Far Dark Fields by Gary A. Braunbeck

Over the years, through Braunbeck's writing, I have become an honorary member of the Cedar Hill community. It started with Graveyard People: The Collected Cedar Hill Stories, Volume 1, Home Before Dark: The Collected Cedar Hill Stories, Volume 2, then moved to Mr. Hands, and Coffin County. Now the saga continues in Braunbeck's new work Far Dark Fields. At face value, it's a story about a seemingly ordinary man. An English teacher who has dreams of writing a book of short stories. It's a story about a husband and father, tortured by far too tactile nightmares. A man who until recently believed he was someone else, but in reality his past is tied to the most horrific murder spree in U.S. history. If you delve deeper into the Cedar Hill saga(I suggest reading the other four works before jumping head first into this one), you'll come to terms with the idea that "This is Cedar Hill, weird shit happens here. Get used to it."
I could easily rant and rave about all five of the Cedar Hill stories, but I won't! Instead, I will give you my opinion about Far Dark Fields, without relating it to any of the others. Braunbeck is a master at character development. It makes no difference if the character is the narrator or just a fry cook in a diner with one line of dialogue. The way he paints the picture of everyday life gone completely haywire, you tend to understand the pain these minimal characters are going through. From the first page, I felt an innate sense of brotherhood with the title character Geoff. He's a hard working English teacher, collecting his own short stories to send to a publisher, who is haunted by nightmares of a past he never knew he had. He is a man looking for answers to questions he doesn't understand, to fulfill a soul only half full. The book was great! Braunbeck has a knack for taking almost silly monsters and ideas and making them not only believable, but real. I have to admit, it does take a few pages to get into the actual story. But, the opening chapters are necessary to understand where you're going and where you've been. I was also a bit skeptical when I was about 30 pages from the end, feeling like I just got fully involved with the storyline, how can it end so soon?! Trust me...keep moving along. For fans of the Cedar Hill saga, or fans of good horror, you will not be disappointed with Far Dark Fields! Here's to hoping for yet another chance to revisit my second hometown, Cedar Hill, Ohio.

Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon

Hands and feet down one of the greatest novels ever written! Sure it was first published in 1992, and the character in the book was born six years before my mother, but that doesn't matter. It's a story about growing up. Being a boy, whether it be in the 60's or today, means living hard, fast, and learning from your mistakes. It's a book about friends, family, bonds, and heartbreak. It's about the South in a time when the color of your skin meant more than the content of your soul. Yes, I agree, it may not be the perfect read for a woman, don't get me wrong a woman has every right to read it, but it speaks to the boy inside every man. A time when you still believed in the magic of every day life. Every movie you saw became a reality when you tucked yourself into bed and shut off the lights. When making friends came as easy as breathing, and losing them was the toughest burden to bear. It's a story about a boy and his dreams, both big and small. About a family on the verge of losing everything. A story about the true meaning of friends and enemies. About a time when boys could fly, when the power of thought could change the definition of life and death, and the strongest shoulders to lean on may come in the unlikliest of forms. I am urging every man born from 1940 to 1995 to head to your local bookstore, pick up a copy of Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon and do yourself a favor by losing yourself in the childhood you left behind. You will not regret it. You may be asking, what does this book have to do with horror? A good question. This is the 3rd novel I have read by McCammon, and the first that wasn't outright "horror". Yet, the mood, the setting, the characters, and their deeds, make for some very real chills. To me, McCammon is the master at capturing human emotion and dialogue. Every word uttered, every emotion felt by his characters will have you whisked away to a point in your life where you felt that same feeling. I've read all the classics, I have most of them on my bookshelves in my office, yet this book has firmly claimed its spot in my top three novels ever written. Pick it up, find a comfortable chair, turn on your reading light, and dive deep into your past. Enjoy.