The Hole

William Meikle (b. 1958) is a prolific Scottish author of fantasy, science-fiction and horror short-stories and novels. He has created a number of series titles like Augustus Seton, Carnacki, and The Midnight Eye Files. Beginning in 2011, Meikle has authored seven Sherlock Holmes novels. I’ve read a number of Meikle’s horror novels, including The Hole. It was originally published in 2013 by Dark Fuse and now exists as an ebook and audio download through Crossroad Press.

The Hole concerns a large sinkhole that suddenly appears in a small rural town. From this deep recess is a piercing hum that begins to affect the town in different ways - nose bleeds, horrific visions, paranoia, etc. The two main characters, the town’s sheriff and doctor, begin interviewing and medically treating their town’s residents. But, when the hole begins to expand it’s up to these professionals to evacuate the town. What is the hole and what are the strange creatures climbing from its depths?

William Meikle delivers a taught, fast paced thrill ride with The Hole. The novel isn't a far cry from the formula concocted by the horror greats long ago. The sleepy setting is like many cookie cutter fictional towns plagued by paperback terrors. Meikle provides an average cast of characters who are placed in extraordinary circumstances to see how they react. It's the crime-noir logic that Stephen King has used for decades, the obligatory road map for authors to attack small towns with their horrifying creations. Meikle utilizes this horror trope remarkably well. His characters are admirable, genuine, and the reader has no recourse other than to care deeply about their fates. 

While the story itself is traditional, leaning on Lovecraft's "Old Ones", The Hole really excels in the pacing, a crucial element that seems to be lacking in fiction regardless of genre. The shorter length is a blessing compared to the 500+ page hardbacks that currently dominate the industry. Once this demonic chasm opens, the story unfolds quickly with a frantic pace that never becomes trapped in the details. Houses are swallowed, people are devoured and a small piece of the reader's nerves are crumbled like the outer edges of this small town. Meikle wraps it all up in a tight package that thrives in the darkest recesses, yet shines as another outstanding entry for this talented storyteller. 

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Crime Cop

Using the pseudonyms Larry Holden and Larry Heller, New Jersey native Lorenz F. Heller (1910-1965) authored two police procedural crime novels in 1959 and 1962 titled Crime Cop and Body of the Crime. Stark House Press has reprinted these lean thrillers in one volume with an introduction by retired LAPD detective and author Paul Bishop. As a huge fan of Heller’s writing, I was excited to plunge into Crime Cop.

Taking cues from Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series, Crime Cop is set in the fictional metropolis of Hudson. Heller does a nice job of mimicking McBain’s third-person narrative voice. Our featured cops are robbery Detectives Jeff Flavin and George Gilman (presumably before he wrote the Edge westerns), and they are busy dealing with actual crimes, chronic complainers and tips from chatty stoolies.

Amid the day-to-day chaos, Flavin is summoned to a boss’ office to be briefed on a big case. A series of residential home invasion robberies resulted in the death of a female homeowner. Homicide is working the killing, and they need Flavin and his partner to tackle the robberies providing the department with two avenues to solve the crime.

Beyond the normal procedural steps of interviewing potential witnesses, there is some interesting pre-computer police science elements to the plot that were completely fascinating. The compiling of clues and inferences gained from those clues is an exercise in pure Sherlockian deduction. As cops, Flavin and Gilman are logic machines and a pleasure to read.

Smart legwork by the crime cops - punctuated by vivid hardboiled dialogue - develops a viable suspect for the robberies and the killing. There are twists and turns along the way. We also get several vividly-drawn characters filling out the cast, culminating in a satisfying ending.

Crime Cop reminded me of an exceptional Ed McBain 87th Precinct cover band. In many ways, I preferred Heller’s writing and plotting to McBain’s work. The good news is that - thanks to Stark House - readers don’t need to choose. Read them both.

Fun Fact:

There’s a homicide detective in Crime Cop named Ben Tutchek who is the main character in the author’s Body of the Crime. Interestingly, the 1962 paperback was published under the quasi-pseudonym of Larry Heller. The author was setting himself up for a Marvel Universe (or 87th Precinct) of inter-connected cop stories from Pyramid Books, but tepid sales couldn’t justify a third novel. Thanks to Stark House for reuniting this two-book “series” into a single volume.

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One of Us

According to his Amazon home page, Thomas Simpson lives in Glasgow, Scotland. He wrote and directed the short film I, Alive, whose premiere took place in 2011. He is also a horror author with two self-published novels, One of Us (2019) and Blackened (2020). I borrowed a copy of One of Us from a friend, hoping for a good old-school novel about slashers.

