ncrabb's review
4.0
You know you’re in for a treat and a riveting experience when the issue begins with a Doug Allyn story. In “Blind Baseball,” a disabled veteran returns home to Michigan with his new prosthetic hand and arm. Wishing to leave the world alone and asking for nothing more from the world, he settles into a life of logging on the isolated upper peninsula. But that all changes when the sister of a dead platoon member seeks him out. Nearly all the platoon died because of a roadside bombing which Allyn vividly and memorably captures. One female survivor lived because she returned to the states on a brief leave. That pregnant female soldier and the sister of the dead lieutenant find the former sergeant and invite him to a variation of poker’s Blind Baseball. Yeah, I know. you thought this would be about Beep Baseball, too. Not this time. It’s a tension-filled story written as only the great Doug Allyn can write them.
“The Manglik Curse” by Smita Harish Jain will make you glad you never participated in an arranged marriage, unless you’ve done that, of course. Then, the story will make you sleep a little more nervously. It’s excellent and worth your attention.
Andrew Bourelle’s “Blue Sky” is a great story about a woman who manipulatively convinces the cops that her almost-fiancé murdered a neighbor woman and stole her wedding ring. But did he? Read it and enjoy.
“Dead Man’s Gorge” by Michael Bracken will make you think twice before you attend another gimmicky fundraiser. Yikes!
Sylvia Maultash Warsh’s “The Natural Order of Things” is a creepy story about a schoolteacher/writer who rents an isolated cottage on a lake to write without interruption. But the albino woman with her long white hair and poor vision changes everything.
Sheila Kohler is back in this issue with “A Secret Country.” This is a creepy look at motherhood and sibling jealousy, and the kidnapped child motif is never too predictable.
Twist Phelan’s “The Bridge” is a short but creepy tale that left me a bit nonplussed. Perhaps I needed that waved-off English degree after all to understand all the subtleties of this one.
You can spend an hour at normal speed engaged in some historical fiction mystery with David Dean. His entry, “The King’s Ferrit,” is set in medieval times. It frankly didn’t hold my interest much.
In “The Investigation” by Adrienne Celt, a former cop turned private investigator takes a case involving a woman who claims someone kidnapped her son months earlier. The reality will chill you.
Peter Turnbull is back in this issue with “Phony Friend.” If you strike it big on a quiz show, you need to keep your promises.
Jeremiah K. Balko is a first timer to the magazine this month. “I Believe in You” describes the night he escaped his routine life as a struggling writer.
Another first-timer to the publication this month is Tyler Fiecke. I hope future entries from him are closer to the front of the magazine. He writes vividly, and this story about a woman who runs to defeat the demons of insomnia and a broken romance will electrify you and perhaps even increase your heart rate just a bit to match the runner in the story.
I’m not always fond of the Black Mask recurring section of the magazine. This issue includes a piece by Daniel C. Bartlett entitled “A Complicated History.” This is a tense piece about a young man who pines for an unrequited love. A drug dealer at work pushes him around. His is a sad past, and you understand when you finish why the author called the story what he did.
Libby Cudmore is back in this issue with “The Artist Will Not be Present.” This features her recurring private investigator character. This time, he is looking into the security of an art gallery trying to figure out who threw the brick through the window and set the place on fire. I would have enjoyed this more had the author’s apparent extreme dislike for homeschoolers and conservatives not been so front and center.
Sharyn Kolberg’s “The Thesaurus of Love and Death” is a short piece that lovers of the language will enjoy, and it’s nicely narrated.
“The Doctor Who Fell into Sin” by Anne Van Dorn focuses on a doctor called to a shooting but who upon a second visit, can’t find the injured woman. In her place is a perfectly healed woman who looks very much like the shooting victim.
“Lucky Stars” by Karen Harrington is a vividly written story about a young woman and a dysfunctional abusive grandfather. I promise, you’ll love how this ends.
I failed you in terms of paying attention to the final story, “A Philosophical Difference,” by Joseph Goodrich. It’s 10 minutes long at normal speed, and I apparently let my mind wander sufficiently that I never could pick up on the plot threads. My apologies. It’s not the author’s fault.
