The Reviews Area: Duncan Ralston

REVIEW: Duncan Ralston - Woom: An extreme horror

Genre: Extreme Horror

Publisher: Matt Shaw Publications

Publication Date: 6^th August 2016

Pages: 90

REVIEWED BY ALEX

This review came about in a slightly different fashion. Woom is a book of extreme horror. Extreme is not a genre that Nev likes to read. Duncan knew this and knew there was no hope of Nev ever reviewing it. But then along came Alex, who read it, and threw his review over to be posted on Confessions. So, lucky for Duncan, here is the fair and honest review of Woom: An Extreme Horror. This book is published by Matt Shaw Publications.

Let me begin this review with a warning. Not a gentle brush off or nudge like you might get from an older cousin about to tell a dirty joke in front of Grandma. This is a sucker punch to the kidneys in a darkened back alley type warning. This is a venomous red flag on fire next to the fuse of an atomic bomb warning. Do not put your playing piece on the board to approach GO if you are the least bit faint of heart or weak stomached. This book is not screwing around. Hence the warning labels written in bold letters right there on the cover. IT’S ON THE COVER!

That being said…

If you have continued reading to this point, you might feel brave enough to enter into the warped and twisted world that is WOOM. Just don’t be the tough guy at a high school party. Don’t puff out your chest, down that plastic cup of beer and shout, “I can take it!” It’s going to be a rougher ride than you might think. This book’s does not only cross boundaries, it annihilates them.

In the hands of nearly any author than Duncan Ralston, the dangerous territory WOOM resides in could easily sour into distasteful garbage. Fortunately, Ralston is gifted with talents that most of his contemporaries do not possess. His descriptive abilities put the reader in horrendous situations that the bravest of us would never dare approach in fiction let alone real life. At the same time, the humanity of his character’s blossoms on the vine creating a near impossible sense of powerful emotions making it real and beautiful alongside their grim situations.

Short but immensely compelling, I read WOOM in two sittings. I might have finished in one save for the fact that my head required a break to breathe for a few hours. The more time I spent in WOOM’soppressive motel room, the closer the walls of the real world seemed to draw in on me. Still, I couldn’t get those characters out of my head. In the most finite exchange of a conversation, or a shared moment of human recognition showing more understanding and compassion in a few words than a full chapter’s worth of text by any other writer could demonstrate.

Stories that fall under the category of “body horror” are not for everyone. There are slasher stories and underground monster tales whose only previous exposure could be found hidden away in the cobwebbed, shadowy back rows of local book stores. With our modern technological advances that have inspired a new wave of independent publishing, these formerly forbidden sub-genres are exploding in popularity on the WWWs. Some people are always looking to explore the fringes, to find the edge and peer over the side and see what the rest of the herd chooses rather than not to admit it exists.

WOOM is a wonderful conundrum. While the stories inside its walls are deeply disturbing, they are also wonderfully human. They resound with a core hurt that we all feel deep inside in some way. The ways we describe that ache, and how we fill it to make us complete again are as varied and as far apart as stars in a desert sky.

Most of what I read is horror, so I am not easily frightened or shocked. After I finish a book I will typically sit for a few minutes to reflect on the story to find if and how it has affected me. It doesn’t often take me longer than a day to dive into a new book. Duncan Ralston has achieved something disturbingly rare with WOOM. Three days after finishing the final word I still couldn’t bring myself to even crack open the cover of something new. Not because I didn’t enjoy WOOM, but due to the power and strength living inside the writing.

If you prefer your fiction to not only provide teasing glimpses over that previously mentioned edge, but desire to be taken well beyond what you are comfortable with, WOOMis a formidable tour guide. Be sure you are very careful on your journey. You will return altered in ways you may not have bargained for.

General rating:

★★★★.5

Reviewed by Alex Kimmell.

If you would like to help support Confessions of a Reviewer, then please consider using the links below to buy Woom or any other books from Duncan. This not only supports me but also lets me know how many people actually like to buy books after reading my reviews.

Thanks.

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Book Synopsis:

The Lonely Motel holds many dark secrets… and Room 6 just might hold the worst of them all.

Angel knows a lot about pain. His mother died in this room. He's researched its history. He's come back today to end it, no matter the cost, once and for all.

Prostitute Shyla believes the stories Angel tells her can't be true. Secrets so vile, you won't want to let them inside you.

But the Lonely Motel doesn't forget. It doesn't forgive. And it always claims its victim.

CONFESSIONS REVIEWS DUNCAN RALSTON

Gristle and Bone: 7 Tales of Delectable Terror

Salvage

Every Part of the Animal

Duncan Ralston was born in Toronto, and spent his teens in a small town. As a "grown-up," Duncan lives with his girlfriend and their dog in Toronto, where he writes about the things that frighten and disturb him. In addition to his twisted short stories found in GRISTLE & BONE, THE ANIMAL, and the charity anthology THE BLACK ROOM MANUSCRIPTS, his debut novel SALVAGE is available now.

