Icy Heart, Empty Chest by Holly Lee and The Hat Man by Greg Marchand

Icy Heart, Empty Chest by Holly Lee 

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery.

Icy Heart, Empty Chest by Holly Lee is great at world building by creating a modern society of fairies, nymphs, elves, kelpies, and other magical creatures. It has a fascinating albeit gruesome plot and characters with potential. However, it is a slow paced book that gets repetitive very quickly.

In an alternate universe in which magical creatures live their daily modern lives, Cora is a barista, bounty hunter, smuggler, and art thief. Her client Finneas gives her a new assignment to retrieve a kelpie’s heart from the witch who stole it and give it to a potential buyer. While investigating Filla, the witch who took the heart, she learns that the heart belongs to Damien, a kelpie who is also her ex. He is alive but is growing weaker without his heart. Cora must choose between duty of following her assignment and a love that never really ended.

The strongest aspect of this book is the world building. It does not pull the old standard “Fairylands are stuck in a pastoral arcane Medieval like society" trope. If human society changes, there is no reason to assume that Fairy Worlds wouldn’t. They live in a society where magic and technology combine to create a world that is both fantastic and identifiable. 

This is a world where nymphs and sprites live next door to each other in suburban homes. Where an elf runs the local cafe. Where a doctor might treat your illness or injuries or you might get a witch to do it. Lee clearly had a lot of fun with treating magical characters like people that we might see every day. They just happen to have powers to create storms, curse people, heal with their hands, or teleport from one place to another. 

Some might have large ears, fur on their whole bodies, wings, sharp fangs, or look more animal than human. But they are just like you and me. They go to work or school, go shopping, run errands, hang out with friends, spend money, relax at home, and live mundane lives while having awesome powers and fascinating physical characteristics. 

The book has a promising character and its plot is alright for the most part. Cora isn’t a smuggler simply for money. She steals because she loves and appreciates art. Her love of art is inherited from her late father. In a way, her career keeps her memory of him alive even if her pursuits aren't exactly legal.

Cora’s love for her father also is evident in her conflicts with Damien. In fact, their fathers had a violent confrontation. As children who are close to their parents will do, Cora and Damien defended their old men and ended their relationship in a battle of words. While Cora rejects what she lost, she recognizes that Damien doesn’t deserve to have his heart taken out and doesn’t want his death on her conscience. No matter how their relationship ended, she does not want to be the one to give him a death sentence. 

The most serious drawback in the book is its pacing and it drags what would be an interesting plot. The heart assignment is well executed and there is genuine suspense in Cora’s search and retrieval of the heart. It could be a thrilling cat and mouse game that happens to have a living macguffin and lucky for Damien, a patient that is actually alive to take part in the search.

However the slowest moments occur during Cora and Damien’s reunions. There are several chapters devoted to them discussing their conflicts before they are resolved. A few are fine because this is a couple with a lot of serious baggage but those chapters repeat themselves. Cora and Damien spend a lot of talking in circles over the same topics and discussions without coming to any resolution or clarity. 

The pacing drags down what could be an interesting book with a fascinating premise and characters and makes it tedious and even boring. Their conversations could have been shorter, or came to the main points quicker. Also instead of talking about their issues and telling each other how they feel, they could show each other. What is overly verbose could have more action showing the two coming closer together emotionally on this heart stopping, pun not intended adventure. 

The Hat Man by Greg Marchand 

A supernatural creature that has gained popular culture relevance is The Hat Man. a mysterious tall figure with no facial features and dressed in a black suit, coat, and fedora appears from out of the shadows and stands over an unwilling victim usually in their bedrooms, in an abandoned street, or the woods, somewhere they are alone. It doesn’t touch them or talk to them mostly. It just stands there as a frightening silent presence. The Hat Man is most commonly associated with sleep paralysis as humans have largely reported seeing it in their bedrooms and over their beds before approaching REM sleep. There are urban legends of Benadryl users taking large quantities of the antihistamine to purposely encounter the figure. 

The Hat Men inspired the look of various characters like Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, The Babadook, and Creepypasta’s Slenderman. He has also appeared in the horror films, Shadow People and The Shadow Man, the documentaries The Nightmare and The Hat Man: Cases of Pure Evil, the games LSD: Dream Emulator and Deep Sleep, the Jason Pargin novel, John Dies At the End, and The Twilight Zone episode, “The Shadow Man.” The Twilight Zone episode in particular builds on the legend by depicting The Shadow Man as attacking people except “the one under whose bed (they) lay.” Unfortunately, the young protagonist finds himself the prey of a Shadow Man from under someone else’s bed!

