Outlaw Reviews

Zombielicious by Timothy McGivney

21 Jun 2011 at 09:12

Nancy Ferrer

Rating: 9/10
Title: Zombielicious
Author: Timothy McGivney
Genre: Horror, Erotica
Publisher: MLR Press
Price: US$ 14.99
Other Information/warnings: Explicit sex and violence
Summary [from the publisher]:
Amidst a zombie outbreak, Walt, athletic and confident, meets shy and quiet Joey, the attraction between them both instant and electric. With strength in numbers, they band together alongside fellow survivors; Jill, an ex-porn star turned nurse who’s made a startling discovery about her past; Ace, a disgruntled security guard who just can’t live up to certain short comings; and Molly, the fiery redhead unwilling to give up on her dreams of stardom. In this apocalyptic new world of the dead, an anything-goes attitude has become the law of the land and lust, betrayal, true love and redemption are all just a gunshot away.
My review:

GLBT Interest, Non-GLBT Fiction

Welcome Back to the Night by Elizabeth Massie

07 Jun 2011 at 09:49

Nancy Ferrer

Rating: 9/10
Title: Welcome Back to the Night
Author: Elizabeth Massie
Genre: Horror
Publisher URL: Leisure Books
Price: out of print
Other Information/warnings: graphic descriptions of torture and murder
Summary [from the publisher]:
A family reunion should be a happy event, a time to see familiar faces, meet new relatives, and reconnect with people you haven’t seen in a while. But the Lynch family reunion isn’t a happy event at all. It is the beginning of a terrifying connection between three cousins and a deranged woman who, for a brief time, had been a part of the family. When these four people are reunited, a bond is formed, a bond that fuses their souls and reveals dark, chilling visions of a tortured past, a tormented present, and a deadly future-not only for them, but for their entire hometown. But will these warnings be enough to enable them to change the horrible fate they have glimpsed?
My review:

The Karma Booth by Jeff Pearce

02 Apr 2011 at 12:22

Ann Somerville

Non-GLBT Fiction

Rating: 8/10
Title: The Karma Booth
Author: Jeff Pearce
Genre: horror, science fiction/speculative
URL: Smashwords
Price: US$6.99
Other Information/warnings: Graphic violence (including against women and children), horror, mild sexual content (het)
Summary [from the publisher]:

They say, “Executing a murderer won’t bring your loved one back.” But now it can! The Karma Booth. It’s terrifying. It’s devastating. It will change history, ethics, religion, science, everything. What are its terrible secrets? How does it work? And how can it be stopped?

Ethics consultant and ex-diplomat Timothy Cale is hired by the U.S. government to investigate this earth-shattering scientific breakthrough, and he better do it soon because the moral quagmires and complications are multiplying. Cale and his partner, London police detective Crystal Anyanike, must stop a powerful psychopath on a killing spree while searching for the elusive billionaire behind the Booth’s invention, the one man with the answers to all their questions…

My review:

The Cadaver Client by Frank Tuttle

01 Jul 2010 at 13:59

Ann Somerville

Non-GLBT Fiction

Rating: 9/10
Title: The Cadaver Client
Author: Frank Tuttle
Genre: Fantasy, horror
URL: Samhain Publishing
Price: US 3.50
Other Information/warnings: violence, gore
Summary [from the publisher]:
The Markhat Files, Book 4

Humans, Trolls and even the halfdead have all passed through Markhat’s door—more than once—seeking his services as a finder of missing persons and lost loves. This is a first, though. This time, his client is a dead man. At least that’s what Granny Knot claims. But as long as the coin is real, Markhat has no trouble working for a guilt-ridden ghost.

Trouble is exactly what he finds, and soon he suspects his client, ghost or not, has darker motives for finding his estranged wife than the reconciliation he claims. Left with a cadaver for a client, a spook doctor for a partner, and Mama Hog as advisor on all things spiritual, Markhat must unravel a dark mystery ten years old, and do it before another grave is filled. Maybe his own.

My review:

Tatterdemalion by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox

30 Jun 2010 at 15:22

Ann Somerville

Rating: 9/10
Title: Tatterdemalion – Foundations of Magic, Book 1
Authors: Anah Crow and Dianne Fox
Genre: Urban fantasy, paranormal/horror
URL: Samhain Publishing
Price: US $5.50
Other Information/warnings: explicit m/m sexual content, gore, violence and torture
Summary [from the publisher]:
Lindsay Carrington is a prisoner of his life—first in the mundane world, then in the military testing facility where his parents sent him to have his magic dissected, studied and “fixed”. When he finally escapes, freedom comes at great cost. The man who rescues him from near death in a dark alley is far from a savior. He’s a feral mage nearly as broken as Lindsay himself.

Dane knows better than to argue with the wind that summoned him to Lindsay’s rescue, but playing nursemaid isn’t the role he envisioned for himself in the battle to end the human campaign to control his people. In spite of his resistance, he is bound to the delicate, skittish mage who unwittingly harbors one of the greatest magical powers ever known.

Lindsay desperately hides his growing desire, sure that Dane could never reciprocate. Yet Dane lays his life on the line to protect him, restoring the one thing Lindsay thought was gone forever: hope.

