Sanity Test by K.E. Adamus and Fate's Last Melody by Vanessa Smith

 

Sanity Test by K.E. Adamus 

This review is a summary. The main review is on LitPick.

Sanity Test is a short but very disturbing look at two very troubled, conflicted, and potentially delusional men

This is a series of emails between Hubert Kawka and Wlodzimierz Pawski. Their emails reveal a great deal about their characters and perspectives through the emails. 

It appears that Kawka is a mentally ill patient in a psychiatric hospital and Pawski is his primary carer, but as the emails continue they become more frantic and questionable. The reader starts to wonder who is sane and who isn’t and who exactly these characters are in relation to each other.

Kawka straddles between childlike impulsivity and frightening sociopathic behavior. Through his emails, he describes a series of dramatic means to get Pawski's attention. He harbors an unhealthy fixation to an unhealthy obsessive degree and is gaslighting the other man. 

However, Pawski’s emails also raise concern. He is more emotional and threatening from the initial emails. This is definitely a potential sign that things are not what they seem and adds to the overall uncertainty that we can’t trust either of these men.

As Pawski becomes more unstable, Kawka becomes more reasonable which leaves the reader with questions about who is real, who is fictional, who is sane, who is insane, and who we can trust. The book gives us no real answers and leaves the reader to make their own conclusions to understand this strange and disturbing duo, 

Fate's Last Melody by Vanessa Smith 

This review is a summary. The main review is on LitPick.

Fate's Last Melody has a strong sense of setting and tone by depicting Hell with all of its overall darkness, graphic violence, scares, and ominous energy coming out from every corner. There is a sense of abandonment, hopelessness, and desolation that exists primarily throughout the book. 

Melody is a woman who is abducted during a night on the town with some friends and a potential boyfriend. Her abductor is not a human psychopath. He is a demon named Nyx who takes her to Hell, where she learns that she is the daughter of one of the Fates from Greek Mythology. Melody has to find her way through Hell and learn how to use her inherited powers of seeing and changing other's Destinies before she meets The King of Hell who has his own agenda involving Melody. 

Melody’s first view of Hell is a dark desolate place shrouded in shadows. The descriptions aggravate the senses and the landscape shapes itself to torture those suffering. Needless to say, it's not a pleasant experience.

Smith makes her version of Hell a composite of different mythologies most notably Abrahamic religions and Hellenic Mythology. Hell is led by The King of Hell who is so vaguely described that he could be either Lucifer or Hades, so it could go either way. The Judeo-Christian influence is shown primarily through the 7 Deadly Sins while the Greco-Roman aspects are revealed mostly through the presence of the Fates and the Titans.

There is an overall feeling of helplessness and abandonment until the end when Melody and other characters are inspired to fight against The King of Hell. But there are some potential questions about the actions that were taken to do this which suggests that Hell might end up with another dictator, one who will also torture others for eternity, inflict pain, and control others.

New Book Alert: Forgive Me by Joy Ellis; Tense and Intricate Short Story About Guilt and Suicide

 New Book Alert: Forgive Me by Joy Ellis; Tense and Intricate Short Story About Guilt and Suicide

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Sometimes guilt can overwhelm people so much that they will do the most self-destructive acts to make the pain go away. Sometimes that guilt can be exacerbated by reminders, news articles that state the crime, anniversaries of the witnesses, including friends and family members. The guilty party will do anything to end that hurt, including murder and suicide.

That is the premise behind Forgive Me, Joy Ellis' engaging, tense, and intricate stand alone short story about the investigation of a man's presumed suicide and the guilt that preceded it.

PCs Yvonne Craig and Jamie Smith are investigating the death of Arthur Sims. He appeared to have committed suicide, but he seemed like a decent enough guy. He was involved in charities and volunteer organizations and was a staunch Catholic. He was described as a decent, calm, helpful guy. So why would he do it? Why would he leave a note that says "Please forgive me?" Forgiveness for what and who had been sending him threatening notes saying that the sender didn't forget something? What was that something and why would it be so traumatic that it would drive Sims to suicide?

