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ncrabb's review
4.0
The issue begins with a story by Elizabeth Peters entitled “The Vengeance of Sekhmet.” I was one of the minority who didn’t much care for the Amelia Peabody series, but I read this story just the same. Seems Amelia and Emerson Peabody have a new guest. He’s convinced of his pending death, and Wintergreen, as he is known, is sure he has offended the ancient Egyptian gods. Amelia initially suspects his spoiled children of creating his fear-filled state of mind. They are worthy suspects. They’re convinced Wintergreen’s old servant stands to inherit much from the old man’s estate, and the children are convinced the servant is trying to frighten the old man to death. The story largely left me disappointed and frustrated.
John Lantigua’s “Death and the Coyote” features Private Investigator Willie Cuesta. An illegal immigrant contacts Willie after he sees the coyote who smuggled him into the country and killed his good friend. Willie’s solution as to how to catch the coyote is satisfying for sure.
In “the Longest Pleasure” by Anna Scoti, Cam Baker, a home organizer, gets a job cleaning out the possessions of a young woman who died in an unsolved hit-and-run. Cam takes on the search for the solution to the murder.
Victor Kreuiter’s “We’re in This Together, Aren’t We?” is designed to let the reader fill in the blanks. It’s apparently supposed to be interactive, but it felt trippy and largely disappointed me.
“Wing Man” by Pat Black focuses on a fictional character named Adam who, while running one day, he witnessed the crash of a white van into the canal alongside which he ran. He leapt in to save the driver. There was some publicity afterwards, then days later, Adam sees the same driver in a different van. The driver convinces Adam to enter his van so he can drive the two to lunch nearby. Despite his reluctance, Adam enters the van, and things get worse and seemingly hopeless from there. This was my favorite story in the magazine.
Annie Marsh commits suicide in “The Reawakening” by Hal Charles. Years later, the friend who last saw her alive sees her obituary … again. He seeks answers. This one will hold your interest.
“Another Temptation” by Eleanor Gonnella looks at the impact of subliminal messages in paintings. It is mercifully short.
Doug Allyn is one of my favorite mystery short story authors, and he has a story in this issue. If you’ve ever been rear-ended in bad traffic, you know there are few things quite so disconcerting. Try getting rear-ended while you have a large amount of cocaine in your trunk—a trunk that’s now damaged and won’t stay down. Oh, dear!
Sam Kelson faces an interesting problem in Michael Wiley’s “The Best of Times.” The private investigator’s latest client awakens in Chicago’s Drake Hotel with no knowledge of how she got there. Hours earlier, she partied in New Orleans. Is this the ultimate sleight of hand?
I wasn’t a huge fan of Pam Barnsley’s “What Can You do?” This is one of the stories narrated by someone who would have been a Learning Ally reject from deep, deep in the dustbin. Her narration so mucked up the story I couldn’t hold the thread. I’d have been more engaged in the entire publication and this story f I could find a digital version to read with a voice synthesizer.
“Jianjun Ling and the Sad Case of Sunny La Grassa” looks at the impact of reading aloud. An intelligent 12-year-old endangers her life by delivering five grand to a dysfunctional family, and she helps one of its members discover the power of reading aloud.
“Ask Hagan” by William Carter is one of the better stories in the issue. Writer John Winsley, a recluse, runs a highly popular advice blog called “Ask Hagan.”” When an apparent fan impersonates the fictional Hagan in very public ways, the reclusive Winsley vows to put a stop to it. Instead, it is he who is captured by Hagan and ordered to keep churning out the blog. Sounds a bit like King’s Misery, and it is, but it’s also different enough that you can read it and enjoy it.
“The Patsy” is a story from a contributor who lives outside the U.S. Sunil Mann writes about a nasty mugging that has one man trapped by a group of particularly sadistic boys.
Bruce McAllister’s “1952” looks at racial prejudice and justice in the wake of a child kidnapping near an Indian reservation in Arizona.
