Redeemable darkness under a summer sun

Summer's sun's been a long time coming this year. Even now the clouds keep gathering with hints of darkness and promise of rain... which is great for the plants, all thirsty and raring to grow. Sadly, in my yard, much-treasured dahlias are only just sprouting while dandelions, all yellow and tall, rule the universe. I feel my quest to conquer them slowing down irredeemably. Cut dandelions. See sun. Listen to rain. Cut dandelions again. How do they grow so tall? Then I read books.

Well... maybe then I write books too. But this post's about the ones I've read, the dark ones, the cloudy ones, with the promise of rain and tears... And coffee of course!

First is a collection of short stories entitled, appropriately Irredeemable, by Jason Sizemore. It's an amazing collection of truly memorable, unique and haunting short stories, with occasional hints at redemption, as seen through a volcano perhaps. Enjoy with a rich, dark brew of 5-star coffee.

Next are two more novels in Justin Gustainis' Occult Crimes Investigation Unit series. When SWAT teams train with supernatural weapons, and humans and supes share the same sort of prejudice as any other competing groups of people, all sorts of bad stuff might break loose. Evil Dark carries the threats of the first book onto a wider, scarier stage, while keeping things grounded with a father relearning how to care for those he loves. Then Known Devil sets the streets resounding to fangster gunfights and more. Punnish humor offsets the dark horrors, and it's a really cool series; enjoy with some more seriously dark 5-star coffee.

Dark Halo, by Christopher Kokoski, is classic horror fiction with Christian overtones, with all the scares, frantic escapes, horrors and demons of supernatural disaster, where a fallen man meets a possibly falling angel, and redemption is a hard-earned gift. More dark 5-star coffee I think.

The God Killers, by John F. Allen, takes horror and fantasy into a world that immediately drags the reader into graphic novel territory. Fast action, big guns, larger than life heroes and heroines, and more... It's the start of a series, but it stands alone well, and again, you'll deserve a nice dark 5-star coffee while you read it.

Finally, coming back to the real world, and maybe even real-world horrors too, the next entry in J. J. DiBenedetto's Dream series, Dream Family, sees Sarah's ability to share other people's dreams take a darker turn when wrongful accusations turn her own life into a nightmare. Others dream too, and this time Sarah might be one of the ones needing aid. It's a dark tale, touching on graphic and all-too-real cruelty, but it offers wise lessons and is a powerful addition to the series. Enjoy with another dark 5-star cup of coffee.

Lots of dark reads. Lots of dark coffee. And maybe the sun will shine!




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