REVIEW: Sinister Grin Press - Cut Corners Volume 2

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Sinister Grin Press

Publication Date: 28^th Oct 2015

Pages: 66

MY REVIEW:

A copy of the collection, Cut Corners Volume 2, was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the publishers, Sinister Grin Press. This time it wasn’t sent specifically in exchange for an honest review. It was a little thank you for reviewing other stuff but I couldn’t resist giving an honest review anyway. This is said review.

I do enjoy getting ARCS from Sinister Grin Press. You never know quite what you are going to get because they do produce a very wide range of stuff. This one was no exception. This is the first time I have read a collection from Sinister Grin so I was anxious to get into it and see what it was like.

In terms of the authors involved in this one, I have read them all in one form or another. Ray Garton wrote a short story I read in Widowmakers called, The Guy Down the Street, Monica J. O’Rourke wrote What Happens in the Darkness and Shane McKenzie was involved in the wonderful collaboration, Jackpot. Other than that I have not read anything else by these three. So are they worthy of being in this collection? Let’s find out.

REVIEW: Monica J. O'Rourke - What Happens in the Darkness

Genre: Horror
Publisher: Sinister Grin Press
Publication Date: 10th Dec 2013
Pages: 361

MY REVIEW:

A copy of What Happens in the Darkness was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the publishers, Sinister Grin Press, in exchange for an honest review. This is it.

America is under attack. The rest of the world has united and, calling itself the Global Dominion, is destroying the US. Major cities have been devastated. Millions are dying. Janelle is twelve. She is running for her life in Manhattan, the only one of her family to survive. She has a mission to try and get to her aunt in Georgia.

In an Army base not too far away, Jeff is guarding a secret. A secret that has been buried for decades. It’s a secret that Jeff is convinced will help America fight back against the rest of the world. Only problem is, once he unleashes the secret there will be no turning back. Is he helping save the country or ultimately destroying it?

Never read Monica J. O’Rourke before. Seen the name plenty and heard very good things so I was excited to read this one when it arrived from Sinister Grin Press. I had no idea what it was about so went at it totally blind.

The opening scenes in this story are absolutely fantastic. When we meet Janelle the attack has already happened. She is wandering the streets of Manhattan totally lost and then recalls exactly what happened. Looking at this through the eyes of a twelve year old girl is bad enough but the way Ms O’Rourke has written this first sequence will make you crumble. It describes in detail how Janelle’s building gets hit during the bombing and how she has to try and escape from it totally alone. It is totally horrifying in a psychological way. It is really harrowing to read as Janelle struggles to get out of her apartment block with no help from anyone.

So I’m reading a post-apocalyptic horror book. I like this so far. When you get your breath back from that bit, we meet Jeff. He is in the army. He has had the same posting for years, as his father had before him, guarding a secret in a cave far underground a military base. Now, I wasn’t going to reveal the secret that was being kept but if I don’t then the review ends here. If you don’t want to know what the secret is then stop reading now and buy the book.