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Wednesday 24 April 2013

Powerful short story with top notch illustrations.


What makes this short book an excellent read is the fantastic illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne " an extremely talented artist that has become very popular in the small press" It is difficult to imagine how this can work successfully on a kindle ereader but the black and white art work is perfection and it is almost true to say that the writing is secondary to the illustrations...Just look at the image preceding chapter one and the atmosphere and spookiness simply bleeds from the illustration of the cabin atop the hill and the four friends on the roof.....ah I hear you say a lonely cabin in the woods surrounded by those dark forests, and all hell about to break loose! In essence the story is about a friends reunion and the horror that unfolds richly described and illustrated, a short story but one that will stay long in the mind with the help of many excellent and highly detailed pictures. However I would point out one rather obvious mistake that I encountered...do read on....
"Joe fell limp and the bear bit into his throat, lifting him and quickly carrying him into the woods as bullets rained down from the cabin roof. The men on top of the cabin stopped shooting, but they still stared in disbelief, their rifles aimed at the bloody spot where the bear had killed Joe, unable to think or speak or even understand what had just happened"....followed a little later by..." She jumped onto the storage bin, reaching for Steve, who grabbed her hands and pulled her toward the roof with all his might. She scrambled over him, throwing herself at the peak. Steve got to his knees, raised his rifle and took aim into the clearing while Matt and Joe continued shooting above him"....have you spotted it yet?? Joe had been killed by the bear, but he appears a little later...when he was dead! I think the author meant Adam and not Joe...or am I mistaken? If I am correct then why can this simple mistake not be rectified before publication? A small point but one that made me award four stars rather than five, but do read as a download for the kindle it is excellent fun and shows the power of black and white illustrations in the story telling process.

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