Butcher Shop Quartet

Butcher Shop Quartet is an anthology of novellas by little known or unknown authors; though I dare say that if the authors found in this book continue to write like this they won't be little known for long. The Last of Boca Verde is a story that takes you deep into a rain forest that's plagued by forest fires. This is the one story that I really, I mean REALLY didn't like. Harris does an excelent job describing the area, but repeats himself quite offten which really detracts from the story. I was also a bit upset once the Congo Negros came into play(or lack there of) as well as the Mano de Diablo. These creatures were a waste of time and played no significant role in the story what-so-ever. I got very VERY confused by the time the story reached its peak and began it's treck down to the conclusion. I have no idea what actually happens in the cloud forest, a bunch of events accure right on top of the other with absolutly no explanationt o why it's happening or what the meaning of things are. It's a very long read, and one I wouldn't do again. House on the Hill was one I cringed at when I read the title. I could just see a lame haunted house story coming out of this one, but I was pleasently suprised to see this wasn't the case. The writing in this story was some of the best in modern day literature and the story was equally as chilling. The Reconstruction of Kasper Clark was by far my favorite story. Even though its setting was Hell, it kept a light, upbeat feel to it. The best part was that the character of Kasper was completely realized and you honestly felt every inch of emotion he did. Darkling Child was hard to get into. This is the first time Andreas has been published and it kind of shows. There's quite a bit of grammatical errors and typos littered throughout thes story. There's numerous times throughout the story that Andreas becomes a bit too verbos to the point that I'd find myself zoning out and not paying attention to the reading. While the story in and of itself was good, I could have gone without the long winded philisophical and anti religious ramblings of the main character.

Butcher Shop Quartet is a collection of four dark and disturbing novellas set in fascinating locales. The Last of Boca Verde by Boyd E. Harris kicks off the Quartet by plunging the reader into the darkest jungles of Central America. It's obvious that Harris knows the region; his descriptive prose had me coughing from imagined forest fire smoke, jumpy from numerous creepy-crawlies, perspiring from imagined humidity, fatigued from the exhaustive horseback climb seven thousand feet up into the cloud forest itself. Then came the Congo Negro... I'm terrified of monkeys after an unfortunate childhood experience. The descriptions were almost too much for me. I feel as if I've actually been to Central America after reading The Last of Boca Verde. For only the price of a book, it doesn't get much better than that. And there's still three stories to read. The House on the Hill by Australian author Clinton Green is a classic Greek tragedy about two men whose lives are forever changed after spending the night in a haunted house. The story begins in Australia just prior to World War I and ends two years after Armistice. Green does a fine job of demonstrating how young men's dreams of adventure and glory in battle turn into nightmares as they're exposed to the harsh realities of war. The twist at the end is just icing on the cake. The Reconstruction of Kasper Clark by English author Michael Stone is a delightful romp through Hell, portrayed as a clinic specializing in plastic surgery. Stone teases, twists and tantalizes the reader from the first page to the last. Kasper Clark finds that having a normal appearance is not as satisfying as he'd imagined it would be. I particularly enjoyed the innovative diet plan concept mentioned in the story, and the way the author dissects and lays bare the psychology of sensation-seeking behavior. In The Darkling Child by A.T. Andreas, we're treated to sexual tension between brother and sisters, dark worship, ancient wisdom ignored at a heavy cost, weakness of the flesh, and self-betrayal. This tale is woven in traditional, old-fashioned style - one not often seen these days, but has always been my favorite. The author leads and misleads the reader through increasingly intricate interactions between personified Good and Evil. Darkling Child is a twisted intimate dance of light and dark which redefines Faith and Providence. For my taste, the first story was too long, and the second too short. I felt The Last of Boca Verde took too long to get into the "juice" of the story, which is a shame because once it hits its stride, it's a doozy. Butcher Shop Quartet Volume I, while not perfect, is still an admirable first publication by Cutting Block Press. I enjoyed the psychological twists and turns that were accurately targeted toward "The Adventurous Mind," vivid descriptions, and various styles of the four stories contained within Butcher Shop Quartet Volume I, and look forward to the next in the series. I can't give this