The Blues Ain't Nothin': Tales of the Lonesome Blues Pub

Rating:
Summary: Pretty darned cool...
Review: A great meshing of 3 great elements: the Blues (of course) and its its associated mythology; the ghost story, and the fantastic or sf "pub" story ala Robinson's Callahan's. Is it scary in the same way King or Koontz or Straub are scary? Not at all. Does it use things that are scary in the hands of other writers (ghosts, Hell-Hounds, etc.) to create a smoky, boozy, unreality that feels like the Blues? Yes, it does. Less a novel than it is a string of Twilight Zone-like realted stories, but still an outstanding read.

Rating:
Summary: The Writing Isn't Anything
Review: The author's shameless self-promotion on this page aside, this novel is woefully dreary and bland. If this is the caliber of novel nominated for a Stoker Award, I weep for the future of the horror genre.

To even label this a horror novel is a misnomer. "The Blues Ain't Nothin'" is a poorly sewn together collection of short 'ghost' stories with the intent of being a scary novel. It doesn't succeed. The characters are barely two-dimensional, yet alone three dimensional. The prose is lost in a morass of marginal grammar and insipid tangental thoughts.

Blues references throughout the novel are meant to impress the reader with a 'look-at-me-I-know-what-the-blues-are' attitude. This fails totally and is insulting to true blues officianados. The last word of this novel's title is indicative of what the author knows of the blues: "Nothin'."

To be fair, perhaps the author will grow as a writer in future endeavors. Everyone is entitled to first novel jitters. Perhaps in a completely different genre this novel may have flourished. As horror, it didn't.

Don't be fooled by raves here from family and friends. Save your hard earned money on something with a little more substance and depth. Or, look in the Salvation Army book drop for a used copy.

One star for a pretty nifty looking cover. I can't say much for the interior.

Rating:
Summary: wish it came with a soundtrack
Review: This was a great book to read over Halloween. It's spooky, chilling in places, but very human and down to earth. The characters are likable, just like the ghosts. The author knows her music and it shows. The ghosts were real blues musicians (and the live ones too). The stories are a bit much at times, but for a first book it's good. I wish I had a companion CD with it to listen to the blues and hear the songs as they're meant to be.