"Mr. Ralston writes horror fiction that is unflinching and pulls no punches." - Kit Power.

"Duncan Ralston is writing honest stories about real people, pitched headlong into extraordinary situations. And that is what makes them so horrifying." - Ken Preston, Dirge Magazine

And for more about Duncan, visit his site or find him on social media:

Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon Page

REVIEW: Duncan Ralston - Every Part of the Animal

Genre: Crime / Thriller

Publisher: Shadow Work Publishing

Publication Date: 6^th June 2016

Pages: 126

REVIEWED BY NEV:

A copy of Every Part of The Animal was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author, Duncan Ralston in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by Shadow Work Publishing.

So everyone’s favourite Canadian person has a new book out! This one fell under my radar for some reason. I think it was because it is a crime thriller type story rather than the out and out horror we are used to from Mr Ralston. If you read any of my reviews of Mr Ralston’s previous work (included at the bottom of this review) you will see that in terms of his horror writing, I never fail to be impressed. Diverging into writing crime stories? I’m sure he could cope with the writing side of it. Would it be any good though?

This is what I thought.

Bo Lowery and her son, Caleb live a simple life. This is through circumstance rather than choice. They have a little house with next to no amenities and have to hunt for their food.

After one of these hunts, they come face to face with a celebrity vegan who happens to have a huge personality and an even bigger mouth. She takes offence at Bo hunting to survive and aims to make her life hell for it.

Bo thinks she can deal with this on her own. Little did she realise just how quickly things would spiral out of control.

So in terms of characters in this one we have four main ones. We have Bo. A dedicated mother that would move heaven and earth to protect her son, Caleb. She would use any method at her disposal no matter the outcome. Caleb is a quiet nine-year-old. He is being taught the methods of hunting by his momma and is eager to learn. He is also eager to know where his father is and is very conscious of doing nothing to invoke his momma’s temper.

On the other side of the fence we have Rainey. Spoilt young pop sensation with a very troubled past that no one knows about nor cares about. She has a big mouth and an ego to match and always gets what she wants, with no care as to how it will affect others. Darius is her personal protection agent. A glorified bodyguard that is more like a servant than anything else, he seems to have a good heart due to what he tries to do with Rainey.

In terms of a plot, I can’t really give you much without giving away some of the story which I am not prepared to do. The easy way of putting it is that Rainey and Bo clash and things escalate from there. You just need to follow the escalation by reading the book.

So how does Mr Ralston do in the crime writing stakes? Rather bloody well to be honest. I wasn’t surprised that the writing was good. I was surprised by the level of intensity involved in this story. It is a crime story but to be honest some people would think this is verging on horror because of the palpable fear on every page.

You may not agree with the lifestyle of Bo if your opinions, and beliefs side with the mouthy Rainey, but you will not be able to stop yourself from siding with her in this story. The viciousness of the young pop star gives you no choice but to hate her. She is vile. Bo just tries to do her best for Caleb. But then she takes things a step too far and you think why the hell did you do that! I found myself trying to think of ways she could get out of situations to help her. I know, it’s a story and I can’t change it but the writing in this is so good that and you get so embroiled in the story, you just cannot help but get involved.

Bo isn’t a master criminal. That is very clear and you can see glaring mistakes in what she is doing and you know there is no way she can get away with things but then, has she got away with things in the past? I loved the fact that this was written in such a way that you know you are dealing with an amateur if you like. You don’t have a master criminal at work. You have someone going with the flow and making mistakes and in some ways that makes the story flow much better. It makes it more believable that someone would make the wrong decisions and get themselves deeper and deeper in trouble.

Every single decision that is made in this story affects it in a major way. Nearly every single page has something that makes you want to read on and on to find out what is going to happen next. It’s about one hundred and thirty pages long but feels much longer. I don’t mean that it drags, quite the opposite. I mean that there is so much packed into this story you think you have read a full novel.

If Duncan Ralston decides, rather stupidly, to get out of the horror game, then he has a huge career ahead of him in the crime / thriller genre. He writes both equally well. Again, I’m not surprised that he did this. I am surprised that for someone writing outside their preferred genre, that he has totally nailed it and written something that many crime writers that have stuck at that genre for years, would be very jealous of. Bravo sir.

To summarise: an enthralling, fast paced crime story showing exactly how far someone is prepared to go if they are pushed into a corner. Perfectly written and put together, I defy anyone to not love this one.

General rating:

★★★★★ brilliant as always.

Crime / Thriller rating:

★★★★★ crackin crime debut.

If you would like to help support Confessions of a Reviewer, then please consider using the links below to buy Every Part of The Animal or any other books from Duncan. This not only supports me but also lets me know how many people actually like to buy books after reading my reviews.