Abominations

All the stories are good-time reading, but I have some favorites and so I will touch upon those particular few. The rest, you will just have to purchase your own copy and decide if my favorites are the same as yours or if you will find a new personal favorite. I am certain that you will.

Fanboys: This tragicomical story involves a washed-up scream queen and the upcoming scream-queen wanna-be that she is being replaced by. Oh, and hordes of drooling fan-boy zombies! What I enjoyed about this story is how it illustrates that in the end, it doesn’t really matter who is hotter. It only matters who is quicker. Heh! Oh alright, you gotta have some kind of conscience, right? I enjoyed the play on conventions and celebrities as if it were like watching some kind of sports game. Oh, and the zombies! The catty banter between the women is realistic enough, and funny. Also, how can you not feel for the washed up scream queen with what she gets from the guys at the tables? “You used to be so hot!”  Indeed. You almost want it to happen, you know? This is a darkly-humorous, distorted little tale that will keep you reading.

Trailer park of the damned: Gee whiz, more fuckin’ zombies! Well, Hell yeah! This story is a favorite because it places a woman as the “kick-ass-and-take-names-later” lead role. Jolene is maybe not the smartest woman in the world, but she sure is slick. And alive. That’s all that matters. What I enjoyed about this story is the exploration of a self-proclaimed dictatorship wrought from the tragic horror that is a zombie-apocalypse. When shit hits the fan, the people rally around the authoritarian Jimmy-Ray. But Jolene is getting quite fed-up with this subservient lifestyle. She decides that she has had enough and sets out to break free from Jimmy-Ray’s scope of “power”. Go Jolene! Fight more than just the zombie plague, but the oppression of those who would take advantage of you and your gender.

Love story in 7G: Oh this story was especially fun and ghastly! Not only does Rebecca capture the natural human predilection to “pick apart” the opposite sex; size them up so to speak, and how each gender does this in their own way, but she explores what makes a relationship work. Is it truly a matter of “opposites attract”, or does it simply take a common interest…like flying remote control airplanes or taking long walks …perhaps hunting? This is an entertaining sinister tale that will make you laugh out loud (at least, I did) and also, maybe get a little grossed out. You may possibly find yourself a little sad for the characters as well, lookin' for love in all the wrong places.

Family Value: I’m not as dysfunctional as these folks, but I can certainly relate to the main character’s plight. I mean, single mother with two children to support? Nothing a sugar-daddy couldn’t help with. But at what cost? In a cliché moment, it could very well be her soul. When Lucy remarries a wealthy man, all her financial worries are laid to rest. But there is a nuisance in this fairy-tale that comes in the form of a very jealous and possessive teenage step-daughter named Jennifer. After an altercation en-route to home after a very exhausting day, Lucy has left Jennifer standing on the side of the road ten-miles from home. She was just asking for it, right? To Lucy’s dismay, however, the next time Jennifer is seen, it is in a morgue. Dear old dad does not take the death well.

Disturbing undercurrents, disgusting imagery, and identifiable characters: maybe a little more development between the characters would make this a killer stand-alone novella. It would also build some more sympathy and dislike for the correct characters. At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed the sickness that has infected this supernatural tale.

And finally, Dumping Ground: Will a mother's love and protective instinct truly reach beyond the clutches of death? One would like to think that it does. Dumping Ground explores this idea with the backdrop of, yep, a zombie apocolypse. Don't groan and discount this tale, however. What I really love about this particular tale (and all of her tales, to be honest) is that Rebecca chooses to focus upon the individual lives of these characters; characters that try to lead lives in the wake of something as massive and nihilistic as a zombie apocalypse. I close the book with strong impressions left on my psyche. Let’s call them scars, for visual-sake.

I royally enjoy Rebecca’s sense of humor. It is macabre and very well-developed, to say the least. Her characters are realistic, endearing, pathetic, and repellant. What a good story should comprise of, depending upon the tale that you wish to weave, is strong characters and clear visualizations. I mean, even when we can see the plot coming we are still reading because we want to know how in the hell they get TO the plot. Right? Because the story is so damn engrossing, we can’t put it down. Rebecca’s stories are like that for me. I have only one nit, and it is easily over-looked. I won’t even point it out to you in this review, it is that un-important. What is important is that there are good stories and good story tellers in the world. Rebecca is one of them!

So, why haven’t you purchased a copy of this yet? Because you didn’t know it was available. Now that you do, there is no excuse! I have provided links at the end of this review on where to purchase Abominations and you can also find links to more information about the author Rebecca Brock at the beginning of this review.

By the by, on her MySpace profile, she has Weird Al Yankovic songs on her playlist. How can you not dig a woman who loves Weird Al songs? You’re all that and a bag of Scooby snacks, Beck. Thanks for giving me something entertaining and disgusting to read! Here is where you can purchase your copy of Abominations: "Aw, shit...I'm outta rubbers!"

You may now drag yourselves back into your crypts.