Barbara B. Green’s “30 Ackerian Place” gets my nod for its vivid, creepy, abrupt ending. College girl Meg loves Brooke’s house, and she’ll seduce Brooke’s husband and insinuate herself into the lives of Brooke’s sons to get a shot at living in it. Thing is that the house belongs to Brooke outright. That won’t stop the lovely Meg, as you’ll find out.
“The Broken T” is an Ellery Queen reprint. There’s nothing better than an observant witness, and there’s not a more observant witness than Angie. Some bad boys engage in witness tampering big-time, and Angie won’t testify until the guys who hurt her are caught. She notices a neon sign with a broken letter near where she is held hostage by the bad guys, and that’s all Ellery Queen has to go on to catch the guys.
Sharon Hunt’s “The Disappearing Man” looks at domestic abuse that becomes murder.
I don’t have much to say about Dennis McFadden’s “The Smiler.” It’s set in Ireland, and it focuses on a double cross in which someone took the fall for a murder. Out of prison, he’s looking to get what he thinks is his.
C. H. Hung wrote “The Debtor,” a good story where all the action takes place in a coffee shop. Robbie worked in the shop these days, but he was once destined for more impressive stuff. Then Elliott came into his life with big schemes about embezzling money the foolproof way. Few things in life are foolproof, and Elliott does time in prison. He’s out, and just as the district attorney predicted, Elliott seeks out Robbie, demanding his share of whatever the FBI didn’t get. I enjoyed this story immensely. The beginning is vivid and memorable indeed. Imagine finding a corps dressed as a shepherd in an outdoor nativity scene. Wow!
The final story is Elizabeth Elwood’s “#10 Marlborough Place.” Old Mr. Isham doesn’t like people messing in his garden. That’s your first clue that something’s amiss. Sally, 17, is his daughter from another marriage. She’s an actress, and she was kind to young Clive, who is the story’s narrator. Clive and his family attends Sally’s performance one night, and talk turned to Sally’s new boyfriend, a man her dad despises. As Sally continues to show interest in the young man, Dad’s rules get increasingly draconian. Ere long, the boyfriend is out of the picture, and Britain focuses on the capture of a notorious serial killer. Then, one of the children finds a tarnished locket in Mr. Isham’s garden, and it looks like one Sally had given her boyfriend to pawn with the promise that he would return the money to her—a promise he never kept. What else is in that overgrown garden? This story’s ending is both sad and memorable.
John Lantigua’s “Death and the Coyote” features Private Investigator Willie Cuesta. An illegal immigrant contacts Willie after he sees the coyote who smuggled him into the country and killed his good friend. Willie’s solution as to how to catch the coyote is satisfying for sure.
In “the Longest Pleasure” by Anna Scoti, Cam Baker, a home organizer, gets a job cleaning out the possessions of a young woman who died in an unsolved hit-and-run. Cam takes on the search for the solution to the murder.
Victor Kreuiter’s “We’re in This Together, Aren’t We?” is designed to let the reader fill in the blanks. It’s apparently supposed to be interactive, but it felt trippy and largely disappointed me.
“Wing Man” by Pat Black focuses on a fictional character named Adam who, while running one day, he witnessed the crash of a white van into the canal alongside which he ran. He leapt in to save the driver. There was some publicity afterwards, then days later, Adam sees the same driver in a different van. The driver convinces Adam to enter his van so he can drive the two to lunch nearby. Despite his reluctance, Adam enters the van, and things get worse and seemingly hopeless from there. This was my favorite story in the magazine.
Annie Marsh commits suicide in “The Reawakening” by Hal Charles. Years later, the friend who last saw her alive sees her obituary … again. He seeks answers. This one will hold your interest.
“Another Temptation” by Eleanor Gonnella looks at the impact of subliminal messages in paintings. It is mercifully short.
Doug Allyn is one of my favorite mystery short story authors, and he has a story in this issue. If you’ve ever been rear-ended in bad traffic, you know there are few things quite so disconcerting. Try getting rear-ended while you have a large amount of cocaine in your trunk—a trunk that’s now damaged and won’t stay down. Oh, dear!