Because of the short length and the fact that they are mostly investigating a suicide not a murder for the most part, there aren't any suspense chases and moments where they are trailing potential suspects. Most of the investigation is done primarily through computers and researching newspaper archives. It may be dull to some mystery Readers, but others may like a bit of realism mixed in with their literature. This is how many investigations are conducted these days. Sometimes it's just a matter of lots of research and finding the right article. Rarely are dangerous criminals apprehended in violent confrontations with a heart stopping confession that reveals all. Because of the realism,,the plot is more subdued but still interesting.

Because the short story is all about the investigation, there is not a whole lot in terms of character development except one moment that is best not revealed. This characterization seems to come ot of nowhere but is good in getting the Reader to question the characters' motives, means, and pre-knowledge of the events.

Aside from the revelation, Craig and Smith are a good team for a short story like this. They don't have time to deal with marital conflicts or family squabbles. They are here to investigate and investigate they do to solve not only the reason for Sims' suicide but also a long buried cold case that can no longer wait to be solved. A cold case in which Sims was involved which haunted him for the rest of his life.

Forgive Me is short, but Ellis does a great job capturing this tension of investigating a death and revealing that sometimes, a person can not run away from past guilt fast or far enough.

Weekly Reader: Winter's Origins: Winter Black Series The Prequel by Mary Stone; Brief But Confusing Tale Especially To Newcomers To The Winter Black Series

 Weekly Reader: Winter's Origins: Winter Black Series The Prequel by Mary Stone; Brief But Confusing Tale Especially To Newcomers To The Winter Black Series

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Normally, I don't mind reading a book that is part of a series. I am good at catching up and figuring what happened beforehand. But sometimes, there are books that are hard to follow if you don't know what happened before and since. Mary Stone's short novel, Winter's Origins is that kind of book

It's very well written and has a decent protagonist and genuine moments of suspense, but it clearly calls back and refers to characters and situations that the Reader should know about. It's not Stone's fault, really it's mine. I feel like I dropped in the middle of an A-B conversation, and everyone is looking at me and telling me to C my way out.

What saves this short novel is its lead character. Winter Black is a great protagonist. She is traumatized by the deaths of her family and is determined to become an FBI agent to find closure in their deaths as well as to spare other families from going through the same experiences that she went through.

As true in many of these types of stories, Winter has supernatural abilities to help her on her journey (don't they all?). She is psychic and has images usually before and after a violent crime happens. These visions help provide clues to catching the criminals and prove to help make some pages pretty dark in this story. Unfortunately, her abilities don't always work as shown with her family's death. This fills her with guilt as she pushes herself to succeed in her chosen career path.

There are some really great moments that demonstrate the difficulties of being a woman in the FBI. Winter is constantly questioned by her colleagues and shifted around to various departments. She is purposely made uncomfortable by male colleagues and suspects. 

There are also genuine moments of real suspense throughout, such as when Winter's visions allow them to pursue a particularly nasty character and she has a tense chase pursuing him. The tension is brief but written in a way that captures suspense in the short text. It is a short novel where the action is perfectly spaced within the characterization.

What makes this short novel confusing is the amount of pre-knowledge that the Reader should have before going in. There are moments of exposition that are done in a way to throw names and situations that no doubt the average Reader of The Winter Black Series will get. For example when one character asks another if they are trying to atone for not catching "The Preacher" without any explanation, this Reader thinks "Yes, yes very sad, tragic. Who the heck is The Preacher?"

Since this is supposed to be a prequel, even called Winter's Origins, there shouldn't be that many references. This book should serve as a way to tell Readers what happened before, not confuse them further.

The truth is there is enough that with some editing, Winter's Origins could be a stand alone book and would certainly be better that way. But trying to connect to the other books only creates a blizzard of confusion instead of a nice flurry of excitement.