Welcome to the world of John McIlveen. Enter, please, but be warned… here you will find tales that blur the lines of horror, vengeance, humor, sorrow, and humanity. You will encounter broken people with dark secrets and darker desires. Meet Justice, whose art exposes your soul. Ride along as a man’s search for his daughter reveals that sometimes the best way to heal old scars is to make new … new ones. Go on vacation with the Seth’s, who are forced to play a game that is every parent’s nightmare. Play a Sunday game of softball with the most unusual team imaginable. You will experience the foulest parts of humanity, as well as the funniest and sweetest. Some of these stories will make you laugh, some will anger or shock you, but all of them will affect you. You will love, hate, and sympathize with the characters, possibly at the same time.
The collection includes an introduction by New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden and an afterword by James A. Moore.
Short stories included in this collection:
Paint It Black
Infliction
Jerks
Make a Choice
A Mother’s Love
Smokey
Roundabout
Succumb
Portraits
Nina
The Confession of a Confirmed Has Been
Signs
Simon Says
Desolation
Hope
Saddled Vengeance
Finding Forever
Hell to Pay
What If …
Devotion
The Bore
A Perfect Man
In Defense of …
Playing the Huddys
“McIlveen paints with a broad palette of colors, and he blends them and highlights them with a master’s touch. Tragedy and comedy, vengeance and salvation, hope and horror, the absurd and the sublime, all skillfully worked into the same pages and presented here for our enjoyment.” – James A. Moore, Author of The Seven Forges series
“Shocking, moving, and always surprising, John McIlveen’s Inflictions will delight and terrify the reader in equal measures. A solid collection from a talented writer.” – Tim Lebbon, author of Coldbrook
“A disturbing and thoroughly entertaining creepfest. So much wicked fun.” – New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry.
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I never pass up the chance to read anything written by John M. McIlveen. Some of the stories contained in INFLICTIONS can also be found in JERKS AND OTHER TALES FROM A PERFECT MAN. It can be difficult to find a truly fresh voice, yet here is one whose name deserves to be shouted from the rooftops. It is truly difficult not to wax poetic about each and every story contained in INFLICTIONS, yet how can I not?
• “Paint It Black” – Not your mamma’s Rolling Stones song.
• “Infliction” – The sins of the father…
• “Jerks” – How can a man write so perfectly from the first person point of view of a woman?
• “Make a Choice” – A tale to make your toes curl and your skin crawl.
• “A Mother’s Love” – Where does it end?
• “Smokey” – A cat’s eye view.
• “Roundabout” – Not just a road thing in Massachusetts.
• “Succumb” – Succinct and to the point.
• “Portraits” – Artistry i//n horror.
• “Nina” – Watch your step!
• “The Confession of a Confirmed Has Been” –
• “Signs” – Like the song says… “Signs. Signs. Everywhere signs.”
• “Simon Says” – Follow if you dare!
• “Desolation” – Everybody has an Armageddon tale… Stephen King had THE STAND, Robert McCammon had SWAN SONG, this is much shorter and still makes the requisite point.
• “Hope” – Hope is that thing that springs eternal.
• “Saddled Vengeance” – A tale of the wild, wild west.
• “Finding Forever” – A new look at be careful what you wish for.
• “Hell to Pay” – … literally!
• “What If …” – How many times in life do we use that very phrase?
• “Devotion” – How great the bond between mother and son.
• “The Bore” – A tale of low self-esteem if ever there was one.
• “A Perfect Man” – Perfection is in the eye of the beholder.
• “In Defense of …” – Do you know what Uner Tan syndrome is? I didn’t either.
• “Playing the Huddys” – Be a good sport.
INFLICTIONS is a fantastic book on so many levels. Even what might superficially seem like a simple little tale is something to ponder. Horror writers pay their dues by writing the tropes… vampires, werewolves, ghosts… basically all those things that go bump in the night. McIlveen has brought a freshness to these time honored and time worn subjects, and just when you think you know where the plot is going… it doesn’t. His tales will make you laugh, and they will make you cry, and they will make you shudder and perhaps even retch, but you won’t put the book aside. You will want to read more.
Let me throw in a plug for Kindle right about here. I currently read on a Kindle Touch that I’ve had for going on two years. Aside from being able to carry all the books for which I have promised reviews, it also has a great dictionary and connection to Wikipedia. When I come across a word or term with which I am not familiar, I can simply highlight it with my finger and a window of information pops into view. One of my lifelong mottoes is that any day I learn something new is a good day. A good writer will challenge a reader to learn something new whether the work is fact or fiction.
One more thing… Do read the introduction by Christopher Golden and the afterward by James A. Moore. It is always interesting to read what one writer says about the work of another. I guarantee that both are worth the read.
Quite simply, John McIlveen has the soul of a poet and the mind of maniac; his writing is erudite and profane. He is a word-smith that will make you think.
I received a copy of INFLICTIONS from the author for review.