Michael is slipping out of his daily office job. After taking some needed PTO, Michael heads out into the open air to soak up the sun, fish, drink beer and kill. That's right, kill. You see, Michael is a serial killer. He tortures and kills one person annually. After meeting Fred, both men formed a special bond that allowed them to enjoy this annual killing ritual. This year is pretty special. Michael is bringing his younger brother Jason to show him the ropes. Think of it as a gruesome internship. As a trio, they hope to earn a trophy in the wild.

While Michael, Jason and Fred are loading up for a vacation gorefest, Sarah is also looking forward to a vacation. She hopes the great outdoors is the remedy to heal her estranged relationship with her brother Kevin. They've recently lost their mother and are grieving. With two of Sarah's friends, the foursome arrive at the family cabin. With no electricity or cell phone service, these four may be the perfect prize for the killers.

It is clear that Simpson is a fan of horror, but above all a fan of the slasher subgenre. These three murderers (named after horror icons) attack a young woman before finding Sarah's friends. In addition, in the flashbacks, readers relive sessions of torture and murder of previous outings. These scenes are not for the squeamish. There are the mandatory chase scenes, the stigma of the final girl and the atmosphere and location of the classic outdoor slasher film.

With One of Us, Simpson creates the perfect horror novella, complete with compelling characters, a fast pace and plenty of grisly horror to please the diehards. 

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Pop. 1280

Jim Thompson (1906-1977) is a celebrated author of noir paperbacks from the 1940s through the 1950s. I've struggled with his writing style and haven't latched onto that one Jim Thompson novel that inspires me enough to fully appreciate his literature. Many point to Pop. 1280 as one of his finest works. It was originally published in 1964 by Fawcett Gold Medal and has been reprinted numerous times since. 

Nick Corey is Sheriff of Potts County, a rural riverside town with a population of 1,280. Corey sleeps late, drinks at work, accepts bribes from the local whorehouse and rarely carries out police work. He's the ultimate scoundrel. After years of being verbally and physically abused by two town pimps, Corey requests the aid of a nearby county sheriff named Ken Lacey. Corey sits down with Lacey to explain his dilemma. After ridiculing Corey, and providing a lot of racist comments, Lacey instructs Corey to become deadly aggressive. 

When Corey comes back to town, he takes Lacey's ill-informed advice to heart. He shoots and kills both pimps and tosses their bodies into the river. These murders push Corey to continue this vicious aggression and put caution to the wind. Corey also begins having an affair with his wife's friend Rose while simultaneously engaging in a sexual relationship with a town woman named Amy. Throughout Thompson's speech, Corey plans and kills people while ensuring his re-election in the upcoming vote.

If Pop. 1280 is Thompson's masterpiece, then I have little hope that I will ever like the author. I hate novels where I must reside in the mind of a psychopath. The novel is presented in the first person of Corey's perspective and I just wanted to escape his model of thinking. While these types of "ride with the killer" novels are popular, I just can't seem to enjoy them. With the killer, and the killer's intentions, in full display, there is no real mystery or suspense. It's like trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube. Once it is out, it's out.

Like most of Thompson's novels, every character is a worthless human being devoid of any common decency. I didn't have any reason to love anyone, and I didn't care what happened to them. I need a well-written narrative with characters that I can identify with and sense a kind of connection with. I need to care about the characters. Thompson provides none of that. Instead, his objective is just to create excessive characters that are profane, too sexual and have very little common sense. In poor taste, he passes these characters off as an inbred race of rednecks.  

I know I don't understand the full significance of Thompson's writing and what makes it truly unique. That's okay, I don't have to understand it or like him. His dialogue, murderous viewpoint and morally flawed characters attract generations of worshiping fans. I'm glad he has a fan base. After trying to enjoy a handful of his novels, I probably will never open another one. This kind of literature seems beneath me. There are remarkable books from remarkable authors. From my perspective, Jim Thompson is not one of those. 

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Don't Speak to Strange Girls

Harry Whittington was a master of crime-noir, but wrote novels in many different genres like romance, sleaze, slave gothics and westerns. I've mostly been attracted to his crime novels and westerns, but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try something different. I decided to purchase his 1963 paperback Don't Speak to Strange Girls. It was originally published by Fawcett Gold Medal and now exists as an ebook by Prologue Press.

Clay Stuart is a 45 year old movie star living in Hollywood, California. Clay is from a poverty-stricken family in Nebraska and now lives a life of luxury. He's experienced decades of marquee film success as a leading man in war and westerns. In the first few pages, Clay attends the funeral of his longtime wife, Ruth. Back in his spacious mansion, Clay begins to receive the encouragement and greetings of his dedicated staff. His business manager is Marty, his agent is Marc and his assistant Kay deals with the rest. The trio urge Clay to mourn, but to get back to work as soon as possible. It will do him some good. 

