Fowler, Christopher: Demonized

A number of short stories published in 2003 by this author who is perhaps better known now for his Bryant and May books.
These stories reflect his imahinatively scary approach to a number of things with some stories ghostly, some with a twist a
la Roald Dahl (I prefer Fowler, though) and some, like 'Feral', downright nasty. The overall standard is high though some of
the tales were less involving than others - possibly a reflection of my own state of mind when they were read. Overall, a
highly recommendable collection which is well up to this excellent author's high standards.

Lansdale, Joe R.: Sunset and Sawdust

Set in the Texas backwoods which have become the regular location for Lansdale's novels, this tale is set in the 1930s when
oil was being found though the main activity in the area was lumber. Sunset kills her husband when he is beating her and
takes his place as the local constable much to neatly everyone's annoyance but her mother-in-law is the majority owner of
the lumber mill and has the final say. From being approached by a black farmer who has found a dead baby in a jar, the
story develops into one of murder with the discovery of the dead husband's dead mistress, the seduction of both Sunset and her daughter by a drifter, attempted fraud by altering the black farmer's land deeds to deprive him of oil and a violent and
murderous denouement. Incidentally, Sunset's father whom she never knew turns up and helps her stay alive and deal with
the villains. My recollection of Lansdale's earlier books is that they often had a supernatural element in them in some form;
here it comes with one of the villains having two distinct personalities which talk to each other. Very readable without being
memorable.

Bateman: Orpheus Rising

A successful one book author returns to the Florida resort where he had lived and married 10 years earlier before his wife had
been killed in a bank raid. The first part of the book alternates between his present life and the story of how he met and then married his dead wife.....except he sees her which creates problems with his life. He gets sufficiently drunk to hurt himself, starts an affair with the woman who had a childhood crush on him while continuing to see head people - but only he
can see them. The book has thus developed into a version of the Orpheus legend with those he sees having a physical presence for him alone. The author does not use a first name for some reason best known to himself. His writing is fluid and all parts of the book move along smoothly though he does commit the standard error of confusing 'prevaricate' with
'procrastinate'. I suppose, it being a retelling of the legend, it is reasonable for the dead to have a physical presence for him
though this is a little disconcerting. I think I need to try at least one more of his books before deciding whether this is an
interesting one-off or part of an ongoing theme (though I note from the front papers that he has two crime series as well as his other works.