Amy Grech

A fine short anthology of creepy tales. Having not read Vol.1 I can’t comment on how this one compliments its evil twin, but the volume has a nicely balanced mix of stories. A cool variety of writing styles and themes keeps interest, and the brevity of the collection works to its advantage. The practice of stories being read around a campfire is pleasingly nostalgic, and the tales chosen here fit well with that whilst at the same time having enough chutzpah to inject something new and surprising. An enjoyable horror collection with an eye-catching cover design.… (lisätietoja)

Review copy

I wanted to like Rage and Redemption in Alphabet City, I actually wanted to love it, but this one just didn't live up to expectations. I was surprised since a number of my friends and other reviewers gave this collection rather high marks.

The book begins with the longer title story called, Rage and Redemption In Alphabet City. Blue Balls - most of us know what they are, but it also happens to be the name of a drink Trevor finds young Ruby consuming in a bar in the East Village. The story is steeped in sexual tension and climaxes much the way such a tale would be expected to end. In addition to Blue Ball, the other chapter titles include Marooned, Whodunit, Candy Apple Red, You're So Vain, and Fright Night.

.38 Special - An intense story of a cheating wife and Russian Roulette.

Cold Comfort - More bad decisions being made in an East Village bar. This time a married man has a fling with a possessive woman and needs to have his wife, an NYC police officer, get him out of a jam.

Prevention - Two brothers who are decidedly different. A story which sheds light on the age-old issue of nature vs. nurture.

Hoi Polloi Cannoli - My favorite title of the collection. A tale of...

"...the Big Kahuna's Feast, a veritable cornucopia of decadent delights, where any food and drink participants desire can be had for four glorious hours. Not a minute more, not a minute less, just the right amount of time for the Chosen to taste tantalizing tidbits and relish the experience to the fullest. The Gathering has several firm rules designed to discourage constant chaos. With that in mind, Big Kahuna decrees the following: The moment the Golden Tickets fall from a secret compartment above the stage and drift downward, swaying this way and that, each and every Villager must stop where they stand and raise their hands. They are only allowed to use their arms and hands to reach for a Golden Ticket, no hitting, punching, scratching, or slapping other Villagers will be tolerated..."

In many ways, this story was reminiscent of The Hunger Games as one of the characters states...

"Whether the odds are in her favor."

A sly nod to the popular series. As much as I liked this story, it was so predictable. I saw the twist coming from miles away.

While the stories themselves are OK, I didn't find any of them compelling. On top of that was the large number of error that should have been caught in proofreading. Any book that's been out for more than a year should not have these types of errors. I'm not going to list them all, but a few include this like "Daddy bits his lower lip." (bites), "I'd rather not to bring my work home with me." (drop to), and "She blow more smoke rings in Trevor's face." (blew). There were many more, but you get my point. Writers, remember, spell-check is no substitute for a good proofreader.

I likely would have given the collection four stars if it wasn't for the above.

The author, Amy Grech, is an incredibly nice person, dedicated to her craft, and passionate about the genre. Part of the blame here must lie with the publisher, New Pulp Press and this line in their submissions policy, "Your work should be fully edited in the sense that you have done all that is necessary and possible to make you work polished, literate and error free." The least they could contribute would be a proofreader.

If an occasional lapse in grammar doesn't bother you, then I recommend this collection.

Rage and Redemption in Alphabet City is published by New Pulp Press and is available in both paperback and e-book formats.

From the author's bio - Amy Grech has sold over 100 stories and poems to various anthologies and magazines. She is an Active Member of the Horror Writers Association and the International Thriller Writers and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.… (lisätietoja)

“Everyone’s patience has its limits.” – Rampart

The fourteen tales that comprise author Amy Grech’s second collection of short stories, Blanket of White, are all about finding people’s limits. Grech takes common themes – love, death, coming of age, sex, family relationships – and drags the reader across the line of comfort on an exploration of the dark side of those familiar situations.

In some, Grech forces the reader to confront that darkness head on, sparing no detail in the horror that people can inflict upon one another: “Prevention,” a demonstration of how the pressure of decades of sibling rivalry and parental neglect can explode horribly sideways; “Raven’s Revenge,” a supernatural tale that tips its bloody cap to the master, Edgar Allan Poe; “Russian Roulette,” in which a love triangle turns decidedly deadly; and “Perishables,” a post-apocalyptic exploration of just how far one man will go to survive.

In others, however, Grech builds her stories around the more nuanced psychological and emotional traumas that people encounter: “Blanket of White,” the title story, is a poignant look at the desperate measures people are willing to take in the name of love; “Initiation Day,” in which a young man makes a life altering choice between fitting in and standing alone; “Crosshairs,” where a father learns, with devastating consequences, just how much his young son has taken his teachings to heart; and “EV 2000,” a clever, futuristic tale of an electronic vampire run amok in its desire to understand what it is to be human.

It is in exploring those emotional shades of gray where the true power of Grech’s writing shines through. As such, it is the wonderfully understated “Damp Wind And Leaves” that is far and away the standout of the collection. Set against the backdrop of a Halloween party, the story skillfully unfurls the emotional evolution of a seventeen year old, over the course of a single evening, from that of a child trying to hold on to his delight in the manufactured scares of Halloween to that of a young man ready to let go of childish things and take the truly scary step forward into adulthood.

While each stands on its own, taken collectively the stories in Blanket of White represent a complete journey through emotions that everyone has experienced – love and hate, jealousy and rage, pride and shame – and does so in an unflinching way that packs a huge emotional wallop.… (lisätietoja)