Cavallaro's Cavalcade of Carnage
Another month of quarantine, and another month of 16 books read. Time for judgement...

1: THE NIGHTLY DISEASE by Max Booth III. Worth the read just for the social commentary. Grade: B
2: BLACK MAGICK by Greg Rucka (graphic novel). Bleak and compelling supernatural crime story. Grade: B
3: ALTERED CARBON by Richard K Morgan. Great idea, somewhat weighted down with futuristic science; I suspect the Netflix show is better. Grade: C
4: HUNGRY FOR YOUR LOVE (anthology). A zombie romance anthology. I'm not making this up. Uneven quality. Grade: C
5: MOON by James Herbert. This is my third attempt at reading Herbert, and I guess I can say I'm officially not a fan. Grade: D
6: DIE: FANTASY HEARTBREAKER by Kieron Gillen (graphic novel). Referred to as "goth Jumanji." Thought I'd like it more. Grade: C
7: SWEETHEART, SWEETHEART by Bernard Taylor. Now THIS is what gothic horror can, and should be. Grade: A
8: THE SHADOW OF A SHADOW by R.H. Dixon. Dixon follows THE CUNDY with something even better. Grade: A
9: TOMORROW'S JOURNAL by Dominick Cancilla. Most fun I've had reading in a long time. Grade: A
10: GLIMPSES by Lewis Shiner. I'm pretty sure Shiner actually invented a genre with this one. Grade: B
11: THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD by Michael Koryta. Fast moving thriller. Grade: B
12: TIME AND CHANCE by Alan Brennert. Absolute in top tier of time travel novels. Grade: A
13: INCARCERON by Catherine Fisher. High concept YA fantasy, short on character building. Grade: D
14: LAGUARDIA by Nnedi Okorafor (graphic novel). Fun and inventive comic. Grade: B
15: WOOL by Hugh Howey. Unique dystopian novel, just overwritten in spots. Grade: C
16: THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH by Ken Follett. Part low fantasy, part historical fiction. Game of Thrones fans take notice. Grade: A

and now:

WORST OF THE MONTH: INCARCERON by Catherine Fisher

I mentioned earlier that this book is short on character building, but I'm not even sure if that is exactly what discouraged me here. I just know that very early in the book I could feel myself being ejected out of the story on a consistent basis. I don't remember if the characters were underdeveloped, or I just wasn't interested in them. The premise was neat though: A futuristic, living prison.

drum roll...

BEST OF THE MONTH: TOMORROW'S JOURNAL by Dominick Cancilla

This was a really tough decision. Both SWEETHEART, SWEETHEART and THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH are genuine masterpieces. Also, THE SHADOW OF A SHADOW was a fast paced and fun-to-read mystery and TIME AND CHANCE is now one of my favorite time travel stories. What makes TOMORROW'S JOURNAL different in my eyes is that I'm finding myself recommending it to EVERYONE, regardless of what genre they read. It's just a really fun, and original book. I can't get it out of my head. The book was indie published (Cemetery Dance) in 2019, but even so, more people should be talking about it. I assume it was ignored during awards season (no surprise there). Cancilla's book has an eccentric approach to spinning the narrative, which I won't spoil here. This novel pulled off what Danielewski's HOUSE OF LEAVES was unable to: narrating a story in a unique way but without interrupting the flow of the plot.

Reviews by Jason Cavallaro
jcavallaro42@gmail.com
Twitter: @pinheadspawn

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