Pick of the Week: Muscle Memory, by Steve Lowe

Pick of the Week (#13): Muscle Memory, by Steve Lowe
(Eraserhead Press)
- Selection made by Rodney Carlstrom

The Book: Billy Gillespie wakes up one morning to discover that his junk is gone. In its place is his wife's junk. Billy is now Tina, and Tina is dead. That's because Billy's dead. His lifeless body is still in bed and empty beer bottles and a container of antifreeze litter the kitchen counter. Over the next 24 hours, Billy and an odd assortment of neighbors, all experiencing their own bouts of body switcheroo, try to figure out what happened and why. Can they do it before the Feds find Billy's body? Was it aliens that caused this, or God, or the government? And did Edgar Winter really sleep with his sheep? Pro football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw has those answers in a story that asks, What Would Kirk Cameron Do?

The Author: Steve Lowe is a former writer with the South Bend Tribune, and occasional stringer for the Associated Press. He also writes weird, dark, humorous fiction which contains just slightly more made-up content than his short stories. His first book, MUSCLE MEMORY, was published in 2010 by Eraserhead Press. His short fiction has appeared in the print anthologies AMAZING STORIES OF THE FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER, A HACKED-UP HOLIDAY MASSACRE, and DEAD BAIT, and several online venues including Three Crow Press and Unicorn Knife Fight.

The Publisher: Founded in 1999, Eraserhead Press is an independent publishing company with a focus on Bizarro Fiction, with an aim to bring you the weirdest most fun to read books you'll ever find. For more information about Bizarro Fiction visit: www.bizarrocentral.com

My Comments: In short fiction, it takes a lot to find the right words, or for that matter the proper way to convey a story. Limitations help to prove the authors abilities, and quite honestly, short fiction is the determining factor for me when it comes to a new author. If they can successfully pull of a short story, novella, or novelette and leave me wandering, or thinking hard after finishing it, then they get my stamp of approval. And more times than not, I end up going back that authors stuff, in every capacity available.

Steve Lowe is now one of those authors. From the get-go, reading the synopsis for the novella, it just sounded awesome. In a world where it seems tropes are the common thing; overdone and horribly at that, it's nice to see an author able to take an old favorite and breath new life into it. Steve does this brilliantly in Muscle Memory, with the Ol' Switcheroo. Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Freaky Friday; Like Father, Like Son, and Vice-Versa, and then take those and flip 'em on their heads. Throw in a dash of government conspiracy, aliens, male breast feeding,and a talking sheep, and you've got Muscle Memory.

When he's not pulling on your heartstrings, he's making you laugh your ass off. And he does a remarkable job of both with believable characters, and a populated town that took me back in time to my hometown; very recognizable people that just added a whole other layer of down-right hilarity to the mix.

-Rodney


So make Muscle Memory, by Steve Lowe(Eraserhead Press) the SSP Blog Pick of the Week!

Pick up Muscle Memory today! Direct softcover and Kindle links below:

Softcover


Kindle Edition

Pick of the Week: Crab Town, by Carlton Mellick III

Pick of the Week (#11): Crab Town, by Carlton Mellick III
(Eraserhead Press)
-Selection made by Rodney Carlstrom



The Book:In this town, everyone's a bottom feeder...

Five desperate criminals are robbing one of the last remaining banks in Freedom City, a town devastated by the previous nuclear war. But these are no ordinary criminals. They are members of the House of Cards, an organization designed to help the less fortunate citizens of the city. In a place where the poor are separated from the rich, jobs are as scarce as clean water, and even the doctors are as corrupt as the politicians, the House of Cards are a final beacon of hope in an otherwise hopeless world.

Featuring: radiation fetishists, balloon people, mutant crabs, sail-bike road warriors, and a love affair between a woman and an H-Bomb. This is one mean asshole of a city.

Welcome to Crab Town

The Author: Carlton Mellick III is one of the leading authors in the new Bizarro genre uprising. Since 2001, his surreal counterculture novels have drawn an international cult following despite the fact that they have been shunned by most libraries and corporate bookstores. He lives in Portland, OR, the Bizarro fiction mecca.

Visit the author's site at: wwww.carltonmellick.com


The Publisher: Founded in 1999, Eraserhead Press is an independent publishing company with a focus on Bizarro Fiction, with an aim to bring you the weirdest most fun to read books you'll ever find. For more information about Bizarro Fiction visit: www.bizarrocentral.com

To visit the publisher's site, visit: www.eraserheadpress.com/


My Comments: Crab Town was my first foray into the messed up mind of Carlton Mellick III, and I enjoyed every single sentence of it! I originally picked Crab Town up because of it's awesome cover, and then fell in love with it after reading the synopsis for it.

With Crab Town, Mellick has managed to pack 85 pages with as many ideas as possible, without taking away from the story. Each page pops with two to three concepts that Mellick manages to blend together so well, without taking the reader out of the ridiculousness of it. (After the first few pages, your mind quickly realizes and adjusts to all of the crazy, twisted ideas of the story.)

It doesn't take much to trip my trigger, and immediately upon opening the book, several things jumped out at me that grabbed my attention: crime (the House of Cards, a crime organization created to help the less fortunate), crustecians (for which a specific part of town is named after), post-apocalyptic setting (Crab Town takes place after a nuclear war), and the novella length format (short enough to enjoy in only a few sittings, but long enough to get a full story). And ultimately it's a story of people who have nothing, trying to help others who are in the same situation, told each chapter from a different main character's point of view. Add to it the fear of debt and the extremes that people will go to in order to demolish such a burden from their shoulders, and you have Crab Town.

Not only is the cover art beautiful, but the genesis of the novella was brilliant, and I'm glad all the more for picking this quick read up based solely off of the cover art. If you've got a taste for the strange, weird or bizarre, or you're unsure of what Bizarro is, then check out www.bizarrocentral.com.

~Rodney



So make Crab Town the SSP Blog Pick of the Week!

Pick up Crab Town today! Direct softcover and Kindle links below:

softcover



Kindle