Fourteen years ago, in the small rural town of Lucerne, Georgia, a horrible even occurred: the rape of a young insane girl by a mentally defective man.  The offspring was abandoned, orphaned, and spends his childhood bouncing through the foster care system.  His name is Jamey.  And now, 14 years later, there’s something about Jamey that makes people believe he just might be the anti-Christ.

Thanks to the good folks at Capricorn Literary, this horror novel from 1988 has been resurrected, as it were.  The author, Allen Lee Harris, attended Harvard Divinity school as well as studied for a PhD in Philosophy so it’s hardly surprising that this is a smartly written novel with deep philosophical themes.  The plot surrounds several key players in Lucerne who act as POV characters, including the sheriff, his 14-year-old son, his wife, and several members of the local church.  It is through their eyes that we meet Jamey and slowly work out what is transpiring.  The author’s background in divinity studies serves him well as a means to write about an alternate view of the Book of Revelations.

The writing is excellent and exudes atmosphere of small-town southern America.  It was interesting to see the way the writing style changed here and there depending on which POV character was active at the moment.  Not just in dialog but in the actual style of the prose.  It was subtle, but very effective.  As for the horror element, it built slowly through the entire book, creepy at times, scary at others, and downright horrific during the climactic scenes.

Overall, I do wish that the prose had been tightened up a bit.  Some scenes dragged out too long and some of the dialog was repetitive in what seemed to be an attempt to build up the suspense over a longer span.  I’m not a big fan of the religious fervor that some characters demonstrated so perhaps that made me wish it had moved along a little quicker. But overall, this is a quality read.

Nightmare in Pink (Travis McGee) by John D. MacDonald

The second Travis McGee novel finds our self-described boat-bum doing a favor for an old army buddy who has been confined to a VA hospital and, sadly, is unlikely to live much longer.  The man’s young sister, Nina, needs help as it seems her fiancé has just been murdered in an apparent mugging gone bad.  Travis’s investigation takes him to New York and leads him from one contact to another, the trail eventually leading to a high-priced call girl and an incredible scheme to steel millions from wealthy businessmen.  Along the way, despite trying not to, Travis falls for young Nina, and she for him, although they both know it won't be a lasting thing.

John D. MacDonald was still forming his character Travis McGee in this second book in the 21-book series, a decidedly different sort of protagonist than what the marketplace at the time was used to.  Travis has flaws and, generally speaking, being around him isn't always the safest place to be.  Collateral damage occurs and innocent people sometimes get caught in the crossfire (or by poisoned coffee in this case).  Most people agree that it is not until the third novel, "A Purple Place for Dying" that the general pattern and style for the rest of the books is laid down.  Regardless, this novel was an enjoyable read despite the drugged-out LSD tripping scenes at a 1960’s era lobotomizing horror factory masquerading as a mental hospital.  The title of the novel is most apropos!

Needle by Hal Clement

My brother was cleaning out his bookshelves in anticipation of his upcoming move, and so I "inherited" about 100 of his books.  A nice haul all the way around and among them, were about 30-35 science fiction books, many from the so-called classical era.  I haven't really read all that much of the older science fiction for many years now but have wanted to get back into it and thought this the perfect opportunity.

So this book was my first to read out of that whole collection from my brother.  I had read one other Hal Clement book, "Mission Of Gravity" but that was at least 25 years ago.  This one, I believe, was Mr, Clement's first published work, written in 1949.  Unfortunately it shows.  The book opened delightfully, with the nice hard science that the author is known for.  A protoplasmic alien creature has crash landed on earth while chasing another of the same species who has committed some sort of crime.  The "hunter" alien absorbs into a 15 year old boy and uses him to function and chase after the criminal alien.  Yeah I know it sounds a bit hokey but the first 1/3rd of the book was quite riveting to see how the biology of the alien species worked.  This was just the sort of hard science I was looking for.  Unfortunately, the actual "story" took off from there and turned into a detective story that seemed aimed at younger readers, reminiscent of Heinlein's juveniles only not nearly as good.

The book spawned a sequel several years later, which I may read, but I may have to get through those other 99 books from my brother first.