Death, Dismemberment and a Little Bit of Sass
by Jeremy Boland
Lulu.com
February 2010
ISBN 978-1-4452-2584-5
198 Pages
$16.95 Paperback
$2.00 E-Book
I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing several short story anthologies published through Lulu, and I have to say that Jeremy Boland’s collection is one of the best. Not only are the stories fresh and original, but the physical book itself is an excellent example of a self-published author getting it right. That’s why I’m going to talk about the book quality first.
The book itself is the first from Lulu I’ve seen in person in the 4.3 x 6.9 size. While the $16.95 price tag may seem a bit high for this deluxe “pocket sized” book, I’d probably still buy it at full price off a bookstore shelf. Jeremy’s original artwork on the cover is also fun and colorful, and a bit humorous after you read the stories and learn who these characters are.
Inside formatting is pretty much tight and clean, although all of the front matter has headers and page numbers. The title page is page 1. This is a sure sign of amateur, but I didn’t even notice it the first time I sat down to read the book. It’s a common mistake that only other people and authors in the industry would notice. The book still has a classic look and feel to it, almost graphic novel-like. Jeremy’s website also echoes that look and I enjoyed taking a look around there after reading his book.
There are eleven short stories in the book. The first, “Counting Sheep,” reminded me of something from an early Stephen King anthology like Skeleton Crew. A man is counting sheep to try to fall back asleep and this is timed with an intruder breaking into his house to kill him.
This is followed by another odd tale about a werewolf hunter meeting with his psychiatrist, a new twist on an old genre that has unfortunately been shadowed by all the recent vampire phenomenon. Speaking of classics, Jeremy also treats us to a flesh eating zombie attack paralleled to a strange love story. And better yet, he’s included a spaceship/alien tale as well.
Science fiction, murder and mystery, horror and gore, there’s a bit of everything here for people who love the genre and prefer to read short stories. Jeremy’s style is also very simplistic. There’s not a lot of connection to be made with his characters, but sometimes that’s okay. After all, they are short stories. His may lack a certain depth, but I can appreciate that from time to time when I just want to be entertained and don’t expect to be thinking of the characters long after the last page. The only thing I would have liked even better is a few illustrations to really round out that graphic novel feel I got here. Here’s a bit from the end of “Truckstop Unicorn”…
Was I fighting myself? Was she fighting herself? I don’t know the answer to that, I just know that I won. I’m here and she’s not. all that’s left is a sane man stuck in a crazy bitch’s body and all he wants is his life back.
It doesn’t even matter if it’s real or not. It doesn’t matter that life started out for me as some crazy fan’s fantasy, that I was only modeled after what she knew of you. All I want is to be back in my house, here. To go back to being the reclusive writer I remember being.
Overall, I found this to be a fun book that’s definitely worth checking out. I love the look, it’s sassy title, and the feel of the book itself, and I enjoyed the stories inside as well. Mr. Boland has written and published a work that’s new and fresh to the genre, and worth a read! Check it out…
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