Back in January 2011, I first told you just how good INHUMAN CONDITION by Kate Thornton was and that you should read it. I am telling you again today. Make sure you also check out the full list of reading suggestions over at Todd Mason’s Sweet Freedom blog. It is Friday, but you have work to do.
Sometimes
the blurb on the book encapsulates the book in an excellent way. From the back
cover of the recently released collection, INHUMAN CONDITION
written by Kate Thornton, comes this explanation:
“Human
beings tend to fear the things they don’t know, and that is often sensible,
given the lurking dangers that confronted our distant ancestors. But sometimes
we need to examine carefully the things we think we know: the pet shop owner in
town, the teenage girl who lives next door, or the nice man who walks his dog
each evening in our neighborhood. The stories in this collection will drive
that point home, and perhaps give you reason to re-define the word “'inhuman.'”
As well as define “human.” With a subtitle of Tales of Mystery and Imagination these twenty-one tales set on earth and in space, frequently push at boundaries defining what it means to be human. Frequently the tales are a bit disturbing, not in terms of graphic depictions, but in the meaning of what has happened or will happen thanks to the final twist at the end illuminating the dark working of a character's twisted mind. In nature, the concept of “camouflage” keeps both the hunted and hunter alive in the constant struggle to eat or not to be eaten. That same concept, passed down in the hardwired code of humanity from our distant ancestors is alive and well in these times. Make no mistake—this book is about the hunters hiding in plain sight among us and the prey they seek for a variety of purposes.
The
anchor story in the collection is the very good tale, “Nightwatch: Cardenio”
(pages 83-154). Using characters and other story elements originally created by
Jeff Williams and with his permission as noted, the tale takes the Nightwatch
team deep into the Amazon. A research site does not just vanish off the face of
the earth in Brazil. But, it has happened and the research site is gone without
a trace. It is now to the team to figure out what happened and why in this
adventure tale.
Author Kate Thornton creates a sort of whiplash effect for the reader several
times in this collection and this is a case in point. After the above noted
adventure tale deep in the Amazonian jungle, she follows it with “Cell Phone
Call” starting on page 155. In five short pages, the author makes parental
nightmares all too real and leaves readers, at least those of us with kids,
thinking twice about using our cell phones in public.
That
story is followed by “Vinnie's Cargo” and readers are back to adventure and
suspense. In this one, there are shuttle runs between the Moon and Mars in the
unspecified future. Despite the rules and regulations, where there are humans
involved there will always be some who attempt to move contraband and make some
ill-gotten gains. Usually, nothing good can come of some attempts and that may,
or may not, be the case here.
And
so it goes through the entire book that contains both previously published and
credited work and new. Author Kate Thornton consistently delivers through the
entire book as each and every single story is a good one. That rarely happens.
Whether it is late in the collection with the very disturbing mystery
“The Eyes Never Change” or the strangely amusing science fiction tale “One of
the Family” or any other, the read is constantly good and full of rich details
in settings, characters, and storyline.
Not
only is Kate Thornton to be congratulated, so too is the publisher. Denouement
Press is an imprint of Wolfmont LLC owned and operated by Tony Burton. Known as
a publisher of anthologies and cozy style mysteries, this is a new venture for
the publisher and reflects the kind of book that might not have been published
by Wolfmont before.
One
hopes this is not the last collection released by Kate Thornton. Simply put, INHUMAN
CONDITION: Tales of Mystery and Imagination available in print and
e-book editions, is a very good book and one well worth your time and money.
INHUMAN
CONDITION: Tales of Mystery and Suspense
Kate
Thornton
Denouement
Press (Wolfmont LLC)
September
2010
ISBN#
978-1-60364-033-6
Paperback
310
Pages
$14.00
Paperback copy provided by the author in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin
R. Tipple © 2011, 2016, 2020
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