Sam Kelson faces an interesting problem in Michael Wiley’s “The Best of Times.” The private investigator’s latest client awakens in Chicago’s Drake Hotel with no knowledge of how she got there. Hours earlier, she partied in New Orleans. Is this the ultimate sleight of hand?
I wasn’t a huge fan of Pam Barnsley’s “What Can You do?” This is one of the stories narrated by someone who would have been a Learning Ally reject from deep, deep in the dustbin. Her narration so mucked up the story I couldn’t hold the thread. I’d have been more engaged in the entire publication and this story f I could find a digital version to read with a voice synthesizer.
“Jianjun Ling and the Sad Case of Sunny La Grassa” looks at the impact of reading aloud. An intelligent 12-year-old endangers her life by delivering five grand to a dysfunctional family, and she helps one of its members discover the power of reading aloud.
“Ask Hagan” by William Carter is one of the better stories in the issue. Writer John Winsley, a recluse, runs a highly popular advice blog called “Ask Hagan.”” When an apparent fan impersonates the fictional Hagan in very public ways, the reclusive Winsley vows to put a stop to it. Instead, it is he who is captured by Hagan and ordered to keep churning out the blog. Sounds a bit like King’s Misery, and it is, but it’s also different enough that you can read it and enjoy it.
“The Patsy” is a story from a contributor who lives outside the U.S. Sunil Mann writes about a nasty mugging that has one man trapped by a group of particularly sadistic boys.
Bruce McAllister’s “1952” looks at racial prejudice and justice in the wake of a child kidnapping near an Indian reservation in Arizona.
Barbara B. Green’s “30 Ackerian Place” gets my nod for its vivid, creepy, abrupt ending. College girl Meg loves Brooke’s house, and she’ll seduce Brooke’s husband and insinuate herself into the lives of Brooke’s sons to get a shot at living in it. Thing is that the house belongs to Brooke outright. That won’t stop the lovely Meg, as you’ll find out.
“The Broken T” is an Ellery Queen reprint. There’s nothing better than an observant witness, and there’s not a more observant witness than Angie. Some bad boys engage in witness tampering big-time, and Angie won’t testify until the guys who hurt her are caught. She notices a neon sign with a broken letter near where she is held hostage by the bad guys, and that’s all Ellery Queen has to go on to catch the guys.
Sharon Hunt’s “The Disappearing Man” looks at domestic abuse that becomes murder.
I don’t have much to say about Dennis McFadden’s “The Smiler.” It’s set in Ireland, and it focuses on a double cross in which someone took the fall for a murder. Out of prison, he’s looking to get what he thinks is his.
C. H. Hung wrote “The Debtor,” a good story where all the action takes place in a coffee shop. Robbie worked in the shop these days, but he was once destined for more impressive stuff. Then Elliott came into his life with big schemes about embezzling money the foolproof way. Few things in life are foolproof, and Elliott does time in prison. He’s out, and just as the district attorney predicted, Elliott seeks out Robbie, demanding his share of whatever the FBI didn’t get. I enjoyed this story immensely. The beginning is vivid and memorable indeed. Imagine finding a corps dressed as a shepherd in an outdoor nativity scene. Wow!
The final story is Elizabeth Elwood’s “#10 Marlborough Place.” Old Mr. Isham doesn’t like people messing in his garden. That’s your first clue that something’s amiss. Sally, 17, is his daughter from another marriage. She’s an actress, and she was kind to young Clive, who is the story’s narrator. Clive and his family attends Sally’s performance one night, and talk turned to Sally’s new boyfriend, a man her dad despises. As Sally continues to show interest in the young man, Dad’s rules get increasingly draconian. Ere long, the boyfriend is out of the picture, and Britain focuses on the capture of a notorious serial killer. Then, one of the children finds a tarnished locket in Mr. Isham’s garden, and it looks like one Sally had given her boyfriend to pawn with the promise that he would return the money to her—a promise he never kept. What else is in that overgrown garden? This story’s ending is both sad and memorable.
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