Five Days on the Banks of the Acheron

Rating:
Summary: Timeless Tales review
Review: 3.5 stars
By Tt reviewer Chere Gruver
This book is a collection of short stories. It starts with a man trying to find out if his wife has been unfaithful to him or not. He works a lot of hours and is gone on business trips a lot and begins to doubt his wife. You will be amazed at how he determines this.

The next story in this grisly collection is "The Ferryman". What starts out as a ride in an amusement park turns to reality when Robert throws two coins in the ferryman's bucket. He has always wanted Janice and he finally has the courage to ask her out on a date. He decides to come to the amusement park with her. So far, the date has been a dismal disaster. It turns out that Janice does not have a very strong stomach and the rides are making her sick. Robert decides to take her through the tunnel of love. At least she won't get sick on this one. Of course, after throwing the coins in the ferryman's bucket, everything changes from a ride in an amusement park to flashes of life. They see different images of themselves along the way.

From that story, we go to the Halloween party. Devin has wanted a chance with Jenna ever since the first time he noticed her. Now, he has an invitation to a Halloween party that she's giving. The invitation states to wear a costume that totally disguises the wearer. Imagine Devin's surprise when he gets there to find out that it's not exactly what he had been expecting. It's a party all right, but not for people. It's a party for ghouls and imps and other creatures of the night.

We also get to go into a grocery store. It's raining buckets outside. The guy that owns the store decides to open a few minutes early. An older couple is standing outside in the rain and he feels guilty about making them wait. After all, they have been loyal customers of his. Another man is waiting to get in the store as well. His name is Gillette, just like the razor. The old man slips in a puddle from a leak in the roof. He throws down his cane and no longer needs it to walk. He can now walk fine without it. He goes outside in the rain and immediately begins to dissolve. The owner of the store feels that Gillette just might have something to do with this. Gillette pops a few pills and falls asleep and the rain stops. Now the owner of the store is positive that Gillette is somehow controlling this.

And we finish this grisly book with a tale of the Old South. Nancy left Gene again. This time she left him for Phil. Phil has always had a thing about the Confederacy. He has a room in his house that he has devoted to Confederate artifacts. Phil has promised Nancy that he will advance her in her career. Well, it turns out that Nancy has a special gift. She can animate things, including bringing people back from the dead. She has done this with Gene and his friend, Rich. Gene decides to find an old Confederate cemetery, the one that has old Phil's ancestor buried in it. It turns out that this cemetery is hidden away because these soldiers turned to cannibalism to stay alive during the war. Now Phil wants Nancy to bring back these old Confederate soldiers. He claims it will definitely get her an anchorwoman's job at the station that he is on the Board of Directors of. Nancy really doesn't want to do this. Phil tells her that he will start her daughter Skylar on fire if she doesn't do it. She goes along with him to save her daughter. Just imagine how this one can backfire on him, which it does.

I have to admit that this book wasn't exactly my cup of tea. I prefer my horror to be more like Stephen King. This was more grisly than what I normally prefer to read. If gore is what you like, this book is definitely for you. It's full of it. This book is also full of incredible turns and twists and a lot of things that I didn't even see coming. I was surprised by the endings of more than one of these tales.

Rating:
Summary: Jason Brannon is a true Horror master
Review: Jason Brannon is the author of numerous books like Caged, Puzzles of the Flesh (which was recommended for a Bram Stoker award), and Space Stations and Graveyards...I myself am a writer who works in the small press and that is where Jason started too. Let me tell you I know from experience that writers like Brannon don't come along everyday. His tales are not only powerful and moving, but original in theme and that is something truly amazing. I wouldn't count Brannon out for being the next Stephen King one day. He is THAT good. If you haven't ordered this book yet and you like horror, YOU NEED TO DO SO NOW. You will not be disappointed and once you started it you won't be able to put it down. Also, you should know that the IS nominated this year on the first ballot for the BRAM STOKER award and the Stokers seldom lead one astary in terms of how well written a book is. Check out, Dan Simmons, Bentley Little, etc.

Rating:
Summary: This is an excellent book, Brannon is brilliant
Review: What is there left to say, except that Jason Brannon is a brilliant author. I'm normally not a big reader, but I had a friend introduce me to Jason's works. After reading his first collection of short stories, Puzzles of Flesh, I was left wondering where someone could think up things like that. However, when I proceeded to his second collection of short stories, Five Days on the Banks of the Acheron, I wondered no more; I realized that Jason was just talented and full of imagination.

Five Days on the Banks of the Acheron is a collection of 12 very interesting and perplexing short stories. My favorite selections from this book would have to be "Costume Party,"Chaos Theory," and "The South Will Rise Again."

"Costume Party" is a story about a guy named Mick. Mick is in love with Jenna and he is invited to a costume party being thrown by Jenna. The invitation instructs Mick to dress so no one will know his identity. If his identity is revealed then he will be punished. Mick goes to the party with his friend Devin; the party is in an old condemned house. Mick searches for Jenna at the party, but no one will reveal their identity. It turns out that Mick, Devin, and Jenna are the only actual humans at this party. The other guests are actually zombies that are coming from within the house. Mick is the only character in this story that survives this costume party.