The most recent portrayal of this enigmatic eerie and otherworldly figure can be found in Greg Marchand’s horror novel, The Hat Man. Similar to The Twilight Zone episode, it shows a Hat Man who isn't just terrifying because of its mere presence. It isn’t above using violence to make a point. 

This version of the Hat Man appears after a couple excavate trees for their gum. Instead of the expected sap from a slash pine, blood emerges and the two stumble upon an abandoned grave. They then see a terrifying figure dressed in a fedora who attacks the couple. Once unleashed, The Hat Man attacks various characters in violent ways. Two brothers searching for the monster are separated then murdered with great efficiency by The Hat Man. It falls to Sadie Burrows and Colton Garrett, who lose loved ones to the Hat Man, to investigate the mystery of this strange specter, its origins, and hopefully how to stop it. 

This book embellishes The Hat Man mythos by giving it more agency, character traits, and even a backstory. Instead of being a silent detached observer, it is an aggressive creature of action and rage. He uses his sharp claws, ice cold death breath, and superhuman strength to overpower then kill its victims. The action removes the more ominous ambiguous presence from the legend but makes sense from a storytelling point of view in this context. 

In some ways, Marchand combines the behavior of The Hat Man with more malevolent spirits like the dybbuk, which possesses and torments the living and the revenant which returns from the dead to inflict harm or terror. 

The behavior of the Hat Man becomes more understandable once we learn about its backstory before its death. It was once a person that was involved in horrible things and died graphically and violently. It is trying to seek the vengeance and justice in death that was denied in life. It’s not a particularly understandable or sympathetic character in the past or present, but knowing that it was once human gives it more of a relatable edge.

 There are many people filled with such hatred in their hearts that they make life miserable for those around them. Their words, actions, and very presence stirs negative emotions within people and they almost delight in that persona. They could fly into violent rages or play cold sociopathic mind games, but no matter their means they bring cruelty and inspire fear, despair, dependance, self-blame, guilt, submission, anger, fury, trauma, depression, anxiety, complacency, and apathy. Now picture a person like that coming back to life after their death and having supernatural abilities. It’s very easy to see why The Hat Man leaves such an impression on those he encounters.

This presence is also augmented by the personal suffering inflicted by the human characters. Sadie is coming off of an abusive relationship in which her ex hurt her dog, Buddy, who would later be killed by The Hat Man. A vet assistant and animal lover, Sadie’s strongest emotional core was her dog and the Hat Man destroys it. 

Colton’s family is extremely dysfunctional, particularly his troubled, addicted younger brother, Trevor, whom Colton has always taken a paternal role towards. He also greatly admires his older steadier brother, Bill, who is also the Sheriff. Both are murdered by The Hat Man. In killing them, The Hat Man also deprives Colton of his strongest emotional touchstones. 

It’s not enough for The Hat Man to kill someone physically, he destroys them emotionally by removing those they love the most and leaving them completely vulnerable and helpless when he comes after them.

That is the atmosphere that surrounds the book. It is a cruel world obsessed with death and violence that is reflected by an even crueler afterworld where the violence doesn’t end. Instead it increases. One of the more disturbing passages occurs when Sadie, Colton, and their friends hunt for The Hat Man during a Mardi Gras parade and stare befuddled and shaken at a float from The Hat Man Krewe, a float that not only honors the terrifying spirit that ruined their lives, but turns him into an attraction. It is one thing to become victimized by a disturbing person or presence but it is another thing to see that same presence glamorized into a figure of fun, sexuality, or worse admiration. 

The Hat Man book reveals a lot about a supernatural creature but it also reveals a lot more about the humans who talk about it. 

The Slither Queen by Tamera Lawrence; A Slithering Sizzling Scintillating Success

 The Slither Queen by Tamera Lawrence; A Slithering Sizzling Scintillating Success

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I suppose there are worse things to turn into than a serpent. You would be on the shortlist to play The Serpent in an adaptation of The Garden of Eden. You would be yelled at by Samuel L. Jackson in one of his meme-tastic roles. You would be coldblooded all year round especially in the hot summertime. At the very least, you would strike fear into the hearts of anyone with ophidiophobia and would look really awesome doing it. The Slither Queen by Tamera Lawrence is about a group of Shifters who can transform into such creatures in a novel that is slivering, scintillating, and sizzling.

Blake Howard, a conniving and ruthless leader of a serpent cult has kidnapped his newborn daughter, Prisca and her mother, Lustra so Prisca can be used in a ritual. But what Blake doesn't know is that Prisca has stronger abilities than he is aware of. One of these is to send telepathic messages in distress. She sends one out to Rachel Garth, who also possesses snake shape shifting abilities. She recently joined with some magic users including her new boyfriend, Gabe and Ariel, a friendly enemy. Rachel is determined to help Prisca and her mother and discovers that her link to Prisca goes beyond similar powers.

The Slither Queen hovers the right amount between Supernatural Horror and Urban Fantasy. There are some truly chilling skin crawling moments made even creepier by the fact that the characters can turn into serpents and therefore frighten many onlookers and Readers. One of the most startling scenes involves Rachel, who is still new to the shape shifting game and is only learning the difficulties of her powers. One of the difficulties is turning during the worst, most inopportune moments and not knowing when to turn it off. One chilling moment reveals this when she turns into a giant serpent while on a ferris wheel in full view of the public and has trouble reverting back to her human form.

The characters are interesting and complex. Rachel is the type of empathetic self-sacrificing protagonist in this type of subgenre, but she has some edges. Her past is a particularly dark one of abandonment, addiction, and estrangement from her mother and sister. Someone with such a toxic past as hers, could either become a bitter misanthrope living for only themselves or a caring idealist so others don’t suffer the way that they did. In Rachel’s case, she is the latter. 

However, Rachel is somewhat bitter about her past, particularly at her mother. There is a running subplot where she has an uncomfortable reunion with her mother who stumbles into this predicament and she is briefly held captive by Blake and his worshippers. Mother and daughter are torn between their angry resentment and the hope for reconciliation.

Gabe and Blake are a little less complex but serve their purpose. Gabe is both a mentor and love interest to Rachel by guiding her through her shifting mistakes with compassion and knowledge. Blake alternates between seductive charisma and ruthless efficiency. He gives off a dangerous and sophisticated aura where it’s easy to see why he has no trouble mesmerizing potential followers and lovers. When he displays his authoritarian violent murderous tendencies,is when his true nature is revealed underneath the charming exterior.

By far the two most complex and interesting characters in this book are Ariel and Prisca. Ariel walks a thin line between good and evil, being a friend of Gabe’s and a follower of Blake’s cult. She fancies Gabe and resents Rachel’s intrusion in their lives. She conspires with Blake because of her intense romantic feelings for Gabriel and her burning jealousy for Rachel.

 On the one hand, it is somewhat understandable that Ariel would feel possessive of Gabriel for years and rage at his attraction to Rachel, whom they just met. But there also comes a time where she has to learn that she is not entitled to him, nor does her love for Gabriel, justify the harm that she puts on Rachel and Prisca, especially the latter. It’s this line between understanding her behavior while not condoning her actions that make Ariel a complicated fascinating character.

Despite being a newborn, Prisca has more going for her than just sleeping and being breastfed by her mother. Despite being an infant, she has a wide range of powers including shifting and telepathy. This awesome but unskilled power is wrapped inside of a tiny body that can’t even sit up yet. It could be great but also explosive and Blake certainly recognizes this deadly possibility.

She also has some awareness of her surroundings that suggest deep wisdom despite having just been born. Her telepathic communications with Rachel come out in visuals, feelings, and short words to suggest a limited vocabulary and understanding, but an awareness of concepts like cause and effect, danger and safety, and possibly good and evil. 

Prisca’s awesome power and how it relates to Rachel become more evident when we learn some secrets about them that link them together in various ways, physically, emotionally, and magically. 

The Slither Queen might not be the best book for snake haters, but for everyone else it’s a highly recommended Urban Fantasy with plenty of magic, plenty of twists, and plenty of serpentine spirit.

Vegas Arcana: Deck Runner's Gambit by James Anderson Foster; Las Vegas Setting and Interesting Concept Are Winners, But It Needs work to be an Ace in the Deck

 Vegas Arcana: Deck Runner's Gambit by James Anderson Foster; Las Vegas Setting and Interesting Concept Are Winners, But Average Plot and Dialogue Come Up Snake Eyes

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery. 

Spoilers: Las Vegas is this year's Caribbean. 

In 2023, the top setting was the Caribbean with its scenic beaches, beautiful plants and animals, troubled history, and intriguing myths and legends and was the center of some brilliant, wonderful works. 

Well this year’s setting instead is an arid desert filled with neon lights, glitzy casinos, wild entertainment, and 24 hours of excitement, debauchery, and tackiness. Of course it’s a great setting for literature.Along with Jo Szewczyk’s Gen X and Richard R. Becker’s Third Wheel, James Anderson Foster’s Vegas Arcana: Deck Runner’s Gambit is the third book this year that has Sin City as its primary setting. It has also been the setting of previous books, Thunder Road by Colin Holmes, Psychonautic by Darren Frey, All Eyes on Me by Linsey Lanier, and portions of What Immortal Hand by Johnny Worthen. It is definitely a city of addiction, obsession, decadence, and the pursuit of temporary pleasure that feeds into tales of murder, violence, crime, lust, drug abuse, mental illness, unhappy home lives, and sometimes dark magic and supernatural night creatures. 

