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It's probably silly of me to be startled when really nice, sweet guys write dark work; I mean, I met Stephen King decades ago and I know writers like Stephen Booth and Steve Hamilton and while they write dark books and have often chilling subject matter, they are just the sunniest, nicest guys. Naïve of me, isn't it? Here's another example. I met Brendan Dubois years ago, and a nicer guy you couldn't meet. But wow, his short stories raise the hairs on my neck. I'm a fan of Dubois' Lewis Cole series; I also highly recommend his alternate history novel Resurrection Day. But it's clear that Dubois has another major body of work in his short stories, which he's been publishing since about 1986. In this collection which contains eleven of his stories, you see some themes, some that I even recognize from the Cole books. Themes of small towns threatened by bullies, and big city crime; people who come to Maine or Vermont to get away from past horrors and must deal with the invasion of rotten people who destroy the peace they seek - these are familiar themes to readers of Dead Sand, Black Tide and the other books. (or, as I once referred to the first two books, ahem, "Dead Tide" - or was it "Black Sand"? I'm awful with titles.) Here, however, Dubois takes his novel-writing skills and compresses them. "Dark Corridor", his first sale, was being marketed for a long time to Dubois, then-chosen market, the science fiction market. Duh, Brendan. This gem of a scary story was clearly meant for the mytsery market, where it finally appeared. It appeared, as I started reading, to be a stalker story and a) I don't read stalker stories and b) that seemed trite, so I kept reading, believing that quality writers don't include trite in anthologies of their own work. I was right (of course). Good creepy story with a catch. Stories of men who are trying to lead peaceful lives abound here, as I say; in "Netmail" a man faces a blackmailer who is trying to scam the wrong guy. In "Rising Waters" and "Fire Burning Bright", Dubois' characters try to maintain the serenity of family and home with results that change life forever. Some stories deal with both paranoia and threats from powerful and dangerous government forces, another familiar theme which Dubois manages to make pretty plausible. All in all, this Is a very satisfying, and occasionally chilling (well, many stories are set in the northeast it's true - what's with these guys? brrrr) collection. My only gripe was well, pure and simple, I hated"The Road's End", which won the Shamus for 2001. Not that it was confusing - it was, but I dealt with that - but simply that I found it totally unbelievable and ridiculous. Oh, well. As usual, the publishers have included a useful bibliography. Almost every one of Dubois short stories appeared originally in either Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine or Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, a good argument for subscribing to either publication. -- http://www.drizzle.com/~roscoe - Stu & Andi's "The Roscoe Page" http://www.drizzle.com/~roscoe/tshirts.html - Original cartoon silk-screened t-shirts - some Sherlockian, Wodehousian & others still available. Check out the new 'Roscoe Store' pages at CafePress! We now have an assortment of imprinted items with original Stu Shiffman art: http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=roscoestore - "The Game's Afoot!" Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=roscoestore2 - "Nero Woof," a Funny Animal version of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe. "Rex Trout takes notes on Nero Woof". http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=Roscoestore3 - "I Love a History Mystery!" Ancient Roman detective. http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=Roscoestore4 - "I Love a History Mystery!" Medieval mysteries.
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, December 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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