"Chaos Theory" is another favorite of mine by Brannon. Foster Duncan attends his class reunion, but he doesn't mingle with his former classmates. He hides on top of the gym scoreboard with a sniper rifle in hand. He has attended this gathering in hopes of causing a little bloodshed. However, things don't happen the way that Foster had planned. Jonas Ray also attends this reunion; in high school, jonas was the butt of all practical jokes. Jonas attends with one purpose in mind-revenge on those who harassed him during his high school days. As Jonas pulls his gun to shoot, Foster takes Jonas out with one shot. Foster's plan this night was to be a killer, not a hero. It's amazing how things happen. An interesting quote from this story is, "Does the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas? That's a perfectly good definition of chaos theory.

The third of my favorites is "The South Will Rise Again." There are ten different sections that make up this story. Nancy is a reporter who is involved with a character named Gene, but decides to leave him for Phil. Phil is a big time Civil War memoribilia collector and is also Nancy's boss. Phil's grandfather died during the Civil War, and is buried in an isolated cemetary in somewhat of a mass grave with other soldiers. Nancy has the power to touch dead things and bring them back among the living. Since Nancy left Gene for Phil, Gene and his friend Rich go to deface the tombstone of Phil's grandfather. Phil and Nancy just happen to arrive at the graveyard around the same time. Phil's main scheme is to videotape Nancy bringing these soldiers back to life; then he will send it in The Roving Eye tabloid and claim ten thousand dollars. When Nancy gives life back to the dead soldiers, they rise and go out in search of war. They act as if they were never killed and the Civil War is still in progress. The twist that Brannon throws into this story is with his characters. Skylar, Gene, and Rich are all zombies. There are hints of this throughout the story, but it really isn't evident until the end. This is probably my favorite of all of the stories in this collection.

Jason Brannon is an outstanding author with much talent and imagination. This book is definitely a good read. Expect to hear lots more from this author.

Rating:
Summary: This is an excellent book, Brannon is brilliant
Review: What is there left to say, except that Jason Brannon is a brilliant author. I'm normally not a big reader, but I had a friend introduce me to Jason's works. After reading his first collection of short stories, Puzzles of Flesh, I was left wondering where someone could think up things like that. However, when I proceeded to his second collection of short stories, Five Days on the Banks of the Acheron, I wondered no more; I realized that Jason was just talented and full of imagination.

Five Days on the Banks of the Acheron is a collection of 12 very interesting and perplexing short stories. My favorite selections from this book would have to be "Costume Party,"Chaos Theory," and "The South Will Rise Again."

"Costume Party" is a story about a guy named Mick. Mick is in love with Jenna and he is invited to a costume party being thrown by Jenna. The invitation instructs Mick to dress so no one will know his identity. If his identity is revealed then he will be punished. Mick goes to the party with his friend Devin; the party is in an old condemned house. Mick searches for Jenna at the party, but no one will reveal their identity. It turns out that Mick, Devin, and Jenna are the only actual humans at this party. The other guests are actually zombies that are coming from within the house. Mick is the only character in this story that survives this costume party.

"Chaos Theory" is another favorite of mine by Brannon. Foster Duncan attends his class reunion, but he doesn't mingle with his former classmates. He hides on top of the gym scoreboard with a sniper rifle in hand. He has attended this gathering in hopes of causing a little bloodshed. However, things don't happen the way that Foster had planned. Jonas Ray also attends this reunion; in high school, jonas was the butt of all practical jokes. Jonas attends with one purpose in mind-revenge on those who harassed him during his high school days. As Jonas pulls his gun to shoot, Foster takes Jonas out with one shot. Foster's plan this night was to be a killer, not a hero. It's amazing how things happen. An interesting quote from this story is, "Does the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas? That's a perfectly good definition of chaos theory.

The third of my favorites is "The South Will Rise Again." There are ten different sections that make up this story. Nancy is a reporter who is involved with a character named Gene, but decides to leave him for Phil. Phil is a big time Civil War memoribilia collector and is also Nancy's boss. Phil's grandfather died during the Civil War, and is buried in an isolated cemetary in somewhat of a mass grave with other soldiers. Nancy has the power to touch dead things and bring them back among the living. Since Nancy left Gene for Phil, Gene and his friend Rich go to deface the tombstone of Phil's grandfather. Phil and Nancy just happen to arrive at the graveyard around the same time. Phil's main scheme is to videotape Nancy bringing these soldiers back to life; then he will send it in The Roving Eye tabloid and claim ten thousand dollars. When Nancy gives life back to the dead soldiers, they rise and go out in search of war. They act as if they were never killed and the Civil War is still in progress. The twist that Brannon throws into this story is with his characters. Skylar, Gene, and Rich are all zombies. There are hints of this throughout the story, but it really isn't evident until the end. This is probably my favorite of all of the stories in this collection.

Jason Brannon is an outstanding author with much talent and imagination. This book is definitely a good read. Expect to hear lots more from this author.