Clay doesn't go back to work. Instead, he grieves with bottles of alcohol and a sense of displacement. His wife is dead. What happens now? Marty and Marc both attempt to cheer Clay up with hunting trips, prostitutes and a script for a new western called Man of the Desert. Even Clay's studio execs want him back. But Clay is despondent and can't find a reason to rise and exist each day. That's when Joanne Stark arrives.

The initial introduction is made over the telephone. One day, Clay responds to the phone and a young woman mysteriously charms him. Her questions are rather innocent, but she has a self-confidence that most women do not possess when chatting with celebrities. Clay wants to know how she obtained his unlisted number and she flirts around the answer. Eventually, he bids her farewell and dismisses the call as a starstruck fan who got lucky with a Hollywood insider. She'll never call again. But she does. And, for the first time in a long while, Clay feels excitement again. He gains a thrill that he hasn't experienced in decades. Joanne Stark is an amazing individual... by phone. Should they meet?

Against the advice of almost everybody, including his wise old butler, Clay invites this young woman into his home. When Joanne shows up, Clay is astounded by her beauty. She's like a living, breathing doll. Her behavior is both seductive and innocent, a rare combination which causes a reversal of roles. Clay is infatuated with Joanne. She explains that she has a love for Clay since she was little and that she wants what he has. She wants to become an actress, she wants to be famous, she wants to be rich.

Despite Kay's judgment, Clay and Joanne start a fire that burns for weeks. Both are madly in love and Clay, who could be Joanne's father, feels young again. As Whittington's narrative expands, Clay begins to suspect that Joanne may be using him to gain a shortcut into Hollywood. But he's so in love, he doesn't care about it. Is he able to maintain a one-way relationship with this young, beautiful woman? Once she gains her own fame and fortune, why will she still need Clay? After Clay's agent looks into Joanne's small town history, things begin to look rather bleak for Clay's future. This woman is a wildcat.

Whittington can write his ass off and Don't Speak to Strange Girls is exceptional. There's so many introspective aspects to the story that make it so compelling. Whittington wants to know what we could do for fame and fortune? He examines the Hollywood elite and how it compares to the daily lives of average Americans. It's a fish out of water story, but it goes both ways - Joanne caught up in the filthy rich and Clay adjusting to a younger generation. When each is exposed to the other's social world, it triggers a chain reaction that affects their emotions in several unusual ways.

Like the films A Star is Born and (ahem) Pretty Woman, Don't Speak to Strange Girls brilliantly exposes the consequences and fallout when the average human consumes too much too quickly. It's elementary, but not in the hands of Harry Whittington. Instead, it's one of his greatest novels and it doesn't contain a single murder. Well, maybe just that one near the end. But you should find out on your own. That's a pretty big invitation. 

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Deeper

James Arthur Moore (b. 1965) is a Bram Stoker nominated author of horror, role-playing and television tie-in novels. The Atlanta native has multiple series titles, including Harvest and Bloodstained. After reading and enjoying his novels, Blood Red (2005) and Fireworks (2001), I purchased his 2008 novel Deeper. It was originally published by Necessary Evil in 2008 and then again by Berkley in 2009. 

The book is set somewhere on the New England coast and stars an elderly man named Joe. Joe charters fishing trips for tourists on his sizable yacht and mostly lives a quiet happy life with his wife. A professor and members of a nearby college faculty hire Joe to pilot them to a beachside town called Golden Cove. It's here the group can dive and explore a chain of underground caves rumored to exist. 

Joe wants to accept the job but is very hesitant about the route's ultimate destination. Over the years he has heard the sailor stories about the small coastal town. Supposedly, there are monstrous creatures that terrorize boats and crews off the reef. Additionally, rumors abound that the town's population behave aggressively to tourists. This isn't a cozy place where they leave the light on for you. When Joe ends up accepting the job, he discovers that the rumors are indeed true. There is a whole lot of terror waiting in Golden Cove. 

Deeper starts with a bang and ends with a really strong finish. However, I though the middle portions were a little slow. The narrative features action, a central mystery and an eerie ambiance with Moore detailing the fog enshrouded village of Golden Cove. I imagined those opening scenes from the Dark Shadows TV show depicting a high tide enshrouding the misty beach. Moore connects to H.P. Lovecraft fans as this book mentions Innsmouth and the Miskatonic University (both locations used in Lovecraft's literature). 