But true freedom to live—and to love—will elude Lindsay until he can regain his magic and win Dane’s complete devotion. And survive long enough to do both.
My review:

Rot by Michele Lee

16 May 2010 at 07:37

GLBT Interest

Rating: 7/10

Title: Rot
Author: Michele Lee
Genre: Horror, GLBT Interest
URL: Horror Mall
Price: Trade Softcover: US$14.95 – Mobi/Epub/PDF: US$3.95
Warnings: Gore, Violence

Summary (from the publisher): Zombies Can Be Such a Burden. So you’ve raised your loved ones from the dead, but had no idea how difficult it would be to care for them. No problem! Silver Springs is a warm, peaceful facility equipped to handle all your zombie needs. Their friendly staff will ensure they have a safe environment with daily exercise and raw meat. Rest easy knowing they’re in good hands… as they rot. In Michele Lee’s Rot, you won’t find an apocalypse or Romero-style flesh-eaters. This is far more disturbing. In a world where certain people can will others back from death, Silver Springs Specialty Care Community caters to the undead for those who aren’t quite ready to let go (zombie milk available by special arrangement at the home office). Dean, retired from the military and looking for an easier life, runs security at this zombie-herding farm, but he learns that dark injustice is not unique to war. There’s a rotten core to Silver Springs. Now, Dean and a quickly decaying corpse named Patrick are on the hunt for a woman they both love and lost to a lucrative business that specializes in greed, zombies and never having to say goodbye.

Disclaimer: This is a novella length work. I purchased the PDF version of the book and it should be noted that the PDF version is not formatted correctly for Sony e-reader’s enlarged text feature and the normal view text size is so small it was not readable for me. Be aware that if you use a Sony e-reader and want to enlarge the text, nearly all formatting will be lost and paragraphs and dialog will run together. I have not examined the other available e-formats to determine if the same problems exist. I’d also recommend ignoring the tongue-in-cheek tone of the publisher’s blurb. While there is some dark humor in the novella, the blurb doesn’t really do justice to the work.

My Review:

Martyrs & Monsters by Robert Dunbar

02 May 2010 at 11:49

Rating: 9/10
Title: Martyrs & Monsters
Author: Robert Dunbar
Genre: Horror/Dark Fiction, GLBT Fiction
URL: Amazon
Price: US$17.99 (list)
Warnings: Well, it’s horror, so violence, drug use, murder, and mayhem. The usual.

Summary (from the publisher): Robert Dunbar has been called one of the “saviors of contemporary dark fiction” and an “avatar of literary horror.” Martyrs & Monsters runs the gamut of this extraordinary author’s narrative range, embracing vampires and sea serpents, werewolves and swamp creatures . . . as well as a host of nightmares for which no names exist. Whether set on an orbiting space station or within a haunted tenement, these terrifying tales are steeped in a passionate intensity that renders them all but unique within the genre, and all boast a sophistication that qualifies them as that rarest of rare commodities: horror for adults.

My Review: If Alfred Hitchcock were alive today and desired to “re-imagine” his 1948 classic “Rope,” he’d want Robert Dunbar to write the screenplay. Guaranteed.

The Literary Six by Vince A. Liaguno

27 Apr 2010 at 14:34

Rating: 8.5/10
Title: The Literary Six
Author: Vince A. Liaguno
Genre: Horror/Dark Fiction, GLBT Fiction
URL: Amazon
Price: US$24.95

Summary (from the publisher): For the faculty, students, and alumni of Bendleton University, The Literary Six was the scourge of its collective existence for four long years. Notorious across the campus for its snobby witticisms and scathing critiques of the university, its faculty, its students, and its founders, this elite group of college literati fashioned itself in the likeness of Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Round Table – an irreverent group of playwrights, theatre critics, and novelists who regularly lunched at the historic Algonquin Hotel in the 1920s. Indeed, graduation day for the members of The Literary Six brought a sigh of relief for many on the receiving end of the group’s caustic pen. As members of The Literary Six disbanded after graduation and went on to pursue careers as successful novelists, journalists, publishers, editors, and academics, they made a pact to reunite and celebrate the glory days of their scandalous collegiate association. This year, the six members of the infamous literary club are making their way to Shelter Rock Island, to the home of fellow member and bestselling authoress Taylor Miller and her television producer husband for a New Year’s Eve weekend of rekindled friendships, reminiscing, and unrequited love. But this year’s annual reunion will be like no other; a face from their collective past will be joining them. And as the island is cut off from the mainland in a winter storm that blankets the New England coastline, the members of The Literary Six will face retribution for the sins committed through their literary transgressions at the hands of a malevolence none of them could have conjured in the deepest recesses of their creative minds. And as the snow falls in silence around them, The Literary Six will begin to fall one by one and a desperate struggle for survival will unfold.

My Review:

The Haunted Heart and Other Tales by Jameson Currier

27 Mar 2010 at 15:33

GLBT Fiction, GLBT Interest

Rating: 8/10

Title: The Haunted Heart and Other Tales
Author: Jameson Currier
Genre: Dark fiction/horror, Single Author Anthology
URL: Amazon
Price: US$15.00

Summary (from the publisher): Haunted? Or blessed? Ghosts? Or guardian angels? Twelve new stories of gay men and the memories that haunt them. A circuit boy stays at a haunted hotel. An actor recounts a grisly murder in the English countryside. A gay parent unravels a mysterious souvenir. A journalist chases a story through the streets of Amsterdam. An artist grapples with his muse. A musician is inspired by the spirit of a sailor. Jameson Currier modernizes the traditional ghost story with gay lovers, loners, activists, and addicts, blending history and contemporary issues of the gay community with the unexpected of the supernatural.

My Review: