Book of the Week, Episode III

I am rooting for Michael McBride to succeed more than any other author. This is because our career paths have been eerily similar, and any success that one of us finds will probably be quickly mirrored by the other. So any Hollywood studios or big New York publishers who are looking for an author to shower with cash and precious gems, McBride's your guy!

McBride tends to write ambitious, large-scale novels. SPECIES was combined with the unpublished SPECIES II as CHRONICLES OF THE APOCALYPSE, nearly 600 pages of end-of-the-world goodness. GOD'S END is another epic tale, and though THE INFECTED falls into the category of "fun gory romp," it's a pretty damn ambitious fun gory romp.

But he can also tone things down quite a bit, as with his most recently published work, BLOOD WISH. This one is part of the hardcover chapbook series from Delirium Books, meaning that it's slightly smaller than a mass market paperback and perfect for taking along to, say, the dentist's office, which is where I read a good chunk of it. Honestly, the Delirium hardcover chapbooks are such a neat, sturdy little product that I wish they were priced for readers instead of collectors, but BLOOD WISH is a 300-copy limited edition, and almost all of 'em are gone!

As usual, I don't want to give too much away about the plot, except that this novelette is much like a contemporary fairy tale. It's a slow, careful build, subtle and creepy...until things stop being quite so subtle. The last 20 pages or so are wonderfully inventive and wicked, and BLOOD WISH is the perfect bedtime story. In fact, the "tiny little hardcover" format almost feels as if you're reading a children's book. There's no sex or profanity, and if the ending is perhaps a bit scary and gruesome...well, so is your average fairy tale!

https://www.horror-mall.com/store/product.php?productid=16715&cat=297&page=1