Overall, James A. Moore is a tremendous talent and Deeper is an entertaining read. If you love traditional horror or underwater terror, think of Deeper as a horrifying combination of Jaws and Cthulu. Get the ebook HERE

Challenge the Widow-Maker and Other Stories of People in Peril

Clark Howard was a crime-fiction and true crime author that grew up as an orphan in Chicago's lower West Side. After surviving the Korean War's Battle of the Punchbowl, Howard became a full-time writer and a prominent contributor to mystery magazines like Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, and Mike Shayne. Thankfully, his estate has partnered with Mysterious Press/Open Road to offer two reprinted books collecting many of Howard's most well-known and award-winning short stories. 

The first is Challenge the Widow-Maker and Other Stories of People in Peril and the second is Crowded Lives and Other Stories of Desperation and Danger. Originally these were released as rather unattractive hardcover editions in 2000 by Five Star Publishing. Mysterious Press/Open Road reprinted these books in 2020 with modern covers in ebook format. My first peek at these is Challenge the Widow-Maker...

The book contains 12 short stories, including Ellery Queen Readers Award winners like "The Dakar Run", "Scalplock", "Animals" and his 1980 Edgar Award winner, "Horn Man". Most of the other stories were all nominated for various awards, including two Spur nominees in "The Plateau" and "Custer's Ghost". After reading the collection, here are a few highlights:

"Horn Man"

This story was probably influenced by the author's fondness of jazz, a genre he discovered in southern America in the 1940s. In the story's beginning, a former jazz star named Dix departs a Greyhound bus in New Orleans. After talking with an old friend, Dix explains that he has been in prison for 16 years after taking the fall for a woman named Madge. He asks his friend where Madge is now and that he wants to see her. His friend isn't sure if Dix is wanting to rekindle a relationship with the woman or murder her. It's an entrancing story as Dix is courted by both a jazz club owner and his friend to pick up an instrument again. When a seasoned cop becomes involved, this 31-page story speeds to an interesting finale where the sins of the past come to light. 

"The Plateau"

While this was nominated for a Spur award, it's not a traditional western. The story is set in a western town in the future. The last two living North American buffalo are owned by an old widowed man nicknamed Tank. The buffalo owner scratches out a meager living in a small Montana town with his daughter Delia. The state has created a lottery system where three winners will be allowed to hunt the last remaining buffalo in North America. But, when Tank realizes that one of the buffalo has died, he begins to gain a fondness for the remaining animal. Her name is Hannah and she's an old, female buffalo (cow) that has been in Tank's life for a long time. While he desperately needs the proceeds paid to him by the state, Tank attempts to smuggle Hannah into the rugged Black Hills ahead of the three hunters. The ensuing chase is a an exhilirating, and emotional read as Tank not only faces Hannah's extinction but also his own morality. It's an exceptionally well-written story.

"The Dakar Run"

Jack Sheffield is an aging race-car driver with a gambling addiction. Due to some bad luck, he's racked up a large debt owed to a French criminal named Marcel. One evening, his estranged daughter Chelsea appears and advises Jack that she's dating a race-car driver. She is requesting that Jack visit her boyfriend to review a super-car he's created for the famous, grueling race known as the Paris-Dacar Rally (today it's the Dacar Rally). It's an off-road endurance race that welcomes any driver and any vehicle. The event transpires across multiple countries, including a long stretch of the Sahara Desert. Jack has run the race before and lost, but his experience could prove valuable to Chelsea and her boyfriend. After Jack reviews the car, known as Max-One, he realizes it has a real shot at winning. The problem is that Marcel approaches Jack later and demands that he sabotage the car so that Marcel's large gamble on a marquee driver could potentially pay off. If Max-One wins, Jack's estranged daughter will benefit and his relationship with her could improve. If Max-One loses, Marcel will erase Jack's gambling debt from his books. I would love to reveal the surprise twist, but that wouldn't be fair to potential readers. This story was simply awesome and it possessed some of the same elements of Howard's stuntman novel The Last Great Death Stunt (1977).

Here is a complete listing of the book's stories and the original publication they were culled from:

"Horn Man" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine June 1980
"All the Heroes Are Dead" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine December 1982
"Puerto Rican Blues" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine April 1983
"Challenge the Widow-Maker" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine August 1990
"Animals" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine June 1985
"Scalplock" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July 1986
"The Dakar Run" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine August 1988
"Custer's Ghost" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine May 1983
"The Plateau" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July 1984
"Split Decisions" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine December 1994
"Mexican Triangle" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine October 1981
"The Dublin Eye"- Ellery Queen Prime Crimes February 1984

Overall, Challege the Widow-Maker...should be in your Kindle library right now. If it isn't, please use the below link and remedy that problem HERE