I couldn’t get into the Passport to Crime bit this month. Here’s hoping if you read it, you’ll enjoy it more than I did.
Don’t miss this month’s “The Jury Box” book reviews column by Steve Steinbock. I found myself taking lots of notes and hoping NLS produces many of these books.
“The Manglik Curse” by Smita Harish Jain will make you glad you never participated in an arranged marriage, unless you’ve done that, of course. Then, the story will make you sleep a little more nervously. It’s excellent and worth your attention.
Andrew Bourelle’s “Blue Sky” is a great story about a woman who manipulatively convinces the cops that her almost-fiancé murdered a neighbor woman and stole her wedding ring. But did he? Read it and enjoy.
“Dead Man’s Gorge” by Michael Bracken will make you think twice before you attend another gimmicky fundraiser. Yikes!
Sylvia Maultash Warsh’s “The Natural Order of Things” is a creepy story about a schoolteacher/writer who rents an isolated cottage on a lake to write without interruption. But the albino woman with her long white hair and poor vision changes everything.
Sheila Kohler is back in this issue with “A Secret Country.” This is a creepy look at motherhood and sibling jealousy, and the kidnapped child motif is never too predictable.
Twist Phelan’s “The Bridge” is a short but creepy tale that left me a bit nonplussed. Perhaps I needed that waved-off English degree after all to understand all the subtleties of this one.
You can spend an hour at normal speed engaged in some historical fiction mystery with David Dean. His entry, “The King’s Ferrit,” is set in medieval times. It frankly didn’t hold my interest much.
In “The Investigation” by Adrienne Celt, a former cop turned private investigator takes a case involving a woman who claims someone kidnapped her son months earlier. The reality will chill you.
Peter Turnbull is back in this issue with “Phony Friend.” If you strike it big on a quiz show, you need to keep your promises.
Jeremiah K. Balko is a first timer to the magazine this month. “I Believe in You” describes the night he escaped his routine life as a struggling writer.
Another first-timer to the publication this month is Tyler Fiecke. I hope future entries from him are closer to the front of the magazine. He writes vividly, and this story about a woman who runs to defeat the demons of insomnia and a broken romance will electrify you and perhaps even increase your heart rate just a bit to match the runner in the story.
I’m not always fond of the Black Mask recurring section of the magazine. This issue includes a piece by Daniel C. Bartlett entitled “A Complicated History.” This is a tense piece about a young man who pines for an unrequited love. A drug dealer at work pushes him around. His is a sad past, and you understand when you finish why the author called the story what he did.
Libby Cudmore is back in this issue with “The Artist Will Not be Present.” This features her recurring private investigator character. This time, he is looking into the security of an art gallery trying to figure out who threw the brick through the window and set the place on fire. I would have enjoyed this more had the author’s apparent extreme dislike for homeschoolers and conservatives not been so front and center.
Sharyn Kolberg’s “The Thesaurus of Love and Death” is a short piece that lovers of the language will enjoy, and it’s nicely narrated.
“The Doctor Who Fell into Sin” by Anne Van Dorn focuses on a doctor called to a shooting but who upon a second visit, can’t find the injured woman. In her place is a perfectly healed woman who looks very much like the shooting victim.
“Lucky Stars” by Karen Harrington is a vividly written story about a young woman and a dysfunctional abusive grandfather. I promise, you’ll love how this ends.
I failed you in terms of paying attention to the final story, “A Philosophical Difference,” by Joseph Goodrich. It’s 10 minutes long at normal speed, and I apparently let my mind wander sufficiently that I never could pick up on the plot threads. My apologies. It’s not the author’s fault.
I couldn’t get into the Passport to Crime bit this month. Here’s hoping if you read it, you’ll enjoy it more than I did.
Don’t miss this month’s “The Jury Box” book reviews column by Steve Steinbock. I found myself taking lots of notes and hoping NLS produces many of these books.
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