Deck Runner’s Gambit gives us a great setting and an interesting concept. However, there are some serious flaws in the execution that turn a promising book into average.

Malcolm “Mal” Byrne is lured out of his dull cubicle 9 to 5 job by a series of psychedelic threads of light and cryptic text messages from a mysterious number. During his pursuit, he is followed by some sinister magic users who attack him. He is rescued by his friend, Jake, who is gravely wounded in the process. In his grief and guilt, Mal meets Jake’s friend, Eli Hawthorne, who is part of a secret organization called the Deck Runners, magic users who use their impressive supernatural powers of energy manipulation to fight against another group called the Peerage. Eli and the other Deck Runners also sense magic inside Mal and he signs up. Good thing too, because a Peerage member, Cassie Draven, has found a way to use dark magic to destroy the modern world and build a magically run one around it. 

The strongest aspects of the book are the Las Vegas setting and the initial concept of people studying and using arcane magic in the modern world. It is a great idea to use Vegas as the primary setting because it is one of the American cities which typify modern life at its worst. Everything there is now, loud, bright, fast, and transient. Everything in Las Vegas from the games, casinos, food, entertainment, is a means to get rich and achieve personal pleasure. It would be the antithesis of studying something like magic which would require deep concentration, intellectual curiosity, solitude, and a deeper understanding into the subconscious beyond a quick win and a night of pleasure. 

This strange dichotomy between the setting and the character’s pursuits is first explored in the opening chapter. Among the neon signs, the blaring games of chance, the excited screams and disappointed cries of gamblers, Mal sees the threads of magical energy leading him to the Deck Runners. Once he is attuned to the idea of magic, he sees it all around him. It becomes more real than the artifice that he usually experiences. This acceptance of the metaphysical world gives Mal purpose that a drab office life in such a glitzy city would not bring. He is excited and enraptured by this adventure. While it’s scary and ultimately filled with consequences, Mal sees  that it is preferable to the previous life of quiet desperation he lived where he was surrounded by noise and longing to be heard. Magic gives him a voice and a drive that he would otherwise not have had. 

Deck Runner’s Gambit is a book that is not without its flaws and oddly enough they become noticeable once Mal joins the Deck Runners and begins practicing magic. The powers are pretty interesting and some are even unique. For example, the Runners draw specific cards and bring forward whatever magic they need from them such as light, or fire, water, whatever is necessary. It requires thought, concentration, and some improv especially when the Peerage also has access to such powers. The concept of two competing teams of magic users is pretty interesting and raises the question whether which side is truly right or wrong, or if they are  simply separate schools of magic with different philosophies but similar practices. But this world comes at the expense of the characterization within it.

Once Mal is introduced to the idea of magic however, his transformation from student to master is a little too rushed. This is a man who spent his whole life not believing, a skeptic, someone who probably never questioned or explored the unexamined life. He was just content to work, flirt, eat, go home, get money, hang out with friends, and sleep. It’s great that he is open to this new world and admirable that he wants to be a part of it. But it would also make sense for there to be more reluctance and timidity about his pursuits, a hesitancy to fully embrace or believe in what is in front of him. After all, living in Las Vegas, he would have seen plenty of illusionist acts and one would imagine that he would look for a nonexistent curtain, expect a lovely assistant to pop up, or wonder about the tricks behind the magic.

 It could also work the other way as well. Mal could be so open to the pursuit that he acts recklessly. He could lose his temper or consider using his magic for selfish means before he wises up. But he adjusts and adapts too quickly to be believable. There should be more development in his steps between Magician Padawan and Magician Jedi Knight. 

There is some cringy dialogue that borders on cliche. (“Welcome to the final act,” Cassie taunts. “..:Looks like your runner has run out of deck.”) It’s to the point where if you have read these types of books before, you can predict exactly what the characters are going to say before they say it. (“This isn’t over, Cassie!”) Some of it’s fun in a cheesy action fantasy sort of way but after a while it gets repetitive and makes one wonder if the book was written while watching too many movies or TV episodes. That may also account for some of the plot points that are meant to be twists that are all too easy to guess.

Vegas Arcana Deck Runner’s Gambit is aces when it comes to setting and concept but it needs work to really come up a winner.