Ugly as sin by James Newman

There is a point towards the end of this great story, an occurrence in the narrative which totally amazed me and I can honestly say I had no idea this would happen...until it happened....and if I was to make this known to you dear reader then the surprise and everything that went before would be meaningless......Nick Bullman aka "The Widowmaker" is on a mission of redemption, a quest to discover maybe something deep within himself and in the process make amends to his daughter Melissa for all the long years of neglect and hardship that his non involvement inflicted upon her. In the process Nick discovers that he has a granddaughter Sophie and this big bull of a man must now use all his resources and cunning to rescue her from the hand of kidnappers. Nick bears the scars of a brutal attack and his face has been destroyed in the process, he will never work as "The Widowmaker" again and the discovery of his daughter and hopefully the reunification with his granddaughter will now finally give him some form of peace. This is a superb story part crime part noir with a wonderful list of characters including Mellisa's estranged (now dead) partner Eddie Whiteside, the evil "Daddy", and Leon, The Widowmaker's greatest fan, and newly acquired partner...."Suddenly, Leon erupted with a shrill noise that was part lunatic giggle, part whooping redneck cheer. "Pinch me. cause I gotta be dreamin. The Widowmaker is sitting in my kitchen!".....Nick said "you know those days are long gone, right? I'm not the Widowmaker anymore." "You'll always be Maker to me, man. The greatest grappler who ever lived!"  Mr Newman has produced a well written novel with an unusual hero in the form of  Nick Bullman and in the final scenes when confronted with his daughters kidnappers the Widowmaker expertly concludes and brings together the themes of the story when he states..."You people are the monsters here," said Nick. "You're the ugly ones.".....

Cradle Lake by Ronald Malfi

At the heart of this excellent story is a dilemma. The great spiritual one bequeathed and entrusted to us the world as we know it, and invited us to treat with respect and not to destroy this wonderful gift. The greed and distructful nature of man is forever present and proceeds to demolish that which was given in trust.

Alan Hammerstun and his wife Heather have moved from downtown Manhattan to a quiet suburb in the state of Carolina. Heather has recently suffered two horrific miscarriages, is clinically depressed, and has attempted to end her own life on two occasions. Alan, deeply in love with his wife, is hopeful that this new start will rejuvenate their relationship. What follows is a deeply moving, thought provoking story that invokes elements of horror, spiritualism, and human greed creating a tight and compulsive read challenging the readers intelligence from the opening scenes.

There is a wonderful list of characters; Hank Gerski, Don Probst and Gary Jones neighbours with a secret to keep aided and abetted by the somewhat unlikeable Sheriff Hearn Landry. In addition there is the murderous intentions of Owen Moreland and the spiritualistic presence of "George Young Calf Ribs" At the centre of this unfolding drama is Cradle Lake...cold and inviting, invigorating yet destructive in the extreme...."You have no concept of what the lake is capable of. There's a power here, a certain strength. And it's not just in the lake but in the land itself. All around us"

Hank Gerski warns Alan of the dangers of Cradle Lake explaining that the healing process of the water contains evil intentions and is best left alone. An incident happens when young Cory Morris is in a serious collision with a car and rather than request the assistance of an ambulance Cory is lifted and carried to Cradle Lake. where he is miraculously healed. All the residents wish to keep the rest of the world ignorant of the Lake's healing powers but Alan realizes there is a way that he can use the power of Cradle Lake to strengthen his resolve and more importantly bring back life to his beautiful Heather....but a price will have to be paid.

Owen Moreland butchered his wife Sophie  "put the barrel of a pump-action Winchester to the center of Sophie's forehead and spread her brains along the front hallway of their home" before inserting a toe in his shotgun and very efficiently ending his own life. On visiting the scene of this atrocity Alan sees the words "Devil's Stone" painted on the walls and his curiosity into the origin of these words leads him on a journey where he meets the spiritual "George Young Calf Ribs" and begins to discover and understand the true meaning and horror of Cradle Lake and now appreciates the impact this will have on his life unless he adheres to and obeys the advice and warnings from "George Young Calf Ribs"...."It has become a bad place. His tone was simple, matter-of-fact. It no longer hides and offers rejuvenation to those worthy enough to find it. Now it calls to whoever is careless enough to seek it out. That is its revenge on the ones who have soured its waters and poisoned its land"...."Leave that house immediately" he told him. "Burn it to the ground so no one else can live there after you. Do it before it's too late."

This is not a happy book but a thoughtful, sad and intelligent read of one mans journey to find some closure and redemption and to put an end to the sadness that permeates his life. It is amazingly poetic in it's language and visionary in the story that it tells. It is a book that should be read by all, an astounding achievement by Ronald Malfi it comes from me to you with the highest recommendation.